Characters / Bionicle Spherus Magna

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The tale of BIONICLE leaves the realm of the Matoran takes us to the shattered planet of Spherus Magna, specifically its largest fragment, the harsh desert world Bara Magna. The inhabitants here are not super-powered biomechanical lifeforms, but rather a race of armored warriors in a fight to survive. It is here that, after many years of dormancy, Mata Nui takes action to regain control of his world, and in doing so makes shocking revelations about his origins and purpose.

Bara Magnans in General

• Abnormal Ammo: Thornax, a type of spiked, potentially explosive fruit.
  • Edible Ammunition: But only to the Bone Hunters. Nobody else can stomach it.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Just like the Toa, the Bara Magnans wear armour denoting their tribe with subtle variations: red for Fire, blue for Water, white for Ice, green for Jungle, black for Rock, and tan for Sand. The now-defunct Iron Tribe are currently orange, but used to be grey and dark blue, and the Earth Tribe were brown and black.

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• Cool Helmet: Instead of a Mask of Power: It even attaches via the head, and many Bara Magnans have exposed faces.
• Cyborg: Unlike the Toa and Matoran who are robots with organic parts, the Spherus Mangans are primarily organic but have some cybernetics and wear 24-Hour Armor.
• Silicon-Based Life: They have a metallic bone-structure, allowing the Mask of Life to effect them, and presumably aiding in their long lives.
• 24-Hour Armor: They might look like Cyborgs, but in reality it's this.

The Agori

Bara Magna's villagers, trying to eke out an existence on a harsh world. Like Matoran, they are divided into tribes, though only location sets them apart from each other instead of any physical differences. The main tribes to interact with each other are the fire, water, jungle, and ice tribes; and these four eventually united their villages into a large city.

• Badass Biker: Agori can take part in Gladiator Games through vehicle combat matches.
• Expy: Of Matoran (the other way around in-universe).
• Hobbits: Half the size of a Glatorian.
• Ungrateful Bastards: Towards the Glatorian, who are viewed as useful hired muscle but otherwise unwanted.

Raanu

Voiced By: Armin Shimerman

For a long time I have accepted that life for me and my people must be the way of toil and trial. But I dream of a better world...

Raanu is one of the oldest and wisest Agori, and as such is leader of the Fire Tribe. He is a fierce leader motivated by the welfare of his village.

• The Mole: He acted on behalf of the Great Beings during the Core War.

• Supporting Leader: He isn't often involved in the story beyond being the local leader, though this changes somewhat with the reveal of his history in Journey's End.

Berix

Voiced By: James Arnold Taylor

I'm sometimes known as a scavenger and I have been looking for and finding ancient items all my life. I fix the things I understand, and the other things I take apart and use the various parts for all kinds of things. Such is the life of a scavenger.

Berix is a scavenger from the Water Tribe, an expert at finding and fixing abandoned tools. Unfortunately for him, others tend to conflate his collecting with thievery.

• Annoying Younger Sibling: He has this dynamic with Kiina.
• Genki Guy: He's easily excitable.
• Keet: James Arnold Taylor reprises Tidus.
• The Medic: He picked up a few healing techniques from the Jungle Tribe, which came in handy when Gresh was wounded trying to defend Tajun.
• The Smart Guy: Of Mata Nui's team.
  • Shorter Means Smarter: ...And the only Agori.

Tarduk

They call them ruins... but they're full of treasure, if you know where to look.

Hailing from the Jungle Tribe, Tarduk is an avid treasure hunter, willing to brave anything in pursuit of the secrets to the past.

• Adventurer Archaeologist: He's gone off wandering looking for artifacts on occasion.
• Primal Stance: All Jungle Tribe Agori have ape-like stances and clawed hands and feet.
  • Running on All Fours

Atakus

The Rock Tribe is clearly superior. Have you fought against this Skrall yet? He's going to win everything, you know. I do not concern myself with the other tribes. They are losers.

An Agori of the Rock Tribe who no-one likes, Atakus is an overconfident fighter and a total suck-up to the Skrall, particularly Stronius. He also a secret agent working for Velika.

• Jerkass: Like most, but he's a jackass even by his tribe's standards.
• Professional Buttkisser: He talks a big talk about the Skrall's superiority.

Metus

Voiced By: David Leisure

I could always pick a winner.

Possessing a persuasive way with words, this Agori of the Ice Tribe puts his talents to use bartering with villages and recruiting Glatorian. His self-serving ambition led him to work with the Skrall, leaking them valuable information.

