Teridax

Teridax, also known simply as the Makuta, was a powerful Makuta and primary antagonist of the main BIONICLE series. Teridax became the leader of the Brotherhood of Makuta after overthrowing Miserix and betraying the Great Spirit, but was eventually defeated by Mata Nui during the final battle on Bara Magna.

Early Years
The being known as Teridax was created by the Great Spirit Mata Nui to serve as part of a Brotherhood, whose job was to create and alter creatures as needed; the Brotherhood soon also took on the job of protecting Mata Nui's chosen people, the Matoran. Teridax was put specifically in charge of the city of Metru Nui and its surrounding region by the former leader Miserix. In this time, Mata Nui and Teridax were so close that they were considered brothers. In reality, this was because of Teridax's destiny of taking over Mata Nui's body and helping his brother restore the broken planet of Spherus Magna, something Teridax was never aware of.

Eighty thousand years ago, the Brotherhood had discovered through the traitor Takadox that a military alliance called the League of Six Kingdoms was plotting no less than the overthrow of Mata Nui himself. The Brotherhood, allied with Mata Nui's champions, the Toa, and Teridax led a preemptive strike against the League and their leaders, six warlords titled "Barraki".

The operation was a complete success and all six Barraki were captured, but as Teridax was about to execute them a stranger named Botar appeared. He and Teridax argued over the fate of the Barraki until Botar finally teleported away, taking the Barraki to The Pit with him. Though Teridax would occasionally wonder about the stranger and what he had done with the Barraki, he would more often consider the League's ultimate goal, and concluded that a Barraki was ultimately unworthy to replace the Great Spirit. However, he then began thinking about himself taking over the Matoran Universe, taken further by a combination of the telepathic influence of Makuta Verahk, the Makuta Supremacy teachings of Karabak, and possible infection by the Beast virus.

Perhaps spurred on by this thought of rulership, Teridax (and eventually the rest of the Brotherhood) became jealous of the high regard that Mata Nui was given by the Matoran. He began brooding on ways to overthrow Mata Nui. With the information gleaned from Tren Krom by Mutran, he was able to formulate The Plan. Eventually, Teridax revealed to the other Makuta his plan, which was to put Mata Nui to sleep, intending to take his place in the minds of the Matoran as their savior. Miserix went against this, but no other Makuta supported him.

After a short brawl, Teridax claimed leadership of the brotherhood and ordered Miserix executed. Though for some reason, the execution never took place, and instead Miserix was imprisoned on an island far to the south by Krika. Teridax then set his plan into motion. At some point, six Toa were selected to be Teridax's personal bodyguards. He, of course, was more than capable of defending himself, so having bodyguards was purely a matter of prestige. These Toa became known as the Toa Hagah.

Metru Nui
When the Plan was a year from fruition (even know he had a pledge not to), Teridax kidnapped Turaga Dume, the leader of Metru Nui, and, posing as Dume, began sending the Toa that guarded the city to close the sea gates from which they never returned. To aid in this, he hired three Dark Hunters: Nidhiki and Krekka, who helped inside the city, while the Hunter codenamed "Eliminator" would stay outside and kill the Toa sent out to close the gates. He also brought in a predatory pet bird named Nivawk to act as a spy. Eventually, only Toa Lhikan was left. After he was taken, he took over the Organization of Darkness. "Dume" also requested that the city's best maskmaker, Vakama, try to make the Mask of Time that would help in his plans. "Dume" then created the Morbuzak and released it on the outskirts of Ta-Metru.

After the Morbuzakh plant was unleashed to drive the Matoran to the city's center, Lhikan began to get suspicious and decided it was time to choose Matoran to become new Toa. Teridax tried to subtly influence this decision so that Lhikan would choose Toa who would not be able to stop him; but Mata Nui, suspecting danger, influenced Teridax so the Toa chosen were the ones destined to succeed.

While these new Toa Metru - which included Vakama - were able to destroy the Morbuzakh, Teridax proceeded forward and had the city's Vahki enforcers continue the job that the Morbuzakh had started: kidnapping Matoran and putting them into spheres that would erase their memory, allowing Teridax to "save" them from their imprisonment. By the time the Toa Metru discovered his plot, it was too late and the entire population of Metru Nui had been put into the spheres. Even worse, Teridax finally struck Mata Nui, sending him into a coma and bringing about the Great Cataclysm.

