User:Daytonjhammon/Sandbox/Prima

< User:Daytonjhammon | Sandbox

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Prima? What? It's a manly name.

When the war against Unicron was in stalemate, Primus created the first Transformer: Prima (aka Prima Prime). Appointed by his creator as a "Warrior of Light", Prima wields the legendary Star Saber sword into battle with his fellow stewards of Primus' planetary form, Cybertron. His nature often brings him into conflict with his opposite, fueling tensions that eventually explode into the War of the Primes. Eventually, Prima's Matrix of Leadership, once attached to the Star Saber's hilt<ref>According to the Keeper in "Primal Scream", Marvel US #61</ref><ref>Nexus Prime's bio in Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 30</ref>, is relinquished and passed down to his eventual successor (and sometimes fellow member of the Thirteen): the Thirteenth Prime.

It is uncertain what relationship Prima has, if any, to Primon, another early Matrix bearer.

We are Primus. We are Prima. We are Prime Nova. We are Sentinel Prime. We are Optimus Prime.{{#if:|{{{quote2}}}}}{{#if:The essence of the Primes"Dark Creation"|The essence of the Primes{{#if:"Dark Creation"|, "Dark Creation"|}}|}}

Conceptual History

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The character that would later be known as Prima was introduced in 1986 as a "Powerful Robot" in the Sunbow cartoon episode, Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4. Created by the Quintessons, the "Powerful Robot" was an instigator of the Autobot Rebellion. This Autobot would be one of many Matrix Wielders seen by Rodimus Prime in the present-day of the cartoon, being preceded only by an "Ancient Robot". Over two decades later, The AllSpark Almanac II would retroactively declare the "Powerful Robot", previously considered a separate character, to be Prima.

In 1988, comics writer Simon Furman would introduce a lineage of Matrix wielders in the Marvel Comics continuity in "Dark Creation", including Prima, who was interpreted by fans to be the blue and yellow colored Transformer seen in "The Primal Scream". Simon Furman continued exploring the origins of the Transformers in the G2 Marvel comics, with "The Power and the Glory" giving Optimus Prime a glimpse into Cybertron's primordial past, only to see a purple and yellow colored Transformer emerge from the planet's surface as the definitive "First Transformer" created by Primus. This "first Transformer" was not depicted as a Matrix Wielder, nor did the comics suggest that this character was the same one seen in "The Primal Scream". Prima's placement among the Matrix Wielders would be further muddled by the BotCon 1999 story "Reaching the Omega Point" - which established a character called Primon as the first one to hold the Matrix, not Prima. Simon Furman's non-answer in an interview<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120713070554/http://www.alteredstatesmag.com/features/qanda/sfurman_3.php</ref>, claiming "The Matrix forgot", did little to mend this continuity error.

2004's Transformers: The Ultimate Guide declared Prima to be one of the "Thirteen Original Transformers" alongside Liege Maximo and The Fallen. The Ultimate Guide's page on Cybertron depicted images from the G2 comics and identified the "purple and yellow" bot as Prima, retroactively making the blue/yellow Transformer and purple/yellow Transformer the same character.<ref>https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/y8xcna3xgv4.jpg</ref> Prima's role as a member of an ancient pantheon, a "First Transformer", and an early Matrix Wielder, were now firmly established, with his predecessors in both the cartoon and "Reaching the Omega Point" being ignored, save for another retcon from The AllSpark Almanac II, which merged "Primon" and the "Ancient Robot" into one individual.

Hasbro took control of the Thirteen from Simon Furman, including Prima as part of their definitive roster of the Thirteen. Featured with a new design by Ken Christiansen during BotCon 2010, Prima would be shown wielding his personal artifact: a new incarnation of the Star Saber, carrying the Matrix in its hilt.<ref>Exodus</ref><ref>Nexus Prime's bio in Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 30</ref>. Given the title "Warrior of Light"<ref>BotCon 2010 Panel - HASBRO DESIGNERS: https://www.toycollectors.com.au/bc10/bc10hd.html</ref>, Prima's personality would be fleshed out in 2013's The Covenant of Primus, establishing him as a stick-in-the-mud warrior, leader of the Thirteen, and developer of early Cybertronian civilization. Prima's orderly nature would clash with Megatronus's brash and violent nature, leading to arguments that laid the groundwork for the War of the Primes. This feud between Prima and Megatronus would inform future characterizations of Prima in the 2005 IDW continuity and the Transformers Collectors' Club's Ask Vector Prime.

Prima would be featured in the Power of the Primes toyline with the name Prima Prime, which would be reused in Transformers One and the Age of the Primes toyline. One introduced an incarnation of the character who wasn't a Matrix wielder: that role would be given to the film's Thirteenth Prime, Zeta Prime. Age of the Primes would introduce the first proper toy for Prima Prime, amalgamating his Covenant and "Powerful Robot" designs together.

Note Concerning Main Picture

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Just as The Fallen's main picture is being discussed being changed into the AOTP concept art design, we could consider changing Prima's main page into his AOTP concept art design - provided we can find a clean enough version without text over it. I'm not saying we should change it because it's the most recent design, but rather because it combines his "Powerful Robot" design with his "Aligned" design, serving as a more continuity-agnostic version. I think using AOTP pictures should only apply to Prima, The Fallen, maybe Alpha Trion, and maybe Liege Maximo, but the latter two will depend on what their toy designs look like. The rest should stick with their Covenant of Primus designs as the main pictures for now. --Daytonjhammon (talk) 13:48, 26 January 2025 (EST)
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