Zak'Kalamas

Insectoid, ruthless Makuta who controls swarms of mindless minions, and is a member of the Apex Dozen.

History
Zak'Kalamas, like most of the twelve Makuta, has a past informed by information which is sketchy at best. Some has come from mental images given off by Zak'Kalamas and his swarms, but as these have often been construed as a type of psychological warfare, the credibility of these images as an explanation for his origins is up for debate. What is known is that Zak'Kalamas first appeared on the edges of Toa Confederacy space, shortly after the defeat of Teridax, with a colossal swarm of mindless creatures, bristling with claws and teeth. They ripped through and overran worlds within days, and only through the combined elemental strength of all five remaining Toa Nuva were they able to utterly destroy Zak'Kalamas' mental abilities, thus rendering his swarm inert.

However, Kortarex saw great value in the insectoid's mental abilities, and, after Teridax's approval, the latter exercised his extensive powers to transport Zak'Kalamas to his hidden fortress. Zak'Kalamas immediately attempted to kill and consume Kortarex, but was prevented from doing so by Teridax, who declared that his mental powers could be restored, although only if he swore an oath of allegiance to the Apex Dozen and underwent gene reconstruction to become a member of the Makuta species. Initially, Zak'Kalamas declined his offer, stating he was perfectly capable of re-acquiring his mental powers alone; however, when transported back to where the Nuva were, he quickly changed his mind and decided to join the Apex Dozen.

With his mental powers restored, he went about rebuilding his swarm, consuming biomass to re-establish its biological superiority. He led a successful attack on a border Toa Confederacy planet, turning it into his new hive world, and from there, began incursions into other planets along the Toa Confederacy border. His mission was to stretch the Confederacy to breaking point, and he was successful in overworking them by launching attacks across numerous planets simultaneously. He would often be repelled, but not before inflicting massive damage which would take years to repair. This weakened the Toa Confederacy at home, and has led to the Apex Dozen being more open about their activities, being sighted more often, and becoming more well known and feared amongst the inhabitants of Spherus Magna.

When last seen, he was leading his mindless swarm against another hapless target, and had grown two new stinger tails due to an evolution of his physical form.

Tools and Abilities
Zak'Kalamas wielded a Tyrant Blade and Fleshwhip, both of which were biologically created weapons for his own usage, and were, for the most part, attached to his body altogether. He frequently evolved to grow new adaptations to environments, his latest being two stingers which grew out of his back. Furthermore, he possessed incredible psionic power, acting as a beacon to anyone possessing mental abilities. It is his psionic potential which allowed him to use his most powerful tool-his mindless swarms of insectoid minions, totally without number, which were as biologically adaptable as himself. They could swarm over heavily fortified encampments and even entire planets in a matter of days, and when at the height of its power the swarm was nigh unstoppable.

He possessed limited control over the elements of ice and fire, but for the most part used them only in tandem with his melee weapons, which was his preferred method of combat with an opponent.

Personality
Zak'Kalamas was a cunning, if simple-minded, creature. He saw every specimen of biological life as another chance for biomass to fuel his evolution, and was rarely capable of processing more than rudimentary tactics and skills. However, he possessed enough of a grip over basic Matoran to communicate with speakers of it, and also managed to, via mental communication with Teridax, create a clear set of directives for himself and for his swarm.