Thirteen

Guess the one on fire!

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 and given a function to serve during the long march of infinity.{{#if:|{{{quote2}}}}}{{#if:Vector Prime"Vector Prime: In the Beginning"|Vector Prime{{#if:"Vector Prime: In the Beginning"|, "Vector Prime: In the Beginning"|}}|}}

When Primus first created Cybertron, he created a crew of thirteen living robotic beings to man him. These beings, in imitation of Unicron's transformation abilities, were able to change their forms into the likeness of vehicles, weapons, and machinery. They were the first Transformers and all "Primes". Many of the thirteen died in a cataclysmic first battle with Unicron, where he was sucked down into a black hole and trapped along with his acolyte known as The Fallen, one of the thirteen who had turned against his brothers and joined Unicron. Of those that survived, many abandoned their original functions and were lost to time. Only Vector Prime was known to still be following the path he was set upon by Primus.

The thirteen

Vector Prime steps forward from the First Thirteen Tabernacle Choir with a heartfelt solo.

The identities of most of the thirteen remain shrouded in mystery.

Confirmed members are:

• Prima, the first Matrix-bearer and first Transformer born from Cybertron, leader of the 13.<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>
• "The Fallen" (original name unknown), the guardian of entropy.
• Vector Prime, the guardian of space and time.
• Logos Prime, also known as Soundblaster. The Beast Wars Reborn text story establishes Soundblaster as an "Ancient", equal with Vector Prime. There is also a silhouette resembling him in the image from the World of Transformers web site, found at the top of this article.
• Nexus Maximus, the guardian of the multiverse's Rarified Energon, capable of splitting into 5 smaller robots:
  • Skyfall
  • Landquake
  • Breakaway
  • Topspin
  • Heatwave

Possible members are:

• The Liege Maximo; he was confirmed in Simon Furman's "Alignment" story as one of the first thirteen, but that story was "unofficial" and of debatable canonicity.
• Maccadam; rumor on Cybertron says that he is one of the thirteen and that his bar exists outside regular space-time, linking all realities, though sometimes this rumor is chalked up to the imaginations of the bar's drunken patrons. The story "Prime Spark" from the Transformers Legends anthology confirms half of this rumor, portraying the bar as a multiversal nexus of sorts, though not making any specific revelations about Maccadam himself. The anthology labels all its stories as not being part of mainstream continuity, so its revelations could be viewed as irrelevant.
• The Last Autobot; according to the words he spoke "Since Cybertron's Creation, I have slumbered within the planet, awaiting a time long foreseen by your creator, Primus", it can be inferred that he might be one of the thirteen.

Numerous other very ancient Transformers exist—Boltax, steward of the Underbase, and the Keeper, protector of the slumbering Primus—but none have been included in the ranks of the thirteen.

Functions

Aside from their base functions as "crew" for Primus's planet form and their duty to battle Unicron, the quote above hints that each was given another charge. Three of the four known members of the thirteen were also charged with protecting specific aspects of the multiverse. It is possible, but unconfirmed, that each of the other ten might also have originally had an assigned role as guardian to some aspect of reality.

Vector Prime was tasked with overseeing the space and time continuum. The Prime who would eventually become the Fallen was tasked with overseeing the process of entropy. Nexus Maximus was tasked with overseeing the multiverse's Rarified Energon.

Multiversal singularities

The original thirteen are multiversal singularities like Primus and Unicron, with each character spanning the whole multiverse. For example, though The Fallen originated from the Dreamwave Generation 1 continuity, there is one of him in whatever universe Vector Prime, a Unicron Trilogy character, originated. Vector Prime's stewardship of Primus's children throughout multiple timelines and universes certainly lends credence to it as well.

Live-action movie franchise

IDW Transformers movie comics

This origin information was given by the Fallen and clashes with the above multiversal-true-to-all-continuities origin.

The Thirteen being created.

A race of beings that included the Fallen were the first creations of the All Spark. They were extremely powerful and able to travel across dimensions. The Allspark then created the Transformers to seek out stars that could replenish itself. The Fallen decided he wanted the Allspark's power for himself, and so slew the rest of his brothers...but they trapped him within a sarcophagus in the process. A long time passed, and he was eventually dug up. From his prison, he then pushed High Protector Megatron into forming the Decepticons. Defiance issue 4

DK Transformers: The Movie Universe book

This origin information was given by Simon Furman and also clashes with the above multiversal-true-to-all-continuities origin.

The All Spark created "the Primes". One of their number, however, fought the other twelve as he prepared to harvest the power of Earth's sun. In the end, he slaughtered all of his brethren, but they were still able to imprison this Fallen being in a pocket dimension and save the Earth. The Movie Universe

Revenge of the Fallen

The ROTF adaptations have thirteen Primes. The film itself has only seven instead.

See Seven Primes

Trivia

• IDW comics talked repeatedly about a planned/potential miniseries telling the story of the Thirteen. What similarity this new telling would have to the previous original thirteen stories is unknown. Hasbro became quite involved, and Simon Furman stated that it "seems pretty likely that Vector Prime will be amongst the 13, the Liege Maximo too, and possibly Alpha Trion. But nothing’s set in stone here yet." [1] No release date for this series was ever set. As of Botcon 09, IDW says this series is off their publishing schedule, presumably till further notice.

References

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