Multiversal singularity

The name or term "singularity" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see singularity (disambiguation).

But is he the number I cannot compute?

The multiverse comprises countless parallel universes, diverging timelines, and alternate dimensions. For most individuals, existence is perceived within just one of these. A single being may have endless doppelgangers spread across those universes, but each incarnation lives a separate life. And if one were ever to cross dimensions and meet an alternate self, they would perceive each other as distinct persons.

But there are a rare few beings known as "multiversal singularities" whose existence is not so divided by the boundaries between universes. Such a being has a single identity and perception that spans the multiverse, with the ability to move between dimensions more or less at will. How this unity expresses itself (i.e., a single incarnation traveling from universe to universe, multiple incarnations connected in some inter-universal way, or something even more esoteric) varies between individuals and is often exceedingly vague.

Known or implied multiversal singularities include:

• Primus
• Unicron
• Vector Sigma
• The Prime Spark
• The Thirteen original Transformers, including:

• Prima
• Vector Prime
• Nexus Prime
  • Skyfall
  • Landquake
  • Breakaway
  • Topspin
  • Heatwave
• The Fallen

Fiction

The term "multiversal singularity" does not appear in the fiction, nor is the concept ever called out as a single phenomenon. The idea is known from creator commentary; this section contains the most relevant apparent expressions of it.

DK Transformers: The Ultimate Guide book

Unicron could move between dimensions, and when he succeeded at destroying one universe, he rested for a time and then moved to a new one to consume it as well. Sometimes he faced apparent destruction himself, but he would always return. His spark core, shielded against even the Matrix energy that could obliterate his body, would rebuild his form with the power of consumed sparks or pure energon. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide

Unicron Trilogy

Dreamwave Armada comic

The Transformers on Earth learned of Unicron while he was still consuming another reality. Over-Run, a fugitive from that universe, explained that Unicron had devoured many realities, and he would be coming for this one soon. Worlds Collide, Part 3 of 4 This indeed came to pass, but with the power of the Mini-Con Matrix, Unicron was pushed back into the dimensional rift though which he had arrived. The End

Transformers Legends

A special trans-dimensional Spark known as the Prime Spark was shared by at least three different Transformers from at least two dimensions. It was entrusted to chosen Autobot and Maximal leaders by Primus. Prime Spark

Fun Publications Cybertron comic

Yes indeed, THIS guy is our best source of information here.

When Ramjet emerged from his exile between dimensions, he was driven by a purpose: He claimed that he could fulfill Unicron's destiny better than Unicron ever could have, since Unicron's "imprisonment in a physical body" meant he was "incapable of destroying more than one reality at a time." But Unicron's recent destruction in this universe had resulted in a massive black hole, and Ramjet believed that if he drove Cybertron into it, the result would be a chain reaction that would destroy the multiverse. He said that Cybertron, the embodiment of Primus, was the "stable axis of the multiverse [...] a single, infinite curve across all realities; the only truly unique thing in all of creation." Feed one incarnation of it into the black hole, and not only would its universe crumble, but the black hole would replicate into universe after universe until it was the center of all things, and all things would be "a swirling, infinite hell of nothingness". Balancing Act, Part 2

To stop him, Vector Sigma summoned Vector Prime: defender of cosmic order, member of the Thirteen, and "one of the very few truly unique creatures in the Multi-verse [sic]". Vector Prime bio He fought one-on-one with Ramjet and ultimately prevailed by cutting a hole in space-time with his sword and forcing Ramjet into it, telling him he would join Unicron. Revelations Part 1

So there's only one Unicron, but this other one also existed at the same time Energon Unicron was destroyed. Got it!

Taking stock of the damage wrought by the battle, Vector Prime briefly conversed with the Autobots on Cybertron, including an alternate-universe Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus who had been transported there by Vector Sigma from yet another multiversal conflict. They described how they had been battling inside Unicron himself when the Chaos-Bringer began to vanish; Vector Prime attributed this to the black hole, in which was "trapped the Unicron from all whens." But before he could explain any more, he said that he was struggling to "maintain these future echoes that appear to you" because he had "gamed the time stream" so much. Then he suddenly vanished.

