Onewa

"His power, my mind. An unbeatable combination."

- Onewa, Voyage of Fear

Onewa was the Toa of Stone in Metru Nui and Turaga of Po-Koro on Mata Nui, and later Po-Metru.

Matoran
Onewa was a Po-Matoran carver when he received the summons to duty from Toa Lhikan giving him a Toa Stone along with a map to the Great Temple. Journeying there, he encountered five other Matoran each with a Toa Stone. When they placed their Toa Stones into the Suva at the center of the Great Temple, they were transformed into the Toa Metru.

Toa Metru
"Now that I'm a Toa Metru, I'm going to take advantage of it. The best tools, the best materials, mine for the asking - I'll build statues like you have never seen before!"

- Toa Onewa, The Darkness Below

Onewa wore the Kanohi Komau, the Great Mask of Mind Control, which allowed him to direct the actions of other beings. He carried two Proto Pitons, which he used to scale buildings and swing from one to another. They also served to channel his power to control Stone.

After becoming Toa, Vakama had a vision and told everyone that they needed to find the Great Disks to defeat the Morbuzakh plant. He also said that six Matoran had already discovered their location. Onewa immediately was made to search for the Po-Matoran named Ahkmou, who knew the location of Po-Metru's Great Disk. Onewa was skeptical because the information came from Vakama's visions which he believed were caused because "a fire-spitter stood too long in front of his forge" He nevertheless found Ahkmou, who turned out to be a traitor who was planning to betray his city to the Dark Hunters. Onewa had no choice but to trust him, because he alone knew the location of the Po-Metru Great Disk. Onewa and Vakama had a great hostility toward each other, and were forced to team up successfully recovered both the Ta-Metru and the Po-Metru Great Disks (Onewa's being hidden atop an upside-down sculpture in the Po-Metru Sculpture Fields) and defeated the Morbuzakh.

However, upon presenting the Great Disks to Turaga Dume as proof of their worthiness, 'Dume' — actually Teridax in disguise — pronounced them impostors and called for their arrest. Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua were captured. When they were being escorted to the prison, they tried to escape but failed, and were locked in the Prison of the Dark Hunters. But a mysterious Turaga, also inside, helped them activate their mask powers. First only Nuju and Whenua had to do something, but when Onewa started laughing at them, the Turaga gave Onewa the combined task of Whenua and Nuju. He had to carry rocks around blindfolded. Onewa bumped into Whenua, who grew mad at something Onewa said. Onewa then ordered Whenua to sit with his Mind Control mask, learning its power. After this, The Toa escaped, thanks to Nuju's mask power. Once out of the prison, they walked through the tunnels guided by Whenua's light and eventually met up with the other three Toa and together with the mysterious Turaga, now revealed as Lhikan, they headed for the Coliseum, where they discovered the sleeping Matoran and the false Dume. In the flight from the Coliseum, Onewa saved the day by making Krekka attack Nidhiki. During the Great Barrier Battle, Onewa used his tools to destroy a Protodermis pole which was going to collide with the transport. Onewa and also joined stone with the other Toa's Elements to seal Teridax behind solid Protodermis in the end.

The Toa Metru then left Metru Nui for Mata Nui by a series of rivers aboard their Vahki Transport-Boat, The Lhikan. On route, however, they encountered sea Rahi and Kralhi led by a Onu-Matoran named Mavrah, who believed that they were sent by Turaga Dume to retrieve him and fought them. In the battle, Mavrah was swept into the boiling river and only the actions of Onewa prevented Whenua from diving in after him.

After reaching Mata Nui, Onewa discovered a system of tunnels which the Toa Metru used to return to Metru Nui. The six Toa descended into the tunnels, where they discovered strange, mutated Rahi, one of which was the Rahi Nui. When it attacked them, the Metru tricked it into shrinking. When it attacked again, Onewa, Matau, Nokama, and Whenua were defeated, but Vakama and Nuju managed to defeat it, causing it to grow until its atomic structure couldn't support its size.

After the battle, they found out that Nokama had been poisoned by the Rahi Nui. They continued on their journey to Metru Nui, and met the Karzahni plant along the way. He agreed to heal Nokama if they would bring it a vial of Energized Protodermis. However, Onewa was attacked by a Kratana, a Kraata/Krana hybrid-type creature, which attached itself to his mask. Onewa experienced strange visions of 'Visorak', but he could not remember any of them after the creature was destroyed.

Later, when the Toa found the pool of Energized Protodermis, he helped the others defeat the Energized Protodermis Entity by bringing down all but one pillar. It tried to kill them as they left and Onewa shattered the last pillar, defeating it.

The team then brought the Energized Protodermis back to Karzahni, and Onewa witnessed as the plant was destroyed by the substance, as it had not been destined to be transformed. The Toa then used the remains of the plant as a floatation device for their boat back to Metru Nui, the Lhikan II.

Toa Hordika
While sailing on the Silver Sea, the Toa's boat was devastated by a storm. However, they all survived and eventually landed on the shores of Metru Nui. They then started traveling inland, Vakama confident in that they would simply gather the remaining Matoran and leave; however, they were attacked by a group of Visorak, knocked out, and brought before Sidorak and Roodaka. They were then hung in cocoons and injected with Visorak venom. Soon after, the venom had taken effect, transforming them into bestial forms and causing them to break out of their cocoons and plummet to their certain doom. However, the Toa were then saved by the Rahaga.

