Bula Berry

The Bula was a green-coloured berry that grew on the island of Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. and was famous across the MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. population for its ability to restore energy. The berries released that energy directly into any MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. who came into physical contact with them, a property that made Bula a recurrent fixture of the chronicled record from the earliest sources onward.

The fruit and its property#

The Bula was a small green berry, classed in the Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. flora alongside the MaduMaduThe volatile coconut-like fruit that grew on the Madu trees of Mata Nui, whose ripe form detonated at the slightest disturbance and whose unripe Cabolo form became a Matoran improvised weapon., the Vuata MacaVuata Maca CrystalThe Vuata Maca Crystals were the energy-bearing crystals that powered the Vuata Maca Trees in each Koro of Mata Nui, and the items Takua recovered to cleanse the poisoned trees during the Dark Time. fruit, and other named plants of the island's catalogue. Where the MaduMaduThe volatile coconut-like fruit that grew on the Madu trees of Mata Nui, whose ripe form detonated at the slightest disturbance and whose unripe Cabolo form became a Matoran improvised weapon. was identified by the volatility of its juices and the Vuata MacaVuata Maca CrystalThe Vuata Maca Crystals were the energy-bearing crystals that powered the Vuata Maca Trees in each Koro of Mata Nui, and the items Takua recovered to cleanse the poisoned trees during the Dark Time. by its connection to the village suvas, the Bula was identified by its restorative property. A MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. handling a Bula berry received energy from it through direct physical contact, with no preparation or processing required. The transfer was a simple matter of touch.

That property gave the Bula a practical role across the surface island. The MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. population of Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. was distributed across six widely separated villages, and movement between them required crossing wilderness inhabited by infected 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.. A traveller carrying Bula berries could replenish flagging energy in the field without recourse to a village suva or to the elemental support of a Toa. The chronicled record describes the property as particularly helpful on long journeys, which placed the berry in the same broad category of travel provisions that included staples carried out of Onu-KoroThe Onu-Koro CouncilThe advisory council to Turaga Whenua in Onu-Koro, drawing together the Ussalry, the mining and ground-forces command, and the Trading Guild around the leader of the underground village.'s bazaar and the rationed supplies of expedition parties from each village.

Documented appearances#

The first chronicled appearance of the Bula was in BIONICLEBIONICLE: Matoran AdventuresA 2002 GBA platformer where you play as one of six Matoran fighting Bohrok across Mata Nui's islands.: Quest for the Toa, the Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years.-era game record in which TakuaTakuaAn Av-Matoran hidden on Mata Nui as a Ta-Matoran, who gathered the Toa Stones, served as Chronicler, and ultimately accepted the Avohkii to become Takanuva, the Toa of Light. gathered the items needed to summon the Toa MataWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac.. The game's catalogue of items included the Bula berry alongside the MaduMaduThe volatile coconut-like fruit that grew on the Madu trees of Mata Nui, whose ripe form detonated at the slightest disturbance and whose unripe Cabolo form became a Matoran improvised weapon. Fruit, the MaduMaduThe volatile coconut-like fruit that grew on the Madu trees of Mata Nui, whose ripe form detonated at the slightest disturbance and whose unripe Cabolo form became a Matoran improvised weapon. Cabolo, the Vuata MacaVuata Maca CrystalThe Vuata Maca Crystals were the energy-bearing crystals that powered the Vuata Maca Trees in each Koro of Mata Nui, and the items Takua recovered to cleanse the poisoned trees during the Dark Time. fruit, the Vuata MacaVuata Maca CrystalThe Vuata Maca Crystals were the energy-bearing crystals that powered the Vuata Maca Trees in each Koro of Mata Nui, and the items Takua recovered to cleanse the poisoned trees during the Dark Time. crystal, the Bula 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., and the Amana Volo SphereAmana Volo SphereThe Amana Volo Spheres were free-floating globes of dark energy discharged from Rahi when their Infected Kanohi were removed, absorbed for strength and healing, and gifted to Takua by the Tree Keepers of Mata Nui as thanks for curing the Vuata Maca Trees., grouped as healing items distinct from tools, weapons, and disks. The Bula thus appeared in the record as a documented field-use commodity from the earliest game-record source onward.

It was later mentioned in both editions of the BIONICLE EncyclopediaTakua's Quest for the Toa StonesAn alternate-continuity record of Takua the Chronicler crossing Mata Nui to recover the six Toa Stones before the arrival of the Toa Mata., recorded in the catalogue listings alongside the other named plants of the Matoran UniverseThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion.. A further mention occurred in BIONICLEBIONICLE: Matoran AdventuresA 2002 GBA platformer where you play as one of six Matoran fighting Bohrok across Mata Nui's islands. Legends 11: The Final BattleThe Final BattleThe convergence of the Toa Nuva, Takanuva, and the Toa Ignika at the Codrex beneath Karda Nui, the second Energy Storm, the reawakening of Mata Nui by the sacrifice of the Ignika's body, and the moment Teridax revealed that he had taken the body for himself., in a scene set during the closing actions of the Reign of ShadowsReign of ShadowsThe year Teridax ruled the Matoran Universe from inside Mata Nui's body, and the scattered resistance plots that ran against him until the Great Spirit returned from Bara Magna., in which 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., KopakaKopakaKopaka was the Toa Nuva of Ice, deputy commander of the Toa Mata, and one of the six warriors crafted on Artakha to defend the Matoran Universe., and OnuaOnuaOnua was the Toa Mata and Toa Nuva of Earth, a quiet, deliberate warrior whose patience and underground mastery anchored his team across the Matoran Universe. had been forced to fight the MakutaTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. beneath a stand of trees. As the three Toa traded attacks, 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. related a story about three MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. carrying a basket of Bula berries who were confronted by a swarm of Nui-RamaNui-RamaLarge insect-like Rahi with deadly claws and venom, known for kidnapping Matoran and attacking Le-Koro.. The Bula appeared in that scene as a stock domestic detail of Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. life, the fruit of which a basket-load was the natural quantity for a MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. errand.

