Unicron

The Primus/Unicron backstory has evolved and been rewritten a number of times since it originated in the Marvel Comics series. The version recounted above is the current iteration, which has slowly solidified across a wide swath of media (beginning around the time of Transformers: Armada). Before the Primus/Unicron mythos reached its present form, it went through several distinct versions in the Marvel Generation 1 comics and elsewhere.

The first origin given for Unicron was given in Season 3 of The Transformers cartoon, years before Simon Furman came up with Primus. In the cartoon, Unicron was created by Primacron, an ancient mad scientist of similar size and shape to a monkey, who built him to wipe the universe clean of life for him. Unicron rebelled against his creator and destroyed his assistant, but its essence survived, taking the form of the Matrix of Leadership. Its essence repelled Unicron, and he left to devour countless worlds elsewhere in the galaxy until he encountered the real Matrix during The Transformers: The Movie.

The first time the Primus/Unicron backstory appears is in the UK comic continuity, in the story "The Legacy of Unicron!", when Unicron recounts it to Death's Head. Per Unicron's telling of events, he was a primal force of evil at the dawn of the universe, who led a legion of Dark Gods against his mortal foe, Primus, Lord of the Light Gods. Events proceed to play out basically as described above, though the role of the Light and Dark Gods diminishes with each subsequent retelling of the story, until the current version, in which Primus and Unicron are alone, and have a unique origin.

The story is told a second time in the United States book by the Keeper, an ancient mechanoid who guarded Primus' head at the center of Cybertron. This telling is effectively the same as the UK story but mentions that the battle of Primus and Unicron was towards the end of the era of gods, that Primus and Unicron were the last of their respective pantheons, and Primus has to defeat Unicron before he can take his place with the other gods in the "Omniversal Matrix".

The story is told a third time in the United States Marvel series by Primus when he gathers all his children together to prepare for Unicron's coming. In this telling, Unicron predates the current universe and destroyed the previous universe. He slept peacefully, alone in the void of un-creation that remained, until fragments of the old universe that he had overlooked reacted, causing the Big Bang and birthing the current universe. The "sentient core" of this new universe recognizes the threat that Unicron poses, and so creates Primus to counter his evil and be the guardian of the new creation.

The first modern retelling of the origins of Primus and Unicron comes from a set of Transformers: Armada trading cards released by Fleer. The backstory printed on Unicron's card introduces the concept of two brothers created to explore the new universe by an extra-dimensional entity named the "Allspark".

This is subsequently expanded on and combined with aspects of the various Marvel Comics stories in Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, published by Dorling Kindersley and written by Simon Furman, who had written all three prior tellings. Here, the entity Fleer had called the "Allspark" is redubbed "The One", and the modern iteration of the myth detailed above is firmly established and forms the backbone of subsequent fiction such as Transformers: Universe and Fun Publications' Transformers: Cybertron comics.

Although many of the official television and comic appearances of Unicron appear to present separate and distinct incarnations of the character, some writers have presented an interpretation of the sources that tie all the versions of Unicron together into a single continuity. Likewise, Primus is a "multiversal singularity", but while Unicron is limited in this ability, and can only exist in one reality at a time, traveling between them, Primus co-exists in all realities simultaneously.

This concept began with the release of a series of Transformers: Armada trading cards by Fleer. The biography printed on Unicron's card presents him as one of two heralds created by the Allspark to explore the newly birthed universe. Inspired by his Marvel Comics origin, the other herald is Primus, and the brothers set about this task until they come upon a region of space teeming with pure Energon. Unicron wants the power for himself and cuts Primus down before he can report it to the Allspark, casting his brother's body into the orbit of a nearby star. Unicron goes on to become the engine of destruction that menaces the universe.

The publication of Transformers: The Ultimate Guide by Dorling Kindersley cemented this notion. Writer Simon Furman incorporated the various aspects of the Dreamwave comics story, some elements of the Fleer storyline, and his original Marvel Comics origin to create what is now essentially the "definitive" origin for Unicron. In this version of events, Unicron and Primus are again twin heralds, giant metal planetoids created by the "One", who is sent to explore the universe. Unicron is an imperfect being and turns to evil, adapting his form to transform into a giant robot. To battle him, The One gives Primus this power as well, but Primus opts to remain in planet mode. He passes the transforming abilities on to thirteen robots he creates, the first Transformers. One of the thirteen turns on Primus and sides with Unicron, and the war culminates in a battle that sees Unicron and this traitor, the "Fallen", sucked through a black hole into another universe.

This new origin is part of the G1 timeline laid down by the Ultimate Guide, which is apparently being taken as the "official" G1 timeline for future projects that require it. This means there is only one Unicron who travels from universe to universe across all the assorted Transformers continuities. This interpretation of the character is evidenced by the parallel universe-spanning Transformers: Universe toyline and convention-exclusive comic books — in which the singular Unicron captured Transformers from various alternate realities and pitted them against each other, feeding off the energies released — and the Transformers: Cybertron comic strip in the Transformers Collectors' Club fan magazine, which depicts Unicron's actions in the various realities in chronological order and claims that Cybertron is the stable heart of the Multiverse.

