Thirteen

Guess the one on fire!

The Thirteen are the first Transformers created by Primus. Rightfully huge and powerful, each was designated a Prime,^[1] and given unique roles and natures to battle Primus's ancient foe Unicron. Legends say that after a great catastrophe they vanished, leaving their very existence an open question to the Transformers of the modern day. Real or not, even the relics that bear their names are powerful enough to alter the course of Cybertronian history. Rest assured that should a member of the Thirteen reveal themselves, things are about to get real mythological real fast.

Conceptual history

The Covenant shares the same base concept with the Thirteen, and served as the prototype for them.

The concept of the Thirteen wasn't introduced until around 20 years into the Transformers brand's history, and the slow drip-feeding of information that characterized the early stages of their story has not been presented in a very linear manner. The development of the concept is described in this section to minimize confusion; for details of their history and actions in specific bits of fiction, see below.

The very earliest seeds of the Thirteen can be found in material produced by 3H Productions for BotCon, most notably 1999's "Covenant". Written by Simon Furman, this story introduces the undeniably similar concept of the Covenant, a group of twelve zodiac-themed robots who are the first creations of Primus, created as a test-run for the Transformer race. Despite the basic similarity between the Covenant and the Thirteen, there was no canonical connection between the two groups, aside from an ambiguous Ask Vector Prime entry published much later in 2015, which presented several different interpretations of how the groups might be related. Certainly, those same stories by 3H were incompatible with later lore of the Thirteen, as they introduced Primon, a Matrix-bearer who preceded Prima.

Vector Prime was a prominent member of the Thirteen.

It was in the pages of 2004's Transformers: The Ultimate Guide that the mysterious "Thirteen Original Transformers" were first spoken of, and their basic origin was laid down: they were the first Transformers created by Primus to battle Unicron, and their number included Prima, the first Matrix-bearer from the Marvel Comics series; The Fallen, an enigmatic servant of Unicron from Dreamwave Productions' 2003 comic, War Within: The Dark Ages; and the Liege Maximo, an ancient evil Cybertronian from the Generation 2 comics (whose implied status as one of the first Transformers had previously been affirmed only in Furman's unofficial novella, Alignment). The book also contained a passing mention that the enigmatic manager of Maccadam's Old Oil House, a Cybertronian pub introduced in the UK Generation 1 Marvel Comics, was rumored to be one of the Thirteen (though it also admits that this could be a fabrication by the pub's drunken patrons). Not surprisingly, it was the creator of all four of these characters—the aforementioned Simon Furman—who both wrote the guide and conceived the idea of the Thirteen,^[2] recycling the same general idea behind the Covenant.^[3]

The roster of the Thirteen was not established from the outset.

The concept of the Thirteen quietly bubbled under for the next year, until another element was added with the introduction of Vector Prime in 2005's Cybertron series. Created by lead Hasbro designer Aaron Archer, Vector Prime was given a clockwork aesthetic to signify his old age and mastery over time itself, with his face evoking the Autobot sigil. While the original Japanese version of the Cybertron cartoon would simply treat him as a very ancient Autobot, Hasbro copywriter Forest Lee would canonise him as one of the Thirteen in the first story produced for the Transformers Collectors' Club. This story also introduced the idea that all of the Thirteen were Primes, and that each had a specific function or purpose; Vector Prime's was stewardship of time, while a 2007 bio written for The Fallen's Titanium Series toy would later reveal he was the overseer of entropy.

Fun Publications also introduced the first combiner, Nexus Prime.

While it was not immediately apparent, Hasbro had put a plan in motion for the Thirteen with the Collectors' Club comic: across the next five years, five separate robots were introduced who were gradually revealed to be components of the very first combiner, Nexus Prime, who was one of the Thirteen. Behind the scenes, Aaron Archer developed the remaining roster of the Thirteen, carrying forward Prima, The Fallen (whose true name became Megatronus), Liege Maximo, and Vector Prime, and adding Alpha Trion, the Autobot elder from the original cartoon. The new members he introduced were intended to embody different kinds of Transformers: Onyx Prime (at first named simply "Maximus", after the Maximals) represented the beasts, Micronus was the progenitor of the Mini-Cons, Quintus was tied to the Quintessons, with a Japan-inspired "trickster", a female "forger" (Solus Prime), and an "elemental" proto-Transformer filling out the group.^[4] While most of these are recognisable in the final roster, it appears that the design from the "elemental" was given to the "trickster" character, resulting in Amalgamous Prime, while Alchemist Prime took over as the Prime of matter. Additionally, one member of the group would remain a mystery.

While these plans developed, Japanese writer Hirofumi Ichikawa introduced the character of Logos Prime in the 2006 text story Beast Wars Reborn, which seemingly alluded to the idea that he was one of the Thirteen by presenting him as a peer to Vector Prime. Ichikawa did not intend this reading, not believing it was his place to add to the Thirteen.^[5] During this time, most of the information on the Thirteen came from Q&A sessions with Hasbro representatives at BotCon—where it was established that the Thirteen were multiversal singularities, a concept which purported that across all the different universal streams, only one incarnation of each of the Thirteen existed, moving between worlds. This idea would later be canonized within the pages of Fun Publications' comics. The full story of the Thirteen was to be told in a comic book mini-series by IDW Publishing, written by Simon Furman, but after numerous teases the plans were eventually nixed while Hasbro worked out what they wanted to do with the characters.^[6] Hasbro's desire to control and fully conceptualize the story of the Thirteen was further made evident when, after Fun Publications' Nexus Prime story concluded in the same year, they effectively took "custody" of the character as part of their future plans. This control, however, was evidently not all-encompassing: also in 2009, The Fallen made a surprising appearance as the titular villain of the second-live action Transformers film, Revenge of the Fallen, where he was a member not of a group of thirteen, but only seven Primes. Hasbro's October 2009 online Q&A retroactively justified this by explaining that while all the Thirteen were Primes, only seven actually had the word "Prime" in their names.

