Primus (Transformers)

Primus is a living planet and deity-entity in the fictional Transformers universe who fought against the Chaos-Bringer Unicron. The Lord of the Light, Primus is the being who created the Primes to help it defeat Unicron, and the Transformers homeworld Cybertron.
Primus was voted as one of the "coolest toys around" by Boys' Life magazine in November 2006.
Fictional character biography
Primus and Unicron
According to Transformers lore, before the dawn of time, Order and Chaos existed within an extra-dimensional entity known as The One. To explore the fledgling universe, he created the astral being known as Unicron, and then subdivided him, creating his twin, Primus. Both brothers were multiversal singularities, unique in all realities, but where as Unicron could only exist in one universe at a time, moving between them at will, Primus existed simultaneously in all realities at once. It is suggested, in fact, that the two brothers embody the basic concepts of reality—good and evil, order and chaos—and that their continued existence is necessary for the stability of the multiverse.
As Unicron and Primus ventured through the cosmos, it became apparent to Primus that Unicron was a corrupt being, and then confronted the threat his sibling posed. In combat, Primus was no match for Unicron. In cunning, however, he proved himself to be his brother's superior when he shifted their battle to the astral plane, and then back to the physical world once more, sacrificing most of his strength to manifest their essences within metallic planetoids, leaving them both trapped. It was with this act of sacrifice that Primus hoped to contain the evil force forever. Unfortunately, over time, Unicron learned to physically shape his prison into the metallic Planet X, and Primus followed suit, becoming the mechanical world of Cybertron. When Unicron then learned to transform his planetary form even further, into a gigantic robot form, Primus could also, but adapted the idea, and created The Thirteen, a group of robotic beings that possessed the ability to change shape, like Unicron.
The war between Unicron and Primus came to its seeming end during a climactic battle in which one of the Thirteen, Megatronus Prime, who would forever afterwards be known as The Fallen, betrayed Primus and became an acolyte of Unicron. The battle ended when the Fallen and Unicron were sucked into a black hole and disappeared from reality. With Unicron gone for now, Primus entered an eons-long slumber, preventing Unicron from detecting him through the mental link the brothers shared.
The Primus/Unicron backstory has evolved and been rewritten a number of times since it originated in the Marvel Comics series. The version recounted above is the current iteration, which has slowly solidified across a wide swath of media (beginning around the time of Transformers: Armada). Before the Primus/Unicron mythos reached its present form it went through several distinct versions in the Marvel Generation 1 comics and elsewhere.
Retellings
The first time the Primus/Unicron backstory appeared was in the UK comic continuity, from Unicron himself, in the story "The Legacy of Unicron!", when he recounted it to Death's Head. Per Unicron's telling of events, he was a primal force of evil at the dawn of the universe, who led a legion of Dark Gods against his mortal foe, Primus, Lord of the Light Gods. Events proceeded to play out basically as described above, though the role of the Light and Dark Gods would diminish with each subsequent retelling of the story, until the current version, in which Primus and Unicron are alone, and have a unique origin.
The second time the story was told was in the United States book by the Keeper, an ancient mechanoid who guarded Primus's head at the center of Cybertron. This telling is effectively the same as the previous UK story, but mentions that their battle was towards the end of the era of gods, that Primus and Unicron were the last of their respective pantheons, and Primus had to defeat Unicron before he could take his place with the other gods in the "Omniversal Matrix".
The third time the story was told was also in the United States Marvel series, this time by Primus, when he gathered all his children together to prepare for Unicron's coming. It was with this telling that we learned that Unicron predated the current universe, and had destroyed the previous universe which existed before the current one. He had slept peacefully, alone in the void of un-creation that remained, until fragments of the old universe that he had overlooked reacted, causing the Big Bang and birthing the current universe. The "sentient core" of this new universe recognized the threat that Unicron posed, and so created Primus to counter his evil and be guardian of the new creation.
The first modern retelling of the origins of Primus and Unicron did not come from Generation 1-oriented media, but from a set of Transformers: Armada trading cards released by Fleer. It was the backstory printed on Unicron's card which introduced the concept of the two being brothers created to explore the new universe by an extra-dimensional entity, here named the "AllSpark".
