Onyx Prime

This article is about one of the Thirteen. For the former Predacon assassin, see Onyx Primal.

Move over, Predaking!

Of the Thirteen, Onyx Prime, the "Lord of Beasts", is the most spiritually-minded of their number, in tune with both the creatures of the natural world and the intangible realm of the spirit. He alone has the ability to properly use the three-faced Triptych Mask given to him by Primus; this artifact allows him to cast his spirit across vast distances to commune with the dreams of far-off beings, or even track the journey of a Spark across the afterlife. Though some view these strange mental voyages across distant realms as mere flights of fancy, Onyx and his visions make him one of the most inspirational Primes. Onyx Prime was originally a multiversal singularity who existed as one being across all space and time, but that is no longer the case.

Onyx Prime's spiritual aptitude allowed him to cultivate an inscrutable presence that made him appear mysterious and slightly intimidating at the best of times, even to the other members of the Thirteen. In spite of his powers, Onyx Prime is a kind-hearted and friendly individual at Spark, a trait that made him one of the most liked members of the Thirteen. Indeed, all of his siblings treated him as a fiercely loyal companion and a steadfast confidant - Micronus Prime, in particular, once regarded Onyx as his closest friend. As the first Transformer to possess a beast mode, those Transformers who revere him as the greatest of the Primes tend to eschew the vehicular alternate modes of other Transformers, preferring to wear the animalistic forms exemplified by their spiritual progenitor.

Fiction

Aligned continuity family

Prime cartoon

According to legend, at the beginning of time, Unicron and Primus battled each other for eons, with neither side remaining victorious for long. Till, that is, Primus created the Thirteen. These Thirteen defeated Unicron and cast him into space. One Shall Rise, Part 1

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Onyx Prime was part of the First Cybertronian Civil War between the Thirteen and their respective tribes, and controlled the region of Kalis. During the conflict, he allied with Nexus Prime to create the Headmasters: combiners of beasts and 'humanoid' Transformers.

The death of Nexus spooked most of the Thirteen, including Onyx Prime, into leaving Cybertron. (His tribe continued to fight on in his name, which didn't end well for them.) He resided on another planet, the location of which was later discovered by Shockwave. As with the other Primes, Shockwave sent one of his Regenesis ores to Onyx's hiding place. The Crucible Despite Nexus's death, Onyx knew that Galvatron would be unable to destroy the Enigma of Combination. He knew the relic had been launched to Earth and sent "Garrison Blackrock" as a sleeper agent to find the artifact and summon the Prime when he had found it. Helden

According to the inhabitants of the Cybertronian colony world Eukaris, Onyx Prime led the colonization expedition aboard the Titan Chela to create a haven for beastformers, founding the colony Eukaris. By the modern day, he was nowhere to be found, but "Fateweaver" Blackarachnia had become his prophet. During the first formal meeting between the Republic of Cybertron and the four tribes of Eukaris, Chela reawoke to execute his master Onyx Prime's final command to protect Eukaris from "standard-formers" by any means necessary. However, Republic High Chancellor Starscream killed Chela, allowing for Cybertron-Eukaris relations to come about. Windblade vol. 2 #6

Fun Publications

Vector Prime fondly remembered the time he spent with his siblings, including Onyx Prime, who Vector noted to be in tune with nature and especially the organic. Ask Vector Prime, 14/6/2015 Vector also noted that both Liege and Onyx utilized female holomatter avatars when interacting with humans. Onyx's avatar inspired/co-opted the myth of Artemis. Ask Vector Prime, 20/7/2015 Vector Prime also noted that there were universal streams where Onyx went by the name Onyx Convoy. Ask Vector Prime, 24/6/2015

When Nexus Prime united the Terminus Blade and Star Saber with the intent of thickening the walls between realities to prevent dimensional travel, Onyx Prime and the other members of the "multiversal singularity" incarnation of the Thirteen gathered to witness this momentous event. When Nexus brought the blades together, Onyx and the Thirteen ceased to exist as singularities and were splintered into multiple different incarnations across the multiverse. Out of the One, Many

The individual Thirteen were not identified on-panel in "Out of the One, Many", but an orange, winged, vaguely bird-like Transformer depicted in the comic was possibly Onyx.