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Shockwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

2024-10-29T01:48:34Z

Mackstar:

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[[File:Transformersrid 17 cover clean.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|IDW is <s>mostly</s> ENTIRELY his fault.]]
When it all comes down to it, everything is about resources. '''Shockwave''' has always recognized this, and while those around him pursued power and politics and other petty concerns, the master scientist focused his superlative intellect on defeating entropy and securing the future of his species. A game-player and king-maker, Shockwave plans for ''everything,'' and while the [[shadowplay]] inflicted on him by the [[Senate]] may have robbed him of his emotions, it did nothing to curb his ambitions.

Although the dangerous logician sided with the [[Decepticon]]s in the war that eventually gripped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], this is merely an alliance of convenience: Shockwave serves no cause but his own. Following eons of careful work, the scientist's influence is truly galaxy-spanning, and when his machinations reach fruition, the universe may never be the same again.

{{bigquote|All life '''is''' equal. I merely assign it a '''quantifiable value—'''zero.|Shockwave|"[[...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done]]"}}

{{first|''[[Spotlight: Shockwave]]''; [[Ghost Stories|''Transformers'' Annual 2017]] (as Onyx Prime)}}

==Fiction==
===Student, Senator, Shadowplay===
{{bigquote|I always did have a '''flair''' for the '''dramatic'''.|Shockwave making the understatement of the century|"[[Post]]"}}
[[File:RID17 senator shockwave.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.55|There's something different about Shockers here...]]
Six million years ago, long before the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], Shockwave was the greatest student of [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} With the Cybertronian population growing exponentially under [[Nova Prime]]'s program of expansion, the forward-looking Shockwave grew fearful of an [[energon]] shortage that he saw as inevitable. Inspired by Jhiaxus's talk of a prophecy known as "[[Dark Cybertron (prophecy)|Dark Cybertron]]" that predated the rise of Nova Prime, he began experiments to develop a self-regenerating energy source. Distilling an ore from energon, Shockwave sought to test his creation by seeding it beneath [[Crystal City]], but unfortunately, the city was ravaged in a battle between [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] and Jhiaxus's newest terrible creation, the combiner [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]]. The city's ruins were subsequently sealed beneath the planet's surface, leaving Shockwave to believe his test was unlikely to complete itself. Moreover, Monstructor's defeat was the first time he saw his teacher and his works as fallible, and as Jhiaxus left Cybertron on the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark-1]]'', Shockwave took up his role, striving to study and better his master's works. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} In doing so, he began studying the secrets of ancient Cybertron, amassing a thorough knowledge of the rise of the [[Thirteen]] and the [[First Cybertronian Civil War]] that saw their alliance undone. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who was Named}}

Becoming a [[senate|senator]] in the new regime that formed on Cybertron, Shockwave marked his first day in the senate by announcing the founding of the [[Jhiaxian Academy of Advanced Technology]], in memory of his departed teacher's good works. He immediately clashed with senator [[Proteus (G1)|Proteus]], whose short-sightedness and [[functionism]] sat ill with Shockwave, but found a friend in Senator [[Dai Atlas (G1)|Dai Atlas]], who was initially wary of his continued study of Jhiaxus's sciences, but with whom he shared a dislike of Proteus. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} Shockwave quickly developed a reputation as an extremely expressive individual (known for changing his colour scheme regularly) that even saw him suspended from duty on occasion for "emotional outbursts unbecoming a senator". His master's teachings drove Shockwave in his work, as he focused on myriad ways of advancing the Transformer race: in addition to repeatedly voting to bring back Nova Prime's spark-splicing programs, he secretly used the Academy as a safe haven for [[Outlier (group)|outliers]], Transformers with abnormal abilities and functions who were hated and feared by functionists because their abilities had nothing to do with their alt modes. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} He taught his closest charges of the [[Dark Cybertron (prophecy)|Dark Cybertron prophecy]], {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} sank billions into various offworld projects, and came into contact with the enigmatic [[Omega Guardian]]s. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} His contact with the aliens would lead him to theorize that an artifact in their possession, the [[Epistemus|Magnificence]], was actually one of the legendary [[Knights of Cybertron]], one with such a powerful urge for knowledge that he had surrendered his body in the process. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind (issue)|The Ties That Bind}}

[[File:ChaosTheoryPart2 Orion and the Senator.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|...something I just can't quite...]]
Recognizing that Proteus and current planet leader [[Nominus Prime]] were resistant to change, Shockwave began befriending certain promising young Cybertronians and modifying them so that they could carry the [[Matrix of Leadership]], with the hope that one of them could take leadership of their race and steer Cybertron off the dark path the Senate had placed it upon. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} When police captain [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Orion Pax]] stormed into a Senate meeting with accusations of corruption amongst its ranks, Shockwave saw this potential in him. The damaged Pax was apprehended after his tirade, but Shockwave arranged for his release and repair, adding a Matrix chamber to his chest. After his release, Pax met his secret benefactor in front of the ''Ark-1'' memorial, where Shockwave warned him that factions within the senate had arranged for a recent attack on Nominus Prime in an attempt to gain control of the Matrix's power. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2|Chaos Theory #2}}

[[File:Unnamed senator in Patternism.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|...seem to put my finger on...]]
In time, word of Nominus's death was released to the public; although the Prime's passing was attributed to a rust infection, when Shockwave met with Orion and his friend [[Ratchet (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ratchet]], he was able to confirm that the Senate had their head of security [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel]] kill Nominus when the Matrix within him proved to be a fake. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} Soon after, Pax received a tip-off from revenge-seeking former Senate agent [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] of a plot that was soon to claim Shockwave's life, so Pax had Ratchet and [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]] visit the Academy of Advanced Technology and take him into protective custody. Along with Pax's other allies, Shockwave was able to provide enough evidence to help Orion figure out that the Senate had turned the fake Matrix in Nominus's body into a bomb that they would detonate as his body lay in state, which they could blame on the trouble-making [[Decepticon]] movement, an underground organization advocating the dissolution of the functionist regime. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} Shockwave gathered three of his outlier students, [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], [[Tarn (G1)|Glitch]], and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]], to help with the theft of the Matrix-bomb, but he himself was kept under guard in case things went wrong. Shockwave laughed that off, thinking he was too high profile for Sentinel to assassinate, but in the midst of the heist, he found out how wrong he was when Senate thugs burned down the Academy and broke into the safehouse intending to capture him: Sentinel had found out about the army of outliers and was ''very'' unhappy. While Orion Pax was willing to fight to save Shockwave, the senator willingly went with his captors rather than allow Roller to be killed in his name.

[[File:Shadowplay3-SenatorWho.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|IDW sure loves their splash panels of Shockwave being assembled. And we sure love uploading them!]]
The captive Shockwave was taken to the [[Institute]] and subjected to "[[Shadowplay]]", the emotion centers of his brain cut out by [[mnemosurgery]] to change his entire personality, turning him from a fiery crusader into an emotionless husk. To add insult to injury, Proteus and Sentinel had [[empurata]] performed on him, taking away his face and hands, replacing them with a featureless mask and claws solely out of spite. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}}

===Joining the Decepticons===
[[File:RID17 useful effect.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|{{w|Edward Scissorhands|I'm not finished}}]]
Proteus could not have predicted the monster his actions would unleash. Where he had considered the mutilation of Shockwave a punishment, Shockwave, freed of the bonds of morality by the removal of his emotions, felt ''liberated'' by the experience, now able to take the most logical path to saving Cybertron. Shortly after lying about his previous energon-shortage concerns during a hearing so he could continue to work toward a solution alone, Shockwave was approached by [[Starscream (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Starscream]], who brought him before [[Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Megatron]], leader and founder of the Decepticons, who had recently turned to increasingly excessive terrorist tactics. Realizing that Shockwave had a goal of his own, but with no interest in what it actually ''was'', Megatron offered him a laboratory and the resources to continue his work that the senate could not provide, in return for Shockwave using Jhiaxus's technology to create a combiner for the Decepticons. Shockwave accepted, though he cautioned that the creation of the combiner could take a very long time. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} He did not know it at the time, but his mere presence had made him an object of distrust to Megatron's loyal lieuteant, [[Soundwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Soundwave]], because he could not read his Shadowplayed mind. {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

Severing his ties with Orion Pax, Shockwave used the resources Megatron had provided to secretly continue his alternate energy experiments, more sure than ever that the political strife raging across Cybertron would ultimately give way to a war not over ideals, but resources. He distilled a variety of different synthetic energons and tested them on an assortment of innocent Cybertronians, few of whom—if ''any''—survived the myriad unusual effects the new fuels had. Seeking to speed Shockwave's science, Megatron offered him a pair of hands to replace his empurata-granted claws, but upon hearing of Megatron's plan to kill the Senate the following day and truly began a war on Cybertron, Shockwave chose to take only one hand, replacing the other with a gun he saw as being more useful for the coming conflict. In one last lingering moment of sentimentality, however, he visited Dai Atlas's quarters the night before the planned assassination and shot him, wounding him enough that he was unable to attend the Senate meeting, thus sparing him the other Senators' fates. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} Shockwave joined the Decepticons in their attack on [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]] the next day, and met with Soundwave to arrange the construction of a new body for captured senator [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]]. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}}

[[File:Autocracy8 shockwave destroys destructor.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|"Shockwave, that wasn't the enemy...that was the bunny sanctuary" "I'm still counting that as a win"]]
The deaths of the Senate and Sentinel Prime allowed [[Zeta Prime (G1)|Zeta]], another of Shockwave's candidates, to ascend to the rank of Prime. By the time of Zeta's reign, Shockwave's sinister experiments had earned the scientist a reputation as "obsessed with combiners". {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} Together with [[Ferak]], Shockwave invented a "nightmare transmitter" that used Soundwave's abilities to manipulate an average Transformer, [[Bumblebee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Bumblebee]], into supporting the Decepticons with terrorist acts. The experiment was ended after Orion Pax and [[Prowl (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Prowl]] tracked the signal and raided Shockwave's base. {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} Over time, Zeta's extremism forged strange bedfellows; when Orion turned on Zeta, he was badly injured by the Prime and had to be rescued by Megatron and the Decepticons. Shockwave repaired his old friend's wounds, and witnessed Orion's unit form an alliance with the Decepticons. {{storylink|Choices}} When the two sides launched an attack on Zeta, Shockwave gained the satisfaction of destroying the last [[Guardian robot|Omega Destructor]], then witnessed Megatron's betrayal of Orion's unit. {{storylink|Overthrown}} Megatron's short-lived rule of Cybertron came to an end when the Autobots attacked the [[Citadel (building)|Citadel]] and defeated him, forcing Shockwave to call for a retreat. {{storylink|Endgame}}

[[File:Monstrosity9 shockwave vs grimlock.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|Shockwave is foiled by the illogic of space dinosaurs.]]
Not long thereafter, Shockwave was present at [[Kolkular]] when [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] announced that he had banished Megatron for his failure to hold Cybertron. {{storylink|Wreckage (issue)|Wreckage}} When the [[Exodus (event)|exodus]] began, Scorponok had the Decepticons assault [[Starsreach Spaceport]], an attack that Shockwave saw as an inefficient use of resources. {{storylink|Massacre}} His forces met with resistance from a raging [[Grimlock (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Grimlock]] who tore them to pieces and shrugged off Shockwave's firepower, forcing him to call for another retreat while picking shrapnel out of his arm. They rejoined Scorponok at the [[Toraxxis Plains]], where to their shock and horror they found him in the process of reawakening [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|Unleashed}} With Scorponok having accomplished nothing but bringing Cybertron further into ruin, the Decepticons rejected him as soon as Megatron returned from his exile. Once their true leader had dealt with the usurper, Shockwave repaired the injuries he had sustained during his absence. {{storylink|The Illusion of Control}} He was subsequently present as Megatron turned a defeated Trypticon into a Decepticon, {{storylink|Belly of the Beast (issue)|Belly of the Beast}} and was among those who boarded the beast's starship mode and left Cybertron in search of the Decepticons who'd defected during Scorponok's reign. {{storylink|Primacy issue 1|Primacy #1}} Once the Decepticon army was reconsolidated, they returned home for an all-out assault on Iacon, {{storylink|Primacy issue 3|Primacy #3}} during which Shockwave oversaw a failed tactical strike on [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. {{storylink|Primacy issue 4|Primacy #4}}

[[File:ALonelyPillarOnThePlain-BattleOfJunkion.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|Prick Vs. One-Eyed Willie.]]
Shockwave later led a squad back to Junkion to claim the world's gravimetric core for use as a weapon. His squad was met by Prowl and eventually one of them decided to detonate the core and destroy Junkion. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 2: A Lonely Pillar on the Plain|A Lonely Pillar on the Plain}}