The new design for Prima was revealed at BotCon 2010.

Eventually, in 2010, the grand scope of the new Aligned continuity family became the "delivery method" for Hasbro's long-percolating tale of the Thirteen. However, the "Aligned" continuity was also established to not be part of the multiverse in which all preceding Transformers fiction took place, which until then had lain the groundwork for the Thirteen. As such, the new information introduced by the Aligned continuity was only true for that continuity, resulting in some incongruities: the surprise inclusion of Alpha Trion, the inevitable omission of Logos Prime, and a revised backstory for The Fallen that removed any connection he had to Unicron. From 2010 to 2013, various pieces of Aligned media—including the novels Transformers: Exodus and Transformers: Exiles, the Transformers: Prime cartoon, and the prose work Transformers: The Covenant of Primus—finally detailed in full the complete roster and history of the Thirteen in the Aligned Continuity, which can all be read about further down this article.

In spite of the metaphysical complexities that had built up with the lore surrounding the Transformers multiverse and its singularities, Hasbro's Aligned roster for the Thirteen has pretty much served as the basis of every story they've appeared in since. In 2014, they were introduced to IDW Publishing's long-running continuity, receiving a whole new backstory beginning with Robots in Disguise #34. Fun Publications would work to massage the continuity implications this had for the rest of the multiverse: Ask Vector Prime revealed that non-singularity versions of the Thirteen also exist within the multiverse (with the "Aligned Thirteen" being one such example) and finally established their own complete roster for the "Multiverse Thirteen", before the 2015 Collectors' Club comic storyline Another Light culminated in the Thirteen's existence as multiversal singularities being nullified entirely. Freed from the complex bounds of this concept, the story of the Thirteen is now free to be told any way, in any continuity.

Members

Because of their complicated fictional natures, conceptual histories, and status as multiversal "archetypes", TFWiki.net opts to break our standard rules a little and give most members of the group a single article that covers all different versions of that character, as opposed to separate articles (G1, Unicron Trilogy, Movie, etc...) for each incarnation.

Covenant Thirteen

"No, Harry, no! Don't look at the light!"

The first full lineup of the Thirteen was originally formalized for the Aligned continuity family, and properly revealed in Transformers: The Covenant of Primus. The "Aligned Thirteen" were initially considered to be separate from the pre-existing "Multiverse Thirteen", something backed up in fiction which described their universal cluster as being previously separate from the multiverse. This proved not to hold much water outside the Multiverse Thirteen's own stories, however, and the core list has since rapidly propagated far beyond the bounds of Aligned media into such places as the 2005 and 2019 continuities of IDW Publishing's comics, the Cyberverse cartoon, and even multiple themes of the Generations toyline.

• Prima—The leader of the Thirteen, a warrior of light and the first Matrix-bearer who wielded the Star Saber.
• Vector Prime—The master of time and space, which he could manipulate through his Blades of Time.
• Alpha Trion—Holder of the Quill, which he uses to record the past, present, and future of Cybertron in the Covenant of Primus as part of his role as recordskeeper of the Primes.
• Solus Prime—The master artificer and creator of many of the Primes' weapons through use of her incredible Forge. She was the first female Cybertronian.
• Micronus Prime—The conscience of the Thirteen, and the first Mini-Con, able to link up with and enhance the power of his siblings through the use of his Chimera Stone; responsible for creating the alternate dimension of Microspace.
• Alchemist Prime—Student of the elemental structure of the natural world, aided in this by his Lenses, which allowed him to see further and deeper than anyone, in both material and spiritual senses; fond of the occasional tipple, with some claiming that he still walks Cybertron in the form of a humble bartender.
• Nexus Prime—The first and greatest combiner, granted the ability to divide himself into separate forms by his Enigma of Combination. Unpredictable, fascinated by change, and a lighthearted prankster.
• Onyx Prime—The first beast-form Cybertronian, a primitive and spiritual being able to view other times, places, souls, and even the afterlife through his three-faced Triptych Mask.
• Amalgamous Prime—The joker of the Thirteen and the first Shifter, unpredictable and easygoing. He was first Cybertronian with the ability of transformation, granted him by his Transformation cog, which became the basis for the cogs in all subsequent Transformer life.
• Quintus Prime—A daydreamer and perfectionist whose drive to express his ideas led him to become a scientist. His artifact was the Emberstone, which gave him the ability to create life; the Quintessons were among his creations.
• Liege Maximo—The "Prime of Lies", a black-hearted and amoral manipulator. Though his artifact was notionally the toxin-loaded Liegian Darts, his real skill was his ability to talk others into his way of thinking.
• The Fallen—Once known as Megatronus, guardian of entropy and wielder of the Requiem Blaster, the Fallen's name was stricken from history when the dark warrior turned on his siblings.
• The Thirteenth Prime— the last and most mysterious of the Thirteen, all we can say for certain is that he bore a strong connection to the Matrix of Leadership and his depictions look awfully familiar...

Multiversal Thirteen

Who are we? You'll never know!

Though the "multiversal Thirteen"—considered separate to the "Aligned Thirteen"—had almost half of their members revealed before any non-multiversal incarnation was ever mentioned, the remainder of their membership was unknown until a June 2015 Facebook post from Ask Vector Prime listed off twelve of Vector Prime's siblings. The members known before then were:

• Prima—The first Matrix-bearer and first Transformer born from Cybertron, the leader of the Thirteen.^[7] He wielded the Star Saber, a mighty blade capable of unparalleled destruction.
• Liege Maximo—A legendary schemer.^[8]
• Megatronus—Formerly the guardian of entropy, whose name was stricken from history when he betrayed his brothers and became a Herald of Unicron under the new name "The Fallen".^[9]
• Vector Prime—The guardian of space and time, who spent most of his life outside of reality, observing it and occasionally stepping in to help.
• Nexus Prime—The first combiner and the guardian of Rarified Energon.

