Multiverse
From Transformers Wiki
This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.
The multiverse, aka the Universal Continuum, the Multi-Verse of Eternity, the Cybertronian Multiverse, or the Spacetime World (時空界 Jikūkai), is the overall collection of universes and timelines related to the Transformers and their adventures. The multiverse consists of a very large number of universes, and millions of them have been classified and categorized as universal streams. Between these streams, outside of time and space, exists the interdimensional void of unspace. Many, but not all, realities within the multiverse can be characterized by the presence of shapeshifting mechanoid lifeforms—most often the Cybertronians themselves, but also Robotix, Waruders, Planicrons, GoBots, or Go-Bots—and the existence of either the planet Cybertron or some suitable analogue.
Although some have theorized that the prevalence of Cybertron across the dimensions means that it acts as a kind of "stable axis" upon which the entire multiverse spins, many individual Cybertrons and their inhabitants might never know that they exist on a larger continuum; on a cosmic scale, travel between individual universes is comparatively rare, and often accidental. However, there exist certain groups and individuals dedicated to monitoring, moving between, and/or protecting the many worlds of the multiverse, including Vector Prime, the Alternity and their successors the Flaternity, the TransTechs, and the Spacetime Police of Cloud World. There are also others who are a threat to the multiverse including Unicron, The Fallen, the Megatron Aggregate, the Elder Gods, the Quintessons, and Megatron of the Cloud World.
Beyond the multiverse lies the Megaverse, a larger collection of universes primarily unrelated to but still thinly connected to the Transformers, and beyond that, the Omniverse, which contains all the many myriad realities that exist across infinity.
“ | The Multiverse is indeed a complicated and wonderful place, is it not? The moment you start to believe you understand its grand celestial mechanics, a new exception gives you cause for pause. | ” |
Conceptual history
The idea of parallel worlds, alternate dimensions, and different realities is older than the science-fiction genre itself, although the term "multiverse" was not used to describe the idea of multiple simultaneous realities until 1963. As a broad science-fiction pastiche, it should come as no surprise that the Transformers franchise would touch on the idea: while the third season of the The Transformers cartoon featured a brief jaunt to a strange "negative universe", it would be the Marvel comic that hewed closer to what was to come when its 67th issue spotlighted a dystopian "possible future" where Galvatron ruled supreme and ended with Unicron's minions dragging Galvatron back to the primary timeline. From day one, the cartoon and comic book were never meant to overlap; they diverged almost immediately by adding or killing off characters as needed while ancillary media like storybooks and coloring books freely mixed and matched characters at will: today, we refer to these strange little offshoots as "micro-continuities". Early fans divided these two primary timelines into the "Marvel" or "Sunbow" universes; at this point in time, of course, all of the Transformers fiction took place in what would later become the "Generation 1 continuity family"—although 1996's Beast Wars featured an entirely new cast of Maximals and Predacons, it soon became clear that they hailed from another such "possible future" and that their timeline had experienced a version of the classic Generation 1 storyline in their past.
After the conclusion of the "Beast Era" in 2000, Hasbro returned to basics by porting the Japanese Car Robots anime and redubbing it into Robots in Disguise to become the brand's first complete reboot. Two years later, Armada upped the ante by taking a page from the early days of the brand: a cartoon, a mutually irreconcilable comic book, plus the usual swathe of books, video games, and mini-comics all set in their own little continuities brought the number of major continuities up to seven. In 2002, when developing what would become Energon, Aaron Archer proposed a franchise known as Super Cross, which would've featured a damaged Unicron kidnapping heroes and villains from many different realities, including Armada, Beast Wars, Robots in Disguise, and "Generation 1", in a bid to restore his damaged body.[1] Parts of the scrapped Super Cross backstory evolved into 2003's Universe storyline; this first true exploration of the "multiverse" concept expanded the concept to include several entirely new realities. Around the same time, author Simon Furman penned the "Worlds Collide" storyline in Dreamwave's Armada comic book, which featured "Generation 1" Galvatron and a group of Decepticons jumping realities to serve as Unicron's heralds. Indeed, Unicron would play a key role in the multiverse meta-lore to come: around the same time as Universe, multiple Furman works established that certain key figures in the Transformers mythos, most prominently Unicron and his benevolent opposite Primus, were unique beings who transcended dimensional barriers and could exist or travel to multiple timelines simultaneously. Hasbro copywriter Forest Lee extrapolated on Furman's work, extended the concept to encompass Vector Prime, The Fallen, and the rest of the thirteen original Transformers, and coined the term "multiversal singularity" to describe this phenomenon.
Shortly after IDW Publishing brought Simon Furman on to develop a pitch for their then-newly acquired Transformers license in 2005, he originally proposed a crossover story that would've brought together the casts of both Cybertron and Generation 1 in response to a Unicron-based threat and an "omniverse in chaos". Evidently, IDW turned down the pitch, and Furman wound up writing the Infiltration miniseries instead.[2]
It would take another few years before the multiverse concept returned to the forefront: in early 2008, BotCon licensee Fun Publications introduced the TransTech setting as a means of exploring the increasingly vast Transformers multiverse. Co-opting its name and cast from Hasbro's aborted Beast Machines sequel, the TransTech prose stories and comic books introduced the hyper-advanced city of Axiom Nexus, inhabited by both highly evolved "Transcendent Technomorphs" and "offworlder" travellers who hailed from every conceivable corner of the Transformers multiverse, ranging from mainstream "Generation 1" realities to obscure offshoots like the original Challenge of the GoBots television show. TransTech stitched together throwaway bits of lore: notably, it tied together throwaway concepts like "subspace" and "transwarp" into a single unifying concept that occupied the space between individual realities. Most notably for the purposes of this article, the TransTech stories featured scientists observing and classifying different realities under a specific alphanumeric system. Although author Greg Sepelak has gone on record to say that this "universal stream" system was originally conceived as a way of making the TransTech seem detached and alien,[3] this did not stop both fans and other creatives from using it as a definitive system of universal classification—a home-grown substitute for the elaborate cosmologies of the Marvel and DC multiverses.
From 2009 to 2010, the Allspark Almanac expanded the Transtech notation to, among other things, include a proper universal cluster for GoBots, another for the TransTech themselves, and even one for the "real world". For the next eight years, the multiverse would define Fun Publications' time on the brand; stories would frequently involve characters crossing into different realities or embarking upon epic cross-dimensional quests.
As most adult-oriented Japanese fiction tends to play in the margins of the complicated Japanese cartoon continuity, the idea of exploring the entire Transformers multiverse as a concept did not crop up as frequently in most Japanese fiction. However, different works of fiction featured time-travel plots and branching timelines—the most prominent of these splinter realities would be the BT World, which would give rise to the powerful, multiverse-spanning "Alternity", until they were superseded by the two-dimensional Planicrons from Flatworld in a pack-in epic spanning from 2003 all the way to 2012. The Transformers Cloud prose stories from 2014 to 2015 featured by far Takara's most extensive flirtation with the concept, introducing another hub reality in the form of the artificially induced "Cloud World" inhabited by "Spacetime Police" who took a much more active role in the multiverse than their Transtech cousins and utilized their own, simpler, "Spacetime" system of universe classification.
That same year, Fun Publication's Ask Vector Prime feature offered the most definitive look at the multiverse yet: in addition to fleshing out obscure realities, delving into the history of the TransTech and the multiverse itself, tying together bits of TransTech, Cloud, and Alternity lore, and exploring the lives of other pan-dimensional beings like the Hytherion, the column took a stab at laying out a definitive multiversal cosmology by establishing both the Megaverse and the wider Omniverse, and providing in-fiction explanations for things like animation errors and fictional crossovers. Ultimately, however, with their time on the brand winding down, Fun Publications introduced the "Shroud" in late 2015: after years of increasingly contentious debate about their position in the multiverse meta-lore, the Shroud provided an in-fiction means of retroactively nullifying the concept of multiversal singularities entirely while also "strengthening the dimensional boundaries" and rendering further dimensional travel much harder.
With the end of BotCon as an officially-licensed convention in 2016, as well as the eventual dissolution of Fun Publications, the multiverse again took a back seat. It would not be until 2019 that the Cyberverse cartoon returned to the concept over the course of its second, third, and fourth seasons, although these multiverse tales were smaller in scope compared to what had come before, hearkening back to the possible futures and alternate timelines of Marvel's Transformers comic. In 2022, however, Hasbro brought the concept back in a big way: the Legacy toyline, a celebration of the brand as a whole, features characters from across the Transformers multiverse [4]—as of writing, the toyline features characters from "Generation 1", the "Unicron Trilogy", "Animated", and the "Aligned" continuity families.
In a moment of supreme irony, IDW Publishing—whether through coincidence or an attempt to capitalize on Legacy's main marketing push—attempted to tackle the multiverse again in 2022's Transformers: Collision Course miniseries; due to unclear circumstances, however, the comic would be scrapped at the last moment. With IDW's loss of the Transformers license at the end of 2022 and Skybound Entertainment's subsequent launch of the Energon Universe in 2023, it is unclear if future licensees will touch upon this corner of the Transformers mythos.
