Roodaka

Roodaka is the only villain in BIONICLEBIONICLE: Matoran AdventuresA 2002 GBA platformer where you play as one of six Matoran fighting Bohrok across Mata Nui's islands.'s first generation who reaches the end of her story arc having gotten exactly what she wanted, and then keeps going. The VortixxVortixxThe amoral weapons dealers of Xia who sold to anyone willing to pay. viceroy spent the whole VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. invasion of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. letting SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played., the Toa, and TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. himself each believe they were the one running the board. They were all wrong. Her plan was never the conquest. It was the fragment of TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.'s prison she carved loose and wore inside her own breastplate, waiting for someone else to supply the energy that would shatter it. Bob Thompson, who ran the BIONICLEBIONICLE: Matoran AdventuresA 2002 GBA platformer where you play as one of six Matoran fighting Bohrok across Mata Nui's islands. story group, called her his favourite villain in the line. After tracing what she actually pulls off across the 2005 arc, I think he undersold it.

The climb that tells you everything#

Every VortixxVortixxThe amoral weapons dealers of Xia who sold to anyone willing to pay. makes the climb. On XiaXiaA hostile island southeast of Metru Nui, home to the Vortixx and their brutal mercenary culture., the rite of passage sends two climbers up The MountainThe MountainXia's sentient peak that grew by consuming its inhabitants before becoming too dangerous to exist. together, and The MountainThe MountainXia's sentient peak that grew by consuming its inhabitants before becoming too dangerous to exist. is not a metaphor. It is alive and it tries to devour the beings crossing it. The grass around its base works like acid. Roodaka tells this story herself in BIONICLEBIONICLE: Matoran AdventuresA 2002 GBA platformer where you play as one of six Matoran fighting Bohrok across Mata Nui's islands. 24: Shadow Play, narrating it to a VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. BoggarakBoggarakA Visorak subspecies specializing in deception and illusion, Boggarak served as Roodaka's personal guard during the Metru Nui invasion. while she sits on a throne and crushes a statue of SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. in one hand.

Her partner's foot caught in a crevice near the summit. He called for help. Roodaka understood, in that moment, that the Mountain was occupied with him, which meant it was not occupied with her. She left him to be devoured and finished the climb alone.

That is the whole character, and BIONICLETakua's Quest for the Toa StonesAn alternate-continuity record of Takua the Chronicler crossing Mata Nui to recover the six Toa Stones before the arrival of the Toa Mata. hands it to you in a single flashback. Roodaka is cruel, but cruelty is not actually her engine. She betrays people because betrayal is the optimised move, and she spots the optimised move faster than anyone around her. Xia runs on that logic. It is an island of manufacturers and arms dealers where, as the canon puts it plainly, treachery is simply what survival requires. Roodaka is what you get when someone is genuinely excellent at living there. The wiki record notes she is believed to have climbed The MountainThe MountainXia's sentient peak that grew by consuming its inhabitants before becoming too dangerous to exist. a second time, later, when the rest of the VortixxVortixxThe amoral weapons dealers of Xia who sold to anyone willing to pay. had lost confidence in her after a run of losses. If that happened, it tells you she treats the deadliest test her culture has as a tool she can pick up whenever she needs to reset her standing.

A career assembled from other people's plans#

Roodaka's early life is mostly blank in the canon. What the record picks up instead is a pattern. She arrives somewhere, finds whoever holds the advantage, and converts their plan into her own.

The first clear instance is OdinaOdinaOdina is a member of both the Dark Hunters and the Cliff Screechers, operating within the Matoran Universe. Formerly in possession of the powers of Vamprah, Odina retains no elemental abilities in the present day.. Roodaka travelled to the Dark HuntersThe Dark HuntersA mercenary organization founded on Odina by The Shadowed One and Ancient, contracted across the Matoran Universe for assassination and theft, and ultimately reduced to a battered remnant by the fall of the universe itself.' home island wanting their leader, The Shadowed OneThe Shadowed OneThe Shadowed One is the leader of the Dark Hunters, a black, yellow, and silver figure based on Spherus Magna. Armed with a staff and a Rhotuka, the Shadowed One directs the organization., to train her. He refused to teach her anything unless she joined the organisation outright, and she had plans of her own, so he gave her a few hours to reconsider before he shipped her back to Xia. In that window she ran into NidhikiNidhikiOnce a guardian of Metru Nui, Nidhiki traded his Toa honor for Dark Hunter gold and paid the price..

