Primus, God of the Transformers' Complete Family Tree (2024)

At the center of the Transformers franchise lies Primus, the cosmic entity whose own body became the planet Cybertron, the metallic homeworld of the Transformers. With a legacy as important as that, Primus’ history has been expanded and enhanced over the franchise’s history, with him going from being a comic book exclusive to being recognized on a multi-media scale.

Through this, Primus has developed his family tree, filled with icons of power that have become legendary parts of the Transformers franchise. This article will go through the members of this aforementioned family tree, examining how they are related to Primus and their role within the Transformers universe.

10 Primus, The Lord of the Light

Primus Is The Transformers' Creator-God And The Last Line Of Defence Against Unicron

Created during the primordial age of the universe, Primus acted as the antithesis of the dark god, Unicron, with the two being perpetually trapped in a battle across the cosmos, battling across the physical and esoterical planes of reality. Their battle became so grand that the two became multiversal constants, meaning that throughout every single universe connected to the Transformers franchise, Primus and Unicron were fighting one another.

Eventually, thanks to Primus' creation of the Thirteen Original Primes, he could vanquish his dark counterparts by trapping them within the physical plane and encasing Unicron within a massive asteroid. From then on, Primus was forced into a deep hibernation due to the taxing strain of beating Unicron, and he cocooned himself within a metal sphere that would become the planet Cybertron. The Thirteen Primes continued the memory of their creator through the holy documentation known as the Covenant of Primus and the passing of the Matrix of Leadership --said to contain the essence of Primus-- from Prime to Prime for billions of years.

9 The One

The One Is The Father Of Primus And The Core Of The Universe

Forged from the primordial essence of order and chaos, The One was brought into being as the sentient core of the universe, bringing matter into existence by its birth. For a time, The One existed in perfect harmony with the primordial physical plane until it saw to the creation of Unicron after the Big Bang and noted that the dark god was devouring everything he had created and plunging reality into a state of imbalance.

In response to that, The One created Primus so he could battle Unicron and pacify him. Afterward, The One rarely interacted with the universe, although its name remains known by the Cybertronians, who recognize its status as the primordial god who created the universe; many take part in actively worshiping it because of this. The One did make a brief cameo in the Japanese Transformers: Generations Selects Special Comic (by Hayato Sakamoto, Ricken, Lebanon Sugi, Josh Perez, Kyarara Rena, Gufu Kandagawa, Rui Onishi and Yuki Ohishima), wherein the Primus Vanguard created a (suspiciously Optimus-looking) statue dedicated to The One, acting as the only visual for The One's physical form.

8 Unicron, The Chaos-Bringer

Unicron Represents The Greatest Evil In The Transformers Universe

Created before Primus by The One, Unicron used to run rampant as an uncontrollable agent of chaos, warping reality and devouring galaxies until his brother, Primus, was birthed into existence as his counter. After his entrapment within a physical form, Unicron sought to vanquish his brother, Primus, across every conceivable universe, traveling between multiverses as a universal constant.

To combat Primus' Primes, Unicron created his own group, the Heralds of Unicron. They were alternatively known as the Acolytes of Unicron or the Terrorcons. They were created to do his bidding and sabotage Primus' works, mainly by causing chaos amidst the Cybertronian Autobot-Decepticon Civil War. He has sometimes attempted to control the Decepticon Empire by enslaving Megatron and turning him into the extremely powerful Galvatron. Still, a Prime almost always arrives to foil Unicron's plans and banish him to the next universe so he can try again.

7 Gaea, The Guardian of Earth

Gaea Is The Lesser-Known Sister Of Unicron And Primus, Created By Fun Publications

Created as a fan character for 2004's BotCon event, Gaea made her official fiction debut in Fun Publication's Transformers: Collectors Club magazine comic shorts. Within them, it was revealed that she was the sister of Primus and Unicron, who was encased within the crust of the Earth; at some point, she was discovered by the Thirteen Primes, who imbedded the planet with ratified energon so that others, more malignant entities, would not find her as they did.

An untold millennia later, Gaea awoke when the Dark Primus from the fan-favorite Shattered Glass dimension infiltrated her universe, causing her to teleport humanity to a safe location. She transformed to do battle with the malignant doppelgänger of her brother. After vanquishing Dark Primus, she became a sage advisor to the Maximals and the Shattered Glass variants of the Acolytes of Unicron, providing them with pivotal information and ultimately playing a part in defeating the apocalyptically powerful combiner, Thunder Mayhem.

6 Mortilus, The Necrobot

Mortilus Was Deified As The Cybertronian God Of Death, But He Was Truly A Posthumous Archivist

Whether he existed alongside Primus or was created by him is disputed in-universe. Regardless, the entity known as Mortilus was an immensely ancient being who joined Primus in creating the Guiding Hand, a group of five robotic deities who helped oversee the creation of the first Cybertonian civilization, known as the Knights of Cybertron. However, through the machinations of one of the Guiding Hand members, known as Adaptus, all five engaged in what would be remembered as the God War. Mortilus created the Void Scepter, a powerful weapon that allowed him to summon the titan known as Trypticon into existence.

The end of the God War saw one of Cybertron's moons, Luna 1, being ripped out of orbit by Adaptus and lost to the cosmos. From then on, Cybertronian legend would credit Mortilus as the one who ripped Luna 1 from orbit and painted him in a quasi-malignant light as the Cybertronian God of Death. Mortilus would go into exile, taking on the moniker of 'Censere the Necrobot' and becoming a cosmic auditor of sorts, traveling the cosmos to record the deaths of every Cybertronian to ever exist for prosperity.

