I am a fan of BIONICLE. Have been for a while, actually. I’m one of those people who can say, “BIONICLE was my childhood,” because, well, it sort of was. Granted, that wasn’t the only thing occupying my childhood, and it’s still something I do like (actually, a lot of my childhood interests are things I’m still a fan of to this day. Go figure). But, yeah, point is, I like BIONICLE.
There’s a reason for that, outside of simple childhood nostalgia. It’s the fact that the story behind it is so complex, well-developed, and engrossing that you can’t help but be sucked in. Unless you didn’t grow up with it and are just getting into the story, in which case you’ll be completely confused on just what the fuck it is. Well, since I feel like talking about it, I’ll try to explain the story to you. And I'm talking about the original BIONICLE story, not the recent reboot.
You might be thinking, “Oh, it’s just a toyline from Lego, it can’t be that complex.” To which I will just laugh in your face. Anyway, let’s begin, shall we?
Now, before I get into the actual BIONICLE story, a bit of background on just why it exists. During the late 90s, Lego wasn’t doing very well financially. This would’ve possibly led to the end of the lovable toy franchise, until one new theme saved it:
Star Wars. Yep, George Lucas’ brainchild that ended up being muddled beyond recognition helped save Lego. I mean, it’s Star Wars. Slap that onto something, and you’re sure to make a buck.
Lego, however, didn’t like that some of their profit went to Lucasfilm, and decided to not be their bitch anymore. They didn’t stop the Star Wars theme; I mean, seriously, how many Lego Star Wars games are there? No, Lego decided to make their own new theme with a great story. Hence, the creation of Slizers/Throwbots (Throwbots in North America, Slizers in Europe), and soon after Roboriders. Certain elements from these lines – from their Technic design to their disk throwing to some parts of their story – were incorporated into BIONICLE.
Anyway, after those lines died quick deaths, Lego decided to actually put some more work and effort into a line. Thus, we had the creation of Boneheads on Voodoo Island, later known as DooHeads. Yeah, those were earlier names for BIONICLE. However, someone said, “Wow, those are stupid names,” and thus we got BIONICLE, short for BIOlogical chroNICLE. The DooHeads concept evolved into BIONICLE. See, if I remember correctly (I tried looking it up, but couldn’t find it, which is weird since I saw it in a video), the original concept was that some evil witch doctor cast an island full of robotic villagers who practice voodoo under some evil spell or something. The village leaders summoned heroes named Axe, Blade, Flame, Hook, Kick, and Claw. (The names I’m sure of since many sources list them as such)
A lot of this changed, since DooHeads didn’t test well (and based on a possible prototype video and picture I saw, I can see why. That shit’s scary), and DooHeads became BIONICLE. Also, to give the story a more unique feel, the names were changed from those previously stated generic ones to Lewa, Kopaka, Tahu, Gali, Pohatu, and Onua. These were words borrowed from the Maori language, with Tahu, for example, meaning “flame.” Pretty fitting for a guy with fire powers. Oh, remember the whole Maori language thing. I’ll be getting to that in a bit.
Ok, so now that we’ve got the background out of the way, let’s get onto the story. It begins in 2001, in the –
Wait, let me just get out my epic voice. Ahem.
- in the time before time, on the island paradise of Mata Nui.
Yeah, you need an epic voice to say that. Trust me. Anyway, our story takes place on the island of Mata Nui, which was named after the Great Spirit Mata Nui, who, in the BIONICLE universe, is kind of God. Ish. I’ll be getting to that when we get to 2008.
The Great Spirit Mata Nui (the God being) was put into a deep slumber by his jealous “brother,” Makuta. This cast the island of Mata Nui into a great darkness, kept all the villagers and such on the island penned in certain regions using animals called Rahi, and basically fucked shit up for the people there, and around the rest of the universe.
