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.Vector Prime, "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.
• "The Fallen" (original name unknown), the guardian of entropy.
• Vector Prime, the guardian of space and time.
• Logos Prime, known as Soundblaster. The Beast Wars Reborn text story establishes Soundblaster as an "Ancient", equal with Vector Prime. There is a silhouette slightly resembling him in the image from the World of Transformers found at the top of the article.
• A yet unnamed Prime, the guardian of Rarified Energon. This yet unnamed Prime is composed of Skyfall, Landquake, Breakaway, Topspin, and Heatwave.

Possible members are:

• The Liege Maximo; it is established he was created at the same time as the first Prime, but implies that this was perhaps unintended, so leaving open whether he should count as one of the thirteen.

Note: The Liege Maximo was confirmed in Simon Furman's "Alignment" story as one of the first thirteen, but that story was "unofficial" and of debatable canonicity.

• 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.
• 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 Legends anthology confirms the rumor and the nature of the bar, but its place within broader continuity is questionable.
• Alpha Trion; described as a first generation creation of Vector Sigma, which serves as the internal computer of Primus, of which Alpha Trion is also the guardian. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide also said that he kept watch over the Transformers for Primus before Cybertron was attacked by an alien race, and Alpha Trion served as Primus's agent during the Universe war. However, there are alternate Alpha Trions, most notably one from the Shattered Glass universe, which does not match current understanding of the thirteen as possibly being multiversal singularities.

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. Another unnamed Prime was tasked with overseeing the multiverse's Rarified Energon.

Multiversal Singularities

There is some evidence to suggest that 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 also seems to be 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, though the concept has never been specifically addressed.

IDW Publishing

IDW comics has talked repeatedly about a planned/potential miniseries telling the story of the Thirteen. What similarity this new telling will have to the previous original thirteen stories is unknown. Hasbro has become quite involved, and Simon Furman has started 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 has been set.