Nova Prime
| This article is about the Matrix bearer from the IDW comics. For the Matrix bearer from the Marvel Comics, see Prime Nova. |
| This article is about the undead Prime from the IDW comics who is also known as Nemesis Prime. For other evil primes, see Nemesis Prime (disambiguation). |
- Nova Prime is a Transformer in the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family. He is also known as Nemesis Prime.
Nova Prime was the predecessor to Nominus Prime. An expansionist and a supremacist, Nova Prime believed that Transformers were the greatest among all life forms and that they should bring their glory to the myriad of lesser races throughout the universe.
After being sucked into the Dead Universe, Nova was chosen to be the host for the Darkness, an otherworldly counterpart of the Matrix of Leadership which worked by transforming the inhabitants of the Dead Universe into undead wielders of anti-life. Upon merging, Nova was reborn as the sinister and extremely powerful Nemesis Prime. He now sees it as his mission to fulfil the Darkness' imperative by expanding the Dead Universe's hold into the living realm.
Nemesis may seem to hold sway over both his troops and the Darkness, but nothing could be further from the truth. The powerful Galvatron sees the Darkness as his rightful inheritance. And then, there is the fear. The fear that the Darkness has more in common with the Matrix than Nemesis is comfortable with. He feels he has earned this power, and isn't willing to see it follow its natural path. It is for this reason he must eliminate Optimus Prime. And it is for this reason he fears to face his successor.
| “ | Nova was forever seeking, forever testing the limits of science and faith. He had a certain moral...ambiguity about the Cybertronian ideal. | ” |
Fiction
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Long ago in Cybertron's past, there was a great war (no, a different one) and Nova Prime emerged to end the fighting. After he ended the war, he and his closest friends and advisors Jhiaxus, Galvatron, Cyclonus, and Dai Atlas went on a quest in Cybertron's underground, hoping to rediscover the lost principles of their gods, the Guiding Hand. Nova found the Hand's old home: Crystal City, with its guardian Omega Supreme. Omega joined Nova's crew and they worked to bring about the legendary Golden Age. Primus: All Good Things
Soon, Nova's ambition grew and he secretly began planning the Expansion, the Cybertronian conquest of the universe. Obsessed with the Hand's prophecy that "all shall be one", he intended to enslave all other lifeforms in order to "free" them from their individual wills and make them part of something greater—Nova's empire. He formed the Primal Vanguard for off-world peacekeeping and began work on the first Ark, claiming it was meant for trade and exploration when it was in truth the first step of the Expansion. Hangers On All Good Things However, his plans hit a snag when Vector Sigma's flow of new sparks began to cease. Fearing that his Expansion would be impossible with a limited population of Cybertronians at his disposal, Nova had a team of scientists led by Tyrest tap into the Matrix of Leadership and use its power to create new life, a process that was covered up as a "population augmentation program" that made use of "spark splicing". Patternism The Divided Self Nova Prime also wished to evolve Cybertronians in preparation for their destiny as rulers of the universe, and against Omega's wishes, he had Jhiaxus re-engineer six Transformers to be able to combine into a being of higher intellect and strength. However they were driven mad by the merging, and they devolved into a monster that tore through Crystal City before they were stopped. Nova didn't care about the destruction though, feeling the city had outlived its usefulness. Spotlight: Optimus Prime All Good Things
Nova Prime and his closest comrades boarded the Ark to enact the Expansion, making their way to the Benzuli Expanse where they discovered a portal to the Dead Universe. Seeing it as just another universe to conquer, Nova ordered the ship to pass through, not worried at all by the fact that the portal itself was pulling them in. Dark Dawn The ship never reappeared and the crew was presumed dead, but Nova's aggressive intentions never came to light, and the Transformers honored his memory with a statue. Megatron Origin #3 The Matrix he once carried remained on Cybertron, hidden in the Undergrid Transformation, with a fake one (that everyone believed was real) left behind for his successor, Nominus Prime. Post Hoc Meanwhile, his population expansion had left Cybertron with energon shortages and caused an outburst of racism, complete with a period of apartheid, against the constructed Transformers created by his spark splicing program. Patternism
The Prime was thought dead but countless years later, when Optimus Prime downloaded himself into infraspace to survive an attack from Megatron, he sensed the presence of Nova Prime... and was filled with an incredible sense of dread. Escalation #6 These feelings led Optimus Prime to seek information from Omega Supreme, and shared with him his belief that Nova might still be alive, and his feelings of dread. In turn, Omega told Optimus of Nova's story, and later learned of Monstructor. Optimus was left with the knowledge that the Prime lineage was corrupt, and it gave the Autobot leader something to ponder about. Spotlight: Optimus Prime
It was later learned that Optimus Prime's assessment was right: Nova Prime was still functioning, though in a strange half-dead state in the Dead Universe, and was now the fearsome figure known as Nemesis Prime, powered by the almighty mind-altering anti-Matrix, the Darkness, which ruled the Dead Universe. His grand plan, the Expansion, was now intended to merge the Dead Universe with the real one, allowing him to both return home at long last and direct the merged universe into a new, more ordered era.
