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The
Minions of Makuta:
The
Matoa
On the island of Mata-nui, the native villagers believe in the goodness of the god that is the island's namesake, and fear the god who put Mata-nui to sleep and now reigns, Makuta.
Most of them do, anyway. A few came to believe that Makuta must actually be much more powerful than Mata-nui, as he has kept his counterpart asleep for so long. They felt he was the one most worthy of worship, and developed a cult celebrating Makuta and his vicious Rahi beasts.
The emergence of this cult caused great peril for the other Tohunga. Often the followers of Makuta encouraged Rahi to attack villages "as a sacrifice to the Dark One." It didn't take long for the various Turaga to determine that it was best to remove these believers of evil and chaos. So they were gathered up and banished to a small, unnamed island south of Le-Koro, and have remained there ever since. On the mainland, they were forgotten, and became little more than a myth. Until recently, that is.
With
the arrival of the Toa of legend, and there successes against his mighty
Rahi, Makuta decided more powerful foes were needed to stop the Toa in
their quest. He selected six of the most devout of his banished followers,
and infused them with his dark energies. They became almost Toa-like in
strength and power, though they were unable to make use of the Toa's Great
Masks. These new "Minions of Makuta," also known as the Matoa, went forth
from their island, and proceeded to cause havoc the likes of which the
Rahi were incapable. The Toa had a new enemy, and they were a force to
be reckoned with...
The apparent defeat of Makuta by the Toa undertandably struck a major blow for the Matoa. While they did not lose any of their powers, they did lose all sense of purpose. Now extremely wary of the Toa, they retreated to their home island, preparing for a full attack from their previous foes.
It
was not the Toa that soon besieged their island, however. Swarms of strange,
insect-like creatures descended upon their home, which they managed to
fight off only with a great effort. The Dark Turaga Onevo felt that the
timing of this attack seemed oddly coincidental, and that these Bohrok,
as they later learned the creatures were called, must be somehow connected
to Makuta's demise. She decided that they may be heralds of his return,
and commanded the Matoa to not harm these creatures any further, but rather
attempt to make contact with them. Without other directions, the Matoa
grudgingly agreed, and set out once again to the mainland of Mata-nui,
in search of what could be a new ally, or a new, potentially more devastating
enemy...
The first of the Matoa was Akua. He was given powers over fire, lighting, corrosion, and a number of other forces of nature (including magnetism and gravity, though they are little understood on Mata-nui). He was the nominal leader of the group, though he was generally quiet and brooding. Akua was physically weaker than the other Matoa, but his powers made up for it in spades. He could conjure flame, lightning bolts, and blobs of acid from his fingers.
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The second Matoa was Walapehi. A master artisan before Makuta's influence, his new strength and agility made him all the more skilled. While he could craft almost anything, he had a penchant for weaponry and torture devices. In battle, Walapehi's favorite accessories were a large shield and long, double-bladed axe, both, of course, of his own making.
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Note: The axe is from a non-Lego, Mega-Bloks Gladiator set.
Poko, the third Matoa, was known for his effective, if often cruel, handling of Rahi, even infected, maddend ones. While such Rahi cannot be truly trained, they can be directed towards a specific target, and none are better than Poko at this. He was also adept at selecting the stronger Rahi, the best for infection by Makuta. Always short of stature, even as a Tohunga, Poko found the only respect he could garner was from "his" Rahi. Preferring to let the Rahi do his fighting for him, Poko could still deal some damage with his whip-club when forced to.
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The fourth Matoa was Kaumaha. Rather dim-witted, but extrordinarily strong, Makuta gave him power over rock, water and air. He could create earthquakes and storms at will, though he tended to rely on the brute destructiveness of his massive sledgehammer. Kaumaha was easily out-thought, but very hard to overpower.
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Rather than causing mayhem and destruction, the fifth Matoa, Unauna, was charged with the defense of the island of the banished Tohunga. His realm was the bottom of the ocean, and while he had no real powers other than the ability to breath underwater, he was extremely strong, as well as heavily armored. He could withstand the high pressures of the ocean depths, and shrug off the heaviest blows in combat. However, while Unauna could be surprisingly graceful underwater, on land he was clumsy and slow, and so was rarely seen above the waves.
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Makemalu, the sixth Matoa, offered
a fearsome sight for anyone who might encounter her, covered in spikes,
with an almost bestial look. Sightings of her were rare, though, for she
could turn herself completely invisible, as well as somehow mute whatever
sounds she might make. These skills were used in her capacity as scout,
keeping track of the Toa and events on the mainland. Her hands consisted
of various weapons and tools to aid in her explorations, allowing her to
travel through the densest foliage, climb sheer cliffs, and even burrow
through the ground with relative ease. Only water gave her any difficulty,
as her form did not allow for easy swimming.
She was certainly the most cunning
of Matoa, and was surprisingly strong.
Interestingly, Makemalu's mask
is not a Nuhvok Va Za Krana, but rather an ancient design that fell out
of favor as it showed a bit too much "face," which was frowned upon by
Mata-Nui society, even amongst the banished Tohunga. The similarity to
a Krana was startling, and has caused much discussion among Mata-Nui historians.
It has remained unknown why she wore it. Possibly, even she did not know
why.
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Unlike most villages, the banished followers of Makuta had two Turaga chiefs. Perhaps the inherent chaos and mistrust these worshipers of evil had demands that there be two to keep some order. The burden of keeping the followers from destroying themselves fell to Onevo (on the left) and Ratovi at the time of the Toa's arrival. They kept the faith going for many, many years, but realization of the legend of the Toa shook them badly. Ratovi felt that the followers had somehow failed, and blamed himself. Onevo had never had any trust in the old legends, and she knew that Makuta could still be victorious, especially if the banished followers could help directly. She thus gives herself credit for the idea of the Matoa, at Makuta's sufference.
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The mukovo beetle was one of the most common creatures on the island of the banished Tohunga. A predator, the mukovo fed on animals even smaller than itself. It had a hard shell that it could flip forward very quickly to stun its prey. Flipping the protective shell back into position took a couple of seconds, however, and the beetle was quite vulnerable during this short time. The banished Tohunga quickly discovered this, and the mukovo became a main part of their diet (despite its unpleasant flavor).
Designer's notes:
The first of these "Matoa" started
out as the latest in a series of Blacktron 2 robots I've been building.
At the same time, I was finishing my Rahi collection, and was a bit disappointed.
Sure, they're fun, but I felt the Bionicle guys needed more typical villains.
So, a Blacktron 2 robot made from Bionicle parts became a "Dark Toa," (specifically
Akua) and I just went from there.
The parts came from several Onuas,
Nui-Ramas, Nui-Jagas, a couple of Whenuas, the black masks from a Kane-Ra,
and many other parts of various and forgotten origin.
You may be thinking they should
have infected masks. Well, my idea was that since the Matoa willingly allowed
Makuta to change them, their masks didn't get infected (plus I didn't have
duplicates of some of the masks in black, so I didn't want to paint them).
Comments welcome: andrashar@aol.com
Be sure to check out the site that inspired me:
Website, individual figures and their names created
by Andreas Harrison.
Bionicle and related names are trademarks of
The Lego Group.
