Takanuva

"Maybe they will not see me win today. But the Matoran will go on, and someday they will triumph."

- Takanuva to Teridax

Takua was an Av-Matoran Chronicler who later became the Toa of Light.

Metru Nui
Although long thought to be a Ta-Matoran, Takua never really fit in; in truth he was a Av-Matoran with the element of light. He came to Metru Nui from the Universe Core during the Time Slip. He was disguised as a Ta-Matoran (to hide him from the Brotherhood of Makuta, who feared what light could do to shadow) and ran a small side business trading souvenirs from different Metru. But he usually wandered off during his normal job to do so, making the Vahki learn to keep an eye on him. Because his memory was erased in the Time Slip, he had no memory of ever being an Av-Matoran and truly believed he was a Ta-Matoran.

Quest for the Masks
A thousand years later, after the Matoran took refuge on Mata Nui, Takua gathered the six Toa Stones, created by the Toa Metru after finding the Element of Melting, and summoned the Toa Mata (though the blast of energy from the stones caused him to fly high into the air and land on a beach in Ta-wahi, getting amnesia). Once the Toa Mata had arrived, the Turaga took advantage of Takua's tendency to wander by making him the Chronicler, observing and writing down the Toa's adventures. Shortly afterwards, he began a quest to create a Chronicler's Company to fight in The Battle of Kini-Nui I. During this quest, he befriended an Ussal crab named Pewku, who became his faithful pet. After this, he witnessed the defeat of Makuta and then the awakening of the Bohrok.

Bohrok Swarm
Takua traveled with Nuparu to Le-Wahi to help Kongu and Tamaru. All of the Le-Matoran, except for the two mentioned, were enslaved with Krana. Nuparu and the Boxor helped to free them. Jaller then joined Takua and Nuparu in the Battle of Ga-Koro.

Bohrok-Kal
Traveling back from Ga-Koro, Takua and Jaller were startled to find Pewku. Little did they know they were being watched by Tahnok Kal...

Tahnok Kal then stole Tahu's Nuva Symbol from the Ta-Suva. Jaller and Tahu tried to stop him, but to no avail. Jaller, Takua, and the Toa Nuva traveled the island to the Bahrag's cage in pursuit of the Bohrok-Kal to stop them from re-awakening of the Bohrok Swarm. The Toa Nuva were successful.

The Turaga then summoned every Matoran on Mata Nui to the Kini-Nui. They announced The Rebuilding, and Takua and Jaller had already been "upgraded" to another larger, stronger form. Later on Naming Day, Macku(Maku), Hewkii(Huki), and Jaller(Jala) were renamed. Takua held his own ceremony for Pewku, his Ussal Crab.

After the ceremony, Vakama instructed Takua to spell the names correctly on the Wall of History.

Mask of Light
Turaga Vakama had returned from Kini-Nui (after talking with the other Turaga about whether or not they should tell the Toa Nuva about Metru Nui) and announced the great Kolhii Tournament. Takua and Jaller were chosen to be the two champions. While practicing, Takua developed a new move for the game. The two champions were almost late to the game, as Takua was off 'sightseeing' in an area of Ta-Koro that he hadn't been to before. Jumping over the river of lava, he came to what seemed to be a caution totem. Picking it up to examine it, the Chronicler then dropped it when a tremor went through the area. The stone then rolled down the side of the little cove and landed in the lava, sinking only to re-appear as the Kanohi Avohkii, the great mask of light. As Takua carefully fished the mask out of the lava, it's light shone on him, until a large wave of lava came down the river. Panicking, he tossed the mask like a frisbee to Jaller on the other side of the river before jumping onto his lava board. The blue-masked Ta-Matoran failed to reach the other side, and was about to be 'Lava-bones' when Tahu rescued him. Returning the Matoran to his friend, Tahu told the two to show Vakama the mask AFTER they won the tournament.

After the match, Takua and Jaller took the Avohkii, Mask of Light, and traveled through Mata Nui in search of "the Seventh Toa" that it belonged to, and all the while they were stalked by Makuta's evil Rahkshi. It was on this quest that Takua discovered that his destiny was to become the Toa of Light. After Jaller sacrificed himself at the hands of Rahkshi Turahk, Takua put on the mask, revealing his true identity. He then renamed himself Takanuva.