As the war progressed, Shockwave helped create the super-Decepticons known as the "[[Warriors Elite]]", programming them with killswitches and viruses that would prevent them from turning on Megatron. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} He was also known to have commanded a [[Worldsweeper]] at some point during the conflict. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}} Shockwave also made the mistake of earning the enmity of the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobots]] after they stole a cache of energon from him; reaching the logical conclusion that if he could not have the energon, neither could they, Shockwave tracked them back to Autobot territory and destroyed the energon supply. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} At some point he stood over Megatron's shoulder while the Decepticon leader and [[Solomus|Tyrest]] tried to broker a peace accord. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}}
{{-}}

===Regenesis===
Six hundred thousand [[Units of time|meta-cycles]] ago, Shockwave's experiments with alternative energy sources reached a turning point with the program he called "[[Regenesis]]". He covertly launched thirteen rockets from Cybertron to thirteen other worlds with specific geological properties, each carrying with them a different kind of ore distilled from energon that would be seeded across the target planets. It was Shockwave's hope that the chain reactions which would ensure would potentially yield thirteen different kinds of energy sources that could abate the energy crisis that was now looming ever larger. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} At the time, Shockwave selected the planets at random, simply seeking out specific geological profiles that would allow his ores to take root. Unknown to him, all the worlds he had selected had been touched in some way by the [[Thirteen]] Primes as arranged by his future self millennia beforehand. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

[[File:Shockwave Regenesis.jpg‎|upright=1.4|thumb|left|Scientific progress goes "KT-TKK"]]
Around 100,000 years after launching the rockets, Shockwave left Cybertron aboard [[Darksyde (BW)|his own ship]] to examine the fruits of his labor, his whereabouts left unknown to those he had left behind on his homeworld. The results were far from what had been expected: the mutated ores had taken on a variety of esoteric qualities that went so far as to affect the fabric of space and time around them. For next the next half-million years, Shockwave travelled from world to world, observing the various powers of the ores; on the gas giant [[Arduria]], he found that the [[Ore-6]] sent there had developed the power to halt molecular motion, blanketing the planet it eternal cold. After putting some of the slowly dying [[Ardurian roc|native rocs]] out of their misery, he remarked that while not his intended result, it served as a learning experience nonetheless. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}} {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} Other explorations discerned that about half of the ores had successfully taken root on their target worlds: [[Ore-1]], on [[LV-117]], had the ability to transcend time, offering Shockwave tantalizing glimpses of the future; {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}} [[Ore-2]], on [[Gorlam Prime]], drained the life from all around it; {{storylink|Homecoming (IDW)|Homecoming}} [[Ore-7]] had attained transmutative properties; {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} and [[Ore-8]], on [[Tsiehshi]], had taken the form of highly explosive, unstable crystals. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}} Though millennia away from being realized, Shockwave's mind began to piece together a scheme that would unite these different ores and their powers to achieve his dream.

10,000 years ago, Shockwave arrived on the thirteenth world: prehistoric [[Earth]], at the end of its {{w|Pleistocene|most recent ice age}}. The extremely powerful [[Ore-13]] seeded on this world was catalysing so strongly that the reaction needed to be regulated with global dampers. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Grimlock}}

[[File:Revolutionaries5 talisman wipes axalon memories.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|"A little paint, some new carpeting. A good fixer upper."]]

As he entered the orbit of the icy world, he discovered that a different Transformer ship had been drawn to Earth, attracted to his burgeoning supply of Ore-13: the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'', captained by [[Domitius Major]] and crewed by the [[Maximal]]s. Shockwave bounced an intercepted transmission of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee to the starship before shooting it down over what would one day become the nation of [[Brasnya]]. Investigating the wreckage of the ship and its bestial occupants, he discovered that the vessel was carrying a [[Talisman (G1)|strange artifact]], one that had activated and scrambled the memories of its crew during the crash-landing. When [[Centurion (IDW)|one of their number]] regained consciousness and—glimpsing the Autobot transmission—wondered aloud if he was Bumblebee, his confusion gave Shockwave an idea for one of his cruel experiments.

By replacing their lost memories with data of the Autobots and Decepticons of Cybertron, Shockwave convinced the amnesiac Maximals that they were all combatants in the Great War, remaking them into copies of key players in the conflict and even rebuilding one of their number into [[Maximal Shockwave|a copy of himself]]. After conditioning them, he pitted the "Autobots" and "Decepticons" against one another in a series of [[Ice Age Wars|simulated wargames]] for his tactical benefit. As Shockwave watched their simulated battles, he studied the mysterious artifact that the Maximals had brought with them, watching as it created [[IRON Trooper|robotic drones]] from the wreckage. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

[[File:Shockwaveg1idw.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|Shockwave began to have second thoughts over his choice of manicurists.]]

As Shockwave went about his business, he was unaware of a threat that had shadowed him: the Dynobots had tracked him down, and were seeking to settle their old score. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} Shockwave's twisted games went on for a century; when the Maximals ran low on Energon, Shockwave abandoned them and their artifact to their fate and returned to his main objective on Earth. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

As Shockwave finished planting the dampers and was preparing to visit other Regenesis worlds, the Dynobots teleported upon him. The attack threw Shockwave off-kilter with both its ferocity and its unexpectedness, as he had anticipated a stab in the back from Megatron but had failed to consider the simple vengeance of the Dynobots. Mentally and physically confounded by the assault, Shockwave deactivated his higher reasoning and allowed a subroutine simulating rage to take over. This brutal, violent Shockwave decimated the Dynobots, burning off the organic coating shielding them from the planet's high energon fields and forcing them into [[stasis lock]]. As the battle concluded, Shockwave restored his full neural operations and logged the emotional experience for further study. But, as his logic center churned away once more, it again failed to anticipate his enemies' chaotic nature. Specifically, Grimlock had set a dead-man's switch on [[Skyfire (ship)|the Dynobots' ship]], and before Shockwave could act upon his own victory, the ship shot an energy beam into a nearby volcano, causing it to erupt and consume all of the combatants, entombing them for millennia to come. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Grimlock}} In the meantime, his Maximal creations simply fought on amongst one another until they ran out of energon and entered stasis. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

Shockwave's long absence would eventually rouse Megatron's suspicions, and he assigned [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] to search through Shockwave's files, {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} in turn tasking Soundwave with shadowing Bludgeon, {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}} knowing that Shockwave had been working on something in secret and intending to use it for the Decepticon cause. {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

After spending centuries trapped in the [[Noisemaze (dimension)|Noisemaze]], the unaligned scientist [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]] decided to investigate where Shockwave had trodden and refined Shockwave's old samples of Ore-13 to create the superfuel [[obtenteum]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

===Machinations===
[[File:Shockwave Agent Red.jpg‎|upright=1.5|thumb|[[Transformers (film)|Call him NBE-1]].]]
Shockwave's body was uncovered by a [[Goring|human archaeological team]] in 2005. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} The discovery drew the attention of the government organization [[Skywatch]], who soon swept in and took the operation over. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} Skywatch proceeded to exhume both Shockwave and the Dynobots, and began experimenting with neural inhibitors to control their new discoveries. Results were consistently disastrous; both the Dynobots and their other captives [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] and [[Ravage (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ravage]] were soon running out of their control. Skywatch commander [[Joshua Red]] had Shockwave rebuilt and brought online in their [[Salt Lake City]] base {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 2|Maximum Dinobots #2}} and charged him with rounding up the rogue Transformers. Rather than a neural inhibitor, Shockwave was motivated with a decidedly less sophisticated method: a bomb placed in his head would detonate in 24 hours if Skywatch didn't transmit a reset code. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 3|Maximum Dinobots #3}}

Given the presence of Ravage and Laserbeak on Earth, Shockwave correctly deduced that their master, Soundwave, must also be on the planet; he had followed Bludgeon there in pursuit of Shockwave's Ore-13 and wound up trapped in his [[alternate mode]], in the possession of a child in [[Portland]], [[Oregon]]. Shockwave tracked him down shortly after Laserbeak and Ravage had retrieved him from his human captivity, and proposed a deal: Shockwave would undo the mode-lock, originally caused by a weapon of his design, in return for Soundwave intercepting the reset codes for the implanted bomb. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 4|Maximum Dinobots #4}} Soundwave attempted to further bargain for information on the Regenesis program, but was rebuffed when Shockwave observed that said information would die with him if the bomb went off. {{Storylink|Shockpoint}}

[[File:Shockwave V Scorponok MD.jpg‎‎|upright=1.3|thumb|left|Declarative: [[...All This and Civil War 2|Turnabout is fair play]].]]
Relenting, Soundwave allowed his cassettes to be "captured" and handed over to Skywatch, to sell Shockwave's deception, whilst the scientist went in search of the Dynobots. Discovering them already engaged with Scorponok and the [[Machination]], Shockwave decided to engage Scorponok's forces first, so he could destroy the Dynobots himself. By the time Shockwave beat Scorponok, only 12 minutes of his 24-hour countdown remained, and Grimlock proved to have more than 12 minutes' worth of fight left in him. On the 30-second mark, the two were still grappling in a Machination arms bunker, so Joshua Red ordered the reset code sent, wanting to ensure all other combatants were down before killing his pawn. The code was successfully intercepted and decrypted by Soundwave, who transmitted the information to Shockwave, who in return sent him instructions to mentally disable the mode-lock. Soundwave transformed, his cassettes attacked their would-be captors, and Shockwave abruptly walked away from his fight, declaring an end to the "charade". But Grimlock would not be denied his revenge, so before Shockwave could leave, he detonated a grenade that blew the arms bunker sky-high. The two were soon recovered, still functioning, by [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ultra Magnus]], who took Shockwave, Scorponok and Grimlock into custody. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 5|Maximum Dinobots #5}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers3 - Shockwave.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|So do we blame Shockwave for letting Overlord off his leash, or Overlord for unleashing the one-eyed purple people eater again?]]
Shockwave was sent to the [[Garrus-9]] penitentiary, where his spark was extracted for imprisonment. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}} At some point prior to his imprisonment, however, Shockwave had been able to make contact with Bludgeon and the [[Pretender Monster|Monstructor Six]] and recruit them as his personal agents, though they wound up simply fighting with the main Decepticon forces some time later, when the galaxy-wide Decepticon uprising known as the [[Surge (event)|Surge]] took place. {{storylink|Shockpoint}} During the Surge, [[Overlord (G1)|Overlord]] took control of Garrus-9, and after one year of holding the facility, he had Shockwave's spark reintegrated with his body to make him an offer: in exchange for his freedom and a hand-picked crew, Shockwave would remove the [[Achilles virus]] that had been implanted in Overlord during his conversion to a Warrior Elite. Shockwave agreed to the terms as they served his own purposes, but he was quick to comment that Overlord's actions on Garrus-9 were less about the former general's gratification and more about attracting Megatron's attention. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}}

Knowing he was on [[The List]] and that the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] would quickly catch up to him, Shockwave selected thirty-one prisoners who were also on The List so as to bribe his [[Tarn (G1)|former pupil]]. However, when Tarn called, he rejected the bribe, much to Shockwave's bafflement, before he began applying his killer voice to the former senator. Though forced to his knees, Shockwave simply destroyed the communicator before the ''[[Torment]]'' arrived, scaring off the D.J.D. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind (issue)|The Ties That Bind}}

During Shockwave's time in Skywatch captivity, the researchers had gathered enough information about him to design a weapon based on his technology. According to [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Spike Witwicky]], the first working prototypes were the size of a house, but with some unspecified "outside help", they were able to condense it to a size small enough for hand-held use by a human. Around the time of Shockwave's liberation from Garrus-9, roughly a year after Megatron's forces overran the Earth following the Surge, Spike was sent in with a military squad to retrieve the weapon from its [[New York City]] storehouse and use it to kill Megatron. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 9|All Hail Megatron #9}} Though his team perished, Spike survived, got the weapon, and successfully shot Megatron in the head, ending the Decepticon occupation. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 12|All Hail Megatron #12}}

[[File:RID21 a better spacebridge.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Over the next two years, Shockwave returned his focus to Regenesis, and began slowly putting the players and pieces in motion for his ultimate endgame. He re-established communication with Bludgeon and Monstructor, {{storylink|Shockpoint}} and also recruited the Decepticon warmonger [[Turmoil]], providing him with a ship in return for his visiting LV-117 with instructions to collect data from the Regenesis missile there. In actuality, with this particular action, Shockwave was deliberately perpetuating a [[time travel|predestination paradox]] of sorts, ensuring the visions of the future that he had seen while on LV-117 years beforehand would come to pass. {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}} His plans for the future momentarily complete, Shockwave rejoined what remained of the main Decepticon command structure, now under the leadership of Starscream and encamped on a desolate asteroid following their retreat from Earth. Conferring with Soundwave, he agreed to help build a new body for the devastated Megatron in exchange for being able to utilize some of the Decepticons' limited resources to finally perfect [[space bridge]] travel. {{storylink|Shockpoint}} The scientist made the two projects one and the same by implanting nodes obtained from [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] in Megatron's new body, giving the Decepticon leader the power to open space bridge at will. {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}} {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

