Matoran

Matoran were the chosen species of the Matoran Universe's protector, the Great Spirit Mata Nui. They were the most important race in the universe. Although not one of the stronger races, Matoran were the most common and possibly the most influential, seeing as almost all intelligent beings spoke the Matoran language.

Physical Characteristics
Matoran were small, biomechanical beings. Like all the other beings and things in the Matoran Universe, they were made of protodermis. Matoran have organs beneath their armor; the only known organs are muscles, brains, eyes, and lungs. The Matoran can be created by Makuta, and by Artakha, if he is provided the proper resources by the Great Beings. They wore powerless Kanohi masks, that kept them functioning and healthy; a Matoran who lost his or her mask would quickly go into a coma-like state until a mask was replaced on their face. It is said if a mask is not put on a Matoran, that Matoran would die. Also a Krana works just as well instead of a mask although the wearer then becomes a servant to the Bahrag. They didn't have the mental strength to activate the powers that Great and Noble level Kanohi held, but if they wore such masks, they could sense that power was present. Matoran also had a little bit of power of a natural element; just enough to influence their physical abilities. For example, Ta-Matoran were attributed to the element of fire, and could endure heat better than other Matoran. Unless they were mutated, the Matoran always wore colors, that corresponded to their element (Ta-Matoran were usually red, etc.); a notable exception were the Av-Matoran, who had the power to change their colors at will. The Matoran also had to reacharge their energy every now and then, in one of the two ways; they either went to a power station of sorts and recharged once a year or so, or they "ate" by getting energy from objects like fruit, berries and fish. All Matoran who had the element of water or lightning were always female, Av-Matoran could be either male or female, and all Matoran of the other elements were always male. Gender differences were psychological only. Certain destined Matoran had special power hidden within them and when it was unleashed, the Matoran transformed into a Toa, with increased physical strength and elemental power. This power could be triggerd in different ways, for example giving the Matoran Toa Energy, or the energy of the Red Star, but if they are not destined they can not become Toa. Matoran had a lifespan over 100,000 years long.

Matoran Nui
Like Toa and many other creatures, Matoran had the ability to combine into a single being, with a six-member combination called a Matoran Nui. This had been known to happen twice:
 * Nuhrii, Vhisola, Orkahm, Ahkmou, Tehutti, and Ehrye formed a Matoran Nui to fight off the Morbuzakh, allowing the Toa Metru to reach its King Root.
 * Jaller, Macku, Kongu, Hewkii, Onepu, and Matoro also made a Matoran Nui once on Mata Nui to fight a Nui-Jaga scorpion.

History and Purpose
The Matoran were the first beings created by the Great Beings for the Matoran Universe. The first to be created served as prototypes for the others - the Av-Matoran. Because they were the first ones, they had abilities to channel their innate light powers and transform into Bohrok. Eventually, the other types of Matoran were created. The Matoran were brought into existance even before Mata Nui, and were helping in his construction, though they didn't know what exactly they were building. Some Matoran, that showed praticular promise, were allowed to go to the Artakha refuge and work in the light. After the Universe was built and Mata Nui awakened, the Matoran spread across the universe. They made their homes in many different inviroments and had many different styles of living. Some Matoran came to rely completely on the technology and inventions for work and protection, others grew completely independent, with no help from Toa or Turaga. The Matoran's purpose after the Universe was built was to do their work, to keep the universe in balance. The jobs Matoran had to do were:

Homelands and Colonies

 * Metru Nui
 * Northern Continent
 * Southern Continent
 * Xia
 * Stelt
 * Nynrah
 * Southern Island Chains
 * Artakha
 * Karzahni (formerly)
 * Karda Nui (formerly)
 * Mata Nui (formerly)

Structure
Matoran usually lived in groups by elements (Ga-Matoran lived in Ga-Metru, a known village of De-Matoran was De-Koro on the Tren Krom Peninsula, ...), although in some cases, they chose to live together (for example the Matoran on Voya Nui), or they lived in towns alongside other species, like the Matoran that lived on Stelt. In most cases, the Matoran settlements were led by Turaga, but when no Turaga were around, the Matoran either chose an alternative, like the Matoran of Mahri Nui formed the Mahri Nui Council and the elected a Leader of the Mahri Nui Council each month, or remained leaderless.