The beings who lived on the island each lived in six tribes. Blue folks, who as far as I know are all female (yeah, in the world of BIONICLE, if you’re blue, it’s likely you’re female), are part of the water tribe, and carry the Ga- prefix. Red folks are part of the fire tribe, and carry the Ta- prefix. Green are part of the air tribe (at least originally; in the new reboot, they’re jungle for some reason), and carry the Le- prefix. White folks – and I mean white white, not Caucasian – are part of the ice tribe, and carry the Ko- prefix. Black folks – and I mean black black, not African-American – are part of the earth tribe, and carry the Onu- prefix. And finally, brown folks – and at this point, you know what I mean – are part of the stone tribe, and carry the Po- prefix.
Now, I keep talking about prefixes here. I bet you’re wondering what I exactly I mean by that in context. Well, each of the tribes live in a certain village or Wahi/Koro. For example, the water tribe lives in Ga-Koro, the fire tribe in Ta-Wahi, etc. Also, the villagers sometimes carried the prefix. Well, they did when they were called Matoran. Yeah, I need to explain this.
Ok, remember how earlier I said to remember the whole Maori language thing? Well, one Maori word used was Tohunga, to describe the basically helpless villagers. This would be fine and all, except that in Maori culture, “tohunga” is a word used to describe an, and I’m quoting from Wikipedia here, “an expert practitioner of any skill or art, either religious or otherwise.” Yeah. Naturally, the Maori weren’t exactly happy about this, and sued Lego. Lego ended up changing Tohunga to Matoran, and this helped to create Lego’s foreign policy.
Anyway, back to the exciting world of naming conventions. Anyway, based on their element, a Matoran would be characterized by the prefix. For example, Matoran from the fire tribe are known as Ta-Matoran, Matoran from the ice tribe are known as Ko-Matoran, etc. Also part of the tribe are village elders known as Turaga. I’ll talk a lot more about them when we get to the 2004 story. Just know that the Turaga of the fire tribe is Vakama, the Turaga of the water tribe is Nokama, the Turaga for the ice tribe is Nuju (who only speaks in the clicks and whistles of a local animal of Mata Nui, the Gukko bird, and his translator is a Ko-Matoran known as Matoro. I’ll talk more about Matoro when we get to the 2006 story), the Turaga for the air tribe is Matau, the Turaga for the stone tribe is Onewa, and the Turaga for the earth tribe is Whenua.
Ok, now that we’ve got all of that out of the way, let’s talk about the story.
It really starts, oddly enough, with the Gameboy game Tales of the Tohunga (this is before the whole Maori controversy). In it, you play as a Ta-Matoran named Takua, who was banished from his village for wandering around a lot, and has to go around and collect objects of power called Toa Stones. Anyway, by the end, he’s flung to a beach where Toa Tahu just washed up in a canister, and left.
I should note that the original Toa, the Toa Mata, came to the island of Mata Nui in Toa canisters. Basically, in-canon versions of the canisters the toys came in. They arrived with no memory of who they were or really much of anything. However, over time, they came to find out their mission: to reawaken the Great Spirit Mata Nui.
Alright, anyway, after that happens, we start a game called the Mata Nui Online Game, or MNOG for short. This is actually a pretty big piece of 2001’s story, and helps build the world a bit. It’s also very fondly remembered by fans, and I’m sure there are some who would burn you at the stake for heresy if you said bad things about it.
The game is a point-and-click type game, where you explore the island of Mata Nui and sometimes help the Toa Mata. I should mention the big problem of Mata Nui at that time: infected Rahi beasts. Makuta put infected masks (masks in this universe are a source of power that only be used by Toa, Turaga, Makuta, characters like that. Each mask has a certain power. For example, Tahu has the Kanohi Hau, or the mask of shielding) that make them do his bidding. In this case, his bidding is keeping the Matoran and Turaga penned in their villages.
The stage is then set for the Toa to come and stop the Rahi and Makuta, plus get more masks. Yeah, Lego released these mask packs that have all of Toa Mata’s masks, but in different colors. The in canon explanation is that the Toa needed to find them all to fight Makuta. (Also, something to note, each of the masks have the same powers, but since they’re in different colors, they’re used by a different Toa. For example, a blue Hau is meant for Gali, while a red Kakama, Pohatu’s mask of speed, it meant for Tahu. The powers are the same, but the colors aren’t) Anyway, the Toa end up finding the masks, combining into their Kaita forms (there are two Kaita, Akamai and Wairuha. Each is a being made up of three Toa, and they’re pretty powerful), foiling Makuta’s plan, and being hailed as heroes. Also, Takua helps and is no longer a social outcast. Hooray!
