Tren Krom (Being)

"You think me an alien... an 'other'... but I am of the substance of this universe, and I walked here long before you or even Mata Nui himself. Have you not heard the tales?"

- Tren Krom to Brutaka, Federation of Fear

Tren Krom was a completely organic entity created by the Great Beings long before Mata Nui ever existed. He initially watched over the universe from inside Karda Nui, but was later exiled in order to prevent him from causing trouble for Mata Nui.

Origin and Early History
Long ago, before the Great Spirit Mata Nui existed, the Great Beings created an entity that was totally organic: Tren Krom. It was his job to keep the universe in order until Mata Nui was ready to take over. He did this, but when his time was over, the Great Beings sent an Av-Matoran to inform him his duties where no longer needed. (This paricular matoran was condemned to Karzhni and, years later, helped the to-be Toa Inika escape Karzhani.) As punishment, The Great Beings then exiled Tren Krom to a small island and fused to the rock of a cave so that he could not leave.

Some time later, Makuta Mutran was sent to meet with Tren Krom to ascertain his motives and goals. Mutran was almost turned insane at the sight of the organic being, but Tren Krom then linked his mind with that of Mutran. Mutran gained knowledge of how best to strike at Mata Nui, but for some reason, Tren Krom seemed intrigued by Mutran's mind, and so released him.

Federation of Fear
Later, Brutaka's team landed on Tren Krom's island. Vezon was the first to detect him, and Lariska heard a wet, breathing sound, and something slithering. Tren Krom then caused impenetrable walls of stone to spring up, and attacked Brutaka with a tentacle, dragging him into his cave. Carapar tried to attack Tren Krom from the side and surprise him, but the entity killed him with an eyebeam. When Brutaka and Spiriah told him of the danger to the universe (and him) from the Brotherhood of Makuta, he told them of his creation and past life. They tried to persuade him to help them in their cause, but he refused, as he was disappointed in them and their kind for bringing only anarchy to the universe that he had once watched over. He eventually released them, saying that no condemnation of his was worse than what they already faced: life in a broken world that they had created.

Reign of Shadows
After Teridax's takeover, Lewa was teleported to Tren Krom's island by Artakha to persuade Tren Krom to fight with the resistance against Teridax. Tren Krom stated that there was a way to free him from his prison so that he could help, but at a great cost to the Toa of Air. Lewa replied that he was willing to risk anything, and Tren Krom transferred his spirit into the Toa's body, and placed Lewa's into his. Tren Krom later left the cave, and Artakha teleported him to the Archives, because Tren Krom had his powers still, not Lewa's. There he met Macku, Hafu, Kapura, and Tuyet. Only Tuyet realized that Lewa Nuva wasn't himself, and Tren Krom had to talk like Lewa to convince the Matoran. Later they slipped out of the Archives and met the Toa Hagah Pouks and Bomonga, and Tren Krom used his power to make them and their teammates realize what was happening in Metru Nui. Tren Krom told them they were going to the Coliseum, to send a message to Mata Nui. Hafu asked him how he would get a message to Matu Nui, and asked what Mata Nui could do to help them. Tren Krom smiled, and told the Matoran that they would be surprised. The party then met up with Toa Helryx. Tren Krom then freed Miserix from the illusion that he was in. After sending a message to Mata Nui, he sided with Brutaka and Tuyet, not wanting to destroy the Matoran Universe. Both sides attempted to kill the other to carry out their own plans until Artakha arrived. Artakha then restored Lewa Nuva and Tren Krom back to their respective bodies. After Teridax's death, Tren Krom disappeared from his island and onto Spherus Magna.

The Powers That Be
Some time after Spherus Magna's reformation, Kopaka and Pohatu both heard a mental scream and saw images telepathically from Tren Krom. Another being nearby, named Gaardus, also recieved these images. The Toa then found him splattered all over the ground, dead. The only evidence they have for his condition is the image of a red star planted in their minds by Tren Krom himself before he died.

Physical Characteristics
"In the interests of writing a complete record, I should include every detail of my time there. In the interests of the sanity of anyone reading this, I will not. [...] I remember only a scarlet mass, a face that was not a face, tentacles lined with tiny, sharpened hooks, eyes that were little more than holes in a gelatinous skull, and that voice [...] made Makuta Teridax sound lilting and sweet."