To these Vector Prime added four of the ones invented by the Covenant:

• Alchemist Prime—Rumored to have established a bar on modern Cybertron, seeking to provide a respite from endless war.^[8][10]
• Solus Prime—A renowned smith who wielded a powerful Forge.^[8]
• Micronus Prime—The progenitor of the Mini-Cons.^[11]
• Onyx Prime—In-tune with nature and the organic.^[8]

And four other powerful figures from "Transformers" lore:

• Autonomous Maximus—A lonely sentinel who renounced his name, becoming simply known as the Last Autobot.
• Logos Prime—An enigmatic figure who, operating in the present day under the name "Soundblaster", sought to pass on his incredible powers over time and space to an heir. Though not originally intended as a member of the Thirteen, Ask Vector Prime later stated that he was, based on the then-accepted fanon belief of the Western fandom.
• Solomus—A gentle and kind individual, who is instead in some universes a member of the Guiding Hand.
• Epistemus—A Cybertronian of unconventional intellect, also sometimes of the Guiding Hand.

Other members

Additional members of the Thirteen have been known to crop up due to the malleable nature of the multiverse, or, increasingly, taking advantage of the "free space" offered by the Thirteenth Prime in the Covenant lineup:

• Adaptus—Blessed with powers of change, also sometimes of the Guiding Hand; may or may not in some universes be the same individual as Amalgamous Prime.
• Mortilus—A solitary member of the Thirteen who stayed apart from the others, who was in some universes a member of the Guiding Hand.
• Sentinel Prime—A Prime known for his wisdom.^[12]
• Zeta Prime—A Prime that in some universes takes the role as leader and first Matrix-bearer from Prima.^[13]
• Nova Prime—A renegade Prime who believes that Cybertronians are the rightful superiors of the universe, with all others being lesser.^[14]

Fiction

Generation 1 continuity family

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

No, seriously guys, is it just me, or is it hot in here?

The Fallen was thwarted in his attempt to sabotage Primus's physical form, and the rest of the Thirteen died after casting the Fallen and his master Unicron through a black hole into another dimension. The Ultimate Guide

After Optimus Prime and Megatron were lost in a space bridge explosion, the Fallen was free from his prison in underspace, and returned to Cybertron. He immediately set about trying to undo the Seal of Primus that locked the Well of All Sparks. However, upon his success, the Fallen was promptly destroyed by his reawoken creator. The Dark Ages

In the present day, Jetfire discovered that Shockwave had broken the Seal for his cloning experiments. The Fallen's essence escaped and corrupted Sunstorm, and following his death, passed into Jetfire. This corruption caused Jetfire to be plagued by many visions, among them The Fallen beating down his brethren in an ancient battle. The Enemy Within

Known members:

• Prima
• The Fallen
• Maccadam (rumored)

2005 IDW continuity

"I think the Thirteen were blurry, that's the problem. It's not the artist's fault. The Primes were blurry, and that's extra scary to me. There were thirteen large, out-of-focus Transformers roaming Cybertron."

After the departure of the mythical Knights of Cybertron, Cybertronian civilization, deprived of their benevolent guidance, descended once more into a primitive state of barbarism, with lesser tribal leaders carving out kingdoms and territories of their own. It was to this landscape that the Decepticon Shockwave was cast back in time by the destruction of his chronal drive, and—after an encounter with a kindly shepherd named Onyx—realised from his extensive historical foreknowledge that he could study why Cybertronians inevitably fell to war by ensuring that history followed the path he knew that it must. As such, Shockwave murdered Onyx and took his identity as "Onyx Prime" in order to engineer the rise of the Thirteen Primes; his first act was to christen the most fearless member of Onyx's flock as "Megatronus", taking him on as a student.

Knowing that Megatronus's conquests would be the impetus for the founding of Cybertronian civilization, Shockwave allowed his pupil to run amok; The First Who Was Named Megatronus thus began a new war of conquest to expand the Darklands, annexing nearby regions such as the city of Protohex and the Forgotten Plains, murdering neighbouring ruler Septimus Prime and recruiting the fearsome twin gladiators Galvatron and Arcee to become his vanguards. Other tribal leaders who had arisen, including Alchemist Prime, Vector Prime, Solus Prime, Nexus Prime and Alpha Trion, agreed in the face of Megatronus's conquests to work together, uniting their followers and founding a small village that they named "Crystal City." Origin Myths

Ruling from an ivory tower. What could possibly go wrong?

While Megatronus's legions marched on Crystal City, the united Primes were bolstered by Onyx Prime and his other student, Liege Maximo, The First Who Was Named whose kingdom had been claimed by the Darklander advance. The two armies met in a battle that had the unexpected side effect of awakening three slumbering Titans—Metroplex, Metrotitan, and Chela—from beneath Cybertron's surface, but while the armies were distracted by the arrival of the colossal beings, Onyx "realized" that their enemy was his "old friend" Megatronus. The two armies agreed to a truce, and all eight Primes vowed to work together to rebuild and unify their planet. Having been enlightened on the value of myths and stories by Alpha Trion, Onyx Prime began telling tales of his own, inspiring Alchemist with legends of a "Chosen One" and dreaming up a new insignia to commemorate their alliance—Origin Myths all, of course, based on his own knowledge of what the future held. The "Dark Cybertron" prophecy and idea of the Chosen One were specifically concocted to ensure Starscream's future rise to power, as a "fool" like Starscream would not be able to see through Shockwave's machinations. The Hallowing

The eight original Primes were soon joined by five more, and over time Cybertron's inhabitants united under the banner of the Thirteen Tribes, each Prime building a distinct civilization. The Crucible In this era of peace, the Liege Maximo was responsible for building and maintaining the alliance between the Thirteen; in honor of his feats, Liege Maximo's followers became known as skilled diplomats and negotiators. Heavy Each Prime commanded the loyalty of at least one Titan, The Sum and Its Parts First Contact while the diminutive Titan Masters served as their heralds. White Heat Over the years, however, the decidedly mortal Primes had come to believe that they were inherently superior to other Cybertronians due to their powerful artifacts and historic feats; indeed, it was commonly held only another Prime could kill a Prime, though this was decidedly untrue. Origin Myths The Crucible

Sephiroth, you jerk!

