Gadunka

Gadunka were a species of small aquatic 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., counted among the many water creatures of Ga-WahiGa-WahiGa-Wahi was a region situated to the east on the island of Mata Nui, inhabited by Ga-Matoran and various Rahi. The region once fell under the domain of Teridax, though that connection did not endure. Ga-Wahi no longer existed in later records. 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..

One particular Gadunka rose to far greater size and importance. While NocturnNocturnNocturn was an amphibious prisoner of the Pit who served as Ehlek's lieutenant and briefly held the Mask of Life before its recovery. carried 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., he set the Mask of Life down for a moment, and a tiny Gadunka crept beneath it for shelter. Imbued with the mask's power, the creature slowly enlarged into a massive beast before Nocturn walked off with the mask.

The grown Gadunka turned its strength against the Toa MahriToa Mahri: The Toa Who Saved the UniverseThe Toa Mahri were the water breathing form of the sixth Toa team, transformed by the Mask of Life on the way down to the drowned city of Mahri Nui. They fought the Barraki for the mask and recovered it at the cost of one of their own.. When the Mahri arrived amid an avalanche during the Barraki'sThe BarrakiSix warlords who built an empire spanning most of the Matoran Universe, fell to a Brotherhood strike, and spent millennia imprisoned in the Pit. clash, they found Gadunka attacking the warlords, and HewkiiHewkiiHewkii rose from Po-Metru Matoran to Mata Nui's foremost kolhii player, then served as Toa Inika and Toa Mahri through the late wars of the universe. was sent to face it in a contest of strength. Hewkii's Electrified Chains, strong enough to stun a Takea Shark, were snapped apart by the Rahi's powerful teeth before he was saved by 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. and NuparuNuparuAn Onu-Matoran engineer from Metru Nui who built the Boxor and rose to become a Toa of Earth despite no warrior destiny.. The enlarged Gadunka later joined forces with a three-hundred-foot mutant Venom Eel and an Ancient Sea Behemoth, and the three monsters together fought the six Toa, who defeated them but left them alive.

In the final battle for the Mask of Life, the Toa Mahri returned down the Cord and again encountered the enlarged Gadunka alongside MantaxMantaxMutated Barraki warlord of the Pit who uncovered Takadox's Brotherhood collaboration through a hidden Tablet of Transit.. Hewkii stayed behind to fight the beast and at last defeated it with his Electrified Chains.