Takadox

"Sometimes, the most effective first blow in a battle comes wrapped as a gift."
— Barraki Takadox, City of the Lost

Takadox
Takadox's mutated form
Barraki
Powers	Hypnosis
Tools	Twin Knives Squid Launcher (both formerly) Protosteel blade Stone dagger
Status	Alive Mutations reversed Amphibious
Location	Spherus Magna
Pronunciation	TACK-ah-DOCKS
Set number	8916 Takadox (instructions)

Takadox is a cunning and treacherous Barraki warlord and a former member of the League of Six Kingdoms.

Biography

Takadox was initially employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta in an attempt to watch over Pridak, who had left the Brotherhood. He was given a Tablet of Transit, which identified him as an ally of the Brotherhood.

League of Six Kingdoms

Mata Nui, in need of a force to maintain order in his universe, ordained Takadox and five other prime beings as Barraki, warlords given divine right to rule the Matoran Universe. Takadox acquired an army and became a powerful warlord of the eastern regions of the universe, hypnotizing his armies to make them extremely obedient. He joined the other Barraki in the League of Six Kingdoms, all the while continuing his role as a Brotherhood informant. When he first allied his region with Pridak, he forced Kalmah to join the League for fear of being cut off. Takadox was later present in a meeting with the Brotherhood and the League, which was uncomfortable for him due to his status as a traitor.

Over 80,000 years ago, Takadox witnessed a team of Toa defeat the Kanohi Dragon when it attacked Metru Nui.

Along with Pridak and the other Barraki in the League of Six Kingdoms, Takadox attempted to overthrow Mata Nui, but betrayed the League to the Brotherhood before the plan was to be carried out. Their coup was foiled by Makuta Teridax's army, and despite Takadox's attempts to ally with him, he and his allies faced execution by the Brotherhood of Makuta. Moments before their sentence was to be carried out, Botar appeared and teleported the defeated warriors away to the Pit. Forever banished for their crimes, the Barraki fell out of time and memory.

The Pit

Takadox in Barraki: Creeps From the Deep

When Teridax later attempted a similar rebellion to that of the Barraki, and succeeded, the Great Cataclysm he caused split the walls of the prison. The jailer, Hydraxon, was wounded, and as he attempted to stop the prisoners of the Pit from escaping, Takadox took advantage of his weakness and killed him. The Barraki escaped into the Black Water, where the Pit Mutagen present changed their forms. Takadox became a monstrous, mantis-like creature, and his powers of hypnosis increased exponentially. Following their escape, Ehlek built a new stronghold for the Barraki, but this was destroyed when the Matoran city of Mahri Nui fell from the surface and crushed it. Takadox took up residence in a dark cave, sending Carapar to run errands for him. He did not emerge for centuries.

The arrival of the Kanohi Ignika, the Mask of Life, to the waters around Mahri Nui spelled the dawn of a new era for the Barraki. Leaving his cave for the first time in hundreds of years, Takadox came to the Razor Whale's Teeth to hear Pridak's orders - the mask could be the cure to their mutations. It could return them to their former glory, and had to be found at once.

Kalmah attacking Takadox

Takadox first visited another resident of the Pit, the four-armed bestial Nocturn. Though the being had not seen the mask, Takadox was quick to implant instructions on what to do if he found it into Nocturn's simple mind.

Next, he waited at the edge of the Pit, spying on Mantax. Kalmah caught him, and he explained to him that Mantax went down into the Pit every now and then, and Takadox wanted to find out why, hinting that Mantax might have hidden the mask there. The two ventured down, following Mantax, until the opening closed above them and they were trapped by a group of Zyglak. Meanwhile, Nocturn noticed that the Pit was closed where it had been open and, believing that someone was hiding something, reopened it. The three Barraki quickly swam out, and Takadox made him believe that the Zyglak had insulted him, resulting in the enraged Nocturn fighting them off while Takadox and the others escaped.

His next move was to order Carapar to kidnap Kyrehx, the Ga-Matoran who had first found the mask. Though her interrogation yielded little, the two Barraki learned that the mask was still in Mahri Nui, and that Ehlek was leading his army of Venom Eels to destroy the city. Fearing for the safety of the Ignika, Takadox sent Carapar to stop him and return the newly-hypnotized Kyrehx as a "gift of peace."

Ehlek's campaign resulted in the mask enlarging one of his eels to a monstrous size. Takadox arrived on the scene and attempted to hypnotize the 300 foot eel, but was knocked unconscious. He later woke up to find six mysterious entities fighting the eel. Takadox watched them fight for their lives with amusement until Kalmah called him to the cave Dekar had brought the mask to in order to cure Pridak of the mask's curse. Takadox managed to hypnotize the enraged Barraki into a more calm attitude.

Later, he and the others located the Toa Mahri at the Fields of Air, where Takadox swam over and taunted them. Hahli talked the Barraki into taking the Toa Mahri along to the Barraki's realm. After placing the Mahri in separately guarded caves, the Barraki fought over where they should keep the mask. Takadox stepped in to suggest placing it in the Razor Whale's Teeth. Everyone agreed, as doing so would allow each of them equal access.