• An Axe to Grind: Carries an ice axe.
• Arc Villain: The Big Bad of the Bara Magna arc once Tuma is out of the picture. When he says that he intends to unite the Bone Hunters and Skrall under one ruler, he leaves little doubt that he's talking about himself.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With Tuma during The Legend Reborn, at least until Tuma is out of the picture.
• Catchphrase: "That's a joke" in The Legend Reborn. He changes it to "that's not a joke" when he reveals himself to be the traitor.
• Dirty Coward: Similarly to Ahkmou, his only interest is self-preservation, though unlike Ahkmou, he's more ambitious.
• Karmic Transformation: Mata Nui transformed him into a snake for his duplicitous crimes. The transformation has since worn off.
• Ironic Echo: His Catchphrase of "That's a joke" turns up again after he reveals himself as The Mole and orders Mata Nui to drop his weapons, before coldly stating "That's not a joke."
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: What he masquerades as.
• The Mole: For the Skrall.
• Non-Action Big Bad: He prefers to let his Bone Hunter-Skrall army do the fighting even though he's the one who organized the united front. Nevertheless, in the novelization of The Legend Reborn, Mata Nui compares Metus's selfishness and arrogance to that of Makuta.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Skedaddles as soon as things start going poorly.
• Walking Spoiler: He seemed like just another villager until he was revealed to be in cahoots with the Skrall.

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The Glatorian

Professional warriors hired by Bara Magna's tribes to represent them in the arena. Unlike Toa, their yet-unnamed race is completely separate from the Agori and they have no special powers. With the tribes uniting, the Glatorian have become the city's defense.

• Combat by Champion: Their role is to represent their villages' interests in the arena. A string of victories or defeats is all that it takes to catapult a Glatorian to fame or get thrown out as a waste.
• Combat Pragmatist: Zig-zagged: Within the Arena is a controlled environment that maintains civility among the tribes, so they have a standard of honor to uphold. Outside the Arena is a merciless Death World where the populace can and will use every trick that they know to stay alive and ahead.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Many Glatorian, particularly the more noble-inclined, often chaft under being considered mercenaries and a necessary expense by the Agori, despite them being the very reason the villages have resources in the first place.
• Elemental Powers: Mata Nui's allies (so everyone except Malum, Strakk, and Gelu) as of Legend Reborn
• Expy: of Toa (again, the Glatorian's race came first in-universe, though a few getting Elemental Powers have made them sort of Recursive Expies)
• Sword and Gun: All Glatorian carry a Thornax Launcher but it's a single round Cartraid so they can't rely on it.

Gresh

Voiced By: Mark Famiglietti

"I'm bigger, stronger, and faster than the Agori. I've got a shield and a launcher, and I know how to use them. I'm a Glatorian. Doesn't that mean I have to protect people who aren't as strong as I am?"

Glatorian fight for the villages that hire us, so they don't have to fight each other. But we don't charge to save a life.

A rookie serving as the Second Glatorian of the Jungle Tribe, Gresh is still young, yet very noble and posessing great potential. While Gresh prefers to practice in secret, he has an unfortunate habit of relying on tried-and-true techniques rather than trying new ones.

• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Gresh has a mild case, at least compared to the more profit-driven Glatorian.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: His Jungle Shield
  • Bifurcated Weapon: It splits into Dual Tonfas.
• Signature Move: A backflip followed by a Thornax shot.
• Token Good Teammate: The most noble and heroic Glatorian, most of whom are amoral and only care about themselves, like Strakk.

Vastus

Voiced By: James Arnold Taylor

We both saw Atero crumble. Well, not again, not to my village.

Vastus is the Prime Glatorian of the Jungle Tribe, though he considers it more important to defend his village rather than serve in Arena Matches. This is because of a mistake he made long ago in the Core War, which cost the lives of thousands of innocent villagers, something he's been desperate to atone for ever since.

• The Atoner: After the Core War.
• Boom Stick: His Venom Talon has a Thornax Launcher on one end.
• Sinister Scythe: His Venom Talon, though the "Sinister" part is subverted; he's one of the good guys.
  • Poisoned Weapons: Though he has drained the venom for Arena Matches.
• Super Senses: He's learned meditation techniques to improve his senses.

Malum

"What brings you to my ... empire? If you are seeking hospitality, I have none to offer. Food? Water? Whatever I have goes to my people."

If I become Prime Glatorian I will retain my ferocity... and the other villages can go to blazes.

Malum was the Second Glatorian of the Fire Tribe, until his dishonorable and violent temper got the better of him in a Match, and he was subsequently banished. He has since become the leader of a pack of Vorox, understanding and caring about them more than any other Glatorian.

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• The Exile: He was certainly warned enough times.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a violent, spiteful man, but he does care for his pack.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Malum tried this on Strakk. He got fired for it.
• Nature Hero: Well, more like Nature Anti-Hero.
• Token Evil Teammate: He's "off the team" before the story starts, but has allied against the Skrall at least once.
• Shoulder Cannon: Malum has a shoulder-mounted Thornax Launcher.
• Wolverine Claws: His Flame Claws.

Ackar

Voiced By: Jim Cummings

"There's more to winning a fight than fancy weapons."

