Toa Metru/Toa Hordika

The Toa Metru were a team of Toa who rescued the Matoran of Metru Nui after the Great Cataclysm. They were mutated into Toa Hordika for a brief period but were later cured by Keetongu. They used their Toa Power to awaken the Matoran and became Turaga in the process.

Members

 * Vakama, Toa of Fire - Team Leader
 * Nokama, Toa of Water - Deputy Leader
 * Matau, Toa of Air
 * Nuju, Toa of Ice
 * Onewa, Toa of Stone
 * Whenua, Toa of Earth

Mystery of Metru Nui
A thousand years ago, the city of Metru Nui was in danger. Several Toa had disappeared while on missions for Turaga Dume, leaving only Toa Lhikan. Turaga Dume had also ordered all routes out from the city sealed off, in preparation for an impending crisis. The city had come under attack from a plant creature called the Morbuzakh, causing more Matoran to be kidnapped every day. Lhikan dealt with the Morbuzakh attacks as best he could, but when two Dark Hunters, including Lhikan's former teammate Nidhiki, were seen inside the city, he began to get worried.

Having become suspicious of Dume, Lhikan took matters into his own hands and stole six Toa stones from the Great Temple. He had originally planned to give the stones to six Matoran who had found the Great Kanoka Disks: Nuhrii, Vhisola, Orkahm, Ahkmou, Tehutti, and Ehrye. But he thought better of this plan and instead decided on six others: Vakama, Nokama, Matau, Onewa, Whenua, and Nuju. Lhikan infused the stones with some of his own Toa power and gave them to the Matoran with directions to the Great Temple. Just as he delivered the last Toa Stone to Vakama (who was trying to make a Vahi Mask of Time for "Dume"), Nidhiki and his partner Krekka attacked and captured him. The last thing Lhikan told Vakama was to "save the heart of Metru Nui."

The Matoran went to the Great Temple as instructed and place their Toa Stones in the Suva shrine. When the Toa Stones were collected, a beam of light shot out of the Suva and transformed the surprised Matoran into Toa. Amazed at their transformation, the new Toa found Kanoka Disks inside the Suva engraved with their names and images of their new masks; they took these Toa Disks as signs that they were destined to be Toa. After they each chose tools from the Suva's collection, Vakama got a vision of the Great Disks and the Matoran who found them. Though not everyone had faith in the visions of a "fire-spitter", the Toa Metru agree that it's all they have to go on, so they split up and each search for one of the Matoran.

But the search didn't go off as well as planned. First, there was the hassle of evading the Vahki enforcers, who were programmed to pacify troublemakers - like a certain group of rookie Toa running around the city. Complicating matters was the Toa's inexperience with their new powers. The six Matoran had also vanished without a trace. But after a little detective work on the Toa's part, each Matoran was found and rescued from where they had been trapped by the Dark Hunters. But they also found some evidence that one of the Matoran actually helped set the traps for the other five.

The Toa Metru then began their search for the Great Disks, with the Matoran in tow to keep an eye on them. With a little work - and several close calls - all were able to retrieve their Great Disks: Nokama got the Ga-Metru Disk from the mouth of a sea monster, Vakama claimed the Ta-Metru Disk from an erupting fire pit, Whenua found the Onu-Metru Disk in an Archives storage closet (after he and Nuju faced Rahi monsters behind several wrong doors), Matau grabbed the Le-Metru Disk from a soon-to-implode force sphere, Nuju found the Ko-Metru Disk in an icicle on top of a Knowledge Tower, and Onewa scaled a upside-down mountain to claim the Po-Metru Disk.

With all the Disks found, Vhisola told the Toa Metru that according to her research, the Morbuzakh can be stopped by destroying its King Root. Having noticed the plant's dislike of cold earlier, the Toa figured that the King Root must be in the Great Furnace, so the group headed to Ta-Metru. On the way, Ahkmou tried to run but was quickly caught; when confronted he admitted that Nidhiki threatened him into helping trap the other Matoran.

Inside the heart of the furnace (and after the Matoran had left), the Toa were shocked to find that the Morbuzakh could communicate telepathically; it explained its plan to take over the city but let it slip that it was commanded to attack by someone. After using up nearly all their elemental power fighting, the Toa eventually lured the Morbuzakh into drawing them in closer, where they unleashed the powers of the Great Disks. The Disks' power created an energy sphere that cut the Morbuzakh off from its vines and killed it. With the Morbuzakh's defeat, all its vines throughout the city disintegrated, and the Great Furnace collapsed (with the Toa Metru escaping safely).

