Skull Raiders

"...Skull Raiders never bluff."

- Ekimu, Escape From the Underworld

The Skull Raiders were an ancient group of pirates who plagued the island of Okoto in the years prior to the Battle of the Mask Makers. After a conflict of unknown duration, they were driven into one of Okoto's mountain ranges by Ekimu, Makuta, and the Protectors of the time. However, Makuta later sought out the raiders and forged an alliance with them, in which their leader Kulta pledged his service to Makuta. The cataclysm unleashed by the destruction of the Mask of Ultimate Power caused the cave in which the Skull Raiders had taken refuge to become buried. They eventually dug it out and constructed their own city beneath the mountains, with Kulta digging a tunnel that allowed him to exit the underground metropolis.

Makuta's spirit reached out to the Skull Raiders from the Shadow Realm, and they came to blame Ekimu for the cataclysm that had trapped them; as Makuta's urging only Kulta and his lieutenant Skull Basher emerged to attack the City of the Mask Makers while the other Skull Raiders remained in their city. Under their tribal commander Axato, they awaited orders to mobilize against the Okotans, only to face the unexpected intrusion of Ekimu and the Toa in search of two captured children and their comrade Lewa. A battle soon erupted between the two sides that was joined by the escaped Kulta, but it ended after Ekimu used Onua's Earthquake Hammer to defeat Kulta and collapse the cavern in which the city stood. The Toa and Ekimu then escaped with the recovered captives, with Tahu sealing the tunnel behind them to prevent the Skull Raiders from ever escaping again.

The Skull Raiders are known to have worn Skull Masks and carried spears and Rapid Shooters; they also spoke their own guttural language, with only Kulta being known to speak the language of the Okotans while Ekimu was the only non-Skull Raider known to speak their tongue. The Skull Raiders maintained an arena in their city in which they held tournaments and gladitorial matches, as well as having a lava pit for the execution of prisoners. Their technology also included cages with bars that could become flexible and snakelike but were also susceptible to the power of Fire.