Patience is the first lesson in becoming a great Glatorian.

Ackar is the Prime Glatorian of the Fire Tribe, strengthened and wisened by age. However, his experiences are starting to take their toll on him, hampering his confidence and making him believe he's slipping in his old age. Thankfully, his friendship with Mata Nui has begun to restore his spirit.

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• Awesomeness by Analysis: Ackar teaches and encourages this.
• Dented Iron: He's afraid he's becoming this in recent years, as age and his constant battles as the Fire Tribe's only real protector and champion since Malum's banishment (forcing him to fight twice as much and hard) have been taking their toll.
• Flaming Sword: Ackar's Flame Sword.
  • Oddly Shaped Sword
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: The stress and responsibilities of being the Fire Tribe's only real protector are starting to weigh him down, making him think he's too old for this.
• The Lancer: He's Mata Nui's mentor, and the first being to call him "friend".
• Magic Feather: Inverted — he thinks he's losing his edge due to age, but it's just a confidence problem.
• Old Soldier: One of the oldest living Glatorians around and one of the most skilled in battle.
• Trophy Room: He has at least one wall covered in the shields of his opponents, though he himself treats it with little real care.

Tarix

Voiced By: Jeff Bennett

The secret to being a winner is already knowing the mistakes losers make... and not making them yourself.

Tarix is the Prime Glatorian of the Water Tribe, a veteran of numerous battles. Wise and fierce, yet noble and fair, Tarix is respected all throughout Bara Magna.

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• Cool Sword: His Water Blades, though their long handles border on Blade on a Stick

Kiina

Voiced By: Maria Sokoloff

"It's only overconfidence if you can't back it up. And you know I can."

Finally, someone to convince the Agori there's a better place than this miserable wasteland.

Kiina is the Second Glatorian of the Water Tribe, known for being aggressive, haughty, and constantly speaking of a better world than Bara Magna. She's not very well liked for these traits, but her skills are second to none, and she's considered a reliable ally. The recent arrival of Mata Nui my prove her dreams of another world true...

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• All Amazons Want Hercules: She develops a bit of a crush on Mata Nui. Unfortunately for her...
• All Love Is Unrequited: Mata Nui, being designed for a rather specific purpose, doesn't have much capacity for romance.
• Boisterous Bruiser: A female example.
• The Chick: Of Mata Nui's team.
• Double Weapon: Her Vapor Trident.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: She hates the fact that the Agori view Glatorians as just hired help, calling out Raanu on treating Ackar with disrespect after he lead Glatorians in protecting the Fire Tribe from Bone Hunters.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can definitely be a bit abrasive (unless you happen to basically be the personification of her dreams).
• The Lad-ette: Loves a fight as much as the next Glatorian, and tends to be abrasive.
• Prongs of Poseidon: Her Vapor Trident.

Strakk

Voiced By: Jeff Bennett

"Speak for yourself. I don't fight for free."

It's them or me. It's that simple. I will do anything I can to win — do you think my opponents see it any differently? Don't be foolish.

Strakk was the Prime Glatorian of the Ice Tribe prior to his banishment, a self-centered sort who fights dirty and only works for what he considers a decent pay.

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• An Axe to Grind: His Ice Axe.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: "Evil" is a bit strong, but he honestly can't understand Gresh.
• The Exile: Kicked out for ironically trying what Malum tried on him on Ackar (except this time, once more Strakk conceded first), though they kept him around for the battle of Roxtus.
• Fake Russian: His portrayal in The Legend Reborn gives him a thick Russian accent.
• In the Back: He combines this with I Surrender, Suckers on Ackar. Unfortunately for Strakk, even if Mata Nui hadn't charged in, that combo together would have gotten him banished regardless of "victory".
• Jerkass: Even in normal conversation he can be a bit of a dick.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Strakk, however, tries it on Ackar after losing a match to him. He got fired, too.
• Only in It for the Money: And it's very often used to manipulate him.
• Token Evil Teammate: Before he gets banished, at least.
• Worthy Opponent: They may not get along, but he does respect most other Glatorian.

Gelu

"Agori, you've been in danger since before Bara Magna had moons. Now do as I say."

Well, I thought this was going to be an easy job... small caravan, short route, far from Vorox nests... a cinch. I should have remembered - this is Bara Magna. There are no easy jobs here.

Gelu was a Glatorian in service of the Ice Tribe until he retired and found being a caravan escort more rewarding. He's an aloof (and very insistent on upfront pay) but dedicated guardian whose heart is in the right place.

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• Aloof Ally: He's an ice Glatorian after all.
• Deadpan Snarker: Comes off as this more than a little bit during Raid on Vulcanus.
• Double Weapon: His Ice Slicer.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: He tries to hide it behind his sense of business and aloofness, but Gelu does have a strong sense of honor and doing what's right, even if he doesn't take it as far as Gresh.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: A little. He tries to claim he's only helping to protect the Fire Tribe out of wanting a paycheck, but he does care more about the Agoris' lives beyond profit.
• Slave to PR: Averting this was why he stopped being a Glatorian. He had no intention of being paraded around into constant battles until he either snapped or get so beaten down that his own people would turn on him for being a failure.