The Great Cataclysm
Fresh from their victory, the Toa Metru went to the Coliseum, hoping to present themselves to Turaga Dume (though they had to make a detour into the Archives to keep them from being flooded, and found themselves fighting a territorial shapeshifter called Krahka). Unfortunately, Dume rejected their gifts of the Great Kanoka Disks and insisted that they pass a grueling physical test before they would be recognized as heroes. With their elemental power drained and their mask powers still inaccessible, the Toa suffered a humiliating defeat. Dume ordered that the "impostor" Toa be arrested; though Vakama, Nokama, and Matau were able to escape. On the way out, Vakama saw two Dark Hunters with Dume and figured out that the three were working together.

On the run from the Vahki and the Dark Hunters (and a Tahtorak that they had awakened); Vakama, Nokama, and Matau saw Lhikan's Spirit Star over Po-Metru, so they headed in that direction; Vakama also began experimenting with the Great Disks and found that he can merge them together. Meanwhile; Onewa, Whenua, and Nuju found themselves locked up with a strange Turaga, who immediately put them to work doing seemingly pointless tasks.

Around this time, the Toa began to activate their mask powers for the first time: Nokama gained hers after admitting she doesn't know all the answers, and her new powers of Translation let her talk to a herd of Kikanalo and gain their help. Matau was taught some humility by the Kikanalo, and could then use his Illusion power to shapeshift. Onewa and Nuju activated their powers of Mind Control and Telekinesis, respectively, when they got in an argument over the strange Turaga's tasks; they were then able to use their new powers to escape their prison. And Whenua used his new power of Night Vision to lead the escapees through the underground tunnels.

The two groups eventually met up in the tunnels under Po-Metru, and the Turaga revealed himself to be Lhikan, whose power was drained by the others' transformation into Toa. Lhikan asked if the "heart of Metru Nui" was safe; when Vakama was confused by the question, Lhikan explained that the "heart of Metru Nui" was the Matoran. Soon afterward, the Toa found a silver sphere with Turaga Dume inside, unmasked and unconscious. With all realizing that someone else has taken control of the city while pretending to be Dume; they quickly headed to the Coliseum.

The Toa Metru found the city deserted, with the entire population sealed into spheres by Dume's imposter, none other than Teridax, who had been one of the Matorans' guardians. Teridax then proceeded to put the Great Spirit Mata Nui to sleep, triggering the Great Cataclysm. While this was happening, the Toa grabbed a few Matoran Spheres and started to flee the city, intending to return for the rest.

Teridax, however, wasn't going to let that happen without a fight. He chased after the Toa Metru, and Vakama challenged him alone. There, Vakama showed the results of his toying with the Kanoka Disks: the Vahi Mask of Time, just as "Dume" had wanted. Teridax offered him membership in his Brotherhood, but Vakama flatly refused and attempted to use the Vahi's powers against Makuta. Unfortunately, Vakama wasn't able to control its power, and he ended up slowing time to a crawl for both of them. Teridax had launched a deadly blast that Vakama would never be able to dodge when Turaga Lhikan appeared and jumped in the way, sacrificing himself for Vakama. While Teridax went after the Vahi (which had been thrown off Vakama's face from the impact), Lhikan told Vakama how proud he was to have called Vakama a "brother". Spurred on by Lhikan's last words, Vakama finally activated his mask power of Concealment and began using his invisibility to fight Teridax. The other Toa Metru soon made their way to the battlefield, and together the six of them combined their powers to seal Teridax in a prison of solid Protodermis.

Exploring Mata Nui
In their journey away from Metru Nui, the Toa Metru encountered an old acquaintance of Whenua's named Mavrah. It turns out that some time ago, the two had been part of a project to study a number of sea Rahi; but the Rahi had proved enough of a threat that Turaga Dume had shut down the project. Mavrah had become somewhat obsessed with the Rahi and what could be learned from them, and escaped with the Rahi before the Vahki could less-than-gently drive them out. By the time the Toa Metru found him, he had become paranoid; thinking the Toa were sent to drag him back to the city. The Toa's attempt to escape Mavrah and the Rahi sparked a feeding frenzy; the Toa made it out but Mavrah was washed out to sea along with one of the Matoran Spheres (which just happened to be holding the traitor Ahkmou).

Arriving at the planet's surface, the Toa found a lush tropical island and named it Mata Nui, after the Great Spirit. They each explored the island, looking for good sites to found villages for their respective Matoran, and at Vakama's suggestion created new Toa Stones so that replacement Toa could come if they failed.