[[File:IDWongoing7 shockwave at work.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95]]
Having been unaware of the plan to repair Megatron and believing Shockwave had been working on space bridge technology alone, {{storylink|All His Engines}} Starscream was furious when he discovered what he believed the pair had been dedicating their resources to: using the remnants of Megatron's old body to make tiny replicas of his gun form, with plans to distribute them amongst the population of Earth in order to create chaos amongst both the humans and Autobots. Megatron revealed his revival to Starscream, {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} and a short time after that, retook Decepticon leadership; Shockwave eager to run further tests on the new technology within his body, but Megatron, unwilling to be a cog in whatever machinations Shockwave was surely planning, assured him everything was in order and had him continue working on the gun replicas. {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}} After finishing, Shockwave carefully calculated that [[Quetzaltenango]], [[Mexico]] was the most appropriate location to deposit the Megatron guns, and stood by Megatron as he sent the weapons through the space bridge to Earth. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} Four months later, the Decepticons themselves traveled to Earth to see through their plan, where Soundwave was heavily injured in a confrontation with Optimus Prime. When ordered to repair him, Shockwave protested that he no longer had the resources he had used to rebuild Megatron, but when pressed, affirmed that he could in fact save Soundwave's life. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}}

===Shockpoint===
[[File:RID21 shockwave watches deceptigod.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95|Don't see that every day.]]
Megatron would later use the space bridge technology built into in his new body to summon Shockwave and the rest of the Decepticons to him on Cybertron. {{storylink|The Question}} They arrived in the midst of [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]]'s attempt to prevent the emergence of the [[Dead Universe]] entity known as the [[D-Void]], {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} and the evil entity proceeded to ensnare the minds of the Decepticons, using their collective belief in the Decepticon cause to mentally and physically fuse them all together into a huge [[Deceptigod|monster]]. All, that is, save for Shockwave, who had never believed in the cause, and silently watched as Megatron battled the giant beast. Once Galvatron and the monstrosity were defeated, Cybertron began to reformat into a primordial state; having seen potential in the merged Decepticon monster to perfect combiner technology, Megatron withdrew into the wilderness, informing Shockwave of his plans. Shockwave then shared this information with Soundwave and [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]], and the trio began conspiring to facilitate Megatron's new scheme. {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

[[File:Needlenose Autonomy Lesson.jpg|upright=1.95|thumb]]
Rather than try to escape or fight a battle they knew they could not win, Shockwave and his compatriots allowed themselves to taken into custody with the other Decepticons when Ratbat negotiated their surrender to the Autobots. They were kept in confinement for a few weeks in the rebuilt Iacon, now under the unstable governance of [[Bumblebee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Bumblebee]], before being released to deal with rioting "[[NAIL]]s" who had returned to repopulate Cybertron. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}} After a while, being an enforcer for the Autobots did not sit well with [[Needlenose (G1)|Needlenose]], and he accused Shockwave, Soundwave and Bombshell of just sitting around instead of doing something about the Decepticons' situation. {{storylink|The Autonomy Lesson (issue)|The Autonomy Lesson}} He was wrong, of course: along with Soundwave, Shockwave was working with Ratbat to take control of the [[inhibitor/deterrence chip]]s implanted in them by the Autobots, though he was plainly uninterested in the plan, merely remarking that "Events will play out as they will." when asked for his opinion. {{storylink|The World & Everything in It}} But Megatron's ongoing plot was not the only reason for Shockwave's disinterest in Ratbat's power games: in furtheration of his own personal, secret schemes revolving around Regenesis, he had once again contacted Bludgeon and Monstructor, and had them free his old teacher Jhiaxus from Autobot captivity, before setting them on course for LV-117. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}}

[[File:RID9 you bore me.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Swindle...who let you back in the house?]]
Following the failure of Ratbat's plan, Shockwave was petitioned by [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] to help [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]], who was on the run from the Autobots after claiming to have witnessed [[Prowl (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Prowl]] murder the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]]. Swindle gambled that Shockwave was not as disinterested in the political strife of the planet he appeared, but Shockwave merely questioned what Swindle expected him to do with this information. {{storylink|Dinobot Hunt (IDW)|Dinobot Hunt}} Far greater matters occupied Shockwave's attention: Turmoil had recently returned to Cybertron, the ship Shockwave had given him now outfitted with a time machine created by inhabitants of LV-117 he had enslaved during his visit there. To ensure the future he had seen would come to pass, Shockwave had [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] steal the ship and return it to LV-117, {{storylink|Night and the City}} where it was then retrieved by Jhiaxus's group. {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}} Around this time, Shockwave also made contact with the [[Ammonite]]s, a faction of a robotic alien race whose cold war had recently grown hot again, and offered to end their conflict if they would work for him. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} Shockwave had the Ammonites attempt to obtain the one Regenesis ore that had been lost to him: Ore-7, which had been found by Metroplex. The Titan put the ore out of his attackers' reach by jettisoning it, so as a back-up plan, Shockwave had the Ammonites infect Metroplex with Ore-2, knowing that in time, he would have to call the Ore-7 back to heal himself. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

[[File:Endofthebeginningoftheworld-astrotrainsoundwaveshockwaveblitzwing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|I said a dab of purple, Needlenose. A dab! DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A DAB TO YOU!?]]
After an explosive assassination attempt on [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], Starscream confronted Shockwave, assuming the attack was his doing. Though Starscream warned Shockwave to not interfere with his political ascension, Shockwave refused to humor him; Starscream had made his choice to live with the Autobots, while the remaining Decepticons under Shockwave's care rejected the growing new government architecture. Shockwave seemingly underestimated Starscream's cunning, however, and later he and his Decepticons were assaulted by [[Arcee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Arcee]]. The Autobot assassin, under orders from both Prowl and Starscream, made it appear as if the Decepticons' own base had exploded and buried them, stealing Shockwave, Soundwave and those under their command away to the [[Black Room]] with Prowl's other secret prisoners. {{storylink|The End of the Beginning of the World}} In truth, this was all an act for Starscream's benefit: Prowl was under the control of Bombshell, and had only "captured" Shockwave and the others so they could be reunited with Megatron in time for his master plan: using a new and improved Devastator to conquer Cybertron once and for all. {{storylink|The Verge}} {{storylink|Before the Dawn}}

[[File:RID17 shockwave vehiclemode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95|BFF's forever!]]
His role in Megatron's plan now complete, Shockwave no longer needed to keep up appearances and promptly left Iacon. {{storylink|Plan for Everything}} Believing both Megatron's rebellion and Bumblebee's government were doomed to fail, Shockwave took [[Dreadwing (G2)|Dreadwing]] with him out into the wilderness, to the subterranean remains of Crystal City, which had somehow survived Cybertron's reversion to its primitive state ''and'' the supposed recent obliteration by an exploding [[Metrotitan (G1)|Metrotitan]]. It was the original seed Shockwave had sown beneath the city that had recreated it each time, [[Ore-14]], the key to resurrection—which Shockwave tested by shooting Dreadwing dead, only for the ore to immediately revive him. A plan begun millions of years ago was at last reaching its endgame. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}
{{-}}

===Dark Cybertron===
[[File:RID22 shockwave and necrotitan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Schrödinger's Robotic Demi-God didn't have quite the same punch...]]
From the new base he quickly established in Crystal City, Shockwave communicated with Jhiaxus again, who, in accordance with his plans, had lured Optimus Prime to Gorlam Prime. {{storylink|Homecoming (IDW)|Homecoming}} Shockwave was briefly distracted from his work by the arrival of a furious Soundwave, seeking revenge for Shockwave's abandonment of the Decepticons, {{storylink|Shockpoint}} but after a brief, vicious battle, it became apparent that the presence of Ore-14 in the cavern meant that none of the combatants could die, so Soundwave retreated, and Shockwave allowed him to leave rather than face further delay. While this was going on, Jhiaxus duped Optimus Prime into awakening a [[Quintessa (IDW)|Titan]] that had been slumbering on Gorlam Prime, which, under the direction of new recruit [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], then teleported directly to Crystal City. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}} Shockwave gleefully welcomed the Titan, and watched as the Ore-2 from Gorlam Prime in its systems began reacting with the Ore-14 around them, transforming it into a zombie "Necrotitan". Through the link to that Dead Universe this behemoth provided, Shockwave was able to contact his old contemporaries Nova Prime and Galvatron, and, feigning obeisance, vowed to serve Nova in the conquest of the living universe. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} In forging the communications link between the living and Dead Universes, however, the Necrotitan's space bridge had unexpectedly disappeared, leaving Nova and Galvatron with no means of crossing over, but Shockwave, of course, had a contingency plan: the space bridge he had equipped Megatron's body with months beforehand. {{storylink|Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2|Black Metal}}

[[File:RID24 shockwave waspinators staff.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.67|Careful, the universe hates the guy who uses that.]]
Megatron was currently in Autobot custody after the failure of his most recent scheme, so Shockwave had the deceased NAIL leader [[Metalhawk (G1)|Metalhawk]] revived with Ore-14 and mentally controlled by Jhiaxus into retrieving Megatron's immobilized form for his use. {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}} Unsurprisingly, Megatron refused to co-operate, so Shockwave sliced him open and activated the bridge manually, {{storylink|Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|Into the Abyss}} but as Nova Prime and Galvatron began to emerge, the united forces of Bumblebee's Autobot and Soundwave's Decepticons stormed Crystal City. During the ensuing battle, Shockwave took possession of Waspinator's stinger weapon, through which the hapless Decepticon had forged his link with the Titan; using this link, Shockwave was able to take direct control of the Necrotitan, and brought it crashing into the cavern to end the conflict. In the chaos that resulted, Nova Prime was forced back through the portal, but Galvatron managed to make the crossing, and was then surreptitiously directed by Shockwave to disable Megatron, shutting the portal down. Finally, Shockwave sent the Titan to ravage Iacon. {{storylink|Finest Hour: Dark Cybertron Chapter 5|Finest Hour}}

In short order, Jhiaxus, Bludgeon and Monstructor returned to Cybertron, bringing with them what ores they had obtained during their travels, the last of the pieces now in place for Shockwave's endgame to be enacted. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} The Necrotitan's rampage was no mere act of random destruction: it was intended to force Metroplex's hand, necessitating that he return to Cybertron to defend his allies, bringing the Ore-7 with him, thereby gathering all the products of Regenesis on Cybertron at last. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}} Uniting the Ore-7 with Ore-2 and Ore-14 put the power of life and death in Shockwave's hands; merging Ore-6 with Ore-8 granted him control of the potential energy of all matter; and fusing Ore-1 and Ore-13 bent the fabric of time to his will. The universe itself was now Shockwave's to mould, but to do so required the sacrifice of ''another'' universe: the Dead Universe. Nova Prime's failure to cross over had not been unintentional; cast back to the Dead Universe, he was subsequently slain by Optimus Prime, who had traveled there through the Gorlam Prime portal, just as Shockwave had planned. [[File:RID27 unstuck in time.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95| See, told ya]] With Nova dead, his control of the energies of the Dead Universe was lost, allowing Shockwave to drain them via an unwitting Galvatron's link. With these powers combined within him, Shockwave could now enact the perfect solution to the problem of finite resources that he had striven to solve all his life: he would bring the Dark Cybertron prophecy to fulfillment by collapsing all of reality into a pinpoint singularity, to feed Cybertron in an endless forever. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

[[File:DarkCybertron12-Shockwave.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.67|"Interrogative: Is this... emotion?"]]
The time machine from Turmoil's ship was used to drain the life energy of the Dead Universe from its very beginning to its end, then linked with Shockwave's systems. Upon the machine's activation, Shockwave was assailed with images of his life from all throughout his past; only his emotionless focus prevented his mind from being set adrift on the sea of time. The unlikely pair of Bumblebee and Megatron ventured into Crystal City to stop him, but the empowered Shockwave slew Bumblebee, sending Megatron into a rage. {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} The battle between the two Decepticons was soon joined by Optimus Prime, returned from the Dead Universe, who attempted to reason with Shockwave and remind him of the kindly senator he had once been. Prime's words had little effect, so Megatron opted for a more outrageous display: his recent experiences had opened up a new way of thinking to him, and before the stunned Shockwave's eye, he declared himself an Autobot and donned the faction's symbol. Confused and distraught, Shockwave's focus began to waver, and the memories of his pre-Shadowplay self began to creep back, until Optimus gave them a final push by reminding him of small, intimate details of their friendship like a broken bench at their favored meeting spot. Senator Shockwave was horrified to see what he had become, but with the time machine integrated with his systems, he was unable to simply turn if off. At Shockwave's request, Prime and Megatron opened fire and destroyed the drive, collapsing the machine into a singularity that seemingly consumed Shockwave's body. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}}

Six months later, Shockwave's old base of Crystal City (along with Ore-14 and the Time Drive) had been completely consumed, leaving a city-sized dent in the planet's surface. The singularity itself hovered a few feet above the centre of the crater. Ironhide was a frequent visitor, as Shockwave's machinations had destroyed his vision for the future. No one on Cybertron either knew or cared that Shockwave had seemingly perished as his original self rather than the emotionless one he was famous for. {{storylink|The World of Tomorrow}} News of Shockwave's demise would eventually reach Earth; when [[Ian Noble]] encountered the "[[Maximal Shockwave]]" that the real Shockwave had once created, he mistook the facsimile for the genuine article. {{storylink|Power and Glory}}

===Onyx Prime===
[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-MegatronusOrigins.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"So all of IDW isn't my fault yet? Time to fix that!"]]
Unbeknownst to all, Shockwave had ''not'' perished beneath Crystal City; rather, the singularity Shockwave had inadvertently created could warp ''time'' as well as space. Shockwave was flung back in time by twelve million years and wound up in the barbaric age following the departure of the [[Knights of Cybertron]], awakening in the land where the Crystal City would one day be founded.