Multiversal cartography
The Transformers multiverse is vast, but just how vast is not entirely clear. As a subset of the endless Omniverse, the multiverse encompasses an extremely large number of potential realities: according to Vector Prime, this number lies somewhere in the millions,[5] the Transcendent Technomorphs of Axiom Nexus claim to have discovered at least 15,962,782 different universes,[6] the Autobots of one universe analyzed 75,890,007 realities while searching for their Optimus Prime,[7] Bug Bite once put the number at a whopping fifteen quadrillion,[8] and other stories have described the multiverse as infinite.[9][10][11] Regardless of how many potential realities might exist, there exist a finite number of beings with the technological sophistication and drive to explore and chart them, and as a result groups of Transformers and Transformer-analogues across the dimensions have come up with different ways to chart and classify these parallel realities.
Universal streams
Within the fictional Transformers multiverse, the advanced Transcendent Technomorphs of Axiom Nexus identify individual timelines with in the multiverse as specific "universal streams", each encompassing a specific cartoon, comic book, video game, movie, toy commercial, or just about any other form of Transformers media. Each universal stream receives a specific name regarding the continuity family of origin (known in-fiction as a "universal cluster"), a number that indicates its "real-world" date of creation, and a Greek letter that denotes the specific form of media. Using this notation, one could identify the original Transformers cartoon and the animated film as taking place in universe "Primax 984.17 Alpha". A universal stream might encompass a single work of fiction, or many interconnected franchises; for example, the Transformers Prime, Rescue Bots, and Robots in Disguise cartoons all take place in "Uniend 911.05 Alpha". A single universal stream might also form the foundation for multiple divergent timelines, all mutually contradictory in their own way: so it is that universe "Primax 984.0 Gamma", the reality of the original Marvel comic, branches off at different points into Primax 490.0 Gamma, Primax 512.5 Gamma, Primax 207.0 Epsilon, or Primax 290.03 Gamma.
Thanks to a simple and relatively intuitive classification scheme, it became easy for both official creators and fans to retroactively identify basically every universe and continuity that had appeared up to that point, and due to its prominence in official fiction compared to other forms of universal classification, we usually default to Axiom Nexus notation when categorizing universes on this wiki. From 2015 to 2016, the Ask Vector Prime Facebook feature namedropped hundreds of universal streams—some based upon mainstream cartoons and comics, others on obscure toy commercials and storybooks, still others spinning off out of original stories or outlandish "what-if" scenarios. However, Vector Prime was careful to inform his readers that the efforts of the TransTech, while admirable, were but arbitrary labels attempting to tidily categorize a nigh-infinite phase space. Universal clusters and the beings that dwell within them blur, overlap, and do not always fall into clear-cut categories, as evidenced by the existence of realities like Primax 610.17 Kappa or Iocus 1012.30 Gamma.
Ultimately, however, with the termination of the Fun Publications/Hasbro partnership at the end of 2016, no new TransTech fiction has been or likely ever will be published. New stories or continuities introduced after this cut-off date—including Cyberverse, EarthSpark, or BotBots—do not possess in-fiction universal stream designations and probably never will.
Worlds
For most TakaraTomy fiction that involves different universes (notably Legends and Alternity), many characters utilize a dirt simple system whereby the more plot-relevant universes are designated short names based on content and referred to as X "World"(世界 Sekai). A prominent example is the "G1 World" (G1世界), containing the main Japanese Generation 1 timeline. Universes are also described more generically, such as "the world of Transformers Animated" (トランスフォーマーアニメイテッドの世界).[12]
The higher dimensional Alternity use the universal stream system in conjunction with the simpler names. Residents of the Cloud World may appear to use this system, but their usage of "World" is very different (see below).
Spacetimes
In Transformers Cloud, the multiversal regulators of Cloud World organize the multiverse, which they call the "Spacetime World", under a system of "Spacetimes" (時空 Jikū). Each spacetime falls under a two-letter code designating its general dimensional category, such as "OG" or "MD", representing real world franchises rather than continuity. These categories can also be referred to as "Worlds" (世界 Sekai) or unnumbered spacetimes. Individual timelines are then numbered via two digit time coordinates. As such, you get designations like "24-BW Spacetime" (第24BW時空 Dai-Nijūyon Bīdaburyū Jikū). This does not indicate strict separation, as many spacetimes are connected in greater "flows of time" (時の流れ toki no nagare), representing continuities, that can cross different world categorizations; the numerical designations indicate branches in this flow.
These relatively well-behaved spacetimes have a tendency to indicate somewhere in the vicinity of a franchise's cartoon. In the event an "irregular spacetime" does not have a cartoon, Cloud's "Spacetime Police" have been known to just kind of wing it, producing designations such as "EX-LG Spacetime" (indicating Deadlock's Legends comic) and "15-OGSS Spacetime" (a divergent spacetime that spun out of 01-OG Spacetime due to the events of The Battle of the Star Gate).
One very special spacetime that does not quite follow the system established above is OG001 Spacetime (OG001時空), representing the very first episode of a Transformers cartoon—the English version of "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1". Consequentially, this spacetime is regarded by Cloud natives as the origin point of the multiverse as a whole.
Levels
The GoBots of several Gargent realities, such as Gargent 984.08 Alpha, refer to an alternate reality as a "Level", as depicted in the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon and later Transformers-canonized by Renegade Rhetoric. Unlike a "stream", a "level" can refer to a main universe's entire timeline in addition to all of its splinter timelines. The GoBots' home universe is the 1st level while the dread reality ruled by Queen Exor's Insectoids is the 21st level. Primax 984.0 Gamma, as well as its splinter Primax 207.0 Epsilon, is dubbed the 22nd level in "Withered Hope", and one or more Viron realities is dubbed the 44th level in "Echoes and Fragments". Other GoBot-populated realities or reality systems include the 8th, 13th, 17th, 19th, 25th, 28th, 30th, 33rd, and 52nd levels; as per hidden text in "Cultural Appropriation", the GoBots identify other Transformers-affiliated realities as Levels 16, 29, 34, 39, 51, 59, 63, 69, 72, and 77, though it's not clear how these map onto the standard TransTech notation.
Strata
Riffing off the aforementioned system of "levels", the Autobots of Primax 085.0 Eta call universal streams "Strata", with reference to their specific reality as "Strata 1". Only one other designation is known: Gargent 087.0 Kappa is referred to as Strata 22 in both Ask Vector Prime and Renegade Rhetoric.
Cybertrons
The Cybertronians who inhabit the negative-polarity version of Axiom Nexus utilize a slightly modified version of the standard universal stream notation: under their system, universes are classified as "Cybertron-[x]", with [x] using the first letter of its cluster name, the first letter of its universe type, and the year of its creation. Using this system, the original "Shattered Glass" universe would be "Cybertron-PE08".[13]
Universes
Promotional material for the multiverse-themed Transformers: Legacy toyline classifies its characters under a system of "origin universes" that roughly correspond to when and where they originally appeared. Under this schema, the versions of Bulkhead and Arcee who debuted in the Transformers: Prime cartoon hail from the "Prime Universe"; likewise, Cybertron Metroplex belongs to the "Cybertron Universe". What exactly constitutes a single "universe" is unclear and sometimes inconsistent: for instance, Legacy considers characters like Skywarp and Iguanus to be denizens of the "G1 Universe", which covers a vast swathe of mutually contradictory cartoons, comics, storybooks, and more; fellow G1 character Impactor, meanwhile, comes from the "Comic Universe", a veiled reference to the specific Marvel UK universe in which Impactor first appeared. Legacy Laser Optimus Prime, on the other hand, hails from the "G2 Universe", which would, at least in theory, identify him as a member of the 1990s Generation 2 comic... a comic in which he never actually appeared in this body. Additionally, there are some instances where two characters that come from different universes have the same label, and ones who come from the same universe having different labels. As mentioned, Impactor originated in Marvel UK, while Tarn hails from IDW Publishing’s 2005 continuity, yet both have the same label, Comic Universe. The flip side of this is with Unicron Trilogy characters, such as Cybertron Metroplex and Armada Starscream, who technically are from the same universe, but are labeled for their cartoons of origin (although that’s probably due to the differing styles between the series).
Suffice it to say that Hasbro, and indeed most of the toy-buying public, cares very little about these kinds of inconsistencies.
Timelines
The Transformers: Forged to Fight mobile game describes alternate universes as "timelines", with a corresponding alphanumeric designation. Thus far, only one timeline has been identified in this way, an original universe loosely based on the The Transformers episode "Grimlock's New Brain".
Others
Some alternate realities are given more descriptive names by their discoverers or the inhabitants who live there. Examples include the "X-Dimension", "Limbo", "the Dead Universe", "Alpha Q's universe", or "Menonia".
