Archives Mole

The Archives Mole was a small burrowing 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. of the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control., engineered by the MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate. species using Viruses and Liquid ProtodermisProtodermisThe engineered substance building the Matoran Universe, protodermis exists in countless refined states from mundane metal to diamond-hard crystal to the destruction-or-transformation force of energized form. and seeded into the standard wildlife stock of the universe. The species was small and harmless and developed its widest population in the shadowy recesses of the ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface. beneath Onu-MetruOnu-MetruThe deep archive-city that made mining and historical records preservation the beating heart of Metru Nui., having been driven out of its original Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it. range by the expansion of the Assembler's VillagesAssembler's VillageAssembler's Villages were clusters of Po-Matoran workshops in Po-Metru that assembled Vahki enforcers and other Matoran goods from parts shipped across the city..

Origin and engineering#

The Archives Mole was a standard product of the Brotherhood of MakutaThe Brotherhood of MakutaAn organization of Makuta created by Mata Nui to police his universe and build Rahi, later seized by Teridax and turned into the instrument of the Plan that overthrew the Great Spirit.'s wildlife engineering programme, assembled from the same combination of designed Viruses and Liquid ProtodermisProtodermisThe engineered substance building the Matoran Universe, protodermis exists in countless refined states from mundane metal to diamond-hard crystal to the destruction-or-transformation force of energized form. that produced the rest of the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control.'s catalogued fauna. The result was a small four-legged burrowing animal designed for the soil-dwelling niche in whatever ecosystem it was seeded into.

Adult Archives Moles were small, lacked any meaningful offensive capability, and were classified harmless in the standing reference catalogues. They had no recorded elemental power, no projectile or ranged capability, and no behavioural template that put them at odds with the larger 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. of their regions. Their evolutionary strategy was cooperation: the same brief that produced their physical form produced a strong social instinct that operated across the population at scale. They processed the small invertebrate life and ProtoditeProtoditesMicroscopic, violent Rahi that could fly independently but found their most crucial existence as the biological substrate of Zaktan's body. populations of the regions they occupied and were themselves prey for the larger predators of those environments.

Displacement from Po-Metru#

The original recorded range of the species was Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it., the carving district of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive.. The displacement was the product of MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. industrial expansion. As the Assembler's VillagesAssembler's VillageAssembler's Villages were clusters of Po-Matoran workshops in Po-Metru that assembled Vahki enforcers and other Matoran goods from parts shipped across the city. of Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it. grew, the available undisturbed ground shrank, and a great number of the population fled Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it. and made their way to the ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface. beneath Onu-MetruOnu-MetruThe deep archive-city that made mining and historical records preservation the beating heart of Metru Nui., where the deep tunnels and unused chambers offered a substitute environment.

The relocation was not the result of an Onu-MatoranOnu-MatoranEarth-wielding Matoran of the deep who adapted to darkness and built the Matoran Universe's defensive cavalry. collection programme. The Archives Moles arrived as refugees rather than as catalogued specimens, and the ArchivistsArchivistA Matoran keeper of records and relics, the Archivist held one of Metru Nui's deadliest jobs. treated them as part of the ambient fauna of the lower levels. The species fed on the small 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. insects and the ProtoditesProtoditesMicroscopic, violent Rahi that could fly independently but found their most crucial existence as the biological substrate of Zaktan's body. that populated the tunnels, and the population stabilised in the shadowy recesses where neither the larger 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. specimens nor the staff routinely passed.

Cooperative behaviour#

The single most distinguishing trait of the Archives Mole was its cooperative response to environmental challenge. The species was small enough, and individually weak enough, that no Archives Mole could expect to survive alone against a 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. predator of any meaningful size. When the population needed to cross a section of the ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface. that an individual could not negotiate alone, the moles formed ladders and bridges of themselves: living structures of interlocked bodies that carried other members of the species over gaps, up walls, and through the more treacherous sections of the lower tunnels.

