Little known fact, in addition to the Toa Metru, Whenua was part of another team of six Toa. The other five members were named:
Whonua
Whatnua
Wherenua
Whynua and
Hownua

Toa and Whenua are both Maori words. Toa means to be victorious, Whenua means land. And it does look like he's winning the battle with the land in the picture!

Whenua's first set incarnation, Turaga Whenua from 2001, was probably my favorite of the six Turaga for how comically short they made him compared to everybody else. It was the Onu-Koronan's defining trait: all must be stooped or hunched over (since they live primarily underground, of course). You can see it in Onua from 2001 as well, though the scale of the Tohunga made it impossible for Onepu or Nuparu to be shorter than their above-ground counterparts.

I was happy to see in 2004 that Toa Whenua sort of kept up this tradition. Though he was no longer hunched over, he was the shortest of the Toa Metru. Likely a result of being the chief archivist of Metru Nui and spending all of his time deep within it as a Matoran. At least, in my imagination, that's the case. Though depicted as profoundly wise in first few years of BIONICLE, this reveal of his 1000-years-younger incarnation made him out to be somewhat literal-minded and not very endearing to his fellow Toa Metru. Of course, a lot of this could be due to the sudden transition from Matoran to Toa, but it feels like his personality in the comics varies from his movie personality.

To be fair, he was mainly a background character, not given much to say or do beyond discover his Kanohi power after the search for the Great Disks and the defeat of the Morbuzahk. I did love his Toa tools being able to come together to form a ram of some kind. That came in handy, but sadly, I didn't get much of an attachment to him like I did to other Earth characters like Onua and Nuparu. A sad reality that often gets lost when latter-day fanpeople expound endlessly on BIONICLE: so many characters over so many years means some invariably aren't that developed and as a consequence, aren't that memorable. And that's OK! I'm sure Whenua has his dedicated fans out there, but I can't imagine there are a lot.

Lore’s gonna be lit, I can feel it.

‘Whistle Whenua work…’

Metru Nui was the largest and most prosperous city in the Matoran Universe. Among its six districts was Onu Metru, home of the Great Archives. There Matoran of Earth would gather artifacts and tools from across the universe to store and catalogue, although their most popular attractions were the "live exhibits." The Archives attempted to store at least one of every Rahi beast and animal of their world in stasis tanks, with more advanced containment cells for those immune to stasis.

Work in the Archives was dangerous. Mining expansions were prone to cave-ins, gas pockets, and unearthing hidden chambers with all manner of ancient horror. The live exhibits had a tendency to break free and rampage. Death was commonplace, and the Onu-Matoran had a rather fatalistic view of the world and nihilistic view of themselves. They didn't bother planning for a future life they couldn't be guaranteed, instead they focused on remembering the deeds of those who came before and making their own mark on history to be remembered.

Onu-Matoran's obsession with the past often put them at odds with the Ko-Matoran. Matoran of Ice studied the stars to predict the future, but where always marching ahead and quick to forget things that were over with. You can't change what is already done, so why not prepare for something better? Neither group could truly learn to put their differences aside and meld their ideas and improve the present.

Whenua was one of the most famed and respected Archivists. One day a group of strange creatures were discovered in the depths beneath Metru Nui's Silver Sea, titanic beats of eldritch form from eons ago. The village's elder, Turaga Dume, ordered these "First Rahi" to be captured and contained for study in secret. Whenua was one of the three individuals trusted with the study, and was paired with Onepu and Mavrah.

Mavrah was the most enthusiastic about the project, with Onepu and Whenua having doubts. As time went on the experiment rapidly went out of control, with the sea monsters' frequent escape attempts causing earthquakes and tunnel collapses. At one point Whenua fell into a tank with one of the beats and was saved last minute by Mavrah. Dume deemed the project a failure, and ordered the execution of the Rahi the next day. When the "cleanup" crew arrived the next morning Mavrah and the First Rahi were nowhere to be found.

