Thirteen

This article is about the group of ancient Transformers . For the comic series that might never be published, see Transformers: The Thirteen.

Guess the one on fire!

We are the 13, the first, the forgotten, each of us serving a function vital to the survival of the universe. Each of us designated a Prime and given a function to serve during the long march of infinity.Vector Prime, "Vector Prime: In the Beginning"

When Primus first created Cybertron, he created a crew of thirteen living robotic beings to man him. These beings, in imitation of Unicron's transformation abilities, were able to change their forms into the likeness of vehicles, weapons, and machinery. They were the first Transformers, all godlike Primes, and rightfully huge. Many of the thirteen died in a cataclysmic first battle with Unicron, where he was sucked down into a black hole and trapped along with his acolyte known as The Fallen, one of the thirteen who had turned against his brothers and joined Unicron. Of those that survived, many abandoned their original functions and were lost to time. Only Vector Prime was known to still be following the path he was set upon by Primus. They are sometimes referred to simply as the Primes.

The thirteen

Vector Prime steps forward from the First Thirteen Tabernacle Choir with a heartfelt solo.

The identities of most of the thirteen remain shrouded in mystery.

Confirmed members are:

• Prima, the first Matrix-bearer and first Transformer born from Cybertron, leader of the 13. He was a warrior of light who used a Star Saber with the Matrix as its hilt.
• "The Fallen" (originally Megatronus Prime), the guardian of entropy and warrior of darkness.
• Alpha Trion who can see the past, present, and future, and who holds the Covenant of Primus and the Quill.
• Vector Prime, the guardian of space and time.
• Nexus Prime, the guardian of the multiverse's Rarified Energon, capable of splitting into 5 smaller robots:
  • Skyfall
  • Landquake
  • Breakaway
  • Topspin
  • Heatwave
• The Liege Maximo, the ultimate evil counterforce of good.
• An as yet unnamed female warrior.

Possible members are:

• Logos Prime, also known as "Soundblaster". The Beast Wars Reborn text story establishes that Logos Prime is an "Ancient", has incredible powers over space and time, and is "one of [Vector Prime's] own", which all combine with his title to strongly suggest that he is one of the thirteen. Additionally, the silhouetted image of the thirteen produced by Yuji Kaida for TakaraTomy's World of Transformers web site (written by Hirofumi Ichikawa, author of the Beast Wars Reborn story) includes a shadowed figure closely resembling Logos Prime, seemingly cementing TakaraTomy's intention that he be part of the group. However, a recent non-committal Hasbro Q and A answer suggests that they may not be including him in their definitive canonical list of 13 after all.
• The Last Autobot; according to the words he spoke "Since Cybertron's Creation, I have slumbered within the planet, awaiting a time long foreseen by your creator, Primus", it can be inferred that he might be one of the thirteen.

Numerous other very ancient Transformers exist—Boltax, steward of the Underbase, and the Keeper, protector of the slumbering Primus—but none have been included in the ranks of the thirteen.

Functions

Aside from their base functions as "crew" for Primus's planet form and their duty to battle Unicron, the quote above hints that each was given another charge. Three of the four known members of the thirteen were also charged with protecting specific aspects of the multiverse. It is possible, but unconfirmed, that each of the other ten might also have originally had an assigned role as guardian to some aspect of reality.

Vector Prime was tasked with overseeing the space and time continuum. The Prime who would eventually become the Fallen was tasked with overseeing the process of entropy. Nexus Prime was tasked with overseeing the multiverse's Rarified Energon.

Multiversal singularities

The original thirteen are multiversal singularities like Primus and Unicron, with only one of each of them existing throughout the whole multiverse. Though they may pass from universe to universe, it is one quantum individual doing so, and they possess no alternate-reality counterparts as normal beings do. For further details on how this weird little mind-bender works, see that article.

Fiction

Generation 1

Marvel Comics continuity

If that is Prima, then who is that looming over him?

