The Quest for the Mask of Life: The Voya Nui Descent

The descent into the catacombs beneath Mount ValmaiMount ValmaiA roiling volcano on Voya Nui that guarded the Ignika and tested three desperate expeditions seeking the Mask of Life. was the longest single chapter of the Voya NuiVoya NuiAn island born from catastrophe and hiding the universe's most powerful artifact, Voya Nui was everything Bionicle 2006 promised: danger, mystery, and a race against time. crisis, and the only one that brought the Toa InikaToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself. and the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. face to face inside the Chamber of LifeChamber of LifeThe Chamber of Life was a vault built by the Great Beings beneath Mount Valmai on Voya Nui to house the Kanohi Ignika for over one hundred thousand years. itself. Both teams had come for the Kanohi IgnikaThe 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.. Only one would leave with a bearer. Before that resolution, the tunnels demanded of every traveller a willingness to die for what waited at the bottom, and one of the Toa InikaToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself. gave that answer first.

The catacombs and their architects#

The tunnels beneath Mount ValmaiMount ValmaiA roiling volcano on Voya Nui that guarded the Ignika and tested three desperate expeditions seeking the Mask of Life. were not natural. Over 100,000 years before the Toa InikaToa InikaSix former Matoran who entered Karzahni broken and emerged as the next Toa team, transformed on the shore of Voya Nui by a lightning strike from the red star. set foot in them, two Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. had travelled through the regions of ArtakhaArtakhaArtakha was the master craftsman of the Matoran Universe, ruler of a hidden island, and the forger of the Toa Mata, the Avohkii, and the Kraahkan. and KarzahniKarzahniBionicle reused one cursed name three times, and every instance earns it, this is the article that finally untangles all three. and arrived in the place that would become Voya NuiVoya NuiAn island born from catastrophe and hiding the universe's most powerful artifact, Voya Nui was everything Bionicle 2006 promised: danger, mystery, and a race against time.. They built the descent themselves and seeded its length with traps, intending the network to serve as an admissions test for whoever might one day come seeking the mask at the bottom. One of them had forged the Kanohi IgnikaThe 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.. Both were wary of its power. They departed believing that the mask would be removed from the chamber roughly 100,000 years later, and that it would be returned once its bearer had learned what it was.

The two passages that branched at the first fork were the first sorting mechanism. The right tunnel admitted those who came for power. The left tunnel admitted those who came for need. The PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. took the right.

The PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. and Irnakk#

Going right, ZaktanZaktanMutated Skakdi leader of the Piraka, formerly a Dark Hunter whose body was dissolved into a colony of Protodites by the Shadowed One and reformed with its consciousness intact., HakannHakannThe Skakdi bully known for pure aggression, from Dark Hunter mercenary to Piraka thief driven by violence and power., AvakAvakA Skakdi thief whose perfect prisons made him invaluable to the Piraka's Mask of Life heist., ThokThok (the Drifter)The Piraka's cowardly thief learned that ice guns and dirty tactics can't save you from Toa with elemental fury., VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui., and ReidakReidakA sadistic Skakdi thug who traded the Dark Hunters for the Piraka and paid the price. were attacked by a being calling itself IrnakkIrnakkIrnakk was a Skakdi myth that gained temporary existence in the Zone of Nightmares, manifesting to confront the Piraka on their path to the Ignika., the SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. folk-tale boogeyman whose name they had grown up cursing one another with. IrnakkIrnakkIrnakk was a Skakdi myth that gained temporary existence in the Zone of Nightmares, manifesting to confront the Piraka on their path to the Ignika. was not flesh in the conventional sense. He was a SkakdiSidorak's SpeciesSidorak's species formed the dominant warlord caste on Stelt, ruling through forced combat and producing many of the Dark Hunters' most violent recruits. cultural fear-figure that the trap mechanism had given temporary substance, armed with zamor spheresZamor SphereHollow projectiles that fire various substances through temporarily intangible barriers, from poisons to bottled godhood. that turned each PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui.'s worst fears against him.