Badly damaged and running low on energon, Shockwave aimlessly wandered the deserts of prehistoric Cybertron, coming to grips with his newfound emotions, until the day he stumbled across "[[Onyx Prime|Onyx]]," a kindly shepherd who led a flock of less-fortunate beasts in their search for [[energon]]. Realizing the historical significance of this individual from his studies of Cybertronian history, {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} Shockwave saw a way that he could complete his final goal of ensuring a lasting Cybertronian hegemony, {{storylink|Last Stand (Unicron)|Last Stand}} and swiftly slew him. The deed done, Shockwave recruited one of Onyx's followers and dubbed this nomad "[[The Fallen|Megatronus]]", so named for the Decepticon conqueror that would one day arise. Shockwave fashioned a new body for himself from Onyx's remains, and dubbed himself "'''Onyx Prime'''"; {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} having learned from his mistakes, Shockwave was no longer a being of pure logic, and vowed to "embrace chaos" as he embarked on a new mission to wipe Cybertronian history clean and ensure the perpetual dominance of the Cybertronian species—a complex, multi-faceted goal that would last millions of years. {{storylink|Last Stand (Unicron)|Last Stand}}

[[File:OriginMyths-OnyxPrimeAndLiegeMaximo.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Shockwave thought he was a shoo-in to win the cosplay competition, but Liege crushed the fangirl vote.]]

Knowing that the conquests of Megatronus would provide the impetus for the rest of Cybertron to unify against the warlord, Onyx trained Megatronus as his pupil, instructing him in the ways of war and eventually inspiring him to build an empire of his own in Cybertron's western lands. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} As Megatronus's [[Darklands|Darklanders]] ran amok across Cybertron, Onyx set about gathering new allies, and found a willing collaborator in the deposed king [[Liege Maximo]] {{storylink|Origin Myths}} and his army of bestial [[Maximal]]s. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 5: Endless Forever|Endless Forever}} Taking on the Maximals as his new "menagerie," Onyx brought his forces to the village that would one day become the Crystal City, where he met with the alliance of Primes —[[Alchemist Prime|Alchemist]], [[Vector Prime|Vector]], [[Solus Prime|Solus]], [[Nexus Prime|Nexus]], and [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]]—and inspired their followers to take up arms and stop Megatronus' army together, using the young Alpha Trion's belief in the power of myths and legends to goad the young civilization into taking a stand.

The next morning, Onyx and his forces joined the fight against Megatronus; as the battle ground on, however, the ground beneath Cybetrtron shook and disgorged three [[Titan (group)|Titans]]: [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], [[Metrotitan (G1)|Metrotitan]], and [[Chela]]. The sight of the ancient warriors drew the entire battle to a halt, providing Onyx Prime with the opening to slice through the Darklanders and reach Megatronus; his goal of unifying Cybertron against a common foe accomplished, Onyx and Megatronus agreed to a "truce," and that night all eight Primes agreed to work together to unify their world. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} Onyx took advantage of the new peace to begin spreading stories of his own devising—not only did he design a [[Autobot|sigil]] for their new alliance, based on his foreknowledge of the rise of the Autobots, he would also invent the "[[Dark Cybertron (prophecy)|Dark Cybertron prophecy]]" out of whole cloth, the prophecy that his younger self had tried to complete. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

[[File:OP10-SurpriseMeeting.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|''Who's been messing up everything? It's been Shockwave all along!'']]

Alpha Trion was less than convinced by these manipulative tales, worrying that Onyx was beginning to blur the line between "stories" and outright lies, {{storylink|Origin Myths}} but Onyx Prime soon learned that he could keep Trion's suspicions at bay by feeding him one well-told tale after another. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

During the reign of the Thirteen, Onyx Prime became a feared warlord in his own right, establishing a kingdom in the city of [[Kalis]] {{storylink|The Crucible}} and taking on the Titan [[Chela]] as his servant, {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}} with the [[Titan Master]] [[Sovereign]] serving as his herald. {{storylink|White Heat}} In time, the other Primes came to believe that they were immortal, and that only a Prime could kill another Prime. {{storylink|The Crucible}} During this triumphant reign of the Thirteen, Onyx continued in his plans; as Shockwave had once experimented with the stranded crew of the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'', he now employed a similar method as he tracked the many complicated variables that led to his race invariably falling to civil war—an experiment he began by engineering the fall of the Primes.

[[File:OurFinest-AntillanMission.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|''Who's been pulling every evil string? It's been Shockwave all along!'']]

Onyx began sowing division among the Thirteen by encouraging their leader [[Prima]], to turn the Cybertronian race's natural drive to conquer outward so as to spread [[Pax Cybertronia]] across the galaxy, eventually targeting planets such as [[Caminus (planet)|Caminus]] and [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]]. {{storylink|Time Will Rust}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} Onyx and Megatronus led the first of these interstellar colonization missions; though their chronicler Alpha Trion would remember this expedition as one of interstellar goodwill, aimed at spreading the "light" of Cybertronian civilization to their neighbors, the truth was far uglier: when the [[Guardian robot|Omega Sentinel]] fleet arrived on the planet [[Antilla]], the genocidal ambitions of the Cybertronians became clear, sparking a brutal conflict between the Cybertronian colonizers and the native [[Antillan]]s. Shockwave informed Trion, who had chosen to gloss over the carnage in his official chronicle of events, that Antilla would become ''his'' world; Shockwave's means of ensuring that each of Cybertron's eventual colonies would "belong" to each member of the Thirteen. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} The war finally came to an end when [[Unicron's creator|an Antillan scientist]] developed and deployed a destructive [[Talisman (G1)|superweapon]] that annihilated all life on the planet. In the process, the planet itself was remade, transforming it into [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]—a being whom Shockwave would come to harness in his quest to fulfill his final goal. By deliberately awakening and loosing Unicron eons into the future, Onyx realized that the could use the [[magic]] of the weapon that had created Unicron to "poison" his homeworld; in doing so, he would sacrifice Cybertron itself in order to neutralize Unicron and ensure that he could build a new empire, an empire free of the superstitions, factional violence, and stigma that had plagued his homeworld since the start of Transformer civilization. {{storylink|Our Finest}}

Still unaware of Shockwave's larger goals, Prima blamed Megatronus for the mission's failure, and Onyx manipulated events from the shadows to ensure that the simmering tensions between the tribal leaders would boil over into full-blown hostilities, encouraging his ''other'' protégé, the Liege Maximo, to join forces with Megatronus and stage a coup against Prima. This coup would end with the death of Solus Prime, the first blow in what would become known as the [[First Cybertronian Civil War]]. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} {{storylink|The Crucible}} According to [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]], Onyx and the Liege Maximo were both "betrayed" by [[Micronus Prime]] during the war. {{storylink|White Heat}} {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}} Liege Maximo was eventually brought to justice; his use for this particular pawn now at an end, Shockwave agreed with the other Primes that he had forfeited his right to live on Cybertron and oversaw his banishment, imprisoning him aboard his own Titan, [[Vigilem]], and using a variation of the [[shadowplay]] technique to ensure that Maximo's Titan would become a mindless living prison. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

One way or another, Onyx Prime eventually allied with [[Nexus Prime]] late into the war, and together they used the [[Enigma of Combination]] to create an army of [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]]: [[combiner]]s of beasts and 'humanoid' Transformers. {{storylink|The Crucible}} This was only an alliance of convenience, however; Onyx was disgusted by the haughty Nexus, who saw Primes as superior beings destined to rule over "lesser" Cybertronians. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 3: Helden|Helden}} The barbarian warrior [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] found this unification disgusting, and eventually killed Nexus, his Headmasters, and those under his command in the twilight of the conflict. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|Earthfall Part 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}} The death of Nexus prompted the [[Titan Master]] [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Infinitus]] to defect to Onyx. {{storylink|White Heat}}

[[File:OP18-MegatronusDead.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.5|He made sure Megatronus would flee to a planet with the ''best'' ominous lightning.]]

With the war nearly at an end, Onyx joined Prima on his mission to bring Megatronus to justice aboard [[Emissary (IDW)|Emissary]], the three Primes tracked Megatronus to the barren world of [[Tsiehshi]]. Onyx and Prima went to confront Megatronus in a final duel; Onyx was happy to let Megatronus slice Prima in half with his own [[Star Saber (Prima)|Star Saber]], but then intervened; no longer requiring Megatronus's bloodlust, he slew his former student, coldly informing him that, thanks to the eventual rise of [[Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|his namesake]], Cybertronians would, after a fashion, remember his name. Trion was once more swayed by "Onyx Prime's" well-told tale that Prima had heroically slain Megatronus at the cost of his own life, and so this account became the "official" version of events that would find its way into the chronicles of Cybertron... and thus, the inspiration for the lie that the time-travelling Shockwave used to cover up the truth. Prima's body would be interred inside Emissary, who would carry it throughout the cosmos. Onyx, however, sabotaged Emissary's systems, and so the Titan crashed on the primitive world of [[Elonia]]: {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} one of the planets where his younger self would one day send [[Ore-12|one]] of his [[Regenesis]] ores. {{storylink|Our Darkest}}

Indeed, Onyx Prime had manipulated events so thoroughly that all of the planets where his younger self would select for the Regenesis program—Elonia, [[LV-117]], [[Arduria]], [[Caminus (planet)|Caminus]], [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]], [[Jungle Planet (colony)|Eukaris]], [[Gorlam Prime]], [[Prion (planet)|Prion]], [[Tsiehshi]], [[Velocitron]], and [[Earth]]—all possessed a connection to the Thirteen Primes or the [[Titan (group)|Titans]] who had once served them. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

By the end of the war, many of the Primes had either died or fled Cybertron, leaving Alpha Trion as the last Prime still on Cybertron. When Galvatron, [[Nova Prime|Nova]], and Alpha Trion visited his castle in Kalis, Onyx's former subject [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] informed them that he and most of his Maximals had fled. Though several members of his tribe stayed behind to fight on in his name, the remnants of his army were soon subjugated under [[Nova Prime]]'s growing school of [[Functionism|functionist]] doctrine, which denigrated individuals with [[beast mode]]s. {{storylink|The Crucible}}

Approximately seven million years ago, {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}} Chela had settled on an uninhabited jungle planet that he dubbed "Eukaris", which was intended to be a safe refuge where Transformers with [[beast mode]]s could live free of the prejudice they faced on Cybertron. {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}} {{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}} Eukarian legend states that Onyx's last command to Chela was to protect their home from any and all "standard-formers" by any means necessary. Even after his disappearance, the planet's inhabitants continued to venerate him, and [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] the [[Fateweaver]] claimed to be his prophet. {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}} Unaware of the truth behind his origins or his future goals, future generations of Eukarians would view Onyx as a wise and benevolent protector who preached equality for all Transformers. {{storylink|Time Will Rust}}

[[File:OurFinest-TheTalisman.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|''He's insidious! So perfidious! That you haven't even noticed!'']]

