Primal Prime

Primal Prime is a Maximal from the Beast Machines portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

"Non-Optimus-Prime-toy-into-Optimus-Prime" repaint #765.

Primal Prime is, essentially, the Living Matrix. Born from the Vok's fusion of their knowledge, detritus left aboard the Ark, and life-giving energies from the Matrix of Leadership, Primal Prime possesses great power and understanding. He is literally an army of one, able to assume multiple alternate modes, all of which are armed, deadly, and mobile. He is a conglomeration of Primes, assembled into a single, mighty force for good.

However, though he has the presence and conviction of a Prime, he is still technically a newborn. What memories he has are but faint shadows of those long departed. Though he can converse with the departed spark of Alpha Trion, leads Cybertron's finest, and is looked up to by even former Autobot leaders, he worries that he is too detached, too gullible, to lead his troops sufficiently. These crushing doubts are seemingly his only weakness.

Fiction

3H comics

Hope Quickstrike didn't leave a... present in there.

After the Beast Wars, sensing the approach of a new enemy, the Vok reanimated Tigerhawk's binary spark and used it to grant Transmetal bodies to Tigatron and Airazor. Traveling to Earth themselves, the Vok used the Optimal Optimus control suit, the Transmetal driver, and the Matrix of Leadership hidden within Optimus Prime to create their new emissary: Primal Prime. This new hero's spark, wisdom, and power would all be donated by the Matrix itself. Primeval Dawn Part 1 Primeval Dawn II Primal Prime met the newly recreated Tigatron and Airazor, warning them darkness would be coming and that he would be responsible for it. Nevertheless, the Maximals still decided to follow Primal Prime and went in search of more comrades to help their cause.

Primal Prime carried the Matrix of Leadership into battle with Tarantulas (whose apparent Vok-caused death had all been a ruse allowing him to steal their power) and his minions. In a tragically decisive battle, Tarantulas tore open Primal Prime's chest and removed the Matrix, gloating about the beginning of the "End of Days". Airazor bemoaned the fact that, by separating the Matrix from Optimus Prime and containing it within Primal Prime, the Vok had dissolved "the primal forces that bound it to a leader-born", making it vulnerable to Tarantulas's goals. Primeval Dawn Part 2

I'm gonna Vok you UP.

The shock of the Matrix's forcible removal sent Primal Prime into a sort of limbo, with the Maximals assuming his synapse network had been burned out. While in limbo, Primal Prime communed with the Vok, who divulged their origins as the Swarm and said they were "of the source, of the core, forever committed to the safeguard of The Plan." The Vok then went on to merge with Primal Prime using him as a vessel, a pure font of energy to rival the Matrix itself. The newly Vok-empowered Primal Prime emerged behind Tigatron and prepared to go into battle. Primeval Dawn Part 3

After arriving on Cybertron through a transwarp portal from Earth's past, Primal Prime and his entourage of Beast Wars rejects were suddenly under attack from Vehicon drones. The Wreckers squadron commander Apelinq intervened, inoculating Primal Prime and his team from Megatron's virus, moments before Apelinq was attacked by Mirage and the two vanished into that same transwarp portal. Primal Prime took command of the remaining Wreckers, which thanks to Megatron was basically just their boss Rodimus, and formed a new version of the Wreckers out of his crew. He thought Rodimus might object to being usurped but found the veteran Wrecker was oddly fine; Primal himself felt a kinship with Rodimus, like they'd met before. Apelinq's War Journals Apelinq later came back.

Smush smush smush.

Later in the Battle for the Sparks, the Wreckers rescued Optimus Primal and Nightscream from attacking Vehicons. After Apelinq and Optimus Primal caught up on their forgotten history together, Primal and Nightscream accompanied the Wreckers on their visit to the Oracle, where other small groups had also been summoned. Unbeknownst to Primal Prime, the Oracle was actually a tool of the Quintessons, but despite this deception, Vector Sigma was able to break through the Oracle shell program and give Primal Prime a genuine order.

Primal Prime and his Wreckers were to travel off-planet. After Rodimus sought out Arcee, and while being joined by Cyclonus, Skywarp, and Rotorbolt, the Wreckers fought their way through an army of Vehicons to secure an Autobot shuttle. Succeeding, they left Cybertron for their mysterious destination. Departure

Shortly after liftoff, the Wreckers detected a stowaway on board. Devcon, a former bounty hunter and Imperial Peace Marshal, had started tearing up the place and bullying everyone who crossed his path. Primal Prime, Apelinq, and Rodimus managed to settle him down, but Devcon still begrudged the Wreckers for harboring Predacons and former Decepticons amongst their ranks.

Suddenly, their shuttle was sabotaged from within, and to Primal Prime's horror, Packrat detonated the back half of the ship, removing the Wreckers in the front half of the shuttle from risk, but killing Sonar, Spittor, and the Deployers. Primal Prime had separated Packrat and prepared their injured for repairs when he received a call inside his mind from Alpha Trion, warning him of a traitor amongst their ranks.