The pattern operated as a standing behaviour rather than an emergency response, and the cooperative reflex extended across the species without regard to specific group identity. An Archives Mole travelling alone could expect to find a constructed bridge in place when one was needed, on the basis that another member of the population had built it for the next mole that came along. The behaviour was the species' principal alternative to fighting, and its continued existence at population scale alongside the Archives BeastThe Archives BeastAn unidentified shapeshifting Rahi confined in the lower levels of the Great Archives, capable of mimicking empty rooms and driven off only by extreme cold., the captive Ash BearAsh BearA heavily built bear-form Rahi engineered by the Makuta and seeded throughout the Matoran Universe, two to three times the size of a Matoran, usually peaceful and ruinous when its territory was crossed. holdings, and the various predatory 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. of the Onu-MetruOnu-MetruThe deep archive-city that made mining and historical records preservation the beating heart of Metru Nui. lower levels was almost entirely a function of the cooperative architecture the species had been engineered to produce.

The Visorak invasion#

The species' largest recorded test came during the VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. invasion of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive.. The VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. horde had overrun the surface districts, and the panic that swept through the ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface. as the situation became understood produced a general displacement of the captive 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. population. The Archives Mole population responded by deploying the standing cooperative behaviour at full scale. They fled into the cracks between buildings, the gaps in the ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface.' lower-level walls, and the narrow shafts that the VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe.' larger bodies could not enter.

The VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe.' response was to seal the openings. Recognising that the prey was inaccessible to direct pursuit, the spider 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. spun thick webs across the entries to the moles' hiding places, sealing the populations inside. The tactic confined the Archives Moles to the spaces they had retreated into and made the remaining sections of the ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface. safe for VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. operations.

The RahagaToa Hagah and RahagaThe Toa Hagah were appointed to guard Makuta Teridax, mutated into hybrid warriors, and mysteriously restored. BomongaBomongaBomonga was the Toa Hagah of Earth, mutated by Roodaka into a Rahaga, later restored to Toa form and resettled on Spherus Magna., one of the six RahagaToa Hagah and RahagaThe Toa Hagah were appointed to guard Makuta Teridax, mutated into hybrid warriors, and mysteriously restored. operating in Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. during the invasion, documented the pattern. He noted that any stray VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. webbing in the ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface. could be read as a sign that an Archives Mole hiding place lay behind it. The observation made the VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. webbing itself into a marker for the species' refuge sites, and the RahagaToa Hagah and RahagaThe Toa Hagah were appointed to guard Makuta Teridax, mutated into hybrid warriors, and mysteriously restored.' rescue operations during the invasion used the pattern to locate sealed-in mole populations that would otherwise have been unrecoverable.

Migration to Mata Nui and beyond#

The Archives Mole population followed the broader Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. 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. migration pattern after the Great CataclysmThe Great CataclysmThe day Makuta Teridax put the Great Spirit to sleep, the Great Spirit Robot fell from the sky, Metru Nui flooded, and Voya Nui tore loose from the Southern Continent.. The animals that had survived the VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. period and the period of dormancy that followed made their way up to the surface island of Mata NuiMata NuiBuilt by the Great Beings to restore Spherus Magna, Mata Nui sustained an entire civilisation inside his body, was deposed by Teridax, and reclaimed his purpose as a mortal on Bara Magna., and the species settled in Le-WahiLe-WahiLe-Wahi is a region on the island of Mata Nui, inhabited by the Le-Matoran and Rahi. Formerly subject to the power of Teridax, the region is no longer under that influence., the jungle region. The jungle environment provided a return to surface-level burrowing of a kind the species had not enjoyed since its original Po-MetruPo-MetruMetru Nui's Stone District, home to carvers whose work defined the city and site of an ancient conflict that threatened to divide it. range, and the Le-WahiLe-WahiLe-Wahi is a region on the island of Mata Nui, inhabited by the Le-Matoran and Rahi. Formerly subject to the power of Teridax, the region is no longer under that influence. population coexisted with the Ash BearAsh BearA heavily built bear-form Rahi engineered by the Makuta and seeded throughout the Matoran Universe, two to three times the size of a Matoran, usually peaceful and ruinous when its territory was crossed. populations and the smaller jungle 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. of LewaLewaToa of Air, member of the Toa Mata and Toa Nuva, whose career was marked by repeated possession, body theft, and aerial campaigns from Le-Wahi to Karda Nui.'s region.