That was 2001 in a nutshell. I know I didn’t get down every single detail, but I’d like to think I’ve created a somewhat clear picture of what happened. At the very least, you got a general gist of what happened. Or are hopelessly confused. One or the other.
Now we move onto 2002, the year of the Bohrok.
After Makuta’s defeat, he’s naturally less than thrilled. So, he does the logical thing and awakens beings called the Bohrok, who exist to clean the island of Mata Nui of, well, everything.
A few things to note about the Bohrok: they’re insectoid creatures who can roll up into balls, and are controlled by something called a krana. The krana are the only organic part of the Bohrok; without them, they’re just machines that can be programmed to do other things (or be rebuilt into robots called Boxors by an Onu-Matoran inventor named Nuparu). The swarms are directed by beings called the Bahrag, or Bohrok queens.
Anyway, yeah, the Bohrok are unleashed on Mata Nui, and end up wrecking shit. The Toa and Matoran rise up to stop this, with some like Nuparu being robots to help stop the Bohrok (there’s a bit about the Bohrok that I’ll mention when be get to 2008 that makes Nuparu’s ingenuity kind of messed up), and some like the Toa kicking ass. Well, some Toa. Lewa, all the Le-Matoran, and Matau started wearing krana at one point, which basically put them all under the control of the Bahrag. It took Onua to convince Lewa to snap out of it, and they ended up freeing the village.
The Toa soon are able to find the Bohrok nest, which also house the Bahrag. Also there are robotic suits of armor called Exo-Toa, which are there because they were a set that year. The Toa use them, then realize that the Exo-Toa are causing them to get their asses kicked, and ditch them, instead using their elemental powers and masks to defeat the Bahrag and trap them in a seal of some sort. This ends up causing all the Toa to fall into something called energized protodermis, a liquid of sorts in the BIONICLE universe with the power to either transform or destroy. Here, they’re transformed into their new forms, the Toa Nuva, on sale at Wal-Mart for only $12.00! Er, ok, ignore that last part. But yeah, they become the Toa Nuva, and are much more powerful now.
Fun fact: from 2002 up until 2005, BIONICLE was Lego’s most successful line. Suck it, Star Wars!
Now we get to 2003. There were two arcs in 2003: the Bohrok-Kal arc and the Mask of Light arc. While the latter arc is much more important in the grand scheme of things, I’ll talk a bit about the Bohrok-Kal.
Unlike the Bohrok, the Bohrok-Kal are independent entities. Basically, they think for themselves. And they have a mission: free the Bahrag.
Also, there are shrines of sorts called Suvas in each of the villages, with a symbol for each Toa. They’re called Nuva Symbols, and were stolen by the Bahrag, making the Toa Nuva powerless. Sure, they could call upon their mask powers, but they had no elemental powers, which essentially makes them very tall Turaga. So, they had to find more masks to try and stop them. Oh, speaking of masks, Vakama gave Tahu the Kanohi Vahi, or Mask of Time, and gave him explicit orders not to use it unless absolutely necessary, since you don't want to fuck with time. Granted, the biggest use of the Vahi seems to be slowing down time, but still.
Anyway, the Toa get the masks, find the Bohrok-Kal, and try stopping them. Tahu ends up using the Vahi…which doesn’t exactly help them. Gali has the idea of channeling their elemental powers through the symbols, overloading and defeating the Bohrok-Kal. Hooray!
And now we get to the big arc of 2003, and the final one of the Mata Nui arc: the Mask of Light. Now, a few things here: it was around this time that a BIONICLE movie was released called Mask of Light. It has quite a large bearing on the story. Also released during this time was the Mata Nui Online Game 2, or MNOG2 for short. Where the first MNOG is considered an indispensable part of the story and an almost holy object, MNOG2 really isn’t. It’s kind of like what happened with the Matrix: the first one is considered awesome and holy (unless you’re the Nostalgia Critic) while the sequels are things people would like to forget ever happened. Just felt that should be noted.