Sometime later Makuta Teridax began his grand plan to conquer the Matoran Universe and overthrow Mata Nui. He snuck into the city of Metru Nui and kidnaped Turaga Dume, using his shapeshifting powers to take the elder's place. He planted a sentient plant known as the Morbuzakh inside the Great Furnace, which used its vines and roots to destroy buildings and capture Matoran. He hired three Dark Hunters to hunt down the city's Toa guardians and kill them one-by-one.

Eventually only one Toa was left, Toa Lhikan, but before two of the Hunters could capture him he managed to hand out six Toa Stones to notable Matoran across the city. Whenua was one of these Matoran, and he was ordered to travel to the Great Temple. There the six Matoran were imbued with the power of Toa and transformed into the Toa Metru!

Vakama, the Toa Metru of Fire, received visions of the Morbuzakh being destroyed by the six Great Disks, so the Toa split up to retrieve them. Whenua teamed up with an old Archivist fellow named Tehutti who knew where the Great Disk of Earth was hidden. He was also teamed with Nuju to retrieve it, but as an Earth and Ice elemental their relationship was quickly strained. Together they recovered the Great Disk of Earth from a storage level of the Archives, fighting through a mutant crab and sentient room along the way, and later retrieved the Great Disk of Ice from the top of a Knowledge Tower, Whenua using his knowledge of the city's guttyworks to keep the Vahki cops distracted from Nuju's position.

With the Six Great Disks the Metru successfully killed the Morbuzakh. On their way back they were interrupted by the Onu-Matoran engineer Nuparu who reported the Archives were at risk of

On their way back they were interrupted by the Onu-Matoran engineer Nuparu who reported the Archives were at risk of flooding. Whenua led the team into the depths of the museum, to the wild labyrinth of the Fikou Web beneath.

There the team were split up and encountered the Krahka, a territorial shapeshifting Rahi who could copy the form and powers of anything she studied. After learning the team's language she captured Whenua and used his form to try and convince the others to leave. When they refused she "guided" them into a series of traps, taking them out one by one, until Nokama, Toa of Water, realized the truth. Nokama managed to find and free her teammates, including the real Whenua, and together they drove the Krahka off long enough to fix the leak. During their fight with the shapeshifter, they learned that combining their six elemental powers could create a Protodermis Seal.

When the Toa arrived at the Coliseum and announced they killed the Morbuzakh they expected to be praised as heroes. Instead the False Dume branded them traitors and imposters, blaming them for Lhikan's disappearance. Whenua, Onewa, and Nuju where captured and imprisoned leaving Vakama, Nokama, and Matau free to rescue them. In prison Whenua and co found Lhikan, now a Turaga, who taught them how to unlock their mask powers in cryptic ways. Whenua was blindfolded and forced to carry rocks across the room, while Lhikan would purposefully try to block or trip him. The exercise was meant to teach Whenua not to rely too much on what he remembered, and consider how things could have changed. Eventually the training allowed him to unlock his mask power of Night Vision which he used to guide his cellmates through dark tunnels after breaking out of their cell.

Eventually they met up with Vakama's crew, but they were too late. Makuta's plan had come to fruition. He used his position as Dume to lure the Matoran into pods that would wipe their memories, and cast a spell over Mata Nui casting him into an endless slumber, causing earthquakes to rock the world. The Toa joined forces to defeat Makuta, combining their powers to seal him in Protodermis, and sailed through a crack the quakes created in the Great Barrier.

Beyond the Barrier they found Mavrah. He had fled with the First Rahi to flooded caverns long ago to keep them alive, and feared the six Toa had been sent by Dume to arrest him for his desertion. Whenua tried to convince Mavrah that Metru Nui had fallen, and he should come with them as they searched for a better world, but Mavrah did not believe him. In the ensuing fights and chaos, the First Rahi were riled up by Mavrah, and a wave washed Mavrah into their pool where he was drowned and crushed by the very things he swore to protect.

