Makuta (character)

Makuta

Theme:	BIONICLE
[List of appearances]

Makuta is the main villain in the BIONICLE lore. In the first telling of the story, which ran from 2001 to 2011, he is introduced as a force of corruption called "The Makuta" who is jealous of the high regard the Matoran hold for his brother, the Great Spirit Mata Nui, and curses him with an eternal sleep so that he can conquer the Matoran. As the story progresses, several revelations are made as to his true nature. As it turns out, the being who put Mata Nui to sleep is actually named Teridax and is not his literal brother, but he begins life as a servant of the Great Spirit. Makuta is not the name of an individual, but an entire species of powerful beings who control the element of Shadow and can imitate the powers of Kraata.

In the rebooted version of the BIONICLE story, which began in 2015, Makuta and his brother Ekimu are mask makers on the island of Okoto. Similar to the previous version, Makuta becomes jealous of his brother and seeks to win the villagers' adoration. To do so, he crafts the Mask of Ultimate Power, but when he wears it, the island is wrought with destruction and Ekimu has no choice but to attack him, casting both of them into a deep sleep and scattering their masks.

Despite his prominence as a character, Makuta has only had one set and two combiner models dedicated to depicting him. However, Turaga Dume, whom Teridax once disguised himself as, and a Maxilos robot he took possession of have also been released.

Background[edit | edit source]

Original history[edit | edit source]

Teridax is a member of the Brotherhood of Makuta, a species created by Mata Nui with the purpose of designing Rahi to populate the Matoran Universe. Teridax is a lieutenant in the Brotherhood's army, second only to Makuta Miserix. After the Barraki come into power and threaten to overthrow Mata Nui, Teridax leads the armies of the Brotherhood as well as Toa against the warlords and manages to defeat them. However, Teridax begins to consider how he can succeed where the Barraki had failed. During the Metru Nui civil war, the Makuta are called upon to intervene because the conflict is sickening Mata Nui and threatens the existence of the Matoran Universe. In a controversial move, Teridax locks the Matoran leading the war effort in the Archives and unleashes some of the exhibits on them. Miserix decides that to avoid another war, each Makuta will be assigned a particular region to supervise. Teridax is assigned Metru Nui, but due to the Archives Massacre, he is unpopular and feared by the Matoran. After learning the true nature of the Matoran Universe from Mutran (that Mata Nui is a giant robot and all of the universe's cities and islands are his inner workings), Teridax calls a meeting on the Brotherhood's stronghold of Daxia and posits his belief that the Makuta should rule the Matoran Universe. Miserix rejects his idea, but is outvoted and sentenced to die. Over the coming weeks, Teridax has the Makuta who ever questioned his authority or showed signs of siding with Miserix executed and their Kanohi are hanged on a wall in Daxia.

Sometime during Teridax' rule of the Brotherhood, the Makuta discover that they have evolved from biomechanical beings into spirits of Antidermis that can possess fully mechanical armour. However, if their armour is pierced, their essence will leak out and the Makuta can potentially die. A team of Toa Hagah led by Norik are assigned as Teridax' bodyguard. At first they have no knowledge of the Brotherhood's wicked intentions, but when they do, they steal the Mask of Light and are confronted by Teridax. They manage to escape him with the mask, but are mutated into smaller monstrous forms by Roodaka for their treachery.

As part of his plan to overthrow Mata Nui, Makuta disguises himself as the Turaga of Metru Nui, Dume. To assist him in his plot, he hires the Dark Hunters Nidhiki, Krekka, and Eliminator. While Nidhiki and Krekka patrol the city doing his bidding, Eliminator waits outside it for "Dume" to dispatch Metru Nui's Toa defenders so that the mercenary can kill them. After a while, only Toa Lhikan remains. Teridax also recruits the Matoran mask maker Vakama to forge the Mask of Time.

The Toa Metru

Lhikan becomes suspicious of the Turaga and seeks to create more Toa. However, Teridax plans for this and influences Lhikan to select Vakama, Nokama, Matau, Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua instead of Nuhrii, Vhisola, Orkahm, Ahkmou, Ehrye, and Tehutti as had been prophesied. (However, Vakama later learns that Mata Nui had placed the wrong names in the stars to trick Makuta and that Lhikan had selected the Matoran destined to bear his legacy.) Nidhiki and Krekka are ordered to capture Lhikan. Believing that he had not had time to pass his power on to the Matoran, Teridax unleashes the Morbuzakh in the Ta-Metru furnace with the intention of the weed conquering the city and driving the Matoran to the Coliseum in the center, where he will cast them into an amnesia inducing sleep via Matoran Spheres. Once they awake, he plans to present them with a false history of how he is their hero. However, the rookie Toa Metru collect the six great disks and defeat the plant. The Toa show themselves to Turaga Dume and present the six disks as a show of good faith, but Teridax accuses them of being imposters responsible for Lhikan's disappearance. Vakama, Nokama, and Matau escape capture, but Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua are placed in a cell with Lhikan. Teridax sends Nidhiki, Krekka, and the Vahki to capture the other three Toa.

