Dead Universe
From Transformers Wiki
TheDead Universeis a mysterious and malevolent realm, a universe that lurks on the far side of all living worlds. This lifeless plane is home only to the vast, undead intelligence known only as theD-Void,which preys upon those of the living universe, intent on using them as pawns to expand the borders of the Dead Universe, giving it new life to feed upon.
Various points of access to the Dead Universe exist, with regions of notable death and decay apparently serving as prime loci for the creation of portals between the worlds. Those who cross over from the living universe to the dead are said to become dead themselves, in both body and mind, left unable to survive outside the Dead Universe for more than short periods of time. A characteristic shared by these victims is the presence of an interdimensional link within their bodies that straddles the living and dead universes.
Sometimes, the Dead Universe is not a realm of pure evil, but rather an infinite space of nothingness, being more akin totranswarp space.
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Fiction
2005 IDW continuity
Had nature taken its course, the Dead Universe would likely have been just another one of the many realities that exist within themultiverse.Its fate, however, was forever altered when the Decepticon scientistShockwave,based in the year2014,used a time machine to reach back through history to the moment time began in the Dead Universe, whereupon he siphoned off its life energy from the very instant of its creation in order to fuel a grand scheme he was in the process of carrying out. The result was a stillborn universe, birthed into a state of perpetual unlife.The Becoming
The Dead Universe would soon receive visitors:zombiescreated byan infestationfrom yet another universe and led byBritt.To prevent the infestation from reaching a livingCybertronin his relative past,Kupin2011hijacked Britt's transportation gate to teleport all of the undead nearby—Kup himself included—to the beginning of the Dead Universe, where they would find naught to feed on.The Transformers: Infestation #2
The only known native entity to reside within the Dead Universe was the D-Void, which was one with the Dead Universe, and sought to expand its borders to consume the living universe. Using an aspect of itself known as theHeart of Darkness,the D-Void sought out catspaws within the living universe;Nova Primefelt its pull through hisMatrix of Leadership,and so embarked with the crew of the originalArkto follow the sensation back to its source. When the Ark traced it to a cosmic anomaly within theBenzuli Expanse,crewmemberGalvatronsteered the vessel into the anomaly, transporting them to the mysterious dimension.Spotlight: GalvatronDark DawnThe crew were rendered undead upon entry, and Nova Prime came into possession of the Heart of Darkness, renaming himself "Nemesis Prime".Devastation #3
The Ark crew remained trapped in the Dead Universe for millions of years until a permanent gateway was opened between the universes on the planetGorlam Prime,when the second ofShockwave'sRegenesisores struck the world and decayed an underground chamber, enabling a portal to form there.HomecomingIn time, they also learned to use the Benzuli Expanse anomaly to travel back and forth between the worlds, and with access back to their universe of origin now at their fingertips, Nemesis Prime initiated a plan to cause the "Expansion",merging the living and dead universes into one ordered whole that he would rule. Though not explicitly stated, this merge was almost certainly the bidding of the D-Void, which Prime was unaware he was following.
Prime's chief scientistJhiaxusoversaw the facets of the Expansion from a staging base on Gorlam Prime. Devices known as "Nega-Cores"were installed onCorata-Vaz,Rotan,and the fourth moon ofBhul,which would accelerate the steady growth of the Benzuli Expanse anomaly, causing the living universe to be subsumed into the dead. Fortunately, the Autobots were able to occupy the guardians assigned to protect the Nega-Cores long enough for the cores to be removed and dumped into the Dead Universe itself by a team protected from its death-inducing effects byPretendershells. With the cores' detonation, the Benzuli Expanse anomaly collapsed, sealing off the Dead Universe. Simultaneously, Galvatron betrayed Nemesis Prime, slaying him and stealing the Heart of Darkness but was then cast into an energy reservoir byOptimus Prime.Revelation
Saved from destruction by the power of the Heart of Darkness, Galvatron emerged from the reservoir years later and travelled to Gorlam Prime, where he discovered that the portal there had been reactivated. Learning that the entire population of the planet had recently been lured through the portal by a mysterious force, Galvatron entered it himself, returning to the Dead Universe, where he watched as the Gorlamians were consumed by the D-Void, the existence of which was revealed to him at last. Escaping its clutches, Galvatron returned to the living universe, destroyed the portal, and set about forming an army in preparation to defend against the D-Void's coming, believing that the Heart of Darkness had chosen him to stop it.Heart of Darkness
Told by the Heart that the D-Void would be able to emerge throughCybertronsince it was a dead world, Galvatron attempted to stop it by feeding the Heart toVector Sigma,the mega-computer at the planet's core. What he did not realize, however, was that he was enacting the D-Void's will, and that feeding the Heart to Vector Sigma wouldtransformthe planet into the portal that would allow it to fuse the living and death universes, consuming all life. Fortunately, Optimus Prime was able to open the Matrix and close the portal, sealing off the last known opening to the Dead Universe.Chaos
