Matoran
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From Lego Bionicle franchise, the Matoran are the "average people" of the Bionicle world. The Matoran have a work based culture and uphold many virtues, primarily Unity, Duty and Destiny. Although not one of Bionicle's strongest races, Matoran are the most common and possibly the most influential, seeing as most all intelligent beings speak the Matoran language. The Matoran are also the chosen people of the universe's protector, the Great Spirit Mata Nui.
All Matoran wear Kanohi Masks that keep them functioning and healthy; a Matoran who loses his mask will quickly go into a coma-like state until a mask is replaced on his face. They do not have the mental strength to activate the powers that Great- and Noble-level Kanohi hold, but if they wear such masks they can sense that power is present. Matoran also have a little bit of power of a natural element; just enough to influence their physical abilities.
Certain destined Matoran have special power hidden within them; when this power is unleashed the Matoran transforms into a heroic Toa warrior with increased physical strength and elemental power.
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[edit] Matoran Tribes
Matoran are classified whichever element they are affiliated with. So far, only Matoran of Bionicle's major six elements are identified, though there are surely more in existence; we know this because Matoran do not change elemental type upon becoming Toa, yet there are Toa of other elements besides the main six. (See "Elemental Powers" under Bionicle society for a list of known elements that Toa - and therefore Matoran - can have.)
The following section mainly describes the six tribes of Matoran that live in the city of Metru Nui and temporarily took refuge on the island of Mata Nui. Despite the belief that several more tribes of Matoran live together on Voya Nui; none of these other tribes have been shown or described. While physical aspects like armor color and elemental types can be assumed to apply to all Matoran, things like jobs and general attitudes may be different in other Matoran communities and should be assumed to apply only to the inhabitants of Metru Nui.
Ta-Matoran wear red and yellow, and sometimes black and orange. Having the element of fire, they have a natural resistance to the extreme heat of their forges. They tend to be diligent and responsible; focusing on the virtue of Duty and its principle of Courage. Most were employed in Metru Nui as forgers, making useful tools from molten protodermis; the best forged Kanoka Disks into Kanohi Masks. On Mata Nui they were lava farmers (directing lava where it would be useful) and members of the Ta-Koro Guard; they also enjoy lava surfing in their spare time.
Ga-Matoran are in all shades of blue. These water Matoran live on the shores of the sea, so they have a sleeker build, better lung capacity, and other physical advantages for swimming. Ga-Matoran are exclusively female (while the other types are composed entirely of males). They are by nature peaceful and friendly, meditating on the virtue of Unity and its principle of Purity. In Metru Nui, about half of the Ga-Matoran were teachers and the other half were students; the best were promoted to work on protodermis purification. On Mata Nui, they are mostly boaters and fisherwomen.
Le-Matoran are in shades of green, and occasionally turquoise blue. These air Matoran have the heightened agility and reflexes needed to avoid high-speed crashes in the transport chutes. They love thrills and dangerous sports, leading them to perhaps take crazy risks; they also enjoy a good practical joke. The main virtues they follow are Unity and Duty, and from them they derive the principle of Faith. Metru Nui Le-Matoran are noted for what is called "chutespeak" (or "treespeak" on Mata Nui), a form of slang that generally combines two words into one (for example, "happyjoy" or "Toa-hero"; see "Language" under Bionicle society for more examples). Le-Matoran were responsible for nearly all transport in Metru Nui: they flew airships, maintained chutes, and drove land transports; the only transport they wouldn't do was boats, which the Ga-Matoran took care of. On Mata Nui, they are known for their squadron of Gukko birds that they ride into battle.
Po-Matoran have shades of browns, tans, and yellows; and also black. Being stone Matoran and working with their hands often, they have great physical strength - however, they can't swim; they sink like rocks instead. They are down-to-earth and practical, not putting too much stock in what they can't see and touch. Po-Matoran focus on the virtues of Unity and Destiny, and its principle of Creation. On both Mata Nui and Metru Nui, Po-Matoran are carvers by trade, making statues and other tools that the Matoran need; it also appears that some Po-Matoran on Mata Nui are shepherds, leading herds of local Rahi.
