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Rahi

Rahi was the general Matoran term for all animals, fish, birds, insects, and reptiles. The name roughly translated to "not us," since it was used by Matoran to describe living things other than themselves. The majority of Rahi were sentient, multi-celled biomechanical beings. Rahi could be anything from dangerous and hostile beasts to easily domesticated creatures. The precise origin of the different species was unknown to the Matoran, since all of the Rahi they encountered migrated from other lands.3

Notes

There was an old Mata Nui saying: "Even storm clouds run from a Rahi."4

The Rahi were evil beasts who aided Makuta. Powerful and dangerous, they were out to stop the Toa from collecting the Masks of Power. Each Rahi had a special attack function designed to rob the Toa of their masks. Only by removing the Rahi's infected masks could the Toa hope to tame them.5

The Rahi were dangerous beasts that inhabited Mata Nui. When they wore infected Masks of Power, they could be controlled by Makuta and made to battle the Toa. If the Toa could remove the Rahi's masks though, they could attempt to tame the creatures.6

The Rahi were the beasts of Mata Nui. In their natural state, they posed little threat to the Matoran. When Makuta fitted the most powerful Rahi with infected Masks of Power, the Rahi became servants to Makuta's dark will. Makuta used them to guard the hiding places of the powerful Kanohi masks, which the Toa desperately needed. The Toa eventually defeated most of Makuta's Rahi, removing their infected masks and taming them. Those Rahi that were not captured still lurked in the more remote regions of Mata Nui.7 Most Rahi were not very smart; they used their strength, not their wits, to battle their opponents. The Manas, the most dangerous Rahi, were exceptional in that they were both smart and strong.8

On Mata Nui, the Turaga told the Toa that all the Rahi were native beasts of the island, controlled by Makuta to do his dark bidding.9

Rahi was the Matoran name for a wild animal.1

Rahi pets were available for purchase in Metru Nui. All Metru Nui residents were asked to remember that keeping a Rahi larger than .5 bio in a private residence was illegal by order of Turaga Dume. Any large Rahi spotted in one's metru were to be reported to the Vahki or to Archives personnel.10

Rahi was a Matoran word that could roughly be translated to mean "wildlife." The term encompassed creatures of the land, air, and sea. Rahi were extremely varied, appearing in all sorts of shapes and sizes, ranging from harmless to extremely dangerous, and exhibiting different levels of intelligence. Many Rahi, like the Muaka, were aggressive and skilled hunters. Some Rahi hunted for food; others attacked to protect their territory; a few species were simply hostile to other living things.2

To avoid Rahi attacks, the Rahaga advised using common sense: staying away from Rahi nests and lairs, not attempting to frighten or harm them, and being aware of what creatures might be in the area.2

Little was known about the origins of the Rahi, where they first appeared, or why. It appeared that the first Rahi may have been ancient sea creatures of tremendous size.2

The Daikau's apparent ability to think led the Matoran to classify it as a Rahi.11

Rahi beasts were biomechanical.12

Originally, the Brotherhood of Makuta was a group of brilliant creators whose role was to bring Rahi beasts – animals, birds, fish, insects, etc. – into being. By adding viruses to vats of protodermis, they could control what kind of Rahi would be created and what it could do. Some were helpful to Matoran, like Ussal crabs. Others were nasty and frightening, intended to keep Matoran away from places that might have been dangerous for them. Virtually every Rahi that existed in the universe was created by the Makuta.13

Rahi did not sexually reproduce, and they did not have young. Just as Matoran could draw energy from food through touch, Rahi could get it from other Rahi. Since they did not know they could do it through touch, sometimes they ate them. If, for example, a certain breed of Rahi was needed in large numbers at times for a particular reason, having a predator for that species would help keep the numbers down when they did not need to be in such abundance. Once the Makuta found the proper combination of viruses to create a certain Rahi, they were able to automate the creation process and let it run until the desired number of Rahi was reached. As of the end of the story, with the Matoran universe destroyed and no Makuta apart from Miserix or the alternate Teridax to create Rahi, there was not much possibility of new Rahi being created. They had had a purpose to serve inside the robot, but at that point the robot no longer existed.14

Rahi could be revived by the red star, since they played a role in Mata Nui's functioning as well.15

The role the Rahi played in the Matoran universe was essentially to function like white blood cells in the body.16

All non-intelligent creatures on Mata Nui were called Rahi. Some Rahi had masks that were infected by the kraata that made them servants of Makuta. Even those that did not were called Rahi.17

Masks worn by Rahi did not have powers.18

Rahi did not shut down after their masks were taken off like Matoran did. Rahi could function after infected masks were removed from them.19

Rahi could wear masks, but they didn't have to.20

All Rahi are capable of wearing Kanohi.21

Krana felt "wrong" to most Rahi.22

Many Rahi, such as Ussal, could grow larger and change form as they aged.23, 24 Ussal and lava eels grew larger gradually.25

Herbivorous Rahi of multiple species often grazed together.26

It's unlikely that Rahi showed a broad pattern of anterior eyes on predators and lateral eyes on prey.27

Some Rahi probably produced spittle or other liquids.28

Animals [Rahi] were more perceptive about things such as identifying the voice of a being who had undergone a transformation.29

