Makuta Teridax

"Ah, the brave Toa of fire... now, no more than a match waiting to be extinguished beneath my heel. The plan is finished, Toa! The game is over. And with Mata Nui forever gone, will you fight the air you breath, Toa? The ground that you walked on? Understand, I no longer need to battle you in hopes of ruling the universe. I AM THE UNIVERSE!"

- Makuta Teridax taunting Toa Tahu after successfully taking over the Matoran Universe.

Makuta Teridax (better known simply as Makuta or Teridax) is the main antagonist of the BIONICLE series. He was the evil leader of the Brotherhood of Makuta, the brother-friend of Mata Nui and the once trusted lieutenant of Makuta Miserix. However, his jealousy towards Mata Nui drove him to overthrow the Great Spirit and rule the Matoran, the people he once swore to protect. He is also responsible for masterminding most of the story's events throughout the series and orchestrating everything behind the scenes to achieve his ultimate goal of overthrowing the Great Spirit and taking over the Matoran Universe.

Lee Tockar voiced him in the Miramax trilogy, who also voiced Frieza in the Ocean Group's English dub of Dragon Ball Kai, and Ravage from Beast Wars.

Past
100,000 years ago, Teridax was created by the Great Spirit Mata Nui to serve as part of a Brotherhood, whose job was to develop and alter creatures as needed; the Brotherhood soon also took on the position of protecting Mata Nui's chosen people, the Matoran. Teridax was explicitly put in charge of the city of Metru Nui and its surrounding region by 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, the six warlords titled "Barraki".

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 and spurred on by this thought of rulership, Teridax (and eventually the rest of the Brotherhood) became jealous of the high regard that the Matoran gave Mata Nui. He began brooding on ways to overthrow Mata Nui and 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 saviour. Miserix resisted this, but those Makuta that supported him were killed or fled. After a short brawl, Teridax claimed leadership of the brotherhood and ordered Miserix to be executed, although Krika and Spiriah, the Makuta assigned the task, did not kill him. Krika instead imprisoned him in a volcano on Artidax. Teridax then set his plan into motion. At some point during these events, six Toa were selected to be Teridax's 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 though 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, and the Hunter codenamed "Eliminator", who 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 as the guardian of the city. After he was taken, "Dume" commissioned the city's best mask maker, Vakama, to make the Mask of Time that would help in his plans. "Dume" then created the twisted plant called the Morbuzakhand unleashed it on the outskirts of Ta-Metru.

After the Morbuzakh plant drove the Matoran to the city's centre, Lhikan became suspicious and, suspecting that he might be killed, 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, let Teridax think that he chose Toa that could not stop him, 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. He would use the Vahi to speed up the process of their memory erasure, which would allow him to easily convince them to see him as the new "Great Spirit." 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 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 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 challenge Teridax truly, 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 didn't 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, who 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 bargaining 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 armour; 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 terrorising 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.

Mask of Light
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 realised 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.

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.

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 harboured some suspicions that Teridax let the Matoran win to further some grander plan.

Voya Nui
Six Skakdi Dark Hunters, somehow hearing about Teridax's apparent death, broke into the Makuta's domain. After a mishap where one of the Skakdi were split into two beings, Teridax's lingering essence implanted knowledge and information of the Kanohi Ignika into their minds, manipulating them into travelling to Voya Nui and retrieving the mask for him. Teridax, forcing his gaseous form to not dissipate through sheer willpower, followed the Skakdi to the island. During his disembodiment, Teridax had discovered that Mata Nui was dying, and sought to use the Ignika to, ironically, save the Great Spirit's life.

On Voya Nui, the Skakdi tricked the inhabitant Matoran into believing they were Toa. Teridax further influenced one of them, Zaktan, into solidifying his essence into a crystallised vat. This material was used to hypnotise the Voya Nui Matoran into the Skakdi's slaves. Teridax remained in his vat form, recovering from the strain of forcing himself to stay intact and awaited an opportunity for a return. It came in the form of a fight between Order of Mata Nui members Brutaka and Axonn. During the battle, Axonn had realised that Brutaka drew power from Teridax's essence and shattered the chamber housing it. Teridax proceeded to quietly flee the scene and follow the Toa Inika into Mahri Nui.

As the Toa travelled down the Cord, Teridax attempted to possess Matoro's body as the Toa of Ice had briefly left it to scout ahead in spirit form. The Toa Inika quickly found out what had happened and threatened to destroy Matoro's body, driving Teridax out.

Mahri Nui
Wandering the waters beneath Voya Nui, Teridax possessed the body of a Maxilos robot searching for Pit prisoners. It was here that he was contacted by Gorast, who he ordered to gather the strongest Makuta to invade Karda Nui and build an army of Shadow Matoran using the Av-Matoran living there. With this, Teridax had put the necessary pieces in place for his goals.

