Primus: Difference between revisions
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According to [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]], in the beginning, Primus, the giant warrior-god, emerged from the planet Cybertron; a reaction to the creation of something opposite to him, although it's not made quite clear who or what that something was. One day he felt something stirring within him, and his body split into five separate entities--Primus the life-giver, [[Mortilus]] the death-bringer, [[Epistemus]] the embodiment of knowledge, [[Solomus]] the embodiment of wisdom and [[Adaptus]] who represented change. These five beings were known as The [[Guiding Hand]], and it was they who brought forth the Cybertronian race to inhabit the planet of Cybertron. Primus believed that every Cybertronian had an obligation to do his part in society, thus blessing each one with a second form that best suited his environment and surroundings. However, Mortilus eventually rebelled because he wished the Hand and its children to strike out at the rest of the universe, while the other members of the Guiding Hand were against unnecessary war. Primus eventually destroyed the death god, but nearly died himself in doing so. He retreated to the heart of Cybertron from whence he came, reformatting himself into the life-giving supercomputer known as [[Vector Sigma]]. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations}} | According to [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]], in the beginning, Primus, the giant warrior-god, emerged from the planet Cybertron; a reaction to the creation of something opposite to him, although it's not made quite clear who or what that something was. One day he felt something stirring within him, and his body split into five separate entities--Primus the life-giver, [[Mortilus]] the death-bringer, [[Epistemus]] the embodiment of knowledge, [[Solomus]] the embodiment of wisdom and [[Adaptus]] who represented change. These five beings were known as The [[Guiding Hand]], and it was they who brought forth the Cybertronian race to inhabit the planet of Cybertron. Primus believed that every Cybertronian had an obligation to do his part in society, thus blessing each one with a second form that best suited his environment and surroundings. However, Mortilus eventually rebelled because he wished the Hand and its children to strike out at the rest of the universe, while the other members of the Guiding Hand were against unnecessary war. Primus eventually destroyed the death god, but nearly died himself in doing so. He retreated to the heart of Cybertron from whence he came, reformatting himself into the life-giving supercomputer known as [[Vector Sigma]]. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations}} | ||
Before the war, in a discussion with the religious [[Springarm]], [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Orion Pax]] said he wasn't convinced Primus, [[Mortilus]], and [[Adaptus]] actually existed. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}} | Before the war, in a discussion with the religious [[Springarm]], [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]] said he wasn't convinced Primus, [[Mortilus]], and [[Adaptus]] actually existed. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}} | ||
==Unicron Trilogy== | ==Unicron Trilogy== | ||
Revision as of 15:03, 15 September 2012
And he the big daddy
He look like me
But he more beardie
Primus is the creator-god of the Transformers. An ancient and ethereal being whose origins date back to the beginnings of the universe itself, Primus is a multiversal force for good, his life force existing across multiple realities and infinite alternate universes. In each one, he is the final defense against his fallen sibling, Unicron the Chaos-Bringer.
Primus eventually transformed himself into the planet Cybertron; from its surface, his creations have risen to defend and patrol the galaxy. Within the depths of Cybertron, the mega-computer Vector Sigma serves as his internal mainframe, and a gateway for select Transformers to access his power. A portion of his lifeforce resides within the Matrix, which often determines the leader of the Autobots. Prophecies of a war to come were written down in his holy covenant as well. The spark of each Transformer is a small piece of Primus's essence, and together they form his lifeforce, the Allspark.
Though wise and powerful beyond measure, Primus is neither infallible nor without weakness. At times he has been deceived by mere mortals, and has made miscalculations which jeopardized all of existence, and has been betrayed by one of his earliest creations. Indeed, even the intended agents of his grand plan, the Transformers, have all too frequently become mired in endless civil war. Still, in most realities he has managed to hold the line against Unicron and other threats, either directly or through his innumerable children, the Transformers.
In the beginning
Before the dawn of time, Order and Chaos existed within an extradimensional entity known as The One. To explore the fledgling universe, he created the astral being known as Unicron, and then subdivided him, creating his twin, Primus. Both brothers were multiversal singularities, unique in all realities, but whereas Unicron could only exist in one dimension at a time, moving between them at will, Primus existed simultaneously in all realities at once. It is suggested, in fact, that the two brothers embody the basic concepts of reality—good and evil, order and chaos—and that their continued existence is necessary for the stability of the multiverse.
As Unicron and Primus went about their appointed task, venturing through the cosmos, it became apparent to Primus that Unicron was a corrupt being, and he took it upon himself to stop the threat posed to all of existence by his sibling. In combat, Primus was no match for Unicron. In cunning, however, he proved himself to his brother's superior when he shifted their battle to the astral plane, and then back to the physical world once more, only to have both their essences manifest within metallic planetoids, leaving them both trapped. It was with this act of sacrifice that Primus hoped to contain Unicron's evil forever. Unfortunately for him, over time, Unicron learned to psionically shape his prison into a giant metallic planet, and Primus followed suit, becoming the mechanical world of Cybertron. When Unicron then learned to transform his planetary form even further, into a gigantic robot form, Primus adapted the idea to suit his own ends—rather than transforming his own body, he would create small beings that would be able to change their shape, like Unicron. After performing a "test run" on the moon of Protos, where he successfully created twelve transforming robotic beings, Covenant he birthed from his own body a group of thirteen robots that possessed the ability to change shape, like Unicron. These were the thirteen original Transformers, each one infused with a fragment of Primus's life essence known as a spark.