Anyway, let’s get onto the story: Takua, the guy I mentioned during the 2001 arc, has become friends with Jaller, who will become more important during 2006. They’re the Ta-Matoran team of a game called kohlii (pronounced “ko-lee” if anyone was curious). Anyway, Takua is just wandering around some lava falls, and finds a thing. Jaller tells him to get his ass back to Ta-Koro, since they could be late for the kohlii match. Takua says he will, and discovers the Kahoni Avokhii, or Mask of Light. After almost being melted by lava, he’s saved by Tahu Nuva, and they go to the kohlii match. They arrive late, and lose. Oops. During this time, Takua had the mask in some bag, and accidentally reveals it. This leads to the Turaga saying that that’s the Mask of Light, and that prophecies foretold of a seventh Toa who would defeat Makuta and such. Since Takua found the mask, he, along with his good buddy Jaller, went on a quest to find said Toa.
Makuta got word of this, and was none too happy. So, he sent out his “sons,” the Rahkshi. The Rahkshi end up destroying Ta-Koro, and later Onu-Koro. Good job, guys.
Anyway, Takua and Jaller are on a quest to find the seventh Toa, pursued by Rahkshi who are trying to stop them. Interesting thing I should note here: Makuta’s motivation in the movie is quite different from his motivation for the rest of the story. In the movie, he says he’s keeping Mata Nui asleep so that he wouldn’t have to be exposed to the cruel world or something like that. Basically, his goals are somewhat more noble than in the rest of the story. In the rest of the story, he was motivated by power and jealousy.
After meeting a few Toa along the way, they end up in Onu-Koro, where Takua wanders into a dark cave. Makuta is there…ish, and tells Takua to stop the quest or Jaller will die and tons of bad shit will happen. Takua, being a moron and pussy, listens. Seriously, dude, don’t listen to a guy who sticks to the shadows and is called the Master of Shadows. Unless he’s Batman. Always listen to Batman.
So Takua goes off to be a pussy. During the time, Onu-Koro was destroyed. After that happens, Takua goes back on the quest because plot.
Soon, they all end up in a place called Kini-Nui, better known as the Great Temple. Also there are the Toa Nuva and all six Rahkshi. This leads to a fight in which Jaller dies. But, like in all movies, dead people won’t shut up, and he tells Takua that he’s the seventh Toa or something. So, Takua puts on the mask, and becomes the seventh Toa, Takanuva.
Takanuva, using the powers of light, kicks the asses of the Rahkshi (Rahkshi, like Makuta, are all shadow based to an extent. Naturally, shadow isn’t a big fan of light), and uses their destroyed parts to make a vehicle called the Ussanui, and goes to a place called the Mangaia, or Makuta’s base. There, he meets Makuta, who challenges Takanuva to a game of kohlii. Makuta knew that he lost, and is being a dick. However, Makuta loses, and they both somehow fall into a pool of energized protodermis, and become Takutanuva. Just go with it.
Anyway, Takutanuva knows a lot, like what’s behind a gate shaped like the Hau. So, he lifts the gate, revealing an island under Mata Nui. A Ga-Matoran, Hahli, who will be important in 2006, runs past with Jaller’s mask and Takutanuva uses some of his life energy to bring Jaller back to life. Then the gate crushses him. But Takanuva survived, and used his light power to reveal the island under Mata Nui: Metru Nui.
The Turaga then make a startling revelation: the Toa Nuva weren’t the first Toa. DUN DUN DUNN!
And that’s 2003, and the whole “Mata Nui” arc. Hopefully I’ve done a good job of summing it all up, since it’s pretty complex. And we’re only at the tip of the iceberg. The story and sets go on until 2010, and after the line was cancelled, the story went on until around 2013. So yeah, there’s a lot of story.