The Skrall

"Skrall do not fear ghosts. We make them."

We fight. We win. We take. We are Skrall! The match is over!

The Skrall are a separate species that is better trained and/or physically superior to the Glatorian. There are at least three breeds of Skrall: soldiers, stronger elite forces, and leaders. They form the warriors of the Rock Tribe, a previously isolated tribe that recently moved south to join the others, and started taking resources left and right from the other tribes through arena victories before moving to open warfare. The Skrall typically don't go by individual names, though ones who do acts of renown earn names of their own, such as the soldier-class Branar and the elite-class Stronius. After Tuma's humiliating defeat, the tribe has fractured into several splinter groups.

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• Bug Caste System: The bulk of the Skrall are nameless warriors, while Tuma is the sole survivor of the leading "royal" caste of warlords.
• Carry a Big Stick: Elite-Skrall's Thorned Clubs.
• Chainsaw Good: Saw Blade Shields (actually Buzzsaw Good, but whatever)
• Cool Sword: Skrall Tribal Design Blades.
  • Black Swords Are Better
  • Oddly Shaped Sword: They curve at the hilt rather than being a straight line.
• Grim Up North: They originated in the north before the Baterra drove them south.
• He-Man Woman Hater: And the feeling is mutual, to the point that they live in separate No Woman's Land and Lady Land (though rock Agori of both genders live with the men).
• Invading Refugees: Retreating from the Baterra.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Saw Blade Shields, standard equipment for soldier-Skrall, along with Cool Swords. Tuma also has one in the movie.
  • Throwing Your Shield Always Works
• Mooks: Soldier-Skrall
  • Elite Mooks: Elite-Skrall
• No Need for Names: Mostly; Skrall have to earn the right to have a name.
• Opposing Sports Team: While they still bothered with the arena.
• Our Giants Are Bigger: Leader-Skrall, notably some of the only larger entities on Bara Magna.
• Proud Warrior Race: All of them dedicate their lives to fighting and pride themselves in being stronger warriors than the Glatorian.
• Swiss Army Weapon: Normal Skralls' swords have a Thornax Launcher attached to them.
• Sword and Gun: Tuma; Elite-Skrall are club-and-gun.
• Tron Lines: The rock tribal markings.
• Vertical Mecha Fins: Soldier-Skrall

Tuma

Voiced By: Fred Tatasciore

"Not now. Not yet. But one day ... after Bara Magna has fallen ... the Skrall will take revenge."

Push too far, and you may find I forget what is in the best interests of my people in favor of what would be most... satisfying... to myself.

Tuma is the last surviving leader-class Skrall, and thus the tribe's leader. He views himself as a natural-born conqueror, and his success as a fighter and military strategist may back that up.

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• BFS: Wields an enormous cleaver-esque blade.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Of the Bara Magna arc. He's set up as the Final Boss of the Bara Magna saga, but he is in fact ultimately just a pawn of Metus, although don't tell him that. After his quick defeat at the hands of Mata Nui in The Legend Reborn, Metus reveals that he's The Man Behind the Man and the Glatorian are forced to fight his united Bone Hunter-Skrall army. The very next year, Makuta came back for the Final Battle.
• Evil Overlord: Leader of the Skrall and the main antagonist on Bara Magna. Or so he'd like to think...
• Honor Before Reason: The novelization of The Legend Reborn reveals that he was convinced to join forces with the Bone Hunters and attempt to conquer Bara Magna because he needed space to ward off a potential future attack from the Battera. In true Proud Warrior Race Guy fashion, however, rather than warn the Agori of the danger and attempt to form a united defensive alliance, he'd prefer violence and carnage.
• It's Personal: After Mata Nui calls him a coward, he promptly suggests that he'll enjoy tearing his mask off.
• Large and in Charge: Something that was a trait of all leader-class Skrall.
• Last of His Kind: The last of the ruling caste of the Skrall.
• Mighty Glacier: He's incredibly strong and tough, but very slow, which Mata Nui uses to take him down.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: A villianous example, he puts the benefit of his tribe above all else.
• Red Herring: He was set up to be the Bara Magna equivalent to Makuta in early 2009 promotional material, but he's not even the Arc Villain of the Bara Magna saga, let alone a Big Bad in his own right.
• Worf Had the Flu: The baterra gave him a severe injury when they ambushed him, and it's still giving him problems when he fights Mata Nui. Unfortunately for him, Mata Nui had just gone through a corse of Awesomeness by Analysis.