Beliefs
The Matoran usually worshiped the Great Spirit Mata Nui and the Great Beings. The Turaga often told them the Legend of Mata Nui, how he was sent form "Paradise", to give the Matoran a purpose. The Matoran had a work based culture and upheld many virtues, primarily Unity, Duty and Destiny.

Sports
The Matoran often engaged in sporting activities. For example, a major sport in Metru Nui before the Great Cataclysm was Akilini. When the Matoran of Metru Nui migrated to Mata Nui, they invented a new sports game, called Kolhii. While on Mata Nui, the Turaga organised a Kolhii Tournament between the six Koros on the island. Of course, these two games weren't the only two games the Matoran knew. There is a very big chance that Matoran in other areas of the Matoran Universe developed other sports, besides tho two most well known.

Language
The Matoran spoke the language created for them by the Great Beings. This language was actually spoken by the whole Matoran Universe. Le-Matoran of Metru Nui, however, have created a slang called chutespeak (or treespeak), which combined two words into one. Chutespeak has also spread to other Matoran.

Types
Matoran were classified by whichever element they were affiliated with. Each type had a job, based on their atribute, to help keep the universe in balance. Although several were identified, though there are more in existence; we know this because Matoran didn't change elemental type upon becoming Toa, yet there were Toa of other elements besides the main six:

Ta-Matoran
Ta-Matoran, the Matoran of Fire had a natural resistance to extreme heat and tended to be diligent and responsible. Their primary color was red, though they were often orange, yellow and black as well. Ta-Matoran were always male.

Ga-Matoran
Ga-Matoran, the Matoran of Water had better lung capacity. They were peaceful and friendly and exclusively female. They were always in shades of blue.

Le-Matoran
Le-Matoran, the Matoran of Air had heightened agility and reflexes. They loved thrills, leading them to take crazy risks; they also enjoyed a good practical joke. Their primary colors were shades of green. Le-Matoran were always male.

Po-Matoran
Po-Matoran, the Matoran of Stone had great physical strength. They were down-to-earth and practical, not putting too much stock in what they couldn't see and touch. All Po-Matoran were male and their colors were generally brown and tan and sometimes black, although some were yellow and orange.

Onu-Matoran
Onu-Matoran, the Matoran of Earth had increased strength and night vision and could easily be blinded by bright lights. They had a great respect for the past. They were always male and were primarly black, but also grey, orange and purple.

Ko-Matoran
Matoran of Ice had a natural resistance to extreme cold. They were quiet to the point of being antisocial, and spent a lot of time being pondering the future. All Ko-Matoran were male and were white, sometimes also grey or lightblue.

Av-Matoran
Av-Matoran, the Matoran of Light were the first type of Matoran to be created. They had the ability to change their armor color and could shoot small light bolts from speical energy swords. They could be either male or female. Their natural color scheme was white and gold.

Fe-Matoran
Fe-Matoran, the Matoran of Iron had enhanced endurance, and metal working skills. They were always male.

De-Matoran
De-Matoran, the Matoran of Sonics were extremely sensitive to sound. All De-Matoran were male. Their primary color was grey.

Shadow Matoran
Shadow Matoran, the Matoran of Shadow were Matoran of other types, who had their light drained, either by a Shadow Leech or a Kanohi Avsa. Shadow was not a natural Matoran element. They were evil and had the ability to launch shadow bolts. Their colors were the same as before the transformation.

Other Types

 * Matoran of Plasma
 * Matoran of Plantlife
 * Matoran of Magnetism
 * Matoran of Lightning
 * Matoran of Gravity

Trivia

 * The Matoran were originally called Tohunga. They were called Tohunga throughout Mata Nui Online Game and the GameBoy Advance game, Bionicle: Tales of the Tohunga. Following the Maori lawsuit on LEGO in 2001, this had to be changed. In Mata Nui Online Game, the name was changed into Matoran, in the new version, and the GameBoy Advance games title was changed to Bionicle: Quest for the Toa.
 * The Toa and Turaga are part of the Matoran species.