God War

The members of the Guiding Hand try to agree on pizza toppings.

Fought between the members of theGuiding Hand,the mythological sequence of events known as theGod Warwould mark the very first war fought in Cybertron's history, and a defining event that would shape the theology of theCybertronianspecies.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

Most Cybertronian religions agree that the life began with the five members of the Guiding Hand:Primus,Mortilus,Solomus,Epistemus,andAdaptus.These five deities brought life to Cybertron, blessing the first generation of Transformers with the ability tochange shapeto suit their needs, and giving rise to the revered group of Cybertronians known as theKnights of Cybertron.You, Me, and Other Revelations

According to conventional religion, this utopian era would come to an end when Mortilus, god of death, betrayed his comrades and sparked the cataclysmic war itself. The texts of the religious sect known as theClavis Aureastated that Mortilus sought to turn Cybertron's power outward, so that the Hand and its children could strike out at the rest of the universe, while the other members of the Guiding Hand were against unnecessary war. Mortilus's ambitions caused Cybertron to "shudder", ripping asunder itsfirst moonfrom orbit. Mortilus battled the other members of the pantheon, tricking them one by one so that they would be reduced to mere objects: Solomus entrapped in acrystal container,Epistemus as abrain module,Adaptus as atransformation cog,until only Primus remained.

Primus struck down Mortilus, but was gravely wounded in the battle, and retreated to the center of Cybertron to become the life-giving supercomputerVector Sigma.In doing so, however, he killed Death, and the passing of Mortilus allowed Cybertroniansparksto burn for eternity as immortals.You, Me, and Other Revelations

A different interpretation put forth in theKeening Textsinstead held that Mortilus sought to bring his "gift" to the cosmos, and used Luna 1 as a staging ground to attack Cybertron with a thousand horrors of his own devising. The remaining members of the Guiding Hand returned to the physical world to defeat him, but Mortilus had prepared for this, and laid clever traps for Epistemus, Solomus, and Adaptus, tricking them into surrendering their robotic bodies and ultimately killing them. Each of their defeats weakened Primus, who fashioned Vector Sigma in preparation for his own death before using the last of his strength to send Mortilus's base ofLuna 1hurtling through the cosmos.

In this interpretation of the myth, all five perished, but persisted into the next life as metaphysical ideas; Mortilus—having realized the error of his ways—received forgiveness for his transgression. The group joined forces to create theAfterspark,so that future Cybertronians could peacefully transition into the next life.The God War

Adaptus wanted pineapples.

Thetruesequence of events, however, was quite different from any known religious account. In reality, the Guiding Hand were not immortal gods, but robots as mortal as any other Transformer (if long-lived and mildly superpowered). Furthermore, it was not Mortilus who rebelled against Primus, butAdaptus,who did so in the hopes that introducing conflict to Cybertronian civilization would avert the stagnation that he feared would soon grip the species.

The other four members of the Guiding Hand took up arms against Adaptus, but did not kill him; instead, Adaptus escaped to his base on Luna 1, whereupon he deployed a massiveelectromagnetic pulseacross Cybertron that would leave the population of the planet confused and amnesiac while he made his escape. This act would introduce the planet to the neurological degradation known as "information creep",and ultimately leave the other four members of the Guiding Hand without any memory of their names or the role they had played in the foundation of Cybertronian civilization.The Unremembering

Early into theGreat War,Megatrontapped intoTrypticon's memories, and glimpsed jumbled images of an ancient Cybertron left barren after a "war of gods."Primacy #1

See Also

• Theomachy,the traditional conflict between Primus and Unicron.