Mata Nui (Island)

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Mata Nui is a fictional island from the LEGO Bionicle storyline, and is the setting of the first story arc, known as Bionicle Chronicles. It is named after the Great Spirit Mata Nui, who cares for all life in the Bionicle universe. The island is 357 by 178 kio (a unit of measurement in the Bionicle universe roughly equal to .85 miles or 1.37 kilometers); or in Earth measurements, 303.45 by 151.3 miles or 489.09 by 243.86 kilometers.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 History 2 Regions of Mata Nui 2.1 Ta-Wahi 2.2 Ga-Wahi 2.3 Le-Wahi 2.4 Po-Wahi 2.5 Onu-Wahi 2.6 Ko-Wahi 3 Other Locations 4 References 5 External link

[edit] History

A thousand years ago, there was an island of barren rock that existed above the underground city of Metru Nui. When the Great Cataclysm happened, some energized protodermis leaked out from underground and caused all matter of plant life to grow rapidly. Because it was foreseen that this growth could happen, Bohrok nests were built underneath the island to clean it off once it was no longer needed.^[1] Rahi wildlife would soon begin migrating to the island, mainly going through Metru Nui.

After the Cataclysm, the Toa Metru were forced to evacuate the Matoran from the ruins of Metru Nui. Making their way to the surface, they found a tropical island that would make a more than acceptable refuge. They named it "Mata Nui" in honor of the Great Spirit, and each Toa chose a spot where they could settle their fellow Matoran. The Toa became Turaga and led the Matoran in building villages.

Thanks to a deal Toa Vakama made with Makuta before leaving the city for good, the Matoran had peace for one year. After that, Makuta began using his Kraata to enslave the Rahi and have them attack. While the Matoran were courageous in defending their villages, the Rahi attacks made travel difficult and so the villages stayed rather isolated from each other.

An event called a "shadow plague" has been mentioned, but has not been elaborated upon.^[2]

In recent times, the Toa Mata arrived on Mata Nui and faced Makuta in his lair, Mangaia; in response he awakened the Bohrok swarms and let them loose on the island. The Bohrok's mission was to restore the island to the way it was "in the Before-Time"; this involved destroying mountains, rivers, forests, and just about anything else in their way. The Toa were able to imprison the Bohrok Queens and stop the swarms, but not before horrendous damage was done, including the destruction of the village of Le-Koro. But the Matoran began rebuilding almost right away, even reprogramming the Bohrok machines to help in the reconstruction.

From then on, the island was mostly at peace - except for a scare from six elite Bohrok-Kal who sought to re-release the swarms. With Makuta no longer enslaving Rahi, travel between the regions became much easier, and the Turaga declared an island-wide kolhii tournament to celebrate. But the discovery of the Avohkii Mask of Light just before the championship match turned everything upside-down...

Fearing that the mask would be used against him, Makuta sent his Rahkshi to hunt it down before its destined wearer, the Toa of Light, could be found. The Rahkshi were relentless in following the trail of the Toa's Herald Takua, utterly destroying the villages of Ta-Koro and Onu-Koro on their quest. They caught up with Takua at the Kini-Nui Temple, where Takua realized that he was to be the Toa of Light; accepting his destiny as Toa Takanuva, he destroyed the Rahkshi.

The next day, Takanuva challenged Makuta in Mangaia; the result was that Makuta is presumed dead and the path back to Metru Nui was reopened. After a few months of preparing boats for the journey, the Matoran left Mata Nui behind to return to Metru Nui, and the island is once again uninhabited.

[edit] Regions of Mata Nui

The island is divided up into six "Wahi", or regions, one for each element. Each Wahi has a "Koro" (village), which itself has a "Suva" (shrine) dedicated to the region's patron Toa. It is also said that each region has a "Kini" (temple) for its Toa, though the temples have never been shown in stories.

The villages are home to the Matoran people each led by a Turaga elder and, in the final year before returning to Metru Nui, guarded by a Toa. There were about a thousand Matoran total when they emigrated to the island and nobody died over the thousand years that they lived there, so the population of each village is over 150 Matoran (Early materials only showed a dozen Matoran per village, but this number was abandoned around the time of the Mask of Light movie).^[3]

[edit] Ta-Wahi

Ta-Wahi is the fire region, located mainly on the eastern side of the Mangai Volcano. It is a land of rock and lava flows. The major landmark in Ta-Wahi is the Lake of Fire, where the village of Ta-Koro is located; and between there and the island's shoreline is the Charred Forest.

