The Great Beings

The Great Beings were a group of inventors from the tribes of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint. whose work reshaped the planet and produced the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control., Mata NuiMata NuiBuilt by the Great Beings to restore Spherus Magna, Mata Nui sustained an entire civilisation inside his body, was deposed by Teridax, and reclaimed his purpose as a mortal on Bara Magna., 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., and many of the other defining elements of the BIONICLEBIONICLE: Matoran AdventuresA 2002 GBA platformer where you play as one of six Matoran fighting Bohrok across Mata Nui's islands. cosmology. After the Core WarThe Core War: the war that shattered a planetThe Core War was fought on Spherus Magna over Energized Protodermis. It ended in the Shattering, which tore the planet into three planetary fragments. and the shattering of their world, they withdrew almost entirely from contact with their creations. (Journey's End; Mata Nui's Guide to Bara Magna; All Our Sins Remembered)

Origins on Spherus Magna#

The Great Beings came from the tribes of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint., though they were not warriors. They looked past their tribal ties, united by the urge to build, study and invent, and their marvels amazed the AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and lived by the Glatorian arena system.. The tribes pledged loyalty to them, and they ruled every region of the planet, from the deserts of Bara Magna to the forests of Bota Magna and the oceans of Aqua Magna. (Journey's End; Mata Nui's Guide to Bara Magna)

Early on they met the dream-eating entity 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.. She found their minds too strange to feed on, and the Great Beings fed on her dreams instead, drawing new creative energy from them. (Sahmad's Tale)

Governance proved a distraction from the work the Great Beings considered their true vocation. Tired of ruling, they created the Element LordsElement LordsSeven elemental warriors transformed by the Great Beings who refused to end their war even after the world broke. to govern in their place and went back to inventing. Among their other projects was a giant mechanoid that failed to work and exploded, scattering its parts across Bara Magna. (Journey's End; Mata Nui Saga; BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn novelisation)

The Core War and withdrawal#

When the Agori discovered 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 Element LordsElement LordsSeven elemental warriors transformed by the Great Beings who refused to end their war even after the world broke. led their tribes into the Core WarThe Core War: the war that shattered a planetThe Core War was fought on Spherus Magna over Energized Protodermis. It ended in the Shattering, which tore the planet into three planetary fragments. over it. The Great Beings refused to take part and tried peaceful means to stop the fighting, without success. Tests on a sample convinced them that tapping the substance would do massive damage to the planet. (All Our Sins Remembered; Mata Nui's Guide to Bara Magna)

Their fortress stood in the Valley of the Maze, built from a material that could reshape itself into doors, windows and walls in response to thought. Soon after Mata NuiMata NuiBuilt by the Great Beings to restore Spherus Magna, Mata Nui sustained an entire civilisation inside his body, was deposed by Teridax, and reclaimed his purpose as a mortal on Bara Magna. left the planet, the spread of energized protodermis shattered their world. Many of the surviving inhabitants came to resent the Great Beings for the disaster. Long afterwards, when Spherus Magna was restored, the Great Being AngonceAngonceThe Great Being who named Mata Nui, stayed out of the Baterra project, was said to have lingered on Bara Magna to watch the Agori, and raced too late to stop Marendar when the Toa reached Spherus Magna. used ancient technology to learn of it and realised that the newcomers would come looking for his kind. (All Our Sins Remembered; Journey's End; BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn novelisation; The Yesterday Quest)

The Matoran Universe#

Believing their planet was doomed, the Great Beings built Mata NuiMata NuiBuilt by the Great Beings to restore Spherus Magna, Mata Nui sustained an entire civilisation inside his body, was deposed by Teridax, and reclaimed his purpose as a mortal on Bara Magna., a colossal robot meant to travel the stars and one day return to restore Spherus Magna. The Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control. lay inside it. Matoran laboured in darkness to build it without knowing what they were making, and the Great Beings created ArtakhaArtakha: Master Crafter of the Great RefugeArtakha is one of the most powerful beings in the Matoran Universe, the reclusive ruler of the hidden island that bears his name, whose crafters made the Avohkii. He governed a refuge no evil could enter and armed the Toa Nuva for their trip to Karda Nui. and KarzahniKarzahniBionicle used one cursed name three times, for a being, a realm and a plant, and every one of them earns it. This article untangles all three. to reward good workers and repair the damaged or lazy. The Great Being Heremus wished the robot would carry the great spirit of Spherus Magna with it, and AngonceAngonceThe Great Being who named Mata Nui, stayed out of the Baterra project, was said to have lingered on Bara Magna to watch the Agori, and raced too late to stop Marendar when the Toa reached Spherus Magna. named its mind Mata Nui, "Great Spirit", in answer. (Journey's End; BIONICLE: World; BIONICLE Legends 2: Dark Destiny)

