What to know about Unicron: Transformers: The Last Knight

Meet the planet-sized evil alien robot known as Unicron. He is one of the biggest, fiercest threats to peace and order in the Transformers universe, but the character had never appeared in the Transformers film series … until now.

The character is mentioned throughout Michael Bay’s new Transformers film, Transformers: The Last Knight, and the ending sets up the possibility that Unicron could play a large role in future installments of the series

1. He’s big. Like, planet big.

Unicron is not like other Transformers — he is so gargantuan that he can transform into a mechanical planet himself. (Sounds like an ode to the Death Star, perhaps?) The character made major waves in the opening scenes of 1986’s animated The Transformers: The Movie, in which, voiced by film legend Orson Welles, the planet-sized Unicron gobbles up the small world of Lithone.

2. He’s old. Like, celestial being old.

According to the Transformers mythos (which sounds lovely when voiced by Sir Anthony Hopkins in the new movie), Unicron’s origins come from literally before the dawn of time, when he was created by The One as a representation of pure chaos.

3. He has brother issues.

Along with Unicron, his twin brother Primus was created. Unlike the destructive, chaos-loving Unicron, Primus is a lover of order and creation. The brothers, therefore, represent the different poles of existence, two sides of the same coin, a conflict from which very existence springs forth.

4. He can possess other Cybertronians (i.e., Transformers)

In the current Transformers film, Optimus Prime breaks bad after being corrupted by Quintessa, the Autobots’ and Decepticons’ alleged maker. Bad news for Prime in the future? Unicron is able to possess and take over others from his world, too, thereby manipulating both Autobots and Decepticons to his will.

5. He’s closer than you think.

According to past Transformers mythology, Unicron was set adrift in space, ultimately attracting planetary debris to eventually become… planet Earth. That twist comes to fruition in Transformers: The Last Knight, and it’s one Quintessa hopes to manipulate to her advantage (at least if the movie’s end-credits sequence is any indication).

Transformers: The Last Knight is out now.