The character Unicron first appears in the opening scene of 1986's The Transformers: The Movie, immediately making clear his goal by consuming the small world of Lithone. Subsequently, when the Decepticons Megatron, Skywarp, Thundercracker, and the Insecticons are set adrift in space and left to die following a furious battle with the Autobots, Unicron appears before them and offers Megatron a deal: in exchange for a new body, and new troops, Megatron will destroy the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, the only thing that can stand in Unicron's way. Thus, Unicron rebuilds Megatron into a new and more powerful body and rechristens him to Galvatron. He then uses the battered bodies of the other Decepticons and creates Scourge, the "tracker", from Thundercracker and his "huntsmen", the Sweeps, from Kickback and Shrapnel. Cyclonus, the "warrior" is then created, from either Bombshell or Skywarp (an animation error makes it unclear). Unicron also gives Galvatron a vessel, and Galvatron begins to carry out his assigned task, although he is loath to do so. When Galvatron shows any signs of opposition to Unicron's will, Unicron inflicts agonizing torture in his mind to coerce him into obedience.

Following Unicron's consumption of Cybertron's two moons, Galvatron obtains the Matrix from Ultra Magnus, believing he can use it to bring Unicron under his control. Attempting to open the Matrix to intimidate Unicron, Galvatron only prompts his transformation into robot mode and is swallowed by the planet-eater. Unicron lays waste to Cybertron, halted briefly when the young Autobot rookie, Hot Rod, crashes a Quintesson spacecraft through his eye. Finding Hot Rod inside Unicron's body, Galvatron suggests an alliance against their common enemy. However, Unicron inflicts his mental torture upon Galvatron, forcing him to fight Hot Rod. Hot Rod seizes the Matrix from Galvatron during the fight and becomes Rodimus Prime. Rodimus throws Galvatron into space, freeing him from Unicron's mind-control. Rodimus opens the Matrix within Unicron, destroying his body, leaving only his head, which becomes a moon of Cybertron.[9] As Unicron's head drifts around in space the movie ends, with the credits shown in a background of his head floating in space.

Unicron was voiced by Orson Welles.[10] Unicron proved to be Welles's final role, as he died a few days after completing his work on the project; rumors persist that Welles did not make a complete recording of all his lines and that Leonard Nimoy filled in for him, but the film's voice director Wally Burr and actress Susan Blu refute the claim. There were two early attempts to produce Unicron toys for the Transformers toyline, featuring voice clips from Welles himself, but the results never made it to production. It was not until 2003 that a production Unicron toy was made. For the 20th anniversary of the original movie, Diamond Select released an eight and a half-inch tall statue of Unicron and Rodimus Prime.

The third season of The Transformers animated series continues Unicron's story where the movie left off, as the planet-eater's deactivated head settles into orbit around Cybertron. His head is visited by Cyclonus, who accesses the memory bank to discern the fate of Galvatron. Later, the ghost of the deceased Decepticon Starscream reactivates Unicron's head and enters into a bargain with him, performing three labors in exchange for the restoration of his body. Starscream (inhabiting and controlling Scourge's body) gathers for Unicron Metroplex's eyes (breaking one and replacing it with one from Trypticon) and Trypticon's transformation cog. He begins to connect his head to Cybertron, which would become Unicron's new body. Starscream demands that Unicron restore his own body so that he can complete the required connections. Once Unicron does so, Starscream double-crosses him and refuses to finish the job. Unicron's head is subsequently blown off into space by an explosion instigated by the Autobots.

Later, when searching for a new supply of positrons (anti-electrons), the Decepticons venture to Unicron's head, where Cyclonus and Scourge accidentally awake the slumbering demi-god. At the same time, Grimlock constructs from pieces of Unicron's head the Technobots, and one of their number, Strafe, severs enough of Unicron's neural connections to shut him back down.

Although Unicron himself does not appear again, his origin in the animated series is later revealed. Unicron was created near the beginning of the universe by the diminutive genius known as Primacron, who intended for him to devour all life in the universe, leaving a blank slate that Primacron could use as he saw fit. However, Unicron turned upon Primacron, deciding that he would rule the universe and subsequently set out to achieve that goal.

Unicron's head is seen one last time as Primacron's new creation cripples Cybertron. This time the head looks very old and almost stone-like, underlining that Unicron is finally dead.

When the Generation 2 animated series aired, animated bits of the film with Unicron in it was edited into the episode "More Than Meets The Eye Part 1".

Although the real Unicron did not make any appearances in 1996's CGI animated series, Beast Wars, he is mentioned. Starscream's ghost spins a lie that Unicron had destroyed him (Unicron's planet mode is seen in Starscream's fabricated flashback), and when the mysterious alien race known as the Vok directly communicates with Maximal leader Optimus Primal, they search his mind for an image that he would fear and respect, find Unicron, and take the form of his head. Later, in Season 3 of Beast Wars, Tarantulas attempts to destroy both Autobots and Decepticons in the Ark, as he and the Tripredacus Council are descended from a different lineage than Autobot or Decepticon, and would hence inherit Cybertron all to themselves. Although never directly stated, it is implied that the ancestor of Tarantulas and the council is Unicron; Megatron refers to Tarantulas as "Unicron's spawn" in the Beast Wars episode "Nemesis Part 1".

In Episode 16 of Beast Machines, Rattrap calls Megatron's floating head a tribute to Unicron.

