First Cybertronian Civil War

This article is about the first Cybertronian war in the IDW Generation 1 continuity. For the first Cybertronian war in Animated, see First Cybertronian War.

The First Cybertronian Civil War is a historical event from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Before the more well-known Great War, Cybertron first became a place of battle during the First Cybertronian Civil War.

Fiction

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Plot details for The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named follow. Spoilers have expired, you may remove this tag

After the departure of the Knights of Cybertron twelve million years ago, Cybertronian society splintered into a multitude of smaller, primitive civilizations. Chief among these barbaric nations were the Thirteen Tribes, each led by one of Thirteen warrior-leaders known as the Primes. Following a brief period of inter-tribal conflict, the Primes and their followers joined forces to unify the planet, Origin Myths and ruled benevolently for two million years. Heavy

Unbeknownst to the Primes, one of their number — Onyx Prime, lord of beasts — was, in fact, a time-travelling Shockwave; armed with the knowledge of the course that history would take, "Onyx" set about destabilizing the alliance of the Thirteen, hoping that by engineering the fall of the Primes he could learn why the Cybertronian race inevitably fell to civil war. To accomplish this, he formed a secret alliance with the diplomat and alliance-builder Liege Maximo, The First Who Was Named who had recently come to the conclusion that helpful lies could be more powerful than harmful truths. Heavy

Weaving a web of lies to advance his own goals, the duplicitious Liege Maximo found a willing conspirator in in Megatronus, who had fallen from Prima's favor after a disastrous off-world expedition. Urged on by "Onyx Prime," the pair plotted a coup against their leader, but their treachery was soon exposed. The First Who Was Named Devastated by this betrayal of her trust, The Crucible Solus Prime sacrificed her own life to defend Prima, allowing Megatronus to impale her with her own Star Saber. The First Who Was Named Heavy Though the loyal members of the Thirteen, urged on by "Onyx Prime," were able to capture Liege Maximo and imprison him aboard his own Titan Vigilem, it was too late to stop the malicious followers of Liege Maximo from turning the tribes against one another and sowing the seeds of open war. Heavy

The war spread across the planet and into space, reaching planets such as Spindrift. Heart of Darkness #3

Towards the end of the conflict, Nexus Prime formed an alliance with Onyx Prime, lord of beasts. Turning the energies of Nexus' Enigma of Combination on Onyx Prime's legions of bestial Transformers, they created the Headmasters, powerful fusions between humanoid and bestial Cybertronians. The Mind Bomb The Crucible

During the war, Liege Maximo and his Titan Vigilem were finally brought down and defeated by three other Titans. Choosing to sentence their rogue brother and his leader to banishment, the Titans imprisoned Liege Maximo aboard his dormant Titan, which they deemed "Carcer". Heavy

Disgusted by the idea of Headmasters and their dilution of Cybertronian "purity," barbarian warrior Galvatron abandoned his post in Megatronus' army to wage a one-man war against the hybrids. Not content with slaughtering the creations of the two Primes, Galvatron battled his way to Nexus Prime's castle. Having grown arrogant and prideful during his years of rule, Nexus Prime maintained that only a Prime could kill a Prime - a notion that was soundly disproved when Galvatron blew apart the Prime then and there. Unbeknownst to anyone, Galvatron had taken the Enigma and shot it off into space in hopes that it would burn up in a star, preventing any more combiners from coming into existence. The Crucible

With their vaunted immortality now revealed as a lie, most remaining members of the Thirteen fled the planet, fearing for their lives. The Crucible Only Alpha Trion remained, now searching for a way to end the war and unify Cybertron once more. Having defeated Nexus Prime, Galvatron devoted the rest of his campaign to hunting down what remained of the Headmasters. On day 43 of the Battle of Aegiax, he entered the fray, single-handedly slaughtering the Headmasters to the last 'bot. His bloodlust caught the attention of Alpha Trion, who, unaware of his recent slaughter of Nexus Prime, approached Galvatron and offered to bestow greatness upon him if he would agree to assist Trion's vision of ending the war. The Mind Bomb

As Prima was now gone, leadership of his forces fell to Nova Major. He led the remainder of Prima's tribe, including his subordinate Eucryphia at the Citadel of Light against a siege by the bestial hordes of Onyx Prime. However, Nova was left standing as the last defender of the Citadel until Galvatron arrived from the wilderness at the direction of Trion and joined Nova. Together, they emerged victorious and turned the Siege of the Citadel of Light into a byword for courage. Afterwards, Alpha Trion revealed himself as the one who had brought the two of them together. He accepted that the era of his brethren was past and explained that he had brought Nova and Galvatron together in hope that they could end the war and bring about peace to Cybertron. With Trion's blessing, Nova took on the mantle of "Prime" and unified the planet, The Crucible ushering in the Golden Age. Primus: All Good Things Galvatron was decorated and remembered as a renowned war hero for his efforts. Shockpoint

Notes

• The Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook mentions that Kup took part in the war, though it's not revealed what side he fought for.