5 Solomus, The Chief Justice

Solomus Was Once The Purveyor Of Order Across Reality, But His Lost Memories Warped His Goal

Another member of the Guiding Hand created by (or concurrent to) Primus, Solomus, attempted to guide the earliest form of Cybertronian society as an ethical and judicious counselor. This was until the God War, when Solomus waged bloody war across primordial Cybertron against his fellow Guiding Hand, Adaptus, until the latter was routed from the planet.

In one final act of defiance, Adaptus shot Solomus with a device known as the Information Creep, which caused Solomus to forget his identity and relationship with Primus. All that remained was his desire to guide society and purvey justice, prompting him to name himself 'Tyrest' and founding the Tyrest Accord, which was an agreement between Autobots and Decepticons to not let their technology come into the hands of any other alien race and allowed Tyrest to become the chief judicator for both factions. However, Tyrest soon became mad with his quest for law and order and, after trepanning himself, came to believe that Cybertronians constructed using recycled sparks were an abomination to Primus and attempted to commit genocide because of it.

4 Epistemus, The Magnificence

Epistemus Was Once A Prime Before He Was Retconned Into A Near-Omniscient Deity

Originally conceived as a Prime within the Transformers: Collectors Club magazine, Epistemus was retconned into having been a member of the Guiding Hand. It was said that before the God War, he was responsible for forging the brain module that gave all Cybertronians the capacity for higher reasoning; because of this, Epistemus became known as the embodiment of knowledge.

After the God War, Epistemus was severely damaged by his battle with Adaptus, as well as the latter's usage of the Information Creep; this resulted in his brain functions devolving to the point where he was simply a talking head that could answer essentially any question someone asked him. What remained of Epistemus' was confused for an inanimate device, leading to him becoming known as 'The Magnificence,' an incredibly sought-after relic thanks to its omniscient nature. Throughout the Autobot-Decepticon Civil War, The Magnificence was fought over and traded hands numerous times until it was eventually destroyed by the Decepticon Medic, Nickel.

3 Adaptus, The Grand Architect

Adaptus Helped Primus Forge The First Cybertronians And Build Their Great Cities

Of the original Guiding Hand created by/alongside Primus, Adaptus may be the most influential in the creation of Cybertronian society. Acting as the 'Grand Architect' of the five deities, Adaptus helped Primus create the shape and form of the Cybertronian race, even creating the first Transformation Cog, which he bequeathed to Amalgamous Prime. On top of creating the Cybertronian race, Adaptus worked on creating grand planet-scale devices, such as the God Gun, the Information Creep, Planetary Engines and the Necroworld.

However, out of everything he created, helping Primus create the Cybertronian race remained Adaptus' chief accomplishment, causing him to become incredibly worried that his creations would become stagnant if they weren't forced to adapt and expand. To that end, Adaptus attempted to sway the Guiding Hand into having the Cybertronians go on a galactic warpath against all other species; the Guiding Hand refused, leading to Adaptus starting the God War, which ended in his escaping on one of Cybertron's moons, Luna-1. From then on, he left himself to build until he eventually found himself a new body through the corpse of an ex-Autobot Medical Officer, Pharma.

2 The Thirteen Primes

The Thirteen Primes Were The Primordial Cybertronians And Ancestors To Optimus Prime

Created by Primus (with the help of Adaptus in some continuities), the Thirteen Primes were the vanguards of Cybertron, tasked with defending it and the universe from the dark god, Unicron. The roster of the Thirteen Primes has been inconsistent throughout the numerous continuities of the Transformers franchise. Still, its most consistent grouping has had Prima as the first-born, followed by Vector Prime, Alpha Trion, Solus Prime, Micronus Prime, Alchemist Prime, Nexus Prime, Onyx Prime, Quintus Prime, Liege Maximo and Megatronus Prime. The enigmatic Thirteenth Prime has had three major depictions, being known as either The Arisen, Autonomous Maximus, or sometimes Optimus Prime himself.

Tragically, of the Thirteen Primes, Liege Maximo and Megatronus Prime were seduced by the dark power of Unicron and turned on their kin, resulting in the deaths of Onyx and Solus Prime and the ultimate banishment of the betrayers. This event saw the disbandment of the Thirteen Primes, with the mantle of 'Prime' instead being passed from one great leader to another through the Matrix of Leadership instead of being held by an oligarchical group of demigods.

1 The Cybertronians

Primus' Greatest and Worst Miracle Was The Creation Of The Cybertronians

Considered to be the 'Children of Primus,' the Cybertronian race was Primus's last great creation before he fell into his long stasis. With the capacity for free will, immense intelligence, and a bounty of technology that few species could ever achieve, the Cybertronian race initially lived a utopic existence in what was known as the Golden Age of Cybertron.

However, whether by the decadent rulership of a Prime, a grueling classist system, or the slow erosion of the peoples' contentment, the Cybertronian race eventually fell into a horrific millennia-spanning civil war. The people were divided into two factions: the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons, led by Megatron. Their war became so great that Cybertron became uninhabitable, forcing the Autobot-Decepticon Civil War to extend beyond the stars until eventually arriving on Earth.

Transformers

Transformersis a mediafranchiseproduced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, such as vehicles and animals.

First Film

Transformers

Latest Film

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

First TV Show

The Transformers

Latest TV Show

Transformers: EarthSpark (2022)

Cast

Peter Cullen , Wil Wheaton , Shia LaBeouf , Megan Fox , Luna Lauren Velez , Dominique Fishback