The Pit

"Beware the depths of darkness
That wait with chill embrace,
For those doomed to dwell within the pit
Can never leave that place.

No one will know your fate
If taken by the shadowed sea,
Only whispers of the waves will say
Death has at last claimed thee."
— Riddle on the 777 Stairs, Inferno

The Pit
Location
Status	Dismantled
Inhabitants	Criminals Hydraxon Maxilos (all formerly)
Population	None
Position	Far southern part of the Matoran Universe

The Pit, also known as the Deep Deep or the Black Water, was a jail used by the Order of Mata Nui to imprison those who were considered irredeemable.

History

The Pit was constructed millennia ago for the Order of Mata Nui to house the universe's criminals and villains. They carved it out of an entire dome and assigned Hydraxon as its jailer and the Maxilos robots as its guardians. Order member Botar was tasked with locating and retrieving the criminals and depositing them in the jail. Banishment to the Pit was the most severe punishment possible in the Matoran Universe and was reserved for the most abominable beings who have commited unredeemable acts. The sentence was indefinite imprisonment with no chance of ever reclaiming one's freedom.

Mantax entering the original Pit

One thousand and one years before the re-awakening of the Great Spirit Mata Nui, the Makuta Teridax brought about the Great Cataclysm, causing Mata Nui to crash-land on the ocean planet Aqua Magna, shattering the roof of the dome containing the Pit and flooding it. Hydraxon was severely injured in the quake and was later killed by Takadox, a Barraki inmate. The prisoners not killed in the cataclysm took this chance to escape and fled to the ocean above, where they were mutated by the planet's sea water. The six Barraki warlords, who had been inmates and survived the cataclysm, established themselves as rulers of this new ocean and took command of many sea creatures. The surviving Maxilos robots journeyed into the ocean as well, hunting down escaped prisoners. A band of Zyglak eventually moved into the ruins of the destroyed jail, thriving in solitude.

Over the next thousand years, the Barraki established their new domain, harassing the Matoran of the underwater city Mahri Nui who had survived a devastating fall from the island now situated above. The Barraki Mantax would frequently search through the jail, searching for an object he believed would reveal the traitor amongst them. During their search for the Kanohi Ignika, the Barraki found a Po-Matoran named Dekar who was in possession of the mask. Though the Barraki managed to wrest it from him, the mask used its energy to transform Dekar into the deceased jailer Hydraxon, creating his replica. Unaware of the circumstances surrounding his death 1,000 years ago, Hydraxon set out to recapture the escaped prisoners.

Toa Mahri Matoro incarcerated in a Pit cell

While rounding up escapees, Hydraxon captured Toa Mahri Matoro, believing him to be an escaped prisoner. He imprisoned the Toa in a cell, and stationed a Maxilos robot as a guard. The robot, which was possessed by Makuta Teridax, spoke to Matoro and freed him.

The Order of Mata Nui, with the assistance of the Toa Nuva, managed to repair the jail with the Staff of Artakha, sealing the hole that had been made but leaving the prison flooded with mutagenic sea water. Hydraxon eventually drained the Pit, and gave the mutated inmates water breathing devices to help them survive. The Order of Mata Nui, who had been keeping several beings in their own prison, began to use the Pit as a jail once more. Roodaka and Karzahni were transferred from cells on Daxia to the Pit for their monstrous crimes.

Though he initially clashed with them, Hydraxon eventually recruited Lesovikk and Sarda in recapturing escapees. The Order sent them a message requiring Hydraxon to release the four Barraki to assist the Order in their current war. Hydraxon and Lesovikk later left to assist the war efforts, leaving the Maxilos robots to round up the remaining prisoners.

After Teridax took control of the Matoran Universe, he left whatever servants of his that were in the Pit imprisoned there, believing them to be incompetent for letting themselves get caught. Mata Nui, after finally defeating Teridax, used the energy of a Prototype Robot and the Ignika to undo the mutations done by the Pit Mutagen, and gave the prisoners the ability to breathe air.

The prisoners of the Pit were transferred to Spherus Magna after the Mata Nui Robot was damaged in the battle between Mata Nui and Teridax. Karzahni escaped during the move, but was later found dead at the bottom of Iron Canyon. Later, the Pit, along with all other locations in the Matoran Universe, was dismantled.

Landscape

The Pit had an entire dome to itself, located south of any known island and the Northern Continent, and well to the north of the Southern Continent, and filled with jail cells housing the universe's most notorious criminals. After the Great Cataclysm, the Pit became a submerged wreckage, containing little more than Rahi and a few Zyglak. When the Staff of Artakha was used, the Pit was restored to its former state, and the water within it was later drained.

Former Inhabitants

Prisoners

• The Barraki
  • Pridak (released)
  • Kalmah (released)
  • Ehlek (released)
  • Mantax (released)
  • Takadox (released)
  • Carapar (released; now deceased)
• Brutaka (released)
• Karzahni (escaped; now deceased)
• Nocturn (deceased)
• Roodaka (transferred to Spherus Magna)
• An alternate Tuyet (deceased)
• An unnamed Skakdi (deceased)
• The five unnamed prisoners (transferred to Spherus Magna)
• The leaders of the Matoran Civil War (transferred to Spherus Magna)

Pit Managers

These beings formerly ran the Pit, and ensured its captives stayed imprisoned:

• Hydraxon
• Maxilos robots
• Lesovikk
• Energy Hounds
  • Spinax
• Sarda

Trivia

• In 2007, LEGO Brickmaster arranged the BIONICLE Prisoners of the Pit Building Challenge, encouraging readers to build the prisoners of the Pit. The five winners of the contest were published in an issue of Brickmaster later in 2007. Greg Farshtey confirmed that they were not canon as they never appeared in the story or in a Scholastic guide book. In 2011, the BZPower Bionicle Story Squad convinced Greg Farshtey to canonize the models. However, the names were not canonized because that would require sending them through LEGO's legal team.
• Greg Farshtey indicated that the Order, in cooperation with the Agori, would likely establish an equivalent to the Pit on Spherus Magna. This installation might be guarded by both the Maxilos robots and the Glatorian. Hydraxon, meanwhile, might eventually become a bounty hunter of sorts.

Prisoners of the Pit Building Challenge Winners

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Appearances

Books	Comics	Online	Multimedia
Novels BIONICLE Legends 5: Inferno (M) BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit BIONICLE Legends 9: Shadows in the Sky (M) BIONICLE Legends 10: Swamp of Secrets (M) Guides BIONICLE: World BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated (M) BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe	Ignition BIONICLE Ignition 7: Mask of Life, Mask of Doom BIONICLE Ignition 8: Sea of Darkness BIONICLE Ignition 9: Battle in the Deep! Graphic Novels Hydraxon's Tale	Story Serials Into the Darkness Dreams of Destruction Destiny War Dwellers In Darkness (M) Short Stories The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet (M)	Online Games Creeps from the Deep (NC) Sea Survival (NC) Barraki Platform Game (NC) Command Toa Hewkii (NC) Command Toa Hahli (NC) Command Toa Kongu (NC) Command Toa Jaller (NC) Command Toa Nuparu (NC) Command Toa Matoro (NC) Command The Toa Mahri - The Final Challenge (NC) Video Games BIONICLE Defenders (NC) Board Games Hydraxon's Hunt Game! (NC)