- Mutran, The Mutran Chronicles

Tren Krom was described as having an appearance so horrible that even the Order of Mata Nui member Brutaka had to struggle to maintain his sanity. He was completely organic, and apparently was mainly a scarlet, gelatinous mass, with tentacles for arms.

Powers
The full extent of Tren Krom's powers are unknown, however it has been implied that he was immensely powerful, almost as powerful as Mata Nui himself. He had demonstrated the ability to link his mind with those of others, gaining their knowledge and giving them access to his, and even switching minds entirely. In order to keep Brutaka's team from leaving, he erected impenetrable walls of stone around his island. He could also fire beams of energy from his eyes that shattered the object they were aimed at. He also has been shown to have extraordinary mental powers far exceeding Teridax, as demonstrated when he cured the Toa Hagah of Teridax's illusion effortlessly, while inside Toa Lewa's body.

Quotes
"Before the Great Spirit Mata Nui was born, the Great Beings created one being who was purely organic. They taught me the ways of the universe they were creating and they placed me in its core. There I was to remain, maintaining the heat, the light, all the forces that made their creation whole... [...] My time was always to be short. I was to shepherd this universe until Mata Nui was prepared to take power. A Matoran of Light came to me and said the hour had come for me to move on... a crafter of canisters he was, whose sanity did not survive our encounter. I surrendered myself to my fate, only to be exiled here by the Great Beings and bound to this rock. The universe, it seems, did not need two entities supreme."

- Tren Krom, Federation of Fear

"I helped to birth a world of order. But from what I have seen in the female's mind... you have turned it into a universe of madness and fear. It is not worth saving. But it is the universe you and your kind deserve. Go! Take yourselves from my prison... take your memories and plans with you... for the horrors already in your minds are worse than any I could visit upon you. I condemn you to your fate – life in the universe you and your kind have made."

- Tren Krom, Federation of Fear

"No one can approach without my assent. No one can fight me. No one can kill me. I am eternal!"

- Tren Krom, Federation of Fear

"For it is a well known fact to those who know it well that Tren Krom is no myth. He is older than the stars themselves, born in a time when there was no Mata Nui, no Makuta, only never-ending darkness that encompassed all. He walked through a universe in the throes of its birth, and even the shadows feared him. To meet Tren Krom was to court madness, or worse... so naturally, the Brotherhood chose me to seek him out."

- Mutran, The Mutran Chronicles

"In the interests of writing a complete record, I should include every detail of my time there. In the interests of the sanity of anyone reading this, I will not. Even when I look back now, I remember only a scarlet mass, a face that was not a face, tentacles lined with tiny, sharpened hooks, eyes that were little more than holes in a gelatinous skull, and that voice... oh, that voice made Makuta Teridax sound lilting and sweet."

- Mutran, The Mutran Chronicles

"I expected to die. When Tren Krom’s mind touched mine, and I saw the reality of what he was, I almost wanted to perish in that moment... better that than to live with the memory. But he saw something in my thoughts that must have intrigued him... hard to imagine what it might have been, given how alien he was to any form of life. Rather than crush me in his grasp, Tren Krom explored my consciousness, like an Archives Mole rooting about for a meal. It was amazing... it was horrifying... it was a view into a mind as far beyond mine as mine is beyond a fireflyer’s... and it was feeling my mind turn into a nest of serpents, hissing and slithering and trailing slime."

- Mutran, The Mutran Chronicles

Appearances

 * The Mutran Chronicles - In a Flashback
 * Federation of Fear - First Appearance
 * Reign of Shadows
 * The Powers That Be

Trivia

 * Turaga Vakama named the Tren Krom Break of Ta-Wahi after him.
 * Greg Farshtey has stated that he conceived Tren Krom as a nod to the works of HP Lovecraft whose work seems to have had something of an influence on BIONICLE. Like many Lovecraftian entities, Tren Krom is gelatinous, possesses tentacles, and is so hideous the sight of him causes insanity.

Tren Krom