Artakha: Master Crafter of the Great Refuge

Artakha is the ruler of the island of ArtakhaArtakha: The Great RefugeArtakha, the island also called the Great Refuge, was the high-technology home of the Matoran Universe's finest crafters, governed by the being of the same name, where the Toa Mata came into being and the Avohkii was forged before the land was erased from every map., the Great Refuge, and one of the most powerful beings in the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control.. He and KarzahniKarzahniBionicle used one cursed name three times, for a being, a realm and a plant, and every one of them earns it. This article untangles all three. were created by the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. and each given a land to guard. Karzahni's became a place where damaged Matoran were sent to be "repaired", while Artakha made his a place of light where Matoran could work in peace. For ages both were thought to be only legends. (BIONICLE Legends 2: Dark Destiny; BIONICLE World)

Creation and the Great Refuge#

The Great Beings created Artakha and Karzahni before they made Mata Nui's spirit, and gave each a land to guard. Artakha named his after himself. Karzahni's land became a place where Matoran were sent to be repaired, and too often came back worse, while Artakha chose to govern a place of light where Matoran could work in peace and comfort. (BIONICLE Legends 2: Dark Destiny)

Soon after they were made, Artakha and Karzahni fought over the Mask of CreationThe Mask of CreationThe signature Kanohi of Ekimu the Mask Maker, the source of his creative craft. Stolen by Kulta the Skull Grinder, reclaimed at the Mask Makers' forge, and worn again in the final defence of Okoto., and Artakha won. His island was the first one the Great Beings created, and it was meant as a refuge for hard-working Matoran where no evil could enter. (BIONICLE World)

Artakha was a generous benefactor. It was said that a Matoran who wanted the impossible built could leave the materials at the gate of his fortress and come back the next day to find it made. Many other cities, Metru Nui among them, were based on the design of his island. (BIONICLE World)

The two masks#

Artakha and his island's crafters made many of the universe's great artifacts. The Toa Mata came into existence on his island, using materials provided by the Great Beings, and it was there that the Kanohi AvohkiiAvohkiiThe Avohkii is the Mask of Light, a golden mask that granted its wearer the power of Light and the ability to spread understanding. It was worn by Toa Takanuva., the Mask of Light, was forged. He also created the Axalara T9, Jetrax T6 and Rockoh T3 and left them in the Codrex in Karda Nui. (BIONICLE World; BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe)

The Brotherhood of Makuta wanted the Avohkii. Makuta Kojol led a raid on the island, and though Artakha used every defence he had to stall the invaders, they broke into his fortress, and Kojol himself made off with the mask. The theft told Artakha the Brotherhood was behind it. (The Mutran Chronicles)

Afterwards Artakha asked the Order of Mata NuiThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe. to destroy all maps and charts of his island. The Order went further, eliminating everyone who knew where it was, Kojol and some of its own members included, and the island's people destroyed the land bridge that had linked it to a larger, uninhabited island. Artakha became reclusive and slowly faded into legend. (Brothers in Arms; BIONICLE World)

Powers and works#

Artakha's telepathy and teleportation are powerful enough to reach through the shields around Karda NuiKarda NuiThe vast cavern at the core of the Matoran universe, home of the Av-Matoran's Sky Villages and the Codrex, and the site of the battle to awaken Mata Nui.. He can teleport himself, others and objects great distances, and his mental power was strong enough to undo Tren Krom's swapping of minds. (BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall; Reign of Shadows)

He is a highly skilled maker of objects and weapons, though he once tried to make Rahi of his own and produced only the four wild Crystal Serpents, which he released rather than destroy. (BIONICLE World)

When the Toa NuvaToa NuvaThe form the Toa Mata took after stepping into the Energized Protodermis beneath the Bahrag, with new masks, new tools, and the elemental scale to fight Karda Nui. came to his island, Artakha spoke to them from inside his fortress and asked to hear the tales of their recent adventures. When they had finished, he gave them Adaptive Armor and teleported them to Karda Nui to meet their destiny. (BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall)

The Reign of Shadows#

Soon after TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. took over Mata Nui's body, he sent RahkshiBionicle Rahkshi: the Sons of Makuta from Mask of LightRahkshi are armoured hunters made from kraata, the slug-like creatures of the Makuta. Six of them chased the Mask of Light across Mata Nui in 2003. Here's what they are, the different kinds and where they turn up in the films, books and comics. against Artakha's island. As 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. flew in to help, Artakha's voice told him it was too late and sent him instead to the island of Tren KromTren KromThe first purely organic creation of the Great Beings, exiled to a stone island after surrendering the core of the Matoran Universe to Mata Nui., to persuade that being to join the fight. (Reign of Shadows)

Tren Krom took Lewa's body and asked Artakha to send him to Metru Nui. Artakha thought it over and agreed, teleporting him to the Archives, but warned him to keep his bargain with Lewa or the body would be destroyed. (Reign of Shadows)

Artakha then teleported himself to the core processor, where Tren Krom, Tuyet, Miserix, Brutaka, Axonn and HelryxHelryx: the first Toa ever createdHelryx was the first Toa ever made, commissioned by the Great Beings on Artakha long before the Toa Mata. She founded and led the Order of Mata Nui. were fighting. He ordered Tren Krom back to his island, and when Tren Krom refused, he swapped Lewa's and Tren Krom's minds back. Helryx challenged him for interfering, and he answered that creation was his essence and that she would destroy all that existed. Before they could settle it, Teridax teleported the whole group out of the Matoran Universe into space. (Reign of Shadows)

Lewa saved them with bubbles of air, Artakha found his attempt to teleport them back blocked by Teridax, and then VezonVezonHe started as a weapon misfire and a throwaway joke, and the canon spent four years quietly turning him into its most useful expendable asset. pulled them all through a dimensional window into a tower on Bota Magna, the prison of a Great Being driven mad by the Ignika. The cursed Great Being begged to be freed, and the group fell to arguing about it. (Reign of Shadows)

The killer Velika later rigged that fortress to explode with all of them inside. The serial stopped before the explosion was shown. (The Powers That Be)

Legend#

Artakha is about ten feet tall, armoured in greyish green decorated with ancient symbols, and wears the Mask of Creation. To most Matoran he was a name in a story, the kind ruler of the land where good workers went, opposite the brother whose domain they feared. (Reign of Shadows; BIONICLE Legends 2: Dark Destiny)