This was subsequently expanded on and combined with aspects of the various Marvel Comics stories in Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, published by Dorling Kindersley and written by Simon Furman, who had written all three prior tellings in the first place. Here, the entity Fleer had called the "Allspark" was redubbed "The One", and the modern iteration of the myth detailed above was firmly established, and went on to form the backbone of subsequent fiction such as Transformers: Universe and Fun Publications' Transformers: Cybertron comics.
Across the Multiverse
Although many of the official television and comics appearance of Unicron appear to present separate and distinct incarnations of the character, some writers have presented an interpretation of the sources that ties all the versions of Unicron together into a single continuity. Likewise, Primus is also a "multiversal singularity", but while Unicron is limited in this ability, and can only exist in one reality at a time, travelling between them, Primus co-exists in all realities simultaneously.
This concept began with the release of a series of Transformers: Armada trading cards by Fleer. The biography printed on Unicron's card presented him to be one of two heralds created by the Allspark to explore the newly birthed universe. Inspired by his Marvel Comics origin, the other herald was Primus, and the brothers set about this task, until they came upon a region of space teeming with pure Energon. Unicron wanted this power for himself, and cut Primus down before he could report it to the Allspark, casting his brother's body into the orbit of a nearby star. And so Unicron went on to become the engine of destruction that menaced the universe in recent years.
Not long after this, the publication of Transformers: The Ultimate Guide by Dorling Kindersley cemented this notion. Writer Simon Furman incorporated the various aspects of the Dreamwave comics story, some elements of the Fleer storyline and his original Marvel Comics origin to create what is now essentially the "definitive" origin for Unicron. In this version of events, Unicron and Primus were again twin heralds, giant metal planetoids created by the "One", who were sent to explore the universe. But Unicron was an imperfect being and turned to evil, adapting his form to transform into a giant robot. To battle him, The One gave Primus this power also, but Primus opted to remain in planet mode, and passed the transforming abilities on to thirteen robots that he created from himself; the first Transformers. One of the thirteen turned on Primus and sided with Unicron, however, and the war culminated in a battle that saw Unicron and this traitor, the "Fallen", sucked through a black hole into another universe.
This new origin is part of the G1 timeline laid down by the Ultimate Guide, which is apparently being taken as the "official" G1 timeline for future projects that require it. This means that there is only one Unicron who has travelled from universe to universe across all the assorted Transformers continuities. This interpretation of the character is evidenced by the parallel universe spanning Transformers: Universe toyline and convention-exclusive comic books — in which the singular Unicron captured Transformers from various alternate realities and pitted them against each other, feeding off the energies released — and the Transformers: Cybertron comic strip in the Transformers Collectors' Club fan magazine, which depicts Unicron's actions in the various realities in a chronological order and claims that Cybertron is the stable heart of the Multiverse.
Animated series
Beast Wars
Although Primus was never mentioned in the original U.S. Transformers television series, the writers of Beast Wars included Primus to the television mythos with mention of Primus by the Transformers in that series, and the creation of the Covenant of Primus in the series finale. The character itself never appeared in those two series.
Unicron Trilogy
When the Transformers: Armada series came to feature a new incarnation of Unicron, the Fleer series of trading cards included on this Unicron's card a biography that mentioned Primus and told an entirely new story for this universe. Here, Primus and Unicron were brothers, twin heralds created by the Allspark to explore the universe. Unicron was a flawed being, and he eventually turned on his brother when they discovered a region of space rich in Energon. Unicron sought to use it for his own power, and to stop Primus telling the Allspark of this, he apparently slew him, and cast his body into the orbit of a nearby star. Armadas sequel series, Transformers: Energon, went on to feature a character named Primus, who dwelled at the core of Cybertron. Portrayed as an incandescent sphere of light, Primus is given no origin or explanation in the series, beyond apparently being the sentient energy core of Cybertron. Historical precedent would suggest a similar origin to the Marvel Comics, with the abandoned Primus somehow becoming Cybertron.
