Toa Mata

The Toa Mata are the group of Toa who originally introduced BIONICLE and who first saved the island of Mata Nui from the Makuta. These Toa later transformed into the Toa Nuva.

History
The Toa Mata were created approximately 100,000 years ago on Artakha, and first walked on the island of Daxia. They were destined to awaken Mata Nui if he should ever fall. It is reasonable to assume that they were active before they came to Mata Nui, for they were able to utilize their elemental powers quickly and had the ability to manifest their mask powers. Unlike most Toa, they were never Matoran, and were named for their elemental prefixes.

The Toa were launched into the ocean inside canisters the moment Mata Nui fell asleep. They were intended to land in the ocean, go through Mata Nui and arrive at Metru Nui, but something went wrong, and only after Takua activated the Toa stones created by the Toa Metru were they summoned. They arrived on the island in pieces, but quickly put themselves back together. After floating for so long their organic tissue had decayed into nothing. By fusing their mechanical parts together, new tissue was allowed to grow in a slightly painful process.

These Toa were sent by the Turaga to gather six Great Kanohi - a Kakama, Hau, Pakari, Akaku, Kaukau and Miru each. After each Toa had collected all six masks, they received a Golden Kanohi, which contained all six of the Toa's mask powers. They were the catalyst for Makuta of Metru Nui's first defeat on Mata Nui. Shortly after, they fought the Bohrok and Bahrag, and were submerged in Energized Protodermis, turning them into Toa Nuva.