Teridax then appears as Dume on a broadcast to all of the Matoran in the city asking them to go to the Coliseum. As they assemble, the Vahki force them into Matoran Spheres. The six Toa Metru and Lhikan, who is now a Turaga, arrive at the Coliseum too late, but Makuta Teridax sheds his "Dume" disguise and initiates the Great Cataclysm, which sends shock waves and destruction throughout the entire universe as Mata Nui falls asleep. Each Toa Metru grabs a single Matoran Sphere and run. Teridax, to hasten his shapeshifting, absorbs Nidhiki, Krekka, and Nivawk into his body, creating a winged, skeletal form. He gives chase to the Toa Metru, and a battle ensues. During the fight, Vakama unveils the completed Mask of Time but is unable to control it as Makuta threatens to kill him. Lhikan absorbs the blast instead, and dies. While Vakama mourns his mentor, Teridax claims the Mask of Time, but Vakama collects himself and fires a disk that knocks it into the sea. Teridax chases Vakama until they reach the other five Toa Metru. They combine their elemental power into a single blast, and trap the Makuta in a Protodermis seal from which he cannot escape.

During his imprisonment, Makuta rethinks his plan and decides that brainwashing the Matoran into believing he is there hero is not enough and that he must usurp the Great Spirit. Teridax uses his psionic powers to contact Roodaka and Sidorak. He summons them to Metru Nui so that they may conquer the now abandoned city and gives Roodaka instructions to free him. Through her manipulations of the Toa Hordika (the mutated forms of the Toa Metru) she is able to break the seal and free Teridax. He disappears along with Roodaka while the Toa Hordika receive a cure for their condition and rescue the remaining Matoran.

Teridax begins searching for the Mask of Time, his other options exhausted. He discovers an unconscious Vakama, also looking for the Mask of Time, and creates an illusion, hoping to get the Toa to divulge its location. After Vakama breaks the illusion, Makuta learns that the mask has been taken by the Dark Hunter Voporak and the Makuta and Toa form a shaky alliance to rescue the mask from the mercenaries. Once they confront Voporak and The Shadowed One, leader of the Dark Hunters, Vakama truthfully implies that Teridax is responsible for Nidhiki and Krekka's deaths, which makes The Shadowed One furious and he declares war on the Brotherhood of Makuta. While Teridax fights with the two Dark Hunters, Vakama swipes the Mask of Time and abandons the Makuta. Teridax gives chase and catches the Toa, but Vakama threatens to destroy the Mask of Time, which would cause time to cease existing, unless Teridax agrees to leave the Matoran alone for one year on their new home, an island named in honour of Mata Nui. Seeing no other options, Makuta agrees. However, from reading Vakama's mind, he does learn of a Matoran Sphere that the Toa Metru had dropped into the ocean. Teridax recovers the pod and finds Ahkmou inside. He lies to Ahkmou about the Toa Metru, calling them villains, and conditions him to hate the other Matoran before sending him to infiltrate the village of Po-Koro.

Makuta reveals himself to the Toa Mata in the form of a Matoran

After Makuta follows the Matoran to the island of Mata Nui after their year of peace is up, the Toa Metru have transformed into Turaga and are no longer able to protect the Matoran. Using Kraata, Teridax corrupts Kanohi and then places them on Rahi. Though the Rahi are now under Teridax' control, he does not instruct them to kill the Matoran, but to keep them from rediscovering Metru Nui until his plans permit it. Makuta bases himself in the Mangaia, a subterranean lair. Makuta's Rahi keep the Matoran and Turaga at bay for a thousand years before the Toa Mata (Tahu, Kopaka, Gali, Pohatu, Lewa, and Onua) arrive. They collect Kanohi masks of power that have been scattered across the island and though Makuta attempts to break their unity and faith, they ultimately descend into the Mangaia to confront him. Teridax disguises himself as a rusted Matoran in an infected mask and gloats that he is that which the Toa have sworn to protect, but Kopaka urges the Toa to attack them anyway. Makuta then changes his shape into a mass of tentacles and bionic body parts, but is defeated when the six Toa each attack him with their power at once.