At that point Over-Run, who existed inside the planetary computer network, piped up and reassured the Autobots that Vector Prime was back on Earth, where he didn't have to expend energy avoiding paradoxes. He also described Vector Sigma as existing in "nodes" throughout the multiverse, which he (Over-Run) could access. Revelations Part 2

Shattered Glass

Fun Publications Shattered Glass comic

Eons ago, Nexus Prime, a member of the Thirteen, cut himself into five components and scattered them throughout the multiverse. Each of these components became an individual robot who, as millennia passed, forgot his original identity and lost his pan-dimensional perception. Most of them settled into ordinary lives, but eventually a series of cross-dimensional events brought them back together. Nexus Prime bio They reunited in this universe, and in the process of doing so, no suggestion was ever made that they might have additional incarnations – this despite the profusion of splinter timelines and so on in the eons since they had been separated. When they physically re-merged, they regained their ability to move between universes at will, as well as some of their cosmic perception and memory, and they still behaved as though they were unique in the multiverse. Reunification: Part 6

Creator commentary

The multiversal singularity concept raised many questions in the fan community, especially because it was hinted to apply to characters in active use outside of the storylines that employed the idea. One prominent example was The Fallen, who as a member of the Thirteen was possibly a singularity like Vector Prime and Nexus Prime. But his contemporary appearances in comics and films didn't acknowledge the issue, so he became the subject of several specific inquiries directed at Hasbro. While none of the following is strictly canon, we consider it an enlightening accompaniment to the in-fiction facts.

At the BotCon 2009 Hasbro roundtable, a fan asked what The Fallen of the Shattered Glass universe would look like; i.e., would he be covered in ice instead of fire? Hasbro copywriter Forest Lee answered that because The Fallen is a multiversal singularity, no Shattered Glass version exists.

This led to a question in Hasbro's July 2009 Q&A session, asking how The Fallen could be a singularity since there are so many different movie adaptations, video games, etc., that present alternate fates for the character. We found Hasbro's answer interesting and complex enough to merit reproducing in full:

"The complex nature of the multiverse demands much from singular creatures like the Fallen, Primus, Unicron, the 13, etc. These beings are of a fundamentally different nature from regular individuals, who are repeated endlessly throughout the infinite variation of creation. They must be designed or evolved to deal with certain situations that would drive lesser beings mad.

First of all, time flows differently from dimension to dimension. By necessity, this makes it possible for creatures like the Fallen to appear to exist in two places at the same time. Second, whole new universes are spawned every moment by the resolution of quantum uncertainty. Most of these universes are dead ends that exist for only a few seconds or minutes at most, and encompass only a few critical moments. Therefore, at certain critical junctures, the Fallen becomes a quantum event, experiencing two or more possible outcomes at once, until one of those outcomes proves to be a dead end and collapses. The Fallen then reverts back to the "real" universe. Every story has dozens or hundreds of endings we never see. But the Fallen sees them.

One of the side effects of the Fallen's quantum nature is that his appearance changes slightly from dimension to dimension, based on the expectations of others, and the unique history he has (or has not) established in a particular dimension. He is also bound by the "rules" (gravity, magnetism, etc.) of any dimension in which appears – many of which rules he may have actually helped shape when the multiverse was young. So if time flows backwards in a certain dimension, he is bound to live and experience – forgetting as he goes along – everything backwards.

Smart and savvy dimensional travelers spend time in reverse timescale dimensions, slow-time dimensions, or dimensions in which time does not move at all. This ensures that even if they are "killed," they continue to exist. As you can see, the idea of sequential experience as you and I understand it is pretty meaningless to guys like the Fallen. He does experience all these things, but his mind operates on a higher order so all of this stuff totally makes sense to him."

