Matau

"We quick-save Matoran. We defeat evil. We get to explore ever-strange places like this. A little discomfort is not so very bad compared to that."

- Matau, BIONICLE Adventures 3: The Darkness Below

Matau was a Toa of Air on Metru Nui. He later became a Turaga of Le-Koro, and later Le-Metru, as an adviser for Turaga Dume.

Matoran
As a Matoran, Matau was a Ussal-cart driver. He was also known to be a volunteer Test Driver in his spare time. Unfortunately, very few of the prototype vehicles worked. Orkahm always said that Matau was too reckless in his jobs and could've taken them more seriously. One day, as he tested a prototype Moto-Sled, it broke, afterwards, Toa Lhikan then handed him a green stone. Not really knowing what to do, Matau took the stone to the Great Temple, where he met the five other destined Matoran, one from each of the other districts. The Matoran placed their stones in the Suva at the center of the temple, and were immediately covered in beams of light. When the light subsided, they were no longer Matoran — they were Toa.

Toa Metru
"Thanks for dream-sharing, Vakama."

- Toa Matau to Vakama

After Matau became a Toa Metru, he was concerned more about fame and glamour of being a hero, rather than the work. Once Vakama had the vision of the six Great Disks, Matau was immediately ordered by Vakama to go find the Le-Matoran Orkahm. Matau eventually found Orkahm in a web of transport cords. He managed to get the Matoran out and escaped before the Morbuzakh reached them. Vakama then had the Toa and Matoran split into pairs to find the Great Disks. His partner on this mission was Nokama. Matau rescued the Great Disk from a Force Sphere in The Notch, almost killing himself in the process, and helped Nokama find the Great Disk of Ga-Metru under the Great Temple by providing a distraction for the Vahki that were chasing them. They then entered Ta-Metru to find the Morbuzakh. After nearly being killed by Morbuzakh seedlings and gaining entrance to the Great Furnace with the help of a Matoran Nui, Matau with the other Toa Metru faced off against the king root with the other Toa, killing it with their Great Disks. After defeating the monster plant, Matau and the other Toa where told to go down into the Archives by Nuparu. Then and there, he and the other Toa fought Rahkshi and an intelligent Rahi known as Krahka. They defeated the Rahkshi and the Krahka and headed up, and out of the Archives. Matau and the other Toa were ready to be hailed as Toa by Turaga Dume and the Matoran. Instead, they were branded as impostors. Unbeknownst to the Toa, there really was an impostor — Dume himself. Teridax, under the guise of Dume, planned to place the Matoran into hibernation and then wake them up to serve him — and him alone. Nuju, Onewa, and Whenua were all trapped under the Coliseum while Vakama, Nokama, and Matau escaped to safety. After many encounters and adventures, Matau and the others were all reunited, along with Turaga Lhikan. Now the Toa had one last mission to accomplish — defeating Teridax. After a long battle on the Great Barrier, the six Toa Metru trapped the Master of Shadows in a Protodermis seal. During the battle, Turaga Lhikan sacrificed himself to save Vakama and the Vahi, Mask of Time. Now the Toa had to find a new home for the Matoran with no guidance — a mission which was filled with many trials.

The Toa Metru managed to make it above ground, to the island which they christened Mata Nui. The island was filled with wild Rahi, several habitats, and was many times larger than Metru Nui. Matau chose a dense jungle for the home of his Matoran, as it reminded him of the Chute systems in Le-Metru. But before the Matoran could come and live here, they would have to be rescued - a mission which would change Matau forever. When he had seen what had happened to Le-Metru after the earthquake, it filled him with grief, especially the destroyed and abandoned Test Track and Moto-Hub.

Toa Hordika
"I just had an urge to nest-make, Nokama."

