Defilak's Submarine
The Mahri Nui Reconnaissance Craft
Defilak's Submarine was a Takea-shaped underwater craft built by the Mahri Nui Matoran Defilak. Its one voyage into the black water ended when Pridak's Takea sharks sank it and took its crew prisoner.
Defilak's Submarine was an undersea vehicle built by the Le-MatoranLe-MatoranGreen-powered Matoran obsessed with thrills and transport. They're basically Bionicle's daredevils. DefilakDefilakDefilak is a dark green and silver Le-Matoran who serves as leader of the Mahri Nui Council and as an inventor. He wears a powerless Kualsi and wields Electro-Blades alongside an Air Launcher. As a Le-Matoran, he carries an inactive affinity for the element of Air and resides on Spherus Magna. 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., modelled on a Takea sharkTakea SharkTakea were a species of shark-like predator Rahi created by the Makuta from Viruses and liquid protodermis, found in the waters of Ga-Wahi and later organised by the Barraki Pridak into the standing army he used against the Mahri Nui Matoran and the Toa Mahri.. Its only recorded voyage, a scouting trip into the black water to find out what was preying on the city's Matoran, ended when Takea sharks attacked it and it sank to the sea floor. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
Design and origins#
Defilak invented and built the submarine for the then leader of the Matoran Council, a Po-MatoranPo-MatoranThe Stone-element Matoran of Po-Metru and Po-Koro, carvers and quarry workers, the most athletic of the Matoran types and the population behind the Kohlii and Akilini circuits. who wanted to study the rocks on the ocean floor. After seeing the finished craft, the Po-Matoran gave up on the idea and never used it. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
The hull was shaped like a Takea shark. Its body was metallic protodermis and its windows crystalline protodermis. Lightstones worked as headlights, there were air launchers on both sides and a claw grabber at the front, and a crew member drove it by turning a handle that worked a rotor at the back. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
The Matoran Council's decision#
Something in the waters around Mahri Nui was picking off Matoran. When Defilak was elected leader of the city, he decided to take his old submarine down into the black water to find out what it was. As he described it, the craft could go down, explore, and rise back up to the city. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
The crew#
Four Matoran went: Defilak, the 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. Sarda, the Ga-MatoranGa-MatoranThe Water-element Matoran of Ga-Metru and Ga-Koro, a female Matoran type, who filled the schools of Metru Nui and crewed the boats of the Mata Nui coast. Idris, and the Onu-MatoranOnu-MatoranEarth-wielding Matoran of the deep who adapted to darkness and built the Matoran Universe's defensive cavalry. Gar. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
The descent#
The submarine took the crew out of the city and down into the black water below it. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
The attack and the wreck#
Down in the dark, a swarm of Takea sharks attacked. The crew spotted PridakPridak: the most savage of the BarrakiPridak was the most savage of the six Barraki warlords and commanded an army of sharks. The League of Six Kingdoms ended with all six imprisoned in the Pit. of the BarrakiThe BarrakiSix warlords who built an empire spanning most of the Matoran Universe, fell to a Brotherhood strike, and spent millennia imprisoned in the Pit. leading them. The submarine was wrecked and sank to the ocean floor, and Pridak took the four Matoran prisoner. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
He demanded to know where 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. was. Defilak had no idea what he meant, so he lied and pretended to lead Pridak to it. When Pridak was distracted by the discovery of a giant venom eel, Defilak escaped. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
Sarda was thrown to the Takea sharks by Pridak. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
He survived. Toa Lesovikk, his old friend from before Karzahni, pulled him out of the school. (Dreams of Destruction)
Strategic consequences#
The trip did tell Mahri Nui something. The Matoran now knew that the Barraki were out there and that Pridak wanted the Mask of Life. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
Defilak's escape also saved two of his crew. He found Gar and Idris as their personal air bubbles were weakening and got them back. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
The wreck and afterwards#
The submarine wasn't recovered. Defilak's next contribution to the city's defence was a different kind of quick thinking: when the giant venom eel came for Mahri Nui, he smashed all the city's lightstones, so it went looking for prey elsewhere. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
Standing in the record#
The submarine appears only in City of the Lost, which is also the only place its build is described. (BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost)
Frequently asked questions
- What was Defilak's Submarine?
- An undersea vehicle built by the Le-Matoran Defilak of Mahri Nui, shaped like a Takea shark. It made one voyage into the black water before Takea sharks sank it.
- What was the submarine made of?
- Its body was metallic protodermis with windows of crystalline protodermis. Lightstones served as headlights, it had an air launcher on each side and a claw grabber at the front, and it moved by a hand-turned rotor at the back.
- Who was it originally built for?
- A Po-Matoran who was leading the Matoran Council at the time and wanted to study rocks on the ocean floor. Once he saw the finished submarine he lost interest and never used it.
- Who crewed Defilak's Submarine on its mission?
- Defilak himself, newly elected leader of Mahri Nui, with Sarda, Idris and Gar.
- What happened to Defilak's Submarine?
- A swarm of Takea sharks led by the Barraki Pridak attacked it and it sank to the ocean floor. Pridak captured the four Matoran and demanded to know where the Mask of Life was.
Sources
- BookBIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost, Greg Farshtey, Scholastic, 2007
- SerialDreams of Destruction, Greg Farshtey, BIONICLEstory.com, 2007
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Takea Shark
Takea were a species of shark-like predator Rahi created by the Makuta from Viruses and liquid protodermis, found in the waters of Ga-Wahi and later organised by the Barraki Pridak into the standing army he used against the Mahri Nui Matoran and the Toa Mahri.
The Barraki
Six warlords who built an empire spanning most of the Matoran Universe, fell to a Brotherhood strike, and spent millennia imprisoned in the Pit.
Mahri Nui
A matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations.
Ga-Matoran
The Water-element Matoran of Ga-Metru and Ga-Koro, a female Matoran type, who filled the schools of Metru Nui and crewed the boats of the Mata Nui coast.
Po-Matoran
The Stone-element Matoran of Po-Metru and Po-Koro, carvers and quarry workers, the most athletic of the Matoran types and the population behind the Kohlii and Akilini circuits.
Ta-Matoran
The 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.
Mentioned in5 entries
City of the Lost
The first appearance of Mahri Nui in the Quest for the Mask of Life, the airweed harvest that kept the underwater city alive, Defilak's submarine expedition into the Black Water, and the arrival of the Barraki on the doorstep of the Matoran settlement.
Gar
Gar was an Onu-Matoran of Mahri Nui and Defilak's best friend, one of the four submariners captured by Pridak in the Black Water and the volunteer who offered to sacrifice himself so that Idris could carry the warning back to the underwater city.
Idris
Idris was a Ga-Matoran of Mahri Nui, the volunteer who helmed Defilak's Submarine into the Black Water, was captured by Pridak alongside Sarda and Gar, and helped trap Karzahni before carrying Lesovikk's breathing helmet home towards Mahri Nui.
Reysa
Reysa was an impatient Onu-Matoran Hydruka shepherd of Mahri Nui whose unexplained death at the Fields of Air opened the chain of events that put Defilak's submarine into the Black Water and exposed the Barraki to the underwater city.
Takea Shark
Takea were a species of shark-like predator Rahi created by the Makuta from Viruses and liquid protodermis, found in the waters of Ga-Wahi and later organised by the Barraki Pridak into the standing army he used against the Mahri Nui Matoran and the Toa Mahri.
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