I like the concept of a group of demigod Transformers. I just think the group could be pared down a little.
Transformers: Age of the Primes toyline discussion || update: stock renders of upcoming Alpha Trion, Micronus, Flatline, Fireflight, Skydive, ++
- Thread starter TriBlurr
- Start date
How do you pare down a group called "The Thirteen" so that they're still "The Thirteen"?
The 0.13
Twelve and a Half Demigods.
-ZacWilliam, wants there to be a word for "robot demigods" but our language is sadly lacking.
-ZacWilliam, wants there to be a word for "robot demigods" but our language is sadly lacking.
Me as well. I don't hate or even really strongly dislike the concept of the 13, it's just not something I'm into. That said, the toys have been great, so I've bought most of them so far. Luckily, even if you don't care at all about the pantheon of demigods aspect of them, most of them have something else to their story (Alchemist Prime, for example, I'm just using as Maccadam) or are easy to repurpose.
I'm indifferent tho the Thirteen unless they have some individual character. Most of them are total cyphers aside from their One Big Important Thing.
I also disagree with Optimus being one of them, but I wasn't gonna buy a Titan Star Convoy anyway.
I also disagree with Optimus being one of them, but I wasn't gonna buy a Titan Star Convoy anyway.
It helps that some of the Thirteen predate the canonization of the idea. Like Prima has always been a thing as the first Matrix bearer, so if you want him for that but don't want to go all-in on the Thirteen, that works.
Or if you think the Fallen from DW was sick, you can get him without going all in.
Alchemist as Maccadam is another. Same with Liege Maximo when he comes out. Vector and Alpha Trion too. Star Optimus is just a really cool Star Convoy update.
So if you wanted just new figures of these characters separate from the Thirteen as a concept, that works.
Or if you think the Fallen from DW was sick, you can get him without going all in.
Alchemist as Maccadam is another. Same with Liege Maximo when he comes out. Vector and Alpha Trion too. Star Optimus is just a really cool Star Convoy update.
So if you wanted just new figures of these characters separate from the Thirteen as a concept, that works.
Ideally, you name the group after a smaller number at conception.
Make Nexus Prime count as 5?
I really have had zero interest in the Thirteen but have not been critical / negative about the toys. I just don't care or have a frame of reference. However, I think that they look pretty cool, and by all accounts, they seem to represent what people want them to represent.
I've been enjoying this hobby of ours for a long time, and one of the secrets to longevity (at least for me), has been to simply cherry pick what I like and leave what I don't.
I've been enjoying this hobby of ours for a long time, and one of the secrets to longevity (at least for me), has been to simply cherry pick what I like and leave what I don't.
Not call them a number?
I mean, you could have a smaller group and call them ”The CoreSpark”, “Knights of Cybertron”, “Guardians of Primus”. Though, I’m not a fan of the apparent NEED by prior brand stewards to associate ANY and ALL conceivable aspects of a Transformer to an originator. I don’t feel there NEEDED to be a “first combiner”, “first beast”, “first micro” or “first multichanger”. I kind of view them all as natural (or maybe unnatural depending on how you lore the combiners or multichangers) extensions of a species that changes between forms.
I think that’s why overall response hasn’t been as…divisive…as new line directions typically garner. The toys were generally well done as “on their own”, but added to the lore if you wanted them to. And as remarked by others, most of the 13 come from prior sources so there isn’t as much an “onus” to fans to use them a particular way.
My headcannon is that “The Thirteenth” is a “bestowed” title. Either by popular vote, notable actions, or by selection by the Primes (or some combination thereof), the 13th Prime is basically a “generational” selection intended to prevent the others from getting too disconnected from Cybertron as a whole.
After the fall of the Primes, the 13th, by default, becomes the “last Prime”, and it becomes a passed on title of leadership/authority. I’ve also pilfered ideas from from Japanese Beast Wars, Cybertron and Animated with the idea of a singular “leader Prime”, but Prime also being a title of authority.
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As a general thought: if your hobby is making you mad; you're doing it wrong. It's supposed to be an entertaining, enjoyable release from other stressors, not a new stressor.
So, what ROTF did in calling them the Seven Primes instead.
Behold, the "Covenant"!Not call them a number?
I mean, you could have a smaller group and call them ”The CoreSpark”, “Knights of Cybertron”, “Guardians of Primus”.
They were OG "Primus's special group of first original creations made to carry out his Grand Plan", and arguably did it better.
They were featured in just one storyline that spanned only two years, only two of them got real character focus to leave the group still feeling most mysterious and mythical, they spent the first year building up to the conclusion to that storyline that was to come in the second year, showed up to do their thing in said conclusion, got some of their number killed in the process to help illustrate the dire severity of the situation, had the rest of their number go out in a blaze of glory that ultimately led to the final triumph of good defeating evil, and then never appeared again after that, fading into the realms of forgotten myth, leaving their whole 2-year ordeal feeling epic, cosmic, and (arguably the most important for a group like this) legendary.
I think the word your looking for is "Forgotten and obscure." Seeing as how even their Creator, the God of "rehashing his own ideas into infinity" never bothers to use them again either.
Because their story was done and told, and then he recycled their concept into the Thirteen just a few years later, which Hasbro then took and ran with hoping to make them mainstream, leaving the Covenant out in the cold.
I was just going to mention the Covenant of Primus. They were the "Prototypes" for The Thirteen both in Reality and in Fiction. And there are 12 of them (because they are based on the western Zodiac). I get why Furman wanted to take another swing at the same concept because they were clearly based on something as Earth Centric as the Zodiac and were Earth Animal based they didn't make a lot of sense to fill the role for the greater franchise outside that Botcon story.
The Thirteen are the Covenant reskinned to make more sense on ancient Cybertron. I think they're also probably the reason why there are Thirteen. The covenant had Twelve and then Furman created the Fallen to be a lost member whose name was wiped from history, bringing the total of the new group to 13. Which is also a cool sounding spooky number.
-ZacWilliam, to be a counter voice I like the 13 as a concept because I love Fantasy literature and Mythology and they're right up my alley.
The Thirteen are the Covenant reskinned to make more sense on ancient Cybertron. I think they're also probably the reason why there are Thirteen. The covenant had Twelve and then Furman created the Fallen to be a lost member whose name was wiped from history, bringing the total of the new group to 13. Which is also a cool sounding spooky number.
-ZacWilliam, to be a counter voice I like the 13 as a concept because I love Fantasy literature and Mythology and they're right up my alley.
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Do you even internet, bro?
Not properly, and frankly worth it once my ulcer healed.
No! I'm almost enjoying my anger.