The Sisters of the Skrall

You came here out of fear, just as you abandoned us out of fear... just as your kind banished us millennia ago, out of fear. You stink of it, Tuma, despite your mighty legions, despite your conquests. You are a warrior made of straw.

Long ago, all female Skrall were given psychic abilities by an Eldritch Abomination named Annona (though they attribute this to a Great Being known as Angonce). This drove enmity between the men and women, eventually leading them to split off to become their own faction. Now completely enslaved to the monster's will, anyone who crosses them will find them a greater threat than the most seasoned and well-armed warrior.

• Gender-Restricted Ability: The Sisters have mental abilities, as opposed to the physically-focused males.
• Psychic Powers: They can use telepathy, paralyze with their mind, and inflict gruesome visions.
• Squishy Wizard: They wear cloaks instead of armor, and wield no weapons beyond a Simple Staff, but their powers can bring a Skrall to his knees far more effeciently and painfully than any sword.

Mata Nui

Mata Nui

The machine...

...and the man.

Voiced By: Michael Dorn

It is said that all endings are merely beginnings waiting to be born. My beginning was much the same. Once I was a towering giant, ruler of my own universe. Fearless. Beholden to none. Protector of my people. Until I was betrayed. All that I had been, all that I had known, was stolen from me by an ever-present evil. My power stripped away, my people enslaved. I was left powerless to save them. And yet, a part of me survived. My spirit. Captured and preserved inside a mask worn by a Toa warrior, its name echoed my rebirth. The Mask of Life!

The Great Spirit who looked after the world, until he was put to sleep a thousand years ago by Makuta. He actually was a forty-million-foot living robot who housed the Matoran world within his body, built a hundred thousand years ago by the Great Beings and sent to wander space studying other planets and cultures, before returning to help restore the planet.

His body was taken over and his spirit exiled into space by Makuta, only to land on the desert planet Bara Magna. There, he adopted a normal-sized body in the form and title of his world's heroes. His mission was to get back to his realm and rescue his people from the evil that has claimed them. While he didn't have any special powers like real Toa would, the Mask of Life he wore could transform any organic material. Mata Nui only used this form temporarily, and eventually transferred his essence into the repaired prototype of his original body to face off against and eventually kill Makuta. His godlike powers then undid the Shattering, restoring Spherus Magna into its original state. Mata Nui's spirit is currently lying dormant inside the Mask of Life.