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
During their reign over Cybertron, the Quintessons used a specialized portal chamber to exile prisoners to alternate dimensions, including an ice world, a place with no physical substance, and the magical land of Menonia. Madman's Paradise
While trying to escape a Quintesson scientist, Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus, Wreck-Gar, and Marissa Faireborn, accidentally flew the Quintesson's ship into a black hole that led to a strange “negative universe”. By travelling back through that universe's “white hole”, the group returned to their original reality. The Killing Jar
Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Precursor World came into existence as a multiverse unto itself, composed of seven monochromatic universes, each containing its own variant of a mysterious energy known as Star Power. In the final battle between the native Primus Vanguard and their nemeses the Specters, the Primus Vanguard pooled all their Star Power into a single vessel to obliterate the Specters, and in so doing fused their multiverse into a single shared reality. Finale Prelude
When the Precursor World eventually met its end in the Big Bang, at least one daughter universe was birthed in the form of the G1 World. Finale The denizens of these two closely intertwined realities subsequently bothered each other via time travel. Like, a lot. Generations Selects Special Comic
In 2004, Jetfire and Sky-Byte travelled to the Legends World following a solitarium explosion. Bonus Edition Vol. 6 The Autobot returned with Roadbuster and Whirl in tow Bonus Edition Vol. 7 and the Destronger was forced to leave by Scourge. Bonus Edition Vol. EX
The meddling of the time traveler Ravage to tip history in favor of the Decepticons irrevocably altered the timeline of the G1 World from 2005 onwards, eventually producing a splinter universe known as the BT World. Changing Lanes This BT World would lead to the creation of the truly multidimensional Alternity, who protected the universes against threats like the Hytherion From Here to Alternity and those who sought to control the beast. To Mega Therion The Alternity's battles spanned multiple universes till a plot by Megatron forced the Alternity to be replaced by the Planicrons. Alternation
The Binaltechs and Protectors traveled to G1 World to attend the trial of Primacron by the Quintessons in 2011. Upon the conclusion of proceedings, Primacron departed the G1 World for dimensions unknown. Controverse In the same year, the Autobots traveled to a parallel dimension to assist the inhabitants of Sandra, a parallel version of Earth. SOS from Planet Sandra
At some point, Skids bathed in Dimension Slide particles, giving him new abilities that allowed him to transverse the multiverse. He, with another version of himself called Screech, leapt to another universe to deal with an errant ghost of Starscream from Skids's own universe. Starscream's New Body Becoming a "Dimensional Investigator", Skids policed the dimensions with his Skids Squadron, made up of Skidses from across dimensions. Bonus Edition Vol. 20
In 2015, the G1 World was accessed by the Legends World's Rattrap via his dreams. Bonus Edition Vol. 8 2015's Swerve Tailgate/G1 Mini-Con Chapter Bonus Edition Vol. 9 Brainstorm Chapter
In 2021, Unicron summoned Thrust and Breakdown from their native dimensions to aid in the resurrection of his G1 World incarnation, reformatting them into fodder for Grand Galvatron. Grand Galvatron Chapter Unicron later summoned Grand Scourge to the G1 World in an attempt to bamboozle Ruination into fighting alongside his warriors. Ruination Chapter, Part One Unicron's tampering with the timeline and universe threatened to destabilize the multiversal barriers, so everybody banded together to stop Unicron's plans, but not before Grand Scourge and Galvatron II were tossed to locations unknown through a crack in spacetime. Ruination Chapter, Part Two Around this time, many beings went back and forth to the Legends World for various reasons.
During the 2030s, many beings also went to the Legends World for various reasons. It was during this time that the Legends World was properly created by the Zamojin. After that world was destroyed, its refugees found shelter in the G1 World during this era till the Legends World's recreation.
Breakdown returned to his home universe and Slipstream (having went to the G1 World following her stint in the Legends World) also returned to her proper reality. Epiloge
Upon his purification of malicious Angolmois by Lio Convoy in 2050, Megatron's unhindered spark traveled back in time to the Precursor World under its own power to save both universes. Finale
Centuries later Optimus Primal and Megatron were revived after their deaths by Logos Prime and had some trippy adventures aboard his multiversal pyramid ship thing before being deposited on a Jungle Planet somewhere in the Aurex cluster. Beast Wars Reborn
After the Great Transformation, Cheetor sent Rattrap and Waspinator to recover Rhinox's spirit from the Legends World. Despite interference from the ghost of Starscream, they succeeded. Bonus Edition Vol. EX Bonus Edition Vol. EX Bonus Edition Vol. EX
Legends World
As an experiment to study Beast Power, the Zamojin sought to use their telepathic powers to create a universe from scratch. In the 2030s of the G1 World, the Zamojin had Topspin and Twin Twist assist them by procuring the Zodiac. With that, the Zamojin's telepathic powers, and proton energy from the Space Pirates, the Legends World was created. The two Autobots felt obligated to help as their comrades, Whirl and Roadbuster, were from the Legends World, but had migrated to the G1 World in 2004—time was a meaningless consideration in inter-universal travel. Bonus Edition Vol. 66 The Beast Power used was copied from beast Transformers from across the G1 World and duplicated in the Legends World, forming deformed versions of those same Beast Transformers who would go on to populate the universe's Earth. The Legends World also had an interesting property in that the adventures of Transformers from across the multiverse were extant as Transformers-branded media, with accompanying toys. Bonus Edition Vol. 41
The Legends World's inherent properties allowed its Rattrap to access the G1 World through dreaming. There, he was able to meet various Autobot heroes in the 2015 of the G1 World that he knew from media in his native universe. Bonus Edition Vol. 8 2015's Swerve Tailgate/G1 Mini-Con Chapter Bonus Edition Vol. 9 Brainstorm Chapter Tigatron would later join Rattrap in another "dream", this time to the Adventure cartoon. Go! Adventure
In the G1 World's 2004, the Destronger Sky-Byte and the Autobot Jetfire were thrown into the Legends World by a solitarium explosion. Bonus Edition Vol. 6 Jetfire would return to his proper universe with Whirl and Roadbuster in tow. Bonus Edition Vol. 7 Seeking allies in his mission to recover Devil Gigatron from the Dimensional Patrol's clutches, Scourge arrived in the Legends World and convinced Sky-Byte to leave the life he'd established for the regular G1 World. Bonus Edition Vol. EX
When Windblade threatened to destroy the Legends World on the behalf of its creators, the Zamojin, the denizens of the universe were able to pull in Metroplex from the late 2030s through a portal to handle her. Bonus Edition Vol. 12 Bonus Edition Vol. EX He would soon be followed by Megatron, who found a portal to the Legends World and established his presence there. Legends Vol. 23 Another Megatron arrived with a seemingly resurrected Starscream. Together, they attempted to rob the world of its Mini-Con "toys". Bonus Edition Vol. EX To counter them, Ultra Magnus and Alpha Trion travelled to the Legends World with the ultra-drill. Bonus Edition Vol. 14 Escaping inevitable imprisonment by the Autobot authorities on her Cybertron, Slipstream used transdimensional gyro-rotors acquired from Swindle to flee to the Legends World. Bonus Edition Vol. 16 Due to the growing Decepticon power on the Legends World, Alpha Trion brought in Chromia. Bonus Edition Vol. 17 Armada Megatron and Armada Starscream would be finally sent back to their universe when Alpha Trion used the ultra-drill to bring in Alexis to calm down Starscream before he sacrificed himself again. Bonus Edition Vol. 18
To alleviate his recent weight gain, the Springer of the 2030s went to the Legends World to get a new body from that universe's Rhinox. LG19 Sprung Prologue Jealous of the attention Springer was getting from the women of the Legends World, Tigatron stole the ultra-drill and brought in women from across the multiverse. His plan didn't work out, as they all ended swooning over Springer anyway. Except one. The Legends World's own Arcee; this rejection sent Springer crying back home. Bonus Edition Vol. 19 This universe was soon visited by the Deadlock of Cloud World, with SARA in tow. After some angst about not being like the Drift of other universes, he was sent on his way back by Skids, who was now a dimensional investigator. Bonus Edition Vol. EX The Legends World was in turn visited by Rattrap and Waspinator from after the Great Transformation, who were in search of the spirit of Rhinox. Bonus Edition Vol. EX Starscream's ghost arrived to possess Waspinator again, Bonus Edition Vol. EX but was foiled by the resurrected Rhinox. Together, the three Beast Warriors returned to their proper world and time. Bonus Edition Vol. EX
Sick of the constant universal incursions, Skids attempted to expel all foreign beings from the Legends World with the assistance of the multiversal Skids Squadron and seal it, but the natives fought against this effort and convinced Skids that he was the one destroying the peace of this universe. Bonus Edition Vol. 20