The Thirteen were Primus's soldiers in his war with Unicron, which came to its seeming end during a climactic battle in which one of the Thirteen, Megatronus Prime, who would forever afterwards be known as the Fallen, betrayed Primus and became an acolyte of Unicron. The battle ended when the Fallen and Unicron were sucked into a black hole and disappeared from reality. With Unicron gone for now, Primus entered an eons-long slumber, his self-imposed sleep preventing Unicron from detecting him through the mental link the brothers shared. The Transformer race grew, and Primus fell into the realm of legend, with a portion of his power, the Matrix of Leadership, handed down through the generations, serving as the Transformers' ever-present link to their creator.
Evolution of the Primus/Unicron myth
The Primus/Unicron backstory has evolved and been rewritten a good number of times since it first originated in the Marvel Comics series. The version recounted above is the current iteration, which has slowly solidified across a wide swath of media (beginning around the time of Armada). Before the Primus/Unicron mythos reached its present form it went through several distinct versions in the Marvel G1 comics and elsewhere.
Unicron's story
The first time we ever heard the Primus/Unicron backstory was in the UK comic continuity, from Unicron himself, in the story "The Legacy of Unicron!", when he recounted it to Death's Head. Per Unicron's telling of events, he was a primal force of evil at the dawn of the universe who led an army of Dark Gods against his mortal foe, Primus, Lord of the Light Gods (note the plural). Events proceeded to play out basically as described above, though the role of the Light and Dark Gods would diminish with each subsequent retelling of the story, until the current version, in which Primus and Unicron are alone and have a unique origin. (Only one of the other gods was ever named—the Chronarchitect. How exactly he factors into the current iteration of the myth is unknown.)
The Keeper's story
The second time the story was told was in the US book by the Keeper, an ancient mechanoid who guarded Primus's head at the center of Cybertron. This telling is effectively the same as the previous UK story, but mentions that their battle was towards the end of the era of gods, that Primus and Unicron were the last of their respective pantheons, and Primus had to defeat Unicron before he could take his place with the other gods in the "Omniversal Matrix".
Primus's story
The third time the story was told was also in the US Marvel series, this time by Primus, when he gathered all his children together to prepare for Unicron's coming. It was with this telling that we learned that Unicron predated the current universe, and had destroyed the previous universe which existed before the current one. He had slept peacefully, alone in the void of uncreation that remained, until fragments of the old universe that he had overlooked reacted, causing the Big Bang and birthing the current universe. The "sentient core" of this new universe recognized the threat that Unicron posed, and so created Primus to counter his evil and be guardian of the new creation.
Fleer and DK
The first modern retelling of the origins of Primus and Unicron did not come from G1-oriented media, but from a set of Armada trading cards released by Fleer. It was the backstory printed on Unicron's card which introduced the concept of the two being brothers created to explore the new universe by an extradimensional entity, here named the "Allspark."
This was subsequently expanded on and combined with aspects of the various Marvel Comics stories in Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, published by Dorling Kindersley and written by Simon Furman, who had written all three prior tellings in the first place. Here, the entity Fleer had called the "Allspark" was redubbed "The One," and the modern iteration of the myth detailed above was firmly established, and went on to form the backbone of subsequent fiction such as Universe and Fun Publications' Cybertron comics.
It was also at this point that it was established that Primus could transform from Cybertron into a robot mode like Unicron, but preferred not to, choosing to remain connected to the universe on a planetary level.
Generation 1
Marvel Comics continuity
Eventually, millions of years later, in one universe located in the Primax cluster, Grimlock, Jazz, and Bumblebee found themselves transported to the center of Cybertron, where they discovered the sleeping form of Primus Yesterday's Heroes! and were told the tale of his and the Transformers' origins by the Keeper. Subsequently, Bludgeon's Pretenders attacked, and during the battle, a laser blast ricocheted off Grimlock and struck the essence of the sleeping Primus, causing a universe-shaking "Primal Scream" that alerted Unicron (who was located "outside the fringes of known space") to Primus's location. Primal Scream Primus himself immediately slipped back into his sleep, but it was too late. Unicron was coming. Bird of Prey!
After Optimus Prime sent teams of Autobots to retrieve the lost Creation Matrix, the container of Primus' essence that could destroy Unicron, he communed with the Ark's Altar to Primus. Reaching out his mind to the Creation Matrix, the altar gave him a vision of a Matrix that had been tainted by evil. Kings of the Wild Frontier.
Unicron dispatched a group of heralds to attack Cybertron and pave the way for his coming, including a Galvatron plucked from an alternate future. Galvatron, however, was not content to serve under Unicron, and instead captured Autobot leader Emirate Xaaron, forcing him to fully awaken Primus, who possessed Xaaron's body and summoned Transformers from all across the universe back to Cybertron. Out of Time! Here, Primus spoke through Xaaron, telling the Transformers of his history with Unicron. Additionally, Primus chose Optimus Prime to lead both factions, united, against the Chaos Bringer. Primus knew this would draw out the Unicron cultists among them, and Autobot and Decepticon were able to put aside their differences to defeat them. When Optimus Prime learned of Primus' ruse, his suspicions regarding his Creator's motives began to grow. Optimus wondered if the Transformers meant anything to Primus beyond being a means to an end. The Void!