So, will the Matoran, Turaga, and Toa go to Metru Nui? Will we find out what Metru Nui? Who were these new Toa? Find out next time. Same BIONICLE time, same BIONICLE channel.
There’s a reason for that, outside of simple childhood nostalgia. It’s the fact that the story behind it is so complex, well-developed, and engrossing that you can’t help but be sucked in. Unless you didn’t grow up with it and are just getting into the story, in which case you’ll be completely confused on just what the fuck it is. Well, since I feel like talking about it, I’ll try to explain the story to you. And I'm talking about the original BIONICLE story, not the recent reboot.
You might be thinking, “Oh, it’s just a toyline from Lego, it can’t be that complex.” To which I will just laugh in your face. Anyway, let’s begin, shall we?
Now, before I get into the actual BIONICLE story, a bit of background on just why it exists. During the late 90s, Lego wasn’t doing very well financially. This would’ve possibly led to the end of the lovable toy franchise, until one new theme saved it:
Star Wars. Yep, George Lucas’ brainchild that ended up being muddled beyond recognition helped save Lego. I mean, it’s Star Wars. Slap that onto something, and you’re sure to make a buck.
Lego, however, didn’t like that some of their profit went to Lucasfilm, and decided to not be their bitch anymore. They didn’t stop the Star Wars theme; I mean, seriously, how many Lego Star Wars games are there? No, Lego decided to make their own new theme with a great story. Hence, the creation of Slizers/Throwbots (Throwbots in North America, Slizers in Europe), and soon after Roboriders. Certain elements from these lines – from their Technic design to their disk throwing to some parts of their story – were incorporated into BIONICLE.
Anyway, after those lines died quick deaths, Lego decided to actually put some more work and effort into a line. Thus, we had the creation of Boneheads on Voodoo Island, later known as DooHeads. Yeah, those were earlier names for BIONICLE. However, someone said, “Wow, those are stupid names,” and thus we got BIONICLE, short for BIOlogical chroNICLE. The DooHeads concept evolved into BIONICLE. See, if I remember correctly (I tried looking it up, but couldn’t find it, which is weird since I saw it in a video), the original concept was that some evil witch doctor cast an island full of robotic villagers who practice voodoo under some evil spell or something. The village leaders summoned heroes named Axe, Blade, Flame, Hook, Kick, and Claw. (The names I’m sure of since many sources list them as such)
A lot of this changed, since DooHeads didn’t test well (and based on a possible prototype video and picture I saw, I can see why. That shit’s scary), and DooHeads became BIONICLE. Also, to give the story a more unique feel, the names were changed from those previously stated generic ones to Lewa, Kopaka, Tahu, Gali, Pohatu, and Onua. These were words borrowed from the Maori language, with Tahu, for example, meaning “flame.” Pretty fitting for a guy with fire powers. Oh, remember the whole Maori language thing. I’ll be getting to that in a bit.
Ok, so now that we’ve got the background out of the way, let’s get onto the story. It begins in 2001, in the –
Wait, let me just get out my epic voice. Ahem.
- in the time before time, on the island paradise of Mata Nui.
Yeah, you need an epic voice to say that. Trust me. Anyway, our story takes place on the island of Mata Nui, which was named after the Great Spirit Mata Nui, who, in the BIONICLE universe, is kind of God. Ish. I’ll be getting to that when we get to 2008.
The Great Spirit Mata Nui (the God being) was put into a deep slumber by his jealous “brother,” Makuta. This cast the island of Mata Nui into a great darkness, kept all the villagers and such on the island penned in certain regions using animals called Rahi, and basically fucked shit up for the people there, and around the rest of the universe.
The beings who lived on the island each lived in six tribes. Blue folks, who as far as I know are all female (yeah, in the world of BIONICLE, if you’re blue, it’s likely you’re female), are part of the water tribe, and carry the Ga- prefix. Red folks are part of the fire tribe, and carry the Ta- prefix. Green are part of the air tribe (at least originally; in the new reboot, they’re jungle for some reason), and carry the Le- prefix. White folks – and I mean white white, not Caucasian – are part of the ice tribe, and carry the Ko- prefix. Black folks – and I mean black black, not African-American – are part of the earth tribe, and carry the Onu- prefix. And finally, brown folks – and at this point, you know what I mean – are part of the stone tribe, and carry the Po- prefix.
