Onyx Prime

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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

The Covenant of Primus

Onyx Prime was the eighth member of the Thirteen produced by Primus, to serve as his children and warriors against his opposite, Unicron. As one of the mid-level Thirteen spawned between the opposing warriors Prima and Megatronus, Onyx Prime had a more balanced and elemental quality. He was a fierce warrior and fought valiantly in the battle with Unicron, but also had a spiritual side that intrigued some of his fellows while flummoxing others. He was very close to Solus Prime (often to Megatronus's chagrin) and was perhaps best friends with Micronus Prime.

The death of Solus Prime hit Onyx harder than any other member of the Primes. It was Onyx who discovered her body in her workshop, and the cry he let loose chilled Alpha Trion to his very oil. He had to be physically restrained by Vector Prime's power after finding Solus, and held in that position to prevent him from seeking vengeance on Megatronus himself. When the division between Megatronus and Liege Maximo came to a head, all the remained Thirteen warred with one another in a battle lust that was divorced from all possible reason. When they regained their senses, the Thirteen found Maximo dead and Onyx Prime gravely injured.

As Megatronus declared himself "The Fallen" forevermore and exiled himself from Cybertron, the Thirteen questioned what to do next. Solus Prime's body had melted down to the core of Cybertron, creating a font of life that could potentially produce new Cybertronians. As his dying act, Onyx Prime volunteered to catalyze the process, journeying down into this Well of All Sparks with the power of his Triptych Mask reorganizing the thirteen patterns of the Thirteen into an endless variety of new Cybertronians. They believed the power of Primus would preserve Onyx Prime at the core forevermore, keeping him from the death awaiting his injuries. Quintus Prime, Alchemist Prime, and Amalgamous Prime each contributed some of their power and skills to this experiment as well, ensuring its success. In the end, Optimus Prime and Micronus Prime chose to journey down into the Well with Onyx. Optimus intended to be reincarnated among the new sparks, allowing him to live among them and learn from them. Micronus could not bear to be parted from Onyx, and chose to exile himself to the core with his mortally wounded friend as well.

The experiment was a success, and the Well of All Sparks soon erupted with an endless array of new lifeforms, brought into existence by Onyx Prime and the power of his brothers and sisters. The Predacons of the Age of Evolution certainly drew strongly from Onyx's pattern, as did the other beastformers that followed in their wake over time. The Covenant of Primus

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 The death of Nexus prompted the Titan Master, Infinitus to defect to Onyx. White Heat 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 Galvatron, Onyx Prime was on his way to Earth to retrieve the Enigma and would soon arrive. No Fair Fights When Sentinel Prime proclaimed he and Sovereign where the "harbingers of [Onyx's] return", Optimus and Soundwave were given pause to consider what Galvatron had said about Onyx Prime but were confident they could best the ancient Prime. White Heat

According to the inhabitants of the Cybertronian colony world Eukaris, Onyx Prime led the colonization expedition aboard the Titan Chela, turning their planet into a haven for beastformers. 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, 2015/06/14 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, 2015/07/20 Vector Prime also noted that there were universal streams where Onyx went by the name Onyx Convoy. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/24

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.