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The Order of Mata Nui is an organization from LEGO Bionicle storyline.

The Order of Mata Nui was first formed by the Great Beings at roughly the same time as both the founding of Metru Nui and the formation of the Brotherhood of Makuta. It was formed as a secret society dedicated to serving the will of the Great Sprit Mata Nui. It is one of the most powerful organizations in the Bionicle universe, and the only groups who can currently rival it are the corrupt Brotherhood of Makuta and a mercenary guild called the Dark Hunters. Their base of operations is located on the island of Daxia, which was built by the overseers of Artahka and Karzahni and the first members.

Contents 1 Secrecy 2 Activities 3 Powers 4 Members 4.1 Axonn 4.2 Botar 4.3 Other Members 5 Former Members 5.1 Brutaka 6 Agents 6.1 Umbra 7 Trivia 8 References 9 External links

The Order works in utmost secrecy, leaving public acts of Mata Nui's will to his chosen warriors, the Toa. Members are not permitted to reveal the Order's secrets when results death, except in the direst of circumstances. Because of this, very few know about the Order's existence:

• Members of the Brotherhood of Makuta "probably have suspicions, but don't know about it directly."^[1]
• Vakama knows that there is a group that serves Mata Nui; he learned this from the now-deceased plant creature Karzahni.
• Dark Hunter leader the Shadowed One is aware of a "mysterious third player" that rivals both the Hunters and the Brotherhood, and has tasked the Hunter codenamed "Gatherer" with finding more information.^[2] (Should Gatherer's investigation bring him a little too close to the truth, the Order will probably have him killed.^[3])
• Axonn's allies in the race for the Mask of Life - the Toa Inika, the Toa Nuva, and the Matoran of Voya Nui - have learned of the Order.^[4]
• In trying to coerce Dekar to give up the Mask of Life, Brutaka announced his alliegiance to the Order (leaving out the part that he had been banished). Neither Dekar nor the Barraki that accompanied Brutaka believed him.
• The residents of Artakha know of the Order,^[5] and Artakha himself requested that the Order make the land's location forbidden knowledge.

The following is what is known about the Order's activities in the Bionicle universe:

• As one of its first acts, the Order sent Umbra to be a guardian of the Ignika Mask of Life. They later sent Axonn and Brutaka to act as a first line of defense for the mask.
• Over eighty thousand years ago, the Order tampered with Ehlek's species in an attempt to engineer a race to combat the Brotherhood of Makuta.^[6] This was done in a way so that the species was not aware of who did the tampering.
• After the Great Disruption in Metru Nui, the Order placed an agent in the city to potentially ward off future problems.
• After the Brotherhood of Makuta invaded the land of Artakha, the Order accepted the ruler's request to eliminate all knowledge of the land's location. In addition to altering and destroying maps, they took everyone who knew the location - including Order members - and made them disappear.
• Around sixty thousand years ago, Mata Nui erased the memories of everyone outside the Order of a six-month period. This was done in order to cover up the Order's scattering of disguised Matoran of light throughout the world, including Takua in Metru Nui. Historical records of this time have also been erased, which can be presumed to be the work of the Order.^[7]
• When Mata Nui set the stars to present false prophesies concerning the identities of future Toa, the Order planted evidence that supported these prophesies such as Toa disks. This deception fooled Makuta and allowed the correct Matoran to become the Toa Metru.
• After the Great Cataclysm, an Order member was sent to the island of Mata Nui to keep an eye on events there. However, the Order was unaware that this member was quickly killed, and therefore did not send a replacement.
• The Order created a guide to eleven of the world's key locations (the Bionicle World guide) to inform its agents, be shared discreetly with Toa if events warrant, and (if Mata Nui dies) potentally serve as a final record of the world and its people.

Unlike their counterpart group, the Brotherhood of Makuta, the membership of the Order is comprised of several different races. As such, the Order does not have any uniform set of powers that all members naturally share. However, if Axonn and Brutaka are any indication, members do have a few attributes in common:

• Each one's power approaches that of a Makuta.^[8]
• Due to the sensitive information they carry, Order members have their minds shielded from telepathy and mental attack.