The next day, Takanuva and the Toa Nuva built a hovercraft from Rahkshi armor. Takanuva left to confront Teridax alone, though on arriving he found that his friend Hahli had stowed away. While Hahli was sent to bring the Toa and Turaga to the lair, Makuta challenged Takanuva to a mock Kolhii match that ended up shattering most of the lair's pillars. When the others arrived, Teridax took out the last one, causing a cave-in that trapped everyone. Takanuva then lashed out and defeated Makuta with the Kohlii move he attempted in his Matoran form. He then tried to tear the Kanohi Kraahkan, Mask of Shadows, off Teridax's face, but both ended up falling into the lair's pool of Energized Protodermis. They emerged fused into one being, called Takutanuva, with Takanuva's personality in control. Takutanuva went over to a giant stone gate and lifted it, reopening the path to the city of Metru Nui and allowing the Matoran to escape. When Hahli passed carrying Jaller's mask, Takutanuva stopped her and gave some of Makuta's life force to resurrect Jaller. However, this caused too much of a strain on Takutanuva and he was crushed by the heavy gate. Luckily, the Mask of Light survived the impact, and Takanuva's body was restored in a beam of light. Little did they know, though, that this would not be the last they saw of Teridax...

After returning to Metru Nui, Takanuva had been adjusting to his new role and responsibilities as a Toa, and was still unsure of himself when with the more experienced Toa Nuva. When Turaga Dume sent the Toa Nuva off to retrieve the Mask of Life, he insisted that Takanuva stay behind to protect Metru Nui. Jaller later gathered a group of Matoran to follow and aid the Toa Nuva, and Takanuva was a part of this group until they came to a gate that no light (or Toa of Light) could pass through, forcing him to turn back.

Once back on Metru Nui, he had two dangers to defend the city against: Dweller, who is hiding in the Archives with his existence unknown to the residents; and tribes of Frostelus that invaded the northern regions.

Dark Mirror
While patrolling Metru Nui, Takanuva was attacked by a Shadow Leech. When the Toa of Light awoke, part of his light has already been sucked out. Now, with the ability to control both light and darkness, Takanuva was encountered by Helryx, Krakua, and Brutaka who gave him a mission to go to Karda Nui and find the Toa Nuva in order to relay an important message to them. Brutaka then attempted to send Takanuva to Karda Nui through his Olmak, but the mask was damaged and not functioning properly. As a result, Takanuva ended up first in the The Kingdom and The Journey of Takanuva pocket dimensions respectfully. After that, he went into an alternate universe dominated by the Toa Empire.

After he arrived, he encountered Kapura, who thought Takanuva was going to punish him. The Matoran was later frozen by Kopaka, who then froze Takanuva and told the Toa of Light that he had committed a crime.

Later he was taken to the cells where he talked to his parallel self. They escaped and they headed to the Archives. They rescued Dume, who had stood up to Tuyet and gotten put into a stasis tube. They were then captured by Tuyet.

Tuyet forced them further into the Archives. She led Takanuva into a room and revealed herself as Teridax. Now in the room there were three Makuta: Teridax, Krika, and Kojol. They offered to smuggle Takanuva out of the city to find Brutaka, as long as he intercepted the delivery of the Vahi and gave it to them. The Makuta also added that Jaller was the leader of the caravan.

In order for Takanuva to be able to intercept the caravan, Krika exposed Takanuva to a virus which would (at least temporarily) grant him flight. He then confronted the Toa guarding the caravan, pretending he had been sent by Tuyet. However, they saw through his deception and exposed him.

Later, the caravan was attacked by Lesovikk. With the Mask of Time, he and Takanuva returned to Metru Nui and met with Pohatu, who also opposed Tuyet. They then joined the rest of the resistance group, upon which Pohatu revealed that they planned to mount a full-scale attack against Tuyet. When Takanuva, joined by the resistance and the Makuta, arrived, they attacked the Coliseum. After watching his parallel self perish, he followed the Dark Hunter Darkness to the Chamber of Masks. Once inside, Takanuva was confronted by Tuyet, Nui Stone in one hand and Olmak in the other. She had figured out that Takanuva was not from their universe. Takanuva then prepared to fight her. As she battered him, she put on the Olmak. Takanuva fired at her blasts of light and shadow, which she deflected. Both of them then noticed that numerous species had united and were heading for the Coliseum. He convinced Tuyet that she might be able to start over if she uses the Olmak. She does just that and Takanuva snatched the mask off her face and jumped into the portal. Tuyet tried to pulled him back. She was so filled with rage that she never noticed the portal closing. Takanuva escaped and Tuyet's body was left between the void and the Coliseum and met her death. Takanuva hovered through the "inter-dimension". He wondered that if Tuyet's death was going to leave the Toa as protectors again, or if the Makuta would take over as dictators. He concluded that he would eventually return to find the answer. He then resumed his journey to Karda Nui to help the Toa Nuva.