Upon landing on Archa Nine, Primal Prime formed a scout team composed of Ramulus, Apelinq, himself, and their new medic-bot CatSCAN. In the woods, they found themselves surrounded by the natives, and after a misunderstanding, they were introduced to the natives' Transformer guardians, Glyph and Tap-Out. The pair had been stranded on Archa Nine for several hundred years and now watched over the Akalouthans and the mysterious artifact they worshiped, the Divine Light. Suspecting the object was what the Oracle had sent them after, Primal Prime retired to Glyph's library, allowing the event Alpha Trion had warned him of to come to pass. Wishing to steal the Divine Light, Cyclonus damaged Rotorbolt, killed Packrat, and was about to escape Archa Nine with the object when Primal Prime and the others returned to find him. After mocking them for their inability to function as a team, thus allowing him to steal the artifact easily, Cyclonus left. Primal Prime hung his head in shame, knowing he had failed. Betrayal

In the aftermath of their betrayal on Archa Nine, Primal Prime retreated into himself and the Matrix. Ultimately, Primal Prime decided that the Oracle chose him for a purpose, and that he should have faith in himself and in his team, no matter what had transpired. Gathering the Wreckers, he told them to prepare to leave Archa Nine immediately, for he had been given a new destination during his communion with Primus. However, Apelinq's skepticism continued to nurture, and the others had growing doubts of their own.

It's just like G1, but with giant monkey fists.

They traveled to an icy planet ten systems away, and Primal Prime ordered Apelinq, Rodimus, Arcee, and Ramulus to follow him quickly outside, while Apelinq protested their hastiness. Apelinq's worries were, for the moment, unwarranted, as the sole inhabitant of the planet seemed to be the excommunicated Quintesson Al-badur. Though the Wreckers eyed him uneasily, he was willing to tell them the history of the Quintessons' attempts to use Vector Sigma to enslave the Transformers race. When Al-badur revealed that the Oracle itself was a Quintesson creation devised to control Vector Sigma, Primal Prime was taken aback. Had they been led astray this whole time?

However, for Apelinq, the pieces now fit together, and he recounted how the real Vector Sigma had broken through the Oracle shell program, giving them a real mission. Primal Prime was reassured during the brief moment before the Sharkticons attacked. Though the Sharkticons were armed with strange (yet somehow familiar) technology, they were eventually overtaken by the Wreckers. With Al-badur, the Wreckers left once again, but this time for Cybertron. Disclosure

During the Wreckers' transit to Cybertron, Alpha Trion once again contacted Primal Prime through his Spark. Primal Prime was fraught with confusion, worried that if the Oracle were truly a Quintesson creation, if that meant Optimus Primal and his technorganics were a horrible misstep. Alpha Trion reassured him; Primus worked in mysterious ways. However, before Alpha Trion could finish the warning he intended to deliver, Primal Prime's contact with him was interrupted, and Primal Prime awoke. After arriving in orbit above the newly reformatted Cybertron and finding a full-scale Quintesson invasion, Primal Prime ordered his troops to concentrate only on Cryotek, the real threat. Taking Apelinq, Ramulus, Tigatron, and Al-badur with him, Primal Prime leapt from the still-airborne shuttle into the battle below.

But their subterranean attack on the Predacon gangster, grown to intimidating size and power by the Divine Light, was costly. Primal Prime had sacrificed himself, taking a fatal hit that was intended for Apelinq. With two of the Wreckers' most powerful disposed of, leaving only Devcon, Tigatron, Ramulus, and the Quintesson, all hope seemed lost.

Suddenly, a glowing titan formed before them, from the combined bodies of Apelinq and Primal Prime into a single powerful entity: Sentinel Maximus. Wreckers: Finale Part II

A year later, Primal Prime was one of several Transformers from all eras and all realities across the multiverse suggested by Alpha Trion for Optimus Primal to recruit into his Children of Primus. Optimus Primal decided to pluck Rhinox and Depth Charge back from death instead. Homecoming

Wings Universe

They got a nice frame and everything!

The product of alien science and the Matrix of Leadership, Primal Prime was born at the end of the Beast Wars, possessed of the wisdom and memories of the Matrix's previous bearers. Prime came to command the Wreckers during a Quintesson invasion of Cybertron, but subsequently went off the radar, his activities classified by the High Council. BotCon 2014 Primal Prime's bio

When Primal Prime returned to the public eye, his celebrity status caused him to become the focus of constant public adulation, something the humble Maximal disliked. Prime also came to develop an antagonistic relationship with Ginrai, the brash commander of the Cybertronian Knights, and argued with him over the Knights' recruitment of amoral ex-Wrecker Devcon. Eventually, Cybertron's great sage Alpha Trizer decreed that the Wreckers were to be reformed, with the new mission of protecting Cybertron's interests across the galaxy. Primal Prime accepted this task, and set out with his new team aboard the Rodimus Major. He invited Flareup to join the Wreckers, but Ginrai had already recruited her into the Knights. Apelinq's personal logs

The Rodimus Major and its crew, while nearing the Dark Nebula to check in on a colony of Predacons, disappeared into a spatial anomaly. Primal Prime's customization class booklet Just before the ship fell in, Primal Prime ordered Fireflight, the only crewmember with an FTL-capable alt-mode, to return at top speed to Cybertron with their logs. Apelinq's personal logs

An image of Blackarachnia and Primal Prime (presumably taken during the Quintesson invasion), hung in the headquarters of the Cybertronian Knights in 2984. Hoist the Flag

TransTech

The Convoy badge on his chest keeps him from being deported.