Primus' first noted act in Energon was to imbue the young Chad "Kicker" Jones with the ability to sense Energon (presumably, this was to enable the Autobots to find the mineral, but seems like a very callous and self-serving act, which is in-line with the Marvel incarnation of Primus, but not how the Energon version of the character would go on to act). Subsequently, he bestowed upon the Autobots of this universe the "Spark of Combination", giving them the ability to Powerlink their bodies together for enhanced strength in the face of the attacks by Alpha Q and his Terrorcons. When these battles eventually led to full-scale Decepticon attack upon Cybertron, Primus's chamber was infiltrated by Terrorcons who began to drain his energy. When the Autobots successfully repelled them, Primus reconstructed the injured guard, Wing Dagger, as Wing Saber, who joined the battle, which resulted in a fissure being torn in space, hurling the Autobots far from Cybertron.
In this new region of space, the Decepticons succeeded in restoring and reanimating Unicron. Primus guided Kicker's father, Doctor Brian Jones, to a subterranean temple on Cybertron, where they awoke the legendary Omega Supreme, who Powerlinked with Optimus Prime into "Optimus Supreme" to aid in fighting Unicron. Primus then transmitted the entirety of his energy across the gulf of space, enhancing the armor and power of Hot Shot, Jetfire, Ironhide, Cliffjumper and Landmine, and allowing Optimus Supreme to grow to a colossal height, to battle and best Unicron one-on-one.
With Unicron defeated, the Autobots were afforded a brief moment of relaxation, but another Decepticon attack launched upon Cybertron soon shattered that. Having expended his energy, Primus was in "sleep mode", and had to be forcibly awakened by an infusion of Energon from the Omnicons, only to find himself forced to use all his power to once again enhance Optimus Supreme so that he could stop the Decepticon-induced movement of Cybertron. The Omnicons quickly re-energized him with Super Energon from the reservoir beneath the planet's surface, while Optimus Prime struggled with a Unicron-possessed Galvatron. Primus merged himself with the reservoir of Super Energon, creating a foundling sun, into which Galvatron plunged himself, preferring to be destroyed, rather than manipulated by Unicron any further. With this act, the sun ignited, as Primus and Unicron together breathed new life into the stars.
For an unexplained reason, at the mid-point of the English-language version of the Energon series, much of Primus's presence and influence is written out. His lines are given to other characters, usually Rad or Dr. Jones, and he is often referred to as "the core", rather than by name. However, this is never consistent, as he would again eventually speak a line or perform an action, and by the show's final story arc, this strange trait had disappeared.
In Transformers: Cybertron, it is learned that Primus returned to Cybertron after the Energon sun collapsed into a black hole due to Megatron's interference. He was the one who created the Cyber Planet Keys, which awakened him after Optimus Prime absorbed their power to stop Megatron. Using the Mini-Con Jolt as a medium, he revealed the true nature of the black hole that threatens Cybertron and eventually the universe itself as a disruption of the natural order & balance of the universe caused by the collapse of the Energon sun. Unfortunately, Primus grew weak since Starscream stole most of his spark power. He needed all the Cyber Planet Keys in order to return to true consciousness. Even with three Keys, Primus astonished everyone when he suddenly moved his hand and used his weapons. When the Autobots traveled to Gigantion, the Giant Planet, Primus tried to slow down the black hole until they could find the last key. Yet Primus fought against an even larger Starscream. Primus kept the black hole from expanding while the Autobots went looking for Gigantion. When the Omega Lock and Planet Keys reunited with him, all of his Spark becomes restored to him, making him strong again, and used the Ark's (called Noah in Galaxy Force) main cannon to destroy the black hole. Considering this as a final victory for him and the Autobots, Primus then happily turns back into Cybertron, reforming himself into a much more healthier place to live by both Transformers and humans.
Primus has been made into a toy for the Cybertron toyline, with pictures of his initial look in both planet and robot mode having shown on various websites and an initial release date of 2006 for the toy itself. Since the toy's announcement, it was strongly hinted that there would be a change made between the American and Japanese figures that "would make fans want to buy both versions". Recently, that change has been made public; in its initial release, the American version of Primus will have a sculpt of a battle-damaged Unicron head. However, despite the inclusion of the Unicron head accessory, the toy had no differences otherwise from the Japanese release. The only part exclusive to the Japanese release was the packaging itself, which was designed to mimic the look and layout of a G1 toy box. When the toy was released, many fans found that their local shipments of Primus did not include the Unicron head, despite being the first received in their area. This led to many fans ordering Primus with Unicron head from Hasbro Toy Shop.
