The Legend of Mata Nui

The Legend of 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. was the story the TuragaTuragaFormer Toa who fulfilled their destiny and transformed into leaders. Turaga wield Noble Kanohi masks and weakened elemental powers, guiding their communities. told the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. of 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. about where they came from. It told how the Great SpiritMata Nui: Great Spirit of the Matoran UniverseBuilt by the Great Beings as a biomechanical guardian, betrayed by Teridax, and returned in a smaller form to reshape Spherus Magna. carried the Matoran to their island paradise and gave them the Three Virtues, how his jealous brother 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. cast him into sleep, and how six heroes, the ToaWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac., would come to save them. It opens the earliest BIONICLE stories, from the Mata Nui Online Game and the first comic to Turaga Vakama's narration at the start of BIONICLE: Mask of Light. (Mata Nui Online Game; BIONICLE 1: The Coming of the Toa; BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa; BIONICLE: Mask of Light)

The descent of the Great SpiritMata Nui: Great Spirit of the Matoran UniverseBuilt by the Great Beings as a biomechanical guardian, betrayed by Teridax, and returned in a smaller form to reshape Spherus Magna.#

In the legend, the Great SpiritMata Nui: Great Spirit of the Matoran UniverseBuilt by the Great Beings as a biomechanical guardian, betrayed by Teridax, and returned in a smaller form to reshape Spherus Magna. descended from the heavens in the time before time, bringing the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. to an island paradise. The Matoran were separate and without purpose, so the Great Spirit blessed them with three virtues: Unity, Duty, and Destiny. The Matoran embraced these gifts, and in gratitude they named their island home Mata Nui, after the Great Spirit himself. (BIONICLE: Mask of Light; Mata Nui Online Game; BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa)

The Three VirtuesThe Three VirtuesThe Three Virtues were the foundational principles given by Mata Nui to the Matoran, shaping social order, ritual, and the cosmology of Spherus Magna. became the Matoran's guiding principles, and they reappear across the stories as the measure of right action, from the Turaga's teaching to the Toa's own oaths. (BIONICLE: Mask of Light; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

The Time of Shadow#

The happiness did not last. Mata Nui's brother, 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., grew jealous of the honours the Matoran gave the Great Spirit and betrayed him, casting a spell that sent Mata Nui into a deep slumber. Makuta's power spread over the land: the fields withered, the sunlight grew cold, and the old order fell into chaos. (BIONICLE: Mask of Light; Mata Nui Online Game; BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa)

The Matoran lived through this as the Time of Darkness. Makuta made his lair in MangaiaMangaia: Teridax's lair beneath Mata NuiMangaia was Teridax's hidden lair beneath the island of Mata Nui. It held a pool of Energized Protodermis used to make Infected Kanohi and Rahkshi., beneath Kini-NuiKini-NuiThe most sacred temple on Mata Nui, ironically built directly above Teridax's fortress., and controlled 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. through infected masks, setting them against the villages. Travel between the KoroKoroThe Koros were the six elemental villages built on Mata Nui after the Great Rescue, on sites the Toa Metru had chosen, each tied to one element and one Turaga. became dangerous, and the villages lived largely apart. (Mata Nui Online Game; BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

The prophecy of the ToaWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac.#

All hope was not lost. The legends told of six mighty heroes, the ToaWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac., who would arrive to save Mata Nui. In Vakama's telling at the start of Mask of Light, the legends also spoke of a seventh Toa, the Toa of Light, whose coming the Mask of Light would herald. (BIONICLE: Mask of Light; BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa)

The Toa did come. After the Great Cataclysm, the Toa Metru had made six Toa StonesToa StoneA stone imbued with Toa Power that transforms a destined Matoran into a Toa. and hidden them around the island. Near the end of the Time of Darkness, TakuaTakuaAn Av-Matoran hidden on Mata Nui as a Ta-Matoran, who gathered the Toa Stones, served as Chronicler, and ultimately accepted the Avohkii to become Takanuva, the Toa of Light. found them, and together they set off a signal that summoned the Toa canisters to the shores of Mata Nui. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE: Quest for the Toa; Mata Nui Online Game)