The game-record variance#

A documented variance in the Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years.-era record concerns the Bula berry's specific in-game effect. The general chronicled description identifies the fruit as energy-restoring, with the energy passed directly into the MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. on physical contact. In the BIONICLEBIONICLE: Matoran AdventuresA 2002 GBA platformer where you play as one of six Matoran fighting Bohrok across Mata Nui's islands.: Quest for the Toa game record, however, the Bula berry functioned as a health-restoration item rather than an energy-restoration item. The two effects were related but distinct: energy referred to the MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion.'s capacity for sustained activity, while health referred to physical condition after injury or stress. The variance is the principal documented inconsistency in the Bula record and is preserved in the catalogued chronicled sources without resolution.

A further unresolved question concerns the Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. Online Game record. In one scene, 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. of Ko-KoroKo-Koro GuardThe defensive force of Ko-Koro on Mata Nui, also known as the Sanctum Guard, drawn from Ko-Matoran trained for vigilance in the icy peaks. recovered TakuaTakuaAn Av-Matoran hidden on Mata Nui as a Ta-Matoran, who gathered the Toa Stones, served as Chronicler, and ultimately accepted the Avohkii to become Takanuva, the Toa of Light. after the latter had collapsed while wandering in The DriftsThe DriftsKo-Wahi's frozen wastes were a deadly expanse where snowstorms made navigation nearly impossible, claiming Matoran who ventured unprepared. of the northern snowfields, and gave him an item to restore his energy. The chronicled record does not name the item as a Bula berry, and the colour of the fruit in the game scene differs from the standard green of the catalogued Bula. 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.'s description of the item's effect, however, matches the canonical Bula property of energy restoration. Whether the item was a Bula in a non-standard colouring, a related fruit, or a separate entry of the Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. catalogue altogether is unresolved in the chronicled record.

Place in the Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. flora#

The Bula sat within the Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. plant catalogue as one of the named healing items. The catalogue distinguished healing fruit from the volatile fruit such as the MaduMaduThe volatile coconut-like fruit that grew on the Madu trees of Mata Nui, whose ripe form detonated at the slightest disturbance and whose unripe Cabolo form became a Matoran improvised weapon. and its MaduMaduThe volatile coconut-like fruit that grew on the Madu trees of Mata Nui, whose ripe form detonated at the slightest disturbance and whose unripe Cabolo form became a Matoran improvised weapon. Cabolo unripe form, both of which were treated as ordnance rather than as restoration items. The Vuata MacaVuata Maca CrystalThe Vuata Maca Crystals were the energy-bearing crystals that powered the Vuata Maca Trees in each Koro of Mata Nui, and the items Takua recovered to cleanse the poisoned trees during the Dark Time. fruit and its crystal occupied the position of formal restoration items tied to the village suvas. The Bula occupied the position of a freely gathered restoration item, with no formal tree-keeper requirement and no ceremonial relationship to a KoroPo-KoroPo-Koro was the Po-Matoran village in Po-Wahi, led by Turaga Onewa and guarded by Toa Pohatu, reached through a single statue-lined road called the Path of Prophecies.'s suva. A MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. could pick a Bula in the field and use it on the spot, where a Vuata MacaVuata Maca CrystalThe Vuata Maca Crystals were the energy-bearing crystals that powered the Vuata Maca Trees in each Koro of Mata Nui, and the items Takua recovered to cleanse the poisoned trees during the Dark Time. fruit required the intervention of the local tree keeper to be made fully restorative.

That distinction placed the Bula in the everyday practical economy of the island rather than in the ceremonial or institutional economy. The berry was a known commodity at any roadside or wilderness path. The fruit's appearance in 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 parable as the basket-load that a MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. party would naturally be carrying reflects that same status: the Bula was the kind of provision a traveller would have on hand without ceremony, the kind that a MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. walking between villages would think to take and would think to share.

Status after the Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. era#

The Bula's documented presence in the record is concentrated in the Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. era, with the BIONICLEBIONICLE: Matoran AdventuresA 2002 GBA platformer where you play as one of six Matoran fighting Bohrok across Mata Nui's islands. Legends 11: The Final BattleThe Final BattleThe convergence of the Toa Nuva, Takanuva, and the Toa Ignika at the Codrex beneath Karda Nui, the second Energy Storm, the reawakening of Mata Nui by the sacrifice of the Ignika's body, and the moment Teridax revealed that he had taken the body for himself. mention placing it in the closing period of the Matoran UniverseThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. chronology by way 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 recounted parable. The chronicled record does not detail whether Bula trees or shrubs survived the destruction of the Matoran UniverseThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. and the migration of the surviving population to Spherus MagnaMata 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., nor whether the species was restored among the flora of the reformed planet. The Bula remains in the catalogued record as a fixture of the Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years.-era surface, a small green fruit whose practical value to a travelling MatoranThe Matoran CouncilThe governing body of the sunken city of Mahri Nui, a rotating council of Matoran leaders who met monthly in the Council Chamber of the Mahri Nui Fortress to plan the city's future, distribute the gifts from above, and decide the response to the Barraki incursion. outlasted every weapon and every ceremony of the period in which it was first chronicled.