Look at all the recolors! Maybe this was a big deal to Bionicle fans story-wise, I don't know, but I'm sure the MOCists loved it because of the great recolors.

bionicle satan and two lil guys

and a pile of other bits
(Seriously, Karzhanni's name (same name as the land he ruled over) was used-in story in the same way one would say Hell)

Bionicle box artists are absolute legends.

Yes, the only reason I really wanted Karzahni back in the day was due to the recolors! But 2007 was a PACKED year for BIONICLE sets. And I didn't collect the little System-based sets, and I still didn't get everything.

While I was focused on getting the Toa Mahri and larger mainline sets like Hydraxon and Maxilos and Spinax, Karzahni became one of those, "I'll get it later on sale" sort of sets that I actually never got on sale. Story-wise, he wasn't that important, although he had been introduced in the BIONICLE books a year or so earlier. Apparently, Matoran could be sent to one of two places if they needed to be healed/repaired--the realm of Arthaka, who was a master engineer and craftsman that could repair and improve anything (he had a staff, too), and then there was the realm of Karzahni, a chaotic entity that patched Matoran back in all sorts of zany and ungainly ways.

Eventually, Karzahni was exiled to the Pit, the underwater prison where the secret Order of Mata Nui imprisoned the most foul miscreants in the Matoran Universe. There, he was mutated by the Pit mutagen into the form you see in this set. Freed like the rest of the inmates in the wake of the Barraki and Toa Mahri seeking the Mask of Life, Karzahni sought to re-establish his maniacal rule under the waves. The two Matoran you see in the set are presumably trying to stop them. They have names, but I'm not bothering with minutiae.

Anyway, it doesn't matter because in the end, the Barraki don't get the mask, the Toa Mahri Matoro descends into Karda Nui and uses the Mask to revive the dormant, dying Mata Nui, and the Toa Mahri survivors are returned magically to Metru Nui thanks to Matoro's dying wish.

I don't know what happens to Karzahni beyond that. Hydraxon, created from the Matoran Dekar and regaining the memories of both of his past lives, resumes hunting down the escaped prisoners of the Pit, so perhaps he recaptured Karzahni. Though I could be forgetting some chapter of an online serial that mentions him surviving, leaving the Pit, and starting on a quest that will never get resolved. But overall, not an important enough character to make into a set in my humble opinion, so yes, while I love the recolored parts, it just wasn't worth the expenditure or the wait. I'm happy with my Nocturn and Toa Lesovikk.

@Saffroth:
He might more accurately be described as a Hades parallel, then.

This is the only character who was invented by Greg to become a set, if I recall correctly. Therefore it is one of Greg's favorite sets.

I finished piecing this together earlier this year. Some of the rare recoloured parts that appear only in this set are pretty pricey on the aftermarket. Piecing it together was still cheaper then buying the set outright.

Karzahni wins the award for 2nd widest hips, after Gadunka.

@ElephantKnight said:
"if I recall correctly.
Karzahni wins the award for 2nd widest hips, after Gadunka."

Holy Gadunka! Are you serious?

Thats some badass box art there!

I probably would have bought this guy if it had been of his unmutated form, which had a patchwork mask made from pieces of other masks welded together.I would have loved for that to mask have been a real piece.
https://biosector01.com/wiki/File:Karzahni_(Being).png

This is my most coveted bionicle set.

Don’t know much about these sets, but to me that little red dude looks like he’s skydiving.

Okay I'm a bit late but here's some brief lore!

When the Great Beings were first creating the Matoran Universe various powerful entities were created to rule over it. Among them where two green titanic "brothers," known as Artakha and Karzahni.

Early on in the two's life they were invited to a competition, the winner of which would be awarded the legendary Mask of Creation. Artakha won the contest, and so was granted the mask and an island named after himself. This island was a grand forge where the most dutiful Matoran would be sent to create great inventions in luxury. Karzahni was also given and island in his name, a repair yard where broken and malfunctioning Matoran would be sent for repairs.

There was just one problem, Karzahni did not know how to fix Matoran. Matoran sent to his aid would be rebuilt in crude, twisted, and weakened forms. Embarrassed by his failures he sent these Matoran to lands other than what they hailed from. When word got out Matoran sent to Karzahni never returned, Turaga began repairing their villagers themselves. When new Matoran stopped arriving, Karzahni stopped releasing his subjects, instead keeping the twisted Matoran as slaves in his terrible land where sand flowed like water and the ground screamed as you walked.

Eventually Artakha and Karzahni faded into legend, being considered the heaven and hell of the Matoran Universe respectively.

When Mata Nui began dying, which set off the events of the 2006 story, six intrepid Matoran went on a quest to the far south island of Voya Nui. These six, lead by Jaller, where on a mission to save the six Toa Nuva and recover the Legendary Mask of Life. On the way, the group where captured by Karzahni. Before Karzahni could "rebuild" the Matoran, they managed to get away on board six Toa Canisters that launched for Voya Nui.