Recitation and authority#

The TuragaTuragaFormer Toa who fulfilled their destiny and transformed into leaders. Turaga wield Noble Kanohi masks and weakened elemental powers, guiding their communities. of each village were the keepers of the legend and of the island's lore, and the Matoran looked to them for guidance. When the Toa MataWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac. arrived with no memory of who they were, the Turaga told them of their destiny: to defeat Makuta and awaken the Great Spirit. (Mata Nui Online Game; BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa)

LewaLewaToa of Air, member of the Toa Mata and Toa Nuva, whose career was marked by repeated possession, body theft, and aerial campaigns from Le-Wahi to Karda Nui., for one, learned of his destiny from the Le-Matoran of Le-KoroLe-KoroLe-Koro is a village situated within Le-Wahi, inhabited by the Le-Matoran and home to Turaga Matau and Toa Lewa. The settlement was once held under the control of Teridax. soon after he landed. For the Toa, the legend was both the explanation of who they were and the briefing for what they had been sent to do. (BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa)

What the legend left out#

The TuragaTuragaFormer Toa who fulfilled their destiny and transformed into leaders. Turaga wield Noble Kanohi masks and weakened elemental powers, guiding their communities. of Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years. had once been the Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety., the team that carried the sleeping MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. out of the broken city after 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.. They knew the Matoran had lived in that city under Turaga DumeDumeDume is a Turaga of Fire and the former ruler of Metru Nui, distinguished by his red and black coloring and the Noble Kanohi Kiril, the Mask of Regeneration. As a member of the Turaga of Metru Nui, he wields a Staff of Office and commands a weakened mastery of Fire. He later resides on the reformed Spherus Magna., and that they had woken on the island with no memory of it. They also knew Makuta from their own battles: he was Teridax of the Brotherhood of MakutaThe Brotherhood of MakutaAn organization of Makuta created by Mata Nui to build Rahi and keep order in his universe, later seized by Teridax and turned into the instrument of the Plan that overthrew the Great Spirit., who had posed as Dume. (BIONICLE Adventures 1: Mystery of Metru Nui; BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)

They kept this to themselves. Only after TakanuvaTakanuvaHidden among the Ta-Matoran as Takua, the disguised Av-Matoran who became Takanuva was the sole Toa of Light produced in the Matoran Universe's full history. defeated Makuta and the way below was opened did the Matoran see Metru Nui again, and the Turaga then told them the tales of the city and of their own time as Toa. (BIONICLE: Mask of Light; BIONICLE Adventures 1: Mystery of Metru Nui; BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)

Subsequent canon and the legend's revision#

Even the Turaga did not know the whole truth. Years later it was revealed that the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control. lay inside the giant robot body of Mata Nui, and that the island of Mata Nui had been part of that body. When TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. took control of the robot after Mata Nui's awakening, the old legend of Makuta seizing power over the Great Spirit came true in a far more literal way than the Matoran had imagined. (BIONICLE Legends 11: The Final Battle)

The legend's description of Makuta as Mata Nui's jealous brotherIs Makuta Mata Nui's Brother?Only in legend and in a loose sense. The Matoran's Legend of Mata Nui calls Makuta the Great Spirit's jealous brother, and Makuta talks about Mata Nui the same way, but the later story shows Makuta Teridax was one of a species Mata Nui himself brought into being. Here is how the story uses the word. remained the popular way of naming him, even as the stories showed Teridax as a member of the Brotherhood of Makuta, a species created to serve the Great Spirit. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE Legends 11: The Final Battle)

Significance#

For Matoran who had woken with no memories, the legend was their shared past. It explained the world they could see, named the threat they faced, and gave them the Three Virtues to live by. When TakuaTakuaAn Av-Matoran hidden on Mata Nui as a Ta-Matoran, who gathered the Toa Stones, served as Chronicler, and ultimately accepted the Avohkii to become Takanuva, the Toa of Light. travelled the island, and when the Chronicler's CompanyChroniclerThe Matoran role of recording history and Toa deeds through word and carving, held by figures like Takua and Hahli. gathered Matoran from every village to defend Kini-NuiKini-NuiThe most sacred temple on Mata Nui, ironically built directly above Teridax's fortress., they did so under the promise it carried. (Mata Nui Online Game; BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa)

The Turaga told as much of the truth as they chose to, and the legend served the Matoran well until the day they could learn the rest. (BIONICLE: Mask of Light; BIONICLE Adventures 1: Mystery of Metru Nui)