Takadox in Mahri Nui

They later went to the Octo Cave to interrogate Ehlek, wanting to know where Nocturn had gone with the mask, which Ehlek did not know. Mantax and Takadox decided to feed on the Sea Squids until Kalmah caught them. They informed him and Carapar, who had stayed to guard the Toa, of what had happened to the mask. The six believed the escaped Toa were the thieves and so they split up to find them. Takadox, teamed with Pridak, found Matoro and Maxilos near the Pillars of Salt. The two sides summoned armies to battle each other. The fight was at a stalemate until a very angry Ehlek and his Venom Eels fought off Pridak's army, assuming that he was responsible for the sharks that crushed his legion of electric eels (although Hewkii and his Kanohi Garai were at fault). With Pridak and Takadox busy, Matoro and Maxilos fled.

After Mantax recovered the Kanohi Ignika, Takadox and the others were asked to meet at the Razor Whale's Teeth. There, the six Barraki, now split into four separate factions, heard about Mantax's search for a Tablet of Transit. When Mantax revealed that he had discovered the tablet, Takadox attacked the Barraki, revealing that he was the traitor amongst the Barraki. The two Barraki started to fight, with Mantax paralyzing Takadox using his venom. Desperate, Takadox attempted to hypnotize the wandering Teridax/Maxilos into killing Mantax. Laughing at the foolish attempt, Teridax simply bashed the Barraki aside.

Soon afterwards, Teridax confronted the Barraki, revealing his disguise as Maxilos and seemingly defeating all the Barraki except for Pridak and the hiding Takadox. In a desperate attempt, Takadox ran up to Teridax and gave him the Tablet of Transit, showing the Makuta that he should not be captured. Amused, Teridax crushed the tablet and cast the Barraki into a vision, where Takadox had returned to land and was now in his former form, with the other Barraki under his rule. In the vision, however, Takadox's army of Underwater Insects appeared and attacked the Barraki in revenge.

Later, Takadox was shown unconscious and was dragged away by Carapar during their chase against the Toa Mahri. Takadox was awake and helping the Barraki after the Toa made Voya Nui sink into the ocean.

Order of Mata Nui

Takadox was taken by the Order of Mata Nui to be a member of a team to search for Miserix, the original leader of the Brotherhood of Makuta. In addition to Takadox, Carapar, Roodaka, Vezon, Spiriah, and Brutaka, their leader, were on the team. Takadox was given a special Breathing Helmet to be able to breathe air again.

After the team traveled to Stelt and met a trader, Takadox hypnotized the crew of seven bruisers on one of his ships and had them jump overboard so that the team could steal it without resistance.

When Spiriah overthrew Brutaka, Takadox grudgingly agreed to follow him, later openly insulting Brutaka's leadership skills and remarking on how foolish they had been for even fearing Brutaka. However, when they arrived at Zakaz, members of Ehlek's species, whom Takadox recognized as resembling his former ally, destroyed the Zyglak ships that Spiriah had summoned. Brutaka then regained control and introduced Lariska as the final member of their team.

Later, the team docked on an island to retrieve a hidden weapons cache. Takadox was given a long blade by Brutaka. Shortly afterwards, they were imprisoned on the island by a 200-foot-tall wall of stone, and Brutaka was dragged into a cave by Tren Krom. Takadox and the rest of the team carefully entered the cave and confronted Tren Krom, learning of his origin. However, they were then given nightmarish visions by Tren Krom after he learned what had become of the universe he had once sustained. Then, Carapar attempted to attack Tren Krom, but was killed himself instead. The team then fled the island, and continued their voyage.

Takadox remained silent for the remainder of the team's voyage. When the team arrived on Artidax, the sands on the beach attempted to suck Spiriah down, but Roodaka mutated the sand into a group of Fireflyers. The team then proceeded cautiously up the mountain, where they entered a tunnel. The entrance was rigged with a razor-thin vine stretched across the tunnel which would trigger a rock slide. The team went into the tunnel, avoiding the vine, but Takadox, having seen the risks of the mission, decided to cut the vine with his sword when the others were all inside, causing an avalanche and trapping the rest of them inside the tunnel. He then left in the boat the group came in.

Artidax

On his way out from the island, the stolen boat was destroyed and he was forced back to the island of Artidax. He later witnessed two mysterious figures from the Order of Mata Nui plant a device to trigger the largest volcano into eruption. A short time afterwards, Toa Mahri Jaller, Hahli, and Nuparu arrived on the island with Visorak in pursuit, for they had activated the Heart of the Visorak. Takadox revealed himself to them, and after they told him what they were doing he hypnotized the three Toa, and escaped the island with the boat they had come on, while the Visorak descended on the island.

Takadox later migrated to Spherus Magna after Teridax's death, where his mutations were reverted by Mata Nui using the Ignika.

Abilities and Traits

Takadox using his hypnotic powers in Dekar's vision

Takadox is a schemer, always seeking an edge over friend and foe alike. He is the most skilled of the Barraki at planning, seeing life as a game board and everyone as pieces to be moved as he wishes. While in the Pit, Takadox was fascinated with shiny and glittery objects, and he collected them in the long pipe-shaped caves he dwelled in. This obsession later led him to desire the Mask of Life.