Galvatron and Nova Prime were reborn within the Dead Universe following their deaths in the living universe. After usingOre-14andOre-2to create an undeadNecrotitan,ShockwaveandJhiaxusused the space bridge at its heart to make contact with Galvatron and Nova Prime within the Dead Universe and plan their return to Cybertron.Black MetalThough establishing the link burned out the titan's space bridge, Shockwave simply capturedMegatronand used the space bridge within his body to open a portal for the pair to emerge from.Into the Abyss
At the same time, the destruction of Gorlam Prime at the hands of Jhiaxus created a one-way portal into the Dead Universe.Orion Paxled a team inside to investigate, only to find that the Universe was shrinking.Black MetalAfterIronhidepushed Nova Prime back through the portal in Megatron's body, Nova confronted Orion Pax's team and demonstrated that the collapsing universe was giving him increasing control over its reality,No Exitbefore revealing that he had captured Kup and was trying to use his connection to the living universe to create a space bridge from the ancient Transformer's body.The Dead Are Not Enough
Orion Pax destroyed Nova Prime,Finis Temporisand as he and his team escaped with the aid of the Autobot scientistBrainstorm,the Dead Universe finally collapsed and destroyed itself....And the Damage Done
Ask Vector Prime
TheBio Ranger IgaofPrimax 1086.0 KappapulledGalvatronusfrom a Dead Universe to serve as the leader of theThirteen Great Demon Generals.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/27
When asked if the Dead Universe had its ownuniversal streamdesignation,Vector Primeexplained that iterations of the Dead Universe were "pocket universes" of other realities, and as such did not warrant their own stream designations.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/11/16
War for Cybertron Trilogycartoon
Long ago,Alpha Trionused theStaff of Solusto banishSky Lynxinto the Dead Universe as punishment for trying to steal the Matrix of Leadership. Eventually, its infinite nothingness gave Sky Lynx enough time to reflect upon his mistakes and become more humble, now having the purpose of redeeming himself for his past behavior and escaping from his exile. Besides the bot, statues ofMegatronus,Alchemist Prime,andSolus Primewere all that remained in the Dead Universe.Earthrise episode 5
TheArkand its crew accidentally entered the Dead Universe after their battle with theDecepticonsthat resulted in theNebulonStation's space bridge exploding.Earthrise episode 4Confused as to what their current location was, theAutobotssoon realized where they were upon seeing Sky Lynx. He then proceeded to teleportOptimus Primeto an empty area, where he taught Prime to let go of his self-blame and concentrate the power of the Matrix to escape the Dead Universe. Eventually, Prime managed to do so and opened a rift out of the realm.Megatronnoticed the rift, and decided to take theNemesisthrough it. Upon his arrival, Megatron encountereda mysterious guidewho took him on a journey through his past and told him what he needed to do in order to kill Prime.
During the Autobots' attempt at going through the rift, Megatron tried to strike theArkdown by concentrating his rage and sending apowerful red beamtowards it, but Sky Lynx put himself between the beam and theArk,allowing the Autobots to escape before being disintegrated. Shortly after, theNemesisfollowed them out of the Dead Universe.Earthrise episode 5
Upon exiting, the ships were rendered immobile due to processing amassive data uploadreceived in the Dead Universe. Shortly after, theFool's Fortuneexited the Dead Universe, as it was covertly following theArk.Earthrise episode 6
On prehistoric Earth,WheeljackandRhinoxwere having trouble repairing theArkat first, until Ratchet mentioned that he didn't expect theArkto survive another trip through the Dead Universe. Rhinox was quite familiar with the Dead Universe, and now that he knew what was causing theArk's problems, he was easily able to repair the damage by purging the data upload from its systems,Kingdom episode 2although it retained one item: the schematics for a transformation into an immense robot mode, which it was already in the process of integrating and using to upgrade itself.Kingdom episode 5
When Optimus Prime found the Allspark, it was suffering from the same kind of data overload as theArk,including possessing information from the future which caused it to recognise Optimus asNemesisat first. Its projection ofElita Onedescribed having somehow passed through the Dead Universe on its way from Cybertron to Earth, even mentioning a "Dead Multiverse". Optimus Prime was able to use Rhinox's repair program on the Allspark to purge the data overload from its system.Kingdom episode 4
On their way back to Cybertron, the Autobots, Maximals, Decepticons and Predacons aboard theArkfound themselves in the Dead Universe once again, but they were pulled back to present-day Cybertron by the efforts ofGalvatronandNemesis Prime.
After Unicron's defeat, he brought Nemesis Prime and Galvatron back to him, telling them that their use of the Dead Universe to travel through time had given him ideas, and that he would "begin again". Kingdom episode 6
Notes
- A monstrous other universe of darkness that wanted to kill the real universe? Also the enemy inNecroWar,a cut-short comicSimon Furmanwrote forDreamwave Productions.
Foreign names
- Japanese:Dead Universe(デッドユニバースDeddo Yunibāsu)
- German:Totes Universum(Dead Universe)