Hailing from Primax 700.0 Beta, Primal Prime surprised the Transcendent Technomorphs upon arriving in Axiom Nexus as his incursion was initially thought to be a rare instance from Primax 509.28 Epsilon. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/06/04 He became a member of the Convoy. Andromeda mistakenly reported him to be from Primax 509.28 Epsilon, Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/21 a misconception which was corrected by Cheetor in an interview with Rook. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/06/04

On the morning of the Waruder invasion of Cybertron, Primal Prime was amongst the many offworlders in Axiom Nexus's Under City. He kept company with Ramulus and Tap-Out. Cybertron's Most Wanted

Toys

Beast Machines

Primal Prime saves his gorilla mode for very special occasions to which you are not invited.

• Primal Prime (Super Class, 2000)
  • Accessories: Gun, 4 missiles

Primal Prime, a red and blue retool and recolor of Optimal Optimus, was available in limited quantities of 10,000. Like Optimal Optimus, Primal Prime featured electronics and four transformations—robot, ape, jet, and armored transport. It came with four missiles, two of which stored on its legs. Its forearms featured blast-away armor plates that could also be pegged to its upper arms. The red and blue colors are designed to make him look more like Optimus Prime.

The mold previously fired its nipple cannons and lit up lights in its head simultaneously. Primal Prime was retooled to have separate triggers for the lights and missiles, so as to avoid kids (or adults) shooting themselves in the face. There are other minor molding differences, such as explanatory arrows on the inside of his shoulders (indicating which holes are peg-holes instead of screw-holes).

In November 2000, this toy was released without changes (save some stickers slapped on the box) as a Toys"R"Us exclusive in Japan, making him the only Beast Machines-related product the country received until 2004's Beast Wars Returns.

• More information on Primal Prime at TFU.info

Titanium Series

An unreleased toy of a 3H Wrecker? How could this happen???

• Primal Prime (6-inch Cybertron Heroes, unreleased)

Titanium Series Primal Prime was to (naturally) be a redeco of the Optimal Optimus toy. Unfortunately the line was canceled and there are no plans to release any new figures, including Primal Prime. Primal Prime was listed as a co-sell on Titanium Grimlock's packaging, but never saw a release of its own.

Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Timelines

I traded in two of my modes for this surfboard and these magic beans!

• Primal Prime (BotCon 2014 customization class toy)
  • Accessories: "Surfeblade," blade, "laser-guided incendiary missile", Wreckers key

Primal Prime is a redeco of Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Deluxe Class Optimus Primal which could be assembled and painted while in BotCon 2014's customization classes or bought separately unpainted. Primal Prime comes with a hoverboard with two 5 mm posts at the base, allowing him to ride it in his gorilla mode, or hold it in robot mode via the 5mm posts on his robot palms/gorilla feet. When a Cyber Key is inserted at the rear of the board, a spring-loaded extending blade deploys, and a trigger is revealed to allow one to use the spring-loaded missile launcher at the tip. Though it is not intended to be removed, the blade can be popped off and held in Primal's hand thanks to his posable thumbs. The customization classes included a sticker sheet for Primal Prime as well, with a number of optional sticker choices for customization.

This mold was redecoed into Cybertron Optimus Prime and BotCon 2014 Apelinq.

• More information on Timelines Primal Prime at TFU.info

Notes

I got yer pose!

• Primal Prime really takes the whole "amalgamated Matrix bearers" thing to heart. In "Departure" he borrows iconic poses from both Optimus Prime (his "main event" leap in "End of the Road!") and Ultra Magnus (his dramatic pointing in The Transformers: The Movie). He may be conspiring with Ramulus, however, who helps set up the first homage by paraphrasing Thunderpunch's line.
• The apocalypse that Primal Prime foresees in "Primeval Dawn Part 2" is the Universe War. He says it will be his fault, and that's technically true. The Wreckers' failure to stop Cryotek from obtaining the Divine Light results in Primus's powers being online long enough to attract the attention of Unicron.
• Transformers: A Visual History contains an unused Primal Prime-esque deco for the Power of the Primes Evolution Optimal Optimus toy, possibly a preliminary idea for the Throne of the Primes release.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Primal Prime (プライマルプライム Puraimaru Puraimu)

References