Onu-Matoran wear blacks and greys, as well as tan, orange, and purple. As Matoran of the earth they spend a lot of time underground, so their eyes have adapted to see in little light (however, they are easily blinded by bright lights). They tend to put their faith in the past and what can be learned from it. The main Onu-Matoran virtues are Duty and Destiny, and the principle they get from the virtues is Prosperity. In Metru Nui, Onu-Matoran started out as miners before moving their way up to working the Archives. On Mata Nui, mining has become the main job; they also now have the Ussalry — a defense force that rides Ussal crabs as their steeds.
Ko-Matoran wear white, and light shades of blue and grey. Being ice Matoran, they have a natural resistance to the extreme cold of the Knowledge Towers (which comes from a need to keep written documents preserved). Ko-Matoran are quiet to the point of being antisocial, and spend a lot of time being lost in thought, pondering the future in accordance with their main virtue of Destiny and the principle of Peace. In Metru Nui, they spent most of their time watching the stars and considering prophesies, with less experienced Ko-Matoran running errands for the more accomplished scholars; on Mata Nui they continued to ponder the future but also became trackers and trappers.
Little is known of a seventh tribe, the Matoran of Light; the Brotherhood of Makuta fears the power of light, and desperately wanted these Matoran and the Mask of Light kept far away from each other so that no Toa of Light could emerge. Should the light Matoran be slaughtered, the consequences for the universe would be dire; their homeland was once protected somehow but those defenses are now gone. As a result, the Order of Mata Nui disguised several Matoran of light and scattered them throughout the world, so that if the homeland was attacked then some would survive. The default armor color for light Matoran is white and gold, though many have had this changed as part of the Order's disguises.[1] The only widely-known Matoran of light is Takua, who became the Toa of Light that the Brotherhood dreaded. However, a Matoran driven mad in the realm of Karzahni has also been confirmed to have the element of light.[2]
[edit] Mata Nui/Metru Nui Matoran
[edit] History
Matoran have lived in the city of Metru Nui since its founding around a hundred thousand years ago. While there have been a few emergencies and major wars in the city's history, day-to-day life was mostly peaceful, with the worst disturbance being the occasional Rahi attack. Commonplace threats like these were usually handled by the city's robotic Vahki enforcers, and later on by some Toa stationed in Metru Nui as well. New Matoran were brought into being whenever there was a need to fill a job position, and by the time of the Great Cataclysm the city's population was at about a thousand Matoran.
Eventually, the city's leader, Turaga Dume (actually Makuta impersonating Turaga Dume), began taking action to prepare for an upcoming crisis. He sent out the city's Toa on missions to close all routes into and out of the city, but the Toa kept disappearing until only Lhikan was left. At the same time, a plant creature called the Morbuzakh began attacking the city and abducting Matoran, and two Dark Hunters had been seen as well. Worried about the current situation, Lhikan chose six Matoran to become new Toa Metru: Vakama, Nokama, Matau, Onewa, Whenua, and Nuju. These new Toa retrieved the city's legendary Great Kanoka Disks with the help of other Matoran who had discovered their locations (Nuhrii, Vhisola, Orkahm, Ahkmou, Tehutti, and Ehrye), and used them to destroy the Morbuzakh (despite the fact that Ahkmou had been blackmailed by the Hunters into working against the Toa).
However, Matoran kept mysteriously disappearing (now being taken by the Vahki). Secretly, the kidnapped Matoran were placed in Matoran Spheres where they were kept in stasis. Eventually, "Dume" ordered all the remaining Matoran into spheres, and they would be awakened when the crisis had passed. As a result, the city's Matoran slept throughout the Great Cataclysm and the Visorak invasion that soon followed it.