In 2021, one of Scorponok's plots involving a black hole led a group of Autobots and Decepticons being forced to become small Headmasters in order to escape their continually shrinking bodies. Headmaster Chapter Prologue Knowing of Whirl and Roadbuster's origins in the Legends World and that its natives could easily build new bodies for them, Fortress pinpointed the world's spacetime coordinates from the two Wreckers' residual radiation and used solitarium to travel there. The Decepticons had the same idea, joining up with Tarantulas in the Legends World to get new bodies. Headmaster Chapter Prologue To keep the former Headmasters Jr (and Clouder) safe, Grand Maximus sent them over to the Legends World into Fortress's care. Shockwave, having detected Megatron in the same universe, travelled there as well. LG24 Shockwave & Cancer Prologue Devil Z, having died in the G1 World, was resurrected in the Legends World through dark magic. Bonus Edition Vol. 34
Through means unknown, the Precursor World's Convobat's transtector travelled to the Legends World, where it acted in a move chronicling Convobat's adventures. Bonus Edition Vol. EX
When a mysterious transtector appeared in the Legends World, the Autobot Headmasters Jr summoned Ginrai to that world to claim it. Bonus Edition Vol. 35 Soon, Rattrap visited Brainstorm again in his sleep, inspiring the Headmaster to finally come over to the Legends World. Bonus Edition Vol. 39
Lord Zarak, of a universe similar to the G1 World, attempted to invade the Legends World with his Scorponok, but was foiled with the help of heroic Nebulan Headmasters from the villain's universe. LGEX Headmaster Set Chapter Having travelled through many worlds, Leo Prime came face to face with Katsu Don over the fate of the Legends World, for Transformers in his time had eventually realized it existed and were inspired by children cheering on the heroes while watching and reading Transformers media. Bonus Edition Vol. 41 In preparation for civil war between the Decepticon factions on the Legends World, Full-Tilt came over to act as the black box for a new Trypticon. LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter
Turned good by a reformed Devil Gigatron, Scourge attempted to use the might of the Dimensional Patrol to control the Legends World and hunt down the Combatrons who were hiding out in that universe. He and Skids banned the use of transtectors, which made the other denizens of the Legends World turn against them and help Dark Ai restore all six Combatrons' evil personalities. All involved were forced out the universe. Bonus Edition Vol. EX
To explain Ginrai's mysterious transformation into Magna Convoy, Delta Magnus and Marissa were brought in by Waspinator using the ultra-drill. They had no idea what the wasp was talking about. Bonus Edition Vol. EX In the wake of Trypticon's devastation of Tokyo, Alpha Trion brought in the G1 World's Disaster Relief Team to assist in rebuilding. Bonus Edition Vol. 43
The smaller Targetmaster partners, lost since the black ball incident, were transported to the Legends World when the Decepticon Targetmasters forced Alpha Trion to use his ultra-drill. Mutant Targetmaster Birth Chapter Not knowing of this, Hot Rod and Shaoshao Li arrived in the Legends World in search of the Targetmasters. Targetmaster Chapter Prologue Also present on the world were Kup and Sue Faireborn. Bonus Edition Vol. 46 Hearing of Blowpipe's new ability to clone beings with his beam, Kickback traveled to the Legends World to use it to create Insecticon clones. Also present were Mega and Giga, resurrected by Devil Z from their deaths in the G1 World. Bonus Edition Vol. 47
The Legends World faced an invasion by evil Kreons. They were quickly stopped by good Kreons and they all returned to their universe of Kre-O blocks. Special Chapter Seeking redemption and escape from the authorities, the Sixshot of 2022 came to the Legends World with Daniel Witwicky. Bonus Edition Vol. 50 White Leo had the same idea, but to use the Legends World's native to build a bestial army against the Laser Beasts that threatened to conquer Beast in the G1 World. He was followed by his rival Tigerburn, but the warring beasts were forced back home. Bonus Edition Vol. 51
To assist the Legends World against future threats, the Broadside and the Aerialbots of the 2030s were sent there. Desiring the power of Broadside's enormous transtector, Thrust and Trickdiamond followed. Bonus Edition Vol. 53 To build up defenses against an expected return of Overlord, Ginrai went to the G1 World's G Nebula 89 to upgrade his transtector and returned to the Legends World. Unbeknownst to him, he brings over White Lune, sister of White Leo, as "delivery". Late Xmas Present Chapter
Pursued by the Concurrence-controlled Universal Peace Alliance and its Throttlebots, Spike Witwicky and Goldbug came to the Legends World to throw them off. The Throttlebots nevertheless followed with Spike's impostor (in actuality Old Snake) coming along. The impostor was foiled and sent back to the G1 World. Bonus Edition Vol. 54 To investigate the Zamojin's hand in the Legends World, Perceptor crossed over, only to run into Katsu Don. Bonus Edition Vol. 56 Desiring to become a Headmaster, the bodiless Starscream convinced Lunaclub and Moonheart to facilitate travel there, which they did. Bonus Edition Vol. 57
Working against the fake Spike Witwicky, the Autobot Clones arrived in the Legends World to escape pursuit by "Spike" and Hound. "Spike" was revealed as Old Snake in disguise and he returned to the G1 World. Bonus Edition Vol. 58
Seeking worlds to conquer, the Quintessons (of times ancient compared to the Legends World immigrants) attempted to invade the Legends World, only to be sent back their way by Big Fight and their former servant, Blitzwing. As the Quintessons were from a time long before the actual creation of the Legends World, they investigated who they knew to be the universe's creators, the Zamojin, and sealed their region of space with a quadrant lock. Bonus Edition Vol. 59 Seeking the proton energy that created the Legends World, the Decepticon Clones came to pilfer it. They discover that the Autobot Targetmaster partners have absorbed it. Bonus Edition Vol. 61
After his multiple trips to the Legends World, Old Snake decided to use the full might of the Concurrence to conquer it so that they could use the planet's resources to fight against the Universal Peace Alliance. Thanks to the efforts of G1 Megatron, the Concurrence were defeated and they fled back to the G1 World. Bonus Edition Vol. 63 Losing the war on Beast, Tigerburn returned to the Legends World in an effort to conquer it and transform its denizens into Laser Beasts, but was stopped by the visiting Seaspray and Alana. Bonus Edition Vol. 64
When the world came under attack by a Zamojin-controlled Windblade and the Targetmasters, Springer, Roadbuster, Whirl, Topspin, and Twin Twist came to help in its defense. Bonus Edition Vol. 65 After using Shinchōkon to resurrect Jack, Sixshot, now "Greatshot", returned with his new partner to the G1 World. After the Concurrence was defeated, Spike, Daniel, and Bumblebee also returned. Bonus Edition Vol. EX
Putting his revenge in action, Devil Z pulled in Scorponok so that the two of them could reunite as a new "BlackZarak" and conquer all universes after consuming the Legends World. (Such a scenario happening was why the Zamojin wanted to destroy the Legends World.) Fortunately, Grand Maximus was able to come over and defeat BlackZarak. Bonus Edition Vol. EX Surviving, Scorponok decided to simply blow up the Legends World and established forces consisting of his loyal Decepticons, Majin Zarak, and the Zamojin. They were fought against by everybody else and the Dimensional Patrol. As a final resort, Scorponok engineered the Targetmasters to create a planetary-sized explosion. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part One Scorponok's forces were defeated and Majin Zarak forced out of the universe, but Devil Z, having also survived, pushed the Targetmasters to continue with the explosion. Using the Drill Base to create portals all around the world, all living beings were evacuated to the G1 World as the Legends World was destroyed. Those who travelled to the Legends World were returned to their proper times. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part Two
After some turmoil, the Legends World was restored through the efforts of many and through the collection of the Zodiac, the last remaining soil of the Legends World, Energon Z, the Zamojin's telepathy, and White Leo's MVP Weapon. Megatron, who had died in the interim, was resurrected and left the Legends World to its own devices after some time. Leo Prime, his job finished, also left for parts unknown. Epiloge
Deviations
The multiverse contained an infinite number of quantum universes with every single possible outcome, including a reality where Optimus Prime did not die in the Battle of Autobot City. Deviations
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
Galvatron was tricked into blowing up what he thought was Starscream, twenty years before the Seeker was meant to die. He believed this meant he'd created an alternate timeline, and what he did in the past wouldn't affect the future of his reality. Target: 2006
Individuals displaced by time travel wound up in a bizarre limbo dimension, a black void populated by parasitic life-forms who fed on the emotions of their victims. Distant Thunder!
Unicron's minions Hook, Line, and Sinker travelled to an alternate timeline to fetch that reality's Galvatron, who'd ruled the bombed-out ruins of America ever since "his" Unicron had triumphed and destroyed Cybertron. Rhythms of Darkness!
