List of places in Bionicle

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This is a list of places in Lego Bionicle universe.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Major Islands 2.1 Mata Nui 2.2 Metru Nui 2.3 Voya Nui 2.4 Mahri Nui 3 Other places 3.1 Artakha 3.2 Daxia 3.3 Karzahni 3.4 Odina 3.5 The Pit 3.6 Xia 3.7 Zakaz 3.8 Zone of Darkness 3.9 Other 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Overview

While continents do exist in the Bionicle world, almost all known locations are islands.

Although not fully made obvious in storyline so far, there are two levels to the Bionicle world: the surface, and the underground. Matoran were never supposed to live on the surface; almost all known lifeforms live in large domed caverns and the few exceptions are those who wandered to Mata Nui, those stranded on Voya Nui, and those who escaped the Pit.^[1] Because of this, the surface world is largely unexplored; and few know that there even is a surface above them, referring to that area as "beyond the sky".^[2]

The following are known differences between the surface and the underground worlds:

• Lifeforms: All known underground beings are biomechanical, but the surface world is known to have completely organic creatures. Upon seeing the island of Mata Nui for the first time, Toa Whenua noticed strange birds - strange to him, because they were completely organic and unlike the biomechanical birds he was familiar with.^[3]
• Composition of objects: Everything below the surface, from inanimate objects to the bodies of living beings, is made of some form of protodermis; but there are some non-protodermic things above the surface. This is suggested when Toa Nokama commented on the surface water, which is unlike the liquid protodermis "water" surrounding Metru Nui.^[4]
• Sky: The surface sky is similar to the skies of Earth, with a sun, moon, and stars; but Metru Nui, at least, has its own false sky obscuring the fact that there is a ceiling above, and its two "suns" are holes that light shines through. Metru Nui's sky also has stars of some sort, but it is unclear just what they are made of. Both the Toa Metru and the Piraka were amazed at the brightness and heat of the surface sun as compared to the underground ones they were used to; the Toa Metru also noted how far the sky reached, with no stone barrier (cavern wall) to hold in the sea.^[5]

[edit] Major Islands

[edit] Mata Nui

Main article: Mata Nui (Island)

Mata Nui is a tropical island, named after the Great Spirit. When the underground city of Metru Nui fell in the Great Cataclysm, the Toa Metru fled and discovered this island on the planet's surface. After rescuing the city's inhabitants from the Visorak and evacuating them here, they became Turaga and led the Matoran in settling villages. The Matoran would live on the island for a thousand years, despite frequent attacks by Rahi that were controlled by Makuta. Recently, the path to Metru Nui has been reopened, and the Matoran have left Mata Nui in order to repopulate the city.

[edit] Metru Nui

Main article: Metru Nui

Metru Nui is an island city located far beneath the surface of the island of Mata Nui. It was the original home of about a thousand Matoran prior to their imigration to Mata Nui. Metru Nui was completely devastated by the Great Cataclysm and the following Visorak invasion, but the Matoran have finally returned after a thousand years and have begun fixing the damage.

Metru Nui is the northernmost location known to Matoran (though not at the planet's northern pole). ^[6]

[edit] Voya Nui

Main article: Voya Nui

Voya Nui is an island floating on the surface of the water, south of the island of Mata Nui. The land mass broke off of an underground continent a thousand years ago during the Great Cataclysm and landed on the planet's surface.

A number of Matoran, victims of poor repairs, had been sent to the region from Karzahni's realm at almost the dawn of time. Since then, they have had to struggle to survive, especially after the region became a stranded island. Unknown to the Matoran, a powerful Mask of Life is also hidden on Voya Nui, under the volcano, Mount Valmai. Most recently, the island came under attack by a group of Piraka who wanted the mask, but it is once again free and now openly under the protection of Axonn.

[edit] Mahri Nui

Main article: Mahri Nui

Mahri Nui is a portion of Voya Nui's Land that had sunken into the sea, to a place where it is completely surrounded by the Pit^[7] (see "the Pit", below). Little is currently known of Mahri Nui's landscape, but the Matoran living there have adapted to life underwater. Unfortunately, they are constantly besieged by a group of warlords called Barraki.

[edit] Other places

[edit] Artakha

According to Matoran legend, in a time before Mata Nui came, the Matoran worked in darkness without knowing the importance of their duty. If the Matoran had done their job well, then they would go to a place of light called Artakha, the Great Refuge. However, if their job was not done acceptably then they would be condemned to the realm belonging to the dreaded ruler Karzahni (realm described below).

Karzahni has confirmed that Artakha exists, and is ruled by a being of the same name. The Order of Mata Nui has a little more information; but not much, as the land has been closed to outsiders for several millenia. Not even its location is known, as following an attack by the Brotherhood of Makuta, Artakha requested that the Order erase all records of the land's location from existence.