• All-Loving Hero: There's nothing to hate about Mata Nui. Even in exile, he always puts everyone's needs before his own.
• A God I Am Not: Mata Nui seems to view himself more as a leader to the races inside his body than as a deity. In fact, at the very end of the main BIONICLE story arc, he chooses not to create himself a new body because he doesn't want the new Matoran-Agori society to become too dependent on him.
• Ascended Extra: Mata Nui went from being the omnipotent but incapacitated Big Good to The Hero of the Bara Magna saga.
• The Atoner: He blames himself for putting the Matoran universe beneath his notice and allowing Makuta to take over.
• Badass Baritone: Comes with being voiced by Michael Dorn.
• Batman Gambit: Rarely during his reign did Mata Nui actively intervene within his universe, but shortly before he fell into his coma, he pulls off a spectacular one - changing the stars so that Makuta would believe the Great Disk Matoran were the destined Toa Metru and then implanting the names of the truly destined Toa into Makuta's mind.
• Beware the Nice Ones: While Mata Nui is normally a very accepting and kindhearted being who lives up to his reputation as a benevolent spirit of creation and light, there are occasional hints of a darker side of him. It's unclear what exactly Mata Nui would have done to Teridax had the latter's plan failed and Mata Nui awoken, but given that a vision of Mata Nui's hypothetical wrath was enough to inflict a straight-up mind rape on Teridax of all beings, it's unlikely to be pleasant.
• Brought Down to Badass: After being exiled by Makuta, he is no longer a giant robot. However, he still has his fighting skills as a Glatorian and the power of the Mask of Life, and he uses both to maximum effect.
• But Now I Must Go: In the conclusion of Journey's End
• Cain and Abel: The Legend of Mata Nui portrayed him as Abel, with Makuta as Cain. The legend was largely retconned into a bogus tale of the Turaga, although this, too, was later Double Subverted. The two truly were meant to be brothers in the sense that Mata Nui and Makuta would work together to restore Spherus Magna, with Mata Nui giving up control of the Great Spirit Robot to Teridax as he inhabited a new body to complete his task. Makuta refused Mata Nui's offer to work together only to accidentally fulfill his destiny anyway by bringing Bara Magna's moons close enough together during their battle to allow Mata Nui, in the prototype robot, to finish the job.
• Cool, but Inefficient: There is one Alternate Universe where the Great Beings created the Matoran, Toa, and others directly and had them repair the damage caused by the Core War, preventing the Shattering. Comparatively, building a giant robot half the size of Europe, having it study the cosmos, and repair the broken planet 100,000 years hence seems like a huge case of Complexity Addiction.
• Cool Mask: The Mask of Life
• Cool Sword: Mata Nui used a Vorox stinger as a sword after reforging it with the Mask of Life.
• Establishing Character Moment: After the Opening Narration of The Legend Reborn sets him up as once being the mighty ruler of a universe, it says a lot that his first onscreen act is to stop himself from squashing a bug, and try to befriend the lowly creature.
• First Church of Mecha: Inhabitants all over the Matoran Universe praise Mata Nui for his goodness. He himself is not truly a god, however, and only ever refers to himself as a "leader" despite the reverence of the Matoran.
• Genius Loci: He is the mind that controls an entire artificial environment housed within a giant robot.
• The Ghost: As most of Bionicle takes place inside his body, Mata Nui isn't usually directly seen. He only comes to the forefront once Makuta kicks him out of his body, causing him to create a new body of a smaller and much more narratively convenient size.
• God Is Good: One of the very few characters that can be considered a deity in the setting, and his benevolence goes without saying. He's not actually a deity, but he is certainly a benevolent and powerful entity.
• God's Hands Are Tied: Mata Nui showing more interest in other worlds is what caused the world inside him to suffer a cataclysm event at the hands of Makuta Teridax, who injected Mata Nui with a virus of sorts that eventually put him to sleep causing him to crash land onto the water planet Aqua Magna.
• The Gods Must Be Lazy: Or rather, caught up in his science homework.
• Gods Need Prayer Badly: Not so much prayer, as it is steady work from the Matoran. Without proper maintenance, his body would malfunction.
• Gold Makes Everything Shiny: His Glatorian armor is golden. In the novelization of The Legend Reborn he even also has white armor as well.
• Heavy Sleeper: Justified, as Makuta used a specialized virus to weaken him and eventually lull him into a thousand year slumber.
• The Hero: Of the franchise as a whole, actually. Once the Toa awakened him, it was Mata Nui's job to stop Makuta once and for all.
• Honor Before Reason: With the fate of the universe at stake, Mata Nui, barely used to his new body and armed with a shield and a broken stinger, jumps into arena combat to save a Glatorian he didn't know.
• Humble Hero: See Establishing Character Moment.
• Humongous Mecha: First, his original robot body. Then, he acquires a second body, which is actually a prototype to his original body. He uses it to kill Makuta.
• Large Runt: He briefly grumbles to himself about being short; his Glatorian body is seven feet tall (about average for Glatorian or Toa, but microscopic next to his multi-million-foot original body).
• Living Ship: With an entire universe full of inhabitants.
• Naïve Newcomer: After arriving on Bara Magna, even discounting the unfamiliar environment.
• Nonindicative Name: The "Great Spirit" actually has a body, though this was a secret until close to the end of the story.
• Upgrade vs. Prototype Fight: Mata Nui inhabits a prototype robot to fight Makuta, who is controlling his current, more advanced body. Mata Nui wins.
• Planet Spaceship: Mata Nui was designed to observe other universes while having beings inside him functioning as Nano Machines in a sense. His Humongous Mecha body is roughly forty million feet (7,575 mi or 12,192 km) tall and had a camouflage system that created an island on his face. Mata Nui was able to control specific things like gravity and light within his body.
• Present Absence: He was always there, it's just that he was sleeping.
• Slept Through the Apocalypse: with a twist; his falling asleep plummets him into Aqua Magna, in turn causing the apocalypse inside his body during his unconsciousness. He does eventually wake up, but only for Makuta to steal his body.
• Super Empowering: He's able to use the Mask of Life to charge Glatorian Weapons with elemental powers, giving them an edge over the Skrall.
• Sword and Gun: The larger "Toa Mata Nui" set, in contrast to the smaller Glatorian Legends set which features his scarabax shield. No set was released with his canon weapon combination of a scarabax shield and stinger tail sword.
• Symbiotic Possession: His sealing inside the sentient Mask of Life ends up with his personality as the dominant one, and is able to use its powers mostly without hindrance. It isn't brought up often, but he "talks" to the mask's personality a couple times, the most notable being right before he uses it to help him restore Spherus Magna, which could have outright destroyed it.
• Unexpected Character: Seriously, who expected him to become a regular character, let alone The Hero?
• Vertical Mecha Fins: In his "Toa" form.
• We Will Meet Again: Upon his exile, he vowed "I will return." He didn't need to, because Makuta came to him.

Click

A Scarabax beetle that acts as Mata Nui's pet and sidekick. Thanks to the mask, it can turn into a shield for Mata Nui to use.

• Equippable Ally: Can transform into a shield and switch back to beetle form.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: A shield is his secondary form.
• Team Pet: Almost dubbed this word-for-word by Kiina.