Unwilling to let the first escapees in thousands of years go, Karzahni took after the Matoran and eventually found himself submerged in the waters of the Pit. These mutagenic waters transformed Karzahni into a fish like form seen here.

While underwater the Mahri Nui Matoran Sadra and Idris teamed up with the Toa Lesovikk to capture the dark lord, leading to the events of this set. These three heroes all had history together. Lesovikk was once a villager of Sadra and Idris' home village. After becoming a Toa, his entire Toa team was killed, and so he returned to his village to be its defender. When he returned he discovered the village's Turaga had sent all it's Matoran to Karzahni. After eons apart, the friends where finally back together and had a chance to fend off the mad tyrant.

After a brief but intense duel with Maktua Teridax, Karzahni was confronted with Sadra, Idris, and Lesovikk who used the trap from this set to capture him. He was then teleported away to a prison by the powerful Botor.

Karzahni wore the Kanohi Olisi, the Mask of Alternate Futures. When given a prompt or input this mask could create visions of a potential future if said prompt took place, even if Karzahni himself had no knowledge of the topic. This was often used by Karzahni to create nightmares that kept foes and subjects in line, though it's own power was used against him when Jaller and gang convinced him to create a vision of what would happen if Mata Nui perished. His preferred weapons where chains he could light aflame to whip unruly slaves.

Some other things of note about Karzahni is that he was considered such a mad failure that Maktua Teridax named one of his experiments, a failed prototype of the Morbuzakh, after him. Sometime after the events of the BIONICLE story Karzahni was murdered by the ambitious Great Being Velika, who aimed to take control the remaining MU populous.

Also, Karzahni was heavily redesigned for his Pit Mutagen set. He originally looked like this: https://biosector01.com/w/images/bs01/6/6a/Karzahni_%28Being%29.png
That may not be the creepiest thing in the world, but it was in a children's' book. By LEGO. 11 year old me had nightmares over that mask.

@Bhahouighf said:
" @Lego_Lord_Mayorca said:
"Yes, the only reason I really wanted Karzahni back in the day was due to the recolors! But 2007 was a PACKED year for BIONICLE sets. And I didn't collect the little System-based sets, and I still didn't get everything.

While I was focused on getting the Toa Mahri and larger mainline sets like Hydraxon and Maxilos and Spinax, Karzahni became one of those, "I'll get it later on sale" sort of sets that I actually never got on sale. Story-wise, he wasn't that important, although he had been introduced in the BIONICLE books a year or so earlier. Apparently, Matoran could be sent to one of two places if they needed to be healed/repaired--the realm of Arthaka, who was a master engineer and craftsman that could repair and improve anything (he had a staff, too), and then there was the realm of Karzahni, a chaotic entity that patched Matoran back in all sorts of zany and ungainly ways.

Eventually, Karzahni was exiled to the Pit, the underwater prison where the secret Order of Mata Nui imprisoned the most foul miscreants in the Matoran Universe. There, he was mutated by the Pit mutagen into the form you see in this set. Freed like the rest of the inmates in the wake of the Barraki and Toa Mahri seeking the Mask of Life, Karzahni sought to re-establish his maniacal rule under the waves. The two Matoran you see in the set are presumably trying to stop them. They have names, but I'm not bothering with minutiae.

Anyway, it doesn't matter because in the end, the Barraki don't get the mask, the Toa Mahri Matoro descends into Karda Nui and uses the Mask to revive the dormant, dying Mata Nui, and the Toa Mahri survivors are returned magically to Metru Nui thanks to Matoro's dying wish.

I don't know what happens to Karzahni beyond that. Hydraxon, created from the Matoran Dekar and regaining the memories of both of his past lives, resumes hunting down the escaped prisoners of the Pit, so perhaps he recaptured Karzahni. Though I could be forgetting some chapter of an online serial that mentions him surviving, leaving the Pit, and starting on a quest that will never get resolved. But overall, not an important enough character to make into a set in my humble opinion, so yes, while I love the recolored parts, it just wasn't worth the expenditure or the wait. I'm happy with my Nocturn and Toa Lesovikk."

Karzahni wasn't banished to the Pit - he went there willingly tracking the matoran (now Toa Inika) who had escaped his realm."

You're right, I remember that now. I forgot that in that little quest by Jaller and company, they ended up in Karzahni's realm for a bit before escaping. Karzahni doesn't like his Matoran escaping...ever!

This is probably the second rarest Bionicle set after Toa Mata Nui from 2009. It had a very limited release, being available exclusively in Toys'R Us stores. And because of the so many exclusive recolors and story relevance, it has become one of the most sought after Bionicle sets.
Currently, the cheapest price he goes for on Bricklink is around 200$, so if you somehow got this one for any cheaper than that, consider yourself lucky.

@Jack_Sassy said:
"Was there ever a Bionicle set that included some side builds? This whole lore looks cool and all but we can't have bunch of robots fighting from different lands for no reason."

This was one of the only Bionicle sets to ever include a side build (in this case, a trap to catch the big guy), all the other sets focused on just one single figure. There were a few ones that had more than one figure in one set, but side builds that weren't other characters were incredibly rare.