He already had an outpost and minions on Gorlam Prime, ready to direct his coming Expansion. He had Nightbeat captured by some of his minions and programmed Spotlight: Nightbeat to assassinate Optimus Prime at a set time, Spotlight: Hardhead, as he subconsciously knew the Darkness would behave like the Matrix and jump from him to Optimus if given the chance. Spotlight: Sideswipe
With that secured, Nemesis Prime decided that the Expansion was ready to begin. He dispatched Galvatron to Cybertron in a mission to secure Thunderwing, kill the Autobots guarding him, and bring the Pretender to the Dead Universe. Galvatron secured Thunderwing, but spared the Autobots, viewing it as a small rebellion against Nova. Spotlight: Galvatron After observing the Reapers about to destroy Earth, he ordered Galvatron there to stop them, since the Earth was part of their expansion plan. Devastation #3 Galvatron performed his task well, but Prime remarked to Jhiaxus that he was aware that Galvatron had his own agendas and secrets. Devastation #6
After Cyclonus secured the Nega-Core and activated its guardian, Nemesis Prime initiated the Expansion with the rest of the Dead Universe crew. Spotlight: Cyclonus
Nemesis Prime was found by Jhiaxus on the remains of the Ark, thinking back on old times and planning for the future. Upon receiving the latest intelligence on both Cyclonus and Nightbeat, he dismissed the former and requested Jhiaxus take care of the Nightbeat situation personally. When Jhiaxus reported Nightbeat's death, Nemesis was unmoved, deciding he would take over Nightbeat's mission and deal with Optimus Prime himself. Spotlight: Hardhead
Nemesis Prime attacked the prison facility on Garrus-9 while Optimus Prime was inspecting it. The Autobot defense forces were helpless against him: Nemesis was immune to all their firepower and used his deadly decaying touch to instantly snuff out their lives. Seeing that conflict was futile, Optimus Prime ordered all the defenders to retreat, then faced Nemesis Prime directly. Nemesis gloated about the upcoming Expansion, then revealed to Optimus Prime the nature of the Darkness and channeled it as a weapon against Optimus Prime. Spotlight: Doubledealer
Unfortunately for Nemesis, the Darkness did want to leap to Optimus as he'd feared, and it would do so if he either used it or touched Optimus. Enraged, Nemesis backed off and resorted to firing a torrent of normal energy. Optimus was able to withstand the blast however, but their fight ended abruptly when Nemesis, distracted by the battle, was shot in the back and killed by Galvatron, as part of his plan to claim the Darkness for himself.
Though Optimus Prime soon destroyed the Darkness-infused Galvatron (or so he thought), Optimus remarked that he couldn't mourn his predecessor, noting that Nova Prime was long dead. Spotlight: Sideswipe
Nemesis Prime resurfaced years later, alive and with his wounds pulsating with dark energy. He appeared from a portal to the Dead Universe on the planet Dykayra, greeting a shocked Galvatron. Heart of Darkness #3 He claimed that D-Void, a malevolent and powerful entity within the Dead Universe, had restored his spark, allowing him to take revenge on Galvatron and take back the Darkness. After a brief battle between the two, Galvatron's minions intervened, but Nemesis brushed off their firepower and destroyed several of them by devouring their energy. He then mutated into a gigantic, horrible monster, seemingly falling under D-Void's direct control in the process, and continued the fight against Galvatron. In the end, Galvatron was able to summon his army and force what had once been Nemesis Prime's body back through the portal before destroying it. Heart of Darkness #4
Games
Transformers Legends
The peace of Nova Prime's rule over Cybertron was shattered by the arrival of a future version of himself named Nemesis Prime. Though Nova Prime rallied Topspin and Roadbuster in an attempt to quell this future shade, Nemesis Prime triumphed over the Autobots. Prime Evil
Notes
- Nova Prime was actually an Optimus Prime design that artist Don Figueroa had made for Hasbro, but it was never made as a toy. In fact, part of the combined super robot mode concept art was first seen on the BotCon 2005-exclusive cover for Infiltration issue 0.
- It's unclear when the Autobots evolved as a faction in the IDW-verse but they didn't appear until well after Nova Prime was lost to the Benzuli Expanse — it was at the end of Nominus Prime's reign when an idealistic law enforcement officer called Orion Pax made an impassioned speech to the Senate claiming the name for himself and by Megatron Origin, they were a police force working for the Senate.
- According to Nova Prime's design sketches by Don, seen in the back of Spotlight: Optimus Prime, the form seen in the story is Nova Prime's winged cab/trailer super robot. He also has a smaller robot mode consisting of only the cab. The transformation of the cab is pretty similar to that of Energon Rodimus.
- Apparently, being an undead Prime means you have to reverse your colour scheme.