Though their battle against the Unicron cultists did temporarily unite both factions, this facade shattered once the Planet-Eater arrived. Sheer terror prevented them from carrying out his desire, and the Transformers fled despite Primus' pleas. Primus instead made a stand himself, attempting to dupe Unicron into believing he still retained his full power, but Unicron saw through the deception, and destroyed Xaaron's body. Optimus Prime came to a realization, following Primus' destruction and his retrieval of the lost and contaminated Creation Matrix, that Primus did not mean only for the Transformers to fight his battles for him, but to carry on after he was gone. Flying into space with the Matrix, Prime unleashed the full measure of Primus's power, destroying Unicron. On the Edge of Extinction!
Though the Transformers were technically victorious, this victory came with a price. With Primus dead, and with the grievous wounds inflicted on Cybertron itself, the planet threatened to come apart. The Transformers made plans to flee it. Exodus! Ultimately, this was averted by the Last Autobot, who put into motion the planet's recovery, allowing the Autobots, who had finally won the civil war, to return to their home. End of the Road!
Classics
The Last Autobot created a race of tiny beings, Mini-Cons, to rebuild and restore Cybertron so that it would be ready for the Autobots' return. Part of the Mini-Cons' job was to excise certain evolutionary throwbacks, remnants of Primus' earlier experiments, such as the Mutants, and this alarmed one Mini-Con. He suspected that one day that Primus would consider the Mini-Cons surplus to requirements as well, and he instigated an insurgency against their Creator and his followers. The New World
Japanese cartoon continuity
Formerly the assistant to the Primacron, the ancient genius who created the giant mechanoid Unicron, the robotic being known as the Oracle was badly damaged when Unicron rebelled against his creator. His essence fled to a dead world at the centre of the galaxy, which he used his powers to transform into a verdant, green planet. However, the Oracle could sense that in the future, Primacron would go on to create another universal danger in the form of Tornedron, and so summoned a group of Primitive Transformers back through time from the year 2010 to his planet, where he instructed them in how to destroy the threat. Call of the Primitives/Kiss Players timeline
Later in his life, the Oracle also reached through time when he discovered that the evil Sparkbots were attempted to recreate Unicron following the planet-eater's destruction in the year 2005. By this stage calling himself "Primus", the Oracle attempted to stop the villains and their unwitting pawns, the human Kiss Players, appearing as a giant golden hand to snatch away the fragments of Unicron's lifeforce each time the Kiss Players recovered them. Kiss Players radio drama #45-46 Unfortunately, this merely led the Kiss Players to pursue him through the timestream and resulted in them crashing into the "Wall of Time" and becoming scattered throughout the multiverse. Kiss Players radio drama #47 Knowing that the Kiss Players were innocent in this whole affair, having been duped by the Sparkbots, the benevolent Primus rescued them from the different regions of time and space they had wound up in, and properly introduced himself, explaining the Sparkbots' treachery. He then took them back in time to prehistoric Earth, arriving just in time to witness the Sparkbots' successful restoration of Unicron to life. Primus transformed once more and unleashed the power of his mobile cannon platform, destroying Unicron's energy and sealing it and the Sparkbots deep within the planet. To ensure that Unicron would never be freed again, he created a mighty guardian, Brave Maximus, who would watch over it and the Earth. With the battle over, Shaoshao asked about the Kiss Players' future, but Primus did not reply. After sending the Kiss Players back to their home time, Primus transformed into the golden sphere of Vector Sigma and returned to his world to sleep. Kiss Players radio drama #48-51
Unfortunately for Primus, as he slumbered, his world was eventually discovered by the alien Quintessons, who shackled his powers and used them to both transform the planet into the metallic Cybertron, and to create the races of robots that would eventually become the Transformers. Additionally, the aliens acquired the shell that had held his essence, which became, through unknown means, the talisman that would be known to the Transformers as the Matrix of Leadership. Kiss Players timeline
Beast Era
Tales From the Beast Wars
Before Primus became Cybertron, he plotted to create robotic life that would ultimately defeat Unicron, but first he needed to do a test run. He created twelve beings, the Covenant, on a small moon named Protos. These twelve would watch the Transformers from afar and only intervene when necessary.