Swamp of Secrets
In the Karda Nui swamps, Takanuva emerged from a pocket dimension. After 3 tries to get to Karda Nui, he'd finally arrived. There he found Toa Mistika Gali Nuva, in battle with Makuta Krika. He flew to Krika, who saw Takanuva, and sadly disappeared. Takanuva helped Gali to her feet and they began looking for the other Toa Nuva. Then Takanuva spots an orange Toa-shaped being in the distance and prepares to battle... Takanuva looks more closely at the figure and realises it's Toa Pohatu. He then found out that he'd been an Av-Matoran and that the Makuta were draining the Matoran's Light. He swore that he will save the Matoran, even if he must die. The trio then encountered some violent insectoid creatures called Niazesk. Noticing the Toa, they attacked. Gali and Pohatu soon started fighting. Takanuva lowered his lance to blast the Niazesk with light but changed his mind in favor of his Shadow powers to take down all of the flying Rahi. Raising his right hand, he called upon the power of shadow, blasting the oncoming Niazesk directly. The Toa of Twilight turned towards his teammates, thinking they would congratulate him on winning the fight. Instead he saw fear in their eyes, and Pohatu pointing his weapon at him. Pohatu said that he had always wondered where Makuta Teridax had gone and now he knew. Takanuva asked Pohatu if was crazy and if he seriously thought he was a Makuta. Pohatu said yes, and said to Takanuva that if he really was Takanuva, he had 10 seconds to give Pohatu reason not to "Skyblast" him out of existence. Remembering that he had formed a bond with Gali on Mata Nui, Takanuva quickly suggests she read his mind. She did, citing his trips through The Kingdom and Dark Mirror during the process. His identity confirmed, Takanuva had the two Toa Nuva brief him on the current situation in the Swamp. Afterwards he tipped the balance of the battle and drove the Makuta back. He met the Toa Ignika and learned about the countdown to the end of the universe, then, Takanuva told the Toa Nuva that the Energy Storm was to be released after the awakening of Mata Nui and destroy everything in Karda Nui except the Codrex.

Powers and Abilities
Takanuva was the only known Toa of Light to exist, so many of his powers were unique to him. He could manipulate and control light, making it possible to shoot a powerful, bright beam of light energy at enemies that could either freeze or destroy them (like a laser beam), or create a sphere of light energy that he could throw at his opponents and cause some serious damage, among other things. He could also bring understanding to other beings. He had been experimenting with such abilites as light-speed movement (similar to Umbra) and the projection of holographic illusions, but it isn't yet known if he mastered them. He could also change the color of his armor. Since his encounter with a Shadow Leech, Takanuva had also gained power over Shadow. He could then fire shadow from his right arm while his left could fire light. However, he was only able to use one at a time, since Light and Shadow cancel each other out. Takanuva also gained the power of flight after Krika exposed him to a Makuta virus in the Toa Empire.

Mask and Tools
Takanuva's mask is the Avohkii, the Great Mask of Light, which augmented his power of light, and supposedly could bring peace and understanding to others. It could also reverse the effects of the Kraahkan.

Takanuva's weapon was the Staff of Light. It was replaced with a Power Lance and Midak Skyblaster during his adventures before arriving in Karda Nui.

Before it was destroyed, he rode the Ussanui. Made from Rahkshi armor, it allowed Takanuva to speed through the tunnel leading to Makuta's lair. It was taken to Metru Nui to be rebuilt, and is rumored that Toa Lesovikk took it to the Pit and repaired it there.

The origin of Takanuva's Power Lance and how he received it was revealed in The Kingdom.

Product Info
Legends tell of a mysterious and powerful Seventh Toa who will save the island from Makuta… and now he has arrived! Wearing the Kanohi Avohkii, the Mask of Light, and carrying the Kolhii Staff of Light, he will challenge the darkness of Makuta to free the Matoran. His vehicle, the Ussanui, can speed through the ancient tunnels beneath the island to reach Makuta's lair. The final challenge is about to begin! Push the lever down on Ussanui to make the landing gear come down. Fit the kraata into the Ussanui to help it track down Makuta!

Takua and Pewku
The set was released in 2003. Its set number is 8595, and has 221 pieces.

Takanuva (2003)
The set was released in 2003. Its set number is 8596, and has 199 pieces.

Takanuva (2008)
Takanuva was released June 30th, 2008. The prototype 2008 Takanuva was on display at the 2008 toy fair in New York. An image can be seen at BZPower. The 2008 Mistika set has 267 pieces and his set number is 8699.

Trivia

 * Greg Farshtey has confirmed that before coming to Metru Nui, Takua was best friends with Solek.
 * In the commentary of the Mask of Light Movie, the creators stated that the hint to Takua being the Toa of Light was that his blue Pakari didn't seem to fit on his face quite right.
 * Takua appeared in the LEGO Backlot game as an actor reading a script in the cafeteria. (The main difference was his red and yellow colors were mixed up)
 * The Takanuva in the dimension featured in The Kingdom still has all of his light because he was never attacked by a Shadow Leech.
 * Takanuva has a Blog on the Bionicle Website.