Beings not permitted to join the Order include Matoran, Toa, and Turaga; on the grounds that they have their own destiny to follow. Former Dark Hunters and Brotherhood servants are also barred from membership.^[9]

Axonn was once a fearsome warrior, cutting a swath of destruction and conquest through the southern lands. But then the Order of Mata Nui came to him and gave him a greater purpose, leading to his complete reformation. He was eventually teamed with Brutaka and stationed in the region that would become Voya Nui in order to guard the Ignika Mask of Life.

In the process of guarding the mask, Axonn and Brutaka also secretly protected the Matoran of the region. The only ones who knew of Axonn's existence was a Ko-Matoran known as Kazi and later a Ta-Matoran named Balta. When evil beings calling themselves Piraka came to the island searching for the Ignika, Axonn vowed to stop the invaders no matter what. Unfortunately, an embittered Brutaka chose to side with the Piraka, turning against Axonn and the Order.

Axonn began harassing the Piraka, but Brutaka fought him and left him badly beaten. Two of the Piraka stole Brutaka's power soon afterward and Axonn moved to go after them, but listened when Toa Jaller insisted that he will not take them on alone. Instead, he let the Toa Inika and the remaining Piraka go to stop them while he stayed and looked after Brutaka; giving Jaller a strange Zamor Sphere for the Ignika's' "protection" before they left. Upon their success, Brutaka woke up, and Axonn tried to reason with him, expressing hope that he would return to the side of good. But Brutaka refused to listen, and instead attacked.

As the two fought, Brutaka summoned a dimensional vortex that threatened to teleport Axonn away, and would only disappear when something stepped through it. Axonn soon realized that the friend he once knew was gone, and flew into a cold fury, becoming nigh-unstoppable. Brutaka tried to increase his power with the Piraka's antidermis virus, but Axonn smashed the vat before he could reach it. Axonn then blasted Brutaka with a beam of energy, defeating him; though it seems Brutaka came to his senses just as he fell unconscious. When Botar appeared to banish Brutaka to the Pit, Axonn pleaded on his friend's behalf, but Botar only threatened to banish Axonn as well.

Meanwhile, the Toa Inika used Axonn's Zamor Sphere to immobilize the Ignika's guardian, Vezon, allowing them to take the mask safely. Unfortunately, the mask flew away and dove under the sea, to Mahri Nui. With the Piraka's plans foiled for the time being, Axonn has stepped forward to be the protector of the island's Matoran, and has opened a secret passage for the Toa Inika to follow to Mahri Nui. He has also vowed to free Brutaka from his prison one day.

Axonn wears the Kanohi Rode,^[10] the Great Mask of Truth, allowing him to see through any trick. He also carries a giant axe that, when thrown, will automatically return to him (as if it was a boomerang). He can fire beams of energy through his hands or the point of his axe, and he was able to completely cure Toa Gali of madness.^[11]

Botar's name is feared even within the Order, for his job is to retrieve defeated enemies - traitors to the Order and those beyond all redemption - and banish them to the Pit. The list of beings Botar banished include a group of warlords known as the Barraki. As a result of this particular capture, his existence is known of by the Makuta of Metru Nui, though his affliation with the Order of Mata Nui has not become known to Makuta. Incredibly dedicated, he threatens anyone who impedes him with the same fate as his intended targets.

After Axonn defeated Brutaka, Botar appeared to take Brutaka away. Axonn wanted Brutaka to be given a second chance, but Botar warned that challenging Brutaka's sentence meant risking his own banishment. Axonn conceded, but vowed that he would free his friend one day; Botar simply laughed. He then stayed long enough to have a conversation with the Toa Nuva before teleporting away.

Besides teleportation, which can be manifested as either disappearing into thin air or surrounding himself and any targets with a ring of energy, Botar's powers are unknown. He also wields a sword-like axe tool that is double sided. Botar has not been changed by the mutagenic waters of the Pit because he has never stayed long enough to be affected (he deposits his prisoners and leaves within a fraction of a second) - in fact, he has not even noticed that the Pit has been flooded.