NidhikiNidhikiOnce a guardian of Metru Nui, Nidhiki traded his Toa honor for Dark Hunter gold and paid the price. was a Toa of AirToa of AirWielders of the Element of Air, typically transformed from Le-Matoran, tasked with protecting the Matoran Universe. who wanted out of the Dark Hunters, and he made Roodaka an offer. Help him, and he could get her into the organisation on her terms. She said yes. Then she walked straight to The Shadowed OneThe Shadowed OneThe Shadowed One is the leader of the Dark Hunters, a black, yellow, and silver figure based on Spherus Magna. Armed with a staff and a Rhotuka, the Shadowed One directs the organization. and sold him the entire plot. Her payment for the information was a contract. The Shadowed OneThe Shadowed OneThe Shadowed One is the leader of the Dark Hunters, a black, yellow, and silver figure based on Spherus Magna. Armed with a staff and a Rhotuka, the Shadowed One directs the organization. wanted NidhikiNidhikiOnce a guardian of Metru Nui, Nidhiki traded his Toa honor for Dark Hunter gold and paid the price. permanently cut off from ever becoming a Toa again, and Roodaka delivered, hitting him with her RhotukaRhotukaRhotuka were wheels of pure energy generated by living beings, shaped by the user''s nature, and launched through natural or artificial launchers. spinner and mutating him into the insectoid thing he stays for the rest of his life. The training she originally came for barely matters next to what the job demonstrated. She had found her actual trade. She would later use the same power to build a Dark Hunter codenamed SilenceSilence: the Soundless Dark HunterSilence was a Dark Hunter and a gift to the organization from Roodaka, whose Rhotuka was held responsible for his appearance. He generated a field that deadened all sound around him, making him an abductor who could take targets from the most heavily guarded places without a scream being heard. to order.

By the time she joins the Brotherhood of MakutaThe Brotherhood of MakutaAn organization of Makuta created by Mata Nui to police his universe and build Rahi, later seized by Teridax and turned into the instrument of the Plan that overthrew the Great Spirit., she does it as a lieutenant to the MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate., sharing that rank with SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played.. The two of them spend their service trying to outdo each other for TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.'s attention. TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna., for the record, is the only being in G1 that Roodaka is ever said to genuinely admire. Everything she does for the Brotherhood, she does because TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. sits at the top of it.

The Rahaga, and the crown SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. took#

The Toa HagahToa HagahElite Toa teams appointed by the Brotherhood of Makuta to serve as personal guardians, later rebelling against their creators. were an elite guard, six Toa assigned to protect TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. directly. Then four of them worked out that the Brotherhood was corrupt and rebelled. They were caught, and they were handed to Roodaka.