Regeneration One
When Hot Rod returned to the Primus chamber with the Dinobots, he had a vision of numerous multiversal versions of himself. Destiny, Part Three Primus, using Grimlock as a vessel, sent Hot Rod on a journey through Zero Space, the void that exists between realities. Destiny, Part Four While the journey through Zero Space took him to three periods of his own timeline's past, the final stop was on a planet of junk in Galvatron II's home timeline, where the Unicron-empowered Decepticon destroyed Hot Rod's counterpart, Rodimus Prime. Unobserved by the victorious Decepticons, Hot Rod recovered his counterpart's Matrix and returned to his own timeline, reborn as Rodimus Prime himself. Less Than Zero
However, "Primus" turned out to be the corrupted fragment of Matrix energy that had empowered the Deathbringer more than two decades earlier. Dark Creation Rodimus had witnessed that this energy had survived the destruction of the Deathbringer, Less Than Zero and this "Dark Matrix creature", having gained sentience, had been manipulating events ever since. When Primus brought the Transformers on Earth back to Cybertron in order to confront Unicron The Void! (US), he had inadvertently brought the creature back as well. It had hidden itself in the shadows, stirring up the Demons in the aftermath of the conflict, and hoping to draw upon the chaos that followed the demise of Primus. But when the Last Autobot was activated and able to stabilize the planet, the creature found it could not thrive on the ensuing peace. It had manipulated Soundwave into restarting the war; it had reawakened Galvatron on Earth and brought him back to Cybertron; and it had affected events on Nebulos, culminating in the possession of the original head of Fortress Maximus and kidnapping Circuit Smasher from Earth. And when it was ready to launch its endgame, it corrupted nearly every Transformer left on Cybertron, turning them all into shadow-leeches.
The creature was now using Spike, whom to it represented the "trinity"—a fusion of the worlds of Earth, Cybertron, and Nebulos (having undergone the Headmaster process)—as a focal point for the chaos energies generated on those worlds. The creature intended to use those energies to shatter the barriers of Zero Space and spread itself throughout the multiverse, so that it could create even more chaos.
Rodimus Prime, using the Covenant of Primus to reenter Zero Space and bearing the Sword of Primus, confronted the creature, who beset upon Rodimus three versions of Optimus Prime—his present self, alongside two past forms, all corrupted by the creature, although the present Optimus struggled to resist the corruption. The weakened dimensional barriers, however, allowed Rodimus Prime's multiversal counterparts to enter Zero Space and join the fray. As the other Rodimuses attacked the creature, Optimus regained his senses long enough to reveal what he'd learned of Primus's grand plan—that it would ultimately result in the creation of an optimum universe made up of the best elements of the other universes. Since the creature could not be destroyed, only contained, the only way to prevent it from corrupting the grand plan was to seal off their own universe forever. Using this knowledge, Rodimus was able to snap Spike out of his fugue, allowing him to break free. Rodimus then prevented the creature from escaping into the closing crack by sealing it with the Sword of Primus. With the creature trapped, Optimus, Rodimus, and Spike were returned to the Primus chamber, and the other Rodimuses returned to their home realities. The War to End All Wars, Part 5
3H comics
Upon purification by the Matrix, the newly enlightened Swarm evolved into new beings known as the Vok. Having been given a new purpose by Primus, the Vok spread across the multiverse, seeding every plane of existence in preparation for the fulfillment of Primus's Grand Plan: The unification of all worlds balanced and organized into perfect harmony and synchronicity. Primeval Dawn Part 3
As Windrazor was about to disappear due to the nullification of his timeline of origin, Terminus Primus divinely intervened, preserved him from being nullified. Windrazor was then deposited in a new location to function as a "spirit guide" for other champions of Primus from various realities. Wreckers: Finale Part II
Unicron abducted Transformers from the various universes in order to fight in gladiatorial combat. Consequently, Primus and Alpha Trion resurrected Optimus Primal from the dead to lead an army in the multiversal war against Unicron. Abduction Optimus Primal conducted his opening salvo by traveling into the Cauldron, and with the help of some abductees, initiating a mass jailbreak. Subsequently, Primal and the abductees returned to his native technorganic Cybertron, from which most of the abductees were sent back to their home universes. OTFCC Live-Action Drama Escape Homecoming
During the Universe War, Rhinox built a device to counteract Unicron's attempts to abduct Transformers from other universes. Two attempts at deflection only partially succeeded, stranding the victims on an icy planetoid. The Children deployed a rescue team, but Unicron sent a team of Minions as well. Teaming up with the victims, the rescue team was able to drive off the Minions, and everyone was sent back to their proper eras and realities. Voice Actor Drama
After a long conflict rivaling the intensity of the Great War, Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Optimus Primal's profile the Children of Primus emerged victorious when Unicron himself disappeared (as a result of the Unicron Singularity). Revelations Part 2
Universe CD-ROM
Unicron kidnapped Decepticons from various universes in order to assemble an army. Meanwhile, Primus recruited his own army of Autobots. Transformers: Universe CD-ROM
Dreamwave Armada comic
Cybertronian science had an understanding of the multiverse and parallel realities. One million years before the war, Astroscope and the Space Team experimented with dimensional travel, but they proved unable to breach the dimensional barriers and contact one of these other timelines. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4
As he slowly devoured his way across the multiverse, Unicron developed a grisly habit of sending a fatally wounded Optimus Prime from one universe to the next, a kind of warning to its inhabitants that he'd soon arrive. Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4 To aid his endless quest, Unicron assembled a legion of five "heralds" plucked from different realities, who would prepare new dimensions for his arrival. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4
As Unicron prepared to devour the next reality, the Mini-Con Over-Run escaped his universe in an experimetal null-reality pod with the Mini-Con Matrix and hoping to stop Unicron from devouring yet another reality. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4 The heralds of Unicron were tasked with defeating Cybertronian leadership and centers of power and capture the Mini-Con Matrix. They used the Decepticons' space bridge network to open portals to other realities in order to initiate "phase two" of Unicron's plan, but were ultimately defeated one by one. Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4 As a result, Unicron encountered a unified alliance of Autobots, Decepticons, and Mini-Cons, who defeated him with the help of the Mini-Con Matrix. The End
Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity
When Megatron recklessly released Decepticon-flavored energon from Unicron's body, it interacted with the Autobot-flavored energon from Unicron's head. The resultant catastrophic reaction opened a rift in space, a tear in the fabric of space which led to an alternate dimension. Ripped Up Space Within the new universe, Alpha Q released the seeds of the many planets destroyed by Unicron and used energon to restore them. Protection
After his return, Megatron utilized another pocket dimension known as the fire dimension as his headquarters. Fallen
At the onset of the search for the Cyber Planet Keys, alternate universes were only considered theoretical by Autobot scientists. The Singularity's uniquely strange readings, however, prompted some scientists to worry that the Singularity could spread to the hypothetical alternate universes. Force of Habit
In an alternate dimension, the denizens of the crime-ruled Planet X learned that all life in their universe was slowly dying out. Utilizing their mastery of science, they discovered the planet Gigantion in another, more healthy dimension. Plotting to make Gigantion their new homeworld, Planet X's residents used a space warp to pull it into their own dimension and commenced a full-scale invasion. Unfortunately, Gigantion's residents fought back, utilizing the power of their Cyber Planet Key to successfully repel the invaders. The residents of Planet X ultimately proved to be their own undoing as they unleashed their ultimate weapon on Gigantion, only for the superweapon to backfire and blow their homeworld up. Challenge Despite this fact, the survivors of Planet X swore vengeance against Gigantion by any means necessary. Soundwave, Laserbeak, and Sideways were among those who traversed space for a way to destroy Gigantion, eventually entering into the service of the planet destroyer Unicron in exchange for Gigantion's assured destruction. Cybertron Soundwave's profile
Centuries later, the Autobots of Cybertron utilized the space warp in the Skeleton Nebula to travel to the dimension where Gigantion had been transported to, seeking the Cyber Planet Key to end the Unicron Singularity crisis. Warp After securing the key, the Autobots built an enhanced space bridge to get them home again, though the difficulties of bending spacetime to get back cost Vector Prime his life. Guardian
Sideways and Soundwave (and Laserbeak) later tried to make their own grab for the Cyber Planet Keys, but they were consumed in a huge reality-bending explosion from a clash between Megatron and Starscream. Showdown This turned out to be good for them, though, as when they were last seen, they had apparently found their way to a dimension containing an intact version of their homeworld! Beginning
A group of dimensionally-displaced Maximals and Predacons waged some version of the Beast Wars in Alpha Q's universe, until the Alternity got involved to avert a catastrophic spacetime crash. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/03
Timelines
The Transformers multiverse is but a fragment of the greater Omniverse, an infinite set that contains every conceivable reality imaginable. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/21 Between the multiverse and the omniverse lies the vaguely-defined "Megaverse", which encompasses both the primary Transformers multiverse and tangentially-connected realities that include G.I. Joe, the Animorphs, and M.A.S.K.. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/11 These are not clear-cut boundaries, however; different realities within the Transformers multiverse, such as Primax 984.0 Gamma or Lukas 577.25 Beta, overlap with different omniversal dimensions. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/21
