Nidhiki

"You are a monster, Nidhiki. Matoran seeing you would run screaming. You will never be cheered, never be admired, never be hailed as a savior by the crowds. What are you now? A Toa of Nightmares? A hero, Nidhiki, or a horror? No, I think you will find your place is now, and forevermore, with the Dark Hunters. For who else would have you?"

- "The Shadowed One", Birth of a Dark Hunter

Nidhiki was a Le-Matoran native to the Tren Krom Peninsula and later became a Toa Mangai of Air. He defected to the Dark Hunters during the Toa/Dark Hunter War, and was mutated into a large insectoid creature. He was ultimately killed when he was absorbed into Makuta Teridax's essence.

Matoran Life
As a Matoran, Nidhiki lived on the Tren Krom Peninsula, where he had to learn as a Toa to strike from the shadows in order to survive.

Toa Mangai
After becoming a Toa, Nidhiki and Voraka were two of the eleven that answered the summons to protect the Island City of Metru Nui from the Kanohi Dragon. After the defeat of the Rahi and its' delivery to the Isle of Xia, those eleven Toa chose to stay and protect Metru Nui and became the Toa Mangai.

The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet
Around the year 2,500 B.G.C., Nidhiki helped Lhikan investigate the mysterious attacks on the Matoran of Metru Nui. Their teammate Tuyet told them that the Dark Hunters believed she possessed a Nui Stone, were after her, and were responsible for the deaths of several Matoran. Nidhiki fought and defeated Devastator and later helped Lhikan to work out that Tuyet was actually the cause of all the deaths, joining Lhikan in confronting her. After her defeat, Nidhiki tried to obtain the Nui Stone for himself, but Lhikan intervened just in time to stop him from making the same mistake.

War with the Dark Hunters
During the Toa/Dark Hunter War Nidhiki was assigned to protect Turaga Dume, though he grew bored with guard duty and slipped out, joining Lhikan on his rounds. Lhikan sent the Toa of Air to patrol Ga-Metru. While searching the Metru, Nidhiki was confronted and cornered by Lariska. Tempted by dreams of conquest, Nidhiki agreed to lead the Toa into the ambush so the Hunters could win the war. Lhikan sent Nidhiki to meet some "supply" boats the next night, but Nidhiki instead met with Lariska and completed their agreement. The next morning, Nidhiki told Lhikan and the other Toa, that the Dark Hunter's base was hidden in the Canyon of Unending Whispers, and that every Toa was needed in order to end the war. Nidhiki led the Toa into the valley, where they were surrounded by Dark Hunters. However, Lhikan's reinforcements, which had arrived on the supply boats Nidhiki was supposed to have visited, then in turn ambushed the Hunters, Lhikan having discovered his defection to the Dark Hunters. With his betrayal revealed, Nidhiki was given a choice: leave Metru Nui or die.

Dark Hunter
"The Shadowed One" made Nidhiki a trainer of new recruits, a task which he did grudgingly. During this time, Nidhiki attempted to teach Vezok how to discreetly open a safe; Vezok instead smashed it to pieces, and Nidhiki chose to pass him. Nidhiki was also responsible for preparing a team to capture the Makoki Stone from a heavily defended fortress. He got easily bored with training the team, and was especially annoyed with one trainee, Krekka. He later met with "The Shadowed One", who decided to send him on a mission with a partner. Nidhiki was convinced that it would be Lariska; however his leader saw fit to pair him up with Krekka, whom he knew would keep Nidhiki in check. Their first mission was to steal three prototype launchers from a Matoran village on a rocky islet known as Nynrah. Lariska went ahead to distract the Toa there. Nidhiki wanted to bring one to "The Shadowed One" and keep the other two for himself, offering one to Krekka as a bribe. Krekka threatened to turn him in, however, and Nidhiki was forced to give all three to their leader. He soon met Roodaka, a powerful Vortixx who wanted the training of a Dark Hunter, but did not want to join the organization. He agreed to train her if she helped him escape the island. Unbeknownst to him, Roodaka was hired by "The Shadowed One" to spy on Nidhiki. In exchange for training, Roodaka used her Rhotuka power to mutate Nidhiki into a monstrous, insectoid form, which was all the more painful to him due to his phobia of insects. The beach where this happened was renamed Nidhiki Beach because of this. Some time after being mutated, Nidhiki and Krekka were hired to guard the Kanohi Avohkii on Destral. When the mask was stolen by the Toa Hagah, four of the Hagah were later captured. Nidhiki was on his way to question them, but the Toa, now mutated into Rahaga by Roodaka, were freed by Norik and Iruini, who were then also mutated into Rahaga.