The Great Beings

The Great Beings

He, his brothers and sisters were scholars. Their theories, discoveries and inventions had transformed this world and changed the lives of the inhabitants, the Agori, in many ways. In gratitude, they had long ago been proclaimed rulers of Spherus Magna. The Agori called them the “Great Beings.” But the business of running a world — settling disputes, managing economies, dealing with defense issues, worrying about food and equipment supplies — all of this the Great Beings found a distraction. They wanted to build, study, invent, not oversee, adjudicate, and set policy.

A race of creators, they made Mata Nui, the Matoran world, and everything in it. Their home planet of Spherus Magna was devastated in "the Shattering" a hundred thousand years ago; becoming the triplet planets of Bara Magna, Aqua Magna, and Bota Magna. In response, Mata Nui was built and sent into space, to return and help reunite Spherus Magna once the pieces had stabilized. Other creations of theirs now walk the lands of Bara Magna. The Great Beings' current status is unknown.

Known Great Beings include Angonce; one of the more moral Great Beings who was curious about the Agori, Heremus; who invented the Baterra, an as of yet unnamed Great Being who was cursed by the Mask of Life, and one who is enacting a plan to take control of Spherus Magna that involves becoming a Matoran under the assumed name of Velika.

• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: There was an Eldritch Abomination that fed on dreams, but when it tried this on the Great Beings, they unknowingly started feeding on its dreams, which fueled their desire to create. Eventually, just by virtue of existing, the Great Beings forced Annona into hiding to avoid them.
  • Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: A big part of the problem was that Annona simply couldn't comprehend their minds.
• Emperor Scientists: Ex-rulers of Spherus Magna. 'Ex' because they felt that ruling the planet was taking too much time away from their experiments.
• The Faceless: Their physical appearance has never been described. They're humanoid, but that's about all we know.
  • Per Word of God, we can at least conclude they are of the Glatorian species.
• For Science!: The reason for basically everything they ever did. For what other purpose would they give the resident giant scorpion monsters guns on their tails, built-in targeting systems, and treads on their feet?
• King Incognito: A Great Being transferred his/her consciousness to a new body to secretly live among the Matoran. Over a year after the story otherwise stalled out, this was revealed as Velika, a Po-Matoran inventor on Voya Nui who always spoke in riddles.
• The Maker: A whole race of them.
• Minor Major Character: You can count the number of times they appear on your hands barring Velika. They also happen to be responsible for the entire series.
• Precursors: To the Matoran and their world (tried as Neglectful Precursors; cleared of charges on the grounds that any potential neglect was not toward their creation but toward Spherus Magna. However, post-toyline web serials are beginning to show hints of Abusive Precursors).

Other Factions

The Sand Tribe

Voiced By: Dee Bradley Baker

A tribe that was altered by the Great Beings into scorpion-like subspecies; the Agori became the Zesk and the Glatorian are now the Vorox. Since the Shattering, the tribe members on Bara Magna have regressed to a primal state and they now roam the wastelands as little more than beasts (those in the forests of Bota Magna to the north were spared this fate). Kabrua leads the intelligent northern tribe, while ex-Glatorian Malum has earned a place as leader of a wild Vorox pack since his exile.

• Always Chaotic Evil: Subverted, they're more bestial than evil and not without redeeming qualities.
• Beware My Stinger Tail: The Trope Namer; they all have bladed scorpion-like tails protruding from their backs.
• Cool Sword and Blade on a Stick: The southern Vorox's primitive weapons.
• Formerly Sapient Species: The Bara Magnan Vorox and Zesk
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Especially the Bota Magnan Vorox.
• Scary Scorpions: This is mainly due to their helmets, tails, clawed feet (and hands for the Zesk) and body language; they were Glatorian after all.

The Bone Hunters

Voiced By: Dee Bradley Baker

Let the Agori plan and prepare. Let them look for signs of our approach. They will never see us coming. No one ever does.

A distant offshoot of the rock Agori, living as nomadic raiders.

• Always Chaotic Evil: Unlike the Vorox, they largely play this trope straight.
• Barbarian Tribe: Fero once killed a member for having doubts about an attack plan.
• Cool Sword: Fero, one of the Bone Hunters, uses a Skrall Tribal Design Blade.
• Desert Bandits: They function as raiders on caravan sorties.
• Dual Wielding: In The Legend Reborn, they dual wield Skrall Tribal Design Blades.
• Mooks: To the Rock Tribe when they joined forces.
• Sword and Gun: Fero uses a Skrall sword and Thornax Launcher.

The Iron Tribe

A tribe of miners wiped out by plague prior to the Shattering; they somehow lost their ability to dream, which led to madness and death. (It's later discovered that they were victims of an Eldritch Abomination.) The few Agori and Glatorian-race that remain are shunned as possible disease carriers and live scattered in the wastes.