The Toa started the trek back to Metru Nui and encountered several Rahi headed in the other direction, scared out of their minds of something. They also wound up facing the Rahi Nui, which attacked and badly injured Nokama. They soon afterwards encountered a plant monster called the Karzahni, a prototype of the Morbuzakh that wanted revenge on Teridax for abandoning it. Karzahni made a deal with the Toa: if the Toa obtained some Energized Protodermis for it, Karzanhi would cure Nokama of her injuries. The Toa got the energized Protodermis, but only after battling an entity made entirely of the strange liquid. Karzahni kept its word and healed Nokama, and in return the Toa gave Karzahni the Protodermis; but instead of being transformed as Karzahni expected, it was instead destroyed.

The Great Rescue
Upon returning to Metru Nui on a raft of transport parts and dead Karzahni branches, the Toa Metru found a city very different from the one they left: the bioquake during the cataclysm had not only damaged several of the buildings, but also freed most Rahi from where they had been kept in the Archives. Even more unsettling were the numerous spiderwebs covering the city from top to bottom. But Vakama (believing he had failed the Matoran by allowing their capture and Lhikan by not preventing his death) had become dead-set on rescuing the Matoran, and despite their uneasiness none of the Toa would object enough to dissuade him from marching them directly to the Coliseum.

Unfortunately, the Coliseum had become the nesting grounds of the makers of the spiderwebs - hordes of Visorak who had taken over the city. The Toa were quickly overtaken and captured. Upon orders from their King, Sidorak (with input from his Viceroy, Roodaka), the Visorak bound the Toa in cocoons, injected them with their Hordika venom, and strung them up high above the city. Soon enough, the venom began to take effect, mutating the Toa into horrific bestial forms and causing them to tear out of their cocoons. Just as they were falling to their certain doom, they were caught in midair by the Rahaga, small Rahkshi-like beings who opposed the hordes.

Toa Hordika
The Rahaga informed the Toa that they were now Toa Hordika, half-beasts that would have to fight to keep their primal rage in check. The Toa also discovered that their powers were also much more limited than they were before. The Rahaga offered to aid the Toa, telling them of a Rahi in Metru Nui called Keetongu who could reverse their mutations... if he even existed.

But the Toa agreed that the Matoran came first; they would deal with their mutations later. To that end, they formed a plan to build airships that would bring the Matoran to Mata Nui and began scouring the city for transport parts and other supplies they would need. However, they not only had to fight against the Visorak hunting them down, but each had their own problems with their new feral sides: where Onewa and Nuju had to struggle to keep their tempers down, Nokama and Whenua enjoyed their new connection to nature a little too much and had to resist the urges to live as beasts. Vakama took the mutations especially hard, as he saw them as the latest in a long string of failures.

A few things of note happened during this time. Turaga Dume somehow awoke from his slumber, though the details of this are still unknown. The Rahaga told the Toa Hordika of the Avohkii, the Great Mask of Light that they had hidden in the city, and the Toa were able to find the Makoki stones to unlock its hiding place and claim it before the Visorak could. And the Toa ended up allying with Krahka and Tahtorak as Sidorak ordered a massive Zivon unleashed on the city; the three beasts fought until they were all banished back into the darkness that Zivon was summoned from. But most devastating was that Roodaka placed information where the Toa would find it; information that stated how Nuhrii, Vhisola, Ahkmou and the others were the ones meant to be Toa, but that Makuta had influenced Lhikan to change his mind so that the destined heroes would never gain power.

Vakama's Dark Side
Feeling like an imposter as well as a failure (and not being helped by the other Toa complaining about their situation), Vakama briefly considered abandoning them and trying to rescue the Matoran himself, but realized how futile it would be. At that point, Roodaka abducted him and offered him nothing less than command of the Visorak. Vakama saw a chance to take a well-trained army and command them to release the Matoran; and Roodaka encouraged him with the idea that leadership meant blind obedience of the followers, as opposed to the stubborn opposition that the other Toa often gave. He accepted the position, but Roodaka knew Sidorak would not be so easily sold on the idea. She had Vakama kidnap the Rahaga (except Norik, who was left behind to "send a message") as proof of his intentions, and by sweetening the deal with acceptance of Sidorak's long-denied marriage proposals and promises of the other Toa Hordika becoming commanders, Roodaka got Sidorak to welcome Vakama into the army. Vakama's actions taught the other Toa, particularly Matau and Onewa that their arguing was dangerous and excessive and that they had been wrong to doubt Vakama.

