Thirteenth Prime

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

"This Matrix has the spark with it!"

The Thirteenth Prime, or more briefly 13, is the last of the Thirteen original epic warriors of Cybertron. Cloaked in mystery even more than his fellow Primes, this nameless warrior's legacy is carried forwards in the Autobot leaders of the present day.

Fiction

Aligned continuity family

After years of neglect from the X-Men writers, Chamber began moonlighting as a Transformers character.

The Thirteenth Prime was Optimus Prime, the mediator and visionary of the Primes, who united them by being the first of their number to raise a hand in greeting. After the Thirteen were torn apart by internal conflict, Optimus chose to be reborn as an ordinary Cybertronian through the Well of All Sparks, losing memory of his past and becoming known as Orion Pax. Pax would eventually take up the Matrix of Leadership to become Optimus Prime once again, and—after sacrificing his life to restore Cybertron—rejoined his brethren in the Realm of the Primes, where they trained him for a mission to Earth in order to defeat his fallen brother Megatronus.

IDW Generation 1 continuity

"This outfit makes you want to lurk in the shadows, waiting for a turn in the spotlight."

The Thirteenth Prime—whose name was eventually forgotten, with Cybertron remembering him only as the Arisen—was one of the leaders of the Thirteen Tribes, who came together with his fellow Primes in Crystal City to build a new civilization. Millions of years later, the Mistress of Flame would come to believe that Optimus Prime was the Arisen, a belief that Optimus exploited to effect change on Earth; and Shockwave named Optimus as the Arisen while in the guise of Onyx Prime.

Power of the Primes marketing material

The Prime Master of the Thirteenth formed the core of the Matrix of Leadership, which selected Optimal Optimus as its bearer. Throne of the Primes packaging

Games

sorry these days I go by "bestest number one"

Forged to Fight

Megatronus immediately recognized Optimus Prime as 13, a fellow original Prime, and asked him to accept the truth of his past. Optimus Prime didn't really seem to understand what Megatronus was talking about. Transformers: Forged to Fight

Toys

Generations

• Throne of the Primes (Leader Class, 2018)
  • Japanese ID number: PP-43

A retool of Prime Master Vector Prime, Power of the Primes "The Thirteenth" is based on Prima's appearance in the Marvel Generation 1 comic. As a Prime Master, The Thirteenth can store inside any decoy armor, or plug into any decoy armor's weapon form, or replace the Matrix core of a Power of the Primes Leader Class figure. He can also ride Legends Class figures, or attach to Deluxe Class figures' chest armor, Voyager Class figures' bucklers, or Voyager Class figures' combined modes. He can also attach to the included Scepter of Sparks and Halo of Primus.

This set debuted at San Diego Comic-Con 2018, and was later sold via Hasbro Toy Shop online. It was also available at general retail in Taiwan.

Notes

"Identity theft is not a joke, Jim!"

• The "Multiversal" Thirteen established by Fun Publications in "Ask Vector Prime" do not seem to have an especially significant thirteenth member.
• It's not entirely explicit what's going on with The Thirteenth in Power of the Primes, but context clues seem to indicate that he's in some way the embodiment of the Matrix of Leadership itself: he isn't mentioned in the description of the Halo of Primus, which only mentions the "12 Prime Masters", but shows The Thirteenth as the core of the Matrix, and the exclusive Prime Master collector card marked with his symbol only describes how the Matrix has chosen Optimal Optimus to lead Cybertron into a new era. This would seem to line up with comments made by Hasbro representatives at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 that the Thirteenth Prime was whoever bore the Matrix of Leadership.
• The Prime Master of The Thirteenth is visually based on Prima as he appeared in the Marvel Transformers comics.

Foreign names

• Japanese: The Thirteen (ザ・サーティーン Za Sātīn)