What she did to them is the single act she is most remembered for. She mutated all four into stunted, RahkshiRahkshiArmor suits powered by parasitic Kraata, Rahkshi were Teridax's most effective soldiers and among Bionicle's most visually iconic early enemies.-faced creatures, a fusion of Toa and RahkshiRahkshiArmor suits powered by parasitic Kraata, Rahkshi were Teridax's most effective soldiers and among Bionicle's most visually iconic early enemies. cut down to a fraction of their former size, and she named the result herself. Rahaga. In BIONICLETakua's Quest for the Toa StonesAn alternate-continuity record of Takua the Chronicler crossing Mata Nui to recover the six Toa Stones before the arrival of the Toa Mata. 25: Birth of the RahagaBirth of the RahagaNorik and Iruini's rescue of their captured Toa Hagah comrades from a Brotherhood of Makuta fortress, the recovery of the Avohkii, and Roodaka's Rhotuka mutation that left all six survivors as Rahaga., NorikNorikToa of Fire and leader of the Toa Hagah, who broke with the Brotherhood of Makuta to recover the Avohkii and led his team through a thousand years of mutation as a Rahaga before being restored. and IruiniIruiniIruini is a Toa of Air, formerly a Le-Matoran and a member of the Toa Hagah who served as bodyguard to Makuta Teridax. He wears the Great Kualsi, wields a Cyclone Spear and Rhotuka Launching Shield with a healing Rhotuka, and resides on Spherus Magna as a Rahi Hunter and protector of Matoran. break into the Brotherhood's base to rescue their team and find four creatures they cannot even recognise as the Toa HagahToa HagahElite Toa teams appointed by the Brotherhood of Makuta to serve as personal guardians, later rebelling against their creators.. Roodaka walks in and blasts the prisoners again while the rescuers watch, and she gives them the name to their faces. NorikNorikToa of Fire and leader of the Toa Hagah, who broke with the Brotherhood of Makuta to recover the Avohkii and led his team through a thousand years of mutation as a Rahaga before being restored. and IruiniIruiniIruini is a Toa of Air, formerly a Le-Matoran and a member of the Toa Hagah who served as bodyguard to Makuta Teridax. He wears the Great Kualsi, wields a Cyclone Spear and Rhotuka Launching Shield with a healing Rhotuka, and resides on Spherus Magna as a Rahi Hunter and protector of Matoran. are mutated in the same raid. Roodaka then tells the local VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. hordes to let them go. They were not Toa anymore. They were not a threat. Chasing them was wasted effort.

Then her own organisation does to her exactly what she does to everyone else. SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. claimed the Toa HagahToa HagahElite Toa teams appointed by the Brotherhood of Makuta to serve as personal guardians, later rebelling against their creators. mutation had been his idea. The Brotherhood believed him. He was promoted to King and given command of the VisorakVisorakSpider-like Rahi created by Makuta Chirox, conquered for the Brotherhood by Gorast, broken at Metru Nui, and ultimately destroyed in a volcanic eruption on Artidax. armies. Roodaka, who had actually done the work, was installed one rung below him as Viceroy.

She never forgave it. The canon is direct that she despised SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. from that point and began planning his death so she could take the crown that the record, and she, considered already hers. SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. meanwhile kept offering her an alliance, partly because he wanted to use her standing back on Xia to lift his own. She rejected every offer. She was not interested in sharing anything with him. She was interested in the gap between his throne and her chair, and in how to close it.

Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. was never really the target#

TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. summoned Roodaka and SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. to Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. telepathically and told them to conquer it. He told them both about the city. He told only Roodaka the part that mattered. He was not actually free. 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. had sealed him inside a Toa SealToa SealA cage of Protodermis created by six Toa combining their Elemental Powers, used to trap powerful beings., and he needed someone to break it.

So while SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. set about taking Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. by force, because that was the job as he understood it, Roodaka went to TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.'s prison and carved a fragment of the seal loose. She placed it inside her own breastplate and wore it. From that point, every move she makes in the arc is a delivery system for that fragment. The VisorakVisorakSpider-like Rahi created by Makuta Chirox, conquered for the Brotherhood by Gorast, broken at Metru Nui, and ultimately destroyed in a volcanic eruption on Artidax. invasion, SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played.'s entire reign, all of it is set dressing around a rock she is carrying in her chest.

The VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. caught the Toa MetruMetruIn the Matoran language a metru was a single district of Metru Nui; the city was divided into six such districts, one for each element, and the term covered both the place and the elemental community that lived in it. and cocooned them, and Roodaka pushed for an execution with spectacle. In the 2005 film BIONICLEBIONICLE: Matoran AdventuresA 2002 GBA platformer where you play as one of six Matoran fighting Bohrok across Mata Nui's islands. 3: Web of ShadowsWeb of ShadowsThe Toa Metru's return to a Visorak-occupied Metru Nui, their mutation into Toa Hordika, the corruption of Vakama, and the rescue that closed the city's long captivity., she talks SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. out of simply cutting the Toa loose to fall, and into killing them in a more, as the film has her put it, legendary way. That delay is what lets the RahagaToa Hagah and RahagaThe Toa Hagah were appointed to guard Makuta Teridax, mutated into hybrid warriors, and mysteriously restored. reach them. By then the Toa have already absorbed VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. venom and twisted into the bestial Toa HordikaToa HordikaToa mutated by Visorak venom into bestial hybrids, forced to fight their primal nature and hunt for a cure.. Roodaka treats even that as useful. In BIONICLEBIONICLE: Matoran AdventuresA 2002 GBA platformer where you play as one of six Matoran fighting Bohrok across Mata Nui's islands. 23: VengeanceVengeance (Dark Hunter)A Dark Hunter with unknown origins whose name masks the obscurity of his true identity and purpose. of the VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe., when SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. complains that he should have just killed the Toa and the Rahaga outright, she tells him her experiments in the effect of Hordika venom serve the shadows.

Then she goes after VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years.. She has the VisorakVisorakSpider-like Rahi created by Makuta Chirox, conquered for the Brotherhood by Gorast, broken at Metru Nui, and ultimately destroyed in a volcanic eruption on Artidax. bring him to her, pretends at warmth and interest, and walks him toward the Hordika side of himself that frightens him. She offers him rulership of the VisorakVisorakSpider-like Rahi created by Makuta Chirox, conquered for the Brotherhood by Gorast, broken at Metru Nui, and ultimately destroyed in a volcanic eruption on Artidax. and the city, and she does it behind SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played.'s back. VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years. takes the offer because he thinks command of the horde means he can order it away from his friends, which is the exact misread Roodaka was counting on. She sends him to kidnap the Rahaga to prove himself. The detail that makes this colder than a simple corruption is the evidence she plants for the Toa HordikaToa HordikaToa mutated by Visorak venom into bestial hybrids, forced to fight their primal nature and hunt for a cure., documents suggesting other MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. had been the destined Toa all along. It works on them because it is not a clean lie. That evidence really existed before Roodaka ever touched it. It had been forged earlier to fool TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. himself, and she simply found it and put it where it would do the most damage. 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. really were the destined heroes. The paper trail saying otherwise was real anyway. Roodaka understands that the most effective lie is a true document pointed in the wrong direction.

How she killed a king without touching him#

The ColiseumThe ColiseumCentral tower of Metru Nui, serving as government seat, sporting arena, and, during Teridax's masquerade, a prison for the city's Matoran population. endgame is the cleanest demonstration of Roodaka's method in the whole arc, because she wins it without ever being the strongest thing in the room.

KeetonguKeetonguThe legendary Rahi who broke the Visorak siege and lived to prove he was worth the legend., the 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. that the Rahaga believed could undo VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. venom and that IruiniIruiniIruini is a Toa of Air, formerly a Le-Matoran and a member of the Toa Hagah who served as bodyguard to Makuta Teridax. He wears the Great Kualsi, wields a Cyclone Spear and Rhotuka Launching Shield with a healing Rhotuka, and resides on Spherus Magna as a Rahi Hunter and protector of Matoran. flatly insisted did not exist, turns out to be real. He comes up the side of the Coliseum after Roodaka and SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played.. Roodaka hits him with shadow energy from her Catcher ClawCatcher ClawA weapon used by Roodaka to catch Rhotuka spinners and return them to their source, also capable of firing bolts of Shadow energy. and he falls. SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played., watching, tells her to finish the job and offers her the kill. She declines. She hands SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. the Catcher ClawCatcher ClawA weapon used by Roodaka to catch Rhotuka spinners and return them to their source, also capable of firing bolts of Shadow energy. and tells him to do it himself.

SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. works it out a moment too late. Roodaka had not wounded KeetonguKeetonguThe legendary Rahi who broke the Visorak siege and lived to prove he was worth the legend. in any way that mattered. She had hurt him just enough to enrage him, and then she had put her king directly between that rage and herself. KeetonguKeetonguThe legendary Rahi who broke the Visorak siege and lived to prove he was worth the legend. crushes SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played.. Roodaka becomes Queen of the VisorakVisorakSpider-like Rahi created by Makuta Chirox, conquered for the Brotherhood by Gorast, broken at Metru Nui, and ultimately destroyed in a volcanic eruption on Artidax. exactly on schedule, and she does it with the dead king's own enemy as the weapon and the dead king's own hand reaching for the trigger. BIONICLETakua's Quest for the Toa StonesAn alternate-continuity record of Takua the Chronicler crossing Mata Nui to recover the six Toa Stones before the arrival of the Toa Mata. Adventures 9: Web of ShadowsWeb of ShadowsThe Toa Metru's return to a Visorak-occupied Metru Nui, their mutation into Toa Hordika, the corruption of Vakama, and the rescue that closed the city's long captivity. describes it without flinching. She cleverly wounds KeetonguKeetonguThe legendary Rahi who broke the Visorak siege and lived to prove he was worth the legend. and abandons SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. to be killed by the 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., then turns to face the Toa.

And then Roodaka, for the first time in the arc, slightly overplays it. With SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. gone she confronts the five Toa HordikaToa HordikaToa mutated by Visorak venom into bestial hybrids, forced to fight their primal nature and hunt for a cure., intending to absorb their elemental powers and use them to crack the prison fragment in her chest. 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. blast her instead. VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years., back on their side, lines up to add his own. Roodaka's counter is pure Xia. She tells them the VisorakVisorakSpider-like Rahi created by Makuta Chirox, conquered for the Brotherhood by Gorast, broken at Metru Nui, and ultimately destroyed in a volcanic eruption on Artidax. will tear all of them apart the instant she dies, so killing her kills them too. It is a real threat and it should have held. It fails on a technicality she did not account for. VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years. is still, officially, the commander of the VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. horde, the rank she handed him herself. He orders the horde to stand down, and they obey, because as far as the VisorakVisorak (Rahi)Spider-like Rahi employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta whose name meant 'Stealers of Life' and whose swarms threatened the Matoran Universe. are concerned Roodaka is the traitor who murdered their King. Then VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years. fires.

What gets lost in the retellings is that Roodaka still wins. The six elemental blasts hit her, the seal fragment in her chest absorbs every one of them, it shatters, and TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. is free. That was the plan from the moment she carved the rock out on day one. The Toa HordikaToa HordikaToa mutated by Visorak venom into bestial hybrids, forced to fight their primal nature and hunt for a cure. spent the entire arc fighting her, and at the buzzer they personally supplied the energy that completed her objective. TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.'s first act as a freed MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate. is to teleport Roodaka out of the city and out of danger. To nearly everyone watching, it looked like the blast had killed her. It had done the opposite. It had paid her.

The double-agent decades#

TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. saving her life does not buy Roodaka a quiet retirement. A Dark Hunter codenamed Tracker runs her down almost immediately. She stops him from killing her, but the cost is being marched to OdinaOdinaOdina is a member of both the Dark Hunters and the Cliff Screechers, operating within the Matoran Universe. Formerly in possession of the powers of Vamprah, Odina retains no elemental abilities in the present day., where she is pulled onto the Dark Hunters' side of the Brotherhood of MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate. and Dark Hunter War.

What she does with that position is the longest sustained con of her life. For roughly a thousand years she works as a double agent, feeding information to the Brotherhood and the Dark Hunters in turn, betraying both, breaking and reforming alliances on whichever timetable serves her. She runs it out of Xia, where her standing climbs high enough that rumour puts her in line to lead the island. One incident dates this stretch precisely. Around 250 years before the present, at a fortress once held by the Brotherhood and by then in Dark Hunter hands, she steers the SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. 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. toward a hidden chamber whose inscriptions lay out TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.'s full Plan. The detail that keeps this honest, and that the canon is careful to include, is that Roodaka pointed 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. at the room without ever reading it herself. She traffics in secrets she has not bothered to open.