Return to Metru Nui
After many adventures with Krekka, Nidhiki, along with Krekka and Eliminator, returned to Metru Nui to assist Teridax, the Makuta of Metru Nui, who was impersonating Turaga Dume. Nidhiki and Krekka ambushed Lhikan in the Great Temple, though the Toa of Fire managed to escape. The pair caught up with him after he delivered the Toa Stones to the destined Toa Metru. Then they attacked him in Vakama's forge and Nidhiki threatened to kill Vakama, holding the Ta-Matoran over the forge. This gave Krekka the opening he needed to defeat Lhikan. Though Lhikan surrendered, Nidhiki dropped Vakama anyway, forcing Lhikan to sacrifice his own safety to save the Mask Maker. Nidhiki and Krekka captured him, and took him to the Prison of the Dark Hunters. Nidhiki then convinced the Po-Matoran Ahkmou to betray the Toa Metru and find the Great Disks so the Toa could not defeat the Morbuzakh. In exchange, Ahkmou would be well-paid, and Nidhiki would not disturb him anymore. Nidhiki gave Ahkmou five notes that would lead the other five Matoran who knew the locations of the Great Disks into traps set by himself. While Vakama saved Nuhrii from Morbuzakh vines, Nidhiki sabotaged the vat controls. However, after three of these Matoran were rescued by the Toa Metru, Nidhiki became impatient, and intimidated Ahkmou by introducing him to Krekka, were he to fail. The duo later returned to the Coliseum, and attempted to kidnap the Toa Metru, successfully trapping three of them. They unsuccessfully tried to capture the other three by coercing Kongu to reverse the Chute flow. The Toa managed to evade them but they soon found and battled the Toa onboard an Airship in Le-Metru. After Vakama teleported Krekka out of the ship, the Toa left Nidhiki, who decided to find Krekka rather than pursue them. Nidhiki and Krekka made another attempt to capture Nokama, Vakama, and Matau in Po-Metru, but were stopped by a stampede of Kikanalo. Afterward, Matau used his Mahiki to fool the pair into following and attacking each other in the Canyon of Unending Whispers. Later, the two assaulted the Toa Metru's Vahki Transport, but Onewa used his Mask of Mind Control to make Krekka attack Nidhiki. The pair fell off the transport and Nidhiki was absorbed, together with Krekka and Nivawk, into Teridax's essence and died.

Dark Mirror
In the Toa Empire Alternate Universe, Nidhiki chose to betray Lhikan and join Tuyet when she went mad, and the two killed the Toa of Fire. After that, they organized the other Toa into a corrupt army, with only the Brotherhood of Makuta and Dark Hunters to fight for freedom. Later, Nidhiki led a team sent by Tuyet to kill the Nynrah Ghosts. He succeeded in wiping out all of them.

Abilities & Traits
Nidhiki was always ready to get into action, and had to be reprimanded by Lhikan for letting himself pursue enemies instead of guarding Dume. He enjoyed taking risks, such as going through Dark Hunter territory without his Kanohi activated. Nidhiki had a revulsion for insectoid Rahi, rendering his transformation into an even more traumatic event. He lacked a loyalty necessary for him to be part of teams. After he defected to the Dark Hunters, he tried to leave them only a few months later. As a Toa, Nidhiki had control over the Element of Air. After his transformation into his mutated Dark Hunter form, he gained the ability to launch Kanoka from his mandibles, although he lost his elemental and mask powers. He could fold in his legs and fly, and shoot force bolts. During the transformation, his hands were replaced with large claws. While the claws proved useless at holding objects or accomplishing delicate tasks, they were advantageous when it came to threatening Matoran or smashing objects.

Mask & Tools
As a Toa, Nidhiki wore emerald green armor and carried an Air Scythe, which allowed him to focus his Air powers. He also wore a Volitak, which allowed him to move almost unseen and completely unheard. His Kanohi Volitak was fused to his face when he was mutated, therefore he lost access to its' powers.

Quotes
"Hi, dear, I’m home."

- Nidhiki to Tuyet, The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet

"You are so trusting, so convinced of the purity of Toa. I don’t think Nidhiki even trusts himself. Better keep an eye on him, Lhikan, he’ll come to no good."

- Tuyet, The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet

"You take all the fun out of constant violence, Lhikan."

- Nidhiki to Lhikan, Birth of a Dark Hunter

"A friendly place we have here. Heavily defended, home to several hundred killers, and unfailingly lethal to trespassers, but friendly."

- Nidhiki, Birth of a Dark Hunter

"This time, your farewell will be forever, brother.""You lost the right to call me brother long ago!"

- Nidhiki and Lhikan, Legends of Metru Nui

"I see you have spirit, little Toa. I hate spirit."

- Nidhiki to the Toa Metru, Struggle in the Sky

"You think you can save Metru Nui, little flame? You are just a Matoran with delusions of adequacy."

- Nidhiki to Vakama in a vision, Dreams of Darkness

Trivia

 * Nidhiki and Krekka were given the Rahi Nui by Teridax as a tool to use against Toa.
 * Nidhiki was voiced by Paul Dobson in Legends of Metru Nui.

Appearances

 * BIONICLE Legends 4: Legacy of Evil (In a Flashback)
 * The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet
 * Birth of a Dark Hunter
 * Comic 25: Birth of the Rahaga (In a Flashback)
 * BIONICLE Adventures 1: Mystery of Metru Nui (First Appearance)
 * Comic 16: Toa Metru! (Not Mentioned by Name)
 * BIONICLE Adventures 2: Trial by Fire
 * Comic 20: Struggle in the Sky
 * Comic 21: Dreams of Darkness (In a Vision)
 * BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui
 * BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui
 * BIONICLE Adventures 10: Time Trap (Mentioned Only)
 * BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit (Mentioned Only)
 * Into the Darkness (Mentioned Only)
 * The Mutran Chronicles (Not Mentioned by Name)
 * Dark Mirror (Mentioned Only)
 * Shadows in the Reflection
 * Reign of Shadows (Mentioned Only)
 * BIONICLE: Metru Nui - City of Legends
 * BIONICLE: Dark Hunters
 * BIONICLE: Encyclopedia
 * BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated
 * BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe
 * Toa Metru Mini Promo CDs (Not Mentioned by Name)
 * Metru Nui Explorer
 * BIONICLE Heroes (Non-canonical Appearance)