Thirteen Primes | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics, Dreamwave Productions, IDW Publishing, 3H Enterprises, Fun Publications |
First appearance | "Covenant" (July 2000, as the Covenant of Primus) Transformers: The Ultimate Guide (May 2004, as the Thirteen original Transformers) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 2009, as the Dynasty of Primes) |
Created by |
Simon Furman (original) Justina Robson (revival) |
In-story information | |
Base(s) | Cybertron (home-planet) |
Member(s) | Primon Covenant of Primus: Leonicus (leader), Ariex, Piscor, Libras, Scorpius, Aquator, Taurotron, Cancix, Geminator, Sagittarii, Virgol and Capricurn. Aligned Thirteen: Prima (leader), Megatronus/The Fallen, Alpha Trion, Vector Prime, Nexus Prime, Solus Prime, Liege Maximo, Alchemist Prime, Amalgamous Prime, Onyx Prime, Micronus Prime, Quintus Prime,. Dynasty of Primes: Seven unnamed Primes, Megatronus Prime/The Fallen. Multiversal Thirteen: Prima, Liege Maximo, Megatronus (The Fallen), Vector Prime, Logos Prime, Nexus Prime, Onyx Prime, Solus Prime, Alchemist Prime, Epistimus, Solomus, Autonomous Maximus and Micronus Prime. |
The Thirteen Original Transformers (sometimes referred to as the Thirteen Primes, the Dynasty of Primes or simply the Thirteen) are thirteen fictional characters in the Transformers toy and entertainment franchise created by Hasbro. They are usually portrayed as the first thirteen living beings created by Primus, the creator of the Transformers and their home planet of Cybertron. In the live-action Transformers film trilogy, their back-story is slightly modified, with there only being seven members who were created by the Allspark. The story concept of the Thirteen, as well as three of their members (Prima, Liege Maximo and The Fallen), were created by comic book writer Simon Furman.
It was originally revealed in the Botcon story "Covenant" that before going on to create the Transformer race, Primus experimented with a group of twelve robots known as the Covenant of Primus. Based on the zodiac, these twelve robots were: Leonicus (leader), Aries, Piscor, Libras, Scorpius, Aquator, Taurotron, Cancix, Geminator, Sagittarii, Virgol and Capricurn. They existed in secret, training for the Omega Point. The Omega Point was a potential event that Unicron would attack at a point that there was no Prime. After the Omega Point, time was reverted and the instance never happened in that timeline. "Ask Vector Prime" later indicated that the Covenant was preceded or followed by Primon, who in "Covenant" was listed as the first holder of the Matrix of Leadership, and that he and the Covenant later inspired Primus to create the Thirteen; however, it was also indicated that this history might have been fabricated by Liege Maximo.
In 2004, it was revealed in The Ultimate Guide that Primus later created a group of thirteen Transformers, each with special powers, to fight against Unicron. This is the basic, communal origin for Cybertron and the Transformers across many continuities. Although the 2009 movie has The Fallen as the main villain, it does not seem to follow the Primus creation story. Like Primus and Unicron, each of the thirteen are multiversal singularities - one entity throughout reality. During their first big battle against Unicron, many of the 13 were killed and the Fallen was drawn into a black hole, where he remained trapped in a lower dimensional level.