Mapping The Makuta

[Nato G]

At the suggestion of Master Inika, I’ve edited another map of the Matoran Universe, this time to depict the known territories of the various canon Makuta. The original suggestion was to do a colour-coded map, but that ended up looking very cluttered, so I decided to go for a simpler style. 

According to Greg Farshtey, there were once 100 Makuta, and only a handful of them are covered by canon. Even so, based on the amount of territory controlled by the Makuta we do know of, it seems like a lot of the unknown Makuta probably didn’t have regions, or controlled islands so minor they weren’t even worth putting on the map.

Starting from the top, our main man Teridax was the assigned Makuta of Metru Nui, while the Brotherhood’s alleged best fighter, Icarax, took over Karzahni.

Krika was originally assigned to the north part of the northern continent, and later expanded his territory to include Zakaz after Spiriah’s fall from grace. Sharing the Northern Continent was Gorast, who is specified to have ruled the lower region known as the Tren Krom peninsula. Based on this division, it seems like at least one more Makuta must have had a claim to part of the Northern Continent.

Tridax ruled Nynrah, biker bro Antroz ruled Xia, and Vamprah was responsible for Odina (I guess he sucked at his job, since he clearly never did anything about the Dark Hunters). 

I feel like Greg only vaguely glanced at the map when he decided on Chirox’s territory, since his region includes two completely disconnected islands that are nowhere near each other (one in the hand, one in the leg). He controls Keetongu’s and Tobduk’s homelands (the latter being better known by its current name, Visorak). (I realised after posting that I'd also made a mistake here myself, drawing a line to the wrong island).

Chirox-but-with-a-better-colourscheme Mutran controlled the “central part of the Southern Continent”, which is probably intended to refer to Voya Nui.

Prior to being deposed, Miserix was the Makuta of Destral. As far as we know, no other Makuta formally claimed that title after Miserix was imprisoned.

Bitil is said to have controlled the west chain of the southern islands. However, the map claims that no one has explored further than Artidax, so Bitil’s territory likely ends there. It’s worth noting here that while Spiriah was formerly the Makuta of Zakaz, some pages on BS01 say that he also controlled Artidax. However, there seems to be no citation for this, and since he’s in exile I’ve left him off the map entirely.

Finally, a couple of Makuta we don’t have canon appearances for: Kojol was the Makuta of Artakha, prior to raiding the place and getting assassinated by the Order Of Mata Nui, while the Makuta of Stelt is exactly what it says on the tin.

This leaves a number of locations unclaimed. Given the way most territories have been divided up, there would have been at least one more Makuta for the Northern continent, and potentially two or three more dividing up the Southern. The large island above Keetongu’s homeland may have had a Makuta (unless it was also included in Chirox’s territory). The small island between Nynrah and Odina could also have had a Makuta (unless it fell into Tridax or Vamprah’s territories). The two islands up near Stelt and Xia (Nocturn’s homeland?) would have likely had at least one Makuta assigned to them, possibly two. I’m less sure about the other side of the map, since we have no information to confirm if the Makuta had any major presence at all in that entire arm. There are also a whole bunch of other islands out there that don’t appear on the map but are mentioned in-story, some of which would have likely had Makuta overseers as well.

Let me know if there's anything I've missed, or if you have any suggestions. I'd also love to hear if anyone's assigned territories to their own fanon Makuta. 

Edited April 8 by Nato G

[Master Inika]

That was fast, and it looks great, too.

I like the icons for all the Makuta's masks. Did you make them yourself and if not, where did you find them? I find Miserix's especially cool, since his mask is built from other pieces and honestly from the angle in the official image I can't really tell how it should be shaped head-on (but the icon is unmistakable.)

It makes sense to use the Avohkii for Kojol too, even if he didn't wear it. I assume that the crossed Air Katana/Ice Sword for the MoS is supposed to be a generic "image unknown," but I feel like the Vahi could have worked for him (it's not associated with any other island except Metru Nui and is connected to Stelt through Voporak), but that's purely a cosmetic suggestion.

Your observation about Vamprah as Odina's Makuta is interesting. The fact that Odina even has a Makuta after the events of LoMN seems suspect to me; I assume that Vamprah had no instructions to hamper the Hunters when they were the Brotherhood's allies and, by the time the war started, they were too entrenched to be removed. I feel like Vamprah's claim on Odina was "in name only" for that last 1,000 years and it's especially interesting that it did not seem held against him that he allowed the Brotherhood's future enemy to flourish for thousands of years. (Vamprah, like Mutran, was probably an absentee overseer.) If allowing the Dark Hunters to grow that powerful was in any way viewed as Vamprah's fault, I imagine he would have been punished for it (like Spiriah) and not remain high-up enough to be assigned to something important as the Karda Nui invasion.