With Cybertron now in a "golden age", Onyx advised the Thirteen's leader Prima to spread Cybertron's "enlightenment" to other worlds, with their expedition—led by Onyx and Megatronus, with Alpha Trion accompanying them as recordskeeper—being the first to leave the planet since the Knights of Cybertron. However, their first planetary landing on the world of Antilla ended in a brutal conflict and the extinction of the native Antillans, with Prima blaming Megatronus for the expedition's failure. The First Who Was Named Our Finest Liege Maximo, who (seeing helpful lies as more beneficent than harmful truths) had become increasingly manipulative and self-serving, Heavy acted on Onyx's orders to stoke Megatronus's resentment over this incident, leading him to attack Prima. Solus Prime intervened to save Prima's life, but Megatronus killed her with the Star Saber that she had created. Megatronus fled the planet, while Liege Maximo was captured by the Primes and imprisoned within his Titan, Vigilem, whom the other Titans deemed unworthy of remembrance and exiled into space. A repentant splinter of Liege Maximo's old tribe agreed to keep their former leader and his Titan permanently interred, renaming their dormant Titan "Carcer". Rubicon Heavy The First Who Was Named

The fallout from Maximo's betrayal sparked the First Cybertronian Civil War, turning the tribes against one another in a planet-wide conflict. The Crucible Battle lines were drawn, but allegiances shifted throughout the war, necessitating betrayals and new alliances; Onyx initially allied with Micronus, White Heat but by ten million years ago, with the war drawing to a close, his tribe of beast mode Transformers had joined forces with Nexus Prime and his combiners. Together, they raised a new army of Headmasters using the Enigma of Combination. Disgusted by this fusion, Galvatron abandoned his post in Megatronus' army to slaughter the Headmasters to the last 'bot. The Mind Bomb

Together, Onyx Prime and Prima hunted down Megatronus aboard Prima's Titan Emissary, finding him on the planet Tsiehshi. Megatronus killed Prima before being slain by Onyx, his usefulness to Shockwave's machinations at an end; Emissary carried Prima's body to the stars, but Onyx ensured that he would crash on a faraway planet. On returning, Onyx told Alpha Trion that Megatronus and Prima slew each other in final battle—the account of their deaths that he had learned from Trion in his youth. Megatronus's name was soon forgotten by history, and he became known only as "the Fallen". The First Who Was Named

Eventually, Galvatron tracked down and confronted Nexus Prime, obliterating the Prime with a single blast. Realizing that they were as mortal as any other Transformer, the remaining few Primes fled the planet for other worlds, with the exception of Alpha Trion. The war finally ended when Galvatron and Nova Major famously routed the bestial hordes of Onyx Prime and, with Trion's aid and blessing, united the tribes as one planet under Nova Prime. Only Galvatron and Trion were left aware of what had happened to the Thirteen Primes; Alpha Trion simply let himself fade into the background of Cybertronian society, his true background as a Prime forgotten by the general populace. The Crucible

One way or another, the Thirteen departed Cybertron and vanished from history at around the same time that the thirteen Titans departed Cybertron, with the intent of founding new colonies elsewhere in the galaxy. First Contact Exact details are unclear, but the mythologies of several of these colony planets claim that the Primes, including Solus Prime and Onyx Prime, had spearheaded the colonization missions themselves and subsequently left these newly settled worlds to their own devices. The Sum and Its Parts Windblade vol. 2 #6 Either way, the developing civilizations on the colony worlds – cut off from Cybertron and the brutal injustices committed by Nova Prime and his dubious successors – began deifying the Thirteen Primes, with some going so far as to worship any leader who wielded the Matrix of Leadership. The dominant religion on Caminus exalted Solus Prime as the greatest of the Thirteen, The Sum and Its Parts while the four tribes of Eukaris and their prophet Blackarachnia viewed Onyx Prime as a benevolent protector. Windblade vol. 2 #6

The role that the original Primes had played in the establishment of Cybertronian society would eventually be immortalized on the silver screen in the "hella-racist" film, The Birth of Cybertron. Dance Among the Shadows Starscream: The Movie

Micronus Prime, master of Prion, White Heat was known to have abandoned his native universe entirely after founding a colony of Mini-Cons. By the present day, his body lay dormant in the center of an alternate universe: the subatomic realm of Microspace. O Ship of State The ruler of Microspace, Baron Karza eventually enerchanged with Micronus and used the Prime's power to try and conquer the Earth, Wrath of Karza #1 only for Shazraella to use Time Traveler energy to separate the Prime from her husband and banish the Mini-Con through time. Wrath of Karza #5

"Stand and address your Almighty Tallest, Camien child."

