Dynasty of Primes

The Dynasty of Primes is a group from the live-action film continuity family.

The Dynasty of Primes was the ruling class of Cybertron eons ago. Formed by the first Thirteen Seven rulers of Cybertron, the Dynasty ruled Cybertron and protected the All Spark until they were betrayed by one of their own.

Primes are born. Not made.Optimus Prime, Revenge of the Fallen (novel)

Fiction

IDW Comics

Eons ago, the All Spark created thirteen beings, the first Cybertronians. They soon realized that the All Spark's power, though vast, was not infinite, and required the energy of stars to be replenished. Once a nearby star went nova, the All Spark created a worker race, the Transformers, who would assist the Dynasty in replenishing the All Spark. However, one of the thirteen, later known as the Fallen, betrayed his brothers and tried to steal the power of the All Spark for himself. However, once he had destroyed his brothers' sarcophagi, he realized that they were able to still act, trapping him in his own sarcophagus. Knowledge of the thirteen faded, and the Dynasty of Primes became little more than a myth. Defiance issue 4

Thousands of years later, the Science Division discovered the Fallen's sarcophagus and the remains of the other Twelve's sarcophagi. As the Fallen influenced Lord High Protector Megatron, the members of the Science Division studied the remains of the other relics and discovered the symbol of the Primes. This was the first proof that they had found of the Dynasty, and what's more, the symbol was etched on the head of the Science Division's leader, who was soon dubbed Optimus Prime by his fellow scientists. After the Autobots refused to follow Megatron's Decepticons, the term Prime came to denote Optimus as leader of the Autobots. Defiance issue 3

Revenge of the Fallen movie

Voice actors: Michael York, Kevin Michael Richardson, Robin Atkin Downes (English), Banjō Ginga, Daisuke Gōri, Yasuyoshi Hara (Japanese)

At least by 17,000 BC, ancient beings known as the "Seven Primes" reached a solar system in their quest to build a Solar harvester, but they discovered the chosen system contained a life-bearing world, and so six of the Primes objected to using the harvester on the system's sun. The seventh, however, insisted on using the harvester anyway upon weighing the longevity of his planet and his race against a seemingly meaningless organic world. This Prime quickly turned on his brothers and their creed, waging war against them, with those who agreed with his ideals by his side. After attacking and killing many of his fellow Primes and slaughtering a large number of early humans he was thereafter ever known as "The Fallen." The remaining Primes mounted an attack on their new nemesis and hid the Matrix of Leadership—without which he could not activate the harvester—in a tomb composed of their own bodies on the very planet he sought to destroy, using the last of their energy left from the epic battle to completely seal it.

In the present day, their descendant Optimus Prime perished in battle whilst protecting the human adolescent Sam Witwicky, the chosen vessel of the All Spark after the Cube's physical destruction. With the seemingly confusing knowledge of an advanced alien civilization in his mind, Sam and his companions set out to find the Matrix of Leadership after learning it might be the only thing that could resurrect Optimus—the last of the Primes—who was the only being who could defeat "The Fallen". Travelling to Petra in Jordan, Sam discovered the Tomb of the Primes hidden within, quickly discovering the small Matrix. His hopes were soon dampened however, when the artifact crumbled into dust upon it being moved. Nevertheless, he held onto his faith and gathered up the dust in a tattered sock, intending to revive Optimus with it in any way feasible.

File:ROTF movie SevenPrimes.jpg

You must avenge my death, Simba—uh, I mean, Sam.

During a climactic battle around the Solar Harvester between the Autobots and The Fallen's Decepticon forces, Sam died in an attempt to use the remnants of the Matrix to resurrect Optimus Prime. Appearing to leave his body, the six Primes soon appeared before Sam, telling him that they had been observing him for a long period of time, praising his sacrificial acts to save the last Prime's spark. They pronounced him worthy of receiving the Matrix, revealing to him that it is now never merely found but instead earned, then instantaneously resuscitated him. Brought back to life by the six Primes, he was able to fulfill his destiny by reviving Optimus, propagating the complete destruction of the Solar Harvester and the defeat of "The Fallen" and Megatron. Revenge of the Fallen

Notes

• In the novelization and comic book adaptation based on early scripts, it was elaborated one could not become a Prime, they could only be born as such, for only a Prime could kill a Prime. They were aided by the Cube when it made the Matrix for them to power their harvesters. On Cybertron, the Fallen hunted down and killed every last Prime he could find, knowing that they were a threat to him. Jetfire identified Optimus as the sole orphan hidden away from him, which was why he had no knowledge of his lineage. With the death of the Fallen, Optimus Prime became sole inheritor of the Matrix and the last of the Dynasty of Primes.
• Also in the adaptations of the film, Jetfire explains that there were Thirteen Primes, and that the Prime that came to be known as "The Fallen" destroyed eleven of them, with the twelth Prime sacrificing his spark to seal the Matrix in a tomb constructed out of the lifeless bodies of his dead brothers.

Give me your... faces?!

• Though barely glimpsed in the film, Josh Nizzi designed somewhat unique bodies and heads for each of the Twelve during the film's pre-production. Perhaps most curiously, all of them appear to have energy glowing within their armor just as The Fallen does.[1]