- Matau, after waking up inside a "nest"

As a Toa Hordika, Matau was the one most eager to seek out Keetongu. His Fang Blades could cut through most substances, and serve to charge his Air Rhotuka. He was willing to do anything to reverse his mutation and become a Toa Metru again. Sickened by the transformation into Hordika, Matau however still retained his funny side. He blamed Vakama for his transformation and often called him "Fire-Spitter" or "Smelt-Head". During his time with the others and the incident of the Great Temple, he finally realized what he had done wrong and vowed with the other Toa that they would do whatever it took to rescue Vakama, who, from their point of view, had given in to his Hordika side. At the last battle against the Visorak, Matau finally understood the meaning of Unity, how hard is it to be leader and no matter how he looks, there is always hope. It was also he who saved Vakama from being plunged into the shadows by humbly apologizing for his previous behavior.

Matau was finally returned to his Toa form by the great Rahi Keetongu. He helped load the Matoran onto Airships to take them to Mata Nui.

Matau, along with the other Toa Metru, sacrificed his Toa power to awaken the Matoran. Using the last of his Toa power turned him into a Turaga. Fortunately, on their first visit to Mata Nui, the Toa Metru had given a little of their power into Toa Stones and scattered them about the island.

Mata Nui
After the Matoran were awakened, the now-Turaga Matau led the Le-Matoran through the jungle of Le-Wahi until finally finding a location to build Le-Koro. They decided to build their new home in the treetops on platforms, far away from the dangers of the swamps below. He came to be well-loved by his people for his easygoing attitude, and respected as a Turaga. For one year, the Le-Matoran lived in peace and happiness, flourishing under Matau's leadership, but darkness fell across the island of Mata Nui when Makuta attacked, controlling vast amounts of the local Rahi with infected Kanohi and harassing the Matoran for nine centuries.

Fortunately, hope would come to Le-Koro in the form of a canister washing up on the shores of Kanae Bay; from the canister emerged Lewa, Toa Mata of Air. Arriving in Le-Koro, Matau told him about his quest to find six Kanohi Masks to fight Makuta and save Mata Nui from his tyranny, but did not reveal his life as a Toa Metru or his life on Metru Nui.

Some time after Lewa's arrival, Le-Koro was assaulted by a swarm of Nui-Rama infected by Makuta; Turaga Matau and most of the Le-Matoran population was taken by the large insects, and forced to be a slave in their hive. Worse, Matau discovered that even Toa Lewa had been taken prisoner by Makuta's forces, and enslaved to the dark being's will by an infected Kanohi. However, the broken-spirited Matau kept this to himself, as he did not wish to rob his enslaved people of the one hope they had left.

Fortunately, Kongu, the leader of Le-Koro's Gukko Force, had escaped the kidnappings, and rallied together the few remaining free Le-Matoran to initiate a full-fledged assault by Kewa bird on the nest in an effort to free Matau and their fellow Air Matoran. Kongu and his disk-throwing second (an outsider named Takua) made it into the hive astride his pet Kahu, Ka, but they were quickly grounded when Ka was injured. Matau met Takua, and told him in secret the truth about Lewa. Immediately after this, the infected Toa himself chose to reveal himself to the Matoran, but they were saved at the last minute by Onua, Toa of Earth, who engaged Lewa. After a quick but brutal duel, Onua managed to knock the infected mask controlling Lewa off his face, and (at Matau's suggestion) returned his true mask to him. The freed Air Toa then quickly set about liberating the rest of his people, and they celebrated their freedom immediately after returning to Le-Koro. After the Toa Mata achieved their first victory against Makuta, all villages erupted into celebration, and Le-Koro was certainly no exception. However, it would not be long before Matau and the Le-Matoran faced a new threat in the form of the Bohrok swarms awakening and attacking the island. Le-Wahi was invaded by swarms of acid-powered Lehvak and earth-leveling Nuhvok; Matau and the other Air villagers tried to protect their home, but the Lehvak overran them, destroyed Le-Koro and replaced the masks of Matau and the Le-Matoran with Krana, making them mindless drones of the Bohrok. The mind-controlled villagers later confronted Toa Lewa in this state, pretending that the control over them extended only to their bodies, and asked the Toa of Air to free them. Believing that his people were speaking honestly, Lewa moved forward to free them, but they quickly ambushed him, stealing his mask as well and replacing it with a Krana Za.