As Unicron learned how to change his planetary form, Primus created the Transformers to fight him. They reproduced by budding, but the process had dark byproducts, so Prima was given the Matrix to perpetuate their race instead. Primal Scream The Power and the Glory Unbeknownst to many, the Cybertronian Empire continued budding millions of years later, at the insistence of their leader, Liege Maximo. Liege Maximo described himself as the ultimate evil created as a counterpoint to the first Prime, and called Megatron his "descendant". A Rage in Heaven! Topspin became a Cybertronian to his displeasure, and during a battle he was unable to stop his ship from accelerating to near-light speeds, eventually finding himself in Axiom Nexus. Topspin's TFCC profile

The technically non-canon Alignment states Liege Maximo continued budding selectively, causing a small taint in the Transformers that led to the Decepticons.

Dreamwave Comics

The Fallen was thwarted in his attempt to sabotage Primus' physical form, and the 13 allegedly died after casting The Fallen and his master Unicron through a black hole into another dimension. In truth, The Fallen was imprisoned in another dimension, while Alpha Trion kept watch over the Transformers in the Well of All Sparks while Primus entered his eternal sleep to hide Cybertron from Unicron. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide

Fun Publications

Vector Prime aided the Autobots in finding the Cyber Planet Keys to close the Unicron Singularity. He regularly reported their progress to Alpha Trion, but during one visit Unicron's servants Ramjet and Nemesis Prime attacked. Skyfall came to Cybertron looking for clues to his past, only to be attacked by Dark Scorponok, but his forcefield protected him. Ramjet offered him clues to his past in exchange for his soul service. They went to Primus's spark core to destroy him with the Dead Matrix, but Vector and Sentinel Maximus fought back. Ramjet said he would stop trying to kill Primus if Vector aided them in restoring the balance by resurrecting Unicron, but he refused. Skyfall tried to save Ramjet but his forcefield only ignited an explosion that killed Ramjet. Vector had drones repair Skyfall and found Omega Prime—Trion's creation from the Robots in Disguise universe—had helped Sentinel defeated Nemesis. Omega's presence saddened Vector, as it confirmed the multiverse was falling apart, and he left.

Skyfall was helping Sentinel repair Vector Sigma, when Over-Run informed him he had found a twenty million cycle old carving of him and another bot. Immediately during a battle between Mini-Con Autobots and Decepticons, Skyfall found Landquake. The two seemingly vanished when Unicron attacked, Balancing Act when they had been transported to Breakaway's universe, and the trio and went through a space bridge to find Topspin in Axiom Nexus. Cheetor and Silverbolt introduced the trio to Alpha Trion. However, Shockwave had Breakaway quietly subdued and taken to his laboratory. Skyfall and Landquake realized Breakaway was gone, but Alpha Trion told them to come with him if they wanted to rescue their brother from the evil TransTechs. He explained he was not from this dimension and was part of a resistance movement, introducing them to Topspin, whose job was to transfer their lowtech followers' sparks into their TransTech counterparts. Realizing Topspin was one of their kin, Skyfall and Landquake agreed to help. Nightscream found Breakaway was being held near the portal to Alpha Trion's dimension, and his acolytes attacked, rescuing Breakaway and entering the transwarp device. Alpha Trion explained to Skyfall he was the key to the reunification, and stabbed and killed him as they entered his universe. Transcendent

Despite his claim his was a peaceful world, Alpha Trion shot Downshift, and Breakaway realized Skyfall had been killed by an energy blade rather than shot from behind as the old Autobot claimed. Alpha Trion's troops arrived, took the four components and he proclaimed he would kill them all—as reunification still worked with one of them dead—and that his reign would begin. Landquake manipulated the raw energon and used smokebombs to escape with Topspin and Breakaway carrying Skyfall. Weeks later, after trying unsuccessfully to revive Skyfall, the Quintesson Aquarius appeared to take them to Megatron. Landquake explained their situation to the Decepticons, and Megatron asked Cyclonus to bring Heatwave, but then Cyclonus, revealing himself to be an agent of Alpha Trion, assassinated Megatron. Breakaway suggested they use their powers to revive Megatron, and found themselves in a white space with Skyfall and Primus. They made their choice: Nexus Prime was reborn. Nexus resurrected Megatron as Galvatron and defeated Omega Doom. Reunification Using Galvatron's gift of the Stellar Spanner, Nexus and Aquarius began dimension-hopping to find the shards of the artifact he had been entrusted with, so he could complete his memories. The Coming Storm: Part 1

Fun Publications wrapped Nexus's story as Hasbro took the character into custody as part of its 13-related plans that began in 2010.