The 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. were created as defenders of the universe; the first of them, HelryxHelryx: the first Toa ever createdHelryx was the first Toa ever made, commissioned by the Great Beings on Artakha long before the Toa Mata. She founded and led the Order of Mata Nui., came into being on Artakha. 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., the Mask of Life, was made as a failsafe that could drain the life from the whole universe if things went badly wrong, and as a way to heal Mata Nui if the Great Spirit ever needed it. Two Great Beings carried the mask into the universe to hide it, unseen by its inhabitants. (BIONICLE: World; Into the Darkness; BIONICLE Legends 1: Island of Doom; BIONICLE Legends 5: Inferno)

Other creations and consequences#

The BaterraBaterraMechanical shapeshifters built by the Great Beings to end the Core War by killing every armed combatant on Spherus Magna, and the failsafe that never shut them down. were built in a last attempt to end the Core War: mechanical assassins designed to kill every armed combatant on Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint.. The Great Beings later tried to shut them down through a failsafe and failed, and the Baterra carried on hunting anyone who bore a weapon. (All Our Sins Remembered; Journey's End; The Yesterday Quest)

The 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., known as "the Great Beings' mistakes", were a violent reptilian species born by accident from material left over from the making of the Matoran. Shunned by their creators, they fled to the darkest corners of the universe and nursed a hatred of the Great Beings and the Matoran. The Great Beings also made the Toa-hunter Marendar and sealed it in a protodermis vault on Bara Magna. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; Federation of Fear; The Yesterday Quest)

Knowledge and abilities#

The Great Beings had no powers of their own but commanded technology far beyond anything in the Matoran Universe, enough to move through it unseen by their creations. Their work drew on 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. and 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 in the Matoran Universe they were so revered that phrases such as "thank the Great Beings" passed into everyday speech. (BIONICLE Legends 5: Inferno; Journey's End; BIONICLE 2: Deep into Darkness; BIONICLE Adventures 1: Mystery of Metru Nui)

One Great Being who handled the Ignika before it was sent away was cursed by the mask to bring everything around him to life. Driven mad by the voices of the things he animated, he was sealed in a tower on Bota Magna. (BIONICLE Legends 5: Inferno; BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost; Reign of Shadows)

Velika's deception#

VelikaVelikaVelika is a Great Being who disguised himself as a Po-Matoran on Mata Nui, wearing a powerless Komau and bearing an affinity for Stone. Colored in golden brown, grey, and orange, he worked as an inventor and carried Power Carvers as his tools. He was last known to be located on Bota Magna. was 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. 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. who had been worn down by Karzahni's repairs and shipped to the Southern Continent. He spoke in riddles and helped the Toa InikaToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself. on their hunt for the Mask of Life. The books never revealed more about him. The line's writer, Greg Farshtey, later said in online answers that Velika was a Great Being who had moved his mind into a Matoran body, so that identity rests on the writer's later comments rather than on a published story. (BIONICLE Legends 2: Dark Destiny; BIONICLE Legends 3: Power Play)

Legacy#

The Great Beings' creations shaped the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control. for more than a hundred thousand years and continued to shape events on reformed Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint. after Mata NuiMata NuiBuilt by the Great Beings to restore Spherus Magna, Mata Nui sustained an entire civilisation inside his body, was deposed by Teridax, and reclaimed his purpose as a mortal on Bara Magna.'s final victory. The Matoran, the 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., the 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 the robot itself all began as their projects, and the Valley of the MazeThe Valley of the MazeThe northern Bara Magna maze where the Great Beings hid the unstable Power Source of the Prototype Robot, sealed behind puzzle traps and a fortress that few outsiders ever survived to describe. remained a place of rumour on Bara Magna. (Journey's End; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE Glatorian 5: Valley of Fear)