Hau

"Immediately, a strange feeling overwhelmed him. As if a cushion of strength had settled in around him, protecting him from all harm."

- Narration, BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa

The Kanohi Hau was the Mask of Shielding. It gave its user the power to protect themselves from any attack which they were aware of, but offered no protection against ambush or mental attacks. The Noble Hau acted much the same as its Great counterpart, but provided a weaker shield and possessed a shorter duration of power.

Kanohi Hau were carved out of a mixture of Growth and Regeneration Kanoka on Metru Nui.

Example Usages

 * Great: When Toa Mata Lewa was controlled by an Infected Kanohi and attacked Onua, the Toa of Earth used his collected Kanohi Hau to protect himself from the Toa of Air's attacks.
 * Noble: Turaga Lhikan once used his Hau to shield himself from Makuta Teridax's Shadow hand. However, the shield was quickly overwhelmed by the Makuta's power, and broke.

Great

 * The Toa Mata - Formerly; exchanged for Golden Kanohi
 * Tahu - Restored to primary mask
 * Lewa - Former secondary mask
 * Pohatu - Former secondary mask
 * Gali - Former secondary mask
 * Kopaka - Former secondary mask
 * Onua - Former secondary mask
 * Toa Mangai Lhikan - Formerly; transformed

Noble

 * Turaga Lhikan - Formerly; deceased
 * Matoran Jaller - Formerly

Powerless

 * Various Infected Rahi - In Great shape; uninfected
 * Gaardus - In Great shape
 * Kumo - In Great shape
 * Lumi - In Great shape
 * Marka - In Great shape
 * Pekka - In Great shape
 * Zemya - In Great shape
 * Matoran Lhikan - Formerly; transformed
 * Radiak - In Noble shape

Set Info

 * The Hau was first released in three 2001 sets: A red one was included with Tahu, a yellow one with Jala in the McDonald's promotional set, and two hand-painted, infected ones were released with the Muaka and Kane-Ra set. It was also released in the other colors of the Toa, green, blue, white, black and brown, and it was possible to find any of them in the supplementary Kanohi Packs, which included two randomly-selected masks. It was also possible to get a hand-painted infected one like that released with the Muaka set, though this was extremely rare.
 * A chrome silver Hau was released in the Power Pack, a BIONICLE set exclusive to Universal stores.
 * In 2002, a similar mask pack to the 2001 version was released, containing two similarly random masks in silver and gold, as well as three Krana of 96 possible types. From this it was possible to get the Hau in either gold or silver.
 * In 2003, Jaller's yellow Hau reappeared in the Jaller and Gukko set. An old dark gray Hau appears in both versions of the 2003 Takanuva set (8596 and 10201), and in the BIONICLE 500 Piece Kit set.
 * The original Hau have "4-CR" code printed on the inside just above the axle which could be entered in the 2001 promotional CD.
 * In the following year, the Hau was released again, this time in gold in the Lhikan and Kikanalo set. This time, however, the mask was redesigned to be elongated and more ornate, making it consistent with the Metru Nui aesthetic used at the time.
 * Six years later, a new version of the Hau was released in red and gold with a revamped and scaled-down version of the original Tahu in the BIONICLE Stars sets of 2010. This version was slightly smaller than its previous incarnations, but close to the original 2001 design.

Trivia

 * The Great Hau was a symbol of the Great Spirit Mata Nui within the Matoran Universe.
 * When Makuta first confronted the Toa Mata, he appeared in the form of an infected Matoran wearing an infected Great Hau; the subsequent form he took to battle them was nothing but the infected Hau floating at the center of a void formed by swirling black body parts and tentacles of shadow.
 * In a pocket dimension which Toa Takanuva once visited, a mysterious entity appeared to him in the form of a giant transparent Hau.
 * In an alternate timeline Takanuva also visited, Makuta Teridax wore a Great Hau which appeared infected, since his Kanohi Kraahkan had been taken from him.