Their intervention would become necessary when Shokaract used Unicron's essence, the Decepticon Matrix of Conquest, to conquer the future, threatening the end of all things at an important historical crossroads dubbed Point Omega. Though the Covenant's ranks were halved in the battle against Shokaract on prehistoric Earth during the Beast Wars, they were ultimately able to discover a way to defeat Shokaract and his Unicron-fueled power. The remaining Covenant members returned to their original Primus-spawned energy forms and entered Shokaract's Matrix of Conquest. Reconstituting as an astral form of Primus, they severed Unicron's link with Shokaract, leaving him vulnerable to attack. Terminus
Beast Wars cartoon
In addition to its occasional invocation in prayer or in righteous anger by the Beast Warriors Bad Spark, Primus's name was also lent to a set of prophetical datatrax, known as the Covenant of Primus. From this document, the Megatron of this era took his name (as did, presumably, the original Megatron), and the scriptures foretold the events which completed the Beast Wars. Nemesis Part 2
Universe
Dispatched to an ice world in the far reaches of the galaxy by the orders of the Oracle, Primal Prime's Wreckers encountered the exiled Quintesson known as Al-Badur, who revealed to them the full extent of his race's connection to Cybertron and Primus. Al-Badur explained that, millions of years ago, the Quintessons sought to exploit the power of Primus for profit, and to that end, invaded Cybertron and set up numerous barriers to separate Primus from the Transformers. Their first attempt, the Plasma Energy Chamber, met with failure; next, the Quintessons targeted Vector Sigma itself, surrounding it with a shell program that acted as a barrier between the Transformers and the power and guidance of Primus. Disclosure Realizing that the Oracle itself was the Quintessons' shell program, Primal Prime began to fear that all that had come about as a result of its guidance—including Optimus Primal's mission to restore a techno-organic balance to Cybertron—was all part of a Quintesson plot, but Alpha Trion assured him that Primus worked in mysterious ways.
The Wreckers soon returned to Cybertron, discovering that in their absence, Optimus Primal had achieved his goal of recreating the planet as a technorganic world. In the wake of this overwhelming transformation, the Quintessons had invaded the planet, but they were not the only threat to Cybertron's safety: The Wreckers were also faced with Cryotek, who had used the legendary Divine Light to tap into the power of Primus and transform himself into a living god. During the course of the battle that ensued, Primal Prime and Apelinq were struck by a blast of Primus's power by Cryotek, which wound up merging them into Sentinel Maximus. At Al-Badur's direction, Sentinel Maximus steered the battle to an interdimensional portal chamber far below the planet's surface, where Matrix Templars Rodimus and Cheetor began draining Primus's power out of Cryotek. To stop them, Cryotek shattered the Divine Light and absorbed Primus's energies directly into himself, where they could not drain it, but as he grappled with Sentinel Maximus, the fused Autobot forced them both through the portal, into a shapeless interdimensional void. Although unable to drain Primus's power any further, Cryotek was sustained in the void by the power he had absorbed, and he was ready to carry on the battle until Primus himself—now unshackled thanks to the destruction of the Oracle in the final stages of Optimus Primal's quest—took an active hand, spiriting Sentinel Maximus away to partake in another battle elsewhere in the multiverse.
While all of this was happening on Cybertron, elsewhere in the universe, on New Quintessa, Primus briefly possessed the body of Icebird so that he could address the Quintesson leader Judge Heirodyus. Primus shocked the Quintesson by revealing that he had allowed all that had transpired to occur, and he "thanked" Heirodyus for his race's role in the scheme, promising to call upon them again if he ever needed an "evolutionary crisis" to drive his children forward. Wreckers: Finale Part II
In the wake of the repulsion of the Quintesson invasion, Unicron began gathering Transformers from across the multiverse, forcing them to fight and harvesting the sparks of the losers to restore his power. With each spark devoured, Primus was weakened, and so, communing with Alpha Trion, he chose to summon Optimus Primal back from the Allspark, restoring the Maximal commander to life. Abduction Primal was charged with re-securing the battling captives from the Pit of Unicron and leading a team of multiversal warriors to put a stop to this soul-stealing scheme before it could cause the Allspark to collapse. Escape
Primus allowed Optimus Primal to choose any Transformer who ever existed—living or dead—for his army. This required considerable amounts of Primus's power, so Primal was told to choose sparingly. Primal chose his departed former troops Rhinox and Depth Charge. Homecoming Ultimately, however, Unicron's defeat came not as a result of their efforts, but as a consequence of another battle, happening in another corner of the Transformers multiverse. Revelations Part 2
Universe CD-ROM comic
In a strange variant universe where Optimus Primal leads the Autobots and Reptilion leads the Decepticons, a ship arrives once a year, when the Transformers' civil war reaches a fever pitch. The ship abducts every Decepticon it can find and promptly leaves.
