Toa Mata was the name given to the six Toa who appeared on the island of Mata Nui and battled to save it from Makuta. The Toa Mata were Tahu, Pohatu, Onua, Lewa, Kopaka, and Gali. They were transformed into Toa Nuva by immersion in energized protodermis.5
The Toa Nuva were heroes gifted with greater strength, stronger armor, and greater control over their elemental powers than ordinary Toa possessed. Toa Nuva had the ability to use Kanohi Nuva, masks which allowed the wearer to share their power with those in close proximity. The only known means of transforming a Toa into a Toa Nuva was by exposure to energized protodermis. The only six Toa Nuva ever known to exist were Tahu Nuva, Pohatu Nuva, Onua Nuva, Lewa Nuva, Kopaka Nuva, and Gali Nuva, who were originally the Toa Mata. Their transformation made them more powerful than before and for a time threatened to shatter their unity. However, they were able to combine forces to defeat the Bohrok-Kal and the Rahkshi.6
Notes
Toa Mata
Six stars above Mata Nui were believed to be the spirit stars representing the Toa Mata.7
Members of the Order of Mata Nui had familiar knowledge of the Toa Mata and their accomplishments.8
Unlike all other Toa known to the Order of Mata Nui, the Toa Mata came into being as Toa already; they were never Matoran and never transformed into Toa.8
There was a place in the Coliseum that no one had ever seen from which one could fake the signal that would launch the Toa Mata's canisters.9
The Toa Mata were the team of Toa destined one day to reawaken the Great Spirit Mata Nui. Led by Tahu, they were named the "Toa Mata" by the Matoran inhabitants of Mata Nui. During their year on Mata Nui, they battled Rahi beasts, the Bohrok, the Bohrok-Kal, the Rahkshi, and Makuta Teridax himself.10
Of all the Toa, only Tahu Nuva had clear memories of their last visit to Karda Nui, when he tricked the others into remaining in the Codrex for 100,000 years. It was not something he was proud of, although he knew it had to be done. Had the Toa been out adventuring during that time and one of them had been killed, they might never have achieved their destiny and awakened Mata Nui.11
It is possible that the design of the Toa Mata was partly based on the design of Mata Nui.12, 13 Conversely, Mata Nui's form may have been modeled after theirs, since the Toa Mata were created before his completion.14
Wherever Mata Nui should have fallen asleep, it was always assumed that Mata Nui would be pulled in to some sort of gravity well, like a planet, so the Toa Mata could then be launched onto his face.15
The Toa Mata served as a failsafe. The knowledge that there were such failsafes in the Matoran universe was not a huge secret, but over time that knowledge devolved into being seen as prophecy, which is how the Turaga knew about them.16
The destiny of the Toa was to free the Matoran from Makuta.17
The Toa Mata were not intended to protect Matoran. After they fell from the sky, they were supposed to land on the island of Mata Nui and descend into Metru Nui to awaken the Great Spirit.18
The "paradise" the Toa Mata were in prior to their arrival on Mata Nui was not Artakha.19
The bodies of the Toa Mata were different from other Toa because they were very old.20
The Toa Mata had names based on their elements because they were never Matoran.21
The Toa Mata's names began with their respective element's prefix because they were never Matoran, so they were always Toa and representatives of their elements.22
The Toa Mata's names were based on the elemental prefixes, not the other way around.23
The Toa Mata were likely named for their elements because they had no Matoran names.24
When the Bahrag stated the Toa and Bohrok were brothers, they were specifically referring to the Toa Mata.25
At least the Bahrag considered the Bohrok and Toa Mata to be brothers because they both carried out the will of Mata Nui, though in different ways. The Toa defended the Matoran, and the Bohrok ensured the island of Mata Nui remained barren.26
The Toa Mata were among the most important Toa to ever live because of their destiny.27
The Toa Mata were not the first Toa to ever exist.28
The Toa Mata were never Matoran.29
The Toa Mata's team name referred to Mata Nui, as it was their job to awaken him.30
The Toa Mata were aware of their team name before losing their memories.31
The Toa Mata's name had nothing to do with the island of Mata Nui but rather their mission to awaken the being known as Mata Nui.32
Toa Nuva
The strange energies of the protodermis transformed the Toa into the Toa Nuva, with new tools, new armor, and greater power than ever before.33
