Takadox was one of the six Barraki which menaced Mahri Nui. Before the Barraki's rebellion, Takadox was the least visible of all the Barraki, generally staying in his fortress and using his hypnotic power to make make his lieutenants carry out his will. The commands he made them deliver were so harsh that they became targets of hatred throughout the empire, resulting in many of them being slain by Takadox's subjects. Takadox possessed a hypnotic power and carried long daggers and a squid launcher.2
Notes
Takadox was the great manipulator of the Barraki. He was physically the least powerful of the Barraki but mentally one of the sharpest. He could sit motionless for days on end waiting for prey to make a wrong move, and then attack. He used his power of hypnosis to make others do his bidding, and so rarely had to run the risk of executing his own plans. Prior to the coming of the Mask of Life, he rarely left his cave – he simply mesmerized Carapar into getting whatever he needed. He controlled an army made up of underwater insect life. His weapons were twin knives and a squid launcher. His power was hypnosis.3
Slyest and most treacherous of the Barraki, Takadox preferred to use his hypnotic power to force others to fight his battles for him. With his army of undersea insect life and his cunning intellect, he was one of the more dangerous Barraki. His weapons were twin knives and a squid launcher. He had the power of hypnosis.1
Takadox's body could glow in the dark, an ability he used to lure unsuspecting prey in close and to frighten his enemies.4
When Jaller, Nuparu, and Hahli encountered Takadox on Artidax, he said that the other Barraki belonged in their cells. Takadox was wearing a water-filled helmet on his head and was holding a crude stone dagger.5
Takadox was a sneaky, treacherous villain, always out for himself and trying to use others. Takadox carried a squid launcher and a pair of knives.6
Takadox was male.7
There wasn't a big difference between Takadox's and Zaktan's intelligence.8
Takadox glowed in the dark.9
Ehlek was physically stronger than Takadox.10
Takadox was physically the weakest Barraki.11
Before learning of his betrayal, all of the Barraki were creeped out by Takadox, but not to the point of actual hatred.12
Hypnosis
Takadox's hypnosis ability would work on organic beings like Glatorian and Agori, but it would take a lot more effort. To really control them, he would need to reinforce the hypnosis a lot, requiring more than one session.13
Hypnosis worked better on subjects who were smarter, but Takadox would be unlikely to be able to match the willpower of a Makuta.14
Takadox's hypnosis worked pretty much the same way normal hypnosis did. The conscious mind went to sleep, but the unconscious stayed awake. A hypnotized person was not a mindless zombie, which was why it was so difficult to do something they morally objected to under hypnosis. Takadox could hypnotize more than one person at once if they were both looking at him at the time.15
A being in a trance had his conscious mind asleep and subconscious mind awake, so it was somewhat like a sleep state. Once awakened, he was perfectly normal, but might have reacted to post-hypnotic suggestions that put him back into a trance or cause him to do things he was unaware of.16
Hypnosis couldn't be used to make a being do something they had a pre-existing moral objection to, but it could alter the being's view of reality. For example, a being might not want to jump out a high window, but a skilled hypnotist could make them believe the window was a doorway to another room.17
Brutaka's shielding against telepathic attacks wouldn't stop Takadox from being able to hypnotize him.18
Takadox had hypnosis before mutating, but the mutagen increased this power almost a hundredfold.19
Takadox could hypnotize someone who had enough of a mind to be hypnotized, which not all things did.20
Takadox's hypnosis power came from his species, but his mutation made it stronger.21
Quotes
“Actually, we thought perhaps you, Carapar and those Toa might have persuaded him, and then … eased him out of this life,” said Takadox. “But don’t worry, Kalmah. I told them you would never do such a thing.”
“Of course not,” said Kalmah.
“For one thing, you’re not that smart,” Takadox finished.3
Other Information
- Takadox was similar to a mantis.22
- Greg Farshtey believed Takadox resembled a mantis insect more than a mantis shrimp.23
- Takadox was Greg Farshtey's favorite Barraki storywise.24, 25
- By the time he had written the first two books, Takadox was Greg Farshtey's favorite character to write about in 2007.26, 27
- Greg Farshtey didn't believe he gave Takadox any more thought than other characters. He liked the character because he reminded him of a different character from one of his non-BIONICLE novels who was based on the legend of a Russian millpond spirit.28
- While he acknowledged BIONICLE was a fantasy story and people couldn't hypnotize as easily as Takadox did, Greg Farshtey tried to base his power off of real hypnosis where he could.29
- Greg Farshtey stated he would have loved to put Zaktan and Takadox on a team together.30