Takadox

"Sometimes, the most effective first blow in a battle comes wrapped as a gift."

- Takadox, City of the Lost

Takadox is a cunning and treacherous Barraki warlord and a former member of the League of Six Kingdoms.

Biography
Takadox was initially employed by the Brotherhood of Makuta in attempt to watch over Pridak, who had left the Brotherhood for greater things. He later became a powerful warlord of the southeastern region of the Matoran Universe, his army the most loyal of all thanks to his limited powers of hypnosis. He attended a meeting in which the other Barraki forcibly persuaded the Brotherhood of Makuta's members into providing Rahi for battle for them, with a certain amount of discomfort, due to his status as a member of the League, but also a traitor. Along with Pridak and the other Barraki in the League of Six Kingdoms, Takadox attempted to overthrow Mata Nui, but the coup was foiled by Makuta Teridax's army, and he and his allies faced execution by the Brotherhood of Makuta. Unknown to the other Barraki, Takadox had betrayed them to the Brotherhood and held a Tablet of Transit, which stated he was an ally of the Brotherhood and not to be harmed. Moments before their sentence was to be carried out, the being known as Botar appeared and teleported the defeated warriors away — not to safety, but to an even worse punishment. Forever banished to "The Pit" for their crimes, the Barraki fell out of time and memory.

"The Pit"
When Teridax later attempted a similar rebellion to that of the Barraki, and succeeded, the Great Cataclysm he caused split the walls of the prison. The jailer, Hydraxon, was wounded, and as he attempted to stop the prisoners of "The Pit" from escaping, Takadox took advantage of his weakness and killed him. The Barraki escaped into the Black Water, where the Pit Mutagen present changed their forms. Takadox became a monstrous, mantis-like creature, and his powers of hypnosis increased exponentially. Following their escape, Ehlek built a new stronghold for the Barraki, but this was destroyed when the Matoran city of Mahri Nui fell from the surface and crushed it. Takadox took up residence in a dark cave, sending Carapar to run errands for him. He did not emerge for centuries. The arrival of the Kanohi Ignika, the Mask of Life, to the waters around Mahri Nui spelled the dawn of a new era for the Barraki. Leaving his cave for the first time in hundreds of years, Takadox came to the Razor Whale's Teeth to hear Pridak's orders - the mask could be the cure to their mutations. It could return them to their former glory, and had to be found at once. Takadox first visited another resident of "The Pit", the four-armed bestial Nocturn. Though the being had not seen the mask, Takadox was quick to implant instructions on what to do if he found it into Nocturn's simple mind. Next, he waited at the edge of "The Pit", spying on Mantax. Kalmah caught him, and he explained to him that Mantax went down into "The Pit" every now and then, and Takadox wanted to find out why, hinting that Mantax might have hidden the mask there. The two ventured down, following Mantax, until the opening closed above them and they were trapped by a group of Zyglak. Meanwhile, Nocturn noticed that "The Pit" was closed where it had been open before and, believing that someone was hiding something, reopened it. The three Barraki quickly swam out, and Takadox made him believe that the Zyglak had insulted him, resulting in the enraged Nocturn fighting them off while Takadox and the others escaped. His next move was to order Carapar to kidnap Kyrehx, the Ga-Matoran who had first found the mask. Though her interrogation yielded little, the two Barraki learned that the mask was still in Mahri Nui, and that Ehlek was leading his army of Venom Eels to destroy the city. Fearing for the safety of the Ignika, Takadox sent Carapar to stop him and return the newly-hypnotized Kyrehx as a "gift of peace". Ehlek's campaign resulted in the mask enlarging one of his eels to a monstrous size. Takadox arrived on the scene and attempted to hypnotize the 300 foot eel, but was knocked unconscious. He later woke up to find six mysterious entities fighting the eel. Takadox watched them fight for their lives with amusement until Kalmah called him to the cave Dekar had brought the mask to in order to cure Pridak of the mask's curse. Takadox managed to hypnotize the enraged Barraki into a more calm attitude. Later, he and the others located the Toa Mahri at the Fields of Air, where Takadox swam over and taunted them. Hahli talked the Barraki into taking the Toa Mahri along to the Barraki's realm. After placing the Mahri in separately guarded caves, the Barraki fought over where they should keep the mask. Takadox stepped in to suggest placing it in the Razor Whale's Teeth. Everyone agreed, as doing so would allow each of them equal access. They later went to the Octo Cave to interrogate Ehlek, wanting to know where Nocturn had gone with the mask, which Ehlek did not know. Mantax and Takadox decided to feed on the Sea Squids until Kalmah caught them. They informed he and Carapar, who had stayed to guard the Toa, of what had happened to the mask. The six believed the escaped Toa were the thieves and so they split up to find them. Takadox, teamed with Pridak, and found Matoro and Maxilos near the Pillars of Salt. The two sides summoned armies to battle each other. The fight was at a stalemate until a very angry Ehlek and his Venom Eels fought off Pridak's army, assuming that he was responsible for the sharks that crushed his legion of electric eels eels, although Hewkii and his Kanohi Garai were actually at fault. With Pridak and Takadox busy, Matoro and Maxilos fled. After Mantax recovered the Kanohi Ignika, Takadox and the others were asked to meet at the Razor Whale's Teeth. There, the six Barraki, now split into four separate factions, heard about Mantax's search for a Tablet of Transit. When Mantax revealed that he had discovered the tablet, Takadox attacked the Barraki, revealing that he was the traitor amongst the Barraki. The two Barraki started to fight, with Mantax paralyzing Takadox using his venom. Desperate, Takadox attempted to hypnotize the wandering Maxilos into killing Mantax. Laughing at the foolish attempt, the Maxilos simply bashed the Barraki aside. Soon afterward, Teridax confronted the Barraki, revealing his disguise as Maxilos and seemingly defeating all the Barraki except for Pridak and the hiding Takadox. In a desperate attempt, Takadox ran up to Teridax and gave him the Tablet of Transit, showing the Makuta that he should not be captured. Amused, Teridax cast the Barraki into a vision, where Takadox had returned to land and was now in his former form, with the other Barraki under his rule. In the vision, however, Takadox's army of Underwater Insects appeared and attacked the Barraki in revenge. Later, Takadox was shown unconscious and was dragged away by Carapar during their chase against the Toa Mahri.

