Saga Guides/History of Spherus Magna

History of Spherus Magna Part of a series on: BIONICLE Chronology ⬢ Events ⬢ Saga Guides      ⬡ History of Spherus Magna      ⬡ History of Bara Magna      ⬡ History of the Matoran Universe      ⬡ Legends of Metru Nui      ⬡ The Great Rescue      ⬡ The Dark Time      ⬡ Quest for the Masks      ⬡ The Bohrok Swarms      ⬡ The Bohrok-Kal Strike      ⬡ The Mask of Light      ⬡ Voya Nui      ⬡ Mahri Nui      ⬡ Karda Nui      ⬡ Bara Magna      ⬡ Journey's End      ⬡ Spherus Magna      ⬡ Okoto ⬢ Timeline      ⬡ History of Spherus Magna      ⬡ History of Bara Magna      ⬡ History of the Matoran Universe      ⬡ Coming of the Toa      ⬡ Quest for the Mask of Life      ⬡ Teridax's Reign      ⬡ Spherus Magna indicates the article pertains to Generation 2

Prehistory of Spherus Magna

Before the Great Beings arose, the mysterious entity known as Annona, who fed on dreams, roamed free on the vast planet called Spherus Magna. She sensed the approach of the Great Beings and attacked them, but their strange minds resisted her powers and were even inspired from the experience. Annona retreated underground, and the Great Beings were free to create.

Ancestors of the Agori practiced meditation techniques that improved their hearing and attuned them to the movements of air currents. They left records of these techniques, which were eventually forgotten.

Rule of the Great Beings

The Great Beings, imbued with limitless creativity and superior intelligence, created many technological marvels that amazed the other species of Spherus Magna, such as the Agori. The eight known tribes — the Fire Tribe, Water Tribe, Jungle Tribe, Ice Tribe, Rock Tribe, Sand Tribe, Iron Tribe, and the Earth Tribe — pledged allegiance to the Great Beings as their scientist-kings. The Great Beings ruled over all the regions of the planet, from the deserts of Bara Magna to the forests of Bota Magna and the oceans of Aqua Magna.

A Jungle Tribe Agori named Lein established a highly successful trading post at a Bota Magna ford. The area was named Lein's Drift after him and his business. Lein died of natural causes about 265,000 years ago. Raanu, Certavus, and Surel were alive at this time, though very young.

150,000 years ago, the Great Beings built a colossal Prototype Robot, intending for Agori and others to inhabit the robot and maintain its systems. However, the robot's power source was too unstable, and it exploded across the Great Barren.

103,000 years ago, Annona grew hungry, and fed on the dreams of the Iron Tribe Agori. To the Agori, this appeared to be a mysterious and deadly plague, and nearly all of the Iron Tribe perished. Some of the surviving members went insane from the decimation of their tribe, and all of the survivors were shunned by all other Agori for fear of them transmitting the disease. Among these survivors were Sahmad and Telluris, who began to nurse hatred and paranoia, respectively, towards the Agori of the other tribes, and retreated into the wilderness.

Annona also extended her reach to the Sisters of the Skrall, imbuing them with psionic powers. She intended for them to use the powers to wipe out their male counterparts. The Sisters, unaware of Annona's influence, suspected that the Great Being Angonce was responsible for their powers, and established a legend about a Sister whose power was greatly increased by Angonce.

Reign of the Element Lords

Tired of ruling Spherus Magna, the Great Beings endowed five warriors and one Skrall with the powers of the elements. They were called the Element Lords, named so for their ability to create and manipulate the element, and were appointed the leaders of the planet. The Element Lords governed together in relative peace, while the Great Beings continued to tinker with their inventions. They modified creatures such as the Skopio, and experimented on the Vorox and Zesk, giving them bestial appearances and stinger tails.

Telluris was approached by several Agori who shared his love of mechanics; among these Agori was Berix. Telluris initially welcomed the friendship, and taught Berix several repair techniques. However, Telluris convinced himself that the Agori were trying to steal his ideas, and drove them off.

About 100,000 years ago, a mysterious substance, later named Energized Protodermis, began forcing its way out of the planet's core. Villagers of the Ice Tribe soon discovered it: when one Agori touched it, he was obliterated, revealing the liquid's powerful properties. The other Element Lords thought they would share the substance, but the Element Lord of Ice responded by barricading the spring where it had been discovered. This sparked old enmities between the Element Lords, and so began the Core War.