ZaktanZaktanMutated Skakdi leader of the Piraka, formerly a Dark Hunter whose body was dissolved into a colony of Protodites by the Shadowed One and reformed with its consciousness intact., drawn into IrnakkIrnakkIrnakk was a Skakdi myth that gained temporary existence in the Zone of Nightmares, manifesting to confront the Piraka on their path to the Ignika.'s mind during the fight, deduced the rule that governed the manifestation. IrnakkIrnakkIrnakk was a Skakdi myth that gained temporary existence in the Zone of Nightmares, manifesting to confront the Piraka on their path to the Ignika. would persist only so long as he was feared. ZaktanZaktanMutated Skakdi leader of the Piraka, formerly a Dark Hunter whose body was dissolved into a colony of Protodites by the Shadowed One and reformed with its consciousness intact. ceased to fear him, declared that he himself used fear as a weapon in much the same way, and IrnakkIrnakkIrnakk was a Skakdi myth that gained temporary existence in the Zone of Nightmares, manifesting to confront the Piraka on their path to the Ignika. vanished. The senior PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. had outlasted a phantom by being colder than the phantom could imagine.

The PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. pressed on through entrapping cylinders that locked them in place individually, a chamber that filled with mildly mutagenic water drawn from the PitThe PitThe Order of Mata Nui's maximum-security underwater prison where the Barraki warlords were held until catastrophe broke their chains., and a corridor of fire jets that left them scorched and bleeding before HakannHakannThe Skakdi bully known for pure aggression, from Dark Hunter mercenary to Piraka thief driven by violence and power. located the release switch. Each obstacle was designed to test a different quality. Patience, ingenuity, endurance. The PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. passed all three through the simple expedient of being willing to inflict on each other whatever the chamber demanded. By the time they reached the bridge above the chasm leading to the chamber, they were exhausted, soaked, and seething, but they were ahead of the Toa. They set up an ambush on the span and waited.

The Toa Inika and the Chamber of Death#

The Toa InikaToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself. reached the same fork shortly after. The left passage stood unblocked. The right had been sealed for what looked like a very long time. They went left.

The first encounter was an illusion of LhikanLhikanToa of Fire, leader of the Toa Mangai, and the last Toa of Metru Nui, who surrendered his Toa Power to create the Toa Metru and died defending Vakama., the ToaThe Toa: Heroes of the Matoran UniverseThe Toa were biomechanical guardians sworn to protect the Matoran, bound by a strict code and defined by sacrifice across every age of the universe. who had given his life to make the Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety. possible. The figure warned them to turn back before it was too late. They refused. The illusion conceded that he would not have turned back either, and vanished. The next chamber filled with phantoms: TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. himself, a RahkshiRahkshiArmor suits powered by parasitic Kraata, Rahkshi were Teridax's most effective soldiers and among Bionicle's most visually iconic early enemies. of fear, a TahnokTahnokFire-element Bohrok swarms from Mata Nui, controlled by krana and armed with Fire Shields., a Bohrok-KalBohrok-Kal Kaita ZaA theoretical fusion of Tahnok-Kal, Pahrak-Kal, and Nuhvok-Kal, capable of fusion in principle but never assembled during the Bohrok-Kal campaign., a Nui-RamaThe Nui-Rama HiveThe Nui-Rama Hive served as a Rahi nest, Matoran prison, and protodermis mining site during Teridax's shadow occupation of Mata Nui., and a MuakaMuakaTiger-like predators of Ko-Wahi with claws, teeth, and a taste for anything that moves.. The ToaThe Toa: Heroes of the Matoran UniverseThe Toa were biomechanical guardians sworn to protect the Matoran, bound by a strict code and defined by sacrifice across every age of the universe. Inika defeated them with unusual ease. The defeated illusions then resolved into the forms of the Toa NuvaToa Mata and Toa NuvaSix biomechanical heroes created by the Great Beings to awaken Mata Nui and defeat the Brotherhood, transformed once and tested across an entire age.. The Inika faltered, fearing they had struck down their predecessors. JallerJallerJaller served as Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard, led the Toa Inika to Voya Nui, and commanded the Toa Mahri through the recovery of the Mask of Life. steadied them. KonguKonguKongu commanded Le-Koro's Gukko Force before a strike from the Kanohi Ignika transformed him into a Toa of Air who later served among the Toa Mahri., bearing the Kanohi SuletuSuletuThe Suletu, Mask of Telepathy, allowed its wearer to read thoughts and project thoughts into other minds. Its best-known wearers were Toa Inika Kongu and Toa Krakua., realised the truth: he had heard no thoughts from the Nuva. The figures had been hollow. They had been manifestations, not Toa.

The illusion-trick of reading thought to detect the absence of it would serve the Inika repeatedly across the rest of the descent.