• The member placed in Metru Nui after the Great Disruption^[12] revealed the Order's existence - and it's role in planting evidence supporting the false Toa Metru - to the plant creature known as Karzahni, sometime while the city was under control of the Visorak. He said the member "told me the whole story… before he died."^[13] Karzahni later passed this information on to Toa Vakama, thus allaying Vakama's previous fears that he and the other Toa Metru were not meant for their roles. Instead of speaking of the mysterious organization, however, Vakama lied to his his fellow Toa and said that he had discovered evidence on Metru Nui confirming them as the rightful Toa Metru.

• Soon after the Matoran arrived on the island of Mata Nui, an Order member came to the island by Toa canister. Makuta noticed the powerful stranger's arrival and, ignorant of the being's connection to the Order, fought and killed him. Since the member never had the chance to alert the Order of danger, the Order sent no reinforcements; leaving the island unwatched for the entire thousand years that the Matoran lived there. Vezon later found the member's canister and used it to get to Voya Nui.^[14]

Brutaka was recruited to the Order of Mata Nui as something of a scholar. Though a formidable fighter in his own right, he was also able to analyze and reason quickly. The Order decided to pair his intellegence with the power of the famed warrior Axonn, and the two were assigned to guard the Ignika Mask of Life and the Matoran of what would become Voya Nui.

However, since the Great Cataclysm, Brutaka has come to believe that the Great Spirit Mata Nui has forsaken his people, and has begun to question his purpose: "Being a good little soldier for the Order of Mata Nui? Serving the will of some entity who's either dead or dying, depending on who you talk to? Spending another thousand or ten thousand or a hundred thousand years on this rock, guarding a mask instead of using it for my own benefit?"^[15]

Unfortunately for Axonn, Brutaka acted on his disillusionment; turning on the Order and deciding to help the Piraka claim the mask (specifically, whichever one of them can give him their antidermis Zamor Spheres) - but, like each of the Piraka, he plans to steal the mask for himself. In exchange for stopping the Toa Nuva, Brutaka was given the Piraka's Zamor Spheres; and he personally took the Toa Nuva captive. However, he still has a decent streak left in him, as he saved some of the Matoran from a deadly Doom Viper out of force of habit; though he seems to be bothered that this decency still exists.

After Axonn began harassing the Piraka, Brutaka fought him and left him badly beaten. He and the Piraka then faced the Toa Inika, only to have two of the Piraka, Hakann and Thok, steal his power and leave him unconscious. When the Toa Inika liberated his powers from the Piraka, he rejected Axonn's offers of peace and attacked yet again, opening a dimensional vortex with the intention that it would draw Axonn in, thus saving him the trouble of eliminating him. Unable to overcome his foe, he attempted to get to the vat of antidermis, but was thwarted when Axonn destroyed it. Axonn then knocked him unconscious with a blast of energy, allowing Botar to take him into custody despite Axonn's protests. After they left, Brutaka's vortex disappeared when Krahka and Tahtorak used it to escape the Zone of Darkness. Axonn vowed to free Brutaka one day, hoping that his friend can be redeemed.

Botar deposits Brutaka in an undersea prison called the Pit, where he is found by two Barraki, Ehlek and Carapar. Hearing Brutaka explain who he was, the Barraki recognize the Mask of Life as one they had seen a local Matoran with. Brutaka concludes that fate must want him to have the mask and demands that the Barraki take him to it, but warns that six Toa will be coming for it soon.

Ehlek and Carapar play along and bring Brutaka to the other Barraki (in part hoping that the powerful stranger could dispose of their leader, Pridak - no such luck). Together, they confront the mask's carrier, Dekar. Brutaka demands he hand over the mask, announcing he is a member of the Order (omitting that he had fallen), but Dekar counters that if he was supposed to have the mask, he would have found it himself. The Barraki consider his talk of an Order a fairly flimsy lie, and have him dragged off by a giant squid.

When asked whether Brutaka would ever return to the side of good, comic and book writer Greg Farshtey said "Probably not. I am not real big on villains suddenly turning good -- my villains tend to be how they are because they don't believe in anything and so there is a void they try to fill with power or conquest. That's not something that just suddenly changes, and I believe villains in fiction, like heroes, should have the strength of their convictions."^[16]

Brutaka wears the Kanohi Olmak, the Mask of Dimensional Gates, allowing him to open portals to other places, including pocket dimensions attached to the Bionicle universe but not alternate realities.^[17] These portals stay active even if Brutaka is unconscious, and only disappear once they are used. He also carries a large, double-ended blade, a gift from Axonn that can launch blasts of electrical energy; and he has two additional blades hidden on his back. His strength is so great that he can wound six Toa in one blow, and he becomes stronger and meaner when he absorbs the antidermis virus into his system.