The Toa tried to escape the city with a few spheres, intending to return for the rest, but Teridax gave chase; boosting his power by absorbing Nidhiki, Krekka, and Nivawk into his body (killing them in the process) along with the city's power supply. Vakama went to face him alone and tried to use the Vahi that he'd made against him; Teridax was impressed that he was able to make a Vahi and offered him a position with his Brotherhood and as part of his essence, but Vakama refused. Unfortunately, Vakama's inexperience led to both of them getting caught in the mask's slow-motion effect. Teridax had fired an inescapable, deadly blast when Lhikan, now a Turaga, jumped in the way and took the brunt of the blast for Vakama, and he soon died from the wound. Inspired by Lhikan's sacrifice, Vakama began to truly challenge Teridax, and with the help of the other Toa Metru, sealed Teridax in a prison of solid protodermis.

Dark Times
But even imprisoned, Teridax was not helpless. He telepathically summoned two of the Brotherhood's lieutenants, Sidorak and Roodaka, to bring their Visorak armies to Metru Nui. Once there, Roodaka painfully cut away a small shard of the prison, intending to absorb the Toa's elemental powers and use them to break the seal. However, things did not go as planned and Roodaka was instead attacked with blasts of elemental power, but the effect was the same: the seal was broken and Teridax was free again. Teridax's first action after being freed was to teleport Roodaka away from the Toa, whom thought her dead. The prison shard was claimed by the Toa Metru, who later used it to represent Teridax when telling their tales as Turaga.

A short time later, Teridax began searching for the Vahi, which had fallen into the sea during his fight with Vakama. But Vakama was also looking for the mask, as was a mutant named Voporak, who searched on behalf of the Dark Hunters. Teridax found Vakama and trapped him in an illusion, hoping to trick Vakama into giving him the Vahi - but Vakama broke free of the illusion, and Teridax was furious to learn that Voporak had taken the mask. He offered Vakama a truce until they got the Vahi back, and he kept his word - until the Dark Hunter leader, the Shadowed One, showed up, hunting the Toa that he was sure was responsible for Nidhiki and Krekka's deaths.

Teridax started bartering with the Shadowed One over the Vahi, but Vakama cut negotiations short when he pointed out that it was Teridax who had killed Nidhiki and Krekka. Enraged, the two Hunters attacked Teridax, breaching his armor; but Teridax was able to knock Voporak out and make the Shadowed One age prematurely in Voporak's defensive field. Because of this incident, the Shadowed One declared war on the Brotherhood of Makuta. In the confusion, Vakama snatched the Vahi and began flying away.

Teridax soon tracked down Vakama and demanded the Vahi, but Vakama threatened to destroy the mask - and with it, the entire space-time continuum. Extremely reluctantly, Teridax agreed to give the now-free Matoran a year of peace and to leave Vakama's allies in Metru Nui alone.

He then returned to Destral and challenged Icarax to make him stop terrorizing Matoran with his Manas. Interestingly enough, he let Icarax live for the time. He then went to one of his many lairs, this one called Mangaia.

In that year, Vakama and the other Toa Metru brought the Matoran to the Island of Mata Nui, became Turaga, and led them in constructing villages. Teridax, meanwhile, located a lost Matoran named Ahkmou and used seductive lies to make him an ally.

Once the year was up, he began to harass the Matoran by creating Kraata and using them to enslave the local Rahi wildlife,with Infected Kanohi, forcing them to attack the villages. His aim was hopefully to intimidate the Matoran into surrendering, but more importantly to keep the Matoran away from Metru Nui. But the Matoran fought back, driving off the Rahi and freeing some from Teridax's control. However, Teridax would keep on enslaving more, and the stalemate would continue for nearly a thousand years...

The Arrival of the Toa
A wanderer named Takua was able to find six Toa Stones that were scattered around the island, created and hidden back when the Turaga were the Toa Metru. Bringing these together at the Kini-Nui Temple summoned the Toa Mata to Mata Nui. At first, Teridax tested these beings to make sure they were real Toa, including using Ahkmou's help to spread an epidemic among the Po-Matoran. He even went so far as to fight them directly. Once he was convinced, he retreated and awakened the Bohrok swarms for the Toa to deal with. He held no illusions that the Bohrok would be able to defeat the Toa, but they would keep the heroes busy; and once the swarms failed there was the chance that the elite Bohrok-Kal could be a threat to the Toa.