The Toa Metru rescued the sleeping Matoran and brought them to a tropical island they discovered and named Mata Nui, where they gave up their Toa power to wake them and became Turaga (though Ahkmou's had been lost in transit and recovered by Makuta). Unfortunately, the spheres had physically weakened the Matoran and erased their memories of Metru Nui. The Turaga led the Matoran in creating new villages, but chose to keep Metru Nui's existence a secret so as not to remind them of a home they might never see again. After one year of peace, Makuta began enslaving local Rahi and sending them to attack, but the Matoran bravely defended themselves against these threats.
One thousand years after landing on Mata Nui, one of the Matoran, Takua, gathered the island's Toa Stones and summoned the Toa Mata. Once they arrived, Makuta began to test them to make sure they were legitimate; as part of these tests, he used Ahkmou to infect the Po-Matoran with an epidemic and he enslaved a Nui-Rama swarm to kidnap many of the Le-Matoran; Takua aided the Toa with both these threats. At about the same time, the Turaga gave him the job of Chronicler, recording tales of the Toa's adventures. When the Toa went to Makuta's lair to challenge him directly, Takua was charged with gathering a company to defend the Kini-Nui Temple and keep the Toa's escape route open; unfortunately, each village could only spare one Matoran apiece for the Chronicler's Company. But the Company fought bravely; and Takua, Kapura, Macku, Tamaru, Hafu, Taipu, and Kopeke were able to hold out against enslaved Rahi until reinforcements arrived.
After Makuta was convinced of the Toa's power, he stopped enslaving Rahi; but the Matoran now had to deal with an invasion of creatures called Bohrok, who were dead-set on reducing the island to bare rock. In the process, all the Le-Matoran were enslaved by the Bohrok's Krana except for Kongu and Tamaru, but they were saved by Nuparu's new invention, the Boxor. Several villages were damaged in the fighting and some had to be evacuated, but after the Toa halted the invasion the Matoran immediately started rebuilding.
In the time of peace that followed, travel between the villages became easier, and the Turaga declared a kolhii tournament to celebrate. However, as the tournament ended Takua discovered the Avohkii Mask of Light, and he and Jaller were immediately sent out to find the Toa of Light that it belonged to. In response, Makuta sent out his Rahkshi to retrieve it. The Rahkshi were relentless in their pursuit, attacking villages and even completely destroying the village of Ta-Koro (though all were evacuated safely). In the end, Jaller gave his life taking a blast meant for Takua, who realized his destiny and became Toa Takanuva.
The next day, Takanuva went to face Makuta alone, only to find that Hahli had tagged along. Just as the battle was about to begin, Takanuva told Hahli to bring all the Matoran down to the lair. She did so, but Makuta cut off their escape route and trapped them. Takanuva and Makuta then merged into Takutanuva, who re-opened the path to Metru Nui and finally allowed them to go home; and he even resurrected Jaller as well.
For the next few weeks, the Matoran were busy building boats that would take them to Metru Nui. As the new Chronicler, Hahli joined the Toa Nuva and Takanuva in hearing the Turaga's tales of the ancient city's fall; which she recorded and the rest of the Matoran heard second-hand.
The Matoran returned to Metru Nui and immediately started rebuilding what was ruined a thousand years earlier. Unfortunately, the Toa Nuva soon disappeared on a secret mission, which the Turaga refused to explain. Upset that the Turaga would not tell the Matoran of a potential threat to them, Jaller started a citywide strike that completely halted the restoration. Eventually, Turaga Nokama, who privately agreed with Jaller's concern, came to him in secret and explained the situation: that Mata Nui was dying, and if no action was taken the universe would die with him. In response, Jaller gathered some of his fellow Matoran (Hahli, Kongu, Hewkii, Nuparu, and Matoro) with Takanuva, and they left to follow the Toa Nuva and give whatever help they could. (The strike has since ended.[3]) Takanuva soon returned after the group encountered a gateway that no light (or Toa of Light) could enter - and nobody else could leave through...