• Always Chaotic Evil: At least, that's how it appears, given the example that Sahmad and Telluris set.
  • Tragic Villain: They were relatively nice guys before what became of the tribe.
• Cannot Dream: They were some of the first victims of Anonna.
• Dream Stealer: The actual cause of the "plague".
• The Immune: Anyone who's left is assumed to be this, but with the reveal of the "plague's" origin, it could be the Abomination just got full.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Subverted, the remaining members of the tribe tried to use minerals to change their main color from metallic blue to orange, but it didn't fool the other tribes.

Sahmad

What did it matter if our sleep was just that: sleep, unmarred by illusions and fantasies? And if you can't dream, then you don't have to worry about nightmares, right? Wrong. If you can't dream, your waking life becomes the nightmare.

One of the survivors of the Dreaming Plague, Sahmad deeply resents the other tribes that shunned his tribe in their time of need. He makes a living capturing other Agori to be sold into slavery for the Skrall, and often deals with baggage from what happened to his tribe.

• A Day in the Limelight: Sahmad's Tale.
• Byronic Anti-Villain
• Dual Wielding: Wields a sword augmented with a Thornax launcher and a whip.
• The Lost Lenore: He had a lover who died from the plague.
• Swiss Army Weapon: Sahmad has a Cool Sword and Thornax Launcher combination.
• Whip It Good: His second weapon.

Telluris

You know what will happen if you shoot? There will be a big boom and we’ll all die. You, me and your friends down below. You will die, you know that right?

Known for being a talented engineer of the Glatorian race, the aftermath of the Plague left Telluris a deranged madman. His pride and joy is the Skopio XV-1, a massive war machine designed and named after the Skopio beasts that the Iron Tribe revered.

• Axe-Crazy: He's well known for being unstable at best.
• Blood Knight: He jumped at a chance to pit his machine against the Skrall.
• Gadgeteer Genius: He built the Skopio in a DESERT, WITH A PILE OF SCRAPS!
• Insane Equals Violent: Built the Skopio to rage at the world after the loss of his tribe.
• The Paranoiac: What caused him to alienate and turn against other Glatorian and Agori.
• Spider Tank: The Skopio XV-1 made and used by Telluris
  • Awesome, but Impractical: Sahmad comments how ineffective the vehicle is for Telluris' conquest, especially the size.
  Sahmad: I always thought the Skopio was a gaudy waste of time and materials. No matter how big your weapon, someone else can always build a bigger one. You don't conquer your enemies with something they can see coming ten miles away. You do it by working your way inside like the larva of a spiked worm, making yourself a part of their society, and then blotting them out from the inside. The Skopio was Telluris' crutch, his way of throwing an armed and armored tantrum at the world.
  • Beware My Stinger Tail: It has a Thornax Launcher and twin force blasters on its tail
  • The Precious, Precious Car: When the Glatorian sabotaged it, Telluris mourned the machine as if it were a living being.
  • Scary Scorpions
• Undignified Death: In Sahmad's Tale, when he witnesses the chaos created by the battle between Annona and the Golden Being, Telluris loses what little sanity he had left, charges screaming at Annona waving a branch, and gets incinerated once he gets within striking distance. Sahmad's narration lampshades this as being "a stupid, reckless, idiotic way to go."

The Baterra

Mechanical shapeshifters created by the Great Beings as a doomsday weapon, programmed to kill all armed combatants. They've driven the rock tribe south, and the Skrall are hoarding resources to prepare for war with them.

• Always Chaotic Evil: Averted. They seem like this, but they run on very strict programming.
• Grim Up North: This was where they originated from.
• Invisibility: Subverted. They can just shapeshift really well.
• Override Command: The Great Beings tried to shut them down. It didn't take.
• Shapeshifting: This is their main ability, and they're very good with it.
• Sheathe Your Sword: Baterra kill all armed combatants, but "armed" is the key word here.

The Element Lords

Once the same race as the Glatorian (save the Lord of Rock, who was a Skrall), they were transformed by the Great Beings to take over leadership of the Agori tribes, but led the tribes into war over Energized Protodermis. Lost and presumed dead in the Shattering, but they were only trapped; they've recently gotten free (but have not yet interacted with the tribes).

• Elemental Embodiments: They were so merged with their elements that they began to take on their personality traits.
• Nature Is Not Nice: quoth the Lord of Jungle:
  We became nature itself, as benevolent, giving, ruthless and indifferent as that can mean.
• No Blood for Phlebotinum: They fought over Energized Protodermis.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: They were sealed in the Valley of the Maze until recently.
• Toyless Toyline Characters: Due to the line's cancellation.

Annona

Dreams are my meat and drink. With them, I am power. Without them, I am nothing.

• Dream Eater: She feeds on dreams which is how she destroyed the Iron tribe since without dream, they went insane.
• Eldritch Abomination: Second only to Tren Krom, she's described as no less than a tentacled energy sphere.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Remember the Great Beings? Annona inspired them rather than fed off them.
• Toyless Toyline Character