Krekka: Nyuuuh... Nidhiki?

This is one of my favorites, lore'll take a minute

Krekka: "Where'duh green Toa go?"

gosh so many memories of how the movie portrayed these guys, every series needs a villain duo that's quicker to attack each other than their enemies.

Man, Bionicle changed so much within a year or so of me entering my Grey Age. Roughly '04 onwards feels so different from Bionicle's first couple years, which is pretty much my entire frame of reference..

Long ago the City of Metru Nui was besieged by a gigantic reptilian beast known as the Kanohi Dragon. To fend off the foe, a rag-tag team of eleven Toa was assembled from nearby lands. After the dragon was dealt with, the Toa chose to stay and become the city's permeant guardians. They became known as the Toa Mangai, the Protecting Heroes.

Two Mangai are of note. Lhikan was a noble Toa of Fire who served as the leader of the group. Nidhiki was a Toa of Air and Lhikan's right-hand man. He was a master of stealth, but was deathly afraid of insects. The two went on many adventures together. When a member of their team, Toa Tuyet, attempted to betray them Nidhiki personally helped Lhikan take her down.

3,000 years ago, the Toa-Dark Hunter War took place. The Dark Hunters were a band of mercenaries for hire, and they long set sights on opening a base of operations in Metru Nui. The city's leader, Turaga Dume, refused to let such scum into his home. Eventually the Dark Hunters staged a full out siege of the city. The Mangai sent out a call for nearby lands to lend their Toa, and soon the city was engulfed in all out war.

During the conflict, Nidhiki became fast friends with the Dark Hunter dagger-wielder Lariska. The two would sneak way on various nights to chat and trade info on either side's war efforts. One day Lhikan asked Nidhiki to retrieve a shipment at the docks, but he decided to head for Lariska instead... in the opposite direction.

That night Nidhiki and Lariska struck a deal. The next day Nidhiki would lead the Toa army into a trap in Po-Metru where the Dark Hunters could ambush them. In exchange, the Toa would be allowed to live and Nidhiki would be crowned new leader of the city.

But Lhikan had followed Nidhiki that night and overheard their plan, and he had one of his own.

The next day the Toa landed in the trap and were surrounded by Dark Hunters, only for the "shipment" Nidhiki was supposed to get to ambush the Dark Hutners in return; a legion of several hundred Toa reinforcements.

Lhikan agreed to let the Dark Hunters go on two conditions. 1) No Dark Hunter was to set foot in Metru Nui ever again. 2) They were to take Nidhiki with them.

And so Nidhiki became a Dark Hunter. He was resentful of the job and would often try to brake free from the organization. One night his chance seemed to arrive. A new recruit named Roodaka. She claimed to also be upset with the job, and offered to help smuggle him off the island in the night.

But Roodaka did not help Nidhiki. As he stepped foot in the boat, she fired one of her Rhotuka Spinners at him. Roodaka had the power to mutate and transform anyone into whatever she wished. Nidhiki collapsed on the floor, his arms transformed into giant claws, his legs became insectoid and he grew an extra pair, and his face was transformed into a pair of large mandibles.

The other Dark Hunters emerged from hiding places around the dock and laughed at Nidhiki's horror at his new form. Under the Shadowed One's orders Roodaka had turned him into a giant bug, both so that he could never bear to look at his own reflection again, and so Matoran society would never accept him as a hero.

Eventually Nidhiki was assigned a partner. A hulking dim-witted ape named Krekka who would keep his Nidhiki's loyalty to the Dark Hunters in-line.

1,000 years ago and Makuta infiltrated the city of Metru Nui. He disguised himself as Turaga Dume and hired the Dark Hutners to kill off the Toa Mangai, one by one. Nidhiki and Krekka were chosen for the task. They killed all the Mangai except Lhikan, who they saved for last.

Lhikan was not killed. Instead he was taken prisoner in a Po-Metru lair. But his capture came too late, last minute Lhikan managed to hand out Toa Stones to six of the city's villagers, creating a new team of Toa to replace him.