[edit] Physical Characteristics
Though the Matoran from Metru Nui have physically transformed a few times over their lives, some things have remained constant. First, each Matoran has 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 matches their limbs. Second, they invariably wear one of twelve Kanohi Mask shapes: Great Akaku, Great Hau, Great Kakama, Great Kaukau, Great Miru, Great Pakari, Noble Huna, Noble Komau, Noble Mahiki, Noble Matatu, Noble Rau, and Noble Ruru.
When Matoran first come into being (on Metru Nui, at least), their bodies are characterized by their large, flat, triangular torsos. Their masks also have silver streaks on the forehead that show the masks are powerless. Matoran of this body style are known among some fans as "Metruan".
When Makuta 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. This form of Matoran is called "Mctoran" by some fans, as their toy sets were distributed as prizes in McDonald's Happy Meals.
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. Since the toy versions of these characters were released at the about the same time as the Bionicle: Mask of Light movie (abbreviated as "MoL"), many fans refer to these as "MoLtoran".
[edit] Voya Nui/Mahri Nui Matoran
[edit] History
At almost the dawn of time over a hundred thousand years ago, a number of Matoran were sent to Karzahni for repairs. However, Karzahni's workmanship wasn't the best, and he gave them weapons for defense to make up for it. Rather than sending them home and admitting his bad handiwork, he sent them far away from everyone, to a region surrounding a volcano that came to be known as Mount Valmai.
Roughly eighty thousand years ago, a team of Toa led by Toa Jovan secretly came to Mount Valmai to use the Mask of Life hidden there. After becoming a Turaga, Jovan joined the Matoran and became their leader.
A thousand years ago during the Great Cataclysm, the region around Mount Valmai "rocketed up" off of its continent and became an isolated island, Voya Nui, killing several (including Turaga Jovan) and stranding the survivors. Since then the Matoran have had to struggle to survive, dealing with constant drought and volcanic eruptions. Unlike other known islands, where Matoran are separated by type, all of Voya Nui's survivors have banded together and live in a single fortress.
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. (See "Mahri Nui", below)
Since the Matoran have no protectors, some of them have become great warriors. But since they have never seen a Toa, they accepted the claims of six beings who said they were Toa come to save them. Unfortunately, they were not Toa but Piraka - "thieves and murderers" who soon dropped their act and enslaved most of the Matoran.
A few Matoran - Balta, Dalu, Piruk, Velika, Garan, and Kazi - were able to escape enslavement, and have begun to fight back. They allied themselves with the Toa Nuva once they accepted that they really were Toa and not pretenders; and after the Nuva were captured they met and teamed up with the Toa Inika (who were the six Matoran who had followed the Nuva from Metru Nui). Working together, they were able to free their enslaved friends; and while the Inika and Piraka searched for the Ignika Mask of Life, the Matoran rebels found and freed the Toa Nuva. But in their search, they found some shocking information - that those lost in the sunken settlement may still be alive!
Meanwhile, the Toa Inika found the Mask of Life, only for it to fly away and dive into the ocean. As Toa Hahli tried to follow it underwater, a Matoran swam up to meet her and saved her from drowning at the cost of his own life, but not before pleading for help for the "city beneath the sea". The Inika are now headed to the city to investigate just what is going on under the waves...
[edit] Mahri Nui
Not long after the Matoran got to Voya-Nui, the Volcano erupted and cuased part of the island too be covered in cooled lava. Voya-Nui also grew. The part of Voya-Nui that had been made by the volcano broke off and sunk, causing Mahri-Nui. As the land mass sank into the sea, it released many air bubbles that the Matoran were able to use to breathe. They soon were able to fashion protective air bubbles for themselves and the settlement buildings that kept them not only from drowning, but from the mutating effects of the water. Retaining little more than fragments of memory of surface life, the Matoran named their city "Mahri Nui" and began making a living beneath the waves.
