Knights of Cybertron

This article is about legendary group from several continuities. For the namesake group from the Wings Universe, see Cybertronian Knight.

Not to be confused with those Knights serving the other guy.

The Knights of Cybertron are a mythical group that existed on the planet Cybertron. In the present day, they have disappeared, leaving little trace of their existence behind.

Fiction

IDW Generation 1 continuity

The Knights of Cybertron were fabled as the original children of Primus and the other four gods of the Guiding Hand, making them the original Cybertronians. Religion said that after the god, Mortilus, warred with the others ten million years ago, the early Transformers were rendered immortal and wise, and formed the Knights. After creating a paradise on their homeworld, they then left Cybertron to spread enlightenment throughout space, riding living city-ships called Titans, You, Me, and Other Revelations that included the likes of Metroplex, The Reluctant Specialist and the future Necrotitan. Homecoming The Knights were said to have ruled from the Halls of Order. Ruins

Whatever the truth of their origins, the Knights of Cybertron did eventually leave Cybertron to spread enlightenment and discover new worlds, marching under the banner of Adaptus, The Return of the King with lore reading that they eventually settled on a planet dubbed Cyberutopia which they had turned into a paradise. The Death of Optimus Prime You, Me, and Other Revelations How Bright Their Frail Deeds

The true nature of the Knights' journey however was depressingly mundane. While they had indeed made contact with alien lifeforms, the extended stay in deep space resulted in those Knights becoming patients zero for a new degenerative disease brought on by extended contact with organic life: atrophosia. Seeking treatment, the Knights made their way to the medical moon of Mederi, some ten million years prior to 2018. Detecting that the Knights wanted to both return to Cybertron but also find new worlds, the moon's telepathic field resolved this paradox by presenting itself as a perfect Cybertron, a Cyberutopia. Unaware of the true nature of the world they landed on and in such a state of bliss that they'd forgotten they were dying, the Knights inscribed a map in the crystalline core of the Creation Matrix and sent it back to Cybertron so that the rest of their kind could follow it and join them in utopia – where, presumably, they all died. You Are Here

Without the guiding influence of the Knights however, Cybertron had devolved into a primitive, tribal, society run by various Primes and warlords. Peace eventually came about when the Thirteen Primes emerged to unite the warring factions. The Crucible Heavy Origin Myths Indeed Cybertronian society had devolved so far that it was not well into the reign of the Thirteen that Cybertronians would again leave their planet. When the First Cybertronian Civil War broke out, Prima of the Thirteen fancied himself to be the last true Knight of Cybertron. The First Who Was Named

All the texts and artifacts about the Knights were considered to be dubious following the War of the Primes. The Death of Optimus Prime The Senate, however, knew that they existed and were once in control of the Matrix of Leadership, even being aware that the Knights had referred to the talisman as the "Creation Matrix". Chaos Theory Part 2 As a result of the Knights marching under Adaptus's sigil, the symbols of the other members of the Guiding Hand were conflated as having belonged to other clans of the Knights. An Axe to Break the Ice The Ties That Bind The Return of the King Lore on the Knights had survived on the colony worlds as well with Nautica of Caminus being familiar with them prior to her emigration to Cybertron. The Becoming

Before the Great War, Cybertronian society included a high class elite with the lower castes being subjugated leading to elements of discontent with these classes. When Rung stood up for himself, upper-caste bullies mocked him by asking him if he was a descendant of the Knights. Chaos Theory Part 1 Later that day, upon hearing that Orion Pax didn't believe in the Matrix's divinity, Springarm asked him if he also thought stuff like the Primal Prophecies or the Underbase were made up by the Knights of Cybertron. Orion responded that he didn't even know if he believed in the Knights or not. Chaos Theory Part 2

After becoming on speaking terms with the Omega Guardians, Shockwave incorrectly theorized that the Magnificence was what remained of one of the Knights of Cybertron, unaware that he had actually located Epistemus. The Ties That Bind The Return of the King

Dai Atlas and the Circle of Light believed in the Knights and their example, which more cynical Autobots like Prowl thought was an excuse to duck out of the war. Dai Atlas was, however, a true believer: even his name, in old Cybertron (Dei Atlas), translated into "God Map". The Death of Optimus Prime