While searching for levitation disks in Po-Metru, Onewa stumbled upon evidence that he and his team might not have been meant to be the Toa Metru. Onewa and the others, however, led by Norik, the last remaining Rahaga, embarked on a journey to find Keetongu, and were successful in persuading him to help them against the Visorak. In the final battle, Onewa killed many Visorak, and aided the others in destroying Roodaka and, unwittingly, releasing Makuta. He was then transformed back into a Toa Metru by Keetongu, and then, with close to 1,000 sleeping villagers, he returned to the island of Mata Nui to start life.

Turaga
Onewa was often called "The Referee." His right-hand Matoran was Hewkii until he was transformed into a Toa, while his left-hand Matoran was Hafu. He and Whenua invented the game of Kolhii.

Onewa led the Po-Matoran to Ga-Koro in order to escape the Tahnok swarms, which were ravaging Po-Koro. There, as they and the Ga-Matoran prepared to make a last stand against the Bohrok, the Toa defeated the Bahrag and saved them from the Pahrak.

Onewa withheld information about Metru Nui and his life as a Toa from Pohatu, and continued to do so, leaving Vakama the task of telling the story of their lives as Toa Metru.

After the defeat of Teridax, Onewa and the Toa Nuva, the other Turaga, and the Matoran returned to Metru Nui. However, the Turaga then recieved news that Mata Nui was dying. They then gathered the Toa Nuva, and sent them to Voya Nui, in search of the Kanohi Ignika.

Jaller then arrived in the chamber, demanding the location of the Toa Nuva. When he wasn't told everything, he decided to declare a strike until the Turaga decided to show respect for the Matoran and tell them everything.

A meeting amongst the Turaga allowed Dume to reveal that one of the Turaga had betrayed the group and told the Matoran about Mata Nui's death. This was so because he had noticed that Jaller, Hewkii, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, and Nuparu had left the city. Nokama then accidentally revealed that she had told Jaller, and Vakama wanted Takanuva to get them back, but Dume then told them that Takanuva had left with them.

When Matoro died to save Mata Nui, Onewa carved a statue of him. Later on, the Order of Mata Nui came to Metru Nui to fight against the Brotherhood, Onewa and the other Turaga refused to comply with their plans. They were then confined in the Coliseum.

Onewa and the other Turaga helped in the Siege. After that, the Turaga declared a city-wide celebration.

While Dume gave a speech in the Coliseum, Teridax revealed he was in control of Mata Nui's body. He then sent Rahkshi to Metru Nui. Onewa, with Metru Nui's population, went into the Archives and hid. The Turaga then found Krahka, who led the Toa Nuva through underground tunnels to the shoreline. Some time later, all the Turaga of Metru Nui were imprisoned in the Coliseum, and Ahkmou took their place as the new "Turaga".

Following Teridax's death, Onewa and the other Turaga and Matoran evacuated Metru Nui onto Spherus Magna.

Powers and Equipment
As a Toa of Stone, Onewa could control, create, destroy, or absorb stone. He wore a Kanohi Komau and carried a pair of Proto Pitons. When he became a Toa Hordika, Onewa could only control his powers through a Rhotuka and carried a pair of Claw Clubs. When Onewa became a Turaga, these abilities were greatly reduced and he wore a Noble Komau and carried a Stone Hammer.

Personality and Traits
Onewa was the Toa Metru of Stone and guardian of Po-Metru. Like many residents of Po-Metru, he looked down on those from Ko-Metru and Onu-Metru as not doing "real work," believing that the past and future were a waste of time. Onewa was courageous, almost to the point of being reckless, and refused to accept defeat. He would always find a way to win. Onewa had no truly close friends among the Toa Metru, mainly because he was so quick to anger. He particularly riled Vakama and Nuju, neither one of whom were his idea of a Toa. But he could always be trusted in a crisis and had more than once come up with the plan to resolve the situation. He had enormous confidence in his own ability to achieve.

As a Toa Hordika, Onewa's already-aggressive attitude was heavily affected by his transformation. He had violent tendencies and resentment of the other Toa. These changes subsided after he was cured, and he was further mellowed when he became a Turaga.

Turaga

 * The set number is 8542.
 * The set contains 30 pieces.
 * Onewa is the tallest of the Turaga because he has bigger shins than the rest of the Turaga. The rest of the Turaga (Except Nuju, because he has one extra shin piece on each side) have much smaller shins.

Toa Metru

 * The set number is 8604.
 * The set contains 43 pieces.
 * The Toa Metru were the first sets to include bendable elbows. This continued with the other sets until 2010 came and the Bionicle Stars had bendable shoulders.

Toa Hordika

 * The set number is 8739.
 * The set contains 48 pieces.

Trivia

 * Brian Drummond voiced Onewa in both Legends of Metru Nui and Web of Shadows.  Drummond also voiced Matau in the same two movies.
 * The pronunciation of Onewa's name has varied from source to source. According to The Official Guide to BIONICLE, it is pronounced "oh-NOO-wah"; however, in BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui, it is pronounced "AH-neh-wah".