Voya Nui was the island which contained the hiding place of the Kanohi Ignika. Voya Nui was once part of a larger, underground continent. During the Great Cataclysm it broke off and ended up on the surface of the same ocean in which the island of Mata Nui was situated. Voya Nui floated a far distance before coming to rest at its new location. Over time, its Matoran residents noticed that the island was expanding as molten protodermis cooled in the water to form new land. They built a second village called Mahri Nui on the coast, but centuries later it broke off and sank beneath the waves. Due to Voya Nui's connection to the Kanohi Ignika, the island was guarded for tens of thousands of years be the Order of Mata Nui members Axonn and Brutaka. Notable features on Voya Nui were the Piraka stronghold, Mount Valmai, the mysterious "green belt," and the Matoran fortress.2
Notes
The island of Voya Nui broke off from a much larger continent some 1,000 years ago. Left without Toa or Turaga, the Matoran villagers of this harsh land struggled to survive for 1,000 years.3 Although there were at one time multiple villages on the island, the Matoran lived together in one spot for the last several centuries for the sake of security. Hundreds of Matoran were lost when their village [Mahri Nui] broke off from the island of Voya Nui and sank beneath the sea.4
The island called Voya Nui had always been a treacherous place to live, with rugged terrain, violent seas, and an active volcano.5
The Dark Hunters considered Voya Nui so dangerous that even they avoided it.6
Voya Nui appeared to be an insignificant speck of land in a vast ocean. Voya Nui hid its secret for 100,000 years only until recently. Voya Nui was accessible by ship or airship. Because of the large amount of ice in the waters around the island, an approach from the north was the only safe way to reach the island by sea.7
Voya Nui was a harsh and brutal land, particularly in recent years. The Matoran living there struggled each day simply to survive. Voya Nui was purposely designed to be inhospitable in order to discourage casual visitors and those chasing its secret. A ring of ice surrounded its U-shaped coastline. Further inland was the "green belt," a circular band of lush jungle whose origin was a mystery to the Matoran. Beyond that, the land turned rocky and barren. Mount Valmai, an active volcano, dominated the center of the island.7
Few in the Matoran universe knew that Voya Nui's secret was underground. A hidden entrance led to staircase of 777 steps, which led to the chamber which held the Mask of Life. Many guardians and challenges were placed here in order to protect the mask from those with evil intent. No one had dared to descend these stairs for thousands of years before the Toa Inika and Piraka arrived.7
Voya Nui once had two villages, one simply named Voya Nui, and the other named Mahri Nui. The land on which Mahri Nui rested broke off from the rest of the island and sank into the sea.7
For most of its existence, Voya Nui was part of a much larger continent. During the Great Cataclysm, the landmass of Voya Nui broke off and rocketed upward until it reached the point where it would later float, well to the north of its original position. The ruler of Voya Nui, Turaga Jovan, and many of its Matoran were killed.7
All six of the major Matoran tribes were represented in Voya Nui's population. These Matoran were not native to Voya Nui, but had been shipped there from Karzahni after its ruler botched repairing them. Consequently, these Matoran were smaller and weaker than normal, although Karzahni equipped them with weaponry to compensate. The Matoran did an excellent job of governing themselves, seeing to their own needs and defenses without aid from Turaga or Toa. As a result, for Matoran, they were exceptionally well-prepared to deal with disasters.7
Mata Nui was reachable by sea from Voya Nui, but the inhabitants of Voya Nui never attempted to make the journey since they had no knowledge of Mata Nui's existence.8
Voya Nui was surrounded by a saltwater ocean, the same ocean which surrounded Mata Nui and Mahri Nui.9
Makuta Teridax knew that Voya Nui was the rumored hiding place of the Mask of Life.10
Voya Nui was the hiding place of the powerful Mask of Life. Once located in the center of a huge continent within the Matoran domes, it was torn free by a massive earthquake and sent rocketing up through its dome and into the open ocean above. It floated for hundreds of years before coming to rest, with a small population of surviving Matoran, as well as Axonn and Brutaka. It was later returned to the land mass where it came from.11
Voya Nui was located in the middle of the Southern Continent. On the Southern Continent, the Tren Krom River ran along the southern edge of Voya Nui.12
