The Golden-Skinned Being

The Golden-Skinned Being was a unique entity produced on ZakazZakazThe island where Skakdi civilization developed, shaped by isolation and harsh Makuta rule. when SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. experimenters fused six PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. with a VortixxVortixxThe amoral weapons dealers of Xia who sold to anyone willing to pay., a ZyglakZyglakZyglak are a species of dark red, dark blue, and white creatures who are amphibious and wield spears and knives in combat. Formerly confined to the Pit, the Zyglak now inhabit Spherus Magna., and a Steltian worker inside a pool of Energized ProtodermisEnergized ProtodermisA sentient substance that could remake or annihilate any being that touched it. One of the Matoran Universe's most lethal hazards.. The resulting being possessed the power to turn dreams into reality and was sustained by the dreams of those who served him.

Origins#

The SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. of ZakazZakazThe island where Skakdi civilization developed, shaped by isolation and harsh Makuta rule. were a fractious species, persistently divided by warlord politics and the elemental powers they could only use cooperatively. In search of a leader strong enough to unify them, a group of warlords forced a fusion experiment using Energized ProtodermisEnergized ProtodermisA sentient substance that could remake or annihilate any being that touched it. One of the Matoran Universe's most lethal hazards.. The substances thrown into the pool included the six PirakaPirakaSix rogue Skakdi mercenaries who broke from the Dark Hunters to hunt the Mask of Life on Voya Nui. (ZaktanZaktanMutated Skakdi leader of the Piraka, formerly a Dark Hunter whose body was dissolved into a colony of Protodites by the Shadowed One and reformed with its consciousness intact., HakannHakannThe Skakdi bully known for pure aggression, from Dark Hunter mercenary to Piraka thief driven by violence and power., AvakAvakA Skakdi thief whose perfect prisons made him invaluable to the Piraka's Mask of Life heist., ReidakReidakA sadistic Skakdi thug who traded the Dark Hunters for the Piraka and paid the price., ThokThok (the Drifter)The Piraka's cowardly thief learned that ice guns and dirty tactics can't save you from Toa with elemental fury., and VezokVezokThe Beast was a Piraka thief split in two by the Spear of Fusion, then imprisoned by the Order of Mata Nui.), a VortixxVortixxThe amoral weapons dealers of Xia who sold to anyone willing to pay., a Steltian worker, and a ZyglakZyglakZyglak are a species of dark red, dark blue, and white creatures who are amphibious and wield spears and knives in combat. Formerly confined to the Pit, the Zyglak now inhabit Spherus Magna..

What emerged was not a unified warlord but a new entity altogether. The Golden-Skinned Being possessed gold-toned skin, retained no clear allegiance to any of his component races, and demonstrated the ability to turn dreams into reality, drawing his own life force from the dreams of those around him. He addressed the SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. at the moment of his emergence with the declaration that they would feed him, and in return would be granted a wondrous gift.

Rule on Zakaz#

Rather than serving the warlords who had created him, the Golden-Skinned Being inverted the hierarchy of ZakazZakazThe island where Skakdi civilization developed, shaped by isolation and harsh Makuta rule.. The SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. became his followers, and their existing impulses toward dominance, conquest, and combat fed the dream-energy he required. In exchange, he manifested their desires as physical reality, granting fulfilled visions of war and power to those who supplied him.

This relationship was symbiotic rather than coercive in form, though the SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. had no functional way to refuse him once the exchange had begun. The population of ZakazZakazThe island where Skakdi civilization developed, shaped by isolation and harsh Makuta rule. restructured itself around his presence, with the surviving warlords reduced to subordinates whose authority flowed through his patronage.

Relocation to Spherus Magna#

After the Battle of Bara MagnaBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. and the reformation of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint., the Golden-Skinned Being and a substantial portion of the SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. population relocated to the restored planet. He raised the Gold Being's FortressThe Gold Being's FortressA vast cliffside fortress raised on Spherus Magna by the Golden-Skinned Being and unmade during Annona's attack. on a cliff above a beach, the structure manifesting instantly through the application of his will rather than through ordinary construction.

The SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. continued to serve as the source of his dream energy on Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint.. When JallerJallerJaller served as Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard, led the Toa Inika to Voya Nui, and commanded the Toa Mahri through the recovery of the Mask of Life. and NuparuNuparuAn Onu-Matoran engineer from Metru Nui who built the Boxor and rose to become a Toa of Earth despite no warrior destiny. encountered him at the fortress, he repeated the phrasing he had used on ZakazZakazThe island where Skakdi civilization developed, shaped by isolation and harsh Makuta rule., declaring that there was much to savor and much to give in return.

Powers and abilities#

The Golden-Skinned Being's primary ability was the conversion of dreams into reality. He drew sustenance from the dream energy of others, particularly the violent and ambitious dreams of the SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions., and in exchange manifested those dreams as physical fact. He carried no KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe., wielded no weapons, and required no apparent focusing tools to use his power.

The upper limits of his ability were never tested in any recorded confrontation. He raised the Gold Being's FortressThe Gold Being's FortressA vast cliffside fortress raised on Spherus Magna by the Golden-Skinned Being and unmade during Annona's attack. instantaneously, generated spikes from the ground beneath an opponent during battle, and sustained the fortress as an extension of his will. His vulnerability lay in his dependence on a population of dreamers, since without dream energy he could not act.

Confrontation with Annona#

AnnonaAnnonaA predatory entity older than the Great Beings, the dream-eater Annona fed on the minds of sentient life and ended the Iron Tribe before its banishment., an interdimensional entity that consumed dreams, had been buried beneath Bota MagnaBota MagnaA verdant jungle moon separated from Spherus Magna for 100,000 years, then restored by Mata Nui himself at the climax of the Core War. by the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. in an earlier age. With the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. absent from active oversight of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint., she escaped containment and made her way to the Gold Being's FortressThe Gold Being's FortressA vast cliffside fortress raised on Spherus Magna by the Golden-Skinned Being and unmade during Annona's attack..

AnnonaAnnonaA predatory entity older than the Great Beings, the dream-eater Annona fed on the minds of sentient life and ended the Iron Tribe before its banishment. declared that she intended to consume the dream energy of the SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. directly. The Golden-Skinned Being refused, stating that he and his people required those dreams, and attacked. The clash that followed saw the fortress unmake itself under the metaphysical strain of sustaining the battle, but the Golden-Skinned Being drove AnnonaAnnonaA predatory entity older than the Great Beings, the dream-eater Annona fed on the minds of sentient life and ended the Iron Tribe before its banishment. off. He survived the encounter and continued his activities on Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint.. The Order of Mata NuiThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe. was not recorded as intervening in the confrontation.

Significance#

The Golden-Skinned Being represented a new category of power in the post-TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. era. He was not a MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate., not a Toa, not a creation of the Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed., and not bound to any of the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control.'s prior hierarchies. He existed because SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. ambition had produced him through experimental fusion, and the model he established demonstrated that comparable beings could be generated by similar means by anyone with access to Energized ProtodermisEnergized ProtodermisA sentient substance that could remake or annihilate any being that touched it. One of the Matoran Universe's most lethal hazards. and viable subjects.

His rule on ZakazZakazThe island where Skakdi civilization developed, shaped by isolation and harsh Makuta rule. and later on Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint. marked the first significant power structure on the reformed planet that operated independently of both the GlatorianGlatorianTribal warriors of Spherus Magna who settled disputes through arena combat, until the Skrall conquest enslaved most of them. governance under Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years.'s reformed leadership and the residual factions of the old Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control..