As Toa Nuva, the Toa had greater power, and control over that power, than ever before.34
After their transformation, the Toa Nuva discovered that they had greater control over their power than ever before.35
The Toa Nuva's new adaptive armor adapted to any environment, making them ready for battle wherever they went. In the swamp of Karda Nui, its flying jets kept the Toa safely in the air above its terrible waters. The Toa weapons adapted to be Nynrah ghost blasters, capable of firing a burst of energy which could then be shaped and controlled by the mind of the Toa into any form. Like their armor, the Toa Nuva's masks also adapted to combat in the swamp, becoming more streamlined for flight.36
There was a process that the Toa Nuva could have used to wake up Mata Nui without using the Ignika, but it would have been time-consuming. The Toa Nuva simply used the Ignika as a tool to do it faster.37
Once out of Karda Nui, the Toa Nuva (except for Tahu Nuva) gained access to all of their other Kanohi Nuva again.38
Compared to before, the Toa Nuva's armor and tools were better, and they were faster, more agile, and stronger.39
The Nuva armor worn by the Toa Nuva wasn't part of their bodies and was removable.40
Toa Nuva were not significantly stronger than a standard Toa physically, but they had better control over their elemental powers, better armor, and could share their mask powers.41
The Toa Nuva might not have been the most powerful Toa team to ever exist, but they were the only Toa who could share mask powers.42
The destiny of the Toa Nuva was to awaken Mata Nui. If they chose to sacrifice their Toa power after they accomplished this, they would become Turaga.43
The Toa Nuva could only lose their powers if their symbols were in possession of someone besides themselves or the Matoran.44
The Toa Nuva were equivalent in strength to the Piraka.45
The Piraka were not necessarily stronger than the Toa Nuva, but they had the advantage of surprise and Brutaka on their side.46
"Nuva" likely meant "new" in Matoran.47
Were the Toa Nuva to become Turaga, they would become Turaga Nuva.48, 49
A Turaga Nuva would likely have only slightly more elemental power than a normal Turaga. They would definitely have less elemental power than a standard Toa.50
Turaga Nuva would not be as powerful as they were as Toa Mata. They would retain their ability to share mask powers.51
The Toa Nuva and Toa Inika were the same height.52
There was only one group of Toa Nuva.53
The Toa Nuva regarded Takanuva as a member of their team despite the fact that he wasn't a Toa Nuva.54
After the Toa Nuva achieved their destiny, they would at some point have been given a choice to surrender their Toa power for the greater good and become Turaga or remain as Toa Nuva. It would have been up to each individual member to make that decision.55
By story year 2007, the Toa Nuva were battle-hardened and experienced Toa. They were among the best there were.56
The Toa Nuva wore adaptive Kanohi supplied by Artakha. Only their main mask was changed.57
Other Information
- When giving the Toa Mata their official team name for BIONICLE World, Greg Farshtey decided to go with one of the popular fan names for the team.58
- Greg Farshtey compared the defeat of the Toa Nuva to the defeat of the Soviet army in Afghanistan. He stated the most powerful force imaginable could be defeated if they know nothing about their enemy and get taken by surprise. He also explained that, besides Teridax and the Bahrag, the Toa Nuva primarily fought mindless swarms or beasts; nothing like the cunning Piraka.59
- Greg Farshtey compared the defeat of the Toa Nuva at the hands of the Piraka to the American Revolutionary War. He explained that a better trained, better armed, numerically superior force could be defeated by a ragtag, poorly supplied, much smaller army if the latter knew the countryside, avoided major battles they couldn't win, and used unconventional tactics. The Toa Nuva had no idea there was a hostile force on the island, knew nothing about them, and so got taken by surprise. He also clarified that the Nuva were defeated by Brutaka, not the Piraka.60
- An early, scrapped version of the story bible stated the Toa Mata had different ages, with Lewa being the youngest. This was changed and the Toa Mata were made to all be the same age.61
- The different ages of the Mata were never canon, the information came from a story bible that was outdated by 2001.62
- The Toa Mata were likely the first BIONICLE sets Greg Farshtey owned. He bought them together.63