While Takadox is not very strong he makes up for it with his hypnosis ability, allowing him to make others do his bidding. This hypnosis ability was increased about a 100 times after his exposure to the mutagen, but was decreased again after his mutations were undone. Hypnotized beings enter a trance where their conscious mind is asleep, but their subconscious remains awake, so they can perform Takadox's bidding. While this trance only lasts for a short time, individuals will remain susceptible to post-hypnotic suggestion for months which can cause them to re-enter the trance or carry out a set of instructions without realizing it. Hypnosis can alter the target's view of reality, making them do things they normally wouldn't, block out memories, or create false ones. As Takadox's power works on anyone who has a conscious and subconscious mind, it is more effective on subjects with greater intelligence, but does not work at all on robots. Takadox can hypnotize both biomechanical and organic beings, although hypnotizing the latter requires greater effort than the former. It is possible to hypnotize multiple beings at the same time, as long as they are all looking at Takadox. This hypnotic ability did not function through Psionics, and could not be protected against through mental shielding.

Takadox also gave off a green glow in low-light areas.

Takadox's biggest enemy among other Barraki was Kalmah, because his tentacle could reach him even in the furthest reaches of his cave.

Tools

Takadox wielded a pair of Twin Knives he salvaged from the Pit, and also carried a Squid Launcher. His weapons were taken from him when he was re-captured by the Order of Mata Nui. These weapons were then replaced by a long, thin blade made of Protosteel provided by the Order. In his confrontation with three of the Toa Mahri, he was seen holding a crude stone dagger.

Army

Takadox commanded an army of Underwater Insects.

BIONICLE.com Stats

STRENGTH: 9	AGILITY: 9
TOUGHNESS: 10	MIND: 13

Set Information

Takadox Set

8916 Takadox

Takadox as a minifigure

Takadox as a set

8916 Takadox was released as a sixty-two piece canister set in the winter of 2007. The set comes with two Sea Squid that can be stored on clips on his lower arms. As weapons he carried his Twin Knives and a Squid Launcher. Takadox is distinct from the other Barraki sets in his use of transparent blue plastic blended with glow-in-the-dark plastic for his head and armor pieces, the only glow-in-the-dark pieces in any of the Barraki sets. Squeezing his mandibles caused them to pinch together.

Takadox can be combined with Pridak and Kalmah in order to create a Zyglak model.

A minifigure version of Takadox was released in 2007 in the Barraki Deepsea Patrol and Toa Terrain Crawler playsets. Another Takadox minifigure was featured in the Toa Undersea Attack playset of the same year, this one featuring a blue Mantax head in place of the normal head piece for Takadox. This was to provide variety and distinction from the same set's Pridak minifigure, which featured Takadox's normal minifig head piece in white.

Takadox was also part of McDonald's BIONICLE "Happy Meal" promotion in 2007. The Takadox toy's Squid Launcher instead fired cardboard disks with a Sea Squid pattern when a button on the top was pressed.

The LEGO Group produced life-sized foam versions of Takadox's Twin Knives for use as play weaponry. They also produced a foam mask of Takadox's face.

Quotes

"Little Matoran, lost and alone, so far away from home. But we will be your friends now, Carapar and I."
— Takadox, City of the Lost

"Ah, dear Kalmah, try using your head for something besides scaring small animals."
— Takadox, Mask of Life, Mask of Doom

"You really are sea slime, Takadox."
"And I'm so good at it, too."
— Kalmah and Takadox, Sea of Darkness

"Poor Toa ... today, they're heroes ... tomorrow, food for the fish."
— Takadox, BIONICLE.com

"The crew decided to go for a swim, all at once. Imagine that."
— Takadox, Federation of Fear

Trivia

• When he was mutated, Takadox was sometimes referred to as "The Mantis."
• As evidenced by his Barraki symbol, head design, bioluminescence and hypnotic ability, Takadox was likely based on anglerfish.
• Greg Farshtey based Takadox's personality on a character called "East" from one of his earlier novels.
• Takadox is Farshtey's favorite Barraki.

Appearances

Takadox in Command Toa Hahli

Books	Comics	Online	Multimedia
Novels BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall Guides BIONICLE: World (M) BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe	Ignition BIONICLE Ignition 6 BIONICLE Ignition 7: Mask of Life, Mask of Doom BIONICLE Ignition 8: Sea of Darkness BIONICLE Ignition 9: Battle in the Deep! BIONICLE Ignition 10: The Death of Mata Nui BIONICLE Ignition 11: Death of a Hero	Story The Mutran Chronicles Federation of Fear Dwellers In Darkness Animations Barraki: Creeps From the Deep	Online Games Creeps from the Deep (NC) Sea Survival (NC) BIONICLE Mahri: Hewkii (NC) Command Toa Hahli (NC) Command Toa Kongu (NC) Command Toa Matoro (NC) Command The Toa Mahri - The Final Challenge (SC)

See also

• Gallery:Barraki § Takadox