Onyx's innermost retinue of Maximals, however, would stay by their master's side aboard [[Nemesis (BW)|Nemesis]], as he set course for another world that would play an instrumental role in his ultimate goal: Antilla, now reduced to a barren wasteland of rust. There, Onyx excavated the heart of the superweapon responsible for devastating the planet and creating Unicron, and dubbed it the "[[Talisman (G1)|Talisman]]." Eventually, Onyx would decide that the Talisman would need to be moved to [[Earth]], to ensure that the organic world would become the seat of his new Cybertronian empire. To do so, he entrusted the artifact to his follower [[Domitius Major]] and sent them out into the galaxy aboard the ''Axalon,'' some 20,000 years ago, knowing that [[#Regenesis|his younger self would find and shoot down the ship]] and unwittingly ensuring that the Talisman would find its way to Earth. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} {{storylink|Our Finest}} The remaining Maximals stayed behind on Antilla with their leader. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}}

At some point during his stay on Antilla, Onyx would send Sovereign to Earth, ostensibly to find the Enigma of Combination and summon Onyx Prime when he had done so. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 3: Helden|Helden}} Sovereign, clad in a human disguise and conditioned with false memories, remembered this experience as a childhood visit from a "black angel" who showed him a world of rust and infinite darkness. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 2: Lagrange|Lagrange}}

[[File:OP15-OnyxOnCaminus.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.5|"And I killed Sparkplug, too!"]]

In the recent past, Antilla was visited by three [[Caminus (planet)|Camien]] Transformers who arrived on his planet following a Cybertronian beacon. Onyx instantly beheaded [[Magrada|one of them]] while the other two managed to escape. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}} Years later, Onyx followed them back to Caminus to retrieve samples of the [[Ore-4]] that his younger self had fired at the planet; arriving at [[Parvus Oppidum]], Onyx and his army felled their leader [[Praesidia Magna]], one of the two escapees, and dragged her body into a singularity under Onyx's control. Torchbearer [[Pyra Magna|Pyra]], who had survived a close encounter with the Prime himself, began experiencing nightmares of her old commander, trapped on the dead, rust-stricken world of Antilla, and Onyx Prime reciting an ancient Camien poem. It wasn't until Pyra Magna realized that if Onyx had fled when the opportunity presented itself, then he could not be infallible; bolstered by this knowledge, she and a new team of Torchbearers privately began preparing for his return. {{storylink|Ghost Stories}}

In order to fulfill his eventual goals, "Onyx"—at some point after leaving Cybertron—came in contact with Metrotitan once more, and used supplies of [[Ore-10]], seeded by his younger self, to manipulate the Titan's mind, leaving him firmly convinced in the "Dark Cybertron" prophecy Onyx had invented... and championing Starscream as the "Chosen One" who would unite the planet, with Shockwave fully aware that the vainglorious Starscream would leave the war-torn planet divided and unable to properly rebuild. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing|The Hallowing}} Shortly after Metrotitan returned to Cybertron and imparted Starscream with this knowledge, he was seemingly swallowed up by an explosion—{{storylink|Primus: All Good Things}} in reality, however, Shockwave had used [[Ore-9]] to teleport him to [[Earth]], where Optimus Prime would one day find and raise him from the ground; an act that would seemingly prove his status as a "true" Prime, only so that Shockwave could eventually tear it all down. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing|The Hallowing}}

When the [[Republic of Cybertron]] made contact with Eukaris in [[2015]], the presence of [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] and [[Starscream (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Starscream]] on the planet was enough to provoke Chela, who rose to carry out his master's final command. It wasn't enough, however; Starscream killed the Titan, allowing Eukaris and its inhabitants to join the [[Council of Worlds]]. {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}}

In his final battle with [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Optimus Prime]] in 2016, Galvatron warned his nemesis that Onyx Prime was still a threat, and would soon return. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}} When Infinitus and Sovereign made their presence known, Infinitus proclaimed that the Titan Masters were the "harbingers of [Onyx's] return". Though Optimus and [[Soundwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Soundwave]] were given pause to consider what Galvatron had said about Onyx Prime, they were confident they could best the ancient Prime. {{storylink|White Heat}}

After being captured by the [[Iron Klaw]] and hooked into a replica of the Talisman, Blackrock dreamt of Onyx Prime standing over his divided selves, reciting the same Camien poem. This vision caused him to realize that there was a connection between the Talisman and his former master. {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}} While hacking into [[I.R.O.N.]]'s systems, [[G.B. Blackrock|Blackrock]] found what Onyx had done to Centurion and declared his former master would have to go through him to get Earth. Blackrock was able to use the fact that both were pawns of Onyx to convince Centurion to stand down. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} During the final battle against [[Joe Colton|Baron Ironblood]] and his forces, Blackrock's consciousness entered [[infraspace]], where he encountered Onyx. Onyx revealed to his former servant that the Talisman was inoculation against a coming threat before attempting to slay the [[Titan Master]]. He was stopped by the spectre of [[Atomic Man|Mike Power]]. The two returned to the living plane, leaving an enraged Onyx behind. {{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}}

===The End of Everything===

[[File:OP15-LiegeChained.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|Shockwave brings the finer aspects of furry culture to Cybertron.]]

After [[Liege Maximo]] escaped captivity, {{storylink|Rubicon}} he eventually crossed paths with Onyx once again. Shockwave discussed Liege's exile, and having had time to reflect in his years imprisoned, he agreed with Shockwave's decision. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} Now reunited, the two began the penultimate phase of Shockwave's scheme: shattering Cybertron's faith completely, whether in Primes or Decepticonism, in order to allow chaos to reign. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}} As part of Shockwave's scheme, Liege pretended to be Onyx's prisoner, subdued and chained. Onyx returned to Cybertron atop Nemesis, and on arrival announced his intent to pass judgment on Maximo for betraying the Cybertronian race. Onyx agreed to Prime's request to meet with him, declaring him the mythical figure known as "[[The Arisen]]." {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|Surfeit of Primes}}

Throwing Liege at Windblade's feet, "Onyx" declared he had come to free Cybertron from its tangled web of alliances; at the subsequent meeting in the [[Spire]], Onyx offered to fix Cybertron's corrupted energon, causing the Mistress to ask if he was intentionally trying to split the Council of Worlds. As conversation went on, Onyx kept deflecting everyone's suspicions, painting himself as a victim of false accusations; when Optimus suggested that the Transformers give "Onyx" a fair chance to explain itself, his apparent willingness to embrace the Prime angered the recently arrived Soundwave, and as the situation grew increasingly fraught, Onyx's agents set off a massive explosion that killed Alpha Trion. Onyx quickly declared Soundwave and the Decepticons guilty, that democracy had failed Cybertron, and that the rule of Primes was needed once more. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 2: Another Mine|Another Mine}}

[[File:OP17 Everything is Shockwave's fault.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|"Old Man Shockwave?!"]]

As emergency crews scrambled, Onyx continued to slander Optimus' name in front of the arrived press, along with making himself look like a wounded party. Then he revealed his bombshell - a years-old recording of Soundwave secretly detonating [[Horri-Bull]]'s [[Inhibitor/deterrence chip|I/D chip]] to make it look like Bumblebee's doing. With that, Onyx told the gathered Cybertronians that when they found Liege to "do with him what you will", and left the crowd to fight amongst themselves. As he flew back to his ship, he was caught off-guard by Metrotitan's attack, the Titan having followed Optimus to Cybertron. As Optimus tried unsuccessfully to get the ancient Cybertronian to stand down, he fell, only for Onyx to catch him, and demonstrate the power of his ''own'' Titan, having Nemesis down Metrotitan with a single shot. Outraged at the apparent demise of his friends, Optimus attacked... and as he did, Onyx finally revealed himself as Shockwave. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 3: The Ground|The Ground}}

Taking his former friend captive, Shockwave began explaining to him the whole story of his survival, his trip through time, and the depths of his manipulation of history. When Optimus refuted Shockwave's belief in darkness, Shockwave—seeking to eliminate the last tenet of Cybertronian religion—dropped him into the Crystal City singularity, which promptly crushed Prime's body to nothing. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

[[File:EndlessForever ShockwaveandNemesis.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|It is only logical that my flagship looks like a giant singular eye.]]
With Optimus gone for the moment, Shockwave told Maximo to take a squad of Maximals to the not-quite dead Metrotitan, bluntly telling the Prime he was wasting time with his complaints as he shed the last of his Onyx disguise. Shockwave arrived over Metrotitan just as Starscream did the same, interrupting his former comrade's musing about whether he was The Fallen reborn to put him straight on a few facts: he had manipulated history to make sure the Seeker wound up in charge of Cybertron because he was a fool, who would have been unable to see Shockwave's plans coming, and that his religious musings meant that he was even ''stupider'' than Shockwave thought. Punctuating his revelations by finishing off Metrotitan, Shockwave left Starscream with a few more parting insults, leaving the "Chosen One" to his despair. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing|The Hallowing}}

Watching the nearby fight between Victorion and Devastator, the later unknowingly aided by the presence of one of Shockwave's Ores in the ''Nemesis'' above them, Shockwave mused on how he was providing what Cybertron needed, and how the results would validate his methods. He then made his way toward the Singularity, where he found [[Aileron|a Camien]] and a wounded Jetfire. Holding them at arm-point, Shockwave told the scientist he was required for the "final bloom". {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 5: Endless Forever|Endless Forever}}

[[File:Unforgivable PyrabeatsShockwave.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3]]
With the remains of the Matrix of Leadership now annihilated, Shockwave informed them that he needed to bring Optimus ''back'' from the limbo of infraspace; this was soon revealed as a lie, however, when Pyra Magna arrived, and Shockwave informed the duo that he intended for her to serve as a host for Optimus's bodiless consciousness. Learning that Onyx and Shockwave were one and the same, Pyra briefly tried to attack the Decepticon, but was unable to overpower him. Using a sample of Cybertron's tainted energon, combined with the energies of the Matrix from within infraspace, Optimus and Bumblebee were both able to escape back to reality, taking refuge inside Pyra's mind. With the two Autobots driving her onward, Pyra was able to take down Shockwave, ripping his gun-arm off in the process. Ultimately, the Torchbearer realized that she would have to do the right thing and spared Shockwave's life, presenting him to the Council of Worlds and revealing the great lie that their civilization had been built upon: the Primes were just robots like any other. Ultimately, Shockwave had succeeded in his plans to rob Cybertron of its heritage and history, stripping it down to nothing just in time for the arrival of the final piece of his plan: Unicron, awakened thanks to the machinations of [[Merklynn]] and preparing for its assault on the galaxy. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}}

[[File:OurFinest ShockwaveMadPlan.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
Shockwave was subsequently arrested, paraded through the streets in chains as he rambled aloud about his time as Onyx Prime. Unbeknownst to his jailers, his ancient servant [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] was a part of the crowd, one of the loyal Maximals ready and willing to serve his old master during the final phase of his plan. {{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}} As Unicron began his rampage across the galaxy, swallowing up each Cybertronian colony world one by one, Shockwave was visited by Starscream, and Shockwave took that moment to explain his plan: by relocating the Talisman to Cybertron, he had poisoned the planet, and when Unicron destroyed Cybertron, the planet-eater would die with it—leaving the rest of the universe open for him to conquer. {{storylink|Last Stand (Unicron)|Last Stand}} Shortly afterwards, Unicron did indeed appear over Cybertron, intending to consume it, leading Prime to interrogate Shockwave for more information regarding the Talisman and the doomed world of Antilla, and how the destruction of Cybertron would lead to the rebirth of a triumphant Cybertronian empire. {{storylink|Our Finest}}

[[File:RoadsEnd-Toronto.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|"Well, I'm off to destroy Canada. They've had it too good for too long."]]