The Rahi are freed from his power, but to keep the Toa and Matoran from becoming too comfortable, Makuta awakens the Bohrok swarms prematurely. The Toa manage to vanquish the Bohrok and then their evolved brothers, the Bohrok-Kal, before the Turaga proclaim a time of peace and plan a Kolhii tournament between the six villages. After the championship match, the Matoran Takua and Jaller drop the Mask of Light, which they had discovered before the game. The Turaga translate the prophecy of a seventh Toa who will wear the mask, and Takua and Jaller are sent on a quest to find him. To deal with the coming threat, Teridax releases six Rahkshi (Kraata driven suits of armour), and though they are a challenge for the Toa, they are not enough. In the Onu-Wahi tunnels, Teridax appears to Takua and tempts him to betray Jaller. Though it is unsuccessful, Takua is disheartened and temporarily leaves his friend behind.

Takanuva, the Toa of Light

The Rahkshi and Toa face off at Kini Nui, a temple which doubles as a gate to the Mangaia. After Jaller is killed by a Rahkshi, Takua accepts his fate as the Toa of Light and dons the mask, transfiguring into Takanuva. With his help, the remaining Rahkshi are defeated, and their mechanical shells are used to create the Ussanui. Using the Kraata as a guide, Takanuva uses it to solely navigate the Mangaia and confront Teridax. Their confrontation begins as a higher stakes variation of Kohlii where they play with Energized Protodermis. After Takanuva wins, he leaps at Teridax and attempts to pull the Mask of Shadows off of his face, but they both fall into a pool of Energized Protodermis and emerge as a single being: Takutanuva. With Takanuva's good nature in control, Takutanuva raises a gate which leads to Metru Nui and sacrifices some of Teridax' life force to resurrect Jaller. As he does so, Takutanuva is weakened and his armour is crushed. Though Vakama, Jaller, and Hahli are able to revive Takanuva, the Toa, Turaga, and Matoran all believe that Teridax is dead.

After the Matoran migrate back to Metru Nui, rumours about Teridax' death spread across the Matoran Universe. A group of mercenary thieves, the Piraka, decide to investigate. They make their way to the now abandoned island of Mata Nui and then through the Mangaia to Makuta's lair. Though they believe that the rumours are true after they see the Makuta's destroyed armour, Teridax lives through the Antidermis that leaked into the air and secretly influences the Piraka's actions. Makuta has Zaktan build a vat to house his Antidermis. Zaktan uses the Antidermis to fill the Piraka's Zamor Spheres, which, when fired, enslave the Matoran that they hit. Using this new power, the Piraka conquer the island of Voya Nui as Makuta manipulates them into retrieving the Mask of Life for him. During a fight between Axonn and Brutaka, the vat is pierced and Makuta is forced to find a new body again. He follows the rookie Toa Inika (Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Hewkii, Kongu, and Nuparu) as they go down the stone cord in chase of the Mask of Life, which has fallen to the underwater city of Marhi Nui. While there, Makuta possesses a Maxilos robot.

Maxilos, a robot possessed by Teridax, and Spinax the energy-hound

"Maxilos" reveals himself as Teridax only to Matoro, the destined bearer of the Mask of Life. Makuta takes Matoro to the body of a deceased Toa Tuyet decoy, believing her to be the real thing. He forces Matoro to activate the immoral power of his mask, reanimation, on Tuyet, and then they wait for Makuta Icarax to delever the Staff of Artakha, a tool which can recreate anything that his been destroyed, so that they can reform the Nui Stone (which has fragments in the real Tuyet's armour). The tyrant Karzahni hears the mention of his brother Artakha and attacks Makuta and Matoro. "Tuyet"'s body is destroyed and Matoro is defeated, while Karzahni uses his mask power to give Teridax a nightmarish vision of Mata Nui reawakening and punishing those responsible for his slumber. Teridax screams before the vision is broken, and then proceeds to knock Karzahni out by using his telepathy to break his mind even further. Icarax arrives to deliver the staff, but when Makuta tries to use it, Matoro tries to stop him. Makuta freezes the Toa of Ice in place while he attempts to reconstruct the Nui Stone, but Brutaka swipes the staff away from Teridax and summons Botar. Botar takes the staff away, and Brutaka urges Matoro to find the other Toa. Teridax begins to fight Brutaka, but Brutaka convinces him that his time would be better spent looking for the Mask of Life.