Conversely, Unicron played a large role in the two Japanese-exclusive animated Beast Wars series, Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo. Following the events of The Transformers: The Movie and Unicron's demise, the Angolmois Energy that gave Unicron life are left sealed within planet Gaia (a future version of Earth). When the war on this planet between the forces of Maximal leader Lio Convoy and Predacon leader Galvatron (a different individual bearing the same name as Unicron's original creation) culminates in the explosion of Galvatron's Nemesis battle fortress, the resultant energy surge revives Unicron's consciousness. Seeking to complete his resurrection, he creates the Blentrons to gather the Angolmois Capsules his life-energy is sealed in and then proceeds to possess the lifeless body of Galvatron as a temporary host. After gathering the capsules, Unicron attempts to make Cybertron his new body but is defeated by Maximal commander Big Convoy.

As with his original incarnation, there was a failed attempt to make Unicron into a toy for the Beast Wars Neo line, and although regarded as quite impressive, the prototype - which, notably, does not resemble Unicron from the associated series at all - did not make it to production.

Although Unicron plays a major role in the above-mentioned Japanese series, he had not been featured as a major player in American fiction for over a decade. The advent of the three co-produced series Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon and Transformers: Cybertron reintroduced Unicron to American audiences and finally rendered him in toy form, with the Mini-Con partner Dead End. In reference to Unicron's key role in these three series, Hasbro's head of Transformers, Aaron Archer, has collectively dubbed them "The Unicron Trilogy".

This incarnation of Unicron is not shown to physically consume planets in the same manner as his G1 predecessor, only to blast them apart and absorb the remains. During his battle with Optimus Supreme, who has grown to Unicron's size, Unicron demonstrates that he has enough power to simply destroy a planet completely without consuming it, but several references are made to consumption, so he may indeed perform the action. In one of the mini-comic books packed in with the later Armada toys, Unicron is illustrated literally eating an asteroid or moon whole. This Unicron was voiced by Mark Acheson in the U.S., and by Katsumi Chō in Japan.

A primal force of evil from the beginning of time, his origins lost to history, the Armada universe's incarnation of Unicron is the embodiment of the darkness and hate in the hearts of all beings. Defeated by the Autobot warrior Omega Supreme at some time in the ancient past of Cybertron, Unicron hides in plain sight of the Transformers, disguised as the planet's moon. In order to re-energize himself, Unicron implants some of his own cells within Cybertron, where they grow and "hatch", giving birth to the diminutive race of robots called the Mini-Cons. Unicron intends them to increase the ferocity of the Autobot/Decepticon war, allowing Unicron to feed off the hatred. As a result of interference by human children, displaced in time from the 21st century, the Mini-Cons develop sentience and flee Cybertron, crashing on Earth where they lay dormant for a million years.

The subsequent awakening of the Mini-Cons increases the pace of the war, and to hasten the proceeding, Unicron creates another being from his own body, Sideways. Sideways serves as Unicron's agent to manipulate the events on Earth to keep the balance of power shifting and the ferocity of both sides increasing. At the culmination of his plan, the Decepticons come into possession of all three Mini-Con weapons - the Star Saber, the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster - which Sideways and Thrust steal and use to reactivate Unicron.

Unicron transforms to robot mode and turns on Cybertron as the combined Autobot/Decepticon armada attempt in vain to stop him. Optimus Prime and Megatron (now Galvatron) enter his body with the human children, and Unicron addresses them through Sideways's form. He absorbs all but Optimus into his collective consciousness and brings the Mini-Cons back under his control. However, from within Unicron's mind, Rad is able to use his connection to High Wire to restore the Mini-Cons' individual minds, freeing the weapons and deactivating Unicron. With the danger apparently over, Galvatron challenges Prime to a final battle, but the hatred between the foes stirs Unicron to life again, and upon realizing this, Galvatron decides to sacrifice himself to ensure there will be no more hatred. Plunging into Unicron's maw and allowing Optimus to escape alive, Galvatron ends the hatred. In a mighty flash, Unicron vanishes without a trace, although at the end of the series he is shown orbiting an unknown planet.

Unicron's body is inactive and badly damaged from his previous battle. Ten years after Galvatron's sacrifice a former victim of Unicron chooses to strike. Within Unicron's shell, the Spark of Alpha Q, ruler of Planet Q, which Unicron had consumed in the past, still exists. From Unicron's body, he creates the Terrorcons to gather Energon, which he intends to use to regenerate all the worlds Unicron devoured. However, Megatron's corpse and Spark remain within Unicron, and slowly siphon off some of the gathered Energon, allowing him to be reborn in a new body through the unintentional actions of Scorponok. Hunted by Megatron, Alpha-Q then jettisons Unicron's head and escapes in it. Megatron takes over Unicron's body and continues to gather Energon in order to rebuild Unicron to use as a weapon. A joint attack by Alpha-Q, the Autobots, and their human allies see all of Earth's Energon channeled into Unicron's head, which Alpha-Q then rams into Unicron's body. The positively charged Energon of Earth reacts with the negatively charged Energon running through Unicron. It tears open a fissure in reality leading to a new area of space where planets Unicron consumed are recreated and sustained through the Energon radiated from Unicron's head, which is now a glowing red sun.