The chamber that followed was the Chamber of DeathChamber of LifeThe Chamber of Life was a vault built by the Great Beings beneath Mount Valmai on Voya Nui to house the Kanohi Ignika for over one hundred thousand years.. A recorded voice, left in the room ten millennia earlier by one of the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed., informed the team that one of them would have to die for the rest to pass. MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. volunteered. His reasoning was that the rest of the team possessed skills the quest required, and he himself was merely an interpreter, neither warrior nor athlete nor ChroniclerChronicler's StaffA ceremonial inscribing tool used by the Matoran Chronicler to record events on the Wall of History, carried in succession from Kodan to Kopeke. nor inventor. He stepped forward. A beam of energy struck him. He was destroyed.

His body then reconstituted. The recording explained that the requirement had not been death but willingness to face it. MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. had passed. The team continued.

In a later chamber, the 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. ProtodaxProtodaxTrillions of times enlarged Protodites who served as the Ignika's unwilling sentinels on Voya Nui, armed with Zamor Launchers. attacked them, and the guardian UmbraUmbraUmbra is a unique being who served as a guardian of the Mask of Life, operating under both the Hand of Artakha and the Order of Mata Nui. Colored dark green, yellow, and silver, he wielded a Laser Lance and Rhotuka spinner and wore a powerless Ruru. He possessed the power of Light and resided on Spherus Magna. intervened, first against the ProtodaxProtodaxTrillions of times enlarged Protodites who served as the Ignika's unwilling sentinels on Voya Nui, armed with Zamor Launchers. and then against the Inika themselves. UmbraUmbraUmbra is a unique being who served as a guardian of the Mask of Life, operating under both the Hand of Artakha and the Order of Mata Nui. Colored dark green, yellow, and silver, he wielded a Laser Lance and Rhotuka spinner and wore a powerless Ruru. He possessed the power of Light and resided on Spherus Magna.'s power was movement at the speed of light. He could not be hit by anything slower than he was. The ToaThe Toa: Heroes of the Matoran UniverseThe Toa were biomechanical guardians sworn to protect the Matoran, bound by a strict code and defined by sacrifice across every age of the universe. froze the chamber with ice, used the resulting mirrors to split his light-form into reflections that moved in opposite directions at the same speed, and subdued him. MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. worked out the geometry.

The Inika continued down. The path between the Chamber of Death and the Chamber of LifeChamber of LifeThe Chamber of Life was a vault built by the Great Beings beneath Mount Valmai on Voya Nui to house the Kanohi Ignika for over one hundred thousand years. ran for what the team estimated to be several miles, the tunnel walls carved by no tool any of them recognised, with the markings of the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. appearing at intervals along the corridor. The descent was not unbroken. JallerJallerJaller served as Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard, led the Toa Inika to Voya Nui, and commanded the Toa Mahri through the recovery of the Mask of Life. called rest stops where the team's wounds could be tended. NuparuNuparuAn Onu-Matoran engineer from Metru Nui who built the Boxor and rose to become a Toa of Earth despite no warrior destiny. inspected the trap mechanisms they had passed and confirmed his suspicion that the entire tunnel network was a single integrated machine, each section communicating with the others to admit or deny passage as the testing required.

AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years. and Brutaka at the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. Stronghold#

Above ground, at the Piraka StrongholdPiraka StrongholdA fortress built by enslaved Matoran, it became the nexus of the Piraka's failed conquest of Voya Nui., the duel between AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years. and BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team. reached its conclusion. The two had once stood watch together over 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 the betrayal that had divided them was now settled in single combat. BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team., taller and longer-reached, had the advantage in opening exchanges, and was reinforcing himself through repeated doses of AntidermisAntidermisAntidermis was the physical substance that composed every Makuta, a revelation that fundamentally altered how fans understood the brotherhood's origin. drawn from a vat the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. had left in the stronghold. AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years. attempted to take BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team.'s sword and was reminded, with a painful electrical shock, that he had given the weapon to BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team. centuries earlier. BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team. opened a dimensional portal at AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years.'s back with the Kanohi OlmakThe Kanohi OlmakThe Kanohi Olmak was the Great Mask of Dimensional Gates, a portal-opening Kanohi forged by Artakha. Only two ever existed in the Matoran Universe, and both passed through the hands of figures who reshaped the late storyline., the Mask of Dimensional Gates, knowing the portal would remain open until something passed through it.

AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years. shattered the AntidermisAntidermisAntidermis was the physical substance that composed every Makuta, a revelation that fundamentally altered how fans understood the brotherhood's origin. vat instead. As it broke, he heard a second voice beside BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team.'s, deeper and more guttural, as though 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. had been riding him through the substance he had been drinking. AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years. struck BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team. down with a blast of power, and sanity returned to his eyes a moment before he lost consciousness. Then BotarBotarThe Order of Mata Nui's teleporting enforcer hunted universe-threatening dangers and locked them in the Pit until a Makuta's magnetic power stopped him cold. appeared, an 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. operative whose existence had been entirely unknown to the wider universe until that moment. He took custody of BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team. and warned AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years. that any attempt to interfere with the Order's judgement of him would be met with BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team.'s further punishment. AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years. did not interfere.

The OlmakThe Kanohi OlmakThe Kanohi Olmak was the Great Mask of Dimensional Gates, a portal-opening Kanohi forged by Artakha. Only two ever existed in the Matoran Universe, and both passed through the hands of figures who reshaped the late storyline. portal BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team. had opened proved to connect to the Zone of DarknessZone of DarknessThe Zone of Darkness was a lightless pocket dimension accessed through Kahgarak Rhotuka and the Kanohi Olmak, used as a banishment realm.. From within it emerged KrahkaKrahkaKrahka is a Rahi affiliated with various groups and known to have worn various Kanohi; only one of her kind remains. and TahtorakTahtorakMassive, articulate Rahi that turned against their Skakdi riders and nearly wiped out an entire civilization., both creatures long thought lost. They departed for their own ends.

Three institutional secrets of the universe were exposed in the space of a single afternoon: 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., the agent BotarBotarThe Order of Mata Nui's teleporting enforcer hunted universe-threatening dangers and locked them in the Pit until a Makuta's magnetic power stopped him cold., and the existence of the Zone of DarknessZone of DarknessThe Zone of Darkness was a lightless pocket dimension accessed through Kahgarak Rhotuka and the Kanohi Olmak, used as a banishment realm.. HelryxHelryxHelryx was the first Toa created by the Great Beings, founder of the Order of Mata Nui, and commander of its covert war against the Brotherhood of Makuta.'s organisation was no longer entirely hidden.

The Matoran Resistance frees the Toa Nuva#

Elsewhere on Voya NuiVoya NuiAn island born from catastrophe and hiding the universe's most powerful artifact, Voya Nui was everything Bionicle 2006 promised: danger, mystery, and a race against time., the Matoran ResistanceVoya Nui Resistance TeamSix Matoran of Voya Nui who recognised the Piraka as impostors and waged a covert campaign against them before the arrival of the Toa Inika. led by GaranGaranGaran is a black and grey Matoran of Earth who served as the leader of the Voya Nui Resistance Team, a group dedicated to opposing the Piraka occupation of Voya Nui. He wore a powerless Ruru and carried Pulse Bolt Generators in combat. He later resided on Spherus Magna., with BaltaBaltaBalta is a Ta-Matoran residing on Spherus Magna, distinguished by his dark red and yellow-orange coloring and his Great Kanohi Huna. A member of the Voya Nui Resistance Team, he carries Twin Repellers and possesses an innate but dormant connection to the element of Fire., DaluDaluDalu is a blue and silver Ga-Matoran warrior of the Water element, wearing a powerless Rau and wielding Twin Chargers in combat. Dalu resides on Spherus Magna., KaziKaziKazi is a Ko-Matoran of Ice who wears a Kanohi Matatu and is distinguished by his white and light-blue coloring. A member of the Voya Nui Resistance Team, he wields Echo Forks and resides on Spherus Magna., PirukPirukPiruk is a Le-Matoran spy who wears a powerless Mahiki and bears the element of Air. Colored in dark green and greenish-yellow, he wields Shredder Claws as his tools and resides on Spherus Magna., and the inscrutable VelikaVelikaVelika is a Great Being who disguised himself as a Po-Matoran on Mata Nui, wearing a powerless Komau and bearing an affinity for Stone. Colored in golden brown, grey, and orange, he worked as an inventor and carried Power Carvers as his tools. He was last known to be located on Bota Magna., located the Toa NuvaToa Mata and Toa NuvaSix biomechanical heroes created by the Great Beings to awaken Mata Nui and defeat the Brotherhood, transformed once and tested across an entire age.. The Nuva had been overcome by an AntidermisAntidermisAntidermis was the physical substance that composed every Makuta, a revelation that fundamentally altered how fans understood the brotherhood's origin.-enslavement device shortly after their arrival on the island, and had been operating under the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui.'s control ever since. The discovery had been a quiet shock to the Resistance. The ToaThe Toa: Heroes of the Matoran UniverseThe Toa were biomechanical guardians sworn to protect the Matoran, bound by a strict code and defined by sacrifice across every age of the universe. they had refused to wait for, whom they had assumed dead or unwilling, had been on the island the entire time, fighting against the very people they had come to save. The Resistance turned their own zamor sphere launchersZamor LauncherThe Zamor Launcher is a weapon belonging to the Shooting Zamors group, formerly wielded by the Piraka, the Toa Inika, and Toa Jovan. It is no longer in use. on the captive Toa and broke the enslavement. The Nuva, themselves once again, joined the broader resistance effort, though the embarrassment of their captivity would weigh on TahuTahu (2001)Tahu was the Toa Mata of Fire and leader of the team, from his first landing on Ta-Wahi Beach to the destruction of Teridax's Rahkshi army on Bara Magna with the Golden Armor. in particular for some time.