Federation of Fear
Takadox was taken by the Order of Mata Nui to be a member of a team to search for Miserix, the original heirach of the Brotherhood of Makuta. In addition to Takadox, Carapar, Roodaka, Vezon, Spiriah, and Brutaka, who was the leader, were on the team. Takadox was given a special breathing apparatus to be able to breathe air again. After the team traveled to Stelt and met a trader, Takadox hypnotized the crew on one of his ship and had them jump overboard so that the team could steal it without resistance. When Spiriah overthrew Brutaka, Takadox grudgingly agreed to follow him, later openly insulting Brutaka's leadership skills and remarking on how foolish they had been for even fearing Brutaka. However, when they arrived at Zakaz, members of Ehlek's species, whom Takadox recognized as resembling his former ally, destroyed the Zyglak ships that Spiriah had summoned. Brutaka then regained control and introduced Lariska as the final member of their team. Later, the team docked on the Isle of Tren Krom to retrieve a hidden weapons cache. Takadox was given a long blade by Brutaka. Shortly afterward, they were imprisoned on the island by a forty-four bio tall wall of stone, and Brutaka was dragged into a cave by Tren Krom. Takadox and the rest of the team carefully entered the cave and confronted Tren Krom, learning of his origin. However, they were then given nightmarish visions by Tren Krom after he learned what had become of the universe he had once sustained. Then, Carapar attempted to attack Tren Krom, but was killed himself instead. The team then fled, with Takadox pausing momentarily to reflect on what it would take to destroy such a powerful being. After witnessing Carapar's death, Takadox remained silent for the remainder of the team's voyage. When the team arrived on Artidax, the sands on the beach attempted to suck Spiriah down, but Roodaka mutated the sand into a group of Fireflyers. The team then proceeded cautiously up the mountain, where they entered a tunnel. The entrance was rigged with a razor-thin vine stretched across the tunnel which would trigger a rock slide. The team went into the tunnel, avoiding the vine, but Takadox, having seen the risks of the mission, decided to cut the vine with his sword when the others were all inside, causing an avalanche and trapping the rest of them inside the tunnel. He then left in the boat the group came in. However, his boat was then destroyed and he was forced back to the Isle of Artidax, where he witnessed two mysterious figures plant a device to trigger the largest volcano into eruption. A short time later, Toa Mahri Jaller, Nuparu, and Hahli arrived on the island with Visorak in pursuit, for they had activated the Heart of the Visorak. Takadox revealed himself to them, and after they told him what they were doing he hypnotized the three Toa, and escaped the island with the boat they had come on, while the Visorak descended on the island. Takadox's mutations were later reversed when Mata Nui was using the Ignika, and he migrated to Spherus Magna after Teridax's death.