Through the tunnels the Toa found an island paradise they named Mata Nui in the Great Spirit's honor. They decided to bring the slumbering Matoran there and returned the Metru Nui only to find it overrun in green webs. It took Whenua a while to remember where he had seen this substance before, but it struck him too late. Visorak! The giant spiders had invaded the city and captured the Metru, using their venom to mutate them into half-Rahi beasts known as Hordika.

These Toa Hordika were rescued by the Rahaga, strange beings seeking Keetongu, a legendary ape that could heal and reverse many aliments, including Visorak venom. Whenua teamed up with Rahaga Boomonga, who taught him to keep his animalistic side in check. The duo wound up cornered by a Visorak Kahgarak, a special breed of spider who could open portals to the Zone of Darkness, a land in which there was no light or warmth, just an endless field of cold, flat stone. Whenua and Boomonga were trapped in the Zone.

Luckily, not long after, a Kahgarak elsewhere chose to summon the Zivon, a giant scorpion monster, to kill the other Toa (long story) and Whenua and Boomonga managed to escape alongside it.

Eventually the Toa Hordika tracked down Keetongu who agreed to cure them if they drove the Visorak out of the city, which they managed to do (thoug

Eventually the Toa Hordika tracked down Keetongu who agreed to cure them if they drove the Visorak out of the city, which they managed to do (though Makuta was freed in the process.) Returned to their regular Toa Metru forms, the six gathered all the Matoran Pods on airships and took them to the island above.

On the shores of Mata Nui the Toa Metru chose to sacrifice their Toa Power to awaken the comatose Matoran, transforming the six into Turaga Elders in the process. Whenua led the Matoran of Earth deep underground to found Onu-Koro, the Village of Earth. There they would mine for precious materials like Lightstones beneath the island, engineer great machines to help the other tribes, and set up a series of underground highways to connect the villages.

While the other Turaga acted as the sole leaders of their villages, Whenua was much more open to dividing responsibilities. Each of the villages' tasks and jobs were divided among several Guilds, and their Guildmasters would hold meetings with Whenua for council and guidance.

1,000 years after Mata Nui fell asleep, the Toa Mata arrived on the island with goal of awakening him. Toa Onua found his way to Onu-Koro, where Whenua instructed him on his quest to collect the six Masks of Power and fight the Makuta. Sometime later, during the Bohrok War, the Bohrok attempted to flood the village. Onua and Whenua were washed away together, and forced to find their way out of the dark depths of the island. During the search for the Nuva Masks Whenua taught Onua the greatest lesson Nuju had taught him. Don't jump into situations blindly, analyze all that is going on and carefully plan a solution.

When the Rahkshi invaded searching for the Mask of Light, Whenua rescued Onua and Pohatu from a cave-in. He brought them to a cave where the Turaga had been collecting Kraata slugs in stasis, and explained to the heroes how these creatures could pilot the Rahkshi suits of armor and infect masks for the Maktua to mind control people.

After Makuta's defeat at the hands of the Toa of Light, Whenua agreed to tell the people the stories of Metru Nui and help them return to their ancestral home. He was briefly imprisoned during the Reign of Shadows, and as with just about everyone emigrated to Spherus Magna after the Reformation.

As a Toa Metru Whenua wore the Kanohi Ruru, the Mask of Night Vision. Not only could this mask let him see in the dark, but in its Great From it could cast a floodlight to help guide his friends. He carried a pair of Earthshock Drills that could bore through rock or create high pitched shrieks to frighten beasts with sensitive ears. As a Toa of Earth Whenua was able to create, absorb, and manipulate dirt and soil, transforming and moving it at will. However he was unable to control solid rock, and mud could be unruly.

I’m Whenua and I’m digging a hole.
Diggy diggy hole, Diggy diggy hole.

@TheOtherMike said:
"@ B_Space_Man: Not very well lit, he's underground.

"

His mask has literal flashlight powers

Wonderful set. I miss the days of seeing these canisters line shelves at KB Toys...

@Huwbot : Whenua trying to get lots of great comments, make sure you give us a RSOTD either from Bonkle, Clikits or Scala...oh or Fabuland!
:-p

Last year I re-acquired... well, you know the drill!

