Lewa (2001)

Lewa was the Toa of Air and protector of Le-Koro on the island of Mata Nui.

Early Days
Lewa's canister was built in the world that feeds the world. He willingly went in it, and was shot through the heavens into the sea around Mata Nui during the Great Cataclysm. He stayed there for about a thousand years, until Takua collected the Toa Stones. Lewa then washed up on the shores of Le-Wahi.

Quest for the Masks
Lewa wandered into Le-Koro where he met Matau. Matau told him the Legend of Mata Nui and the other Toa Mata. Lewa then departed Le-Koro to meet up with the other Toa.

Lewa met up with the other Toa shortly, and then left to find his Kanohi masks. On the way, he ran into Gali, and rescued her when she fell into the swamp. He learned from Matau the location of his first mask, the Kanohi Kakama. Unfortunately for him, it was hidden in an underwater cave.

On the way to the mask, he was attacked by a Nui-Jaga, but he buried it under trees and entered the cave. After some difficulty, he was able to recover the Kanohi and sped out of the underwater cave using the newfound powers the Kanohi granted him. Shortly afterward, he was swinging on vines high up in the canopy when he was attacked by a Nui-Rama. It knocked his mask off, and he plummeted down, towards the waiting jaws of a Muaka. Fortunately, he was saved by Onua, who had created a hole in the ground beneath the Rahi.

Lewa met up with the other Toa again when Onua called them together for a meeting. However, Makuta had been watching this, and caused the Mangai Volcano to erupt. Lewa used his Kakama to help Onua dig a trench that stopped the lava. Lewa had soon collected all of his masks, but he was captured by Rahi under Makuta's control. His mask was replaced with an infected Miru and he was forced to oversee the Le-Matoran, who had been enslaved and made to work in the Nui-Rama hive. He was found by Onua, who fought with Lewa and managed to remove the mask.

Lewa and the other five Toa later decended into the underground tunnel that led to Makuta's lair, where they fought the Manas crabs, the Shadow Toa, as well as Makuta himself.

Bohrok War
After the Toa came up from defeating Makuta, they saved Ta-Koro from a Bohrok swarms. The Toa decided to separate to their own villages, and Lewa returned to Le-Koro. However, the Lehvak swarm got there first. The whole village was controlled by Krana, and Turaga Matau held a Krana for Lewa. Rather than fight the Matoran he was supposed to protect, Lewa submitted to the Krana. He lurked in the jungles of Le-Wahi, none of the other Toa knowing what had happened.

They found out by intercepting a group of Lehvak Va carrying Lewa's Golden Kanohi. Onua set off in search of his friend, eventually encountering him deep in the jungle. With Onua's encouragement, Lewa resisted the swarm's control and ripped the Krana off his face. He returned with Onua to the rest of the Toa. Tahu was wary, not believing that Lewa was fully free of the Krana's influence.

When the Toa braved their way into the Bohrok nest, Lewa heard telepathic calls of the Bahrag. He also experienced a vision of the Exo-Toa armor, hidden behind doors. When the Toa were threatened by an unshatterable wall on one side and lava (created by Tahu, who was seperated earlier) coming on the other, Lewa reasoned that the wall was just an illusion of the Bohrok nest and led the group through to safety. He then donned a suit of Exo-Toa armor and fought the Bahrag, eventually taking it off and combining his powers with the rest of the Toa, opening up the six vats of Energized Protodermis. Lewa was changed into Lewa Nuva, Toa Nuva of Air.

Toa Nuva
After their transformation, the Toa Nuva decided to go their separate ways. Lewa was showing off his new abilites by flying above the village, when suddenly, he could no longer use his elemental powers, and plummeted towards the ground. Fortunately, he was saved by Kongu on his Gukko bird. He soon discovered that his Nuva Symbol, along with the other Toa Nuva's, had been stolen by creatures known as Bohrok-Kal, who wished to use the elemental energies in the Nuva Symbols to free the Bahrag. They tried to get their Symbols back, but the Kal quickly defeated them. They searched for the Kanohi Nuva, and, after some struggles, they recovered them all.

Shortly afterward, Lewa was tracking Kohrak-Kal through the jungle, and attempted to steal it's Krana-Kal. However, the Kohrak-Kal created a powerful sonic wave, which Lewa tried to jump over. However, the wave moved and engulfed him, which him in shock. After he recovered, he merged with Gali and Kopaka to create Wairuha Nuva, and attacked Kohrak-Kal, Lehvak-Kal, and Gahlok-Kal. However, the three Bohrok-Kal merged into their own Kaita, and defeated Wairuha.

Shortly afterward, the Bohrok-Kal found where the Bahrag were, and the Toa Nuva rushed to stop them. The Bohrok-Kal were close to placing the Symbols on the Nuva Cube, when Tahu used the Vahi, which he had received from Vakama after his transformation, in a last attempt to stop them. It failed, but bought the Toa Nuva enough time to find a way to stop the Kal. On Gali's advice, they tapped into the power of their Nuva Symbols, which caused the Bohrok-Kal to loose control of their powers and destroy themselves. The Toa Nuva returned their stolen symbols to their villages.