A thousand years is too long to keep that many lies in the air, and eventually both organisations catch her. The endgame comes from an unlikely direction. The Shadowed OneThe Shadowed OneThe Shadowed One is the leader of the Dark Hunters, a black, yellow, and silver figure based on Spherus Magna. Armed with a staff and a Rhotuka, the Shadowed One directs the organization., now a prisoner of the Toa NuvaToa Mata and Toa NuvaSix biomechanical heroes created by the Great Beings to awaken Mata Nui and defeat the Brotherhood, transformed once and tested across an entire age., wants the Staff of ArtakhaThe Staff of ArtakhaA restoration artifact forged by Artakha himself, used by Helryx to reverse the environmental damage of the Great Cataclysm. and offers the Toa a deal. He tells them where it is if they kill Roodaka for him. 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. take the deal with no intention of honouring the killing. They go to Xia, where KopakaKopakaKopaka was the Toa Nuva of Ice, deputy commander of the Toa Mata, and one of the six warriors crafted on Artakha to defend the Matoran Universe. pulls Roodaka out of the middle of a fight between the Kanohi DragonKanohi DragonA fearsome Rahi that plagued Metru Nui with soot and darkness, freed by Dark Hunters and exiled to Xia. and a TahtorakTahtorakMassive, articulate Rahi that turned against their Skakdi riders and nearly wiped out an entire civilization., and they bring her face to face with the Rahaga.

The offer KopakaKopakaKopaka was the Toa Nuva of Ice, deputy commander of the Toa Mata, and one of the six warriors crafted on Artakha to defend the Matoran Universe. puts to her is the kind of trade Roodaka has spent her whole life on the other side of. The organisations she betrayed know what she did. 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. Nuva will protect her, if she helps them first. So she fires her RhotukaRhotukaRhotuka were wheels of pure energy generated by living beings, shaped by the user''s nature, and launched through natural or artificial launchers. at the Rahaga and turns them back into the Toa HagahToa HagahElite Toa teams appointed by the Brotherhood of Makuta to serve as personal guardians, later rebelling against their creators. they had been before she ever touched them. The same power that created her signature atrocity undoes it, on her own initiative, because the math finally points that way. The newly restored Toa HagahToa HagahElite Toa teams appointed by the Brotherhood of Makuta to serve as personal guardians, later rebelling against their creators. immediately take her into custody. She almost certainly expected that too.

Federation of Fear, and an ending that suits her#

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. takes Roodaka off the board by drafting her onto a strike team, which is its own kind of joke. The team, led by BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team. and chronicled in the 2008 serial Federation of FearFederation of FearAn Order of Mata Nui strike team of imprisoned villains, led by Brutaka, rescued Makuta Miserix from the volcanic prison of Artidax to install him as the figurehead of the coming war against the Brotherhood., is sent to free MiserixMiserixThe deposed Makuta leader clawed back from exile to hunt the brother who stole his throne., the MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate. who led the Brotherhood before TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. overthrew him. Roodaka goes along stripped of her usual gear and issued a spare RhotukaRhotukaRhotuka were wheels of pure energy generated by living beings, shaped by the user''s nature, and launched through natural or artificial launchers. launcher, and she spends the serial doing what she does. BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team., who is nobody's fool, keeps her close specifically because he has no doubt she is planning something. When the team needs someone who can read a MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate.-sensitive trap, it is Roodaka who reads it, smiling, because of course she knows how those work.

The serial also lands one of her best single lines. When SpiriahSpiriahA Brotherhood Makuta exiled for a failed experiment who briefly controlled an outcast strike team before his death by absorption. starts to threaten her, she levels her launcher at him and tells him to watch his mouth while he still has only one. It is funny, and it is also a precise statement of capability. Her mutation power is always loaded.