The colony of Caminus detected a Cybertronian beacon emanating from the planet Antilla and sent three representatives to make contact with their ancestors. When they arrived, they found the planet to be a rusted wasteland ruled by Onyx Prime, who murdered Magrada. Surfeit of Primes Following the expedition's return to Caminus, the Torchbearer Pyra Magna encountered Onyx Prime when an army of robotic beasts terrorized the inhabitants of Parvus Oppidum so they could retrieve a sample of Ore-4. The experience left her traumatized, but with time she realized that the Primes were not the divine entities that she had believed them to be and began preparing to take up arms against Primes should the need arise. Ghost Stories Unforgivable

In the modern day, Shockwave unknowingly sent the Regenesis ores off to what he believed were random suitable worlds, but were, thanks to his future self's time-travelling manipulations, worlds touched by the Thirteen. The Crucible The First Who Was Named

When Cybertron re-opened a spacebridge link with Caminus after years of isolation, the Mistress of Flame believed that Optimus, wielding the Matrix of Leadership, was the legendary reincarnation of the Thirteenth Prime: a mysterious figure from Cybertron's past known as "the Arisen". The Medium and the Message Optimus's supposed divinity proved a double-edged sword as he grew increasingly bold and unilateral in his decision making; leaning on the faith of others to unconditionally support his choices, he wound up annexing Earth into the Council of Worlds and sparking an interplanetary diplomatic crisis. Once Upon a Time on Earth New recruits from Caminus, Eukaris, Velocitron, and Devisiun believed wholeheartedly in Optimus's status as one of the Thirteen and began wearing mouthplates to better emulate their leader. To Walk Among the Chosen

Liege Maximo escaped from his imprisonment in Carcer in 2017, following a zombie Titan invasion on Cybertron. Rubicon The Camien Chromia was released from prison by Cybertron's leader Starscream to hunt Maximo down, Heavy The Chosen One but Liege—who, by this point, had come to understand his master's decision to exile him aboard his loyal Titan—was found by Onyx, and brought with him in chains on his return to Cybertron. Surfeit of Primes Liege was taken into custody while Optimus and the Council of Worlds entered negotiations with Onyx, but the Prime's manipulations caused infighting and chaos, as well as an explosion that killed Alpha Trion. Another Mine With all of his plans falling into place, Shockwave discarded his "Onyx" identity, having no further use for it after he cast Optimus into the Crystal City singularity. The Hallowing

Though Maximo soon perished and Shockwave was taken prisoner, the Decepticon's machinations had forced all of Cybertron accept a bitter truth: the Thirteen had been nothing more than ordinary Cybertronians. Upon hearing Pyra Magna vocalize this, Shockwave claimed this acceptance had been part of his plan to render all faiths and beliefs on Cybertron meaningless in preparation for Unicron's arrival. Unforgivable

Known members:

See "Covenant Thirteen" above

Prime Wars Trilogy continuity

Prime Wars Trilogy marketing material

Before time began, there was just a whole mess of cubes.

The sparks of the original Primes were carried by the Prime Masters, diminutive Transformers who, when in spark mode, could unite with larger Transformers to grant them the powers of the Primes to wield as they choose. To minimise unwanted attention from those who sought the power they held, the Prime Masters hid themselves inside special decoy armor, which cloaked their vast power from the outside world.

Rather than a Prime Master, the role of the Thirteenth Prime was held by whoever currently bore the Matrix of Leadership.^[15] The Thirteenth Prime was, however, made into a Prime Master too, transforming into a core resembling the Matrix of Leadership.

Known members:

See "Covenant Thirteen" above

Prime Wars Trilogy cartoon

The combined knowledge of the Thirteen was hidden away in the Athenaeum Sanctorum. In the wake of Solus Prime's death at Megatronus's hands, the remaining members chose to seal away the Requiem Blaster in Primal Swamp, tasking a series of guardians with protecting it that culminated in Optimus Primal. Athenaeum Sanctorum

During a crisis, the Mistress of Flame prayed to Primus and the Thirteen for spiritual guidance and aid. Overlord and Emissary

Known members:

2019 IDW continuity

Prima and Megatronus, surprisingly not at each other's throats in this universe. Also, Liege Maximo in the background?

The Thirteen Primes were said to have lived in the Age of Primes, before they vanished. Prime Termagax considered them to be metaphors, avatars, or an expression of the life pattern that made up Cybertron itself, End of Time even postulating that the Thirteen might have been fabricated by the early Cybertronians to explain the origins of their fourteen artifacts. Out of all these artifacts, only the Matrix of Leadership and the Enigma of Combination had been seen following the Primes' disappearance. Sea of Rust I

The Age of Primes gave way to the Age of the Firstforged. This new generation of Cybertron emerged from the Ur-Forge of Solus Prime. End of Time Though their time had passed, some of the Primes who had not fallen or departed lingered among the Firstforged. Legend said that Solus Prime and Alchemist Prime received Solomus to hear his plans for Crystal City, and contributed to its construction. A Dust of Crystals

When forced to take Lodestar on an almost certainly suicidal mission against a crazed Vigilem, Lightbright prayed that the Thirteen would see the two through their task. The Change In Your Nature Part Five

Legends of the Thirteenth Prime, the final bearer of the Matrix, persisted into the present day, and how they would one day claim it. Prime

Known members:

See "Covenant Thirteen" above

End of G1 Universe

The Halo of Mortilus, more like.

When the universe itself began to die, the Maximal Bluebolt revived the corpse of Leo Prime using a magic circle made up of the symbols of the Thirteen. Leo Prime's body merged with the remnants of Unicron's Angolmois Energy within Earth to form the mercurial Dark Amber Leo Prime. Dark Amber Leo Prime (First) This was done on behalf of Vector Sigma. Dark Amber Leo Prime bio

Known members:

See "Covenant Thirteen" above

Fun Publications

Vector Prime aided the Autobots in finding the Cyber Planet Keys to close the Unicron Singularity. He regularly reported their progress to Alpha Trion, but during one visit Unicron's servants Ramjet and Nemesis Prime attacked. Balancing Act Skyfall came to Cybertron looking for clues to his past, only to be attacked by Dark Scorponok, Balancing Act, Part 2 but his forcefield protected him. Ramjet offered him clues to his past in exchange for his soul service. Balancing Act, Part 3 They went to Primus's spark core to destroy him with the Dead Matrix, but Vector and Sentinel Maximus fought back. Balancing Act, Part 4 Ramjet said he would stop trying to kill Primus if Vector aided them in restoring the balance by resurrecting Unicron, but he refused. Balancing Act, Pt 5 Skyfall tried to save Ramjet but his forcefield only ignited an explosion that killed Ramjet. Revelations Part 1 Vector had drones repair Skyfall and found Omega Prime—the creation of one of Trion's Viron counterparts—had helped Sentinel defeated Nemesis. Omega's presence saddened Vector, as it confirmed the multiverse was falling apart, and he left for Earth. Revelations Part 2

