Matoran

Matoran were the "average" people of the Bionicle world. The Matoran had a work based culture and upheld many virtues, primarily Unity, Duty and Destiny. Although not one of Bionicle's strongest races, Matoran were the most common and possibly the most influential, seeing as almost all intelligent beings spoke the Matoran language. The Matoran were also the chosen people of the universe's protector, the Great Spirit Mata Nui.

All Matoran wore 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. 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.

Certain destined Matoran had special power hidden within them; when this power was unleashed the Matoran transformed into a heroic Toa warrior with increased physical strength and elemental power.

Physical Characteristics
Matoran had the largest race (next to Rahi), but were the smallest Bionicle characters. They had powerless Kanohi masks and some could become Toa and later Turaga if they were destined to.

Mata Nui/Metru Nui Matoran
Though the Matoran from Metru Nui had physically transformed a few times over their lives, some things had remained constant. First, each Matoran had up to three colors on their bodies: one for their torso, one for their feet and sometimes their hands, and one for their mask; often their mask color matched their limbs, or their limbs matched their body.

When Matoran first came into being (on Metru Nui, at least), their bodies were characterized by their large, flat, triangular torsos. Their masks also had silver streaks on the forehead that showed the masks were powerless.

When Teridax put the Matoran into Matoran Spheres, the spheres eventually caused the Matoran to weaken and physically shrink. In this weakened state, the Matoran had very small torsos, large two-toed feet, and gangly oversized arms.

After the Bohrok-Kal were defeated, the Turaga revealed to the Matoran how they could rebuild their bodies into stronger forms that would be roughly comparable to the bodies they once had on Metru Nui. These forms were not as tall as their Metru Nui forms, but were quite a bit bulkier; and they kept the two-toed feet of their previous incarnation.

Voya Nui/Mahri Nui Matoran
During the Great Cataclysm, the region around Mount Valmai "rocketed up" off the Mainland and became an isolated island, Voya Nui, stranding the Matoran and other beings living there. Since then the Matoran have had to struggle to survive, dealing with constant drought and volcanic eruptions. At some point, a settlement sank beneath the sea, and the Matoran still throw food and gifts into the sea in memory of those lost that day. Unlike other known islands, where Matoran are separated by type, all of Voya Nui's survivors have banded together and live in a single village.

It has been proved that damaged Matoran were sent to Karzahni to be repaired, Karzahni's work wasn't the best. And he gave them weapons to make up for the fact that the Matoran were weaker and shorter in stature than they used to be, and rather than admit his bad handiwork, he sent them to the area around Mount Valmai instead of back to where they came from.

Due to Karzahni's shoddy repair jobs, the Matoran on Voya Nui were physically weaker than most Matoran, and there was no uniform body style. There was also no uniform set of masks that the Matoran wore, as Karzahni just gave them whatever masks he had lying around.

The known Voya Nui Matoran (from the resistance)were seen to wear masks shaped like great Huna, Matatu, Ruru, Rau, Mahiki and Komau masks (though comics books and such show other Matoran with a wide range of strange masks). Some of the only known Mahri Nui matoran (such as Dekar and Defilak) were so far known to wear masks shaped like great Kualsi and noble Kiril.

Types
Matoran were classified by whichever element they were affiliated with. So far, only a few were identified, though there are surely 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 - Matoran of Fire had a natural resistance to the extreme heat and tended to be diligent and responsible.
 * Ga-Matoran - Matoran of Water had a sleeker build, better lung capacity, and other physical advantages for swimming. They were peaceful and friendly and were exclusively female.
 * Le-Matoran - Matoran of Air had the heightened agility and reflexes needed to avoid high-speed crashes. They loved thrills and dangerous sports, leading them to perhaps taking crazy risks; they also enjoyed a good practical joke.
 * Po-Matoran - Matoran of Stone working with their hands often, they had great physical strength - however, they couldn't swim; they sunk like rocks instead. They were down-to-earth and practical, not putting too much stock in what they couldn't see and touch.
 * Onu-Matoran - Matoran of earth spent a lot of time underground, so their eyes had adapted to see in little light (however, they were easily blinded by bright lights). They tended to put their faith in the past and what could be learned from it.
 * Ko-Matoran - Matoran of Ice had a natural resistance to the extreme cold. They were quiet to the point of being antisocial, and spent a lot of time being lost in thought, pondering the future.
 * Av-Matoran - Matoran of Light were the first type of Matoran to be created. They had the ability to change their armor color and they could be either male or female.
 * Fe-Matoran - Matoran of Iron whose prefix is derived from the chemical symbol for iron, "Fe."
 * Shadow Matoran Although not a natural Matoran element, Shadow Matoran were Av-Matoran that had been drained of their light by a Shadow Leech
 * Matoran of Plasma
 * Matoran of Plantlife
 * Matoran of Magnetism
 * Matoran of Lightning
 * Matoran of Gravity

Matoran Nui
Like Toa and other Bionicle 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.

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.