Makuta (Species)

"Yes, this is the place the Great Spirit created the Makuta. And the only place new Makuta could ever spring from. From that pool came their substance, made into living form by the powers of the Great Spirit until time made it into pure energy."

- Axonn, Destiny War

Makuta were a species of Antidermis, as well as title, of the members of the Brotherhood of Makuta, and masters of shadows.

History
About 100,000 years ago, the Makuta species were created by Mata Nui as the Brotherhood of Makuta, one of the known factions that used to serve the Great Spirit. The species was created out of Antidermis, which was kept in a pool on an island in the Southern Islands. All of the beings in the Makuta species were in the Brotherhood of Makuta, and all members of the Brotherhood were of the Makuta species. One hundred Makuta were created. Their purpose in the Matoran Universe was to create Rahi.

After the Metru Nui civil war, Miserix, the leader of the Brotherhood of Makuta, assigned each Makuta to oversee a region in the known universe to keep the universe in order.

Miserix, however, was soon overthrown and Teridax became leader of the brotherhood. The overthrowing was part of his new plan to take over the Matoran Universe. Teridax ordered Krika and Spiriah to kill Miserix, but Krika imprisoned Miserix on Artidax. Shortly after that the Makuta evolved to the point where they were just pure Antidermis. After taking some of Kojol's Antidermis, Chirox announced that the Makuta had evolved. Teridax then had the Nynrah ghosts make new armor for them.

As part of the plan, Teridax placed a virus in Mata Nui's systems. This virus caused him to fall into a coma, and he crashed on the moon of Aqua Magna. This event was later known as the Great Cataclysm.

Antroz, Chirox, Vamprah, Krika, Gorast, Bitil, and Mutran were sent to Karda Nui by Teridax. However, he didn't tell them that, once Mata Nui was awakened by the Toa Nuva, the energy storms would start again and the seven Makuta would be killed. In Karda Nui, the Makuta started creating Shadow Matoran out of Av-Matoran using Shadow Leeches, which were being mass-produced during this time. Antroz, Chirox, Vamprah, and Mutran stayed near the stalactite villages, while the others went to the swamps below. The Makuta soon called upon Icarax to come to the swamp and help them.

The Toa Nuva soon awakened Mata Nui using the Ignika, and, once the energy storms started, the Makuta were killed. However, what nobody knew was that, while the events in Karda Nui were taking place, Teridax made his way to the Core Processor. He then took the robot before Mata Nui could fully regain control and forced his consciousness into the Ignika, and banished him from his own body.

All the Makuta were killed by the Order of Mata Nui and all the survivors but Miserix were killed by Teridax after he took over the universe so that he had no competition.

An alternate Teridax, with Mazeka, arrived in the Matoran Universe during the reign. The main Teridax then sent three Shadow Takanuva to their location, though all of them were killed. They later left the Matoran Universe.

During the Battle of Bara Magna, Teridax sensed his Rahkshi being destroyed by Tahu using the Golden Armor. This gave Mata Nui, now in a prototype version of Teridax's robot, time to shove Teridax into a fragment of Aqua Magna. The impact of the rock struck the Core Processor, which killed him.

Powers and Traits
All of the Makuta species could produce Kraata, and by extension, Rahkshi, and had access to all 42 of their powers and abilities. They were also shapeshifters by nature. However, it required a massive amount of energy to change form. Interestingly enough, the Makuta once had physical bodies, but evolved past the point of needing them. This evolution happened around 1300 years before the Great Cataclysm. This evolution to a state of pure energy encased in armor was a natural one, and gave many advantages to the Makuta. For example, because of their new, evolved form, the Makuta now don't need to sleep or get tired, don't feel pain and couldn't get wounded as often. They also could shapeshift and create Kraata much more easily, and could activate any of their powers using only their mind, meaning they could defeat an enemy "without flexing a finger or taking a step". The one weakness to being a state of pure energy is that if the shell was broken, then the essence of the Makuta will slowly leak out, as seen in BIONICLE Adventures 10: Time Trap, when Teridax's armor was shattered, his 'true' form was shown, Antidermis. In this form the can only access their mental powers. If this energy wasn't contained it would eventually dissipate and the Makuta would die. Makuta could apparently sense the presence of other Makuta, even if the other was not inside his/her armor. One notable thing about the species is that Makuta possess the ability to absorb other beings (including other Makuta) into themselves to grow in size, strength, and power. Their victims die from the process, but the Makuta must first dominate and erase the victim's mind. It's unknown whether the Makuta always possessed this power or that it was gained after evolving into pure energy. It has been shown that in their larger armored forms Makuta can possess enormous strength.

The few known things that could break a Makuta's armor were:
 * Sufficiently sharp weapons such as Pridak's Shark Tooth Blade, in addition to any Protosteel weapons like Hahli's Protosteel Talons.
 * Extremely hard impacts, such as the one caused by the door to Metru Nui in Mangaia or the Great Cataclysm
 * A Protosteel-eating virus
 * Very intensely focused light or energy, such as a laser from a Toa of Light or the Energy Storm

In the universe in which The Melding took place, the Makuta evolved as a species into a gaseous state, but had a few different powers from the Makuta in the main universe.

A psychopathic race by nature, the Makuta were cruel and egotistical to a fault, believing that they occupied a special place in the universe and that they should rule in the place of the Great Spirit himself. They possessed a mocking contempt that bordered on racism for all beings outside their species, including the Barraki, the Toa and particularly the Matoran. Nevertheless their egocentric and ambitious natures caused them to constantly plot and scheme against each other. Makuta were usually intelligent and had a fondness for manipulating less powerful species and using them as pawns in their plans or even as test subjects in their experiments. Some Makuta such as Icarax and Gorast demonstrated a love of battle and carnage while others such as Teridax and Mutran preferred to use treachery and subterfuge to achieve their goals. Makuta were also notable for possessing a twisted sense of humour.

Makuta as a Title
"Makuta" as a title wasn't always seen as one; it evolved to this status over time. Because the Makuta as a species were a small group of very powerful beings that protected the Matoran, they were slowly referred to as "the Makuta." Thus over time, the name "Makuta" became as much a title as a species name. Teridax, however, took this a step further, more or less dropping his original name and becoming known to most (except for his fellow Makuta and a few others) as just the Makuta.

Trivia

 * Some Makuta had Toa Hagah teams.
 * There were 100 Makuta created, 85 of which were male and 15 were female.
 * The Makuta were only created at one particular place, which was discovered by Axonn and Brutaka.
 * The last remaining female Makuta was Gorast. The others before her died in missions or were killed off by herself and Icarax when Teridax ordered Miserix's supporters killed.
 * Teridax was originally known only as "Makuta", "the Makuta", or "Makuta of Metru Nui". However, after releasing other Makuta, LEGO gave him a name.
 * The only known Makuta still alive are Miserix and an alternate Teridax.