300-foot Venom Eel

The 300-foot Venom EelVenom EelBlack venomous predators of the Pit, weaponized by Ehlek and transformed by the Mask of Life into a colossal guardian. was a mutated RahiRahiThe Rahi were the biomechanical wildlife of the Matoran Universe, built largely by the Brotherhood of Makuta, ranging from background fauna to engineered war beasts. active in the waters around Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations. during the hunt for the KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. Ignika. Originally an ordinary Venom EelVenom EelBlack venomous predators of the Pit, weaponized by Ehlek and transformed by the Mask of Life into a colossal guardian. attacking the city, it was struck by a bolt of life energy from the Mask of LifeThe Mask of Life (Kanohi Ignika), explainedA failsafe forged by the Great Beings to recharge a god. It curses everyone who touches it, and by the end of Bionicle it had learned how to be a hero. and grew to over three hundred feet long. Its colossal form held only while it stayed near the Ignika. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost; BIONICLE Ignition 8: Sea of Darkness; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

Origin of the mutation#

The creature began as an ordinary Venom EelVenom EelBlack venomous predators of the Pit, weaponized by Ehlek and transformed by the Mask of Life into a colossal guardian., a species that hunts by sight and strikes at any trace of light or motion. DekarDekarDekar is a former Po-Matoran who serves as an Aqua Hunter on Spherus Magna. Colored yellow, black, and silver, he once wore a powerless Kiril and retains an inactive Stone element; his tools are Electro-Blades and an Air Launcher., cursed by the Ignika so that he couldn't kill, broke away from a battle against EhlekEhlekA Barraki warlord with electrical powers who led aquatic forces against the Brotherhood of Makuta.'s eels to find a place to destroy the mask. When he tried, the KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. Ignika lashed out with a bolt of life energy that hit a nearby eel and swelled it to over three hundred feet long. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost; BIONICLE Ignition 8: Sea of Darkness)

The mutation was not permanent. The colossal form held only while the eel stayed near the Ignika, and if it ever left the mask's vicinity it would shrink back to its original state. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

The newly enlarged eel went on a feeding spree, eating many TarakavaTarakavaHuge lizard-like Rahi with powerful forelegs, hunted in pairs across Mata Nui and Metru Nui. and TakeaTakeaEngineered by the Makuta from viruses and protodermis, the Takea served as Pridak's shock troops in the Pit and as one of the deep ocean's most feared Rahi species. in a cave near the city and then several hundred keras. In the comics, the Barraki KalmahKalmahA red-and-black Barraki warlord of the League of Six Kingdoms, imprisoned in the Pit and mutated into permanent aquatic form. didn't see the bolt that changed the eel, but it soon noticed the result. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost; BIONICLE Ignition 8: Sea of Darkness)

Attack on Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations.#

The eel advanced on Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations., drawn by its light and movement. DefilakDefilakDefilak is a dark green and silver Le-Matoran who serves as leader of the Mahri Nui Council and as an inventor. He wears a powerless Kualsi and wields Electro-Blades alongside an Air Launcher. As a Le-Matoran, he carries an inactive affinity for the element of Air and resides on Spherus Magna., Gar, and IdrisIdrisIdris was a Ga-Matoran of Mahri Nui, the volunteer who helmed Defilak's Submarine into the Black Water, was captured by Pridak alongside Sarda and Gar, and helped trap Karzahni before carrying Lesovikk's breathing helmet home towards Mahri Nui. led the Matoran in smashing the city's lightstones, throwing it into darkness so the creature couldn't see it. The tactic turned the eel aside. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

TakadoxTakadoxA Barraki warlord whose hypnotic vision and cunning made him dangerous even in defeat. of the BarrakiThe BarrakiSix warlords who built an empire spanning most of the Matoran Universe, fell to a Brotherhood strike, and spent millennia imprisoned in the Pit. tried to hypnotise the eel and held it under his sway for a couple of seconds. The creature shook off his control and wrapped itself around the Stone CordStone CordA lava column connecting two sunken worlds became the battleground where Toa learned to cross the abyss., knocking Takadox unconscious without noticing, and began to squeeze the Cord. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

The Stone Cord engagement#

The Toa MahriToa Mahri: The Toa Who Saved the UniverseThe Toa Mahri were the water breathing form of the sixth Toa team, transformed by the Mask of Life on the way down to the drowned city of Mahri Nui. They fought the Barraki for the mask and recovered it at the cost of one of their own. took on the eel at the Cord. When KonguKonguKongu captained Le-Koro's Gukko Force before lightning from the red star turned him into a Toa of Air, who later served among the Toa Mahri. tried his ZatthZatthGreat Kanohi mask of Summoning, allowing its wearer to call a random local animal for aid without control over which creature responded or its actions., the Mask of Summoning, it called up hundreds of ordinary venom eels, and the giant ate them. HewkiiHewkiiHewkii rose from Po-Metru Matoran to Mata Nui's foremost kolhii player, then served as Toa Inika and Toa Mahri through the late wars of the universe. then used the GaraiGaraiThe Kanohi Mask of Gravity, granted Hewkii control over the gravitational pull on his targets during the Toa Mahri campaign in the Pit., the Mask of GravityGravity: The Elemental Power of Gravitational ForceGravity was the elemental power over gravitational force in the Matoran Universe, carried by Ba-Matoran, Toa of Gravity, and the Bohrok-Kal Nuhvok-Kal., to make the creature drift away. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)

Later, the 300-foot eel fought an Ancient Sea BehemothAncient Sea BehemothThe colossal sea creature woken by Kongu's Zatth, which fought and then joined the giant venom eel before the Toa Mahri beat it with a trick of Hahli's Faxon and a well-timed rockfall. that Kongu's Zatth had summoned. The two creatures apparently settled their differences and joined up with an enlarged GadunkaGadunka (Species)Inch-long sea Rahi from the waters around the Pit, one of which was mutated to enormous size by exposure to the Mask of Life., and all three went after the Toa Mahri at the Cord. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit; BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall)

Final defeat and aftermath#

HewkiiHewkiiHewkii rose from Po-Metru Matoran to Mata Nui's foremost kolhii player, then served as Toa Inika and Toa Mahri through the late wars of the universe. beat the eel a second time, using the GaraiGaraiThe Kanohi Mask of Gravity, granted Hewkii control over the gravitational pull on his targets during the Toa Mahri campaign in the Pit. to cut off its gravity so that a wave carried it away. (BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall)

Its fate after this point isn't shown. Since its size depended on staying close to the Ignika, the rule set out in the Encyclopedia means it would have shrunk once the mask was gone, but no story confirms what happened to it. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

Behaviour and threat profile#

The 300-foot Venom EelVenom EelBlack venomous predators of the Pit, weaponized by Ehlek and transformed by the Mask of Life into a colossal guardian. acted on instinct. Like the rest of its species it went for light and motion, which is why darkening Mahri Nui worked, and it fed on whatever it could catch. It showed no strategy beyond that, though it did end up fighting alongside the Behemoth and Gadunka. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost; BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit; BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall)

Takadox's hypnosis held it for only a couple of seconds before it broke free. The books don't explain why. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)

Significance#

The 300-foot Venom EelVenom EelBlack venomous predators of the Pit, weaponized by Ehlek and transformed by the Mask of Life into a colossal guardian. is one of the clearest examples of the Ignika changing a living creature through a reflexive defence rather than deliberate use. A single bolt produced a monster that could threaten an entire settlement and the Cord holding it up. Its size was conditional, tied to the mask's presence, which sets it apart from lasting changes the Ignika made elsewhere. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)