These Decepticons are brought to Unicron, who is preparing them for an eventual, ultimate battle for the universe. But unknown to even Unicron, Primus, the sentient core of Cybertron, is amassing an army of Autobots that rivals Unicron's army of Decepticons. Can Primus meet Unicron's challenge, or is the universe doomed? Universe CD-ROM
IDW Generation 1 continuity
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According to Cyclonus, in the beginning, Primus, the giant warrior-god, emerged from the planet Cybertron; a reaction to the creation of something opposite to him, although it's not made quite clear who or what that something was. One day he felt something stirring within him, and his body split into five separate entities--Primus the life-giver, Mortilus the death-bringer, Epistemus the embodiment of knowledge, Solomus the embodiment of wisdom and Adaptus who represented change. These five beings were known as The Guiding Hand, and it was they who brought forth the Cybertronian race to inhabit the planet of Cybertron. Primus believed that every Cybertronian had an obligation to do his part in society, thus blessing each one with a second form that best suited his environment and surroundings. However, Mortilus eventually rebelled because he wished the Hand and its children to strike out at the rest of the universe, while the other members of the Guiding Hand were against unnecessary war. Primus eventually destroyed the death god, but nearly died himself in doing so. He retreated to the heart of Cybertron from whence he came, reformatting himself into the life-giving supercomputer known as Vector Sigma. Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations
Before the war, in a discussion with the religious Springarm, Orion Pax said he wasn't convinced Primus, Mortilus, and Adaptus actually existed. Chaos Theory Part 2
Unicron Trilogy
Armada cartoon
A "unique digital entity" came to exist eons ago. To search for other life in the universe, it sent out the Transformers as explorers. One of the first places the Transformers settled was on a planet that would eventually become known as Cybertron. First Encounter
Energon cartoon
- Voice actor: Ron Halder (English), Tesshō Genda (Japanese), Johan Hedenberg (Swedish)
Primus was the living energy core of Cybertron, as well as the originator of the precious and ancient fuel, energon. Transformers of this universe believed the stories of Unicron, Primus, and Omega Supreme to be only myth and legend until the existence of Unicron was revealed in "the Unicron Battles" of 2010. With Cybertron left in a disastrous state after the chaos-bringer's attack, large amounts of energon were required to repair the planet, and to search for and acquire the mineral, the united Autobot-Decepticon forces entered into an alliance with the Earth Federation government.
Primus entered into the equation when the project's head scientist, Dr. Brian Jones, brought his son, Kicker, to Cybertron. Terrified of the giant robots surrounding him, Kicker fled, only to find himself tumbling through tunnels into a hidden chamber deep beneath Cybertron's surface. Primus awoke and saved Kicker from what would have been a fatal fall, and for his own reasons, imbued the child with a special gift—the ability to detect energon throughout the universe. Optimus Prime subsequently discovered Kicker in Primus's chamber, and the god chose to work with the Transformers quite directly, imbuing them with the Spark of Combination, which would allow the Autobots to Powerlinx and increase their powers. Primus went on to advise Optimus Prime on his actions in order to prepare for the future, including the Terrorcon invasion, the return of Megatron, and the next battle with Unicron; although vague at times, he would offer just enough information to allow his children to survive the threats they faced. Primus was often very weak due to the damage done to the planet's surface, and spent most of his time in a mode of stasis to preserve his energy and keep Cybertron's energy grid online.
When Megatron succeeded in reanimating Unicron, most of the Autobot army was critically wounded in the ensuing battle. This prompted the sleeping Primus to awaken and infuse their armor with his power, upgrading them into new forms, and allowing Optimus Prime and Omega Supreme to combine into a gigantic form and defeat Unicron. Unicron Perishes Unicron's spark survived, however, and Primus sought to contain it by trapping it at the heart of a new sun that he created from a reservoir of "super energon" hidden within Cybertron. The Sun
Cybertron cartoon
- Voice actor: Michael Donovan (English), Tesshō Genda (Japanese)
| “ | He who charted the universe when it was new! He who battled Unicron at the dawn of time! He whose spark formed the basis of all life on Cybertron, and Velocitron, and all the other Transformer colonized homeworlds! It can be no other! This... is... Primus! | ” |
| {{#if:Vector Prime, religiously intoning Primus' achievements throughout the Multiverse| —Vector Prime, religiously intoning Primus' achievements throughout the Multiverse{{#if:Cybertron|, Cybertron}} }}}} | ||
Primus's plan to contain Unicron's essence in the center of the sun failed when the star collapsed into a massive black hole which threatened not only Cybertron and the universe, but the entire multiverse itself. His energy drained to the point that he had once again been rendered dormant, Primus could now only be awakened and restored to full power by the four ancient Cyber Planet Keys, lost to the far reaches of the galaxy in a failed space bridge experiment eons ago. The magnitude of the threat posed to the multiverse was enough to summon Vector Prime—one of the original thirteen Transformers, who had been following Unicron through the multiverse and repairing the damage he had done—back to Cybertron to aid the Autobots in the quest for the keys.