Transformers: Robots Heroes
In the Robots Heroes animated short, Primus, considered to be the very first Transformer, created the Matrix of Leadership and personally gave it to Optimus Prime.
Transformers: Prime
In the Transformers: Prime universe, Primus does not appear physically (though one could argue that the planet Cybertron and Primus are one and the same), though the "Core of Cybertron" which appears in Transformers: War for Cybertron may actually be Primus (if true then Primus would be the one who gave Optimus Prime the Matrix of Leadership). Like other incarnations, Primus is a mythical god-like figure and is likely believed to represent the Allspark (as his counterpart Unicron is believed to represent the Anti-spark). The Transformers' holy-text the Covenant of Primus also exists in this universe as well (and foretells of the rising threat of Unicron).
Comics
Marvel Comics
The first clash between brothers Unicron and Primus came when Unicron succeeded in his goal of consuming the universe. As he slumbered in the void it was revealed that he hadn't been thorough enough — tiny fragments of the universe remained and reacted with each other, leading to the creation of the current universe. The universe grew around Unicron and when he awoke he did not question it, he merely began to consume it again. The sentient core of the universe responded by creating Primus, a guardian to battle Unicron. The infant universe shook and quaked from the ferocity of their battles and Primus was eventually forced into a desperate gamble.
He shifted the battle to the astral plane where he fared no better and then returned them to the physical universe, but instead of allowing them to materialize in their energy forms he entrapped both Unicron and himself in two metallic asteroids. Unicron would not be stopped, psionically shaping his asteroid into a massive metal world and then into a gargantuan robot. Primus, however, elected to create a race of guardians to defend the universe against Unicron, transforming his own asteroid into a metal world which would later be known as Cybertron. On that world he gave birth to the Transformers, bestowing the race with his distilled genetic Matrix. So Primus slumbered, shutting himself down to hide the world from Unicron.
In 1991, Primus was briefly awakened by a stray laser blast in the middle of a battle at the planet's core. He screamed once before falling back to sleep, but the scream echoed across existence reaching Unicron's ears. Unicron headed for Cybertron sending his herald, Galvatron, ahead of him. Galvatron proved treacherous and awakened Primus who possessed the body of Emirate Xaaron and brought all the Transformers to Cybertron before Unicron destroyed him. Subsequently, Unicron was destroyed by Optimus Prime with the help of the Matrix, which contained the full measure of Primus' power. In the animated series, however, it is Rodimus Prime who destroys Unicron.
The above is the story of Primus as related in the United States in Marvel Comics but the story was originally told in British comics. The Primus story is recounted three times under Simon Furman - in order: Transformers UK #150, Transformers US #61, and US #74, and while the Primus/Unicron battle and ultimate solution are always the same, the background to their fight differs in each telling.
The first (told by Unicron) has Primus and Unicron leading armies of similar beings at the dawn of the universe. The second (told by the Primus Chamber's Keeper) had the two as the last of their respective pantheons and Primus needing to stop Unicron before he could pass on from this realm. The third, told by Primus, has Unicron destroying the previous universe and trying to end the current one, with Primus being formed by the "sentient core" of this universe to stop him.
By the third re-telling, the idea that Unicron and Primus were related to similar entities had been dropped and was not picked up again.
TFcon Comics
The expanded fiction of the Botcon and OTFCC comic books suggest that Primus experimented with a small planet before actually transforming himself into Cybertron. This world, named Protos, was where he created the first 12 Transformers, each of them themed after an animal of the zodiac. Later, Primus created the Original Thirteen Transformers.
3h Enterprises
Primus appeared with Alpha Trion in the Transformers: Universe comic, bringing back Optimus Primal and guiding him in his battles against Unicron allied Decepticons.
Dreamwave Productions
When Dorling Kindersley published Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, the concept of Primus and Unicron as brother heralds created by an extra-dimensional entity, called the "AllSpark", as per the Armada trading card, was again referenced. Additionally, however, the book claimed that there was one, singular Unicron and Primus across all dimensions, retroactively adding these elements to the original Marvel Comic origin. This revised origin concept is now treated as the official take on the character by Hasbro, and has formed the core of the story in the Transformers: Cybertron comic book exclusive to the Transformers Collectors Club.