When and how the multiverse came into being is not clear, and Vector Prime has speculated that its true history may be unknowable—indeed, it might have retroactively appeared after one iteration of Perceptor tampered with a duplicate of Brainstorm's time case. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/27 More common theories include the original Big Bang spawning multiple pocket universes which then budded off to form their own full-fledged realities, The One's creation of both Primus and Unicron causing multiple dimensional schisms, or the idea that the multiverse always existed in its present state, and that new realities only form when a sufficiently powerful outside observer identifies and classifies them. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/25 The Primax universal cluster is the largest and oldest of the group, which has led Vector Prime to speculate that it might contain the original universe from which all other realities spring from, Ask Vector Prime, 2015/11/01 although the discovery of the Cymond cluster on the very edge of the multiverse suggests that it might be the "common ancestor" of all Transformers realities. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/15
A higher-dimensional phenomenon known as "trans-dimensional harmonic resonance" means that certain concepts, characters, and ideas repeat throughout the multiverse: in this way do most realities feature some version of Optimus, Megatron, and a war between their respective factions. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/24 This kind of pattern may have something to do with how the planet Cybertron acts as the "stable axis of the multiverse"; every iteration of the planet is connected on an infinite curve,Balancing Act, Part 2 Ask Vector Prime, 22/06/2015 and the destruction of the planet in any one reality threatens the inherent stability of that entire universe. The cascading ripple effect caused by one Cybertron's destruction can potentially jeopardize multiple timelines, as was the case when MegaZarak destroyed the Cybertron of Primax 785.06 Alpha. Ask Vector Prime, 22/06/2015 Echoes and Fragments When a reality is destroyed, vicious creatures emerge from the swirling void sandwiched between dimensions to consume whatever remains. The dreaded Hytherion, who once drove Logos Prime mad, Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/14 is the most infamous of these beings, other notorious entities include House, the Teeth With No Eyes, the Langoliers, the Beforites, the After Alls, the Antevishnum, the Abbadontus Hunger, and the Ravagers of Time. Although these creatures are rightly feared for their malevolence and destructive potential, they play an important role in maintaining the overall health and stability of the multiverse by "pruning" damaged universes from the overall fabric of space-time. Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/08/16 Worse still were the cruel and inscrutable Elder Gods, extra-dimensional beings who dwarfed even Primus and Unicron in power. Ramjet's profile in Club magazine #5
As the guardian of time, Vector Prime patrolled the multiverse for eons, and intervened when needed to preserve its essential stability; Vector Prime: In the Beginning on one occasion, he and his Time Warriorss contended with Mogahn the Mass, who absorbed entire star systems until Vector and his followers defeated him in a reality-spanning battle. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/12 While Primus and Unicron slumbered, Vector, Nexus Prime, Alpha Trion, and Solus Prime made the decision to split Nexus Prime into five pieces to conceal the location of the five fragments of Prima's Star Saber sword, a weapon that could destroy star systems, from their evil brother Megatronus. Using the blade of the Star Saber, Nexus Prime was cut into five other robots: Skyfall, Landquake, Breakaway, Topspin, and Heatwave, who were subsequently scattered across the multiverse and lost to the ages. Ask Vector Prime
The higher-dimensional geography of the multiverse is loosely organized around the small Nexus universal cluster; as a result, dimensional travellers have a higher-than ordinary chance of ending up in the city of Axiom Nexus in universe Nexus 208.0 Epsilon. Ask Vector Prime, 05/14/2015 At first, the native Transcendent Technomorphs assumed these travelers were confused extraplanetary travelers and gave them passage off-planet. However, the natives of Cybertron soon realized that they were from entirely different realities; this discovery caused the TransTech to realize the pettiness of their internal disputes and sparked a dramatic shift in their culture in which they began to study other realities. The TransTechs became the watchers of the multiverse, welcoming travelers from the various universes in the city of Axiom Nexus and sifting transwarp for beings who would otherwise die in mundane accidents involving transwarp-based transportation. Spearheaded by the efforts of Rhinox, Prowl, and Silverbolt, they compiled an extensive, continually expanding catalog of the universal streams, both existent and no longer existent. Withered Hope Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist
Some universal clusters, like Xobitor and Cymond, are considered "distant", and lie on the transitional boundary between the edge of the multiverse and the wider Megaverse. It is very rare, although not entirely unheard of, for travellers from these distant realities to end up in Axiom Nexus. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/06/29 Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/19 Other universal clusters with their own unique cosmology include the Malgus cluster, which lacks multiversal singularities due to the effects of the "the "non-linear WY-att pulse function", Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/22 and the Lukas cluster, which overlaps with other realities in the Omniverse. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/13
Eventually, however, the "war of balance" between Primus and Unicron began again when the Octopunch of one particular reality accidentally blasted Primus as he slumbered. His "cosmic scream" reverberated across the multiverse, allowing Unicron to find Primus and begin his battle against his ancient foe anew. Although the Cybertronians weakened Unicron when he attacked one such universe, the wounded but still living god kickstarted the dimension-spanning Universe War as he abducted beings from across the multiverse in a bid to restore his physical form. Vector Prime: In the Beginning
Beyond the TransTech, other prominent multiversal guardians include the Alternity and the Autobots of Cloud World; although they did not take a direct role in the Universe War, they worked in a behind-the-scenes capacity to defend stricken realities from the Hytherion. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/08 The Unicron Singularity created by Unicron's destruction briefly posed an existential threat to the multiverse: its pull was so strong that even alternate Unicrons were drawn into it. The self-replicating singularity spread across many universes, merged their histories into a single messy timeline, and eventually threatened the entire multiverse. Balancing Act, Part 2 Optimus Prime, recently arrived on this Cybertron from the Universe War, revealed that that conflict had abruptly ended when Unicron was destroyed as a result of the Singularity's effects spreading throughout the multiverse. Vector Prime understood that this indicated the threat posed by the black hole was more urgent than the inhabitants of one universe might be able to perceive. Revelations Part 2 Fortunately, the local Autobots of were able to restore Primus to power so that he could close the Singularity. Revelations Part 6
One particular universe would go onto enjoy a particularly fraught history: when universal stream Primax 207.0 Epsilon branched off from its parent timeline, this new universe possessed a nearly identical frequency to a completely unrelated timeline. After first destroying another tangent universe, Primax 207.0 Espilson then began "overwriting" this sister universe. Withered Hope The Complete AllSpark Almanac At first, the native GoBots who inhabited this dimension sent a group of agents to Primax 207.0 Epsilon to try and intervene; they first wound up in Axiom Nexus by accident, Withered Hope and only Bug Bite eventually made it to their intended destination. When he failed in his mission, however, Games of Deception the GoBots put a contingency plan into play and coordinated a vast multiversal evacuation in which teams of dimension-hopping GoBots infiltrated other realities and posed as native Cybertronians. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/14 As a result of repeated dimensional travel, however, some refugees like Crasher were refracted and duplicated across multiple simultaneous universes. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/17
In this same universe, the native Cliffjumper encountered Landquake and Skyfall, who'd been drawn together on an elaborate multiversal quest. Together, the three encountered Breakaway, who'd been sequestered in this universe and protected by the Caretaker. With the multiverse spiralling into entropy, the Caretaker supercomputer sent the group on to meet with another component of Nexus Prime: while Skyfall, Breakaway, and Landquake travelled on to Axiom Nexus, Transcendent: Part 1 Cliffjumper wound up stranded in a bizarre mirror universe. Shattered Glass After all of his components reformed into Nexus Prime, he and the heroic Quintesson Aquarius spent some time travelling the multiverse in search of the Star Saber. Reunification: Part 6 Some years later, a group of evil Autobots from that same mirror universe invaded Primax 207.0 Epsilon and used Rarified Energon to destroy it. The Transformers on Earth wound up teleporting the entire planet into the negative-polarity universe, Invasion while all of the humans on the planet wound up shunted onto the Earth of a different alternate reality where an out-of-control Decepticon combiner had prematurely ended the Cybertronian war. Assembly
The destruction of this universe proved a double-edged sword: thanks in part to the efforts of Lio Convoy, who'd passed through the dimension and helped the remaining inhabitants of that universe buy some more time, Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/14 Sunrise the Cataclysm was ultimately forestalled. However, the destruction of that same reality caused entire dimensions to fold together or simply be ripped apart. To address the crisis, TransTech Optimus Prime broke the standard rules of Axiom Nexus and assembled the Convoy. Invasion Prologue The Convoy's formation was also necessitated by the defeat of the Hytherion by the Alternity, as there was no longer a beast of time to consume weakened and damaged universes. Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist One of the Convoy's first actions was to deploy Depth Charge to the past of Primax -408.24 Epsilon to protect the Origin Matrix. Invasion: Epilogue