About a year and a half later, another Hasbro Q&A included a question about whether The Fallen in the upcoming Prime cartoon would be the same individual that had been seen previously, or if the new one would no longer be a multiversal singularity. Hasbro's reply:

"The official story of the original 13 and specifically The Fallen has not been explored in the modern continuity that Transformers War for Cybertron, Exodus, and Prime are a part of. Anything you know from past generations of the brand may or may not be factual in the new continuity. Going forward in the modern continuity there is 1 Fallen."

Development

Some multiversal singularities are characters who were retconned into that state. Unicron is the most egregious example, as he had been given two different origins and natures by the original Generation 1 cartoon and comic. The former described him as the overgrown creation of an alien engineer, while the latter said he was a god. Moreover, while the cartoon had him suffering a cataclysmic defeat in 2005, the comic contained several branching timelines leading to different fates, either being partially destroyed in 2006, being annihilated in 1990, or successfully consuming Cybertron and surviving at least into 2009. He had the ability to send his servants on errands into "possible futures", but that's as far as his pan-dimensionality went.

The first suggestion that all of these Unicrons were a single being was in Simon Furman's work in the early 2000s. The first Universe franchise was built on the premise of Unicron kidnapping Transformers from various universes. Furman's comic established that he did this from a location between dimensions, which was the first time Unicron was shown to personally transcend dimensional barriers. Soon after, the Furman-penned Ultimate Guide was published and his Armada comic "Worlds Collide" storyline appeared. Both summarized above, they didn't explicitly declare a single Unicron, but they pushed further in that direction.

It was ultimately Forest Lee who picked up that thread and used it to create the "multiversal singularity" idea, playing it out in the Fun Publications Cybertron comic, also summarized above. He established two different expressions of singularity: Unicron's, where there was only one incarnation hopping from universe to universe; and Primus's, where every universe had its own incarnation, but they were all connected. Lee also gave other characters similar pan-dimensional status, such as Vector Prime, who seemed to embody the Unicron model, and Vector Sigma, which was more like Primus. (This basically jibed with the Cybertron cartoon, which presented Vector Prime as a somewhat transcendent being who continued to exist ephemerally after his own death because he had spent a large amount of his life outside of time, where he would then always be.)

Additionally, the Fun Publications comic introduced Nexus Prime, whom it presented in a manner consistent with singularity-hood: an ancient being whose component robots went on a cross-dimensional romp with nary a hint of encountering duplicate versions of themselves. This applied even in the Shattered Glass universe, where its native component was one of the very few denizens who was not clearly someone else's opposite. As both Vector Prime and Nexus Prime are members of the Thirteen, it seems likely that their singular nature was intended to extend to the rest of that group. And in the case of The Fallen at least, this was confirmed by Lee personally (as mentioned above).

However, it is unclear how many other Transformers creators have actually been aware of or beholden to the whole singularity business. For example, a year after Unicron's singular nature was declared explicitly, the Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers comic presented a third origin story for Unicron: that he was an alien banished from his world. Also, Michael Bay put The Fallen in a titular role that bore a superficial resemblance but had very little actual connection to the character's previous appearance. And as the Thirteen's roster has slowly been fleshed out, characters such as Alpha Trion have been retconned in, even though he does have a Shattered Glass variant.

Given this, and the latest Hasbro statement that The Fallen's established history "may not be factual in the new continuity," the future of the multiversal singularity concept is uncertain.

Notes

• Because this concept is so abstrusely defined, it is unclear whether it can be applied to pan-dimensional characters unrelated to Furman and Lee's storylines. For example, the Alternity are conglomerations of alternate versions of particular characters, collective beings existing in higher-dimensional space. At a glance, this seems to reflect the Primus model, but the Alternity is presented as an outcome of eons of evolution, whereas the confirmed singularities appear to have had their multiverse-spanning nature from the beginning. Whether or not such details matter to the definition is up for debate.