But the Toa prevailed against the Bohrok threats, transforming into more powerful Toa Nuva in the process. Whatever schemes Teridax was plotting during this time were abandoned a short while later, when Takua found the legendary Avohkii Mask of Light. Legends stated that the mask's wearer, the Toa of Light, would appear in a time of darkness; and Teridax quickly sent out Rahkshi to keep the prophecy from coming true. He also appeared to Takua, warning him that the consequences could be fatal for his friend Jaller if he didn't give Teridax the mask. But these attempts failed, as Takua realized his destiny to become the Toa of Light, renaming himself "Takanuva" - though Teridax's warning rang true, as Jaller did indeed die in the last battle with the Rahkshi.

Mask of Light
The next day, Takanuva went to challenge Teridax alone; though once he got there he told his friend Hahli (who had stowed away on his vehicle) to go back and bring all the Matoran. While she was doing this, Teridax challenged Takanuva in the Matoran sport of kolhii, and the ensuing "game" damaged much of the lair. When the Matoran arrived, Teridax took out the lair's last remaining pillar, causing a cave-in and cutting off the Matorans' escape route. Takanuva then tried to rip Teridax's Mask of Shadows off of his face, causing the two to fall into a pool of energized protodermis and emerge as a single being, Takutanuva (see Takutanuva section below).

Takutanuva opened the way to Metru Nui, and the Teridax side (being enlightened by the Mask of Light piercing the lies he had told himself over the centuries) even helped bring Jaller back to life, but the energy spent on the resurrection made Takutanuva too weak and the gate he was holding fell and crushed him. Takanuva was quickly restored from his mask, but Teridax is believed by the world to be dead.

Despite the apparent victory, Takanuva harbored some suspicions that Teridax let the Matoran win to further some grander plan.

Quest for the Masks
Makuta is the Dark God of Darkness, Etropy, Destruction, and Endings and also the brother and direct opposite of Mata Nui. Growing jealous of the favor towards his brother, Makuta battled him in an attempt to take his place as the Great Spirit. Mata Nui ultimately won and trapped the Dark Lord in the Void. However a cult that worshipped Makuta, the Brotherhood of Makuta, worked to free him. This plan succeeded and Makuta was unleashed on the mortal realm over the skies of Nynrah. With the power he had built up over the eons while trapped in the Void, Makuta sent Mata Nui into a deep slumber as revenge.

However, a large group of Matoran were evacuated out of Nynrah and to the island of Mata Nui by a group of Toa, with Makuta giving chase. As the amnesiac Matoran settled into their new home, Makuta terrorized them with occasional Rahi attacks. His reign of terror met its end, however, when Mata Nui's fabled children, the Toa, washed up on the shores of the island in canisters and began a campaign to defeat Makuta. The Toa eventually sent Makuta back to the Void after facing various challenges sent by him.

Long War Alternate Universe
In the Long War Alternate Universe, Teridax survives the Battle of Bara Magna and continues his attack on Mata Nui and his followers. The crash of the Matoran Universe had caused Teridax to lose many of his previous abilities, such as manipulating the land and his ability to see everything happening in the universe. Teridax had already conjured up another plan by this time, however. He captured all Makuta still subservient to him and drained them of their Antidermis, injecting it into Matoran through a Shadow Leech, turning them into Makuta-Hybrid Toa. Teridax would always use a bit of his own Antidermis, so if necessary, he could control the Toa at will.

Trivia

 * Few inhabitants of the Matoran Universe know Teridax's true name, formally acknowledging him either as "The Makuta" or "The Makuta of Metru Nui" until his true name was revealed in the 2008 storyline.
 * In the Miramax BIONICLE films, Teridax was voiced by Lee Tockar. In BIONICLE: The Game, Teridax was voiced by Sean Schemmel, better known as the voice of Son Goku from Dragon Ball Z.
 * According to Greg Farshtay, Teridax was to take over the Great Spirit Robot and Mata Nui would take over another Robot, but Teridax's evil intentions caused him to take over the robot early and misuse it.

Appearances
To be added