For a long period of time, an impenetrable "quantum membrane" isolated the Uniend universal cluster from the rest of the multiverse until the passage of the Dark Spark from that reality to the Tyran cluster revealed its existence to the inhabitants of Axiom Nexus. Because of this, multiversal singularities like Vector Prime began absorbing the memories and traits of their Uniend counterparts. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/18 However, this process would prove short-lived: by the time that a reunified Nexus Prime reunited the Origin Matrix, reassembled the Star Saber, and seized the Terminus Blade from its previous owner, it was clear that the fabric of the multiverse had been irreparably damaged, Restoration and the defeat of the Hytherion at the hands of the Alternity left no natural mechanism to deal with dead and dying realities. Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/08
In a last-ditch attempt to stabilize spacetime, Nexus Prime brought together the relics he'd gathered at a key point in interdimensional space and used them to rewrite the fabric of reality: his attempt to "seal the doorways between universes" would have a unique effect on multiversal singularities like himself, and he would be forever altered by his actions. Out of the One, Many From this point on, the concept of multiversal singularies ceased to exist and multiversal travel was rendered much harder, effectively stranding all of the many Offworlders in Axiom Nexus with no way to return home. The TransTech dubbed this phenomenon "the Shroud", and its effects proved retroactive—multiversal singularities had never existed, and each universe could now contain a new version of Primus, Unicron, or the Thirteen or none at all. Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist Ask Vector Prime
While trying to recalibrate their monitoring arrays to adjust to the new reality they faced, Rhinox and Vector Prime identified nine specific universes as "pillar realities", streams with an unusually high number of branching points and quantum echoes: Primax 984.0 Gamma, Primax 984.17 Alpha, Primax 496.22 Alpha, Viron 901.8 Alpha, Aurex 802.23 Alpha, Primax 1005.19 Gamma, Tyran 707.04 Delta, Malgus 1207.26 Alpha, and Uniend 911.05 Alpha. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/11/05
Later that year, fear spread across Axiom Nexus when it looked like the entire multiverse had been destroyed. As it turned out, Waspinator had merely misinterpreted the sight of Rhinox shutting down some now-obsolete monitoring equipment in the wake of the Shroud and had phoned in a panicked tip. Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2016/12/31 The creation of the Shroud had a final, unexpected consequence: in a negative-polarity Axiom Nexus, Rhinox and Airazor successfully discovered an entire, previously hidden, negative multiverse that corresponded to the positive-polarity multiverse. Epilogue Two
2005 IDW continuity
Conventional Cybertronian science held that parallel universes, such as those created through time travel, did not exist. The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue At some point, Micronus Prime abandoned his original reality and created his own personal dimension, the realm of Microspace. Informed
An extradimensional Elder God, summoned to this universe by the writings of Howard Lovecraft, briefly awoke sometime in the 19th century and was subsequently defeated by Domitius Major in the guise of "Optimus Prime". Strange Visitors
In the year 2014, Shockwave used a time machine to reach back through history to the moment time began in another universe, and used a time machine to siphon off its life energy from the moment of its creation to fulfill his grand scheme. The Becoming This stillborn "Dead Universe" was somehow able to reach out to the reality that had originally created it: some six million years ago, Nova Prime and the crew of the Ark-1 were drawn through a portal in the Benzuli Expanse that led to the Dead Universe. There, they were corrupted by the realm's immortal darkness; their original mission of exploration and conquest was twisted into a malevolent plot of "Expansion" meant to merge the two universes together. Spotlight: Hardhead Spotlight: Optimus Prime When Nova Prime, now "Nemesis Prime", and his minions met the Autobots in battle on Gorlam Prime, their beachhead for their eventual invasion of the universe, Optimus Prime's forces triumphed and most of the invaders were banished back to the Dead Universe. Spotlight: Sideswipe
Years later, Galvatron—one of the few architects of the Dead Universe invasion to escape this fate—stumbled across an anomalous mass of metal and frozen flesh in deep space. He and his followers brought the strange object on board, but soon realized that they'd accidentally loosed a horde of ravenous zombies. Infestation #1 Both the zombies and their undead leader Britt hailed from outside their universe: in her home timeline, she'd been corrupted into serving the dread Undermind in its pan-dimensional invasion, which spread to multiple divergent universes. Infestation #1 Once they'd crash-landed on Earth, Galvatron and his followers fought back, even recruiting some grudging Autobot assistance, The Transformers: Infestation #1 but Britt transformed into a living space bridge to send her horde back in time to devour pre-war Cybertron. However, Galvatron used Prowl's remote mind-link to instruct Kup to sabotage the space bridge and send the zombies to the Dead Universe, where the Undermind would have nothing to feed upon. The Transformers: Infestation #2 Once she returned to her native dimension, Britt threw off the Undermind's influence and banished it for good. Infestation #2
As part of a plan to change history, Brainstorm attempted to travel backwards in time in the hopes of changing Megatron's future and preventing the Great War entirely. However, his efforts created a dystopian alternate timeline in which the Functionist Council ruled Cybertron. The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue Using a quantum duplicate of his time case, the crew of the Lost Light managed to prevent Brainstorm from killing Megatron and permanently overwriting history with this new series of events. As a result of Perceptor's tampering with the time case's anti-paradox locks, however, the would-be "new history" branched off into its own separate timeline, the "Functionist Universe", and Perceptor speculated that the event might've given rise to an infinite set of branching histories. Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide
After communing with the Titan Metrotitan, Windblade had her consciousness hurled through the multiverse—glimpsing various alternate versions of herself along the way—before entering Microspace. Informed
Revenge of the Fallen
The Fallen told Megatron that he was assembling forces in other dimensions.Revenge of the Fallen: The Junior Novel
Animated
The destruction of Primax 207.0 Epsilon left a quantum vacuum that Primax 512.5 Gamma went on to occupy. Ask Vector Prime, The Complete AllSpark Almanac Tyran universes undergo a particularly high rate of divergence, perhaps due to the malign influence of The Fallen, whose evil spans multiple dimensions. Ask Vector Prime, The Complete AllSpark Almanac
A trans-dimensional Vector Prime observed some of the events in the Transformers Animated comic and identified that they took place in the same reality as the cartoon: universal stream Malgus 1207.26 Alpha. The AllSpark Almanac A time-traveller from the distant future named Natasha Pyraniac interfered with the timestream, and Vector Prime explained that as a result outside observers would notice minor changes in that universe's history. Multiple iterations of Sideways have been known to hop dimensions; Ask Vector Prime, The Complete AllSpark Almanac according to the unreliable testimony of one Sideways, he had previously visited this universe and escaped to the Tyran cluster by using a black hole. Ask Sideways, 8/7/2015
Venus was a trans-dimensional magazine, The AllSpark Almanac while ALTernity Today covered newsworthy events from across the multiverse. The AllSpark Almanac II Jim Sorenson and Bill Forster traveled from their home universal stream of Quadwal -3760.925 Theta where they wrote the AllSpark Almanac. The AllSpark Almanac
Unit:E
The world of the Transformers was just one universe in a multiverse of limitless possibilities. (Other possibilities included G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., Jem, and a couple other guys you might know.) The mysterious organization known as "Unit: E" operated in the "slipstream" beyond the spacetime continuum and used this vantage point to explore and protect different worlds. Unit:E
Hearts of Steel
Despite being trapped in a dimensional prison, the Elder Gods had the power to reach out to sensitive beings. Among them was Howard Lovecraft, who channeled the Elder Gods' call into horror prose. Despite the clandestine organization Oblivion succeeding at killing Lovecraft before his art could threaten to allow the Elder Gods into the universe, his stories spread into popular culture. This collective imagination, with the help of Artillica, let loose the Elder Gods. Free and unencumbered, they rampaged across one plane of existence along with infinite other ones throughout the multiverse. Infestation 2 #1 One Elder God invaded a universe in which the Transformers had awoken in the 19th century and forced the Autobots to reactivate Optimus Prime to meet the threat head-on. Infestation 2: The Transformers #1 Infestation 2: The Transformers #2
CVO ended the threat of the Elder Gods by using Artillica and the Relic to seal the tear in their reality. Infestation 2 #2 The X-Files: Conspiracy
Cloud
At the beginning of all time and space, the "Spacetime World" came into being in a massive explosion. Seeking a means of maintaining the integrity of the many fractal dimensions composing this multiverse that would come to be known as "Spacetimes," the Creator of Life made a universe, "Cloud World" full of machines designed to maintain the multiversal fabric, and dispatched to it an emissary named SARA to guide them. In time, the robots of Cloud World evolved into sapient super-robot lifeforms, complete with transformation abilities. The Transformers of the Cloud World cherished SARA and embraced the task the Creator asked of them using Dimension Gates created by SARA. In addition to their other duties they gathered surplus energy from a myriad of sources in different universes for SARA so that she might continue to maintain Cloud World's integrity. In time, these Transformers came to be known as the Spacetime Police. Unsurprisingly, the people of Cloud World regarded SARA as holy and their rulers saw that she was kept under strict guard. Prologue
Angry Birds Transformers