After being exposed to the mutagenic waters of the Pit, Brutaka now breathes water instead of air. He does not appear to have manifested any outward mutations yet.

Hydraxon was assigned to be the jailer of the Pit, until he was badly injured by an earthquake and Takadox killed him - "though there are unconfirmed reports he is up and walking around again."^[18][19] Due to the nature of his resurrection, however, he has lost his membership; why this is so has not been explained.^[20]

Hydraxon is a weapons master, and is equipped with thick armor, explosive boomerangs, wrist knives, and a six-barreled cannon called a Cordak Blaster. He will aid the Toa Mahri in their attempt to defeat the Barraki and finding the Mask of Life. He is also amphibious-explaining how he can breathe under water.

The information and illustrations in the Order's location guide are attributed to three agents: Jerbraz, Johmak, and Tobduk. It is unclear whether these are merely agents of the Order or full members. (See note under "Trivia", below)

Maxilos was a guard robot that assisted Hydraxon (the jailer) in keeping the Pit's prisoners from breaking out. He has now been taken over by an evil, Toa-hating intelligence (surprisingly, this intelligence does not seem to be Makuta, despite the fact that Makuta is currently bodiless and seeking a shell to possess).^[21]

Maxilos wields a black fire sword and a Cordak Blaster. He is also aided by an "energy hound" named Spinax.

Umbra is a giant warrior who lives on Voya Nui; guarding the Ignika Mask of Life from those who would misuse it. He was appointed as a guardian of the mask by the Great Beings and the Order of Mata Nui; though he does not know - nor care - who his "employers" are.^[22] All that matters to him is guarding the mask from the unworthy, and anyone who wishes to claim it would have to defeat him in battle first; even Order members. He has been secluded near the mask for a long time, and may not even be aware of what happens on the island's surface.

The name "Umbra" was given to him by the Great Beings so that he could fit in with enemies and gain their trust (as an umbra is the darkest part of the shadow).^[23]

When the Toa Inika sought to claim the Mask of Life, Umbra first used his speed to attack the intruders and disarm them. Matoro was able to use this speed against him, however, when he iced over the cavern, causing Umbra to slip and crash. He then attacked as a laser-like beam of light, but the Toa responded with more ice: Matoro coated the cavern with a mirror-like layer of ice and Nuparu lured Umbra into hitting it, causing him to reflect off of it wildly until he was knocked out.

Umbra wields a large, dual-strobe staff that can fire lasers; it's also equipped with a Rhotuka launcher with the power to make hard-light projections.^[24] He wears a Great Ruru-shaped Kanohi mask, but the mask is powerless.^[25][26] He has ultra-speed skates on his feet that allow him to move at extremely fast speeds; and they also allow him to ride on the walls and ceilings of the chamber that he guards. More than that, he can also turn himself into an even faster beam of light.

• Axonn and Brutaka both appear as enemies in the Bionicle Heroes video game, found in the Desert and Volcano levels respectively. However, the game is non-canon, and Axonn is meant to be a hero character in the storyline.
• Farshtey once said that Axonn's axe, particularly its ability to return to its owner, is based on Thor's hammer, Mjolnir.^[27] (This is presumably the Marvel Comics version as opposed to the actual mythological Mjolnir.)
• Axonn's name may be based on "axe", while Brutaka's name may be derived from the word "brute" or "brutal".

• Several Order members were once part of an earlier organization called the Hand of Artakha.^[28] Axonn and Brutaka were two such members.^[29]

• The names of the three Order agents who provided pictures for the Bionicle World guide are nods to the guide's real-life illustrators: Jeremy Brazeal ("Jerbraz"), John McCormack ("Johmak"), and Toby Dutkiewicz ("Tobduk").

• Order of Mata Nui article at Bioncle Sector 01 Wiki