Live-action film series

The Primes in the Matrix/Allspark/surreal part of Primus's imagination.

The Primes were the guardians of the AllSpark, charged with replenishing it. They commanded Seekers and workers to find stars and replenish the AllSpark with their energy. The Fallen began seeing himself as the AllSpark's chosen one and began destroying solar systems with sentient life to replenish the Cube. His brothers warned him not to do it again, so The Fallen tried it again on Earth to lure them. Tales of the Fallen issue 3 The Fallen slaughtered all his brothers bar Prima himself, who gathered his brothers' lifeforce to trap The Fallen in his sarcophagus. Prima sacrificed himself to form a tomb with his brothers' bodies to hide the Matrix. Tales of the Fallen issue 4

A long time passed, and The Fallen was eventually dug up. From his prison, he pushed High Protector Megatron into forming the Decepticons. Defiance issue 2 Thousands of years later, Optimus Prime, the sole surviving descendant of the Primes to survive The Fallen's rampage, Revenge of the Fallen issue 3 had been killed. The Primes appeared to Sam Witwicky, giving him the Matrix to revive Optimus, and Optimus avenged The Fallen's brothers by killing him. Revenge of the Fallen (film)

The ROTF adaptations have thirteen Primes. While designs were made for twelve non-Fallen Prime heads, the finished film shows only seven Primes, and this change was followed in Tales of the Fallen and the Titan magazine. Prima's appearance was retconned by Hasbro at BotCon 2010.

Exodus novel

What is known about the Primes is that their war made "enemies of brothers, murderers of lovers, heroes of the insignificant, and cowards of the mighty". Allegiances formed and broke apart: Megatronus refused to bow before his brothers, and he believed he would be vindicated someday despite his destructive methods. The murder of one sent them across the stars, to battle among themselves for billions of cycles. Finally, there came a time when Prima had to relenquish the Matrix.

Alpha Trion remained on Cybertron, recording these events into the Covenant of Primus, and the Primes became myths doubted by some. Alpha Trion retreated into becoming the Archivist of the Hall of Records when Sentinel Prime, the High Council and the Guilds of Cybertron ignored his protests about the caste system. The Matrix did not bestow itself onto another until the unworthy Sentinel died, and Optimus Prime was imbued with it, while his nemesis had become known as Megatron, who like his namesake had come to destroy that he believed in. Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron

Notes

• IDW comics talked repeatedly about a planned/potential miniseries telling the story of the Thirteen. What similarity this new telling would have to the previous original thirteen stories is unknown. Hasbro became quite involved, and Simon Furman stated that it "seems pretty likely that Vector Prime will be amongst the 13, the Liege Maximo too, and possibly Alpha Trion. But nothing's set in stone here yet." [1] No release date for this series was ever set. As of BotCon '09, IDW says this series is off their publishing schedule. In an interview, Furman said it's "probably not going to happen for a while, as it's become more of a Hasbro thing than an IDW thing, and Hasbro need to crystallize the whole concept before it can be turned into a comic book". [2]

• Transformers: The Ultimate Guide specifically asserts that all of the original 13 Transformers were destroyed in the early battle between Primus and Unicron. In and of itself this statement cannot be accurate, since the same book recounts how The Fallen was not destroyed but exiled to a transdimensional prison from which he later escaped. Subsequent canon has indisputably established the survival of others of this cohort.

• Speaking of the Ultimate Guide, it also made mention of a rumor on Cybertron that Maccadam--proprietor of Maccadam's Old Oil House--was supposedly one of the 13 and that his bar existed outside the normal flow of space-time. The prose story "Prime Spark" confirms the latter half of that rumor, depicting the bar as a multiversal nexus of sorts, but it makes no revelations about Maccadam himself. Aaron Archer has declared that when the full identities of the 13 are revealed in the forseeable future, Maccadam will not be among them. Moral of the story: rumors are dumb.

• In an answer in October 2009's Q&A Hasbro indicated that only seven of the 13 were Primes. These seven were hinted at as being the seven Primes featured in the film version of Revenge of the Fallen. How that relates to the claim in fiction that all 13 were Primes is not yet known.

• In Hasbro Q&A on October, 2009 from The Allspark Forum, The Thirteen are referred to as "the Original Epic Warriors of Cybertron" by Hasbro.