Now, I keep talking about prefixes here. I bet you’re wondering what I exactly I mean by that in context. Well, each of the tribes live in a certain village or Wahi/Koro. For example, the water tribe lives in Ga-Koro, the fire tribe in Ta-Wahi, etc. Also, the villagers sometimes carried the prefix. Well, they did when they were called Matoran. Yeah, I need to explain this.
Ok, remember how earlier I said to remember the whole Maori language thing? Well, one Maori word used was Tohunga, to describe the basically helpless villagers. This would be fine and all, except that in Maori culture, “tohunga” is a word used to describe an, and I’m quoting from Wikipedia here, “an expert practitioner of any skill or art, either religious or otherwise.” Yeah. Naturally, the Maori weren’t exactly happy about this, and sued Lego. Lego ended up changing Tohunga to Matoran, and this helped to create Lego’s foreign policy.
Anyway, back to the exciting world of naming conventions. Anyway, based on their element, a Matoran would be characterized by the prefix. For example, Matoran from the fire tribe are known as Ta-Matoran, Matoran from the ice tribe are known as Ko-Matoran, etc. Also part of the tribe are village elders known as Turaga. I’ll talk a lot more about them when we get to the 2004 story. Just know that the Turaga of the fire tribe is Vakama, the Turaga of the water tribe is Nokama, the Turaga for the ice tribe is Nuju (who only speaks in the clicks and whistles of a local animal of Mata Nui, the Gukko bird, and his translator is a Ko-Matoran known as Matoro. I’ll talk more about Matoro when we get to the 2006 story), the Turaga for the air tribe is Matau, the Turaga for the stone tribe is Onewa, and the Turaga for the earth tribe is Whenua.
Ok, now that we’ve got all of that out of the way, let’s talk about the story.
It really starts, oddly enough, with the Gameboy game Tales of the Tohunga (this is before the whole Maori controversy). In it, you play as a Ta-Matoran named Takua, who was banished from his village for wandering around a lot, and has to go around and collect objects of power called Toa Stones. Anyway, by the end, he’s flung to a beach where Toa Tahu just washed up in a canister, and left.
I should note that the original Toa, the Toa Mata, came to the island of Mata Nui in Toa canisters. Basically, in-canon versions of the canisters the toys came in. They arrived with no memory of who they were or really much of anything. However, over time, they came to find out their mission: to reawaken the Great Spirit Mata Nui.
Alright, anyway, after that happens, we start a game called the Mata Nui Online Game, or MNOG for short. This is actually a pretty big piece of 2001’s story, and helps build the world a bit. It’s also very fondly remembered by fans, and I’m sure there are some who would burn you at the stake for heresy if you said bad things about it.
The game is a point-and-click type game, where you explore the island of Mata Nui and sometimes help the Toa Mata. I should mention the big problem of Mata Nui at that time: infected Rahi beasts. Makuta put infected masks (masks in this universe are a source of power that only be used by Toa, Turaga, Makuta, characters like that. Each mask has a certain power. For example, Tahu has the Kanohi Hau, or the mask of shielding) that make them do his bidding. In this case, his bidding is keeping the Matoran and Turaga penned in their villages.
The stage is then set for the Toa to come and stop the Rahi and Makuta, plus get more masks. Yeah, Lego released these mask packs that have all of Toa Mata’s masks, but in different colors. The in canon explanation is that the Toa needed to find them all to fight Makuta. (Also, something to note, each of the masks have the same powers, but since they’re in different colors, they’re used by a different Toa. For example, a blue Hau is meant for Gali, while a red Kakama, Pohatu’s mask of speed, it meant for Tahu. The powers are the same, but the colors aren’t) Anyway, the Toa end up finding the masks, combining into their Kaita forms (there are two Kaita, Akamai and Wairuha. Each is a being made up of three Toa, and they’re pretty powerful), foiling Makuta’s plan, and being hailed as heroes. Also, Takua helps and is no longer a social outcast. Hooray!