Unicron's body, damaged once more, lies in the dark reaches near the fissure. The Decepticons raid Alpha-Q's new planets for the Energon necessary to revive Unicron again. Megatron directs Unicron's body to retrieve his head, extinguishing the Energon Sun and killing Alpha-Q in the process. Unicron begins to take over Megatron's body. Unicron's body is destroyed in battle by Optimus Supreme with the help of some of the other Autobots. Unbeknownst to anyone, Unicron lives on in two forms: his minuscule Spark, and his consciousness, which lies buried in Megatron's mind. With subconscious nudgings, Unicron leads Megatron to a large reservoir of "Super Energon" beneath Cybertron's surface, which transforms him into Galvatron. After a series of failed battles, Galvatron exposes himself to the Super Energon once again and grows to a gigantic height. Unicron seizes control of his body as a new vessel and sets out to rejoin with his Spark, but a Primus-empowered Optimus Supreme engages him in battle again, and draws all of Unicron's consciousness out of Galvatron and seals it within his own Spark. Enraged, Galvatron prepares to destroy Unicron's Spark, but it merges with him, enlarging him again. He battles again with Optimus Supreme, this time bolstered by the combined energy of all his troops' Sparks. Meanwhile, Primus merges with the Super Energon, creating a fledgling sun that arrives at the site of the battle. Taking control of his body for a brief moment, Galvatron sacrifices himself to stop Unicron, plunging into the infant sun, which ignites and gives new life to Alpha-Q's worlds.

With Unicron's destruction in Energon, the collapse of his body results in the creation of an enormous black hole which, if left unchecked, will consume and destroy everything. The Autobots must find the Omega Lock and the Cyber Planet Keys to save Cybertron and the universe. Later, the Cybertron Transformers learn from Primus that destroying Unicron results in an imbalance between good (Primus, who still exists) and evil (Unicron, who is gone); this imbalance factored into the creation of the black hole, known as the Unicron Singularity in American fiction or the Grand Black Hole in Japan. His scattered pieces are absorbed by Megatron giving Megatron dark powers and causing him to look like Unicron.

The Japanese equivalent, Galaxy Force, makes several scattered references to Unicron, as the Japanese producers for the series decided not to have Galaxy Force follow the events of Micron Legend (the Japanese equivalent of Armada) and Super Link (the Japanese equivalent of Energon).

The Unicron toy in the Cybertron series is the size of a deluxe class Transformer toy and transforms into a Cybertronian tank instead of a planet. This portrayal of Unicron is consistent with his appearance in the Cybertron strip in the Hasbro Club Collector's comic where he is portrayed at around the same size as his foes Sentinel Maximus and Omega Prime.

In the Transformers: Prime storyline, Unicron (voiced by John Noble) is the source of Dark Energon, a poisonous and corruptive form of Energon with the ability to revive the dead - albeit in a mindless, zombie-like "Terrorcon" state - also known by the name "the blood of Unicron". Unicron is believed to represent the Anti-Spark (most likely a counterpart of the Allspark).[11] As Optimus Prime relates, Primus and the original Thirteen Primes defeated Unicron and sent his body beyond Cybertron's orbit. As the Chaos Bringer drifted through space, he attracted space debris around himself that coalesced into Planet Earth, rich with Dark Energon. The gravitational pull of an astrological alignment awakens Unicron from his slumber, as Earth's weather patterns go out of control. Having transcended physical form, Unicron berates Megatron for thinking of being his servant.

Sensing Optimus Prime and the Matrix of Leadership, Unicron resolves to finish the Autobot leader himself. He creates golem incarnations of himself to kill the Autobot. Though Optimus Prime pleas for the humans who evolved on Earth, Unicron dismisses them as parasites with the intent to slaughter them, once he finishes off Optimus Prime. The Autobots come to Optimus Prime's aid, with Megatron destroying the last golem, refusing to allow anyone else to kill Optimus Prime. He sides with the Autobots and guides them to the Earth's core to stop Unicron before he completely awakens. Despite using his anti-bodies and possessing Megatron's body to hinder him and the other Autobots, Optimus Prime uses the Matrix of Leadership to deactivate Unicron without destroying the Earth, though he loses his memory of being a Prime until the Autobots restore it.[12]

The awakening of Unicron from within the Earth draws the attention of Lio Convoy in another dimension. Traveling across realities, he arrives to find that the Autobots and Decepticons have already defeated Unicron but elects to remain for a time to safeguard against his potential return. Using his ancient sword and the power of his Energon Matrix, Lio Convoy carves up the remains of one of Unicron's rock-and-stone avatars to create the Gaia Armor, severing its link to Unicron but allowing it to retain the power of Dark Energon.

Unicron returns in the series finale movie Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising. When Optimus Prime restores the spirit of Primus, Unicron senses it and reawakens, this time in energy form. He confronts Megatron, saying that because of the Dark Energon within him, Megatron cannot become one with the Allspark. Therefore, he will become Unicron's vessel, and serve him in order to destroy Cybertron. Unicron brings Megatron back to life and upgrades his form, using it to travel through hyperspace toward Cybertron. Upon arriving, he confronts Bumblebee, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Smokescreen, nearly killing them using his Dark Energon weapons. Megatron starts to question Unicron's motives of destroying Cybertron, but Unicron psychically tortures him to keep him at bay. After their escape, Unicron comes across Predaking, who, upon recognizing Megatron's body, viciously attacks Unicron in beast mode. Unicron proves to be stronger than Predaking and knocks him unconscious. He reads his mind, finding that Predacon remains will make a perfect legion for his destruction of Cybertron and Primus.

