Spherus Magna

Spherus Magna was the world where everything came from, though nobody on the planet knew it. While TahuTahu, Toa of FireTahu served as Toa Mata, Toa Nuva, and Toa Mistika of Fire, leading his team from the first landing on Mata Nui to the destruction of the Rahkshi army on Bara Magna. and the Toa Mata were learning to be heroes inside a mechanical body in the stars, the real world was grinding forward through resource wars and arena matches. The AgoriAgoriThe villager species of Bara Magna, organised by tribe and settlement, who governed their villages and lived by the Glatorian arena system. built villages around scarce water while the GlatorianGlatorianTribal warriors of Spherus Magna who settled disputes through arena combat, until the Skrall conquest enslaved most of them. fought in KolhiiKolhiiKolhii was the inter-village sport of Mata Nui, grown out of the older game of koli and played by all six Koro until the Matoran left the island. tournaments to settle disputes rather than wage conventional wars that would destroy civilization. The SkrallSkrallA black-armored warrior species from Spherus Magna that dominated northern Bara Magna under Tuma's rule. and VoroxVoroxThe warrior caste of the Sand Tribe, reduced to feral pack hunters in the wastes of Bara Magna after the collapse of their civilisation in the Core War. carved territories in the fractured terrain. It was harsh, separated by ancient desert, shaped by cataclysms from wars fought by the Element LordsElement LordsSeven elemental warriors transformed by the Great Beings who refused to end their war even after the world broke. millennia before.

The Desert Before#

Spherus Magna's history is fracture and adaptation. The Element LordsElement LordsSeven elemental warriors transformed by the Great Beings who refused to end their war even after the world broke., beings of immense power, had shattered the planet in the distant past. That ancient war created the desert islands and seemingly endless wastes that the current inhabitants called home. The Great BeingsThe Great BeingsScholar-inventors of Spherus Magna whose creations shaped the Matoran Universe and whose absence defined the conflicts that followed. themselves had lived there before they turned their attention elsewhere and created the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. Universe as an experiment.

By the time of the Bara MagnaBara MagnaA desert world of tribal warfare and scarce resources, one of three landmasses that formed Spherus Magna. era, Spherus Magna had developed its own fragile equilibrium. Wars would destroy everyone. So instead, tribes sent their warriors to KolhiiKolhiiKolhii was the inter-village sport of Mata Nui, grown out of the older game of koli and played by all six Koro until the Matoran left the island. arenas. The GlatorianGlatorianTribal warriors of Spherus Magna who settled disputes through arena combat, until the Skrall conquest enslaved most of them. fought one-on-one matches to settle conflicts. Winners took resources or territory. Losers lost everything, but at least they were individual losses, not civilizational extinction. It wasn't elegant. It was survival.

The Fall and Merger#

When 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 body descended onto Spherus Magna, the equilibrium shattered. His arrival was catastrophic. He destroyed entire populations that simply happened to be in the wrong place. The SkakdiSkakdiA brutish warrior species from Zakaz whose pair-dependent elemental powers and moral void made them one of Bionicle's few irredeemable factions. civilization didn't survive his landing. The island itself trembled under his weight.

But 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. also brought something the fractured world couldn't achieve alone. His merger with Spherus Magna unified both realms. The MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body., the Toa, the MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate., every being from the artificial universe spilled into reality. The experiment finally met the world it was supposed to reflect. Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years.'s final apology makes sense now. He was sorry for the casualties.

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