Mask of Light
After a Matoran, named Takua, found the legendary Mask of Light, he and his friend Jaller set out on a journey to find its destined wearer, the Toa of Light. Shotly after they began searching, the two Matoran (and Takua's pet Ussal crab, Pewku) were attacked by an Ash Bear. Luckily, they were resuced by Lewa, who offered to escort them on their journey. They accepted, and followed Lewa by air on the back of a Gukko bird. They made it to Ko-Wahi before Lewa heard drum messages coming from Le-Koro, indecating that Ta-Koro had been destroyed by Makuta's Rahkshi. Needing to be with the other Toa, Lewa left for Ta-Wahi.

Soon after, he arrived at the former site of the village of fire, and met up with Tahu and Gali. They then made their way to Onu-Koro and helped Onua, Pohatu, Kopaka, and Takua battle the Rahkshi. Lewa managed to save Takua from a Rahkshi and told him to find Jaller (who Takua had fought with, and seperated from earlier). At roughly the same time, Tahu had been blasted by Kurahk, and was forced into a murderous rage. The combined forces of Gali and Kopaka managed to subdue (subdue as in freeze him solid) Tahu, and rush him out of the underground cavern before it caved in.

After arriving somewherer in Le-Wahi, Gali, Lewa, and Kopaka were able to cure Tahu of the Rahkshi poison. Kopaka then left to find Onua and Pohatu. Later Tahu, Lewa, and Gali fond Jaller and Takua trapped by the six Rahkshi at the Kini-Nui. They were joined by Onua, Pohatu, and Kopaka moments later. The two forces clashed fiercly until there was one Rahkshi, Turahk was left. The Rahkshi killed Jaller, but was moments later defeated by Takua in the form of Takanuva, Toa of Light.

The next morning, Takanuva traveled to Makuta's lair and began to battle him. The Toa Nuva, along with the Turaga and Matoran, traveled to the lair. Takanuva managed to defeat Makuta and open the gateway to Metru Nui. For the next few weeks, the Toa Nuva, Takanuva, and Hahli the Chronicler listend to the Turaga's tales about Metru Nui and its Toa Metru defenders.

Voya Nui
After learning about the news, that Mata Nui was dying, Lewa and the other Toa Nuva arrived on Voya Nui to find the Kanohi Ignika. Lewa and the others fought the Piraka. Durring an encounter with Reidak, Reidak snapped one of his katana in half. Lewa was later defeated, along with the other Toa, during the battle. Zaktan, the Piraka's leader, ordered the five other Piraka to throw Lewa and the other Toa into Mount Valmai, however a volcano eruption postponed the Piraka's plans and they left the Toa by the volcano, believing that they would be killed by the lava anyway, but luckily, the Nuva managed to escape at the last moment.

Just when they thought they were safe, they met the Voya Nui Resistance Team, who began to attack them. The Resistance didn't believe they were real Toa, but that they were more Piraka. Luckliy, Balta, who had just learned the truth from Axonn, told the others that they were real Toa. The twelve soon allied and formulated a plan to sneak into the Piraka's Stronghold. Lewa and the other Toa manage to retrieve their Kanohi Nuva and Toa tools, but they were attacked by Brutaka. All six Toa and all six Matoran were defeated. While, the Toa Nuva were taken captive, they were enslaved by the Piraka's antidermis and ordered to drain themselves of all their elemental energy. They were later rescued by the Resistance Team and were reunited with their masks and tools.

After meeting Axonn and his associate Botar, the Toa Nuva met the Toa Inika, who had reached the Mask of Life only for it to fly away and dive underneath the ocean. The Inika were worried that they would be sent back to Metru Nui while the Nuva continued the mission, but the Nuva recognized that destiny had chosen the Inika for the task of saving the Great Spirit's life; and Tahu told the Inika that the Nuva would be waiting in Metru Nui for their safe return. However, after the Inika left, he admitted to Axonn that he lied; the Nuva were departing on a new mission that the Inika could not be a part of.

World Tour
Though the Toa Nuva still doubted Axonn and Botar's motives, they entered Metru Nui's Great Temple, sneaking in so that they would not start an endless debate with the Turaga. They found the object that the Order members directed them to (a scroll) and were perplexed at the strange, uncarved writing. Their doubts also increased when they saw the list of tasks they were expected to do. Nonetheless, they got to work; beginning with the closest task: freeing the Bahrag and allowing the Bohrok - the swarms that had tried to destroy their home - to run free once more.

It appears the list of tasks will send the Toa Nuva all over the world. Their next goal is the Staff of Artakha, stolen from the Metru Nui Archives by the Dark Hunters and kept in their headquarters on Odina. Possibly in connection to the staff, there is word that the legendary ruler Artakha has invited the Toa into his realm. And in addition to their list of tasks, they will be taking a side trip to the realm of Karzahni in order to reclaim the masks that the Toa Inika wore as Matoran; mainly because one of them used to belong to the famous hero Toa Lhikan.

Powers, Mask, and Tools
Lewa’s abilities as a Toa of Air included the power to control the wind, summon air currents, create windstorms and twisters, unleash gusts of air, and combine his powers with Gali’s to form a storm. It was said that the storms on Mata Nui were caused by them, and the sound of thunder was when their weapons made contact.

Lewa's mask was a Miru Mask of Levitation, allowing him to levitate in the air. Lewa Nuva's Miru Nuva allowed him greater power, and he can combine this power with his wind manipulation in order to glide. He could also share his power of levitation with his Kanohi Nuva.

He originally carried an Axe; and his Nuva tools were a pair of Air Katana that could be tucked under his arms to make glider wings. One of these Katana was snapped in half by Reidak, but the Matoran of Voya Nui have since offered to craft a replacement.