Unicron proceeds to a Predacon boneyard, defeating Predacons Skylynx and Darksteel in battle and bringing hundreds of deceased Predacons back to life as Terrorcons. He leads his new army to Cybertron's Well of All Sparks and engages the Autobots, Decepticons, and Predacons in battle. He confronts Optimus Prime when he senses the Allspark. He fights him on even terms until he strikes Optimus down when Optimus makes a grab for the Allspark's container as Bumblebee holds Unicron down. Escaping Bumblebee, Unicron flies after Optimus, defeating him before opening the container. He realizes too late that it is a trick, and his Anti-Spark is sucked into the container, freeing Megatron from his control and defeating Unicron. His legions of undead Predacons are destroyed. It turns out that Optimus had stored the Allspark in the Matrix of Leadership and would soon take the Matrix into the Well, sacrificing himself to ensure the return of Cybertronian life. Now understanding oppression, Megatron relinquishes his hatred and his lust for conquest, leaving for parts unknown to start anew.

Unicron reappears in the sequel series, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, set five years after the events of Predacons Rising. Although the majority of Unicron's Anti-Spark was safely imprisoned in the Allspark container, a remnant of the Anti-Spark still exists with Unicron's original body at the Earth's core. When The Megatronus is freed and brought to Earth, he uses a spark-merging staff to extract the remnant from beneath the Earth, intending to merge the Anti-Spark and the Allspark together to destroy both Earth and Cybertron. When the staff is broken before it can fully draw in the Allspark, the Anti-Spark remnant returns to the Earth's core.

In the Transformers: Rescue Bots (set in the same continuity as Prime) episode "Christmas in July", Heatwave tells Boulder that his throwing skills are insufficient to hit the backside of Unicron. Optimus Prime later references Unicron when the Burns discover a prehistoric island underneath Griffin Rock, telling them "there are many things beneath the Earth's surface humans are not aware of".

In the Marvel Comics Transformers comics, Unicron is a fallen god from before the universe existed who seeks the ultimate peace granted by the destruction of all life. Unicron accomplishes this, wiping out everything in the universe and leaving only nothingness and void. His lust for destruction sated, Unicron enters a deep sleep, but he had not been thorough enough. Tiny fragments of the old universe react with each other, and a new universe is born. As Unicron sleeps, the core of this new universe - somehow a sentient being - becomes aware of Unicron's threat and creates a defender to battle his evil - Primus, the lord of light. Unicron awakes to find himself surrounded by another universe, and begins to destroy it again.

He and Primus clash many times, the force of their battles wiping out the very life Primus had been created to protect. To stop the destruction, Primus shifts the battle to the astral plane. In shifting the battle back to the physical universe without time to properly generate their energy forms, Primus entraps both himself and Unicron in two barren asteroids. Over the eons, Unicron learns to psionically shape his asteroid, and transforms it into a metallic planet, and then into a gargantuan robot. Primus, fearing that the following suit by forming himself in a similar manner will simply pick up the conflict where it had left off, seeks an alternative way to defend the universe against the threat of Unicron by turning his asteroid into Cybertron. He populates it with robotic beings that, like Unicron, can alter their forms, giving rise to the transformers.

Unicron's slightly convoluted comic tenure began in the United Kingdom's exclusive Transformers comic series, which splices its own stories with reprinted American material. Writer Simon Furman worked elements of the movie into his stories, creating a future universe based on the movie's events, but different from the cartoon. In the first use of this timeline, in the mega-serial, Target: 2006, Galvatron travels back in time in an attempt to escape the control of Unicron. Unicron is able to ensnare the minds of three Autobots - Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr - and sends them back in time after him to foil his plot. Though Unicron's role in the story itself was minor, it offered the first glimpse of his greater mental power.

In the UK comics' version of post-movie events, Unicron's head does not enter Cybertron's orbit and instead crashlands on the Planet of Junk. Still active, Unicron uses his mental powers to enslave the minds of the Junkion natives, who set about rebuilding his body. Cyclonus, Scourge, and the freelance peacekeeping agent, Death's Head, fall prey to him. He uses them to exacerbate the stalemated war on Cybertron to keep the Autobots busy so that they will not learn of his impending resurrection. When Death's Head fights back against Unicron's mental control, Unicron rewards his temerity by revealing the comic book version of his origin. Death's Head then aids Rodimus Prime, projecting his mind into Unicron's where they battle, until Unicron's head is destroyed by explosives, and his essence sealed within the Matrix. Rodimus and several other future Autobots subsequently travel back in time to 1989 and participate in the "Time Wars". When they attempt to return to their own time afterward, they discover that disruptions to the timestream have erased their future, and replaced it with one where the Decepticons rule Cybertron. In this future, Unicron's essence emerges from the Matrix and briefly takes over Rodimus Prime, before he is thwarted by the removal of the Matrix from Rodimus's body. In 2010, however, Unicron attempted this again and succeeded, controlling Rodimus's body and reshaping it into his own image, before being defeated by Rodimus's own force of will.

In 1987, Simon Furman began writing the U.S. Transformers series in addition to the UK comics and set in motion an epic Unicron-themed story. Unicron makes his presence known to the Transformers much earlier than 2005.