After a while, the Autobots were able to find the focusing device, the Omega Lock, and the keys from Velocitron and Jungle Planet. Bringing all three together caused the group to be drawn into the consciousness of Primus, who spoke through the three Mini-Cons and told his children to "maintain the balance". Trap
Eventually, despite continued attempts by both Megatron and Starscream to steal the power of the Cyber Planet Keys, the Autobots were able to gather the keys from Velocitron, the Jungle Planet and Earth, and brought them and their focusing device, the Omega Lock, back to Cybertron. Coupling these three keys with the power of the Matrix, Optimus Prime was able to initiate Primus's transformation from planet mode to robot mode. Communicating with the Autobots through the Mini-Con, Jolt, Primus explained that the destruction of Unicron, the embodiment of the force of evil, had unbalanced the universe, and that only he could seal the black hole and restore order—but to do that, the fourth Cyber Planet Key, from Gigantion, the Giant Planet, was required to reconnect Primus's spark with his body and restore his full power. Cybertron
Attempting to retrieve the Omega Lock, Starscream made a rather pointless attack on Primus, only to be smacked down hard. Balance Shortly thereafter, when Primus was in the process of channelling some of his power into holding back the ever-growing black hole, Starscream tried again, plunging into the energy beam and absorbing some of Primus's power into himself. Starscream expanded in size until he was as large as Primus himself, but Primus did not take this slight lightly, as he converted Cybertron's moons into a pair of mace weapons and relentlessly pounded Starscream into submission. Titans
Eventually, the Autobots were able to acquire the final key, as well as to reactivate the four ancient ships which had carried the keys to the respective worlds ages ago—the Atlantis, the Lemuria, the Hyperborea and the Ogygia. Primus fused the four ships together to form the Ark, and with his powers subsequently restored by all four keys, he channelled all of his power through the Ark as a beam, straight into the heart of the black hole. With a massive blast, the black hole was finally sealed, and Primus transformed back into Cybertron—not Cybertron as it had been, but a new Cybertron, infused with the differing aspects of Velocitron, Jungle Planet, Earth and Gigantion, a true paradise for Transformers and humans alike. End
Cybertron comic
While the Autobots were occupied with the quest for the Cyber Planet Keys, Unicron's heralds Ramjet and Nemesis Prime arrived on Cybertron, Balancing Act intent on unleashing the Dead Matrix—as the Matrix was the antithesis of Unicron, so too would the Dead Matrix ensure the destruction of Primus, thereby totally destabilizing the multiverse and reducing it to a sea of entropic chaos. For the first time, it would be possible for Unicron to strike at Primus in all realities simultaneously, ending their cosmic feud once and for all. Balancing Act, Part 2 Ramjet and Nemesis Prime were ultimately stopped by Vector Prime and allies Sentinel Maximus and Omega Prime, plucked from the midst of the Universe conflict by the multiverse-warping energies of the black hole. Revelations Part 1
The Dead Matrix, however, was cast into the heart of the black hole by Unicron's servant Soundwave, freeing Unicron's spark and allowing it to adopt a new, diminutive physical form. Revelations Part 4 Unicron participated in the escalating Mini-Con civil war on Cybertron's moons, Revelations Part 5 but when the planet transformed into Primus's robot mode, Unicron fled. His whereabouts are unknown. Revelations Part 6
Shattered Glass
The idea of Primus, the benevolent Creator, was unknown to the heroic Decepticons until Cliffjumper, a visitor from the Positive Polarity universes, told them about Him. Shattered Glass Before long, Cliffjumper's "beliefs" were a subject of derision, especially among the evil Autobots. Dungeons & Dinobots
Cliffjumper was eventually vindicated, however, when the Nexus Prime gestalt members attempted to resurrect a recently-assassinated Megatron. As they applied their powers to the body, they were transported to Primus' presence. Reunification: Part 5 There they chose for Primus to rebirth them as their original self, with Nexus returning to the battlefield and declaring himself to his enemies as being the "mighty fist of the lord of light". Reunification: Part 6
Megatron, meanwhile, received a vision from the other side of the Allspark of a healed Cybertron, before being reborn himself as Galvatron, with Nexus investing him with some of Primus's power by proxy. Galvatron's TFCC bio
Robot Heroes
Primus, considered to be the very first Transformer, created the Matrix of Leadership and personally gave it to Optimus! Wait WHAT?I Am Optimus Prime
Live-action film series
The location on Cybertron that is named after Primus is surrounded by the Rad Zone and Uraya. Risk
Titan Magazines Revenge of the Fallen comics
Legend has it that the original seven Transformers are creations of Primus, though they themselves don't think this. It is not said who started the legend. The Fallen Profile
IDW Revenge of the Fallen comics
The Primes do think they're "children of Primus". Tales of the Fallen issue 4
IDW Dark of the Moon comics
According to legend, when the AllSpark cube crashed into Cybertron, it gave life to Primus and his descendents, the Primes. Foundation issue 2 Primus was known as the first Cybertronian and, after the Dynasty of Primes was ended due to The Fallen's treachery, left behind his only legacy in Sentinel and, revealed much later, Optimus. Foundation issue 1
Animated
In some parts of the multiverse, Primus created organic worlds around himself, with the inhabitants eventually becoming robotic lifeforms: these worlds are Gobotron and Skalorr, with a known Vector Sigma node in the latter. The inhabitants seem unaware of the existence of Primus.
Unicron created a body for himself in at least one of the Gobotron timelines. Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II
Aligned continuity
Exodus and Exiles novels
Primus is generally accepted to exist though his 13 children are considered a myth by some. Throughout Cybertron devices carry out his will: the AllSpark creates the protoforms in the Well of All Sparks. The Sonic Canyons are believed to be his ears, feeding him knowledge of the universe via Vector Sigma, though that is actually beneath Iacon. And the Core produces his own physical emanation, Energon.