The Chamber of LifeChamber of LifeThe Chamber of Life was a vault built by the Great Beings beneath Mount Valmai on Voya Nui to house the Kanohi Ignika for over one hundred thousand years.#

The PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. ambushed the Inika on the bridge, as planned. The elemental energies of the Toa collapsed the structure beneath both groups. The PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. recovered first and reached the Chamber of LifeChamber of LifeThe Chamber of Life was a vault built by the Great Beings beneath Mount Valmai on Voya Nui to house the Kanohi Ignika for over one hundred thousand years. ahead of the Inika.

There they found their long-lost sixth member, 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., and his enormous mount FenrakkFenrakkA Rahi spider enlarged by the Mask of Life and bonded to Vezon, then reborn as Kardas after the lava bath in the Chamber of Life.. 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. carried 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. upon his own face. He offered to surrender it on the condition that the other PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. kill VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui.. The other PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. were willing. ZaktanZaktanMutated Skakdi leader of the Piraka, formerly a Dark Hunter whose body was dissolved into a colony of Protodites by the Shadowed One and reformed with its consciousness intact. discerned the trap. The Ignika could not be surrendered. It was bonded to 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., and would not yield itself to anyone of his choosing.

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. then deployed the Spear of FusionSpear of FusionThe Spear of Fusion is the artifact Hakann used in reverse on Vezok in Mangaia, splitting off Vezon as a separate being. Vezon then carried it to Voya Nui until Jaller destroyed it. and merged VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui. and ReidakReidakA sadistic Skakdi thug who traded the Dark Hunters for the Piraka and paid the price. into the Piraka FusionThe Piraka FusionWhen two Skakdi warriors become one creature, the result is barely more than a weapon with a hunger to destroy., a monstrous giant that obeyed his commands and turned upon the rest of the PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui.. By the time the Toa InikaToa InikaSix former Matoran who entered Karzahni broken and emerged as the next Toa team, transformed on the shore of Voya Nui by a lightning strike from the red star. arrived, the chamber was a brawl.

JallerJallerJaller served as Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard, led the Toa Inika to Voya Nui, and commanded the Toa Mahri through the recovery of the Mask of Life. pushed 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. and FenrakkFenrakkA Rahi spider enlarged by the Mask of Life and bonded to Vezon, then reborn as Kardas after the lava bath in the Chamber of Life. into the lava that ran around the chamber's perimeter. Both survived. FenrakkFenrakkA Rahi spider enlarged by the Mask of Life and bonded to Vezon, then reborn as Kardas after the lava bath in the Chamber of Life. transformed into the dragon KardasKardasA winged Rahi dragon created when the Mask of Life rebuilt the Fenrakk Spider in a lava river beneath the Chamber of Life, retaining Vezon as a fused rider.. JallerJallerJaller served as Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard, led the Toa Inika to Voya Nui, and commanded the Toa Mahri through the recovery of the Mask of Life. reasoned that the Ignika itself might be sentient, and asked KonguKonguKongu commanded Le-Koro's Gukko Force before a strike from the Kanohi Ignika transformed him into a Toa of Air who later served among the Toa Mahri. to read its thoughts through the SuletuSuletuThe Suletu, Mask of Telepathy, allowed its wearer to read thoughts and project thoughts into other minds. Its best-known wearers were Toa Inika Kongu and Toa Krakua.. KonguKonguKongu commanded Le-Koro's Gukko Force before a strike from the Kanohi Ignika transformed him into a Toa of Air who later served among the Toa Mahri. reported that the mask had sensed the Inika's approach, and had already chosen MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. as its guardian on the basis of his attitude toward others. Broadcasting those thoughts into 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.'s mind drove him into a rage. JallerJallerJaller served as Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard, led the Toa Inika to Voya Nui, and commanded the Toa Mahri through the recovery of the Mask of Life. deployed a special zamor sphere AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years. had given him, which froze 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. and KardasKardasA winged Rahi dragon created when the Mask of Life rebuilt the Fenrakk Spider in a lava river beneath the Chamber of Life, retaining Vezon as a fused rider. in place. MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. removed the Kanohi IgnikaThe 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. from 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.'s face.