A battle between the Autobot Classic Pretenders and the Decepticons' Mayhem Attack Squad at the center of Cybertron has the side effect of waking the slumbering Primus, who is struck by a stray laser blast and awakes with a scream. Although he immediately sinks back into slumber, his scream echoes throughout the universe and Unicron hears it. Now aware of his enemy's location, Unicron heads towards Cybertron, but, seeking a herald to sow chaos in his name ahead of his coming, uses his formidable powers to send three agents - Hook, Line and Sinker, forward in time to an alternate future version of 2009. In this timeline, Unicron succeeds in consuming Cybertron in the year 2005, and Galvatron and the Decepticons rule Earth. This timeline's version of Galvatron is pulled back to 1990 by Hook, Line and Sinker and press-ganged into Unicron's service, but, like his predecessors, turns on his master by forcing Emirate Xaaron to awaken Primus in hopes of destroying Unicron. Primus possesses Xaaron and attempts to hold off Unicron, but he is weak, and his attack a ruse, leading to his own destruction. This, along with a direct attack by Galvatron, succeeds in galvanizing the Autobots and Decepticons to attack Unicron together. They do little damage and many Transformers die before Optimus Prime is able to use the Matrix to destroy Unicron, exploding his body from within.

Unicron, as seen in the Dorling Kindersley Ultimate Guide

In contrast to his major roles in the Marvel comics, the cancellation of the Dreamwave Transformers comics meant that Unicron would play a much lesser role in events. His presence is first hinted at in the second "War Within" arc, where the Fallen enlist the Chaos Trinity (Bludgeon, Bugly, and Mindwipe) to capture a number of Transformers (Grimlock, Blitzwing, Jetfire, and Hot Spot) for an arcane ritual to summon the Fallen's Master. It fails, due to a combined strike by Prowl's Autobots and Shockwave's Decepticons, with the Fallen being killed by Primus.

He makes his first mainstream appearance in volume 3, issue 1 of the main Generation One series, seemingly summoned by Shockwave at the end of the previous volume. He dispatches Scourge at the head of a huge armada of Sweeps to search the galaxy for Cybertron. Scourge locates it, but is shot in the back and deactivated by Shockwave, who used analysis of his body to create the Triple Changers. Unicron destroys Lithone, before beginning to journey to Earth. Dreamwave went bankrupt and the next issue was never released. Writer Chris Sarracini has indicated that he would have followed through on the Unicron storyline, and also would have had the Dreamwave version of Cyclonus rescue Scourge from US government study.

Although Dreamwave Productions' Unicron Trilogy comics were cut short halfway through their Transformers: Energon series, they establish an important piece of information that is used to shape Unicron's story in future fiction. This version of Unicron does not merely consume worlds and seek the destruction of the singular universe, but moves from universe to universe, destroying entire realities until all of causality and existence is obliterated.

His coming in the Armada comic universe is foreshadowed when he pulls Optimus Prime into a parallel dimension where Cybertron is devastated. Unicron sends the nearly dead Optimus Prime of the parallel universe to the main universe, who warns them of Unicron's coming before dying. Subsequently, Unicron sends his Heralds - alternates of the Generation 1 versions of Galvatron, Scourge, Thunderwing, Dirge, and Bludgeon - ahead to destroy those who can oppose him (including Megatron) and capture the Mini-Con Matrix.

Galvatron is killed by Megatron using the Star Saber, and the other Heralds are destroyed in their captured Decepticon base by an explosion engineered by Jetfire. Unaware of his Heralds' failure, Unicron now threatens to destroy Prime, but the Mini-Cons and Jetfire manage to rescue Prime, with the power of the Mini-Con Matrix upgrading them and combining them into their Powerlink mode. They hold off Unicron long enough to escape back to their universe. Unicron comes to the Armada universe himself, where he is attacked by a combined force of Autobots and Decepticons. They distract him long enough for the Mini-Cons to access the power of the Mini-Con Matrix and destroy the Chaos-Bringer.

Unicron survives but is crippled and no longer has the power to transform or even move. He is forced to employ servants to do his own bidding: Alpha Q and the Terrorcons, who are disgruntled former Decepticons upgraded by Unicron in return for harvesting enough Energon to repower him. While they attack Earth, a rich source of Energon, Unicron sends his four Horsemen - Rhinox, Airazor, Terrorsaur and Cheetor, absorbed by Unicron in the previous battle - against Cybertron, devastating much of it before Optimus Prime stops them. Many of the latter Energon stories are set inside Unicron himself as Megatron, whose Spark also survived the previous battle, attempts to convince Prime to resurrect him in a new body, with the planet eater seemingly unaware of their actions.

Alpha Q shows signs of rebelling against Unicron, and Prime prepares to fight back from inside Unicron. The series was canceled before these plot threads could come to fruition. Writer Simon Furman revealed that a future storyline of the Energon comic would have included another attack by Unicron.

Unicron made a cameo appearance in the second G.I. Joe vs the Transformers crossover produced by Devil's Due. At the end of the arc, Cobra operative Doctor Mindbender meets with the cult Cobra-La and discovers their alliance with Unicron. One of Optimus Prime's visions of the future shows Mindbender and Unicron as a coming threat, a prophecy that comes to pass in the fourth crossover "Black Horizon".

Apparently banished from his world thousands of years ago, Unicron travels the galaxy, devouring planets to quench his hunger and taking their populations as slaves to maintain his inner body works. He runs into trouble when attacking Earth. A strange set of non-human creatures oppose Unicron, threatening to attack him with a metal-devouring organic spore. Before the two sides can annihilate each other, they reach an agreement favoring both parties. The creatures will go into hiding, allowing humanity to develop. When they reach a sufficient technological level to serve as slaves for Unicron's inner workings, they will call Unicron. He will destroy humanity and they will inherit the human-free world he leaves behind. Thousands of years later the pact is kept and the creatures, now calling themselves Cobra-La, summon Unicron via a beacon. After attacking a pirate vessel on the outskirts of a solar system, Unicron journeys to Earth. Hailed as the "Doom Star" by terrified humans, Unicron transforms to robot mode and prepares to destroy humanity. He is thwarted when Cosmos and Flint travel through his mouth into his body bearing the metal-eating spores of Cobra-La. Despite the best efforts of his "anti-bodies" (the Beastformers), they deliver the spores directly to his brain. He is last seen entering convulsions, indicating he is no longer a threat. It is later mentioned his body is floating around Earth.

