Protodermis

Protodermis is the fundamental material of the entire Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control.. It's not a natural element but something engineered by the Great Beings, the architects who created the whole constructed world. The stuff is endlessly versatile (solid, liquid, crystalline, you name it), which is why it powers everything from the armor on a MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body.'s back to the buildings they live in to the weapons they fight with. Most people mistake it for some sci-fi alloy, but there's a darker edge to protodermis that the casual lore reader misses: energized protodermis, the raw form at Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint.'s core, is creation and destruction wrapped into one.

The Material That Built a Universe#

Every brick, every weapon, every MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body.'s armor is protodermis refined into some functional form. Raw solid protodermis comes mined from the ground by Onu-MatoranOnu-MatoranEarth-wielding Matoran of the deep who adapted to darkness and built the Matoran Universe's defensive cavalry. and shaped by 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.. Metallic protodermis is what you see in most built structures. So far, pretty mundane.

ProtosteelProtosteelThe Matoran Universe's strongest metal, forged for weapons that could cut through virtually anything, even Makuta armor. is the heavy hitter, reserved for MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate. armor and 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. weapons because it's one of the strongest materials in the known universe. There's also crystalline protodermis, diamond-hard and nearly indestructible, created either through a Toa SealToa SealA cage of Protodermis created by six Toa combining their Elemental Powers, used to trap powerful beings. ritual (when six Toa combine their elemental powers) or by the Shadowed One's staff. In the Destiny WarThe Destiny WarThe open war between the Order of Mata Nui and the Brotherhood of Makuta, told in the 2008 Destiny War podcast, which ended with the Brotherhood's assault on Metru Nui broken and the Great Spirit apparently awake. serial, the Shadowed One uses it as a weapon, creating a band of crystalline protodermis to silence someone who questioned his authority.

The Dangerous Edge: Energized Protodermis#

Here's where protodermis stops being a building material and becomes something to fear. Energized protodermis is the primal form found at the core of Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint.. It doesn't refine or decay. It transforms or destroys.

Anything that touches it either mutates in ways that could kill it or grant it strange new powers, or it disintegrates completely. The outcome depends on what the canon calls "destiny," which is as mysterious as it sounds.

In Destiny WarThe Destiny WarThe open war between the Order of Mata Nui and the Brotherhood of Makuta, told in the 2008 Destiny War podcast, which ended with the Brotherhood's assault on Metru Nui broken and the Great Spirit apparently awake., 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. encounters a lake of energized protodermis and discovers an entity made entirely of the substance, something that describes itself as "creation and destruction" incarnate. That entity is casual about the threat it poses. A wave of energized protodermis rolling toward you isn't a puzzle to solve. It's a roll of the dice between transformation and oblivion.

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Compiled from primary sources by Lore Fortress editorial. Reviewed by Joe Garratt, Editor-in-Chief.