[Nato G]

1 hour ago, Master Inika said:

Did you make them yourself and if not, where did you find them? I find Miserix's especially cool, since his mask is built from other pieces and honestly from the angle in the official image I can't really tell how it should be shaped head-on (but the icon is unmistakable.)

I made renders of the masks (and Miserix's head build) in Stud.io, then reduced the colour to all black in order to get a silhouette. With Krika I had to edit the eye holes back in, and I titled the Shelek slightly the second time in order to get different icons for Mutran and Chirox. 

1 hour ago, Master Inika said:

It makes sense to use the Avohkii for Kojol too, even if he didn't wear it. I assume that the crossed Air Katana/Ice Sword for the MoS is supposed to be a generic "image unknown."

Yeah, I'd already committed to the icon idea before I realised we didn't have canon masks for those two. The Avohkii seemed an easy fit for Kojol, while the crossed swords is just meant to reference the fact that Stelt is known for its coliseums and fighting pits. 

1 hour ago, Master Inika said:

The fact that Odina even has a Makuta after the events of LoMN seems suspect to me.

Yeah, it's a little weird. The wording on his BS01 page actually says he's assigned to "the region around Odina". The page for Odina also asserts that its location is secret and Vamprah didn't discover it. There are no citations for either of these details, and frankly it seems bizarre to me that the Makuta couldn't have identified Odina's location when people were constantly coming and going, and the Toa Nuva seemed to have no difficulty finding it. 

[confused piraka]

who gets the feet of the robot?

[Nato G]

56 minutes ago, confused piraka said:

who gets the feet of the robot?

Based on the info we have in canon, Artidax is as far south as anyone has officially explored (barring Axonn's backstory of conquering some unspecified islands, the Toa Nuva's mission to quell some volcanos, and the events of Journey's End). Bitil has the most southern-most territory. 

[confused piraka]

19 minutes ago, Nato G said:

Based on the info we have in canon, Artidax is as far south as anyone has officially explored (barring Axonn's backstory of conquering some unspecified islands, the Toa Nuva's mission to quell some volcanos, and the events of Journey's End). Bitil has the most southern-most territory. 

what about mutran? didn't he go all the way to th feet to talk to trem krom? or keetongu?

[Master Inika]

20 minutes ago, confused piraka said:

what about mutran? didn't he go all the way to th feet to talk to trem krom? or keetongu?

Tren Krom and Keetongu’s islands are both still visible on Nato’s map (he cropped the feet portions out because the Makuta did not control it).

 

16 hours ago, Nato G said:

Yeah, I'd already committed to the icon idea before I realised we didn't have canon masks for those two. The Avohkii seemed an easy fit for Kojol, while the crossed swords is just meant to reference the fact that Stelt is known for its coliseums and fighting pits. 

Yeah, it's a little weird. The wording on his BS01 page actually says he's assigned to "the region around Odina". The page for Odina also asserts that its location is secret and Vamprah didn't discover it. There are no citations for either of these details, and frankly it seems bizarre to me that the Makuta couldn't have identified Odina's location when people were constantly coming and going, and the Toa Nuva seemed to have no difficulty finding it. 

That’s a good idea, representing gladiators.

That’s true, Destral, Artakha and Daxia being secret makes sense, but how are you actually supposed to hire the Dark Hunters if no one knows where to find them? Are there just Dark Hunter public relations centers? Because they are allegedly supposed to be mercenaries, right?

[Nato G]

1 hour ago, confused piraka said:

what about mutran? didn't he go all the way to th feet to talk to trem krom? or keetongu?

Tren Krom's island appears to be located in one of the hands, and is still visible on the map above. As is Keetongu's, which should be Chirox's territory, but I mistakenly drew a line to the island above it. I cropped out the rest of the southern islands as they're unnamed, unexplored, and unknown (and take up a lot of space). 

1 hour ago, Master Inika said:

how are you actually supposed to hire the Dark Hunters if no one knows where to find them?

I'd guess they must have agents or contact points or more lawless islands like Xia and Stelt? We know the Dark Hunters buy weapons from the Vortixx, and that they've recruited at least two beings from Stelt in the past, so they're probably keeping tabs on those islands. 

[confused piraka]

11 minutes ago, Nato G said:

Tren Krom's island appears to be located in one of the hands, and is still visible on the map above. As is Keetongu's, which should be Chirox's territory, but I mistakenly drew a line to the island above it. I cropped out the rest of the southern islands as they're unnamed, unexplored, and unknown (and take up a lot of space). 

I guess I need to study up on my bionicle geography. never though I would have to say that....

[Toru Nui]

On 4/8/2024 at 10:26 AM, Nato G said:

Vamprah was responsible for Odina (I guess he sucked at his job, since he clearly never did anything about the Dark Hunters).

I've always imagined that the real reason why the Shadowed One hated the Makuta so much was because Vamprah - for his own amusement and to keep the Hunters from getting too full of themselves - kept breaking into the fortress, wrecking up the place and scaring people.