Meanwhile, the Rahaga and Toa Hordika decided it was time to pick up the search for Keetongu, as it might be the only way to save Vakama. Once the Rahaga were captured, Norik took the information they had found and led the Toa to a mountain of ice hidden deep within Ko-Metru, where they found the mythical Rahi. After Keetongu heard their tale and how they wanted to help their friend, he agreed to join them - but he would not cure them of their mutations yet; they would need them in the upcoming battle.

The Hordika's Final Battle
Together, the Toa Hordika, Norik, and Keetongu stormed the Coliseum. While Norik freed the other Rahaga and Keetongu went after Sidorak and Roodaka, the Toa fought off the Visorak in search of the Matoran - except for Matau, who went off on his own to face Vakama. At the top of the Coliseum's highest spire, Matau tried to talk down Vakama, reminding him of the Toas' friendship and their strength in unity - even as Vakama tried to kill him. But Matau's words got through; as he lost his grip and started to plummet to the Coliseum floor below, Vakama leapt down and caught him, using Visorak webbing as bungee cord to keep them from impacting.

Meanwhile, the other Toa found the Matoran - only to be confronted by Roodaka, who had gotten rid of Sidorak and was now sole leader of the Visorak. Matau joined the face-off, and led the other four Toa in blasting Roodaka with their Rhotuka spinners. Vakama entered the fight next to Roodaka, but he turned on her and threatned to fire his own Rhotuka. Roodaka warned that she would order the Visorak to kill them if she died, but her rule was not as complete as she thought; Vakama was still the horde's commander and gave the order to disband. As Roodaka was a traitor who brought their King to his death, the Visorak complied and Roodaka was left alone. Vakama made good on his threat to fire his Rhotuka, but Norik realized too late that she carried a piece of Makuta's prison: since it had now absorbed all six elemental powers, the prison's seal was broken and Makuta was free again.

But Makuta left the Toa alone for the time being, and with the Toa Hordika cured and becoming Toa Metru again, they, the Rahaga, and Keetongu all worked together to finish the airships they were building and load them with the Matoran, preparing to bring them to their new home of Mata Nui.

Battle for the Mask of Time
The Toa were cured and the Matoran saved, but there was still one thing to take care of: the Mask of Time was still out there somewhere, and could be extremely dangerous if in the wrong hands. Vakama went off on his own to retrieve it, asking the others to stay behind in case Teridax went after the Matoran. He found it on the ocean floor, but was quickly knocked out when a waterspout launched him into the Great Barrier - though not before a strange being came and took the mask from him.

Vakama woke up in a different world than what he remembered: Metru Nui had never fallen, but was still threatened by the Morbuzakh. Lhikan was still alive, but as a Turaga ruling alongside Dume. And Vakama was no longer a Toa; it was Nuhrii who had been empowered in his place. Vakama started to think that perhaps the Vahi had changed the past so that Lhikan had gone with his original choices for Toa Metru. But upon talking with Nuju and Nokama (who were also Matoran again), he found that this world wasn't necessarily better: the Toa Metru here were encouraging and enforcing stricter laws; plus Onewa had been traumatized by Toa Ahkmou and the Vahki, and Matau has been killed in a Morbuzakh attack. But every now and then, Vakama would briefly see the empty, ruined city that he remembered.

Working with Nokama, Vakama searched for information on the Mask of Time. He first found a carving of the being who took the mask from him, identifying it as a Dark Hunter servant called Voporak. Then upon entering Teridax's lair in Po-Metru, a strange hybrid creature attached itself to Vakama's mask and gave him a vision of a future Toa named Krakua, who warned him that in order to save the future, he must be willing to destroy it. Coming out of his vision - Turaga Lhikan had arrived and pried the hybrid off - Vakama acted on his suspicions and flung a Kanoka right at Nokama's head. When it passed through, it proved to Vakama that what he was seeing wasn't real and made the illusion disappear completely. Vakama was a Toa as he had always been, "Nokama" was actually a Visorak playing along, and "Lhikan" was none other than Teridax himself.