During the civil war, the AllSpark was ejected into space to keep it out of Decepticon hands, eventually floating into the Milky Way, while the Core was corrupted by the Dark Energon-imbued Plasma energy Chamber. Optimus Prime removed the Chamber, but the damage was done, and the Core had to shut down and reboot to survive. But before leaving, Optimus was bestowed Primus' essence in the form of the Matrix. When the Autobots left Cybertron, the last original Prime Alpha Trion remained, stating Vector Sigma would keep him alive. Transformers: Exodus
War for Cybertron
Jetfire exclaimed Primus' name when he realized the orbital station was a living Cybertronian. Afterwards, Optimus thanked Primus when he managed to defeat Trypticon. Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)
Transformers: Prime
According to legend, at the beginning of time, Unicron and Primus battled each other for eons, with neither side remaining victorious for long. Until, that is, Primus created the Thirteen: the original Primes. These Thirteen defeated Unicron and cast him into space. Primus then became one with the core of Cybertron, and brought life to new Cybertronians through the Well of All Sparks. Optimus Prime would later speak of Unicron as being a physical being that had likely transcended physical form, with Primus presumably being the same. One Shall Rise, Part 1
Later Optimus came into contact with Primus and was given the Matrix of Leadership. One Shall Rise, Part 3
Games
Transformers Cybertron: Primus Unleashed
Faced with the growing threat of the black hole, Primus attempted to obliterate the dark matter before it spread further into the universe. Transformers Cybertron: Primus Unleashed
Retconning the retcon?
It's no secret that, after the Unicron Trilogy, Universe and the Unicron-heavy Dreamwave Productions comic books, the fandom at large was generally quite sick of stories revolving around Unicron and Primus. It is likely no coincidence, then, that the major new universes created in western media between then and 2010—those of the IDW Publishing comic books, the live-action movie and the Transformers Animated cartoon—all eschewed use of the Primus creation myth. But what does this mean for the status of the retcon that states Primus exists in all universes?
The world of the live-action initially presented the Transformers as creations of the enigmatic AllSpark, with no explicit connection drawn between it and Primus. However, connections soon began to emerge. First, Takara's World of the Transformers website listed the AllSpark as a sacred implement alongside other Primus-related talismans such as the Matrix and Vector Sigma. Then, the UK's Transformers magazine introduced Unicron in its eighteenth issue, and then in #20, had the Transformers discover huge versions of their own interior workings deep inside Cybertron, in a clear reference to Cybertron being the transforming body of Primus. Primus was first referred to by name in a profile for The Fallen printed by Titan, which noted that legend claimed he was the creator of the first Transformers, and then again in IDW's Tales of the Fallen mini-series. At this point, it is clear that Primus does exist in the movie universe, and that the AllSpark is merely the object through which he acts. In 2010, the new Transformers: Prime continuity family lent further credence to this reading of events by incorporating it into its own storyline.
Much like the movieverse, the world of Transformers Animated also depicts the source of Transformer life as a mysterious talisman known as the AllSpark, for which no origin has been given. As far as authorial intent goes, series art director Derrick J. Wyatt stated more than once his opinion that Primus does not exist in the Animated universe [1]. The AllSpark Almanac II treads lightly on the matter in seeming honor of Wyatt's wishes, never revealing Cybertron's origins. It does, however, mention a "battle between primordial titans" as one possible origin for the planet, in an obvious allusion to the Unicron/Primus creation story, and repeatedly brings up Primus and many of the concepts associated with him by name when discussing other universes.
The IDW universe was less clear on the matter. Writer Simon Furman outright said that the IDW universe would have "no Primus. No Unicron". In accordance with this, the Furman-penned Stormbringer, rather than have Transformers swear by Primus, instead had them swear by Primacron, but a monkeywrench was thrown into the works when Primus's name was heard being taken in vain in Eric Holmes's Megatron Origin #4. Furman attempted to justify this on his blog by claiming that this was not the Primus, but simply "something or someone" called Primus that had existed some point. [2]
With Furman's removal as the primary architect of the IDW universe, things got changed: "Chaos Theory Part 2" by James Roberts refers to a Primus. However, he is not only referred to as a being that Optimus doesn't believe in, he's mentioned in conjunction with two other gods, Mortilus and Adaptus, that Optimus also didn't believe in.
Ultimately, there is very little to say that Primus does not exist in the IDW or Animated universe, besides the fact that creators involved with those universes do not want to include the character in their stories. After all, just because Primus doesn't appear, or characters are unaware of him, it doesn't mean he doesn't exist. It wouldn't be the only time this has happened: the occupants of the parallel Shattered Glass universe were largely ignorant of Primus until a Cliffjumper from another universe mentioned him. It seems quite safe to conclude that, as of this moment, the retcon has not yet itself been retconned... and we kinda hope it isn't, because then some poor sod is going to have rewrite this article from the ground up.
Toys
Generation 1
- God Primus (2004)
- Accessories: Photon Eliminator, spoiler, 2 gun shields
- Unbeknownst to many Western fans, the first Primus figure was a "Lucky Draw figure" in Japan, a vacuum-metallized gold chrome recolored Rodimus Prime that was given away as a contest prize from the collector book, Transformers Generations Deluxe. Supposedly, only 100 pieces of these lucky draw figures were manufactured.
- As a redeco of a Rodimus (no doubt inspired by the resemblance of his astral form to Rodimus in the UK comics), Primus transforms into a futuristic truck resembling nothing so much as a Winnebago. Following the trend started by the original Optimus Prime toy, his trailer splits down the middle to transform into a battle station with an extending double-barrelled cannon. The figure comes with a large, hand-held blaster, and two blast-shield accessories that plug into the sides of his battle station cannon.