Disguised as the Maxilos robot, Teridax travelled to the Pit and discovered Order of Mata Nui member and Pit warden Hydraxon there, imprisoning a transformed Toa Matoro. Once Hydraxon was out of the area, Teridax revealed himself to Matoro, much to the Toa of Ice's horror. Teridax offered a truce and temporary partnership to retrieve the Ignika; a deal Matoro reluctantly agreed to. Teridax freed the Toa and beckoned him to help him find clues within the Pit's ruins.

Teridax discovered what he presumed to be the body of Toa Tuyet (in actuality a deceased alternate version) within the ruins and tricked Matoro into using his Kanohi Tryna to resurrect the corpse. The Makuta initially planned to keep what he believed to be shards of the Nui Stone within Tuyet's armour on hand for plans. Unfortunately, Karzahni, with his ambitions for conquest, fought with Teridax for the Stone, briefly trapping him in a vision of a future where Mata Nui awoke and punished him for his actions. The Makuta managed to snap out of the assault and defeat Karzahni by magnetically sending him away.

However, another obstacle arrived in the form of Brutaka, who distracted Teridax long enough for Botar to come and steal away the Nui Stone. Teridax shrugged off the setback, deciding that the whole affair was a small, distracting detour and joined Matoro in finding the rest of the Toa Inika, who had transformed into the Toa Mahri.

Once the Toa were reunited, Teridax was forced to act like a mindless robot. The Ignika had somehow gotten into the hands of Hydraxon, and Matoro, wanting to be rid of Teridax's threat looming over the Toa Mahri's quest, suggested the possessed Maxilos robot to find the Pit jailer. Not wanting to reveal himself, Teridax begrudgingly agreed and searched for Hydraxon. After a brief battle with the jailer, Teridax was ambushed by Matoro and frozen in a block of ice, the sharp drop in temperature cracked the Maxilos hull and released Teridax's essence. A fireball from a fight between the now-Toa Jaller and Hydraxon melted the ice, releasing Teridax but leaving him in a critically damaged state.

Teridax was then attacked by the Barraki's underwater Rahi army, further damaging his vessel. Despite anger at his loss, Teridax opted not to continue involvement and abandoned the Maxilos robot to travel back to Metru Nui. During his journey, Teridax felt the death of the Matoran Universe and, in a moment of humility, prayed that something saved his brother and the universe.

Luckily for everyone, Matoro donned the Ignika and sacrificed himself to bring Mata Nui back to life. Meanwhile, at Metru Nui, Teridax infiltrated the Core Processor to bide time, waiting for the Toa Nuva to awaken Mata Nui.

Reign of Shadows
The Toa Nuva succeeded in awakening the Great Spirit using the sentient Ignika. However, Teridax intercepted Mata Nui's spirit before he could retake his body, and sealed him into the Ignika, overriding the mask's consciousness and replacing it with Mata Nui's. After thousands of years of planning, Teridax's plan finally came to fruition as he rose out of the waters of Aqua Magna in Mata Nui's enormous robotic body, which housed the entirety of the Matoran Universe.

He killed all remaining Makuta, intending not to let another betrayal like his to occur. With god-like control over his new body's functions and environments, Teridax made his presence as the universe's new Great Spirit known to all. His first act, forming a constellation of his Kanohi Kraakhan on the Wall of Stars, announced the new world order to all species within him. His second act was to launch the Kanohi Ignika into outer space, exiling Mata Nui with no way to return to save his people. Thus began the Reign of Shadows as Teridax, still getting used to the enormity of his new form, focused his attention on ridding his body of all resistance and free will.

Journey's End
After weeks of coordinating the purge of resistance within his body, Teridax suddenly sensed Mata Nui's presence on Bara Magna, where he unwittingly sent the Ignika. Furious over his brother's survival, Teridax abandoned his quest for the complete conquest of the Matoran Universe and ordered his forces to descend to the Southern Islands in preparation for an invasion. Activating his body's propulsion systems, Teridax launched himself into space towards Bara Magna. As he travelled, Teridax decided once and for all that he didn't need Mata Nui alive for his plans of universal conquest and opted to kill his brother finally.

Teridax arrived on Bara Magna, where he found himself confronted with a smaller robot similar to his body. The Makuta realised this was Mata Nui, having taken over a prototype version of his former body to confront Teridax. Mata Nui pleaded with him to help him restore Spherus Magna, which he revealed as their mutual destiny and the purpose for the Great Spirit Robot's journey across the universe. Teridax refused to listen, blinded by pure murderous intent, and struck Mata Nui. The Makuta mocked Mata Nui for his newfound fondness for the inhabitants of Bara Magna as well as for those within the Matoran Universe, which he reminded Mata Nui that he would be harming if he were to fight back. As he fought Mata Nui, Teridax unleashed his Rahkshi army upon the Glatorian and the Agori at his feet, inciting a full-scale war on the planet's surface.