Skyfall was helping Sentinel repair Vector Sigma, when Over-Run informed him he had found a twenty-million-cycle-old carving of him and another bot. Revelations Part 4 Immediately during a battle between Mini-Con Autobots and Decepticons, Skyfall found Landquake. Revelations Part 5 The two seemingly vanished when Unicron attacked, Revelations Part 6 when they had been transported to Breakaway's universe, Crossing Over, Part 1 and the trio and went through a space bridge Crossing Over: Part 6 to find Topspin in Axiom Nexus. Cheetor and Silverbolt introduced the trio to Alpha Trion. However, Shockwave had Breakaway quietly subdued and taken to his laboratory. Transcendent: Part 1 Skyfall and Landquake realized Breakaway was gone, but Alpha Trion told them to come with him if they wanted to rescue their brother from the evil TransTechs. Transcendent: Part 2 He explained he was not from this dimension and was part of a resistance movement, introducing them to Topspin, whose job was to transfer their lowtech followers' sparks into their TransTech counterparts. Realizing Topspin was one of their kin, Skyfall and Landquake agreed to help. Transcendent: Part 3 Nightscream found Breakaway was being held near the portal to Alpha Trion's dimension, Transcendent: Part 4 and his acolytes attacked, rescuing Breakaway Transcendent: Part 5 and entering the transwarp device. Alpha Trion explained to Skyfall he was the key to the reunification, and killed him as they entered his universe. Transcendent: Part 6

"It's beautiful..."
"Holy crap!"
"It's perfect!"
"This is the best thing!"

Despite his claim his was a peaceful world, Alpha Trion shot Downshift, and Breakaway realized Skyfall had been killed by an energy blade rather than shot from behind as the old Autobot claimed. Alpha Trion's troops arrived, took the four components and he proclaimed he would kill them all—as reunification still worked with one of them dead—and that his reign would begin. Reunification: Part 1 Landquake manipulated the raw energon and used smokebombs to escape, with Topspin and Breakaway carrying Skyfall. Weeks later, after trying unsuccessfully to revive Skyfall, Reunification: Part 2 the Quintesson Aquarius appeared to take them to Megatron. Reunification: Part 3 Landquake explained their situation to the Decepticons, and Megatron asked Cyclonus to bring Heatwave, but then Cyclonus, revealing himself to be an agent of Alpha Trion, assassinated Megatron. Reunification: Part 4 Breakaway suggested they use their powers to revive Megatron, and found themselves in a white space with Skyfall and Primus. They made their choice: Nexus Prime was reborn. Reunification: Part 5 Nexus resurrected Megatron as Galvatron and defeated Omega Doom. Reunification: Part 6 Using Galvatron's gift of the stellar spanner, Nexus and Aquarius began dimension-hopping to find the shards of the artifact he had been entrusted with, so he could complete his memories. While Nexus outlined the artifact's background to Aquarius, the faces of Vector Prime and The Fallen flashed through his mind. The Coming Storm: Part 1

The TransTechs knew the Mini-Cons to be the children of Micronus Prime Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/09 and early on in their history were threatened with an ultimately failed coup led by Jhiaxus, a follower of the Liege Maximo. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/06

When the TransTechs detected significant multiversal chaos resulting from negative polarity Primax Autobots crossing over into a mirror universe, they suspected that Rarified Energon was somehow involved. Rhinox was also aware of (correct) rumors that the Thirteen were involved with Rarified Energon. Invasion Prologue As part of their response to the multiversal chaos, the TransTechs deployed Depth Charge to prehistoric Shatteredverse Earth in order to keep the Origin Matrix out of evil hands. Invasion: Epilogue

After several unspecified adventures, Aquarius ended up in Axiom Nexus and took charge of a shard of the Star Saber from a courier. In exchange, he promised to help her get home. Transformers I.Q. last issue review To their surprise, however, they ended up on Shatteredverse Cybertron. It soon became obvious that Nexus had transported them there in order to receive the Origin Matrix, the fifth and final piece, from Ultra Magnus, recently retrieved from prehistoric Shatteredverse Earth. Transformers I.Q. trivia bonus #12 Falling into Place

When he reunited the Star Saber and the Terminus Blade, Nexus Prime decided that he was going to return things to "how they used to be", Restoration and strengthened the walls between the various realities of the multiverse, which had the consequence of ending the existence of he and siblings as multiversal singularities. Out of the One, Many

Known members:

See "Multiversal Thirteen" above

Olympian universe

In certain universes, the Thirteen visited Greece in a time before human technology was advanced enough for them to assume vehicular disguises. Instead, twelve of their number dwelled on Mount Olympus and used holomatter avatars to interact with the natives, Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/20 while Mortilus remained beneath the Earth with their ship, alongside his vassal Bruticus. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/08

As "quasi-humans", the Thirteen would become known to the local humans as the gods of Olympus. Vector Prime was Hermes; the rage-filled Megatronus was Ares; the hard-working Solus Prime was Hephaestus; the wise Alpha Trion was Athena; the eldest of their number Prima was Zeus; his close ally Nexus Maximus was Hera; the nature-loving hunter Onyx Prime was Artemis; the hard-drinking Alchemist Prime was Dionysus; the vain and manipulative Liege Maximo was Aphrodite; the healer Autonomous Prime was Apollo; the chaotic Adaptus was Poseidon; the solitary Mortilus was Hades; and the knowledge-sharing Epistemus was Demeter. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/20 Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/08

As the Olympians, several of the Thirteen deviated from both their more common gender identities and their status as siblings; Vector considered Hades and Poseidon to be his uncles, Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/20 and because of the animosity between Hephaestus and Aphrodite, Zeus decreed that they should be bonded together to avoid further conflict (which only made things worse). Amongst the Thirteen's many experiences, Hades and Demeter quarrelled over a woman named Persephone; Vector would later note that as "quasi-humans" their conflicts were far more petty and frequent. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/08

Known members:

Live-action film series

Main article: Dynasty of Primes

The Primes in the Matrix/Allspark/surreal part of Primus's imagination.