Metru Nui
When Matau and the Matoran returned to Metru Nui, He and the other Turaga learned that Mata Nui was dying. They then told the Toa Nuva what they had learned, and led them to a chamber with six canisters in it, to send them to the island known as Voya Nui, to retrieve the Ignika and save Mata Nui.

Matau was present when Jaller and Takanuva arrived, Jaller demanding where the Toa Nuva were. Dume had answered by saying they had gone somewhere dangerous, which wasn't good enough for Jaller, and he decided to declare a strike, since the Turaga were treating them like Rahi and not telling them anything.

Matau later attended a meeting with the other Turaga, and was told by Dume that one of them had told Jaller what they had told the Toa Nuva, and that he and Hahli, Hewkii, Nuparu, Kongu, Matoro, and Takanuva had left with him. He then learned that it was Nokama who had told him.

When at last the news came from Voya Nui that he was saved, Matau and the others joyously celebrated his healing, until they learned that Matoro had sacrificed himself to revive Mata Nui. Later on, the Order of Mata Nui came to Metru Nui to fight against the Brotherhood, Matau and the other Turaga refused to comply with their plans. They were then confined in the Coliseum. Matau and the other Turaga helped in the Siege. After that, the Turaga declared a city-wide celebration.

Teridax's Takeover
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. Matau, 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".

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

Personality and Traits
Matau was always light-hearted, and loved being a "Toa-hero". Part of him was always slightly insecure about not living up to his concept of what a Toa should be. This is one of the reasons he was the most affected by his mutation into a Toa Hordika, and was the most eager to be turned back into a Toa Metru. He also had a large ego and could be vain. Like many of the other Toa Metru (especially Onewa) Matau had doubts about Vakama's visions and competence as a leader, and he was especially mean towards Vakama when they were Toa Hordika. But the latter's betrayal taught him the dangers of constant argument.

As a Turaga, he still remained humorous, and was known to play pranks on Turaga Nuju. He was well-known for this, but was always calm in a crisis and never asked the Le-Matoran to do something he wasn't willing to do himself.

When faced with a fork in the road, Matau always advised going right, as he had had some bad experiences with left forks as a Toa Metru.

Like most Le-Matoran, he used a common form of slang known as Treespeak.

Powers and Equipment
As a Toa, Matau had the elemental power of air. He could create cyclones, hurricanes, and increase air pressure. Matau carried two Aero Slicers. When mutated, they became Fang Blades. When he was transformed into a Turaga, later replaced his weapons with a Kau Kau Staff.

Turaga Matau

 * The first set Matau was released in was as a Turaga.
 * It came out in 2001.
 * Its set number is 8541.
 * It contains 26 pieces.
 * There was also a Kabaya Promotional set with the exact same pieces, its set number is 1418.

Toa Matau

 * The set came out in 2004.
 * The set number is 8605.
 * The set contains 46 pieces.
 * The Toa Metru were the first sets to include bendable elbows. This continued with the other sets until 2010 came when the Bionicle Stars had bendable shoulders only.

Toa Hordika Matau

 * The set was released in 2005.
 * The set number is 8740.
 * The set contains 48 pieces, like the other Toa Hordika.

Trivia

 * Matau was Bob Thomspon's (founder of the BIONICLE stories and comics) favorite BIONICLE character on the good side.
 * Brian Drummond voiced Toa Matau in both Legends of Metru Nui and Web of Shadows.
 * In the game BIONICLE Colgate, his name is misspelled as "Matua".
 * BIONICLE writer Greg Farshtey would have rather had Matau join Roodaka and Sidorak than Vakama due to Matau's vanity.