- Primus (Supreme, 2006)
- Japanese ID number: 00
- Accessories: Omega Lock, two missiles, special silver Cybertron planet-type Cyber Planet Key
- Primus was developed by Hasbro and Takara as a toy for their joint Cybertron/Galaxy Force toylines, but was released in Japan in the Generation 1 line a few months after Galaxy Force had ended its run. This release can be considered a pre-release of the Cybertron toy because it features Hasbro's Cyber Key Codes that the Galaxy Force line lacked.
- Primus is the first toy representation of the Transformers' creator as their home planet of Cybertron. In planet mode, he is considerably more detailed than Unicron from the Armada line, with visible cities, including Iacon, based upon its appearance in the DK Publishing book, Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, and Kaon, specifically Kolkular, as seen in The War Within. On the 'bottom' of the planet mode there are four hard rubber legs, molded to be shaped like towers, allowing Primus to be displayed in planet mode, yet not require a flat base as Unicron did.
- Primus's transformation is unusual, in many ways similar to a Powermaster, in that he requires the owner to insert his accompanying Omega Lock accessory into several special ports around the planet, then manipulate it to unlock his parts and transform him. When the Omega Lock is inserted into his back and pushed, a transforming sound is heard. When it is inserted into his chest and pushed up to reveal his head, his eyes glow red and a laser-type sound effect is heard. The Lock itself lights up red when it is inserted into any of the ports.
- In robot mode, Primus resembles both the Beast Wars Neo Unicron prototype as well as Don Figueroa's Primus concept, created for The War Within and used in The Ultimate Guide. He is bristling with weaponry, including two shoulder-mounted cannons that can fire missiles, two forearm blasters that raise and extend when a Cyber Power Key is inserted, and several banks of Gatling guns, lasers and missile launchers in his shins and legs revealed by the Omega Lock.
- Primus also has what might charitably be called a third mode—an intergalactic world-ship, which is basically formed by transforming the figure halfway and leaving the head down and the legs backward. It features no dedicated parts or transformation steps, making it very obvious that it was created after the fact. It looks kinda like The Starship Enterprise...backwards.
- Primus comes with two accessories, the aforementioned battery-operated Omega Lock that lights up red when inserted into any of the four Omega Lock ports, and a special silver Cybertron-Planet Cyber Power Key with the key code sp8u tampographed onto the back. Any four Cyber Planet Keys can be inserted into the four key slots at the base of the Omega Lock, though doing this does not activate any feature. There are also nine inactive Mini-Con powerlinx ports on the Primus figure, including two on the claws on his legs.
Cybertron
- Cybertron Primus (Supreme, 2006)
- Accessories: Omega Lock, two missiles, special silver Cybertron planet-type Cyber Planet Key
- Cybertron Primus is the North American version of Primus, released a few months after the Japanese version. The toys are identical.
- In North America, limited early-run versions of Cybertron Primus came packaged with a very creepy "battle damaged" Unicron head based upon his Armada appearance.
- A later version, exclusive to Walmart as a Black Friday 2006 special, included four Mini-Cons; Strongarm, Knockdown, Nightscream, and Offshoot.
Transformers 2010
- Creator Primus (2010)
- Accessories: Omega Lock, two missiles, clear Cybertron Cyber Planet Key
- To celebrate the year 2010, Takara redecoed the previous Primus toy. It is primarily silver and gold in planet mode with blue robot parts, and has a large number of black paint washes here and there. A blue Omega Lock is also included.
- Primus includes a retooled Cybertron style Cyber Key which was originally available with both Cybertron Planet Deluxe Class Optimus Prime and Cybertron Planet Deluxe Class Demolisher. The Cyber Key features a "blank" central area (so any faction symbol could be tampographed on) and a Mini-Con-style Powerlinx socket on the back. The Cyber Key included with this figure is entirely unpainted, aside from the tampographed Autobot symbol.
Notes
- The original form of Primus in Marvel Comic continuity is similar to Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime. Rather creepily, this is suggested to be down to deliberate action on Primus' part in #160's Grim Grams.
- The myth of Primus and Unicron is similar to the duality concepts present in numerous real-world religions, such as Zoroastrianism.
- The idea of Primus transforming bears some resemblance to an early script for the original movie, in which Optimus Prime merges with Cybertron and transforms into a super robot to defeat Unicron.
- The "unique digital entity" mentioned in "First Encounter" is confirmed to be Primus in an edition of Ask Vector Prime in Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II.
- According to the same source, Gobotron, home planet of the GoBots, is also an aspect of Primus, just from a very distant part of the Multiverse.
- Energon pre-production notes detail early ideas the cartoon had for Primus's origin. Presumably non-canon, given that they are not particularly in-line with the "multiversal singularity" origin of the character, they present Primus as an entity consisting purely of energon. Energon, the notes state, is the product of the "genetic material" of the sun interacting with planetary bodies—this, then, appears to be a very literal interpretation of Primus's role as "the lord of light", presenting him as an actual product of the light of the sun.
- His Cybertron toy was designed by Hirofumi Ichikawa, which is ironic, considering his dislike for the religious aspects of the Transformers mythos.
- The word "Primus" is Latin for "First."
Foreign names
- Japanese: Primus (プライマス Puraimasu)
- Mandarin: Primus (Taiwan, 普萊瑪斯 Pǔ Lái Mǎ Ssū) / Yúanshǐ Tīanzūn （China, 元始天尊, "The Prime Gold of Heaven "）
See also
External links
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