Gadunka (Species)

GadunkaGadunkaGadunka is a Rahi belonging to the Gadunka species, distinguished by its fluorescent blue, dark blue, and silver coloration. It wields a Squid Launcher as its tool. were a species of small but ferocious sea 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. from the waters around the PitThe PitThe Order of Mata Nui's maximum-security underwater prison where the Barraki warlords were held until catastrophe broke their chains.. A normal GadunkaGadunkaGadunka is a Rahi belonging to the Gadunka species, distinguished by its fluorescent blue, dark blue, and silver coloration. It wields a Squid Launcher as its tool. grew to only about an inch long, but its jaws and claws were extremely powerful for its size. Like other Rahi of the Matoran universe, the species was created by the MakutaMakuta: species, title, and TeridaxMakuta means three things in the Matoran Universe: the Antidermis species Mata Nui created, the Brotherhood rank, and most often Teridax himself. from viruses and liquid protodermis. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe)

Habitat and natural state#

GadunkaGadunkaGadunka is a Rahi belonging to the Gadunka species, distinguished by its fluorescent blue, dark blue, and silver coloration. It wields a Squid Launcher as its tool. lived in the seas of the Matoran universe, including the waters around the PitThe PitThe Order of Mata Nui's maximum-security underwater prison where the Barraki warlords were held until catastrophe broke their chains.. 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. broke open the Pit and let its prisoners out into the dark waters of Aqua MagnaAqua MagnaThe endless ocean where the Matoran Universe found refuge and Mata Nui made his final stand. above it, several Gadunka escaped into that sea as well. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)

Those waters were also the domain of the exiled 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., warlords such as 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., EhlekEhlekA Barraki warlord with electrical powers who led aquatic forces against the Brotherhood of Makuta. and MantaxMantaxMutated Barraki warlord of the Pit who uncovered Takadox's Brotherhood collaboration through a hidden Tablet of Transit. who had been imprisoned in the Pit and now ruled the deep with armies of sea creatures. Nothing in the story shows the Barraki taking any interest in Gadunka before one of them grew large. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)

The Mahri Nui mutation#

The best-known event involving the species came during the struggle 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. near 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.. NocturnNocturnNocturn was an amphibious prisoner of the Pit who served as Ehlek's lieutenant and briefly held the Mask of Life before its recovery., who had briefly got hold of the mask, set it down on the seabed. A single GadunkaGadunkaGadunka is a Rahi belonging to the Gadunka species, distinguished by its fluorescent blue, dark blue, and silver coloration. It wields a Squid Launcher as its tool. scurried under it for shelter and was exposed to the mask's energy. The creature began to grow at a rapid rate. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)

By the time it stopped, the GadunkaGadunkaGadunka is a Rahi belonging to the Gadunka species, distinguished by its fluorescent blue, dark blue, and silver coloration. It wields a Squid Launcher as its tool. was gigantic. Its personality hadn't changed at all, which made it a destructive menace. It didn't understand what the Mask of Life was, but its instincts told it the mask belonged to it, and when Nocturn carried the mask off it decided to take it back. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit; BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe)

Confrontation with the Toa Mahri#

The enlarged GadunkaGadunkaGadunka is a Rahi belonging to the Gadunka species, distinguished by its fluorescent blue, dark blue, and silver coloration. It wields a Squid Launcher as its tool. went after 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. when it saw them with the mask, but 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. of the Toa MahriToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself. got in its way. Out of a sense of fair play he tried to beat it in straight physical combat, throwing boulders and using his aqua warblade and electrified chains, but the Gadunka countered every move. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)

Hewkii was about to be eaten when NuparuNuparuAn Onu-Matoran engineer from Metru Nui who built the Boxor and rose to become a Toa of Earth despite no warrior destiny. and 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. came to his rescue. Nuparu sent shockwaves through the water that distracted the creature long enough for Hahli to summon an underwater tidal wave, which washed the Gadunka away. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)

It came back. Now apparently "friends" with a 300-foot mutant venom eel and an ancient sea behemoth, it attacked the Toa Mahri as they were about to bring down the CordThe CordThe stone Cord linking Voya Nui to the sunken peninsula of Mahri Nui, the tunnel the Toa Mahri descended, and the lifeline severed to revive Mata Nui.. The Toa beat the other two creatures, and Nuparu opened a hole in the sea floor that the Gadunka dropped into, but it climbed back out and took the 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 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., who had been knocked unconscious. In the comic version of the fight, Hewkii defeats it with his electrified chains. (BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall; BIONICLE Ignition 10: The Death of Mata Nui)

Reversion#

The 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. was angry that the GadunkaGadunkaGadunka is a Rahi belonging to the Gadunka species, distinguished by its fluorescent blue, dark blue, and silver coloration. It wields a Squid Launcher as its tool. had hurt Matoro and wanted to be rid of it. It gave the creature the power to restore anything to its original state. The Gadunka used that power once, on itself, and shrank back to its normal size. It was then eaten by a TakeaTakeaEngineered by the Makuta from viruses and protodermis, the Takea served as Pridak's shock troops in the Pit and as one of the deep ocean's most feared Rahi species.. (BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall; BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe)

Powers and weaknesses#

A normal GadunkaGadunkaGadunka is a Rahi belonging to the Gadunka species, distinguished by its fluorescent blue, dark blue, and silver coloration. It wields a Squid Launcher as its tool. had nothing but its jaws and claws, which were extremely powerful for an inch-long creature. That was enough to make the species ferocious, but not dangerous to anything much bigger than itself. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

The enlarged GadunkaGadunkaGadunka is a Rahi belonging to the Gadunka species, distinguished by its fluorescent blue, dark blue, and silver coloration. It wields a Squid Launcher as its tool. was strong and tough enough to counter a 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. in hand-to-hand combat. Its weakness was 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. itself: the power the mask gave it was what undid its size. It lost that power when the Toa took the mask back. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit; BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall; BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe)

Other appearances#

The enlarged Gadunka also appears in the 2007 animation BIONICLE: Toa Mahri, where it blasts 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. and NuparuNuparuAn Onu-Matoran engineer from Metru Nui who built the Boxor and rose to become a Toa of Earth despite no warrior destiny. off a cliff with a squid launcher and throws 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 small craft away. It was released as a large boxed set in summer 2007, armed with a squid launcher and two sea squid. (BIONICLE: Toa Mahri; Gadunka set)

Using the name "GadunkaGadunkaGadunka is a Rahi belonging to the Gadunka species, distinguished by its fluorescent blue, dark blue, and silver coloration. It wields a Squid Launcher as its tool." for both the species and the mutated individual makes things a little ambiguous. No source says whether other members of the species would have grown the same way under 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 enlarged Gadunka remains the only case. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)