Spherus Magna

Spherus Magna was the original homeworld of the Great Beings and the construction site of Mata Nui.

Early History
In the "time before time", Spherus Magna was the homeworld of the Great Beings, a mysterious group of scientists and inventors whose members possessed boundless imagination and creative willpower. In their benevolence, the Great Beings took it upon themselves to govern Spherus Magna and its sentient species, which included the Agori, the Skrall, and a species of tall humanoids that would much later come to be known as the "Glatorian", but they eventually grew tired of this burden and created the Element Lords to rule over the planet's tribes for them while their time was better spent advancing their own science and developing new technological marvels.

The Core War
The tribes of Spherus Magna lived in relative harmony with one another until a spring of Energized Protodermis appeared on the planet's surface. In their investigations of the mysterious substance, the inhabitants of Spherus Magna discovered that it had the power to dramatically transform or destroy whatever it touched. The Element Lords of each tribe desired to harness this power for themselves, so a war broke out over the ownership of the EP. This conflict became known as the "Core War", because the Great Beings discovered that the EP was working its way to the surface from the planet's core. The Great Beings tried desperately to stop the war, even going as far as to create Baterra to kill any armed combatants, but failed.

The Great Beings also discovered that the spread of EP through the planet was weakening its structural integrity, which meant that it would only be a matter of time before the damage to the planet was so great that it would violently shatter. Even with their vast intellect, the Great Beings were unable to envision a way to stop the spread of the EP without worsening the damage, so they instead put some alternate plans into motion. The first was the development of artificial atmospheric shells that would activate if the planet split apart and maintain the criteria needed to support life on its chunks so that the people of Spherus Magna could live on after the planet's destruction. The second was the construction of a massive, near-planet sized robot named Mata Nui that would depart Spherus Magna to research the other civilizations of the universe before returning to rebuild Spherus Magna.

The Great Beings, however, decided to abandon their world instead of stay to see if their plans would succeed. They migrated to Mordor and other, as-of-yet unknown worlds.

The Shattering
In 80 CMT, Spherus Magna split into three planetoids: Aqua Magna, Bara Magna, and Bota Magna. The atmospheric shells that the Great Beings created were successful in stabilizing the planetoids and providing each with its own artificial atmosphere, complete with centers of gravity, weather cycles, and other features necessary to ensure the continued survival of the Spherus Magnan species on their new homeworlds. The shattering of Spherus Magna was given the obvious name of "The Shattering" both by its survivors and the Great Beings.

Bits and Pieces of Information
"Intel tells me his name's "Koranis". According to Galactic Government records, he originated from a world called "Spherus Magna", though no such world has been known to exist."

- Agent 47 tells Seran Dol-Abi about Koranis

Because the destruction of Spherus Magna occurred so early in the universe's history, there were little to no galactic societies present (such as the Galactic Government, which had yet to be formed) that were able to create and preserve detailed records of Spherus Magna's existence save for the Great Beings, who rarely shared information about their history with members of other civilizations. Because of this, Spherus Magna mostly became a legend, especially for the inhabitants of Bara Magna and Bota Magna who had not experienced the Shattering firsthand.

Members of Ynot's crew eventually discovered the truth about Spherus Magna. Sasuken told Blue and Shikhazra that "Spherus Magna" was the name of his homeworld, and Sonia told Blade that the Toa Idiotas would always follow him back to Spherus Magna.

In 150,084 CMT, Agent 47 heard mention of a "Spherus Magna" when a contact of his briefed him on Koranis, a fellow inmate at Supermax 282. Three years earlier, Koranis had told the Galactic Government that his homeworld was "Spherus Magna" when he was arrested by their agents, so they had added it to his criminal record. However, 47's contact was unable to find any further mentions of Spherus Magna in Galactic Government records. 47 mentioned this when he briefed Seran Dol-Abi on Koranis.

The Great Beings Viruel and Huriel both referred to Koranis as a "Spherus Magnan" when they encountered him on Mordor.

By the time of the Reckoning, knowledge of Spherus Magna had become available to the public. When Sal'e requested information about Bara Magna from a computer information terminal, it divulged that Bara Magna was one of three planets that had been created as a result of the Shattering of Spherus Magna over 250,000 years ago.