They took many cues on how to survive from the local sea life. They realized that a species called Hydruka could easily collect air bubbles from a kind of seaweed, so they domesticated the beasts to do the job. One Le-Matoran scientist studied how Hydruka fire solidified air from their tails, and developed similar launchers for the Matoran. Most importantly, the Matoran noticed how the wildlife only emerged from their homes for one hour a day, and otherwise hid in fear of some kind of predator - though exactly what, they didn't know; no Matoran would see more than a momentary glimpse - a claw here, a tentacle there - and return to tell the tale.
Every month, items would drift down from somewhere above, considered as gifts from the Great Spirit Mata Nui, and whatever could be put to use would be sent to where they were needed. Unknowingly, these were tokens of remembrance from the mainland Matoran, unaware that their brothers and sister lived on beneath the waves. Leadership also rotated monthly among the Matoran, with the leader running a council meeting where plans would be made for the coming month.
It was Defilak's turn to lead when the Mask of Life arrived in Mahri Nui. While he was leading a small scouting patrol out into the waters where the mysterious predators lived, Kyrehx discovered the Mask of Life and, fearing its power, passed it on to Dekar. Defilak and Dekar soon began to learn more of what was going on in Mahri Nui: Defilak and his crew was soon taken captive by one of the predators, and he learned that they were Barraki, warlords who once dared to try and overthrow Mata Nui himself; while the Mask of Life imparted knowledge of its own history to Dekar. Meanwhile, Kyrehx was taken captive by Takadox and hypnotized into telling all she knew about the mask she had.
Defilak and most of his crew were soon able to escape their captors (though the fate of one is unknown), and Kyrehx was returned to the city as a part of some sinister plot. Dekar, however, was soon cornered by the Barraki and the mask was forcibly taken from him, casting all of Mahri Nui into blinding light...
[edit] Physical Characteristics
Due to Karzahni's shoddy repair jobs, the Matoran on Voya Nui are physically weaker than most Matoran, and there is no uniform body style. There is also no uniform set of masks that the Matoran wear, as Karzahni just gave them whatever masks he had lying around (Coincidentally, the Voya Nui Matoran sets had masks in the shape of great forms of the Mata Nui Turaga, or Toa Metru Masks.) Still, fans have given them nicknames to differentiate them from other Matoran: "Voyatoran" and "Doomtoran" (after one of Voya Nui's nicknames, "Island of Doom").
The Matoran of Mahri Nui have all mutated somewhat, because they were all briefly exposed to the mutagenic seawater before they were able to form protective air bubbles. As such, all these Matoran do seem to have a uniform body style, characterized by a silver shield-like chestplate. This makes them a bit taller than their Voya Nui counterparts, meaning that the waters of the Pit had undone the Karzahni's work. Fans have give these matoran the nickname Mahritoran.
[edit] Matoran Nui
Like Toa and other Bionicle creatures, Matoran have the ability to combine into a single being, which might even be more powerful than a toa, with a six-member combination called a Matoran Nui. This has 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.
[edit] Trivia
- The Matoran race was originally known as the "Tohunga", after the Māori word for "artist", "craftsman", etc. After legal action by Māori activists, Lego changed the name to "Matoran", based off of the name of their Great Spirit, Mata Nui.
- A number of other beings started out as Matoran, including nearly all Toa and Turaga (though the Toa Mata were never Matoran); and the Dark Hunters Firedracax, Gatherer, Nidhiki, Prototype, Savage, Spinner, and Subterranean.
- The Matoran were the first creation of the Great Beings.[4]
- Simon Nelson-Cook of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide seems to have a Matoran piece on his glasses that he uses as a piece of his technologically advanced glasses.
[edit] References
- ^ Official Greg Discussion p. 212, post #6333; p. 219 post #6547; p. 273 post #8186
- ^ Official Greg Discussion p. 272 post #8154
- ^ Official Greg Discussion p. 227, post #6788
- ^ Bionicle Great Beings Contest p. 16 at BZPower forums, post #466
[edit] External links
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