Artakha was the first location created in the Bionicle universe. It used to be connected by a land bridge to a larger uninhabited island, but Artakha's inhabitants destroyed both island and bridge when the land entered its period of isolation. Its terrain and weather tends to reflect the current disposition of its ruler.

Artakha is home to some of the world's most accomplished Matoran builders and crafters, and under their ruler's direction they have created several essential items of power:

• The Great Kanoka Disks
• The Kanohi Nuva Masks
• The Avohkii Mask of Light and Kraahkan Mask of Shadows
• The first Toa was also created here, though by the Great Beings rather than Artakha or the Matoran

Artakha still observes the rest of the universe, and when items are needed they are anonymously teleported to their destinations.

[edit] Daxia

Daxia is the Order of Mata Nui's secret headquarters. Most of Daxia's attractive features are hidden from unknowing visitors: There is little fresh water to be seen, but it collects in underground lakes. The temperature is amazingly hot, but this allows rare plants to thrive. And the beasts are savage, but they will only attack each other unless they are provoked.

The Order of Mata Nui fortress is inhabited by Order members only; the Order has no servants or slaves to tend to their needs. It was built by the first members, those who oversaw the construction of Artakha and Karzahni. The fortress is frequently updated with state-of-the-art weaponry; more than enough, the Order believes, to repel any potential invasion on the off-chance that their enemies discover their existence. And in the worst-case scenario, the Order is fully prepared to destroy Daxia and take the Order's secrets to the grave.

[edit] Karzahni

Where legends stated that good workers were sent to Artakha (above), they said that poor workers would be condemned to a nightmarish world; one shrouded in darkness and even hotter than Metru Nui's Great Furnace. This land had no name, but was referred to by the name of its ruler, a being called Karzahni.

A team of Matoran have recently shed some light on the old legends; as they discovered the dark realm during their travels from Metru Nui to Voya Nui and met Karzahni himself. The land is indeed as dreadful as the legends said; there are volcanoes that erupt burning ice and waterfalls of dust, and lazy Matoran who rest on stones for too long will turn to stone themselves. But the realm's true purpose had been lost to time; where the tales told that poorly-performing Matoran were sent there for punishment, the truth is that they were sent there to be repaired. Those sent for repair never returned because Karzahni didn't do a good job, and rather than admit his poor work he preferred to keep "repaired" Matoran in his realm or send them far, far away from everyone.

[edit] Odina

The headquarters of the Dark Hunters. Odina is far from any trade routes and has no neighboring lands; the Hunters believe the location of their sanctuary is unknown to all outsiders (though they are unaware that the Order of Mata Nui knows about Odina).

Odina is characterized by its sheer, hundred-foot-tall cliffs on all sides of the island; there is only one passage down to a shore called "Nidhiki Beach" (named for the noted traitor, as this was the spot where he was infamously mutated). These cliffs only add to the defenses of the death-trap-filled Dark Hunter fortress and training grounds, which take up most of the island's southern region.

[edit] The Pit

The Pit is the place where the Order of Mata Nui banishes the world's most vile beings. It was once in an underground cavern, but the Great Cataclysm caused the dome that surrounded it to be destroyed, exposing the Pit to the ocean on the planet's surface. The Pit flooded and the inhabitants escaped into the ocean, where something in the water immediately mutated all immersed in it into aquatic forms. This allowed the prisoners to survive but - no longer able to breathe air - they were unable to escape to the surface, so the sea has become effectively an extension of the Pit. Some time later, the island of Voya Nui floated into that region of ocean, and Mahri Nui sank to a point where it is resting on the Pit's upper reaches.^[8]

Some current inhabitants of the Pit are a group of warlords called the "Barraki", the Matoran leaders of Metru Nui's "Great Disruption",^[9] Nocturn, and now Brutaka. All other prisoners have scattered across the sea bottom, most of them becoming scavengers.

Coincidentally, both the Visorak and the Piraka have been described with the term "creatures from the pit",^[10] but series writer Greg Farshtey has said that this is at least a different pit;^[11] and it is possibly a figure of speech not directly connected to the actual location.

[edit] Xia

Xia is the homeland of Roodaka and her people, lean black-armored weaponsmiths called the Vortixx. The female Vortixx are the rulers of Xia; they are the managers and product designers, and the only ones allowed to travel from the island. The males do all the physical labor.

Xia's most prominent feature is a sentient peak known only as "The Mountain". The Mountain reacts to climbers by opening crevasses under them and swallowing them whole. It has become a rite of passage for two Vortixx, one male and one female, to climb up the Mountain and back. Pairs that succeed are rewarded - individuals that succeed at the expense of their partner, even more so.