This set has an angled connector that allows you to put the hands together at an angle in a way that the drills form one large jackhammer shocker thingy.
As @xboxtravis7992 pointed out above... the final page in the instructions this was shown in became a bit of a meme.

I originally got this set and Nuju from a Zeeman clothing store. The lid could also be combined with another to form a 'matoran sphere'. This was one of the capsules the matoran were kept in at the climax of the 2004 story and during the entire 2005 story.
There also was a 'kanoka card' which contained a code in the Matoran alphabet (yes, there's an in-universe alphabet that directly corresponds to the latin alphabet). This could be redeemed at the 'kanoka club', a section of the Bionicle website. According to the card, you could win sets or even a solid gold disk!

I swear these lore recaps seem to be getting longer so mad props to @GSR_MataNui for typing them all out

@xboxtravis7992 said:
"https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bionicle-instructions/photos/page/4?_gl=1%2A13nq6le%2A_ga%2AYW1wLVJBM1M4UTF1cURPMkpBWktuNkQwMkxXQUc0ZU1pdEdmUVlUNnVVa2JncUNYSERBY291SVA5dmhzel93dlphOWY.

Proper Whenua instructions "

Everything on the first page is Lewa, Gali, Lewa, Kopaka, Lewa, robotic boobs, and Lewa. Whenua want to have people look at a specific meme, ua should link to it specifically.

Always nice to see a Bionicle set featured :D

My personal favourite of the six Toa Metru, although that may be nostalgia speaking: not entirely intentionally I was always a "black-armoured Toa first" guy, at least on the first pass of any given team of characters (and incidentally never on the second version of the same team), so he was my first Metru. That said, I think at the time I was particularly taken with Whenua out of the Turaga too, een though I didn't own him then, so the attachment to him carried over.

He was also my first 2004 set, along with Ahkmou; I got them both from Legoland Windsor when a couple from Church took me and a friend there at the beginning of that year. In our part of the world, most of the Toa Metru contained mini CD discs containing a little game where the Toa had to solve a few puzzles to track down their respective Matoran character who was missing (the content of which were all combined into the story of the first book of the Bionicle Adventures novel series): but for some reason the Whenua I got from Legoland - and the Matau my friend got at the same time - didn't include those CDs even though every other of the Metru I got from other places did.

Like many of my other sets, Whenua was one who I eventually sold when I downsized my collection around about the time I was at university. A handful of years back now, though, I started to kind of think maybe I missed some of the Metru a little; not enough to do anything about it, just enough to passingly think 'huh it might be nice to get a couple of them back'.

Not even half a week after that, I stopped into a charity shop in one of the local towns, on my way back from the animal shelter I did a bit of volunteering at: and right there on the shelf were two Toa Metru canisters, containing not only the appropriate Toa, mixed up but complete, but also all the parts of their respective Matoran too. And on top of which, they were Whenua and Nokama, who would have been the exact two I'd have picked if given the choice of all of them - AND they were very cheap! I felt amazingly blessed, like they'd been put there just for me, and of course bought them right away. They're standing on the shelf of my bookcase right now ^^

@Sandinista said:
"

I love how in depth this is but at the same time feel second hand embarrassment for you spending so much time typing these out"

Embarrassment, or jealousy that I was everyone's favorite around the campfire?

@Sandinista said:
" @GSR_MataNui said:
" @Sandinista said:
"

I love how in depth this is but at the same time feel second hand embarrassment for you spending so much time typing these out"

Embarrassment, or jealousy that I was everyone's favorite around the campfire?

"

That's a really vain thing to say. If you interpret criticism as jealousy, I can't imagine how insufferable you are in person"

Whoa, nelly?!! Can't you see, he's joking?

You are joking, right?...

Ok, even if he's not joking, I fail to understand how 'vanity' and 'campfire' have anything to do with one another?!

If we're being that hyper-critical, I feel some embarrassment (first, second, and third-hand) for all of us! Se ya tomorrow, Space Cowboy!... ;p