In this continuity, Unicron is thought of as the Transformers' equivalent of the "boogeyman". The revelation that Unicron had been banished from his home planet indicates a different origin from ones used for previous incarnations of Unicron.

The storyline for the Botcon fan convention from 1998 to 2000 featured Unicron's life force ending up on prehistoric Earth following the destruction of his body in Transformers: The Movie. It is eventually found by a lowly Predacon known as the Hunter, who fashions a container for it that he dubs the Decepticon Matrix of Conquest. Taking the name Shokaract, this villain seems to become one with Unicron himself, with the pair of them laying waste to Shokaract's Cybertron and the rest of the universe. However, the instability of the timestream means that Unicron's lifeforce, also known as the Dark Essence, is in danger of being pulled away from prehistoric Earth before the Hunter can find it, which would undo Shokaract's timeline. Shokaract thus dispatches two of his Heralds, Antagony and Cataclysm, to safeguard the Dark Essence, only for Antagony to be captured by Megatron's Predacons and Cataclysm to perish in battle with the Maximal hero Windrazor. Shokaract travels back in time to secure the Essence and destroy the Maximals, only to be engaged in battle by the Covenant of Primus. With the aid of other Transformers from across time and space, the Covenant succeeds in defeating Shokaract, and the Dark Essence of Unicron is drawn back into time, erasing Shokaract's timeline.

While writer Simon Furman had ruled out Unicron in the main IDW G1 series, this did not prevent him from using Unicron in his Beast Wars series. The series opens with a disembodied Magmatron, trapped in temporal limbo by Razorbeast at the end of The Gathering, watching the annihilation of the future Cybertron by a new version of Shokaract and Unicron. Unicron appears in spectral form in issue #2, dispatching Rartorata to Earth to stop an anomaly in the timestream (the disembodied Magmatron) from interfering in the "ascending". Unicron plans to use Shokaract as a vessel through which to reemerge into the universe and destroy Cybertron. His plans are foiled when an unlikely alliance of Maximals and Predacons succeed in battling his Heralds. Meanwhile, Ravage transports Shokaract into Magmatron's limbo realm. Realizing the truth of Unicron's intentions, Shokaract kills himself.

In the official Hasbro Comic Book Universe by IDW, Unicron debuts at the end of First Strike, having been awakened by Joe Colton's invasion against Cybertron. According to Transformers: Unicron, he was created by an alien scientist from the planet Antilla, where it was invaded by Shockwave (under the disguise of Onyx Prime). The scientist created Unicron in order to end all wars by killing all life. Unicron is destroyed when Optimus Prime ventures into the black-hole center of Unicron, and confronts Unicron's creator in the dimensional plane known as "infraspace". There, he pleads to the Antillan to let go of the hatred he held for Cybertron, and allow the memory of his daughter to "light this dark hour."

In the Binaltech saga, the future Ravage seen in Beast Wars alters the original G1 timeline. His interference includes trapping all the Decepticons in a spatial rift, with the knowledge that Unicron will soon attack Cybertron. He plans for the Autobots to face Unicron unaided, and the Decepticons to return and conquer whoever prevailed. As a result of these changes, the final showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron does not occur, and Prime does not die. With Megatron trapped in the rift, Unicron does not encounter the Decepticon leader and therefore does not Faustian Pact to reformat him into Galvatron.

Through the events of the story, Optimus Prime learns that the Matrix can destroy Unicron, and he and Ultra Magnus launch an assault on the giant. Within Unicron's body, Optimus Prime is severely damaged and passes the Matrix to Magnus, who completes the mission, and the pair escape as Unicron explodes.

Unicron again appears as a character in the Transformers: Universe comics by 3H Enterprises, seemingly the same Unicron as seen in Armada. This time he can physically eat planets as in Generation 1. Set after Beast Wars and Beast Machines, and his defeat by the Wreckers, he gathers Transformers from across different realities to create an army. He forces them to fight inside Unicron, where he feasts on both the excess Energon they give off and the Sparks of the losers. In response to this, Primus and Alpha Trion resurrect and reformat Optimus Primal to lead the fight against the evil Unicron. After freeing Unicron's captives, the Chaos-Bringer gathers an army of his own, dubbed "the Decepticons", to fight against Primus. The army is led by Razorclaw, an alternate version of Tigerhawk, and consists of alternate versions of Obsidian, Tankor, and Reptilion.

Although the end of Universe did not provide a proper conclusion to the storyline, the Cybertron Club Comic portrayed the ending. In "Revelations, Part 2", when Optimus Prime is called to another dimension to fight Unicron's heralds, he reflects back on the final battle between Primus's forces and Unicron's army. Unicron suddenly disappeared, his existence ended by the black hole created by his defeat in Transformers: Energon.