Abilities & Traits
Takadox is a schemer, always seeking an edge over friend and foe alike. He is the most skilled of the Barraki at planning, seeing life as a game board and everyone as pieces to be moved as he wishes. While Takadox is not very strong he makes up for it with his hypnotic abilities, allowing him to make others do his bidding. This hypnosis ability was vastly increased after his exposure to the mutagen, but was decreased again after his mutations were undone. Takadox also gives off a bluish-green glow in low-light areas.

Tools
Takadox wielded a pair of Twin Knives he salvaged from "The Pit", and also carried a Squid Launcher. His weapons were taken from him when he was re-captured by the Order of Mata Nui. These weapons were then replaced by a long, thin blade made of ProtoSteel provided by the Order. In his confrontation with three of the Toa Mahri, he was seen holding a long, stone dagger.

Army
Takadox commanded an army of Underwater Insects.

Quotes
"Ah, dear Kalmah, try using your head for something besides scaring small animals."

- Takadox, Mask of Life, Mask of Doom

"You really are sea slime, Takadox." "And I'm so good at it, too."

- Kalmah and Takadox, Sea of Darkness

"Little Matoran, lost and alone, so far away from home. But we will be your friends now, Carapar and I."

- Takadox, City of the Lost

"Poor Toa ... today, they're heroes ... tomorrow, food for the fish."

- Takadox, BIONICLE.com

"The crew decided to go for a swim, all at once. Imagine that."

- Takadox, Federation of Fear

Trivia
Greg Farshtey based Takadox's personality on a character known as "East" from one of his earlier novels and as such, Takadox is Farshtey's favorite Barraki.

Appearances

 * The Mutran Chronicles (In a Flashback)
 * Barraki: Creeps From the Deep
 * BIONICLE Legends 6: City of the Lost (First Appearance)
 * Comic 6: Web Comic
 * Comic 7: Mask of Life, Mask of Doom
 * Comic 8: Sea of Darkness
 * BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit
 * Comic 9: Battle in the Deep!
 * Comic 10: The Death of Mata Nui
 * Comic 11: Death of a Hero
 * BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall
 * Federation of Fear
 * Dwellers In Darkness
 * BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated
 * BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe
 * Creeps from the Deep (Non-canonical Appearance)
 * Sea Survival (Non-canonical Appearance)
 * BIONICLE Mahri: Hewkii (Non-canonical Appearance)
 * Command Toa Hahli (Non-canonical Appearance)
 * Command Toa Kongu (Non-canonical Appearance)
 * Command Toa Matoro (Non-canonical Appearance)
 * Command The Toa Mahri - The Final Challenge (Non-canonical Appearance)