Matrix of Leadership - Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

The first appearance of the Creation Matrix, later also known as the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, was in Marvel's Transformers comics, where the Matrix's first appearance pre-dated its cartoon appearance by over a year. The Creation Matrix was first described as a computer program in Optimus Prime's mind, required to bestow life on newly-created Transformers, considered the inspiration for the All Spark Cube in the 2007 Transformers live action film. Prime was captured by the Decepticon leader, Shockwave, his head separated from his body, and the Matrix program used to bring the Constructicons to life. Before Shockwave could animate Jetfire, however, Prime transferred the Creation Matrix to the mind of Buster Witwicky, who used it to take control of Jetfire and rescue Prime.

During the UK-only story 'Crisis of Command', Prowl advocated exploiting the Creation Matrix to animate dedicated war machines. Optimus Prime was opposed to this ethically questionable move, and decisively ruled against it after a period of fierce debate amongst the Autobots.

The Decepticons were able to tap the energy of the Matrix to create the Stunticons and Combaticons when Prime used it to give life to the Aerialbots and Protectobots, but Prime's subsequent destruction left all assuming that the Matrix had been destroyed.

However, this was not so. When Prime was resurrected as a Powermaster, he revealed the truth - the Matrix was actually a physical object, stored within his chest cavity, which the Autobots had unwittingly lost when Prime's body had been blasted into space. Shockwave had merely tapped residual energy from his head. Thus began a Matrix Quest to recover the talisman - but the Autobots had no idea what was waiting for them. The Creation Matrix had retained an imprint of each of its former holders, giving it a rudimentary sentience that had, during its exile in space, come to question the nature of evil. Recovered by the Decepticon, Thunderwing, who also had a Matrix affinity, the Matrix itself became tainted with evil and took control of Thunderwing, attacking the Autobots, and forcing them to jettison it into the depths of space once more.

The true nature of the Creation Matrix then became apparent as the threat of Unicron bore down upon Cybertron. The Matrix was a fragment of Primus, the Transformers' deity, responsible for the creation of their race. Encoding a portion of his lifeforce as a genetic matrix, set in light patterns within a crystal, Primus had given his children a means of creating new life, as he had created them. Amidst the Unicron crisis, Thunderwing returned, but was destroyed by Unicron, allowing Optimus Prime to purify the Matrix and destroy Unicron himself.

Subsequently, Megatron stole the Matrix from Prime in order to animate a new legion of troops for himself, only to have Starscream steal it in turn, and use it to merge himself with the Decepticons' battleship, the Warworld. Rather than fall prey to evil, however, the Matrix's overwhelming goodness began to affect Starscream, and he relinquished the power rather than have his personality altered. Prime was then able to use this goodness to purify the Swarm, a dark byproduct of Transformer reproduction.