I have an important question.

[x645m]

Okay, so there is one thing that is very unclear to me regarding Mata Nui.

So, Mata Nui is supposed to be a very large robot 12 km long, right? Is the robot a kind of metaphor representing Mata Nui? because the map of the islands are roughly a body shape and, for example, if the robot is actually real, how could Voya Nui have broken and "risen" to the ocean if its a body? It just doesn't make sense to me if the robot is real, I think it's just a metaphor but I'm not sure. Anyone know?

Anybody, please?

[dviddy]

The islands are landmasses that exist within the body. Voya Nui broke off and burst through the body, and part of the plot was that to bring Mata Nui back on-line (I prefer 'awake' but he's a giant robot, so...) Voya Nui needed to be back in the body, because it was like he was missing his liver or a vital organ, you know?

[Brickthing]

You must have missed the end of 2008 and most of 2010 story, which deals with Mata Nui and his robot form, after he was woken up. This 2008 BIONICLEstory.com chapter might help clear things up. The first chapters and flashback chapters (21-23) of the Mata Nui Saga should also be useful.

As Darth Vader said, Voya Nui was meant to be inside the Mata Nui robot as part of the Matoran Universe within him, but it burst out when the robot hit the ocean after falling from space (which the Matoran experienced as the Great Cataclysm).

[exxtrooper]

Mata Nui is a spirit, he's been chillin out sleepin for a while, been a giant robot and a toa.

:L

[Aanchir]

Yes, the robot is totally real, not a metaphor. On a related note, when Voya Nui burst out of him, it left a huge waterfall pouring into his body. The subsequent flooding in Karda Nui is what created the swamp where 2008's story took place. When Voya Nui went back to where it belonged in 2007, the hole was fixed by the magic of the Staff of Artakha (which the Toa Nuva had retrieved in a serial earlier that year).

Also, Mata Nui's robot body is much, much larger than 12 kilometers. It's stated to be 40 million feet tall, which clocks in at a little over 12 thousand kilometers. This is inconsistent with many visual depictions of it, because naturally that's a ridiculous size to have to draw. But it's consistent with the given sizes of the island of Mata Nui (which covered his face) and the island city of Metru Nui (which was inside his head, and basically functioned as his "brain").