- "The light atmosphere died away instantly as cold fear and silence took hold of all those who were present. Even Rex, who did not know what 'the Maelstrom' was, felt a shiver down his spine."
- — Dino Attack RPG
The Maelstrom is a powerful force of chaos and destruction in the LEGO Universe.
History[]
Origins[]
The Maelstrom was first created many years ago on the planet Crux. At the legendary Imagination Nexus, the ambitious Baron Typhonus wished to have a world where creation existed without rules. As a demonstration of the power of chaos, he imagined into being the Spider Boss, which proceeded to attack the Baron's companions: Doctor Albert Overbuild, Hael Storm, and Duke Exeter. However, the Spider Boss, being a creature of chaos, did not see the Baron as its master and turned on him, dragging him into the Imagination Nexus.
As a result, the Imagination Nexus was corrupted and mutated into the powerful and destructive force known as the Maelstrom. It tore apart the explorers' spaceship, the Venture Koi, and threatened to kill them as well. In Albert Overbuild's attempt to contain the Maelstrom's energies using pieces from the smashed Venture Koi, the Maelstrom destroyed planet Crux itself, shattering the cube-shaped planet into millions of planet chunks.
Battle against Nexus Force[]
Baron Typhonus was transformed into the Darkitect, the mastermind behind the Maelstrom's actions. Now a massive black hole where Planet Crux once existed, the Maelstrom began its purpose to destroy all imagination in the LEGO Universe. To assist it in reaching its goal, it tainted and corrupted many inhabitants of the LEGO Universe, turning them into obedient minions known as Stromlings. It sent Stromlings through the LEGO worlds, leaving only chaos and destruction in their wake.
However, the Maelstrom met unexpected resistance. The three other Crux explorers had survived and formed the Nexus Force, which would combat the Maelstrom and protect imagination. Due to Nexus Force clearing Maelstrom from various planet chunks and allowing Minifig colonies to settle there, the Maelstrom lost power in areas such as Nimbus System.
This did not stop the Maelstrom, which was now pushed to overcome the Nexus Force and remove this threat. The Maelstrom was able to corrupt areas of Nimbus System, such as Avant Gardens, Gnarled Forest, and Forbidden Valley, forcing Nexus Force to battle armies of Stromlings, Stromling Pirates, and Dark Ronin. In addition, the Maelstrom's presence on Crux Prime, the largest planet chunk of Crux, is near infinitely-powerful. Nexus Force's attempts to eradicate Maelstrom from Crux Prime in order to build Nexus Tower have been so far unsuccessful.
A group of Paradox scientists led by Dr. Rex traveled to Crux Prime, where they found high concentrations of incredibly powerful Maelstrom energies. They contained a sample of these energies in a crystal so that they could have an ample amount of Maelstrom energy to study outside of Nimbus System.
Dino Attack[]
Once these scientists defected from Paradox and formed their own organization, XERRD, they brought the Maelstrom Crystal back with them to the LEGO Planet. There, they intended to study how the Maelstrom would react with the Imagination inside a Temple of Creation located on Adventurers' Island. However, the Maelstrom Crystal reacted violently with the Imagination and corrupted the temple. XERRD declared the former Temple of Creation off-limits and locked the Maelstrom Crystal away in a pyramid in the Adventurers' Island desert.
However, the Maelstrom energies in the corrupted Temple of Creation were free to slowly grow more and more powerful, manifesting into a Maelstrom vortex and giving the Darkitect access to the LEGO Planet. After Dr. Rex foolishly injected himself with a minute sample of Maelstrom energy, the Darkitect was able to manipulate Dr. Rex and the rest of XERRD to tap into the Maelstrom energies and use them in experiments to develop Mutant Dinos with incredible abilities, leading to the Dino Attack. In the meantime, the Maelstrom took root in Dr. Rex's body, slowly killing him and driving him to insanity.
As the Mutant Dinos spread across the planet and left chaos and destruction in their wake, the Maelstrom's presence on LEGO Planet became stronger and stronger. Taking advantage of this, Dr. Rex uses the Maelstrom to powerfully bind the Mutant Dinos to his will, rendering them his slaves. In addition, XERRD has been hiding Maelstrom-infected bricks in Dino Attack Headquarters, creating irrational anger and distrust in the Dino Attack Team. However, the Maelstrom's increased power has caused it to slip out of XERRD's control, and only too late are the members of XERRD realizing that they have been pawns of the Darkitect the whole time.
However, just enough Imagination remained in the corrupted Temple of Creation to keep the Maelstrom's energy in check. When the Imagination was empowered by Frank Einstein's Creative Spark, it destroyed the Maelstrom vortex and seemingly banished Baron Typhonus from the LEGO Planet.
Unfortunately, even after the victory at the Maelstrom Temple, there was still enough Maelstrom in the bodies of Mutant Dinos for Baron Typhonus to possess Dr. Rex and take full control of the Mutant Dino army during the final battle. After Rex sacrificed his Creative Spark, the Maelstrom possessed his body in an effort to stop Dino Attack Team from finishing the Einstein Device, but the destructive energies were turned against themselves by Zachary Virchaus. Empowered by Rex's Creative Spark, the Einstein Device was able to kill Dr. Rex, and the ensuing Imagination fallout wiped out most of the Mutant Dino army.
After the final battle, there was not enough Maelstrom in the surviving Mutant Dinos to allow Baron Typhonus to continue his efforts to destroy LEGO Planet. Under the leadership of Dr. Cyborg, XERRD developed a cure for the dinosaurs' mutations to help completely eradicate the Maelstrom from LEGO Planet for good.
Abilities and Traits[]
The Maelstrom is infinitely powerful and destructive. It will stop at nothing to destroy imagination and the LEGO Universe with it. Paradox studies have hinted upon an intelligent presence within the Maelstrom, which was confirmed by Baron Typhonus's appearance on LEGO Planet during the Dino Attack. Being a force of destruction, the Maelstrom's only major limitation is its inability to create; it can only corrupt or copy that which already exists.
The full extent of the Maelstrom's powers and abilities have not been fully documented, though it is shown to be able to create destructive bolts of lightning, detect the presence of imagination, corrupt the very land of a planet, mutate innocent beings into powerful slaves, create illusions that play off the worst fears of its opponents, and arouse negative emotions such as suspicion and anger which can result in irrational violence.
Maelstrom poisoning is a fatal condition in which Maelstrom energies take root in a Minifig's body and cannot be eradicated. Over time, the Maelstrom energies grow more powerful, slowly killing its host and often causing severe detriments to the host's mental health. Only a strong Creative Spark can delay the effects of Maelstrom poisoning; if the Creative Spark is removed, the Maelstrom can actually possess the host's body and use it as a puppet. Dr. Rex contracted Maelstrom poisoning during a foolish experiment in which he injected himself with minute amounts of Maelstrom energy mixed with Jugend Serum; when he switched bodies with Rex, Rex received the Maelstrom poisoning instead.
Trivia[]
- Paradox operatives Wisp Lee, Echs Ray, and Master Fong Shader have recently discovered important information regarding the intelligent presence within the Maelstrom. However, this research was not revealed to anyone on LEGO Planet before Baron Typhonus revealed himself to Dino Attack Team and XERRD.