As the battle raged on, Mata Nui managed to trick Teridax into using the Great Spirit Robot's gravitational systems to draw Bota Magna and Aqua Magna towards Bara Magna, accomplishing the Great Beings' mission for them. However, Teridax, at his wits' end, chose to destroy Bara Magna with the same gravitational energy. At that moment, Teridax was distracted by Toa Tahu's mass destruction of his Rahkshi forces. Mata Nui took advantage of this hesitation and shoved Teridax into Bota Magna. The Makuta's head impacted with the jungle moon, destroying it and ending the tyrant's life and threat once and for all. As Spherus Magna was re-formed immediately following his death, Teridax unknowingly completed his destiny to take over the Matoran Universe and aid Mata Nui in finally repairing the Shattering.

Personality
"I have no allies, for I have no equals."

- Makuta Teridax to Helryx.

Teridax was outright obsessed with absolute power, and in his efforts of obtaining it for himself, made him into the evil leader he is today. Teridax proved to be a fearsome, treacherous and psychopathic narcissist, as he was willing to commit many atrocities with a lack of remorse and empathy. Teridax was also very manipulative, traitorous and deceptive, as he deceived other beings into helping his cause and getting what he wanted, always claiming that his actions were for the universe's good, which he demonstrated by convincing his fellow Makuta to join his cause.

At first, Teridax appeared to be very polite and charismatic towards other beings. But, this façade hid his real personality as he was an egocentric, cruel, and ruthless megalomaniac, who treated his allies and enemies alike as pawns to be manipulated and disposed of when they outlived their usefulness. He even went so far at betray them and leave them for dead upon helping him further his goals. Teridax's unique and extraordinary intellect allowed him to study and analyse every possibility that would occur when he created his plan and managed to fit together the victories of his enemies, the ambitions, his allies and even his setbacks into a project that never seemed to fail.

Powers and Abilities

 * Shadow Element: Like all Makuta, Teridax was able to manipulate the element of Shadow for an untold number of applications, from enshrouding his enemies in pitch blackness to unleashing bolts of shadow energy, and even projecting his own spirit through shadows. This could also be shaped into the form of a giant and ethereal hand, which Makuta could use to capture enemies, absorbing them into his essence and becoming more powerful as a result.
 * Master Manipulation: Being the most powerful being in the universe, Teridax's weapon of choice is his manipulation skills. He can also manipulate and control others into doing his bidding. For example; he manipulates the Makuta into defying Miserix's rule and join his cause.
 * Kanohi Kraahkan: This is the Great Kanohi that Teridax wore just before his reign. In addition to as well as filling the hearts of other beings with fear and anger. After his battle with Takanuva, he abandoned the mask along with his body. The mask was eventually destroyed when Icarax was killed in the final battle with Toa Ignika.
 * Shapeshifting: Like the rest of his race, Makuta is able to assume the form of any being or creature he desires, be it a frail Turaga, a savage beast or a swirling void of severed limbs.
 * Kraata Powers: Like all Makuta, Teridax has the ability to channel through the powers of the 42 Kraata powers.:


 * The staff of Darkness: He wields a magical staff that harnesses the power of darkness.
 * Antidermis: Like all Makuta due to their evolution, Teridax evolved into an energy-based being comprised of Antidermis, housed in protosteel armor to keep from dissipating. Individuals exposed to this substance became highly suggestible, which the thuggish Piraka used to their advantage when enslaving the Matoran of Voya Nui. Ironically, the gang were unaware that they themselves were being manipulated themselves by Teridax's essence.

Trivia

 * Despite being irredeemably evil, Teridax is stated to be Greg Farshtey's favorite character to write about.
 * Most beings in the Matoran Universe referred to him as "The Makuta", although he was more formally known as The Makuta of Metru Nui until his original name was revealed in the 2008 storyline - even then, he was rarely referred to by the name, except by fellow Makuta and a handful of others.
 * In Bionicle: The Game, Teridax was voiced by Sean Schemmel, who also voiced Berserk 's Conrad, Black Doom from Shadow the Hedgehog, Paradox from Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D Bonds Beyond Time and Goku Black from Funimation's dub of Dragon Ball Super.
 * According to Greg Farshtey, Teridax was to take over the Great Spirit Robot and Mata Nui would take over another Robot, but the Makuta's evil intentions caused him to take over the robot early and misuse it.
 * Teridax also happened to be voiced by the late Daisuke Gori in the Miramax trilogy's Japanese dub, who also voiced as the various villains such as; Heihachi Mishima from Tekken, The Fallen from Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and King Cold from Dragon Ball Z.

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