When Rahi ate a being, they likely left behind a lifeless carcass after absorbing energy from it.30

Rahi were capable of absorbing energy like Matoran, but were not aware of this. They chewed their food. If swallowed, their systems would likely be efficient enough to produce no waste.31 Rahi did not have excretion.32

Many Rahi ate with their mouths because they didn't know they had other options.33

"Rahi" was a Matoran term that essentially described things that were not them. A Matoran would consider any wild monstrous beast a Rahi.34

The Matoran probably considered organic creatures to be Rahi, as they resembled true Rahi.35

Matoran would most likely classify krana and kraata as Rahi. They would not consider the Kanohi Ignika a Rahi.36

The term Rahi applied to animals but not plants.37

Rahi weren't capable of reproduction.38

Rahi ate smaller Rahi.39

Other Rahi had an instinctive fear of Visorak.40

Mata Nui never created Rahi.41

The masks worn by Rahi were possibly ones that had been stolen sometime in the past by Makuta Teridax and infected.42

Rahi had spirits.43

The Makuta didn't experiment on the first Rahi to create new species.44

Rahi were produced by the Makuta and did not reproduce biologically.45

Makuta could not infect Rahi that did not wear Kanohi, as he could not infect biomechanical beings.46

It would be possible for Rahi to be controlled by krana.47

The Bohrok did not bother taking control of Rahi with krana because they were no threat to the swarms.48

The Bohrok did not take control of Rahi with krana because Rahi could not help them bring down a mountain, dry up a river bed, etc. With hundreds of thousands of Bohrok, they really needed no help from the Rahi. Also, the Bohrok were programmed to go into action when nothing was living on the island, so the idea of krana'ing Rahi would probably not occur to them unless the Rahi got in their way.49

List of Rahi

  • Archives Beast
  • Archives mole
  • Artakha bull
  • Ash bear
  • Avohkah
  • Blade burrower
  • Kuna/Bog snake
  • Borer worm
  • Brakas
  • Burnak
  • Cable crawler
  • Caravan crawler/Lava crawler
  • Catapult scorpion
  • Cave fish
  • Chute lurker
  • Cliff screecher
  • Colony drone
  • Crystal climber
  • Crystal Serpents
  • Dagger spider
  • Daikau
  • Dermis turtle
  • Devourer
  • Dikapi
  • Doom viper
  • Dust darter
  • Dweller in the Deep
  • Energy hound
  • Fader bull
  • Fenrakk
  • Fenrakk spawn
  • Fikou
  • Fireflyer
  • Frost beetle
  • Frostelus
  • Frost leech
  • Furnace salamander
  • Fusa
  • Hikaki/Dragon lizard
  • Gadunka
  • Gafna
  • Gate Guardian
  • Ghekula
  • Goko-Kahu/Kewa
  • Great Temple Squid
  • Gukko
  • Hahnah
  • Hapaka
  • Hoi/Shore turtle
  • Hoto
  • Husi
  • Hydruka
  • Ice bat
  • Ice vermin
  • Infernavika
  • Kahgarak
  • Kahu
  • Kane-Ra
  • Kanohi Dragon
  • Kardas
  • Kavinika
  • Keetongu
  • Keras
  • Kikanalo
  • Kinloka
  • Kirikori Nui
  • Klakk
  • Kofo-Jaga
  • Kraawa
  • Krahka
  • Kuma-Nui
  • Lava ape
  • Lava eel
  • Lava hawk
  • Lava rat
  • Lightfish
  • Lohrak
  • Longfang
  • Mahi/Maha
  • Makika
  • Makuta fish
  • Mana Ko
  • Manas
  • Manutri
  • Mata Nui cow/Mukau
  • Mata Nui fishing bird
  • Metru mantis
  • Moa
  • Mountain worm (?)
  • Muaka
  • Mutant Ussal
  • Niazesk
  • Night creeper
  • Nivawk
  • Nui-Jaga
  • Nui-Kopen
  • Nui-Rama
  • Parakrekks
  • Phase dragon
  • Pit war tortoise
  • Pokawi
  • Protodax
  • Protodite
  • Proto drake
  • Rahi Nui
  • Ranama
  • Razorcrab (?)
  • Razorfish
  • Razor whale
  • Reef raider
  • Rock lion
  • Rock raptor
  • Rock worm
  • Ruki
  • Sand screamer
  • Sand snipe
  • Sand Tarakava
  • Sea spider
  • Shallows cat
  • Shredder fish (?)
  • Silver chute spider
  • Smoke hawk
  • Spider crab
  • Spine slug
  • Spiny stone ape
  • Stinger whale
  • Stone rat
  • Stone serpent
  • Subterranean worm
  • Swamp stalker
  • Tahtorak
  • Takea
  • Taku
  • Tarakava
  • Tarakava Nui
  • Toa Terrain Crawler
  • Tracker's pet bull
  • Troller
  • Tunneler
  • Tunnel stalker
  • Two-headed Tarakava
  • Ussal
  • Vahki hunter
  • Vako
  • Venom flyer
  • Visorak
  • Waikiru
  • Water wraith
  • Zivon
  • Ancient sea Rahi