Ta-Koro was a giant stone fortress in the middle of the Lake of Fire; only accessible by a single stone bridge that the Ta-Koro Guard could sink into the lava in case of attack. It was ruled by Turaga Vakama and guarded by Toa Tahu. At the time just prior to the appearance of the Avohkii Mask of Light, Ta-Koro also had the island's largest Kolhii stadium. When three of the Rahkshi attacked Ta-Koro, searching for the Herald of the Toa of Light, they destroyed the entire fortress by causing it to sink into the lava.

[edit] Ga-Wahi

Ga-Wahi is the water region to the northeast, essentially made up of Lake Naho (also called Naho Bay). Lake Naho is said to be one of the holes in the surface that acted as a sun to Metru Nui, but the hole was plugged in the Great Cataclysm.

Floating on the surface of Lake Naho, Ga-Koro is built on floating lilypads. It is ruled by Turaga Nokama and guarded by Toa Gali. Ga-Koro was attacked by the Bohrok, but the Toa stopped the swarms before they could do any significant damage.

[edit] Le-Wahi

To the south of the island are the jungles of Le-Wahi. The Fau Swamp makes up almost the entire ground level of the region; the Le-Matoran choose to live in the treetops instead.

Le-Koro lies high in the treetops of Le-Wahi, protecting it from all but flying Rahi. It is ruled by Turaga Matau and guarded by Toa Lewa. Le-Koro was completely destroyed and the entire Le-Matoran population (save two) were enslaved by krana during the Bohrok invasion, but was quickly rebuilt after being freed by Onu-Matoran boxor vehicles.

[edit] Po-Wahi

Po-Wahi, to the north, is mostly desert, with a few occasional canyons.

Somewhere in the northern desert of Po-Wahi lies Po-Koro, a village nestled in a canyon valley. It is ruled by Turaga Onewa and protected by Toa Pohatu. It was attacked by the Bohrok and the Po-Matoran were forced to evacuate, but they returned and rebuilt once the swarms were stopped.

[edit] Onu-Wahi

On the surface, Onu-Wahi is little more than a barren wasteland, with the Papa Nihu reef to the northwest. The bulk of the region is actually made up of an extensive underground tunnel network that spans much of the island.

Onu-Koro is an underground village, accessible only by tunnel and lit by lightstones. It is ruled by Turaga Whenua and guarded by Toa Onua. Onu-Koro was flooded by Gahlok during the Bohrok invasion, but was soon drained and restored; it was also heavily damaged from a fight between the Toa Nuva and Vorahk, Kurahk and Turahk, three of the Rahkshi.

[edit] Ko-Wahi

Ko-Wahi is the icy mountain region to the west, surrounding Mount Ihu. It is a land filled with blizzards and snowstorms. Somewhere in this region is a hole in the surface covered by a glacier; this was Metru Nui's second "sun".

The village of Ko-Koro can be found beneath a glacier that divides two peaks, making it safe from the frequent bad weather. It is ruled by Turaga Nuju and guarded by Toa Kopaka. Ko-Koro was heavily damaged by the Rahkshi.

[edit] Other Locations

Kini-Nui: The Kini-Nui Temple is the Great Temple on Mata Nui. Located in the center of island, it is where the Toa Mata gained their Golden Kanohi Masks. A few months later, the Rahkshi first emerged on the island's surface here, and it was here that they were defeated by the newly-empowered Toa Takanuva. The temple acts as a gate to Makuta's lair of Mangaia, and it can only be unlocked by the six Makoki Stones; when the Toa first confronted Makuta, the Chronicler's Company defended Kini-Nui from attack so that they could escape Mangaia if necessary.

Mangaia: Mangaia is Makuta's underground lair on Mata Nui. The Toa Mata fought Makuta and his guardians here, and Toa Takanuva fought Makuta in the form of a kolhii match. The lair features a pool of energized protodermis in the center, and gates to both the Bohrok nest and Metru Nui, though the gate to Metru Nui is so heavy that not even Makuta can lift it.

Bohrok Nest: The Bohrok nest is an extensive network of underground tunnels beneath Mata Nui, extending further down into the earth then even the underground city of Metru Nui. The nest's walls are lined with hivelike pods, each containing a sleeping Bohrok waiting for the day they will be awakened. In the center of the nest is the lair of the Bohrok Queens, the Bahrag; and just outside it is the hiding place of six sets of Exo-Toa armor. The Bahrag have been imprisoned in their lair since their defeat at the hands of the Toa Mata.

[edit] References

[edit] External link

• Mata Nui (Location) article at Bionicle Sector 01 Wiki