That was 2001 in a nutshell. I know I didn’t get down every single detail, but I’d like to think I’ve created a somewhat clear picture of what happened. At the very least, you got a general gist of what happened. Or are hopelessly confused. One or the other.
Now we move onto 2002, the year of the Bohrok.
After Makuta’s defeat, he’s naturally less than thrilled. So, he does the logical thing and awakens beings called the Bohrok, who exist to clean the island of Mata Nui of, well, everything.
A few things to note about the Bohrok: they’re insectoid creatures who can roll up into balls, and are controlled by something called a krana. The krana are the only organic part of the Bohrok; without them, they’re just machines that can be programmed to do other things (or be rebuilt into robots called Boxors by an Onu-Matoran inventor named Nuparu). The swarms are directed by beings called the Bahrag, or Bohrok queens.
Anyway, yeah, the Bohrok are unleashed on Mata Nui, and end up wrecking shit. The Toa and Matoran rise up to stop this, with some like Nuparu being robots to help stop the Bohrok (there’s a bit about the Bohrok that I’ll mention when be get to 2008 that makes Nuparu’s ingenuity kind of messed up), and some like the Toa kicking ass. Well, some Toa. Lewa, all the Le-Matoran, and Matau started wearing krana at one point, which basically put them all under the control of the Bahrag. It took Onua to convince Lewa to snap out of it, and they ended up freeing the village.
The Toa soon are able to find the Bohrok nest, which also house the Bahrag. Also there are robotic suits of armor called Exo-Toa, which are there because they were a set that year. The Toa use them, then realize that the Exo-Toa are causing them to get their asses kicked, and ditch them, instead using their elemental powers and masks to defeat the Bahrag and trap them in a seal of some sort. This ends up causing all the Toa to fall into something called energized protodermis, a liquid of sorts in the BIONICLE universe with the power to either transform or destroy. Here, they’re transformed into their new forms, the Toa Nuva, on sale at Wal-Mart for only $12.00! Er, ok, ignore that last part. But yeah, they become the Toa Nuva, and are much more powerful now.
Fun fact: from 2002 up until 2005, BIONICLE was Lego’s most successful line. Suck it, Star Wars!
Now we get to 2003. There were two arcs in 2003: the Bohrok-Kal arc and the Mask of Light arc. While the latter arc is much more important in the grand scheme of things, I’ll talk a bit about the Bohrok-Kal.
Unlike the Bohrok, the Bohrok-Kal are independent entities. Basically, they think for themselves. And they have a mission: free the Bahrag.
Also, there are shrines of sorts called Suvas in each of the villages, with a symbol for each Toa. They’re called Nuva Symbols, and were stolen by the Bahrag, making the Toa Nuva powerless. Sure, they could call upon their mask powers, but they had no elemental powers, which essentially makes them very tall Turaga. So, they had to find more masks to try and stop them. Oh, speaking of masks, Vakama gave Tahu the Kanohi Vahi, or Mask of Time, and gave him explicit orders not to use it unless absolutely necessary, since you don't want to fuck with time. Granted, the biggest use of the Vahi seems to be slowing down time, but still.
Anyway, the Toa get the masks, find the Bohrok-Kal, and try stopping them. Tahu ends up using the Vahi…which doesn’t exactly help them. Gali has the idea of channeling their elemental powers through the symbols, overloading and defeating the Bohrok-Kal. Hooray!
And now we get to the big arc of 2003, and the final one of the Mata Nui arc: the Mask of Light. Now, a few things here: it was around this time that a BIONICLE movie was released called Mask of Light. It has quite a large bearing on the story. Also released during this time was the Mata Nui Online Game 2, or MNOG2 for short. Where the first MNOG is considered an indispensable part of the story and an almost holy object, MNOG2 really isn’t. It’s kind of like what happened with the Matrix: the first one is considered awesome and holy (unless you’re the Nostalgia Critic) while the sequels are things people would like to forget ever happened. Just felt that should be noted.
