This concept art by BIONICLE co-creator Christian Faber is one of the earliest sketches of what was known internally as “the big secret” — that the Great Spirit Mata Nui was a gargantuan being submerged, unconscious, in the ocean beneath the eponymous island of Mata Nui.

I have vague memories of checking the news in late 2008, back when I was still a child, to discover a link to a new video posted on BIONICLE.com, one that changed everything for the franchise. Mata Nui had risen!

This image encapsulates why the reveal of the big secret worked so well. The robot was always there, from before the first sets hit the shelves twenty years ago, and while the specifics for what would happen over the course of BIONICLE’s story evolved over time, as seen for example by the ultimately unused 3 Finger Island in the drawing, the core concept for Mata Nui was just waiting for its moment to shine. I find something magical about just how well it was kept under wraps over the years.

You can find more of Christian Faber’s work here.