The species followed the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. back to Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. when the city was reoccupied. The returning population took up residence in the reconstructed ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface. on the same terms as before, with the cooperative behaviour and the ProtoditeProtoditesMicroscopic, violent Rahi that could fly independently but found their most crucial existence as the biological substrate of Zaktan's body. diet continuing in place. The species' final migration was to Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint.. After the Battle of Bara MagnaThe Battle of Bara MagnaThe Great Spirit Robot fell from the sky carrying Teridax in stolen flesh, and the desert world below produced a champion who carried Mata Nui's consciousness back into the fight. and the reformation of the planet, the Archives Mole population exited the body of the Great Spirit RobotMata Nui: Great Spirit of the Matoran UniverseBuilt by the Great Beings as a biomechanical guardian, betrayed by Teridax, and returned in a smaller form to reshape Spherus Magna. along with the rest of the surviving Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control. fauna and took up residence on the surface of the restored world.

Place in the record#

The Archives Mole entered the documented 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. catalogue through the reference work BIONICLE: Rahi BeastsBIONICLE Reference BooksSix Scholastic and AMEET reference titles published between 2003 and 2009 form the primary printed canon for the Matoran Universe. This page catalogs what each book contains and where the editions diverge. and was recorded again in BIONICLE: EncyclopediaBIONICLE Reference BooksSix Scholastic and AMEET reference titles published between 2003 and 2009 form the primary printed canon for the Matoran Universe. This page catalogs what each book contains and where the editions diverge. and its updated edition. The species also appeared in mentions across BIONICLE Legends 10: Swamp of SecretsSwamp of SecretsThe Toa Nuva Mistika campaign in the Swamp of Secrets beneath Karda Nui, the hunt for the Av-Matoran keystones, and the running fight with Krika, Gorast, and Bitil that brought the Quest for the Mask of Life to the doorstep of the Codrex., Into the DarknessInto the DarknessThe 2007 online serial that followed the Toa of Ice into the ruins of the original Pit alongside the Maxilos robot possessed by Teridax, recovered the body of a long-dead Toa of Water, and put the first fragments of the Nui Stone back into the hands of the Brotherhood of Makuta., and The Mutran ChroniclesThe Mutran Chronicles: The Brotherhood Experimentalist's Account of Visorak, Rahkshi, and the PlanThe serial record left by the Makuta Mutran of the Brotherhood's transition from Rahi-makers to conspirators, including the experiments that produced the shadow leeches and the campaigns that exposed the Visorak and Rahkshi to the universe., where it was used as a comparison for Tren KromTren KromTren Krom maintained the Matoran Universe before Mata Nui's activation and spent the following hundred millennia fused to a cave on a remote island.'s mental probing of MutranMutranMutran is a Makuta of the Brotherhood of Makuta who serves as the Makuta of Voya Nui and is among the most prolific Rahi creators within the organization. Hailing from the Southern Islands, he wears the Great Shelek and commands the powers of Shadow and Silence alongside the full range of Kraata abilities, wielding a Shadow Blade, Shadow Spear, and Tridax Pod in combat.. Few engineered 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. of the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control. operated so consistently at the small-and-harmless end of the catalogue, and fewer still produced a behavioural pattern as distinctive as the living ladders and bridges that defined the species' navigation of the ArchivesThe Archives of Metru NuiThe Archives of Onu-Metru were the central repository of Matoran knowledge and Rahi specimens, maintained by the Archivist Corps beneath the city's surface..