The popularity of the idea is not universal within the Transformers fandom, and it notably flies in the face of the original animated show's version of events, where there was no Primus, and the Transformers were created by the Quintessons. An earlier convention-exclusive comic merged the two storylines in explanation; Primus created the transformers but then went to sleep; later the Quintessons invaded and conquered the planet and split the Cybertrons into two races. Worker/Builders (Autobots) Warrior/Soldier (Decepticon). This concept has been adopted by the majority of fans but is still met with mixed opinions by some.
The book also features an image of Primus as a transformed, robot-mode Cybertron (originally drawn by Don Figueroa for Dreamwave Productions' War Within comic book series), which received such positive reaction that the idea of a transforming Primus/Cybertron eventually made it into toy form for the Transformers: Cybertron toyline.
IDW Publishing
Simon Furman, creator of the Primus backstory for Transformers, has stated there will be "no Primus. No Unicron" in the IDW Generation 1 comics, and that if Cybertronian prehistory is featured it will be different from previous takes; IDW's publisher confirmed there will be a story featuring Transformer prehistory. While a character exclaims "Primus!" in Megatron Origin #4 (by a different writer), Furman stated in his blog comments "doesn't necessarily mean it's G1 Primus. There are still no plans to do feature Primus (as was)". He does say it is possible a different being called Primus could have existed. This was later confirmed, as a version of Primus appeared as a member of the Guiding Hand, a group of five deities who were the first life on Cybertron. But, Primus and his noble fellows Adaptus, Epistemus, and Solomus were betrayed by their brother Mortilus, and the conflict left all five mortally wounded. They would give way to their descendants, the Knights of Cybertron, who would in turn be followed by IDW-G1 incarnation of the Thirteen.
In the comic series Transformers: Lost Light, it is revealed that the Autobot Rung is in fact an amnesiatic Primus, and was not a god as previously thought, but a regular Cybertronian who was merely able to produce photonic crystals, the crystals necessary to create sparks. It was also revealed that the war between the Guiding Hand was not caused by Mortilus, as previously thought, but Adaptus, who believed that conquering other worlds would prevent Cybertron from stagnation. At the end of the war, Adaptus fled to Cybertron's moon, Luna-1, where he proceeded to blast Cybertron with an energy wave capable of wiping everyone's memories. Primus attempted to take most of the energy, but doing so resulted in him not only losing his memory, but being contagiously forgettable by the rest of Cybertron.
In the live-action film series comics, the Allspark gave life to Cybertron and Primus, who then created the Dynasty of Primes and the rest of the Transformers race.
Fun Publications
In the Shattered Glass universe, the idea of Primus, the benevolent Creator, was unknown to the heroic Decepticons until Cliffjumper, a visitor from the Positive Polarity universes, told them about him. Before long, Cliffjumper's "beliefs" were a subject of derision, especially among the evil Autobots. When Ultra Mammoth-the Ultra Magnus of Cliffjumper's reality-encountered the Vok on Shattered Glass prehistoric Earth, they took the form of Primus (mirroring the action of their counterparts in the Beast Wars cartoon) to mock Ultra Mammoth's attempts to bring order to a universe "founded on chaos."
Cliffjumper was eventually vindicated, however, when the Nexus Prime gestalt members attempted to resurrect a recently assassinated Megatron. As they applied their powers to the body, they were transported to Primus' presence. There they chose for Primus to rebirth them as their original self, with Nexus returning to the battlefield and declaring himself to his enemies as being the "mighty fist of the lord of light". Megatron, meanwhile, received a vision from the other side of the Allspark of a healed Cybertron, before being reborn himself as Galvatron, with Nexus investing him with some of Primus' power by proxy.
However, the events of Another Light resulted in the Primus of this universe being separated from his manifestations in other realities and developing an evil persona. Regarding his inhabitants as an infestation (not unlike the Aligned continuity version of Unicron regarded humanity) he approached the villainous about helping him eliminate them after Rodimus was defeated by Nova Prime, the formerly evil Optimus Prime who had been reborn through the power of the now noble Unicron.
Binaltech
Formerly the assistant to the Primacron, the ancient genius who created the giant mechanoid Unicron, the robotic being known as the Oracle was badly damaged when Unicron rebelled against his creator. His essence fled to a dead world at the centre of the galaxy, which he used his powers to transform into a verdant, green planet. However, the Oracle could sense that in the future, Primacron would go on to create another universal danger in the form of Tornedron, and so summoned a group of Primitive Transformers back through time from the year 2010 to his planet, where he instructed them in how to destroy the threat.