Since Matoro has not disclosed his identity, the Toa Mahri still believe Maxilos to be an ally when he returns to them. To get rid of Makuta, Matoro has the Mahri send him to find the frantic jailer Hydraxon, who believes that Maxilos is a robot loyal to him. Hydraxon issues Maxilos orders which Teridax is not willing to execute, which causes Makuta to attack the jailer. Realizing that his robot has been possessed, Hydraxon orders the Energy Hound Spinax to attack Maxilos, but Spinax is easily swiped away. Makuta is vastly more powerful than Hydraxon, but by using his Cordak Blaster, Hydraxon is able to cause an avalanche to fall upon Maxilos' body, badly damaging it and putting Makuta out of action temporarily.

When Maxilos is freed, the Barraki Takadox attempts to hypnotise him, but Teridax is able to ignore Takadox easily and cast him aside. Matoro then freezes Maxilos in a block of ice, damaging him further. Jaller later frees the robot from the ice while the Toa Mahri fight with Hydraxon over the Mask of Life. Teridax lunges for it, but Jaller sends it towards Matoro. Makuta makes no further attempt to get the mask, but rather he is impressed with Matoro and Jaller. Rather than fight the Mahri, Makuta focuses his powers against the Barraki and reveals his identity as the Makuta to them. The Barraki summon their armies of sea creatures, damaging Maxilos even more. Teridax senses Mata Nui's death and abandons Maxilos' body, hoping that the Mahri have succeeded in resuscitating the Great Spirit.

Teridax' spirit settled in a cavern under Metru Nui which is invaded by the Toa Hagah, Zaktan, Miserix, Helryx, Keetongu, Axonn, and Brutaka. Makuta is able to cause a bolt of energy to destroy Brutaka's mask, preventing them from escaping. He traps in the intruders in different visions, allowing the Toa Hagah to think that they defeated him and the others to believe that Miserix has been turned into a portrait of himself. The Toa Hagah return to Metru Nui, still in their trance, Zaktan is believed dead, Axonn, Brutaka, and Keetongu are transported to the Southern Islands, and Helryx is kept as someone to listen to Makuta's thoughts.

Makuta rises from the waters of Aqua Magna, at last in control of the Great Spirit Robot

After the Toa Nuva succeed in awakening the Great Spirit, Makuta interrupts their celebrations to announce that after Mata Nui died, he possessed his body, which is in actuality a giant robot whose interior is the Matoran Universe. Makuta gloats that he had placed Mata Nui's actual spirit into the Mask of Life, and since both are a threat to them, he cast it out into space.

Makuta spends a year learning to exercise his new powers and fighting rebellions lead by the Toa, Dark Hunters, and Order of Mata Nui with his Rahkshi and Exo-Toa minions. He then decides to seek out Mata Nui and destroy him. He arrives on the desert world of Bara Magna, a fragment of the world which Mata Nui was created on, where the former Great Spirit had discovered a prototype of the Matoran Universe robot. Using the robot's gravity control, Makuta summons Bara Magna's two moons, Aqua Magna and Bota Magna, towards the planet so that they will pummel it. While Mata Nui and Makuta face off, Makuta unleashes hordes of Rahkshi and Skakdi under the command of Nektann to conquer Bara Magna and the indigenous Glatorian and Agori that Mata Nui has befriended. The Rahkshi and Skakdi are followed by various Toa and other rebels, who join the Glatoran's defence. The Mask of Life appears to Tahu, devolves him into his original form, and fabricates golden armour for him to wear that will change the tide of the battle, but Makuta shoots a blast and scatters the armour. Nonetheless, with help from Takanuva and the young Glatorian Gresh, Tahu is able to collect the armour and it causes him to unleash a blast of raw power that vapourizes the Kraata in the Rahkshi, immobilising them. Makuta senses the loss of his "sons" and freezes momentarily, long enough for Mata Nui to muster his strength, and he pushes Makuta into an oncoming chunk of Aqua Magna (the same place that Mata Nui fell after Makuta put him to sleep), finally killing him. Mata Nui uses the last bits of his own power to merge Bara Magna, Aqua Magna, and Bota Magna back into the single planet of Spherus Magna.

The Matoran Universe is evacuated, and Mata Nui retreats back into the Mask of Life so that the Matoran, Toa, and other Matoran Universe inhabitants can create a patchwork society with the Agori and Glatorian.

Rebooted history[edit | edit source]

Makuta is a mask maker who grows jealous of his brother, Ekimu, because the villagers of Okoto love him more. Makuta forges the Mask of Ultimate Power and wears it. The Mask changes Makuta's form and discolours him from gold and purple to black and red and damages Okoto. To stop the destruction, Ekimu knocks the mask off of Makuta's head and they are both sent into a deep sleep with the masks that they had forged scattered around the island. However, Makuta's spirit stirs and his greed manifests as he tries to steal the hidden masks, especially his brother's.^[1]