Nidhiki and Krekka's quest then became to hunt down these "Toa Metru." Early on Nidhiki had the idea to bribe the Matoran Ahkmou to betray the group, but that proved fruitless. The Dou would chase the Toa Metru across the city, though their own bic

Nidhiki and Krekka's quest then became to hunt down these "Toa Metru." Early on Nidhiki had the idea to bribe the Matoran Ahkmou to betray the group, but that proved fruitless. The Dou would chase the Toa Metru across the city, though their own bickering between each other often let their prey get away. Krekka would always seem to mess up Nidhiki's plans, and Nidhiki would spend so long letting off on him that the Toa would slip out just under their noses.

Both Nidhiki and Krekka would meet a terrible end. As Makuta's spell was complete, and Mata Nui was cast into endless slumber, he reached out with his Shadow Hand. Makuta grabbed his two minions and absorbed them into his own form, killing them to become larger and more powerful.

Nidhiki's sudden end was not in vein. When the Shadowed One spotted pieces of his corpse in Makuta's new form he became enraged. The Dark Hunters declared war on the Brotherhood of Makuta creating an unlikely ally in years to come.

Nidhiki has always been one of my favorite BIONICLE characters. Such a tragic tale!

In spite of how the movie "BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui" portrayed him, I thought Nidhiki the set was cool. That arachnid body that could transform, the dark green coloration, and the snapping pincers made for an imposing villain and the first boxed set of 2004 I obtained (along with Krekka), I was suitably impressed. After all, the Bahrag from 2002 had some alternate builds that were spider-like.

Less impressive was his story impact. While Nidhiki was the "brains" of the Laurel and Hardy team-up between him and Krekka, it seemed a simplification, a dumbing-down for kids. Here was a former Toa and a Dark Hunter who helped wipe out Toa Lhikan's team, but in the movie, he was a glorified babysitter. Effective against the neophyte Toa Metru, yes, but not the menace I envisioned him to be. Oh well, the Makuta made short work of him and his parts got reconstituted into Makuta's shadowy form.

@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"i just noticed an issue with the claws. because of how they're built, they can't close."

They can. The silver outer halves are connected on a pin hole and have a flex tube on the far end that can bend, opening and closing them. They're operated with the black Bohrok eyes (teeth) near his elbows.

You can see the set's functions here on thus image:
http://www.peeron.com/scans/8622-1/2

The legs can each move back and forth and they each have a flex tube as well for folding in. This allows him to transform into hover mode.
You can also pull the torso back flat against the ower half and turn around his head and raise his arms for 'crab mode'

Coupled with the disk launcher (you get a kanoka disk!), the set is very versatile and playable.

I even transformed him into a motorcycle for a Rahkshi by combining the two forementioned modes and using the arms as handlebars (I removed the silver Bohrok eye (teeth) on each claw so they can be held).

Fun set! I'm glad to own one again :)

A fantastic look that’s just the right amount of threatening and creepy, with the whole arachnid vibe he’s got going. And that his claws really snapped was my favourite part of the set

Compared to '03, I was a lot less invested in Bionicle, though 2004 has since become one of my favourite years of that story and I've really come to appreciate some of the advances made that year, such as the introduction of the "metru" colours and the more articulated Toa. Maybe it's because I wasn't super-invested at the time, but it took until after my Bionicle Reawakening in 2021 to realise that Nidhiki was a he--not a she.

It also took until the past couple years to get a copy of the set. (Although maybe I shouldn't say that--some Bricksetters get the vapours if you suggest that having every piece to a set "counts" for having the set if you lack the instructions/box and you assembled it piecemeal.) I still wouldn't say I have a lot of hands-on experience with Bionicle's larger sets, but I can tell this isn't going to be the best-in-class. It's solid, though: a distinct figure with some fun play-action features. Although the lore ended up being that Nidhiki has nothing in common with the Vahki, he was still pretty clearly visually designed as a super-Vahki of sorts.

@MeisterDad said:
"Oh hey, I bought a used copy of 10202 yesterday with this guy in it. I have yet to inventory it. The box I received had bags of parts and 3 manuals. Anyone know if the outer box also contained the inner boxes of the 3 sets inside and if they did, were they the same as the retail boxes or were they reprinted for the combination set? BL seems to ignore most inner box contents for compilations like this."

I recieved my Ultimate Dume brand new, so I can confirm that the contents of the box are just the parts bags and instructions for the three individual sets, the special Kraahkan , two black 4L axles and a leaflet instructing how to attach the mask. No individual boxes.