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The Pit

The Pit was the name given by the Order of Mata Nui to its place of imprisonment for those deemed beyond redemption. The Pit was a series of cells within a dome, overseen by Hydraxon and guarded by Maxilos and Spinax. Inmates were transported there by Botar and included the worst criminals in the universe. The prisoners broke free when the Great Cataclysm shattered the walls of the Pit, and they escaped into the black water of the ocean floor outside the dome. The mutagenic properties of the seawater severely transformed all of the inmates (except Nocturn) and made it so they could only breathe water. None of them could survive on land anymore. Because their escape into the black water outside the dome hardly resulted in freedom, they came to know the surrounding ocean area as the Pit as well. A few centuries later, Mahri Nui sank into the Pit.1

Notes

Toa Tuyet was condemned to the Pit for the unpardonable crime of slaying Matoran, those she was intended to protect.2

Originally, the Order of Mata Nui intended for the Pit to be a place where prisoners would live out their days for all time and be forgotten.3

The Pit came to lie beneath a saltwater ocean, the same ocean which surrounded the islands of Voya Nui and Mata Nui. However, in the depths of Mahri Nui and the Pit, the waters were quite different, having both corrosive and mutagenic properties that affected both living and non-living things. It was an extremely difficult place in which to survive. Some beings, like Botar, had a natural immunity to the environment of the Pit. Most, however, needed to take special precautions against prolonged exposure to the waters.3

At one time, the Pit was an enclosed area well to the south of any known island. It was a prison for those the Order of Mata Nui deemed beyond redemption. The Great Cataclysm shattered the Pit's enclosure, releasing its inhabitants into the waters outside of it. The inhabitants came to dwell in the murky, dark waters beneath Mahri Nui, longing for revenge on the universe that shunned them.3

The Pit contained the waters beneath Mahri Nui, which were known as the black water.3

The Pit was home to many bizarre creatures, including the sea squid.3

As of story year 2008, the Pit was a dark, cavernous chamber. The Barraki Pridak, Kalmah, Mantax, and Ehlek were kept in the lowest tier of cells, which was accessible with an iron ladder.4

The Pit was the maximum security prison run by the Order of Mata Nui which housed only the worst criminals.5

Ages ago, the Order of Mata Nui established a domed prison for the very worst criminals in the universe. Guarded by Hydraxon and the Maxilos series of robots, it was believed that no one could escape from it. The Order named the place "the Pit." Over time, it held the Barraki warlords and others.6

Prisoners of the Pit were not tortured.7

There was nobody there to torture prisoners in the Pit. There was a jailer that was killed by the Barraki and later reported to be up and walking around again.8

The Order of Mata Nui were not the only ones with access to the Pit.9

Beings only went to the Pit if they had committed acts the Order of Mata Nui considered unreeemable and had been defeated. For example, the Order considered Brutaka to be a worse offender than the Piraka because he knew better.10

The Pit was not just for ex-Order of Mata Nui members, but for anyone whose crimes were evil emough the Order felt they could not be redeemed.11

Beings banished to the Pit tried to survive as best as they could.12

The original Pit was in a dome. This dome shattered as a result of the Great Cataclysm, and the inhabitants escaped into the waters of Aqua Magna. They were unable to escape from that region, so it effectively became an extension of the Pit. In the upper reaches of this Pit, there were great, curved arches of stone. Mahri Nui landed on those arches, putting it at the upper border of the Pit.13

The remains of the Pit surrounded Mahri Nui on all sides.14

A sentence to the Pit was for eternity.15

The original Pit was a prison inside a dome.16

If Axonn were to try to free Brutaka from the Pit, it would be considered bad enough to justify Axonn getting sent to the Pit as well.17

Most Pit residents didn't wear masks.18

The Order of Mata Nui was the only faction to send beings to the Pit.19

The underwater Pit was quite a significant area, as it accomodated the territories of the six Barraki.20

Beings didn't have to affect something important to the Order of Mata Nui to get banished to the Pit, they just had to commit crimes beyond redemption that were sufficiently large enough to attract the attention of the organization.21

99.9% of Pit prisoners weren't defeated by Order of Mata Nui members.22

Botar once stated "the Pit calls". This was a metaphor.23

The original Pit was a cave with cells.24

The Pit was designed to hold hundreds of prisoners.25

Death was the easy way out for these criminals; spending thousands of years stuck in a cell was worse.26

The original Pit was a jail in a huge dome which was basically a cavern with cells along the walls.27

No Brotherhood of Makuta member had been sent to the Pit by story year 2007.28

Other Information

  • BIONICLE Legends #1: Island of Doom included the excerpt: "The reflections of torchlight turned their armor red and gold, but they were not the pure, clean colors of a Toa of Fire – no, they were the fearsome hues of creatures from the pit." This book was written before the 2007 story was planned in detail or its locations were named.29
  • Greg Farshtey likened the Pit to an oubliette, a hole in the floor of a dungeon which translated to "little place of forgetting" where people were tossed in and forgotten.30

List of Underwater Locations

  • The Black Water
  • The Cord
  • Fields of Air
  • Mahri Nui
  • Mahri Rock
  • Octo Cave/Squid cave
  • Pillars of Salt
  • Razor Whale's Teeth
  • Salt Mountain (?)