In modern times, Megatron told Optimus Prime that if he won the war, he would bring about a rebirth of the Cybertronian race and create a new golden age that would put the works of the Knights of Cybertron to shame. Chaos Theory Part 1

After the war ended, the Matrix's map was discovered. Drift, a disciple of the Circle of Light, believed it pointed to the legendary Cyberutopia. Rodimus seized on this, believing that if they found the Knights they could restore the culture and Golden Age that the war had destroyed. He gathered a team of like-minded Autobots to search for Cyberutopia, taking the Lost Light as their flagship. The Death of Optimus Prime

Tyrest believed that he found the location of the Knights and Cyberutopia after he drilled a hole into his head but was unable to pass through the space bridge to this location. He believed that by using a universal killswitch to kill everyone Cybertronian that was "constructed cold" he could atone for his previous sins in life and pass through the portal. The Divided Self While circumstances prevented Tyrest from crossing over, Skids discovered he could do so, and found himself in the mind of Adaptus. Though the god tried to communicate with the Autobot, even revealing his sigil, the theoretician soon ran back through the portal which burnt itself out shortly afterwards. This Calamitous Life The Return of the King

Megatron knows an arc symbol when he sees it.

When questioned by Nautica, Metroplex would not reveal anything to her about the Knights other than the fact that she did not "deserve to know". The Becoming

Even after adopting the persona of the "Grand Architect", Adaptus continued to utilize his insignia. The Return of the King The Lost Light's repeated encounters with the sigil, alongside the other four emblems, led the crew to theorize that it was the coat of arms for a particular chapter of the Knights. How Bright Their Frail Deeds

After Team Rodimus had been exiled, How Bright Their Frail Deeds the new bridge crew examined Rodimus' map to Cyberutopia with Thunderclash scribbling the symbols of the other four gods around the target planet. The crew theorized that the many hieroglyphs they had seen represented the various clans of the Knights of Cybertron converging on Cyberutopia. Filling in the Blanks

Team Rodimus soon found their way to Mederi, where they discovered the fate that had befallen the Knights. You Are Here When they later confronted Adaptus, he bluntly stated the Knights, as the stories recounted them, didn't exist, having always been more myth than fact. The Return of the King

Live-action film series

The AllSpark had such a great power that Alpha Trion, the custodian of the ancient relics of Cybertron, used a niche group of Cybertronians to create the Knights of Cybertron, their mission being safeguarding the All Spark and prevent it from being used for chaos and destruction.

When the All Spark was lost in space, the Knights were approached by Megatron with a deal: he would surrender himself in exchange for amnesty. The Knights were reluctant to accept, but because they wanted peace for Cybertron, they agreed. They brought all of their members for a meeting, with the exception of the junior member Evac. As the meeting began, it became clear this wasn't a peaceful negotiation, as Decepticons began attacking the Knights. They contacted Alpha Trion, but he was unable to help them, so he transmitted a set of coordinates to Evac to follow that would lead him to Optimus Prime and hopefully the All Spark. Prepare for Battle

Wings Universe

The Knights of Cybertron were a fabled group in Cybertronian history. Sometime after the Great Reformatting, Alpha Trizer formed the Cybertronian Knights as a special unit to defend Cybertron, naming the unit in honor of the original Knights. Apelinq's personal logs

Notes

• The Knights were thought up by Mike Costa as a "sketchy" post-Chaos idea, but he couldn't get much enthusiasm for the idea. He handed the concept to James Roberts.
• The Robots in Disguise story "Primus: All Good Things" has the Titan said to be part of the Guiding Hand's fleet and that these gods lived in a city and were known by Omega Supreme. It's not known if this was the writer confusing the Knights with the Hand or if this is deliberate, mirroring how real world religions will get real-world historical details wrong or conflated. (Probably an error)
• The Senate were descendants of "the Progenitors". What relation the Progenitors have to the Knights is unknown.
• In the movie universe they are said to be marked with glyphs similar to the ones found on the AllSpark they have sworn to protect.

See also

• Cybertronian Knight
• Dinobot (AOE)
• Guardian Knight