Mata Nui ( Great Spirit ) Mata Nui is a character created by LEGO for the BIONICLE storyline . He is a god - like figure revered by the Matoran people ( however , he is " not " worshipped as a deity ; as LEGO is specifically trying to avoid religious issues ) ( Additionally , Mata Nui was merely a creation of and a servant to the Great Beings ) . The Island of Mata Nui was named in his honour . The Makuta beings , more commonly known as the Brotherhood , were Mata Nui ' s first creations - the Matoran were created by the Great Beings , not Mata Nui . Their purpose was to create animals for the Matoran Universe . Mata Nui was once so close to the Brotherhood of Makuta , or at least the Makuta of Metru Nui , that they were considered " brothers " ; until the Makuta became corrupt . A secret organization called the Order of Mata Nui , who remain loyal to Mata Nui , now oppose the Brotherhood . Centuries ago , the Makuta of Metru Nui attacked and Mata Nui eventually fell unconscious from his injuries , which led to what is called the Great Cataclysm . Despite being called a " Spirit " , Mata Nui does have a physical body . His location is unknown , even to the Order of Mata Nui , though it is said to be " quite easy to get to " - though " the trick is knowing you ' ve found him " . It is believed that there were Matoran who lived inside his body , keeping it running , for his form is a massive robot . This was later proven true , as the entire Matoran Universe was the body of the Great Spirit . Metru Nui was his head and contained his brain and manual cockpit , the Southern Islands represented his legs , etc . Matoran laboring actually directly affected Mata Nui ' s health - the Matoran Civil War disrupted work for four hundred years , after which Mata Nui was extremely close to death and was only saved when an unnamed Toa sacrificed his life to heal Mata Nui using the Mask of Life . The Kanohi Hau Mask of Shielding is often used as a symbol to represent Mata Nui . After 2006 , the Mask of Life served a similar purpose . Biography . In the ancient past , the Great Spirit Mata Nui was sent by the even more powerful Great Beings to care for all life . He came to the Matoran people and gave them the virtues of Unity , Duty , and Destiny ; and he chose select members of this race to become his Toa champions . Among these Toa , the Toa Mata held special status in that their destiny was to aid the Great Spirit if some tragedy befell him . Only once did something like this come close to happening : a civil war in Metru Nui affected normal work worldwide , and this " Great Disruption " weakened Mata Nui severely ; he was only saved by the timely actions of Toa Jovan and his team . The Toa and Matoran were not the only groups to follow Mata Nui . One other was the Brotherhood of Makuta , shadow beings who originally created creatures for the good of the universe but soon expanded to become powerful guardians of the Matoran . Another was the Order of Mata Nui , a secret society that took on tasks that Toa could not ; ones where a Toa ' s well - known reputation could hinder the mission or where the necessary actions could violate their code of honour . Soon after his arrival , Mata Nui created six Barraki warlords to help bring order to the universe . But the Barraki became far too ambitious , eventually plotting to usurp the Great Spirit himself . The Brotherhood of Makuta somehow learned of these plans and allied with the Toa to defeat them . The Brotherhood successfully captured the Barraki and Botar , an Order member , made them vanish . But even with the Barraki ' s disappearance , their goal survived . . . Soon , the Great Disruption in Metru Nui damaged Mata Nui ' s health . A team of Toa journeyed to Voya Nui to retrieve the Mask of Life . However , the Toa who used it died with fear and regret . One powerful Makuta , the one assigned to Metru Nui , became jealous of Mata Nui ' s status among the Matoran , and remembering the Barraki ' s plot hatched a dark plan . Attacking the Great Spirit by some unknown means , Makuta sent Mata Nui into a deep slumber and tried to make the Matoran of Metru Nui forget their Great Spirit and become their savior in his place . As a result , Mata Nui can no longer maintain the universe as he once could , and the world has been decaying ever since ; the numerous natural disasters that struck at the moment Mata Nui fell asleep are collectively known as the Great Cataclysm . But while Mata Nui still clung to life , he intervened directly to make sure things could be made right . When new Toa Metru were about to be chosen by Toa Lhikan shortly before the Cataclysm , Makuta wished to influence the choices to his advantage . Knowing this , Mata Nui and his Order falsified prophesies regarding the identities of the new Toa . Makuta believed these prophesies , and influenced Lhikan to choose others to become the new Toa . But as the prophecies were fake to begin with , the " others " that Makuta influenced Lhikan to choose were in fact the true destined Toa Metru . Mata Nui also prepared the Toa Mata , who entered Toa canisters that were supposed to bring them to an island named " Mata Nui " after the Great Spirit , where the refugees of Metru Nui were living . But the canisters malfunctioned and would finally arrive a thousand years later , when the island ' s six Toa stones were brought together , summoning the canisters . Though the Toa Mata remembered nothing of their time prior to the canisters , they quickly took up the task of protecting the island ' s Matoran from Makuta . Through the course of their battles , they became more powerful Toa Nuva ; and one of the Matoran became Takanuva , the Toa of Light , who defeated Makuta and allowed the Matoran to return to Metru Nui , completing the first task that will help reawaken the Great Spirit . It has only recently been discovered that Mata Nui is in fact dying from the attack , and that if he dies , the universe will die with him . The Toa Nuva have been sent to the island of Voya Nui to find the Ignika Mask of Life that could heal Mata Nui . However , this was not their destiny , but that of others : six Matoran followed them determined to help , and were transformed into the Toa Inika . Following their victory over the villainous Piraka that had claimed the mask , the Inika have been tasked with retrieving the Ignika and saving Mata Nui from dying . In the meantime , the Nuva are setting aside their original mission of awakening the Great Spirit ; instead preparing the world for such an awakening . But the Piraka ' s interference , as well as that of evil Barraki warlords , proved to cause too many delays . The Great Spirit Mata Nui has died . But instead of the universe collapsing as shown in a vision given by the Karzahni , the Ignika began to drain life from everything in the universe . Before he died , Matoro followed the falling island of Voya Nui to the Universe Core . There he put the Ignika on and doing so gave up his life to revive Mata Nui . Instantly , the Great Spirit was brought back from the edge of non - existence . Mata Nui is awakened . But before his " soul " is sent to his body , Makuta takes over Mata Nui ' s body , exiles Mata Nui in the Mask of Life and sends him to outer space . It headed towards Bara Magna . As the Mask lands , Mata Nui quickly created a body the size of a Glatorian . As he helped a wounded warrior in battle , the villagers , the Agori say that they need him to lead other glatorians to defeat the REAL enemy , the Skrall . So he lead them to defeat the evil Skrall . This can be seen in the fourth BIONICLE movie . Trivia . In an alternate universe , Matoro failed to save Mata Nui ' s life . Despite initial belief , it was proven in an alternate universe that the death of Mata Nui ( and , as a result , the presumed destruction of the Matoran Universe ) WOULD NOT , necessarily , result in the deaths of all it ' s inhabitants . In The Kingdom , the Toa , Turaga , and Matoran escaped out of the Matoran Universe and back to Mata Nui , and the Toa were able to use their powers to enlarge the island to hold the stream of Rahi , Skadi , Vortixx , Nynrah , and others evacuating the universe below . Only the Zyglak were completely destroyed , and even the Makuta , whose entry was barred from The Kingdom , managed to survive , proving that life was still sustainable in the universe below , although many Matora , Rahi , etc . were killed after Mata Nui ' s death , suggesting apocalyptic events in the robot below .