Later in his life, the Oracle also reached through time when he discovered that the evil Sparkbots were attempted to recreate Unicron following the planet-eater's destruction in the year 2005. By this stage calling himself "Primus", the Oracle attempted to stop the villains and their unwitting pawns, the human Kiss Players, appearing as a giant golden hand to snatch away the fragments of Unicron's lifeforce each time the Kiss Players recovered them. Unfortunately, this merely led the Kiss Players to pursue him through the timestream and resulted in them crashing into the "Wall of Time" and becoming scattered throughout the multiverse. Knowing that the Kiss Players were innocent in this whole affair, having been duped by the Sparkbots, the benevolent Primus rescued them from the different regions of time and space they had wound up in, and properly introduced himself, explaining the Sparkbots' treachery. He then took them back in time to prehistoric Earth, arriving just in time to witness the Sparkbots' successful restoration of Unicron to life. Primus transformed once more and unleashed the power of his mobile cannon platform, destroying Unicron's energy and sealing it and the Sparkbots deep within the planet. To ensure that Unicron would never be freed again, he created a mighty guardian, Brave Maximus, who would watch over it and the Earth. With the battle over, Shaoshao asked about the Kiss Players' future, but Primus did not reply. After sending the Kiss Players back to their home time, Primus transformed into the golden sphere of Vector Sigma and returned to his world to sleep.
Unfortunately for Primus, as he slumbered, his world was eventually discovered by the alien Quintessons, who shackled his powers and used them to both transform the planet into the metallic Cybertron, and to create the races of robots that would eventually become the Transformers. Additionally, the aliens acquired the shell that had held his essence, which became, through unknown means, the talisman that would be known to the Transformers as the Matrix of Leadership.
Video games
The Core of Cybertron that appears in Transformers: War for Cybertron may actually be Primus and if this is true, then Primus would be the one who gave Optimus Prime the Matrix of Leadership.
Toys
*God Primus
:The First Primus figure was a Lucky Draw toy in Japan. It was a gold chrome recolored Rodimus Prime that was given away as a contest prize from the collector book, The Transformers: Generations and it came with Rodimus Prime's accessories.
*Cybertron Supreme Primus
:Released in the Cybertron toyline as described above, it is actually a triple changer, transforming not only into Cybertron's planet form and Primus' robot form, but also into a large world-ship, a spaceship the size of a planet. Many of its parts can only be moved using the included Omega Lock, which must be used to move the upper half of the planet mode out of the way so the lower half can transform. The Omega Lock has 4 slots of the Cyber Planet Keys included with other toys and has a small light that turns on when the Lock is inserted into any of the ports on the figure. A key hole is also located on each of Primus's arms and activates two non-firing double-barreled blasters on the toy's wrists.
:While the figure is identical in both its Japanese and American releases, the American package comes in original style packaging, and the Japanese also included a battle-damaged Unicron head in its initial release. The Unicron head has half of the face removed, exposing a skull-like vestige underneath. Later releases of Primus were sold without the Unicron head, and the last versions of Primus instead included four Mini-Cons who were planned to be parts of the Cybertron line, but were late and so were included as bonus figures. These four Mini-Cons would later appear as Mini-Cons in the Transformers Classics line. Although the four Mini-Cons had no personal biographies, they would get some characterization on the Transformers Collectors Club web site. This toy was designed by Takara's Takashi Kunihiro and released in Japan several months later with no alterations or deco changes.
*Transformers 2010 Creator Primus
:To be released in late 2010 as part of TakaraTomy's "Transformers 2010" promotion, which celebrates the year in which the of The Transformers was set in Japan, this figure is a redeco of the Cybertron Primus figure. Unlike the Unicron figure being released under the same promotion, no remolding is visible in the pre-release photos. The figure is redecoed such that the planet mode is now predominantly Cybertron's classic metallic silver, in place of the previous blue and white, with gold spires replacing the black ones of the original version of the figure.
*Last Knight Cybertron
:Released in 2017 as part of the Toys R Us-exclusive Mission to Cybertron sub-theme of the Last Knight toyline. A redeco of Cybertron Primus.

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