Beyond the Mountain, Xia is completely industrialized, with every inch covered by weapons factories, warehouses, etc. There is no clean air and no fresh water, as the factories completely pollute both. Roodaka has also mentioned acidic grass and rains of fire.^[12]

Xia was once ruled by Pridak, who chose it to be the center of weapons production for his kingdom. After he and the other leaders of the League of Six Kingdoms were banished to the Pit, Xia continued producing weapons for whomever was willing to buy. The most prominent buyer came to be the Brotherhood of Makuta, particularly in the form of battle rams and other siege engines for the Visorak armies.

When the Kanohi Dragon was deported from Metru Nui, it was relocated to Xia; Roodaka said that "In your city, this is a monster. On my island, it is ... an ill-tempered pet."^[13] The Vortixx are now claiming that they don't know the Kanohi Dragon's current location,^[14] but the Order of Mata Nui believes that they are secretly studying it in order to base new weapons off of it.

Currently, Xia is doing good business by selling weapons to both sides in the war between the Brotherhood and the Dark Hunters, and production has even increased due to a rumor that the League of Six Kingdoms will return.

[edit] Zakaz

Zakaz was once a beautiful island with advanced cities and abundant resources. Its people, the Skakdi, lived in relative peace with their neighbors. Then the Brotherhood of Makuta interfered.

A Makuta, claiming to be a renegade but probably working under orders, arrived 75,000 years ago and began tampering with the Skakdi, giving them elemental and vision powers. He then left the island under the eye of the Visorak for a while, but the Skakdi overthrew them and began fighting each other. Either the Makuta's tampering had affected the Skakdi's minds as well as their bodies, or perhaps the new power just went to their heads; but whatever the reason, every minor disagreement escalated into a full-scale war. Now Zakaz is nothing more than a wasteland, with the remaining Skakdi fighting over what little is left. The only free zone is the island's central water source, but there's no telling how long this truce will last.

The Brotherhood has declared the island quarantined, with only the Dark Hunters daring to go there to recruit new members. But even this is risky; six Skakdi who joined the Hunters later dared to betray them, calling themselves "Piraka".

One Skakdi horror story concerns a terrifying being called Irnakk, who is brutal and destructive even by Skakdi standards.

Ehlek also lived in the seas surrounding Zakaz, before his exile to the Pit.^[15]

[edit] Zone of Darkness

The Zone of Darkness is a pocket dimension where no light exists, and is the home of the fearsome Zivon monster. It is known by various other names like "Zone of Shadows", "Field of Shadows", etc. Kahgarak can use their Rhotuka spinners to open gates to this Zone, either summoning the Zivon or banishing enemies. Krahka and Tahtorak were last seen being sent to the Zone of Darkness with a Zivon, but unknown to all recently escaped when Brutaka opened a dimensional gate to there.

[edit] Other

A Matoran now living in Karzahni's realm says he once worked as a builder "in the world that feeds the world. The wellspring of flame that blazes bright, yet burns none but its bearer. And he, oh, he it burns until there is nothing left, not even ashes."^[16] Specifically, he helped build the Toa canisters there. The Ignika Mask of Life will ultimately need to be brought there in order to save Mata Nui's life, and it has been confirmed to not be Artakha or any other known location.^[17]

Along with the Dark Hunters and the Order of Mata Nui, the Brotherhood of Makuta has their own headquarters island of Destral. More information will be coming shortly.

Several other locations have been mentioned in passing in relation to major characters; here is what we know so far:

• The Shadowed One's homeland is "a land of shadows and ice". It was a peaceful society until the Dark Hunter codenamed "Ancient" rebelled against the codes of behavior, offering his services to whomever could pay; leaders hired him to crush their enemies and the land entered a civil war.^[18]
• Sidorak's and Krekka's homeland is one that thrives on bloodshed. When one clan builds something of worth, the neighboring one attacks and tries to destroy it. A popular pastime is watching death matches in the island's arena. Sidorak is of the island's elite race, while Krekka is one of the lower class. Also native to this island are Voporak, who was a clan leader; and the Dark Hunter codenamed "Gladiator", who was a warrior in the arena.
• In Keetongu's and Tahtorak's homeland, Keetongu's race used the Tahtorak species as mounts. Keetongu's race is all but extinct now, as there is only one member of the species still alive.
• Contrary to popular fan rumor, Sidorak's and Keetongu's homelands do not share a cavern with Xia.^[19]
• Nocturn destroyed his home island in a fit of rage.
• The lands conquered by the Visorak include the homelands of Dark Hunters Firedracax and "Primal", and the homeland of Krahka.
• The Dark Hunters codenamed "Conjurer" and "Tyrant" ruled their own lands.
• The Dark Hunter codenamed "Guardian" came from an island in the midst of civil war. Different tribes battle against each other, most likely for greater power. At least two tribes carry Rhotuka lanchers.^[20]
• The Dark Hunter codenamed "Lurker" was banished from his home island for murder.
• The Matoran of light live on an island where there are no defences left.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• BZPower