The willingness MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. had offered in the Chamber of DeathChamber of LifeThe Chamber of Life was a vault built by the Great Beings beneath Mount Valmai on Voya Nui to house the Kanohi Ignika for over one hundred thousand years. had been the audition for what the mask required of him now. The bond was already in place by the time he lifted it.

The 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. survivor#

The Ignika did not remain in the chamber for long. It escaped both teams and flew upward through the catacombs, breaking out into the open air above Voya Nui BayVoya Nui BayA bay that swallowed a city and became an unwitting memorial to the living.. HahliHahliA Ga-Matoran scholar who rose to become Chronicler of Mata Nui, then Toa Inika, then Toa Mahri of Water during the final crises of the Matoran Universe., who had travelled to Voya NuiVoya NuiAn island born from catastrophe and hiding the universe's most powerful artifact, Voya Nui was everything Bionicle 2006 promised: danger, mystery, and a race against time. by then, dove after it as it sank into the water. The pressure overcame her. She lost consciousness in the deeps.

A MatoranMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control. she had never seen surfaced beneath her, dragged her to shore, and gasped out a plea for help on behalf of a city beneath the waters of the bay. He died on the sand. He was a Ta-MatoranTa-MatoranThe Fire-element Matoran of Ta-Metru and Ta-Koro, forgers of masks and Kanoka, lava farmers, and the standing core of the Ta-Koro Guard during the war for Mata Nui. of 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., a settlement of survivors that had been clinging to existence under the sea for centuries, and his arrival was the first warning the surface had received that the city existed at all.

The ToaThe Toa: Heroes of the Matoran UniverseThe Toa were biomechanical guardians sworn to protect the Matoran, bound by a strict code and defined by sacrifice across every age of the universe. Nuva depart#

In the aftermath, the Toa InikaToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself., AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years., and the freed Toa NuvaToa Mata and Toa NuvaSix biomechanical heroes created by the Great Beings to awaken Mata Nui and defeat the Brotherhood, transformed once and tested across an entire age. gathered. It was agreed that the Inika would pursue the Mask of Life into the waters of the bay while the Nuva departed on a separate errand. TahuTahu (2001)Tahu was the Toa Mata of Fire and leader of the team, from his first landing on Ta-Wahi Beach to the destruction of Teridax's Rahkshi army on Bara Magna with the Golden Armor. promised that the Nuva would await the Inika upon their return.

After the Inika had moved on, AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years. confronted TahuTahu (2001)Tahu was the Toa Mata of Fire and leader of the team, from his first landing on Ta-Wahi Beach to the destruction of Teridax's Rahkshi army on Bara Magna with the Golden Armor. privately. TahuTahu (2001)Tahu was the Toa Mata of Fire and leader of the team, from his first landing on Ta-Wahi Beach to the destruction of Teridax's Rahkshi army on Bara Magna with the Golden Armor. admitted he had lied. The Nuva had been given a cryptic mission of their own, a long assignment whose nature would not become clear for years, and which would eventually carry them across the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control. to prepare for the trials of Karda NuiKarda NuiThe vast inner cavern at the core of the Matoran Universe, original home of the Av-Matoran, site of the Codrex and the final battle that decided the fate of Mata Nui..

AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years. then opened a tunnel in the floor of the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. village that led down to the dark water of the bay. The Inika prepared to descend. He warned them of the dangers they would face below. The pursuit of 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. had passed into a second phase. MatoroMatoroA quiet Ko-Matoran translator who became a Toa Inika and then a Toa Mahri, Matoro gave his life with the Mask of Life to restore Mata Nui. carried it now, and what he would do with it two events later would end his life and save the universe in the same moment.