Then she finally meets a being she cannot manage. The moment MiserixMiserixThe deposed Makuta leader clawed back from exile to hunt the brother who stole his throne. is free, Roodaka does the obvious Roodaka thing and tries to flip him against BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team.. MiserixMiserixThe deposed Makuta leader clawed back from exile to hunt the brother who stole his throne. answers with a roar that throws her into a wall. There is no negotiation, no angle to work. After a career of finding the exploitable seam in everyone from The Shadowed OneThe Shadowed OneThe Shadowed One is the leader of the Dark Hunters, a black, yellow, and silver figure based on Spherus Magna. Armed with a staff and a Rhotuka, the Shadowed One directs the organization. to a Toa of AirToa of AirWielders of the Element of Air, typically transformed from Le-Matoran, tasked with protecting the Matoran Universe., she runs into raw contempt from something old enough not to bother playing. BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team. loads her, VezonVezonHe started as a weapon misfire and a throwaway joke, and the canon spent four years quietly turning him into its most useful expendable asset., and LariskaLariskaDark Hunter defined by discipline and tactical competence, Lariska was one of the Shadowed One's most dependable operatives before joining Brutaka's desperate mission. onto MiserixMiserixThe deposed Makuta leader clawed back from exile to hunt the brother who stole his throne.'s back and flies them to DaxiaDaxiaDaxia is a location situated east of the Southern Continent, affiliated with the Order of Mata Nui and home to the Shallows Cat., where she is imprisoned. Later she is dropped into the Pit.

When TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna. is finally killed by 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 Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control. spills out onto Spherus MagnaSpherus MagnaA desert world of ancient conflict that became the merger point of the Matoran Universe and Bionicle's true endpoint., and Roodaka walks out with everyone else and simply lives there. No execution, no last stand. I think that is the correct ending for her, and I think it is deliberate. Villains who run on spectacle get spectacular deaths. Roodaka ran on never being the one holding the obvious position, and she survives by the same trick. The being who turned her own name into the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. word for treachery ends up as one more resident of the reformed world, which is exactly the outcome she would have negotiated for if anyone had let her negotiate.

Why she is the villain the line got right#

Roodaka has, by the standards of BIONICLETakua's Quest for the Toa StonesAn alternate-continuity record of Takua the Chronicler crossing Mata Nui to recover the six Toa Stones before the arrival of the Toa Mata.'s heavy hitters, almost no power. No elemental control, just a thread of shadow energy and one forearm launcher that fires a spinner to mutate whatever it hits. Set that next to TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna.'s reality-bending range or a VisorakVisorakSpider-like Rahi created by Makuta Chirox, conquered for the Brotherhood by Gorast, broken at Metru Nui, and ultimately destroyed in a volcanic eruption on Artidax. horde's sheer numbers and it is nothing. She gets through the entire 2005 arc, kills a king, frees a MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate., and walks out alive, on that.

That is the case for her as the best villain the first generation produced, and it is the reason Bob Thompson named her his favourite. The franchise's other antagonists win when they are written as strong. Roodaka wins when she is written as smart, which is harder to do and much harder to fake. Every one of her victories is legible. You can trace the seal fragment from the day she carves it to the moment the Toa HordikaToa HordikaToa mutated by Visorak venom into bestial hybrids, forced to fight their primal nature and hunt for a cure. shatter it for her. You can watch her hand SidorakSidorakHe took credit for someone else's idea, called it leadership, and spent his whole reign as the Visorak's king certain he could not be out-played. the weapon that gets him killed. Nothing she does depends on the plot quietly handing her an advantage.

The cleanest measure of how well it worked is linguistic. After she betrayed the Brotherhood of MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate., the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. language absorbed her name as a common noun. Roodaka. It means treachery. A being whose entire method was to be underestimated ended up as the word an entire culture reaches for when it needs to name the thing she did. The VortixxVortixxThe amoral weapons dealers of Xia who sold to anyone willing to pay. who left her climbing partner in a crevice to keep the Mountain busy would, I suspect, consider that a fair return on the climb.