During a battle in space between the Autobots and Decepticons, the AllSpark briefly tumbled into a quantum tunnel into another universe populated by angry birds and mischievous pigs. Angry Birds Transformers #1 Eventually, however, the transformed "Autobirds" sent the AllSpark back through the tunnel from whence it had came, and accidentally sent one of the Minion Pigs to this alternate universe. Hard Boiled
Transformers vs. G.I. Joe
Trapped in the white-hot core of the Earth's Sun, Megatron tried to flee this dimension by tapping the power of his black hole heart to open a portal and escape into another reality to rebuild his strength. Megatron's body survived the trip, but not his spark: in another dimension, a group of confused ponies discovered his charred corpse. The War Never Ends
Portal
Go-Bots comic
After assuming leadership over the Go-Bots, Road Ranger announced that they would create a new race of Go-Bots, who would populate copies of their metal homeworld across the entire multiverse. Go-Bots #5
Mazinger Z versus Transformers
While observing different realities, group of mysterious hooded figures including Go Nagai opened dimensional gates and sent a group of Autobots and Decepticons to the world of Mazinger Z for their amusement. Mazinger Z versus Transformers
Cyberverse cartoon
The Quintessons were a trans-dimensional race of beings who used their multiverse drive technology to travel across infinity and assimilate beings native to that timeline into new Judges, who would pass judgement on individual universes. Realities that did not pass judgement were destroyed with vast quantities of lethal unspace, which collapsed realities from within. The End Of The Universe I The Quintesson Scientist developed a hobby of abducting different iterations of Soundwave from the many doomed realities he'd destroyed. The Scientist
After the Ark wound up stranded in unspace, the Autobots encountered multiple versions of themselves from other realities who had all met the same fate, including a crew of Autobots from a reality where Rack'n'Ruin led the Autobots. Wheeljack and his alternate-universe counterpart theorized that unspace must be the meeting place of the multiverse. The Crossroads
During the Quintesson invasion of Cybertron, Megatron and Dead End stole the multiverse drive and travelled to other realities. The Judge Their journey gave Megatron the ability to channel exotic energy, The End Of The Universe IV before he landed in a reality where he'd won the Great War and stole the Matrix of Leadership from his that universe's Megatron. Silent Strike Along with his Decepticon supersoldiers, that alternate Megatron crossed over to the primary universe to reclaim his Matrix only to be defeated and left paralyzed. Eager for vengeance on his old master, Astrotrain took the alternate Megatron within him and announced his intention to keep him trapped forever. The Other One After Megatron X perished, the remaining Decepticon supersoldiers invaded the dimension that they'd once imperiled, but eventually chose to lay down their arms after the death of their leader Tarn thanks to Soundwave's reprogramming giving them free will. The Perfect Decepticon
My Little Pony/Transformers
Rather than connecting two points in space, a malfunctioning spacebridge attempted to reach out across dimensions—when its energies somehow overlapped with Queen Chrysalis's magic, it wound up transporting multiple Autobots and Decepticons to the land of Equestria. Transformation Is Magic Later, Megatron and Shockwave refined the technology and used it to create a deliberate cross-dimensional bridge between the two universes. The Magic of Cybertron
War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon
In ancient times, Alpha Trion banished the arrogant Sky Lynx into the Dead Universe when he laid claim to the Matrix of Leadership. After passing through that same universe in the present day and crash-landing on Earth, Earthrise episode 5 the shipwrecked Autobots and Decepticons encountered the Maximals and Predacons: Cybertronains who had time-travelled back to Earth's past to prevent a dystopian future from ever coming to pass. Kingdom episode 1 The AllSpark made a projection of Elita One that passed through the Dead Universe and mentioned a "Dead Multiverse".Kingdom episode 4 Although the Maximals wondered if securing the AllSpark and changing history would consequentially erase them from the timeline, this was not the case, suggesting that this reality operates on a multiversal model of time travel. Kingdom episode 5
2019 IDW continuity
When Perceptor's experimental teleport harness malfunctioned, it wound up sending Jumpstream through unspace and stranded her on an alternate Cybertron where Exarchon had conquered the planet. Test Flight I Although both Perceptor and Jumpstream assumed that they'd somehow crossed over into an alternate timeline, Perceptor soon realized that Jumpstream had actually travelled through time, not space, and had glimpsed a possible future of their own universe. Lord of Misrule: Test Flight II
King Grimlock
In eons past, Optimus Prime visited the other-dimensional realm of Menonia and helped establish the Golden One as the land's new ruler. Many years later, when the Golden One had been corrupted by the power of his deity Soltron, the citizens of Valerift used energon to bring him back to their dimension. It didn't go as planned, however, and they wound up summoning Grimlock instead. Grimlock the Rebel
Legacy
Games
DreamMix TV World Fighters
To boost the ratings of the World Fighters TV show, Mujoe invited beings from several different worlds, including Optimus Prime and Megatron, to compete on the show. DreamMix TV World Fighters
Transformers Battle Universe
At the edge of time, the Matrix summoned warriors from multiple different realities to choose a new host. Transformers Battle Universe
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
In one universe, the Autobots battled to keep the malevolent Dark Spark, a trans-dimensional artifact of pure malice, out of Megatron's hands. The subsequent battle blasted the Dark Spark into another universe, where the bounty hunter Lockdown briefly seized it. However, that universe's Optimus Prime was able to keep Lockdown occupied long enough for Drift to remove the Dark Spark, and Prime subsequently used the Matrix to send the Dark Spark through time and space into yet another universe. Rise of the Dark Spark
Transformers: Earth Wars
Nova Prime attempted to wipe all timelines in the multiverse clean and start again in effort to prevent the war between the Autobots and Decepticons from ever happening. Vector Prime stepped in to stop Nova Prime from causing untold devastation to the fabric of all realities. Mayhem: Enemy of my Enemy
Transformers: Forged to Fight
A spatial warp field pulled Marissa Faireborn and the Autobots aboard the Ark crash-landed on an unknown planet in another universe, where they encountered multiple Autobots and Decepticons from another reality. Transformers: Forged to Fight
Transformers: Battlegrounds
Upon using an unstable spacebridge, Wheeljack warned them that the passage could strand them in unspace, a nexus point where multiple timelines collided, and excitedly theorized about the existence of other universes before Arcee reined him in. Transformers: Battlegrounds
Transformers Roleplaying Game
A freak accident pulled together many different worlds from across the multiverse into a single realm known as the Apex, which also merged Doctor Mindbender, Lord Zedd, and Shockwave into the monstrous Lord MindWaveZ. By constructing a Multidimensional Collider, Lord MindWaveZ sought to permanently fuse these worlds into a single realm to rule over, but a cross-dimensional alliance of Autobots, Power Rangers, and G.I. Joes destroyed the machine, collapsed the Apex, and ultimately saved the multiverse. Worlds Collide: Battle for the Multiverse
Notes
- When originally developing what would become the Aligned continuity family, Aaron Archer and Rik Alvarez suggested that it was entirely separate from the rest of the Transformers multiverse.[14] When asked about The Fallen and how his status as a multiversal singularity would relate to the new fiction, Hasbro replied "anything you know from past generations of the brand may or may not be factual in the new continuity".[15] Notably, its version of the Thirteen included characters like Alpha Trion and Optimus Prime, choices that were largely irreconcilable with the lore that Fun Publications had previously laid out. Eventually, however, this conceit would be quietly dropped: the profile cards for Aligned Slipstream's TFSS toy and the online comic "Timeless" involved the cast of TransTech glimpsing events from the Aligned universe. After multiple creative shakeups and a new direction for the Aligned continuity as a whole, the Complete AllSpark Almanac and Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter confirmed that Aligned took place in the "Uniend" universal cluster; that same year, any and all singularity-related discrepancies were later handwaved away via the introduction of the Shroud.
- 2011's Infestation crossover event featured Britt invading and corrupting four separate universes: Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Trek, and Ghostbusters. Just five years later, however, IDW's "Hasbro Universe" initiative retconned both Transformers and G.I. Joe together by revealing that they'd always taken place in the same reality, meaning that Britt attacked the same universe twice. Less than a year later, Revolutionaries #5 established that events identical to "Infestation 2" had also played out in the past of IDW's primary Transformers timeline—meaning that the Elder Gods simultaneously attacked two nigh-identical realities.
- A dropped plotline in More Than Meets the Eye would've featured the original Rewind travelling the multiverse, searching for a way to return to his original timeline. At some point, he would've jumped into the world of the Marvel UK comic in the midst of the "Target: 2006" storyline and encountered that reality's Omega Supreme.[16]
Foreign names
- Japanese: Tagen'uchū (多元宇宙), multiverse (マルチバース maruchibāsu), Multi-Verse of Eternity (無限の世界 Mugen no Sekai)[17]
References
- ↑ Super Cross pitch binder
- ↑ Transformers, a New Direction, Simon Furman's Transformers proposal printed in The Best of Simon Furman
- ↑ The Allspark Forums, 2nd January 2016
- ↑ "Universes collide! TRANSFORMERS: LEGACY brings together fan-favorite characters from across the TRANSFORMERS multiverse with figures featuring deco inspired by their universe."
- ↑ Ask Vector Prime, 5/21/2015
- ↑ "Withered Hope"
- ↑ "Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4"
- ↑ "Games of Deception"
- ↑ Balancing Act, Part 2
- ↑ Transformers: Deviations
- ↑ The Trial
- ↑ "LG-16 Slipstream Sequel"
- ↑ "Epilogue Two"
- ↑ AllSpark.com live transcript of Archer and Alvarez's 2011 BotCon panel
- ↑ Allspark.com Hasbro Q&A, Nov. 2010
- ↑ Transcription of 30 November 2018 James Roberts Q&A on Instagram
- ↑ World of the Transformers