Having failed to trick Vakama into handing over the Vahi, Teridax resorted to threats, but was infuriated to find that Voporak had taken the mask. He decided to propose a truce: that he and Vakama would work together to get the mask from the Dark Hunters, and then fight between themselves over it; Vakama reluctantly agreed. The two split up at the Great Temple; while Vakama faced the Hunter named Sentrakh, Teridax was challenged by Keetongu. Vakama caused an explosion in desperation that not only knocked Sentrakh out, but blew Teridax away from the Temple, sparing Keetongu's life. Unfortunately, he was immediately faced with not only Voporak but also Sentrakh's boss, the Shadowed One, who now held the Vahi and wanted to punish the Toa responsible for killing Nidhiki and Krekka. To make matters worse, Teridax returned and started bargaining with the Shadowed One over the mask. Vakama decided to play the two against each other, explaining that Teridax was the one who killed the two Hunters. The Shadowed One and Voporak immediately started fighting the Makuta, and the winning side would claim the Mask of Time - if Vakama hadn't grabbed it out of the Shadowed One's hands.

On the way out of the city, Vakama's jetpack was damaged; and he was saved from certain death by the resprouted Karzahni plant. Though Karzahni had been helping Teridax, playing the part of the Morbuzakh in the illusion, it switched sides and helped Vakama by telling him the truth: Lhikan's original choices for Toa Metru were wrong. Teridax would never allow new Toa to arise that could threaten him, so Mata Nui and an order dedicated to him made false prophesies and evidence to deceive Teridax into thinking Lhikan's choices were correct; and Teridax responded by influencing Lhikan to choose six others. But Mata Nui himself had influenced Teridax's choices; ensuring that the true destined Toa Metru would indeed gain their power.

The conversation was cut short, however, by Teridax arriving and killing Karzahni again. Vakama escaped and, taking Krakua's and Karzahni's words to heart, prepared to stand his ground and face Teridax. When Teridax caught up with him, Vakama threatened to destroy the Mask of Time, warning that he had observed its power leaking out when it was slightly damaged earlier - meaning its complete destruction could have far graver consequences. Once Teridax was convinced that Vakama really would risk the mask's destruction, he reluctantly accepted Vakama's demands: safe passage out of the city for himself, safety for his allies in Metru Nui, and peace for the Matoran - though Teridax only agreed to one year of peace before he would return.

With that, Vakama returned to the other Toa Metru and the Matoran on Mata Nui, telling them only that he got the Vahi and found they were the true destined Toa Metru; he said nothing of the rest as he feared the others would want to provoke a war with Teridax. On the shores of Mata Nui, the Toa Metru gave up their power to awaken the Matoran, becoming the Turaga who would lead them in starting their new lives...

Equipment
The armour of the Toa Metru was similar to Lhikan's own because, as with all destined Matoran who became Toa, they believed that Lhikan was how all Toa looked, and so they gained similar forms. After their transformation they also took Toa Tools out of the Suva in the Great Temple.


 * Vakama chose a Disk Launcher which could also be used as a jetpack and wore a Great Huna.
 * Nokama chose two Hydro Blades and wore a Great Rau.
 * Matau chose two Aero Slicers and wore a Great Mahiki.
 * Onewa chose two Proto Pitons and wore a Great Komau.
 * Whenua chose two Earthshock Drills and wore a Great Ruru.
 * Nuju chose two Crystal Spikes and wore a Great Matatu.

After their transformation into Toa Hordika their masks became fused to their faces and they lost the ability to access their mask powers. However, they received natural Rhotuka launchers and new organic tools, which could charge up said Rhotuka. The power of a fully charged Hordika spinner was on par with a Toa Nova Blast.


 * Vakama received Blazer Claws.
 * Nokama received Fin Barbs.
 * Matau received Fang Blades.
 * Onewa received Claw Clubs.
 * Whenua received Thumpers.
 * Nuju received Hordika Teeth.

Trivia

 * While all other Toa teams featured as the main characters of story arcs were all transformed and given new masks, the Toa Metru never did (however, they did receive new molds for their old masks). Ironically, they would lose their existing mask powers rather than gain new ones.
 * The Toa Hordika were the first series to have a completely asymmetrical body structure.
 * The Matoran "destined" to be Toa Metru wore the same masks as the Turaga variants of the Metru.
 * Each of the Toa Metru canister set came with a limited edition CD that had a computer mini-game with the respective Toa on it.
 * The Toa Hordika could still have given up their Toa Power if they had achieved their destiny as Toa Hordika. Had they done this, they would have become Turaga Hordika.
 * The Toa Metru were the first canister sets to feature elbow articulation, which - while not featured in the other canister sets of 2004 or 2005 (Vahki, Toa Hordika, and Visorak) - would become commonplace starting in 2006.

Toa Metru