The Core War

Fighting in the Core War

Horrified by the war, the Great Beings demanded that the Element Lords enter peace negotiations, but their absence from power for so long had reduced any influence they had, and the Element Lords refused to compromise. Six of the remaining tribes were drawn into the war, which reached every corner of the planet, though the Bone Hunters refused to participate.

During one of the many Core War battles, hundreds of soldiers were merged with trees by the Element Lord of Jungle's power to create the Forest of Blades.

Another campaign saw Tarix and Ackar clash in the Fields of Mist. Tarix went on to almost singlehandedly seize an Ice Tribe fortress and lead the charge in a battle at Lein's Drift.

Perditus attained a high rank in the Fire Tribe army and gained access to caches of equipment. From the discarded technology of the Great Beings, Perditus built the Thornatus V9, which he used to great effect in battles.

Gelu wanted no part of the war, and retreated south into the White Quartz Mountains; however, the war followed him there. In a major battle, his friend Surel was wounded and left for dead. However, he survived with a pack of Iron Wolves.

The Great Beings sent the Agori Raanu and Kyry to retrieve a sample of Energized Protodermis from the spring. While the Ice Tribe fended off the forces of both Jungle and Fire, the Agori retrieved the sample, and brought it to the Great Beings. After conducting a study, they realized that the destructive energies could irreparably damage the planet, and began creating the Great Spirit Robot as a response to the potential outcome of the spreading of the substance. Unable to stop the war otherwise, Heremus and other Great Beings created and unleashed mechanical shape-shifters later dubbed baterra, intending to end the Core War by killing all armed combatants.

The Great Beings realized they could not avert catastrophe, but they could attempt to repair the damage done. To this end, they revived an old project and began work on the Great Spirit Robot, an improved version of the Prototype Robot that utilized Energized Protodermis to stabilize its power source. The robot would be a living universe, populated by Matoran workers, and would observe the other civilizations of the universe to learn where Spherus Magna went wrong. After 100,000 years, what remained of Spherus Magna would be stable and ready for the robot to return and repair the planet. The Great Beings imbued this robot with an intelligence they named Mata Nui, after the "great spirit" of Spherus Magna he would carry.

One Great Being, disgruntled with the rising catastrophe, announced to the others that he was entering self-imposed exile. Unbeknownst to the other Great Beings, he transferred his consciousness into a Matoran body and entered the Great Spirit Robot, curious about the robot's inner workings.

The Great Beings attempted to shut down the baterra, but the robots resisted the failsafe and continued to carry out their programming.

Certavus led the Ice Tribe's finest battalion on a campaign through Bara Magna, in which they successfully defeated many Sand Tribe war-parties. However, on the way home, they were attacked by Skrall, creating an opening that the Element Lord of Water seized. Tarix was sent to lead a contingent through the Great Forest during the window of opportunity, but the warriors were attacked by Jungle Tribe forces led by Vastus. Vastus successfully poisoned Tarix with his Venom Talon, inciting an uneasy truce between the armies. Vastus led Tarix to the site of supposed Ice Tribe tunnels, only for Fire Tribe forces led by Malum to arrive. Vastus blasted Malum with Tarix's Water Blades to create a distraction, and escaped while Tarix engaged the enemy. However, the arrival of Certavus's battalion drove off both Fire and Water forces, securing the area for the Ice Tribe.

Vastus was later appointed the leader of an elite sabotage unit. One mission required his team to trigger an avalanche and block off the main road to an Ice Tribe mountain village. However, the elites triggered a much greater slide than expected, which killed hundreds of innocent Agori in the village. The incident caused Vastus much guilt and introspection, and he began to doubt his previous convictions. Vastus also discovered the ancient Agori's meditation records, which he would study and use to become a gifted fighter on Bara Magna.

Mere days before the destruction of Spherus Magna, Ackar participated in the Battle of Iron Canyon, in which armies hid and sought each other out in the dangerous terrain near Vulcanus.

A legion of Skrall, led by Stronius, ambushed a vast Jungle Tribe force and scored a resounding victory. He later routed the Ice Tribe from the Black Spike Mountains. However, this gave the Fire Tribe a chance to break through the Ice Tribe's northern flank and seize control of the spring.

The Fire Tribe began draining it of the Energized Protodermis, causing immense structural damage to the planet, despite the protestations of Raanu. Finished shortly before the disaster, Mata Nui left Spherus Magna to follow his orders and fulfill his destiny.

Soon after, Spherus Magna was ripped apart in a cataclysm later referred to as the Shattering, creating three new celestial bodies from the regions of Bota Magna, Aqua Magna, and Bara Magna. The Agori began to contend with the end of their society, even as the Matoran Universe began its own.