Voya Nui Bay

The 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. Bay is one of those Bionicle tragedies that hits harder once you know the full story. On the surface, it's just a body of water that ringed the island 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.. Below that, it's the grave of an entire civilization and the stage for one of the most heartbreaking miscommunications in the series. The bay used to hold land, built by volcanic activity, where the city of Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations. flourished. Then Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations. broke off and sank into those same waters, taking its residents with it.

The Sunken City#

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. Bay didn't start as just water. Volcanic activity had built up land inside the bay's depression, and on that land, the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. of Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations. established a city. It's unclear exactly when or why Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations. broke away from the mainland, but it sank into the very bay it once bordered. The event severed the two cities completely.

Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations.'s inhabitants didn't simply perish in the depths. They adapted to underwater life, their bodies transforming to survive in the crushing pressure. But those changes kept them from returning to the surface or communicating with the MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. they'd left behind. From the perspective of those on 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., the entire city had vanished without explanation.

A Memorial Nobody Realized They Were Building#

What happened next is what sticks with you about this location. The MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body. 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. came to a logical but tragic conclusion: their former neighbors had died. To honor that loss, they turned the bay into a memorial. They threw flowers, gifts, and supplies into the water, year after year, expecting these tributes to sink and join their lost friends in whatever remained of Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations..

The cruel irony is that all along, the tributes were reaching living people. Mahri NuiMahri NuiA matoran settlement that sank, survived, and was ultimately crushed beneath Voya Nui, leaving behind one of Bionicle's most poignant lost civilizations.'s population hadn't been wiped out. Below the surface, they adapted to the crushing pressure. Over time, they received an endless stream of gifts from relatives they'd thought were dead. Imagine the gap between those two experiences: one side mourning, the other slowly realizing that the surface world hadn't forgotten them.

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