The system that produced/routed the molten protodermis in the area of Voya Nui was contained in the base of the island and still active during the time it was floating.13
Voya Nui shot out from the southern continent from the impact of Mata Nui's fall, the same way that anything might fly into the air upon impact.14
The Order of Mata Nui destroyed the energized protodermis pool in Voya Nui.15
Voya Nui saw a lot of lightning storms.16
Voya Nui had no designated storage and launch site for Toa canisters.17
Voya Nui was probably not named as such when it was part of the Southern Continent.18
Voya Nui had a number of nicknames given by those unfortunate enough to live there. It's "official" name referenced the violent trip it took to arrive on the surface of Aqua Magna.19
Geography
The island was inhospitable even without entities menacing it.20
Visorak and Rahi were not a huge problem on Voya Nui, but the island was inhospitable nonetheless.21
The surface water around Voya Nui was not corrosive.22
Pieces of ice floated around the island.23
The Water around Voya Nui was icy.24
Voya Nui had a ring of ice around the shoreline.25
Voya Nui was "pretty far away" from the island of Mata Nui.26
Traveling from the island of Mata Nui to Voya Nui by boat would take several days.27
Voya Nui could not be reached from Mata Nui by boat. A canister trip would take days.28
There was one safe sea passage off of Voya Nui, but the Matoran did not use it because they didn't know there was anywhere else they could go.29
Voya Nui was many miles south of the island of Mata Nui.30
Velika once mentioned a "lake of fire", but this was a metaphor and not an actual feature of the island.31
Voya Nui was not on the coast of the Southern Continent, it was further inland.32
As evidenced by the symbol that Zaktan touched, the shape of the Voya Nui region was defined before the Great Cataclysm. The portion of Voya Nui that broke off was a new portion of landmass that didn't appear until Voya Nui itself had broken off of the continent and reached its new location.33
Population
All Matoran on the island were armed with special weapons.34
The Matoran of Voya Nui were capable of putting their weapons down and picking them back up.35
New masks could not be made on Voya Nui.36
The Matoran of Voya Nui never had their minds wiped.37
The Matoran of Voya Nui were not escapees from Karzahni.38
The Matoran of Voya Nui were not from the Southern Continent before Karzahni sent them there. They were sent there because it was far from Karzahni's realm.39
The Matoran of Voya Nui probably always had the same masks.40
The Matoran of Voya Nui were physically weaker than those of Metru Nui, but they had weapons the Matoran of Metru Nui did not.41
The Matoran were able to use their weapons to survive on the island.42
All Voya Nui Matoran of a particular element had the same body shape.43
Some Matoran of Voya Nui possibly had body types similar to other Matoran on the island of different elements.44
The Matoran of Voya Nui did not have a leader.45
The specific population of Matoran who was occupying Voya Nui after the Great Cataclysm was not native to that landmass.46
Voya Nui was not divided into elemental regions.47
There were no Turaga on Voya Nui. The leader was a Matoran.48
The Matoran lived in a centralized area because the island was too dangerous to be scattered around it.49
The Matoran kept themselves safe in the middle of the island.50
The Matoran of Voya Nui were unaware of Metru Nui and Mata Nui.51
The Matoran of Voya Nui weren't required to stay on the island, they chose to because it was their home.52
The Le-Matoran of Voya Nui spoke treespeak off and on.53
Defilak was the only Le-Matoran on the Southern Continent to use chutespeak.54
Jovan was not originally from Voya Nui, and in fact there were never any Toa stationed in that region of the Southern Continent.55
The Matoran of Voya Nui had a monthly memorial service where they dropped items into the sea. As far as they knew, the Mahri Nui Matoran were dead, so they didn't believe they were dropping supplies to them.56
Fenrakk were native to Voya Nui.57
Fenrakk weren't common on Voya Nui.58
There were a fair number of Fenrakk on Voya Nui.59
The number of Rahi on Voya Nui was extremely limited.60
There were no Manas on Voya Nui.61
Voya Nui had no krana or kraata, as Axonn and Brutaka would've exterminated any kraata and the Bohrok had nothing to do with the island.62
List of Locations
- Cape of No Hope
- Chamber of Death
- Chamber of Life
- Chamber of Truth
- Cliff Village/Matoran Cliff Village
- Desert of Sorrows
- Green Belt
- Lagoon entry
- Lake of protodermis
- Lava chamber gate
- Lava Lake
- Lost Land
- Mahri Nui
- Matoran Village
- Mount Valmai
- Nightmare Chamber/Nightmare Zone/Zone of Nightmares
- Nui Caves
- Piraka outpost
- Piraka stronghold
- Voya Nui Bay