Sure enough, Unicron began devouring Cybertron, prompting Shockwave to activate a built-in teleportation device and flee to Earth, reuniting with his Maximals in the streets of [[Toronto]]. Believing that his plan had gone off without a hitch, the Decepticon received a new cannon-arm, courtesy of Rhinox, and ordered his underlings to begin restructuring the planet into the new capitol of his empire, monitoring the destruction from atop the [[CN Tower]]. Shockwave soon learned that his plan had ''failed'', however, and for the simplest of reasons: Cybertron had indeed been annihilated by Unicron, but the Transformers on the planet had used the Talisman escape to Earth, bringing the artifact with them and allowing Unicron to consume the rest of the planet without any consequences. {{storylink|Road's End}} Trying to get his scheme back on track, Shockwave refitted the human building into a communications relay, tapping into the remains of Nemesis—now incorporated into Unicron's structure—and using them to scan Earth for the Talisman. Ordering his subordinate Bludgeon to retrieve it, Shockwave learned that the Decepticon's allegiance had shifted; he and most of the Maximals now served ''Unicron.'' {{storylink|Assembly (Unicron)|Assembly}}

[[File:Ceremony ProwlandShockwavefaith.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.5]]
As Shockwave tried to exert control over Bludgeon, Rhinox turned on him, only for Shockwave to easily overpower his minion. However, when the scientist tried to execute Rhinox, the Maximal revealed he had rigged the cannon and made it unable to fire on his kind. Seizing the weapon, Rhinox explained that the Maximals had turned on their master when they realized "Onyx Prime" had been nothing but a trick. Shockwave was saved by Prowl who quickly dragged him out to the street where [[Stardrive]] used her [[Dire Wraith]] magic to hack into his mind, and tie into the Talisman's operating system. Though making one last attempt to convince Prowl that "faith" was meaningless, Shockwave soon came to realize the hollowness of his philosophy when his mind was briefly linked to the [[Transformer afterlife|Afterspark]]. {{storylink|Ceremony}}

In the aftermath of Unicron's defeat, Shockwave was immobilized and chained up within the [[Nemesis (G1)|''Lemuria'']]. Shortly before Optimus Prime's funeral, Shockwave revealed to Prowl he was unsure which of the many faces he'd worn in his life was the "real" him. Before leaving, Prowl bluntly told the Decepticon that they had all been the real him. What Shockwave had always failed to realize was that people were judged, and defined, by their actions, not the intentions that they'd set out with. {{storylink|Post}}

[[File:Post Shockwavereflects.jpg|center|thumb|upright=1.8|[[Spock|"Change is the essential process of all existence."]]]]
{{--}}

==Notes==
*The unnamed senator was not intended to be Shockwave back in "Chaos Theory" but James Roberts immediately thought it would be cool to make him a character we already knew. Shockwave was picked because he was one of the few important characters that did not have an IDW pre-war backstory yet, and because it allowed Roberts to tie together empurata and shadowplay.<ref>[http://theunderbase.libsyn.com/the-underbase-deconstructs-shadowplay "The Underbase Podcast Deconstructs Shadowplay"], 42:30 - 44:00</ref>
*In his subsequent "Shadowplay" appearance, the still-unnamed Senator Shockwave was deliberately designed and coloured to look like Ultra Magnus,<ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-comics-discussion/716601-transformers-more-than-meets-eye-11-discussion-spoilers-29.html#post8649838 Forum post by Alex Milne]</ref> making it a real surprise that we'd been reading the origin of Shockwave all along. It helped that Shockwave was a ''Robots in Disguise'' character and this origin was then in the 'wrong' comic, tying the two together.<ref>[http://www.fullmetalhero.com/t14540/ Moonbase2's second interview with James Roberts - 01:39:20 to 59:30]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:IDW (2005) Decepticons]]
[[Category:Point One Percenters]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Senators]]

Zeta Prime (One)

2024-09-24T22:06:51Z

Mackstar:

{{disambig3|Zeta Prime}}
:''Zeta Prime is a [[Transformer]] from [[Transformers One (franchise)|One]].''
[[File:One_Zeta_Prime.jpg|right|thumb]]
'''Zeta Prime''' is one of the [[Thirteen|Primes]] and the first wielder of the [[Matrix of Leadership]].

==Fiction==
===''One'' film===
{{voiceactor|[[James Remar]] (English), [[Yōji Ueda]] (Japanese)}}
{{spoiler|Transformers One (film)|October 20, 2024}}
{{charstubfiction}}
{{storylink|Transformers One (film)|Transformers One}}

==Notes==
* The name "Zeta Prime" is not one typically associated with the Thirteen, usually being a character representing one Optimus Prime's predecessors. As the 13th member of the Thirteen's [[Thirteenth_Prime|identity]] is traditionally kept vague, Zeta takes their role in the film's depiction of the Thirteen, due to the need to portray them in a more direct fashion than usual.
{{thirteen}}
[[Category:One Transformers]]
[[Category:Thirteen]]

Thirteen

2024-09-24T21:52:00Z

Mackstar: added image of Transformers One primes

{{featured}}
{{disambig3|Thirteen}}
[[File:Original13.jpg|center|upright=2.8|thumb|Guess the one on fire!]]

{{quote|We are the 13, the first, the forgotten, each of us serving a function vital to the survival of the universe. Each of us designated a [[Prime (rank)|Prime]] and given a function to serve during the long march of infinity.|[[Vector Prime]]|"[[Vector Prime: In the Beginning]]"}}

The '''Thirteen''' are the first [[Transformer]]s created by [[Primus]]. Rightfully huge and powerful, each was designated a [[Prime (rank)|Prime]],<ref>A Hasbro Q&A response would later try to alter this. See Notes above.</ref> and given unique roles and natures to battle Primus's ancient foe [[Unicron]].

==Conceptual history==
[[File:BW Covenant.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Covenant (group)|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 (story)|Covenant]]". Written by [[Simon Furman]], this story introduces the undeniably similar concept of the [[Covenant (group)|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]].

[[File:Vectorprimeut.jpg|thumb|[[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 of Leadership|Matrix]]-bearer from the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel Comics series]]; [[The Fallen]], an enigmatic servant of Unicron from [[Dreamwave Productions]]' 2003 comic, ''[[Transformers: War Within: The Dark Ages|War Within: The Dark Ages]]''; and the [[Liege Maximo]], an ancient evil [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronian]] from the [[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|''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 [[Maccadam|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,<ref>Simon Furman panel, BotCon 2012</ref> recycling the same general idea behind the Covenant.<ref>Simon Furman at BotCon 2022.</ref>

[[File:ThirteenAaronArcherSketch.jpg|thumb|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 ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)|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 [[Vector Prime: In the Beginning|the first story]] produced for the [[Transformers Collectors' Club]]. This story also introduced the idea that all of the Thirteen were [[Prime (rank)|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.

[[File:NexusPrimeflankedbyotherPrimes.jpg|left|thumb|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 (G1)|Alpha Trion]], the Autobot elder from [[The Transformers (cartoon)|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 [[Maximal]]s) represented the beasts, [[Micronus Prime|Micronus]] was the progenitor of the [[Mini-Con]]s, [[Quintus Prime|Quintus]] was tied to the [[Quintesson]]s, with a Japan-inspired "trickster", a female "forger" ([[Solus Prime]]), and an "elemental" proto-Transformer filling out the group.<ref>{{citesocial|quote=Really we were trying to create a representation of each of the classic Transformer forms. So as I was creating the Thirteen, some had been figured out, right? So Megatronus I think, Liege Maximo, Alpha Trion I believe were already named characters... but then I tried to figure out how to bring the concept of beasts and combiners [and the Mini-Cons] and different elements into the concept, so that you had the whole pantheon of gods, different shapes and sizes and whatnot. So I went through and I drew kind of visions of what they could be. So this is not trying to figure the character out, but get the vibe of what the character was about, other talented people would come in behind me and do that. So there's like the idea that—why did the Quintessons think that they might have made the Transformers? Well they come from the guy that was like the Johnny Appleseed, or the character that seeded some of the planets, so they were confused... try to shore up some of these ideas for the Aligned continuity, right? Here's an elemental kind of concept, gears and metal and magnetism, kind of a proto-Transformer, kind of weird thing. [...] Here's another weird version of Megatronus, how big he is compared to like what Megatron would have been.|link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQLQ4VzuCGA&t=689s|name=Aaron Archer|site=''The Toy Armada''|title=Toy Armada Friday night LIVE: Creating characters and lore|year=2023|month=05|day=26}}</ref> 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, [[The Arisen|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]]'', alluding to the idea that he was one of the Thirteen. Working independently from Hasbro, Ichikawa evidently didn't think it would be appropriate to explicitly declare that Logos Prime was one of the Thirteen,<ref>{{citesocial|quote=Vector PrimeとThe Fallen以外の人影は全く誰のことも想定していません。ファンの方々は「1人はLogos Primeだ」と推察していますが、それも間違いです（彼を勝手に13人とするのは図々しく不適当と感じたので、そうしたくなかった）。満足いく答えではないかも知れませんが、これが本当のところです。🙇‍♂️|link=https://twitter.com/Hirovmi/status/1627056614024036352|name=Hirofumi Ichikawa|site=Twitter|year=2023|month=02|day=18}}</ref> but a silhouette matching Logos appeared in a lineup of the Thirteen from Ichikawa's "[[World of the Transformers]]" website (as seen at the top of this page), all but confirming the idea in the minds of fans. 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 singularity|multiversal singularities]], a concept which purported that across all the different [[universal stream]]s, 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.<ref>{{citesocial|quote=The Thirteen is probably not going to happen for a while, as it’s become more of a Hasbro thing than an IDW thing, and Hasbro need to crystallise the whole concept before it can be turned into a comic book. I think and hope it will still happen, as it’s a story I’d dearly love to tell, but I have no firm grasp or when or in what form it will eventually see print.|link=http://web.archive.org/web/20110612025753/https://hombreimaginario.deviantart.com/art/Interviews-10-Simon-Furman-130246343|name=Simon Furman|site=deviantART|year=2009|month=07|day=20}}</ref> 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, ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'', where he was a member not of a group of thirteen, but only ''seven'' Primes. Hasbro's [[Hasbro Q&A/October 2009#AllSpark.com|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''.

[[File:TransformersVault-Prima.jpg|thumb|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 (WFC)|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)|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 [[The Crucible|''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", {{SITENAME SHORT}} 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===
[[File:OneShallRise1-WellofAllSparks.jpg|thumb|325px|"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 "Multiverse Thirteen", something backed up in fiction which described their [[universal stream|universal cluster]] as being previously separate from the multiverse, but the core list has since propagated far beyond the bounds of Aligned media into such places as the [[2005 IDW continuity]], the ''[[Transformers: Cyberverse (cartoon)|Cyberverse]]'' cartoon, and even the ''[[Transformers: Generations (toyline)|Generations]]'' toyline.

*'''[[Prima]]'''—The leader of the Thirteen, a warrior of light and the first [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix-bearer]] who wielded the [[Star Saber (Prima)|Star Saber]].
*'''[[Vector Prime]]'''—The master of time and space, which he could manipulate through his [[Blades of Time]].
*'''[[Alpha Trion (disambiguation)|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 of Solus Prime|Forge]]. She was the first [[female Transformer|female Cybertronian]].
*'''[[Micronus Prime]]'''—The conscience of the Thirteen, and the first [[Mini-Con]], able to [[Powerlinx|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 [[Maccadam|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 [[Quintesson]]s 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 (Megatronus)|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 [[Optimus Prime (disambiguation)|awfully familiar...]]

===Multiversal Thirteen===
[[File:AnotherLight-Thirteen.jpg|thumb|325px|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 [[Source:Ask Vector Prime/Facebook#ThirteenList|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 of Leadership|Matrix-bearer]] and first Transformer born from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], the leader of the Thirteen.<ref>''Sentinel Prime was one of a dynasty of Primes, stretching back to the original '''13 Transformers''' and their leader, Prima.''—''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]'' (2005) 1st ed p15, "Sentinel Prime"</ref> He wielded the [[Star Saber (Prima)|Star Saber]], a mighty blade capable of unparalleled destruction.
*'''[[Liege Maximo]]'''—A legendary schemer.<ref name="askvectorprime">[[Ask Vector Prime]] on Facebook</ref>
*'''[[The Fallen|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'''".<ref>''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]''</ref>
*'''[[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.
*'''[[Logos Prime]]'''—An enigmatic figure who, operating in the present day under the new name Soundblaster, sought to pass on his incredible powers over time and space to an heir.
*'''[[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 [[Maccadam's Old Oil House|a bar]] on modern Cybertron, seeking to provide a respite from endless war.<ref name="askvectorprime"/><ref>In [[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide|''The Ultimate Guide'']], the enigmatic [[Maccadam]] was rumored to be a member of the Thirteen by drunken patrons of his bar. Vector Prime would later half-jokingly imply that Alchemist Prime and Maccadam were the same individual, as described above. There's nothing that explicitly ''says'' they're the same, but... you know.</ref>
*'''[[Solus Prime]]'''—A renowned smith who wielded a powerful [[Forge of Solus Prime|Forge]].<ref name="askvectorprime"/>
*'''[[Micronus Prime]]'''—The progenitor of the [[Mini-Con]]s.<ref>[[Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist]]</ref>
*'''[[Onyx Prime]]'''—In-tune with nature and the organic.<ref name="askvectorprime"/>

And three other powerful figures from "Transformers" lore:

*'''[[Last Autobot|Autonomous Maximus]]'''—A lonely sentinel who renounced his name, becoming simply known as the Last Autobot.
*'''[[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===
Particularly following the Shroud, certain realities include entirely different lineups of the Thirteen, which have included:
*'''[[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 (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]'''—A Prime known for his wisdom.<ref>''[[Transformers: Titans Return (cartoon)|Transformers: Titans Return]]'' episode 4, "[[Overlord and Emissary]]"</ref>
*'''[[Zeta Prime (One)|Zeta Prime]]'''—A Prime that in some universes takes the role as leader and first Matrix-bearer from Prima.<ref>''[[Transformers One (film)|Transformers One]]''</ref>

==Fiction==
===Generation 1 continuity family===
====Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity====
[[File:Thefallen.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|No, seriously guys, is it just me, or is it hot in here?]]