The Primes were the guardians of the AllSpark, charged with replenishing it. They commanded Seekers and workers to find stars and replenish the AllSpark with their energy. The Fallen began seeing himself as the AllSpark's chosen one and began destroying solar systems with sentient life to replenish the Cube. His brothers warned him not to do it again, so The Fallen tried it again on Earth to lure them. Tales of the Fallen #3 The Fallen slaughtered all his brothers bar Prima himself, who gathered his brothers' lifeforce to trap The Fallen in his sarcophagus. Prima sacrificed himself to form a tomb with his brothers' bodies to hide the Matrix. Tales of the Fallen #4

A long time passed, and The Fallen was eventually dug up. From his prison, he pushed High Protector Megatron into forming the Decepticons. Defiance #2 Thousands of years later, Optimus Prime, the sole surviving descendant of the Primes to survive The Fallen's rampage, Revenge of the Fallen #3 had been killed. The Primes appeared to Sam Witwicky, giving him the Matrix to revive Optimus, and Optimus avenged The Fallen's brothers by killing him. Revenge of the Fallen

Known members:

• Prima
• The Fallen

Aligned continuity family

They're not a fan of direct lighting.

Seeing the endless stalemate between him and Unicron, Primus created the Thirteen, warriors in the mold of himself and Unicron, to fight in his stead and introduce random variables. The Thirteen did indeed succeed in defeating Unicron but were infected with a touch of the Chaos-Bringer's darkness as a result of direct proximity to the Dark God.

Following Unicron's exile, the Primes began reshaping their world before the manipulations of Liege Maximo caused the group to descend into civil war. The skirmish claimed both Maximo and Solus Prime. Onyx, Micronus and Optimus Prime chose to descend into the Core and join Primus so they could aid in the creation of the Cybertronian race with Prima, Alpha Trion and Alchemist Prime remaining on Cybertron to act as stewards for the newborn species while Nexus Prime separated himself into separate individuals to live among the ordinary Cybertronians. Quintus, Amalgamous, Vector Prime and The Fallen left Cybertron outright.

Following the Great Cataclysm, Prima and Alchemist Prime disappeared with Alpha Trion choosing to fall into obscurity. As a result, the Thirteen became little more than a myth in the new era. Covenant of Primus

What lore regarding the Primes survived into the pre-War era is that their war made them "enemies of brothers, murderers of lovers, heroes of the insignificant, and cowards of the mighty". Allegiances formed and broke apart: Megatronus refused to bow before his brothers, and he believed he would be vindicated someday despite his destructive methods. The murder of one sent them across the stars, to battle among themselves for billions of cycles. Finally, there came a time when Prima had to relinquish the Matrix. Afterward, the Covenant of Primus decreed Cybertron could only have one Prime at a time. Exodus The chamber of the High Council of Cybertron had statues depicting the Primes. One Shall Rise, Part 3

Three seconds of one episode made up for a lifetime of lack of Thirteen images.

Alpha Trion remained on Cybertron, recording these events into the Covenant, and the Primes became myths doubted by some. Alpha Trion retreated into becoming the Archivist of the Hall of Records when Sentinel Prime, the High Council, and the Guilds of Cybertron ignored his protests about the caste system. The Matrix did not bestow itself onto another until the unworthy Sentinel died, and Optimus Prime was imbued with it, while his nemesis had become known as Megatron, who like his namesake had come to destroy that he believed in. Exodus

During his travels across the galaxy, Optimus Prime encountered both Vector and Nexus Prime both of whom expressed surprise that Alpha Trion still lived and wondered if any of their other brothers might still be alive. Exiles

When Unicron stirred, Optimus Prime explained the history of the Thirteen to his human allies. One Shall Rise, Part 1

Before Optimus Prime was to die, Predacons Rising the Primes intercepted his spark and brought him to their realm. Decepticon Island (Part 1)

After his death, Optimus was able to appear to Bumblebee when the Primes deemed the young bot's need was most dire. W.W.O.D.? As part of Optimus's training, Micronus challenged him to a test which resulted in him unlocking the capabilities of the Prime Decepticon Hunter. Out of Focus Though Optimus did not fully complete his training, he had six of the Primes in the Realm of the Primes send him to Earth to deal with the return of Megatronus, Battlegrounds, Part 1 which he accomplished with the aid of the Bee Team. Battlegrounds, Part 2

Known members:

See "Covenant Thirteen" above

Cyberverse cartoon

Legendary figures in Cybertronian society, the Thirteen were the first of the Primes, each having a psychic pillar dedicated to them in the Matrix of Leadership where their spirits persisted after their physical deaths. Dweller In The Depths Through this, the bearer of the Matrix could commune with the Thirteen and seek their power and wisdom in times of crisis. Silent Strike

In the modern era, the only known members of the Thirteen to survive were Alpha Trion and Alchemist Prime. Dweller In The Depths Under unknown circumstances, Alchemist adopted the alias of "Maccadam" and hid his connection to the group though rumours, ones that Bumblebee personally didn't buy into, of his true origins circled around. Maccadam's Alpha Trion, meanwhile, carried the Matrix of Leadership, seeking to pass it on to a worthy bearer; he eventually found someone worthy in Optimus Prime, and passed the Matrix on to him after Trion was mortally wounded, inducting him as a Prime. Matrix of Leadership

Known members:

See "Covenant Thirteen" above

EarthSpark cartoon

Solus has been hulking up.

