Antidermis

History
When the Piraka mysteriously learned of the Ignika Mask of Life, their leader Zaktan also gained knowledge of the mysterious virus and how to collect and use it.

When the Piraka first came to Voya Nui, they gained the Matoran’s trust by pretending to be Toa. When suspicions arose, they decided to bring in a test-subject, a Ta-Matoran named Dezalk, to test an antidermis-filled Zamor on. Immediately after he was hit with the Zamor sphere, the Matoran became completely dependent upon the Piraka’s orders. The Piraka then told Dezalk to tell his fellow Matoran to gather in the Matoran village, which Dezalk carried out unquestioningly. The Piraka attacked the Matoran village in the middle of the night and fired Zamor spheres filled with antidermis at all of the Matoran there. Only the six Matoran of the resistance escaped this fate, as they decided not to trust the new "Toa". All of the other Matoran, however, became slaves of the Piraka, losing their own will and becoming entirely dependent on the orders that the Piraka gave them, even to the point of death. This allowed the Piraka to have the Matoran laboring ceaselessly and without question, digging at the sides of Mount Valmai.

Since the Toa Inika arrived on Voya Nui, they have hit a number of the Matoran with Zamor spheres of their own which were filled with energized protodermis, thereby freeing them from the Piraka's control. After a fight between the Piraka and the Toa Inika at the Piraka Stronghold, Toa Kongu probed into the vat with his Kanohi Suletu Mask of Telepathy, and discovered that the substance is alive and actually has an evil mind of its own.

Description
Antidermis is a greenish-black glowing viral substance that the Piraka have used to enslave most of the Matoran population of Voya Nui. The Piraka have obtained this virus on Voya Nui by placing a huge crystal vat in the Piraka stronghold, which has collected the antidermis from the air. The Piraka's leader, Zaktan, is the only one of the group able to approach the vat without feeling nauseated or weak; he is also the only Piraka who knows the true secret of the virus. Zaktan is thus the only one able to fill Zamor Spheres with antidermis, which he gives to the other Piraka to use at their liking. The other Piraka have noticed that Zaktan sometimes "talks" to the vat quietly when he is alone, and does not enjoy being disturbed when doing so. If this substance is loaded into a Zamor Sphere and fired at a Matoran, the Matoran then becomes a mindless slave willing to obey any command given by the individual who enslaved him.

Effects
Antidermis seems to have different effects on different beings. Matoran infected with the virus become mindless slaves, blindly obeying any command given to them, it can be assumed that the same effect applies to Toa and Turaga as well, as the three kinds of beings are essentially a single species. The Toa Inika, however, are exceptions to this, as their lightning-charged bodies counteract the virus. The cure for Antidermis in this case is Energized Protodermis. Energized Protodermis transforms those destined to transform and destroys everything else; when an infected Matoran is hit then the virus is destroyed and the Matoran is once again free to achieve his destiny.

Brutaka reacts quite differently to Antidermis, when his body absorbs the virus he becomes stronger, but also meaner and more aggressive.

Mystery
It has recently been revealed that Antidermis is a form of the Ancient Evil.