[[The Fallen]] was thwarted in his attempt to sabotage [[Primus]]'s [[Cybertron (planet)|physical form]], and the Thirteen allegedly died after casting the Fallen and his master [[Unicron]] through a [[black hole]] into another dimension. In truth, the Fallen was imprisoned in another dimension, while [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] kept watch over the Transformers in the [[Well of All Sparks]] and Primus entered his eternal sleep to hide from Unicron. {{storylink|Transformers: The Ultimate Guide}}

After [[Optimus Prime (G1)#Dreamwave Generation One continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Megatron (G1)#Dreamwave Generation One continuity|Megatron]] were lost in a [[space bridge]] explosion, the Fallen was free from his prison in [[unspace|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. {{storylink|Transformers: War Within: The Dark Ages}}

{{Unreleased DW G1 comic}}
In the present day, Jetfire discovered that Shockwave had broken the Seal for his cloning experiments. The Fallen's essence escaped and corrupted [[Sunstorm (G1)|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. {{storylink|The Enemy Within}}

'''Known members:'''
*[[Prima]]
*[[The Fallen]]
*[[Maccadam]] (rumored)

====Fun Publications====
[[Vector Prime]] aided the [[Autobot]]s in finding the [[Cyber Planet Key]]s to close the [[Unicron Singularity]]. He regularly reported their progress to [[Alpha Trion (Energon)|Alpha Trion]], but during one visit Unicron's servants [[Ramjet (Universe)|Ramjet]] and [[Nemesis Prime (Universe)|Nemesis Prime]] attacked. {{storylink|Balancing Act}} [[Skyfall (Cybertron)|Skyfall]] came to Cybertron looking for clues to his past, only to be attacked by [[Scorponok (Energon)|Dark Scorponok]], {{storylink|Balancing Act, Part 2}} but his forcefield protected him. Ramjet offered him clues to his past in exchange for his <s>soul</s> service. {{storylink|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. {{storylink|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. {{storylink|Balancing Act, Pt 5}} Skyfall tried to save Ramjet but his forcefield only ignited an explosion that killed Ramjet. {{storylink|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. {{storylink|Revelations Part 2}}

Skyfall was helping Sentinel repair [[Vector Sigma]], when [[Over-Run (Armada)|Over-Run]] informed him he had found a twenty-million-cycle-old carving of him and another bot. {{storylink|Revelations Part 4}} Immediately during a battle between [[Mini-Con]] Autobots and [[Decepticon]]s, Skyfall found [[Landquake (Timelines)|Landquake]]. {{storylink|Revelations Part 5}} The two seemingly vanished when Unicron attacked, {{storylink|Revelations Part 6}} when they had been transported to [[Breakaway (Classics)|Breakaway]]'s universe, {{storylink|Crossing Over, Part 1}} and the trio and went through a [[space bridge]] {{storylink|Crossing Over: Part 6}} to find [[Topspin (Classics)|Topspin]] in [[Axiom Nexus]]. [[Cheetor (TransTech)|Cheetor]] and [[Silverbolt (TransTech)|Silverbolt]] introduced the trio to [[Alpha Trion (SG)|Alpha Trion]]. However, [[Shockwave (TransTech)|Shockwave]] had Breakaway quietly subdued and taken to his laboratory. {{storylink|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 [[Transcendent Technomorph|TransTechs]]. {{storylink|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' [[spark]]s into their TransTech counterparts. Realizing Topspin was one of their kin, Skyfall and Landquake agreed to help. {{storylink|Transcendent: Part 3}} [[Nightscream (TransTech)|Nightscream]] found Breakaway was being held near the portal to Alpha Trion's dimension, {{storylink|Transcendent: Part 4}} and his acolytes attacked, rescuing Breakaway {{storylink|Transcendent: Part 5}} and entering the [[unspace|transwarp]] device. Alpha Trion explained to Skyfall he was the key to the reunification, and killed him as they entered [[Primax -408.24 Epsilon|his universe]]. {{storylink|Transcendent: Part 6}}

[[File:Reunification5-arisenexusprime.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95|"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 (SG)|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. {{storylink|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, {{storylink|Reunification: Part 2}} the [[Quintesson]] [[Aquarius (SG)|Aquarius]] appeared to take them to [[Megatron (SG)|Megatron]]. {{storylink|Reunification: Part 3}} Landquake explained their situation to the Decepticons, and Megatron asked [[Cyclonus (SG)|Cyclonus]] to bring [[Heatwave (Timelines)|Heatwave]], but then Cyclonus, revealing himself to be an agent of Alpha Trion, assassinated Megatron. {{storylink|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. {{storylink|Reunification: Part 5}} Nexus resurrected Megatron as Galvatron and defeated [[Omega Doom]]. {{storylink|Reunification: Part 6}} Using Galvatron's gift of the [[Space bridge|stellar spanner]], Nexus and Aquarius began dimension-hopping to find the shards of the [[Star Saber (Prima)|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. {{storylink|The Coming Storm: Part 1}}

The TransTechs knew the [[Mini-Con]]s to be the children of [[Micronus Prime]] {{storylink|Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist|Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/09}} and early on in their history were threatened with an ultimately failed coup led by [[Jhiaxus (TransTech)|Jhiaxus]], a follower of the [[Liege Maximo]]. {{storylink|Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist|Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/06}}

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

After several unspecified adventures, Aquarius ended up in Axiom Nexus and took charge of a shard of the Star Saber from [[Chifumi Takahashi|a courier]]. In exchange, he promised to help her get home. {{storylink|Transformers I.Q.#issue 48|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 (G1)|Ultra Magnus]], recently retrieved from prehistoric Shatteredverse Earth. {{storylink|Transformers I.Q.#issue 54|Transformers I.Q. trivia bonus #12}} {{storylink|Falling into Place}}

When he reunited the [[Star Saber (Prima)|Star Saber]] and the [[Terminus Blade]], Nexus Prime decided that he was going to return things to "how they used to be", {{storylink|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. {{storylink|Out of the One, Many}}

'''Known members:'''
:''See "[[#Multiversal Thirteen|Multiversal Thirteen]]" above''

====''Beast Wars Reborn''====
[[File:Bwreborn text.jpg|thumb]]
The '''Ancients''' (エンシェント ''Enshento'') were the original clan of Transformers created by Primus before he became [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], and possessed extraordinary powers over space and time. One of them, [[Logos Prime]], lost sight of his objective and memory of him faded away. {{Storylink|Planetfall (BWR)|Planetfall}} He would return under the name of Soundblaster, abducting [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] and [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] so he could apparently appoint Megatron as his successor. [[Vector Prime]] was sent by Primus to stop the plot and was taken aback when confronted with his fellow Ancient who he thought lost. {{Storylink|Master of the Game}} While Vector Prime and what remained of Logos Prime fought on the astral plane, Soundblaster revealed the [[Zeonomicon]], the key to his power, and had Optimus and Megatron hunt it down on [[Jungle Planet (colony)|Animatron]] to decide who would inherit his power. {{storylink|Planetfall (BWR)|Planetfall}}

'''Known members:'''
*[[Vector Prime]]
*[[Logos Prime]]

====2005 IDW continuity====
[[File:Heavy-TheThirteen.jpg|thumb|left|350px|"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 (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Shockwave]] was cast back in time by the destruction of his [[chronal drive]], and—after an encounter with a kindly shepherd named [[Onyx Prime|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 "[[The Fallen|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; {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|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 [[Protihex|Protohex]] and the [[Forgotten Plains]], murdering neighbouring ruler [[Septimus Prime]] and recruiting the fearsome twin [[gladiatorial combat|gladiators]] [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] and [[Arcee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Arcee]] to become his vanguards. Other tribal leaders who had arisen, including [[Alchemist Prime]], [[Vector Prime]], [[Solus Prime]], [[Nexus Prime]] and [[Alpha Trion (G1)|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]]." {{storylink|Origin Myths}}

[[File:OP18 Thirteen in Crystal City.jpg|thumb|right|375px|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]], {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|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 [[Titan (group)|Titan]]s—[[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], [[Metrotitan (G1)|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 [[Autobot|insignia]] to commemorate their alliance—{{storylink|Origin Myths}} all, of course, based on his own knowledge of what the future held. The [[Dark Cybertron (prophecy)|"Dark Cybertron" prophecy]] and idea of the Chosen One were specifically concocted to ensure [[Starscream (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Starscream]]'s future rise to power, as a "fool" like Starscream would not be able to see through Shockwave's machinations. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing|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. {{storylink|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. {{storylink|Heavy}} Each Prime commanded the loyalty of at least one [[Titan (group)|Titan]], {{storylink|The Sum and Its Parts}} {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}} while the diminutive [[Titan Master]]s served as their heralds. {{storylink|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. {{storylink|Origin Myths}} {{storylink|The Crucible}}

[[File:TheFirstWhoWasNamed-MegatronusKillsSolus.jpg|thumb|left|350px|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 [[Antillan]]s, with Prima blaming Megatronus for the expedition's failure. {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}} {{storylink|Our Finest}} Liege Maximo, who (seeing helpful lies as more beneficent than harmful truths) had become increasingly manipulative and self-serving, {{storylink|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 (Prima)|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 "[[Vigilem|Carcer]]". {{storylink|Rubicon}} {{storylink|Heavy}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|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. {{storylink|The Crucible}} Battle lines were drawn, but allegiances shifted throughout the war, necessitating betrayals and new alliances; Onyx initially allied with Micronus, {{storylink|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 [[combiner]]s. Together, they raised a new army of [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] using the [[Enigma of Combination]]. Disgusted by this fusion, [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] abandoned his post in Megatronus' army to slaughter the Headmasters to the last 'bot. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 3: The Mind Bomb|The Mind Bomb}}

Together, Onyx Prime and Prima hunted down Megatronus aboard Prima's Titan [[Emissary (IDW)|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 [[Elonia|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". {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|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 Prime|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. {{storylink|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. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|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. {{storylink|The Sum and Its Parts}} {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|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 [[Nominus Prime|his]] [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|dubious]] [[Zeta Prime (G1)|successors]] – began deifying the Thirteen Primes, with some going so far as to worship any leader who wielded the [[Matrix of Leadership]]. The [[Way of Flame|dominant religion]] on [[Caminus (planet)|Caminus]] exalted Solus Prime as the greatest of the Thirteen, {{storylink|The Sum and Its Parts}} while the four tribes of [[Jungle Planet (colony)|Eukaris]] and their prophet [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] viewed Onyx Prime as a benevolent protector. {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|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]]''. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 4: Dance Among the Shadows|Dance Among the Shadows}} {{storylink|Starscream: The Movie (comic)|Starscream: The Movie}}

[[Micronus Prime]], master of [[Prion (Titan)|Prion]], {{storylink|White Heat}} was known to have abandoned his native universe entirely after founding a colony of [[Mini-Con]]s. By the present day, his body lay dormant in the center of an alternate universe: the subatomic realm of [[Microspace]]. {{storylink|O Ship of State}} The ruler of Microspace, [[Baron Karza]] eventually [[enerchange]]d with Micronus and used the Prime's power to try and conquer the Earth, {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 1|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. {{storylink|Wrath of Karza issue 5|Wrath of Karza #5}}

[[File:GhostStories-onyxprime.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"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]]. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|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. {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}}

In the modern day, [[Shockwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|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. {{storylink|The Crucible}} {{storylink|The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|The First Who Was Named}}

When Cybertron re-opened a [[space bridge|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]]". {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 3: The Medium and the Message|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. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth|Once Upon a Time on Earth}} [[Colonist Soldiers|New recruits]] from Caminus, Eukaris, [[Velocitron]], and [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]] believed wholeheartedly in Optimus's status as one of the Thirteen and began wearing [[mouthplate]]s to better emulate their leader. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 1: To Walk Among the Chosen|To Walk Among the Chosen}}

Liege Maximo escaped from his imprisonment in Carcer in 2017, following a [[zombie]] Titan invasion on Cybertron. {{storylink|Rubicon}} The Camien [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]] was released from prison by Cybertron's leader Starscream to hunt Maximo down, {{storylink|Heavy}} {{storylink|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. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 1: Surfeit of Primes|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. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 2: Another Mine|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. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 4: The Hallowing|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/Generation 1|Unicron]]'s arrival. {{storylink|The Falling, Chapter 6: Unforgivable|Unforgivable}}

'''Known members:'''
:''See "[[#Covenant Thirteen|Covenant 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, {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/20}} while [[Mortilus]] remained beneath the Earth with their ship, alongside his vassal [[Bruticus (RID)|Bruticus]]. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/08}}

