Burnak

The Burnak were a four-legged, tiger-like 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. species found 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., said to be a mix of a canine, a feline and an unknown creature. They were created by the MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate. using liquid protodermis and viruses, and came in elemental and regional varieties spread across the island. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe; Voya Nui Online Game)

Origins#

The Burnak species was created by the MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate. using a combination of viruses and liquid protodermis, as one of 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. meant to live in the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control.. That puts them among the many Rahi the Brotherhood of MakutaThe Brotherhood of MakutaAn organization of Makuta created by Mata Nui to build Rahi and keep order in his universe, later seized by Teridax and turned into the instrument of the Plan that overthrew the Great Spirit. produced for the universe's different environments. (BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe)

Many Burnak lived in 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. region of the Southern Continent. When 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. tore that region loose and sent it rocketing to the surface, the surviving Burnak lived there for the next thousand years. No story follows them after Voya Nui sank back into place on the Southern Continent. (Voya Nui Online Game; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

Elemental and environmental variants#

The Burnak came in several types tied to different parts of 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.. Fire Burnak lived on the slopes around Mount ValmaiMount ValmaiA roiling volcano on Voya Nui that guarded the Ignika and tested three desperate expeditions seeking the Mask of Life.. Water Burnak lived along the Cape of No Hope. Earth Burnak lived in the Green Belt. Stone Burnak roamed the Desert of Sorrows. Ice Burnak lived along the Ring of IceRing of IceVoya Nui's frozen shoreline and the first landing place of the Piraka.. Air Burnak ranged across the eastern side of the island. (Voya Nui Online Game)

Two more types didn't match the standard elements. Desert Burnak also lived in the Desert of Sorrows, and 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. 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. resistance tamed one as his pet. 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. Burnak lived near the island's Lake of Protodermis. (Voya Nui Online Game)

A further type was the GuardianGuardianA Dark Hunter who tracked down captured operatives before the fall, and later fought beside Tahu in the ruins of Karzahni. or stronghold Burnak, kept by the PirakaBionicle Piraka: the Six Skakdi Thieves Who Hunted the Mask of LifeThe Piraka were six Skakdi who quit the Dark Hunters, took over Voya Nui by posing as Toa and went after the Mask of Life in 2006. Here's who they were, how the Voya Nui story played out and what happened to them afterwards. to defend their Stronghold. No story says whether these were wild Burnak captured from the other varieties or a separate line. (Voya Nui Online Game)

Behavior and powers#

Burnak were agile and aggressive, but they could be tamed. When they fought, they could use their elemental power or simply attack physically, depending on their type. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; Voya Nui Online Game)

The PirakaBionicle Piraka: the Six Skakdi Thieves Who Hunted the Mask of LifeThe Piraka were six Skakdi who quit the Dark Hunters, took over Voya Nui by posing as Toa and went after the Mask of Life in 2006. Here's who they were, how the Voya Nui story played out and what happened to them afterwards. put them to harsher use. After the six SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. took over the Piraka StrongholdPiraka StrongholdA fortress built by enslaved Matoran, it became the nexus of the Piraka's failed conquest of Voya Nui., they kept GuardianGuardianA Dark Hunter who tracked down captured operatives before the fall, and later fought beside Tahu in the ruins of Karzahni. Burnak there as part of its defences. (Voya Nui Online Game)

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.'s Desert Burnak is the best-known tame one. He was a Le-MatoranLe-MatoranGreen-powered Matoran obsessed with thrills and transport. They're basically Bionicle's daredevils. 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. resistance who tamed the creature during the thousand years after the Cataclysm. (Voya Nui Online Game)

Place in the wider record#

The Burnak are a minor part of the 2006 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. story. Most of what's known about them comes from the Voya Nui Online Game and a short entry in BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated. (Voya Nui Online Game; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

The PirakaBionicle Piraka: the Six Skakdi Thieves Who Hunted the Mask of LifeThe Piraka were six Skakdi who quit the Dark Hunters, took over Voya Nui by posing as Toa and went after the Mask of Life in 2006. Here's who they were, how the Voya Nui story played out and what happened to them afterwards.'s use of Guardian Burnak fits how the SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. ran 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.: rather than bringing their own creatures, they put what they found on the island to work. (Voya Nui Online Game)