The Transformers club comic further developed Unicron's story for the Cybertron era, attempting to fill in plot holes. The comic states that Primus' chosen task in Energon is to imprison and burn away Unicron's disembodied spark within a fledgling sun. This Sun is the one that was born to save Alpha-Q's world. Megatron's spark, also inside, interferes and the sun collapses, trapping Unicron's spark inside (bridging it between other universes). The black hole is born, and Megatron freed. He uses pieces of Unicron to remake his body, as well as revive Starscream, his most loyal subject. The black hole begins to devour space and time, unraveling historical events and building new ones. This is the reason for the "errors" in the Cybertron animated series, as it is following a constantly reshaping universe.

A new Unicron toy was released at the end of the Cybertron toy line as a Deluxe-class figure with a tank-like alternate mode. Although the character did not appear in Transformers: Cybertron or its Japanese equivalent Transformers: Galaxy Force, the Hasbro Club comic served to introduce this new version of the Chaos-Bringer. In this story, the black hole contains Unicron's essence and links him simultaneously to all Cybertrons across the Multiverse, giving him the potential to wipe out Primus in one fell swoop. This course is held at bay by Transformers from across the Multiverse, usually consisting of characters derived from Convention and Club exclusives as well as Cybertron figures that play no role in the television series. In one issue, Soundwave is dispatched to Cybertron after Ramjet and Nemesis Prime's failure. He tosses the Dead Matrix into the black hole, releasing Unicron's spark which quickly overtakes a nearby world, converting its inhabitants into savage maniacs. With the destruction of the planet, his body is reborn as a normal-sized Transformer.

When Unicron attacks Cybertron in the midst of the chaos caused by a Mini-Con civil war, Sentinel Maximus and Omega Prime fight him off with the help of their allies. In the end Unicron is driven off, badly wounded, by Primus.[13] Unicron appears in a flashback in "The Coming Storm: Part 1". "Ask Vector Prime" later revealed that Unicron's ties to Planet X stretched back years, the planet had once been the remnants of Unicron's body from the events of The Transformers: The Movie, which were blasted into another universe. Ending up on the edge of the Sol system, Unicron attempted to repair himself but was hindered by the actions of the Megatron of that universe. In response, Unicron reformatted his former victims in order to use them to accelerate his reconstruction; they soon converted him into a dimension-hopping battle station and attacked another reality. However, the Autobots of that reality struck back using the power of Zodiac energy, driving Unicron's lifeforce from Planet X and splitting it in two, creating a paradise world that remained behind in the attacked reality and a damaged husk that was eventually destroyed by the inhabitants of Gigantion.

In the comic "Hoist the Flag", set centuries later, Unicron's head proves to be the objective sought by the Star Seeker pirates under Cannonball, whose crew includes a version of Shokaract known as the Hunter.

In "Another Light", Unicron, Primus, and the Thirteen cease to be multiversal singularities, instead of existing as multiple separate individuals throughout the multiverse. This results in a Unicron in the Shattered Glass universe who is wholly good, with a counterpart Primus who is entirely evil. The noble Unicron comes across the broken Autobot forces of Optimus Prime and offers them a chance to be reborn and enlightened. As a result, Optimus Prime is reborn as Nova Prime while his fellow Autobots are likewise reformatted. They return to Cybertron and overthrow Rodimus Prime.

In association with the Fun Publications' storyline, "Ask Vector Prime" also included information on Unicron. This included introducing a version of him from the Robots in Disguise universe who was notably distinct from his alternate selves. Having once been the tank-alt-moded ruler of Planet X, he eventually fused himself together with the planetoid and took on his more familiar form from Generation 1 and other continuities.

Note: Information in italics occur in the alternate storyline where Megatron wins the battle for the Allspark.

Cybertron's status is unknown, mostly abandoned as it began to die. Stockade and a group of Decepticons remain, staying alive by using Nucleon. Stockade believes they can renew Cybertron by summoning a new power source, one related to the AllSpark. They succeed in summoning such an energy being, which enters Cybertron to renew it. To everyone's horror, it announces itself as Unicron.

The possessed Cybertron is swiftly altered into a form with a large mouth and grasping prongs, turned hostile to those on it, and warped to the Sol system. The Autobots and Decepticons are able to destroy Unicron, but Cybertron is left in its transformed state and seemingly in the Sol system, as well as dead and powerless.

When the Autobots are ordered off American soil, they regroup under Cybertron and begin working on the teleportation engines that Unicron left there when he transformed the planet. Using these, they make a decisive strike by teleporting the entire Decepticon army to Cybertron, then teleporting Cybertron to the far reaches of space. With the engines burnt out and no energy on the planet, the Decepticons are marooned there, at the cost of the Autobots never being able to go home.

In conjunction with the Unite Warriors line, Takara Tomy released a comic detailing how the Galvatronus combiner came to be. Following his defeat at the conclusion of The Headmasters, Galvatron's icy tomb is discovered by Cyclonus, whose body Galvatron modifies to accommodate his own head in the chest compartment. Seeking a more fitting form, Galvatron directs Cyclonus to approach the disembodied head of Unicron, who is convinced to help Galvatron attain a combiner form with Cyclonus as its core. To accomplish this, Unicron opens dimensional rifts in order to bring Curse Armada Thrust, Zombie War Breakdown, and Wandering Roller into their world. To Cyclonus' surprise, Starscream makes an appearance, expressing interest in joining this new alliance. Unicron grants Starscream a new physical form, and Galvatron's head takes control of his new minions to take on his new form of Galvatronus.[14]