As "quasi-humans", the Thirteen would become known to the local humans as the {{w|Twelve Olympians|gods of Olympus}}. [[Vector Prime]] was {{w|Hermes}}; the rage-filled [[The Fallen|Megatronus]] was {{w|Ares}}; the hard-working [[Solus Prime]] was {{w|Hephaestus}}; the wise [[Alpha Trion (disambiguation)|Alpha Trion]] was {{w|Athena}}; the eldest of their number [[Prima]] was {{w|Zeus}}; his close ally [[Nexus Prime|Nexus Maximus]] was {{w|Hera}}; the nature-loving hunter [[Onyx Prime]] was {{w|Artemis}}; the hard-drinking [[Alchemist Prime]] was {{w|Dionysus}}; the vain and manipulative [[Liege Maximo]] was {{w|Aphrodite}}; the healer [[Last Autobot|Autonomous Prime]] was {{w|Apollo}}; the chaotic [[Adaptus]] was {{w|Poseidon}}; the solitary Mortilus was {{w|Hades}}; and the knowledge-sharing [[Epistemus]] was {{w|Demeter}}. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/20}} {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|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, {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/20}} and because of the animosity between Hephaestus and Aphrodite, Zeus decreed that they should be [[Transformer romance|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. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/08}}

'''Known members:'''
{{collist|3|
*[[Vector Prime|Hermes]]
*[[The Fallen|Ares]]
*[[Solus Prime|Hephaestus]]
*[[Alpha Trion (disambiguation)|Athena]]
*[[Prima|Zeus]]
*[[Nexus Prime|Hera]]
*[[Onyx Prime|Artemis]]
*[[Alchemist Prime|Dionysus]]
*[[Liege Maximo|Aphrodite]]
*[[Last Autobot|Apollo]]
*[[Adaptus|Poseidon]]
*[[Mortilus|Hades]]
*[[Epistemus|Demeter]]
}}

====''Prime Wars Trilogy'' continuity====
=====''Prime Wars Trilogy'' marketing material=====
The [[spark]]s of the original Primes were carried by the [[Prime Master]]s, diminutive Transformers who, when in spark mode, could unite with larger Transformers to grant them [[Prime Master/Combinations|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]].<ref name="POTPMatrix">Comments made by Hasbro representatives at [[San Diego Comic-Con]] 2017.</ref> 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|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 [[The Fallen|Megatronus]]'s hands, the remaining members chose to seal away the [[Requiem Blaster (Megatronus)|Requiem Blaster]] in [[Primal Swamp]], tasking a series of guardians with protecting it that culminated in [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]]. {{storylink|Athenaeum Sanctorum (episode)|Athenaeum Sanctorum}}

During a crisis, the [[Mistress of Flame]] prayed to Primus and the Thirteen for spiritual guidance and aid. {{storylink|Overlord and Emissary}}

'''Known members:'''
{{collist|3|
*[[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]
*[[Alchemist Prime]]
*[[Quintus Prime]]
*[[Alpha Trion (disambiguation)|Alpha Trion]]
*[[Amalgamous Prime]]
*[[Solus Prime]]
*[[Prima]]
*[[The Fallen|Megatronus]]
}}
{{note|The intro sequence to ''Power of the Primes'' shows the wheel of symbols representing the twelve Primes of the ''Power of the Primes'' marketing material; however, considering the anomalous presence of Sentinel, it's hard to take this as confirmation that those twelve are members of the Thirteen in-universe.}}

====2019 IDW continuity====
The Thirteen Primes were said to have lived in the [[Age of Primes]], before they vanished. {{storylink|War World: Prime|Prime}} [[Termagax]] considered them to be metaphors, avatars, or an expression of the life pattern that made up Cybertron itself, {{storylink|End of Time}} even postulating that the Thirteen might have been fabricated by the early Cybertronians to explain the origins of their [[Artifacts of the Primes|fourteen artifacts]]. Out of all these artifacts, only the Matrix of Leadership and the Enigma of Combination had been seen following the Primes' disappearance. {{storylink|Lord of Misrule: Sea of Rust I|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. {{storylink|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. {{storylink|A Dust of Crystals}}

When forced to take [[Lodestar (Titan)|Lodestar]] on an almost certainly suicidal mission against a crazed [[Vigilem]], [[Lightbright (G1)|Lightbright]] prayed that the Thirteen would see the two through their task. {{storylink|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. {{storylink|War World: Prime|Prime}}

'''Known members:'''
:''See "[[#Covenant Thirteen|Covenant Thirteen]]" above''

{{note|Though the Thirteen's membership in this timeline is based off the "[[#Covenant Thirteen|Covenant Thirteen]]", only ten of the group's members were identified before the continuity came to a close. Of the missing three, the [[Transformation cog]] of [[Amalgamous Prime]] and the [[Triptych Mask]] of [[Onyx Prime]] were mentioned by Termagax and while [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] appeared, there was no explicit confirmation, or rejection, that he was one of the Thirteen. Though he ''does'' appear in a stained-glass mural alongside other members of the Thirteen in [[The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Five|issue #11]].}}
{{--}}

===Live-action film series===
{{main|Dynasty of Primes}}

[[File:ROTF-sixprimes.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.66|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 [[Seeker (ROTF)|Seekers]] and [[Constructicon (ROTF)|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. {{storylink|Tales of the Fallen issue 3|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 of the Primes|tomb]] with his brothers' bodies to hide the Matrix. {{storylink|Tales of the Fallen issue 4|Tales of the Fallen #4}}

A long time passed, and The Fallen was eventually dug up. From his prison, he pushed [[Megatron (Movie)|High Protector Megatron]] into forming the Decepticons. {{storylink|Defiance issue 2|Defiance #2}} Thousands of years later, [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], the sole surviving descendant of the Primes to survive The Fallen's rampage, {{storylink|Revenge of the Fallen issue 3|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. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}

'''Known members:'''
*[[Prima]]
*[[The Fallen]]

{{note|The ''Revenge of the Fallen'' adaptations have thirteen Primes. While designs were made for twelve non-Fallen Prime heads, the finished film shows only seven Primes, and this change was followed in ''[[Transformers: Tales of the Fallen|Tales of the Fallen]]'' and [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|the Titan magazine]].}}

===Aligned continuity family===
[[File:OneShallRise1-TheThirteen.jpg|thumb|upright=2.2|They're not a fan of direct lighting.]]

Seeing the endless stalemate between him and [[Unicron/Aligned|Unicron]], [[Primus]] created the Thirteen, warriors in the mould 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 Prime|Onyx]], [[Micronus Prime|Micronus]] and [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|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 (WFC)|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 Prime|Quintus]], [[Amalgamous Prime|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. {{storylink|Transformers: The Covenant of Primus|Covenant of Primus}}

What lore regarding the Primes survived into the pre-War era is that their war made "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. Afterwards, the [[Covenant of Primus]] decreed Cybertron could only have one Prime at a time. {{storylink|Transformers: Exodus|Exodus}} The chamber of the [[Autobot High Council|High Council of Cybertron]] had statues depicting the Primes. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 3}}

[[File:OneShallRise1-Thirteenattack.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|Three seconds of one episode made up for a lifetime of lack of Thirteen images.]]
[[Alpha Trion (WFC)|Alpha Trion]] remained on Cybertron, recording these events into the Covenant, and the Primes became myths doubted by [[Jazz (WFC)|some]]. Alpha Trion retreated into becoming the Archivist of the [[Hall of Records]] when [[Sentinel Zeta Prime|Sentinel Prime]], the [[Autobot High Council|High Council]], and the [[Guilds of Cybertron]] ignored his protests about the [[Functionism|caste system]]. The [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] did not bestow itself onto another until the unworthy Sentinel died, and [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] was imbued with it, while his nemesis had become known as [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]], who like his namesake had come to destroy that he believed in. {{storylink|Transformers: Exodus|Exodus}}

During his travels across the galaxy, Optimus Prime encountered both [[Vector Prime|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. {{storylink|Transformers: Exiles|Exiles}}

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

Before Optimus Prime was to die, {{storylink|Predacons Rising (Prime)|Predacons Rising}} the Primes intercepted his [[spark]] and brought him to their [[Realm of the Primes|realm]]. {{storylink|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. {{storylink|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]]. {{storylink|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, {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 1}} which he successfully accomplished with the aid of the [[Bee Team (RID)|Bee Team]]. {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 2}}

'''Known members:'''
:''See "[[#Covenant Thirteen|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. {{storylink|Dweller In The Depths (Cyberverse)|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. {{storylink|Silent Strike}}

In the modern era, the only known members of the Thirteen to survive were [[Alpha Trion (Cyberverse)|Alpha Trion]] and [[Alchemist Prime]]. {{storylink|Dweller In The Depths (Cyberverse)|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 (Cyberverse)|Bumblebee]] personally didn't buy into, of his true origins circled around. {{storylink|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 (Cyberverse)|Optimus Prime]], and passed the Matrix on to him after Trion was mortally wounded, inducting him as a Prime. {{storylink|Matrix of Leadership (episode)|Matrix of Leadership}}

'''Known members:'''
:''See "[[#Covenant Thirteen|Covenant Thirteen]]" above''

{{note|The fact that Optimus Prime is not, apparently, an ancient Cybertronian like he is in the [[Aligned continuity family]] makes it unclear how he fits into the Thirteen, despite having one of the thirteen pillars in [[Matrix of Leadership#Alternate universe|a divergent timeline's Matrix]]. ''Cyberverse'' writer [[Mae Catt]] suggested that it was possible that there were additional pillars for other Primes within the Matrix that just happened to be "offscreen".}}

===''EarthSpark'' cartoon===
[[File:Disarmed-TheThirteen.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Solus has been hulking up.]]
The Thirteen Primes established [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s culture in its early days. One of their number, Quintus, eventually left Cybertron, using his [[Emberstone]] to seed life on other planets. {{storylink|Age of Evolution, Part 1}}

When explaining the power of the Primes to the Malto family, [[Optimus Prime (ES)|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 of the Primes|artifacts]]. {{storylink|Disarmed}}

'''Known members:'''
*[[Quintus Prime]]

{{-}}

===''One'' film===

{{spoilers|Transformers One (film)|October 20}}
[[File:One_Thirteen_Primes.jpg|right|thumb|325px]]
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. They ruled in peace for eons until the Quintessons attacked and threw Cybertron into violent war. The war raged for years until [[Sentinel Prime (One)|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 valiantly and had gained the upper hand when Sentinel betrayed them, decapitating Megatronus Prime and using his weapon to kill several of the others. Sentinel attempted to take the Matrix of Leadership from Zeta Prime's body, but it rejected him and disintegrated. Instead, Sentinel took Megatronus's 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.

Fifty cycles later, Orion Pax, D-16, Elita-1, and B-127 discovered the Prime's cave following an SOS from Trion. They reawakened the sleeping Prime and he recounted Sentinel's betrayal to them, before bestowing them with transformation cogs borrowed from Prima, Alchemist, Micronus, and Onyx. The four left to take the proof to the public while Trion held off Sentinel's forces, killing several Death Trackers before being captured by Airachnid. Trion was taken to face Sentinel, who gloated to him before killing the Prime for trying to give him a speech.
{{groupstub}}

{{storylink|Transformers One (film)|One}}

'''Known members:'''
*[[Prima|Prima Prime]]
*[[The Fallen|Megatronus Prime]]
*[[Onyx Prime]]
*[[Micronus Prime]]
*[[Alchemist Prime]]
*[[Alpha Trion (One)|Alpha Trion]]
*[[Quintus Prime]]
*[[Amalgamous Prime]]
*[[Solus Prime]]
*[[Nexus Prime]]
*[[Vector Prime]]
*[[Zeta Prime (One)|Zeta Prime]]

==Games==
===''Transformers Roleplaying Game''===
Some Transformers theorized that the Thirteen may have been the original combiners. {{storylink|The Enigma of Combination}}

==Notes==
*''Transformers: The Ultimate Guide'' asserts that all of the Thirteen were destroyed in the early battle between Primus and Unicron, but the statement was disproven by the book itself, since it recounted how The Fallen was not destroyed but exiled to a transdimensional prison from which he later escaped. Fun Publications comics would later depict Vector Prime as the sole surviving member of the Thirteen before introducing Nexus Prime as another survivor.
*In Hasbro Q&A on October, 2009 from [https://web.archive.org/web/20190911173807/https://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/63609-transformers-qa/ ''The Allspark Forum''], The Thirteen are referred to as "the Original Epic Warriors of Cybertron" by Hasbro.
*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 issue 4|''Defiance'' #4]] and the [[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (novel)|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 (group)|Covenant]]
*[[Primus Vanguard]]

==References==
<references/>

{{Thirteen}}
{{IDWPrimes nav}}

[[Category:Classics subgroups]]
[[Category:Cybertron subgroups]]
[[Category:Generation 1 subgroups]]
[[Category:IDW (2005) subgroups]]
[[Category:IDW (2019) subgroups]]
[[Category:Prime subgroups]]
[[Category:Primus]]
[[Category:Revenge of the Fallen]]
[[Category:Shattered Glass subgroups]]
[[Category:Subgroups]]
[[Category:Thirteen| ]]
[[Category:Transformers Roleplaying Game subgroups]]
[[Category:TransTech]]
[[Category:War for Cybertron subgroups]]