Anyway, let’s get onto the story: Takua, the guy I mentioned during the 2001 arc, has become friends with Jaller, who will become more important during 2006. They’re the Ta-Matoran team of a game called kohlii (pronounced “ko-lee” if anyone was curious). Anyway, Takua is just wandering around some lava falls, and finds a thing. Jaller tells him to get his ass back to Ta-Koro, since they could be late for the kohlii match. Takua says he will, and discovers the Kahoni Avokhii, or Mask of Light. After almost being melted by lava, he’s saved by Tahu Nuva, and they go to the kohlii match. They arrive late, and lose. Oops. During this time, Takua had the mask in some bag, and accidentally reveals it. This leads to the Turaga saying that that’s the Mask of Light, and that prophecies foretold of a seventh Toa who would defeat Makuta and such. Since Takua found the mask, he, along with his good buddy Jaller, went on a quest to find said Toa.
Makuta got word of this, and was none too happy. So, he sent out his “sons,” the Rahkshi. The Rahkshi end up destroying Ta-Koro, and later Onu-Koro. Good job, guys.
Anyway, Takua and Jaller are on a quest to find the seventh Toa, pursued by Rahkshi who are trying to stop them. Interesting thing I should note here: Makuta’s motivation in the movie is quite different from his motivation for the rest of the story. In the movie, he says he’s keeping Mata Nui asleep so that he wouldn’t have to be exposed to the cruel world or something like that. Basically, his goals are somewhat more noble than in the rest of the story. In the rest of the story, he was motivated by power and jealousy.
After meeting a few Toa along the way, they end up in Onu-Koro, where Takua wanders into a dark cave. Makuta is there…ish, and tells Takua to stop the quest or Jaller will die and tons of bad shit will happen. Takua, being a moron and pussy, listens. Seriously, dude, don’t listen to a guy who sticks to the shadows and is called the Master of Shadows. Unless he’s Batman. Always listen to Batman.
So Takua goes off to be a pussy. During the time, Onu-Koro was destroyed. After that happens, Takua goes back on the quest because plot.
Soon, they all end up in a place called Kini-Nui, better known as the Great Temple. Also there are the Toa Nuva and all six Rahkshi. This leads to a fight in which Jaller dies. But, like in all movies, dead people won’t shut up, and he tells Takua that he’s the seventh Toa or something. So, Takua puts on the mask, and becomes the seventh Toa, Takanuva.
Takanuva, using the powers of light, kicks the asses of the Rahkshi (Rahkshi, like Makuta, are all shadow based to an extent. Naturally, shadow isn’t a big fan of light), and uses their destroyed parts to make a vehicle called the Ussanui, and goes to a place called the Mangaia, or Makuta’s base. There, he meets Makuta, who challenges Takanuva to a game of kohlii. Makuta knew that he lost, and is being a dick. However, Makuta loses, and they both somehow fall into a pool of energized protodermis, and become Takutanuva. Just go with it.
Anyway, Takutanuva knows a lot, like what’s behind a gate shaped like the Hau. So, he lifts the gate, revealing an island under Mata Nui. A Ga-Matoran, Hahli, who will be important in 2006, runs past with Jaller’s mask and Takutanuva uses some of his life energy to bring Jaller back to life. Then the gate crushses him. But Takanuva survived, and used his light power to reveal the island under Mata Nui: Metru Nui.
The Turaga then make a startling revelation: the Toa Nuva weren’t the first Toa. DUN DUN DUNN!
And that’s 2003, and the whole “Mata Nui” arc. Hopefully I’ve done a good job of summing it all up, since it’s pretty complex. And we’re only at the tip of the iceberg. The story and sets go on until 2010, and after the line was cancelled, the story went on until around 2013. So yeah, there’s a lot of story.
So, will the Matoran, Turaga, and Toa go to Metru Nui? Will we find out what Metru Nui? Who were these new Toa? Find out next time. Same BIONICLE time, same BIONICLE channel.