The Thirteen Primes established Cybertron's culture in its early days. One of their number, Quintus, eventually left Cybertron, using his Emberstone to seed life on other planets. Age of Evolution, Part 1

When explaining the power of the Primes to the Malto family, Optimus Prime showed them the Matrix of Leadership, granted to him by the Primes, briefly touching on the history of the Primes and their artifacts. Disarmed

Known members:

• Quintus Prime

One film

Hasbro: "Power of the Primes wasn't that successful. How are we gonna make the Thirteen popular enough to make toys out of them?"
Josh Cooley: "I'm going to do what's called a pro-gamer move!"

The original thirteen Primes were created by Primus at the dawn of Cybertron, the first Transformers and the leaders of the race's Golden Age. The High Guard served as their elite bodyguards. The Primes ruled in peace for eons until the Quintessons attacked and threw Cybertron into violent war. The war raged for years until Sentinel, the Primes' secretary, informed them of a secret gathering of Quintesson generals. The Primes, realizing that a decisive attack could decimate enemy leadership and win the war, went as a group to attack the council in a hidden cave. When they arrived, they found a waiting Quintesson ambush. The Primes fought and gained the upper hand when Sentinel betrayed them, stabbing Nexus Prime through his chest, decapitating Megatronus Prime, and using Nexus' weapon to kill several of the others, including Solus Prime and Zeta Prime. Sentinel attempted to take the Matrix of Leadership from Zeta's body, but it rejected him and disintegrated. Instead, Sentinel took Megatronus' transformation cog as his trophy. Sentinel declared himself the new Prime and left to take control of Cybertron, unaware that Alpha Trion survived the battle in stasis. To the public, Sentinel disseminated a cover story in which he was the last survivor of the Primes, the rest of whom died heroically to defeat the Quintessons.

Fifty cycles later, the cogless miners Orion Pax, D-16, Elita-1, and B-127 discovered the Primes' resting place following an S.O.S. beacon from Trion. They reawakened the sleeping Prime and he recounted Sentinel's betrayal to them, denouncing him as a false Prime, before bestowing them with transformation cogs borrowed from Prima, Alchemist, Micronus, and Onyx. The four left to take the evidence to Iacon while Trion held off Sentinel's forces, killing several Death Trackers before being captured by Airachnid. Trion was taken to face Sentinel, who gloated with him before killing the Prime for trying to give him a speech.

Later, during a battle with Sentinel's forces, D-16 accidentally shot Orion and allowed him to fall towards Cybertron's core. There, the spirits of the Primes appeared and informed Orion that Primus had chosen him to carry the Matrix of Leadership, and he was reborn as Optimus Prime. While this was happening, D-16 killed Sentinel and took Megatronus' cog for his own. Embittered by Sentinel's misuse of the Primes' legacy to deceive Cybertron into slavery, D-16 declared that there would be no more Primes, and renamed himself Megatron. One

Known members:

Games

Transformers: Earth Wars

Upon Vector Prime's arrival into regular spacetime, Cliffjumper and C.L. took only a moment to recognise their saviour as one of the original Thirteen. Vector had broken his vow of non-interference to stop the machinations of his renegade sibling, Nova Prime. Mayhem: Enemy of My Enemy Vector also approached the time-lost Optimus Prime, who was very honoured to meet his forebear. Vector Prime arrival

Known members:

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Some Transformers theorized that the Thirteen may have been the original combiners. The Enigma of Combination

Toys

Power of the Primes

Main article: Prime Master

The centerpiece of the line, the Prime Masters represent the sparks of the Thirteen.

When slotted into the chest armor/Combiner Fist of the line's Deluxes, forearm bucklers/Combiner Feet of the Voyagers, the combiners chest in place of their Enigma of Combination, or the Matrixes of the Leader Class figures, the power of said member of the Thirteen could be harnessed by the figure via the power of one's imagination.

Age of the Primes

• The Thirteen

The Thirteen Solus Prime (Deluxe Class, 2025)

The Thirteen Prima Prime (Voyager Class, 2025)

The Thirteen Megatronus the Fallen (Leader Class, 2025)

The Thirteen Onyx Prime (Leader Class, 2025)

The Thirteen Star Optimus Prime (Titan Class, 2025)

• Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro), Yūya Ōnishi and Shuhei Umezu (TakaraTomy)

Seven years later, hot off the heels of their role in Transformers One, the Thirteen return to toy store shelves in the Age of the Primes in full force as full-scale figures based on the various forms they have taken over the years, artifacts, personal insignias and all.

For this toyline, Generation 1 Optimus Prime, in his Star Convoy Optimus Prime form, takes the role of the normally mysterious 13th member, using the Zodiac as his artifact equivalent. The other Primes (sans Vector, who is represented by his Legacy: United toy) are set to be released either during Age of the Primes or in the following year's toyline.^[16] All of their figures will be new molds,^[17] and those released in wave 1 have no currently-planned reuses^[18] (which is worth noting due to the fact that most modern Transformers toys have at least one reuse planned for the mold’s future).

This item is currently scheduled for release, but is not yet available at mass retail.

Notes

• The notion of the Primes being originally huge is similar to early Revenge of the Fallen concepts where the Fallen dwarfed Optimus and was almost the size of a pyramid, as evident from Defiance #4 and the novelization.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Saisho no Jūsannin no Prime (最初の13人のプライム, "Original 13 Primes")
• Turkish: On Üç ("Thirteen")

See also

• Covenant
• Ancient
• Primus Vanguard

References