Look out ladies!

Matau in Maori means Fish hook, but this guy looks nothing like one.

I literally know nothing about Bionicle - because Bionicle never made it easy to know anything about it! Nobody, NOBODY can keep track of all the names and variants and Toa and stuff.
No wonder it ended in 2010 and the reboot was a flop.

@Maxbricks14 said:
"Matau in Maori means Fish hook, but this guy looks nothing like one."

8541-1 the first set of this character, has a saw. Not quite a fish hook, but different than his air katanas here.

@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"I literally know nothing about Bionicle - because Bionicle never made it easy to know anything about it! Nobody, NOBODY can keep track of all the names and variants and Toa and stuff.
No wonder it ended in 2010 and the reboot was a flop."

I mean this is probably the best time to complain about naming because the word "Mata" is used to refer to the initial wave of action figures, as well as the name of a character AND setting, and this Matau with a u is unrelated AFAIK.

@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"I literally know nothing about Bionicle - because Bionicle never made it easy to know anything about it! Nobody, NOBODY can keep track of all the names and variants and Toa and stuff.
No wonder it ended in 2010 and the reboot was a flop."

Poor mans bait

@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"I literally know nothing about Bionicle - because Bionicle never made it easy to know anything about it! Nobody, NOBODY can keep track of all the names and variants and Toa and stuff.
No wonder it ended in 2010 and the reboot was a flop."

We BIONICLE fans are very honored to be compared to Odysseus. Thank you for your praise, Polyphemus!

Toa Matau Metru was one of the second half of Toa Metru that I bought in early 2004. After getting Orkahm for Christmas, I didn't really like the new dark green introduced, so I wasn't looking forward to Toa Matau too much. When I built him, I did like the way the mask did appear to be revised version of the Noble Mahiki in its "Great" Kanohi form. Otherwise, he seemed to be a serious step down from Toa Lewa Nuva in curb appeal. Still, like the rest of the Metru, he had elbow, knee, neck, ankle, wrist, and shoulder articulation, the new norm for BIONICLE canister figures. That was a most-appreciated evolution that started with the Rahkshi in 2003.

As for the character, until the movie, "Legends of Metru Nui", was released in October 2004, I assumed Matau was little different than Lewa, albeit with a stronger emphasis on his "chute-speak" dialogue. The whole creation of the Metru was omitted from the comic storyline in January because that was part of the movie. So we instead were dropped right into the Morbuzahk crisis as the Toa Metru begin the task of seeking out the Great Disks. Six Matoran each knew the location of one disk, but one of them planned to betray the new Toa. This turned out to be Ahkmou (it's always Ahkmou!), but the Toa Metru managed to find the disks and the "root" of the Morbuzahk in Ta-Metru. Using the power of the disks, they were able to destroy the destructive plant, though questions remained as to how such a vile creation came to be in Metru Nui in the first place.

Matau and the others didn't have to wait long to find out the source of Metru Nui's growing darkness. After the Morbuzahk's defeat, they brought the Great Disks to the Coliseum at the heart of Metru Nui to proclaim themselves the new protectors of the island city. Turaga Dume, however, was not so ready to assent to their claims. He had the Toa Metru tested against the moving obstacles built into the floor of the Coliseum, simulating a sea that the Toa had to cross. They failed spectacularly, and some Toa Metru were imprisoned. Matau, Nokama, and Vakama, however, got away.

At this point, Matau was entirely disenchanted with the "fire spitter's" leadership. One could assume Matau fancied himself the rightful leader of the Toa Metru. Then again, Matau fancied himself many things, but offered little in the way to back up his claim. Still, Matau slowly got under Vakama's skin. A narrow escape via proto chutes from the Dark Hunters Nidhiki and Krekka found the three Toa following Lhikan's Toa stars to Po-Metru. There, Nokama and Matau discovered how to access their mask powers. Matau's manifested as he sought to lure Nidhiki and Krekka away from the others. When the Dark Hunters split up around a butte, Matau beat Nidhiki to the otherside and used his Great Mask of Illusion to take the form of Nidhiki and give Krekka opposite commands. He repeated this, confounding the Dark Hunters and allowing the Toa and Kikanalo herds helping them to get away.

When the Toa Metru reunited with Turaga Lhikan, they discovered that Matoran were being ushered into hibernation pods by the Vahki, under Turaga Dume's command. When they confronted Dume, they realized the Turaga was an imposter--it was actually the Makuta Teridax in disguise! Unveiled, Makuta became to absorb the bodies of Nidhiki, Krekka, and the pet Nivawk to assume a new, titanic form. The Toa Metru removed as many Matoran pods as possible to a transport so they could flee Metru Nui as Makuta triggered the process that put the Great Spirit to sleep. Matau drove the transport, but Makuta used his powers to turn the very sea of protodermis against them. Eventually, Vakama faced down Makuta, distracting him long enough for Matau and the others to get in position, combine their elemental powers, and form a protodermis cage to trap Makuta.

Victorious, they took the Matoran to a new island paradise beyond the sea. With so few, however, they knew they had to return to Metru Nui for a much larger evacuation effort. A return to a now-darkened City of Legends was imminent...

@Miyakan said:
"Looks like Rocketman."

Rocketeer? I really wish they’d kept up the “collect every mask in every color” thing one more round because I very specifically wish they’d released this one in either dark-red or gold.

@Norikins:
The original Toa were originally _just_ Toa. When they became Toa Nuva, and the Turaga reverted to Toa themselves, I think it was the fan community that applied the Toa Mata name, as they were sent to Mata Nui, while the Toa Metru were sent to Metru Nui.

Yes yes, I'm late. I'll try to keep this quick 'cause the Metru are my favorite and I always ramble on way more than I should.

Matau was once a Matoran of Air and test pilot in the city of Metru Nui, and a real braggart who was proud of his "handsome looks." When a strange plant called the Morbuzakh began taking over the city and it's Toa protectors started going missing, Toa Lhikan decided to start a new generation of heroes to protect it. Matau was one of these six new heroes, and was given a Toa Stone that transformed him into a Toa!

While the others were afraid of the newfound responsibility that had been thrust upon them, and were saddened they had to leave their old friends and lives behind, Matau was overjoyed. He couldn't wait to be praised as one of the heroes grand protectors, they may even make a statue of him! Matau was quick to but heads with Vakama Toa of Fire, who declared himself the team's leader, largely to his own racial biases against "firespitters" and "smeltheads."

Matau joined the others on their quest for the six Great Disks. He was begrudgingly paired with Orkahm, an old colleague who liked to take things annoyingly slow. At one point he dove headfirst into an energy bubble that could've disintegrated him to retrieve his Disk, and joined the others in killing the Morbuzakh.

When the Toa tried to show their accomplishments off at the Coliseum they were instead branded criminals by Turaga Dume (who was actually Maktua in disguise.) Three of the Toa were captured, but Matau managed to escape with the other two. While on a mission to free their friends and find Lhikan, Matau discovered his mask power. The Mask of Illusion let him cast visions and holograms, and he used it to "shapeshift" and confuse his enemies.

Eventually the six Toa and Lhikan were reunited, but this left time for Makuta to complete his grand plan. He cast a spell that threw Mata Nui, the god of the Matoran Universe, into unending sleep, and trapped all the Matoran villagers in pods that would wipe their memories. The Toa managed to seal Makuta in Protodermis and discovered a passage to a mysterious island paradise. They decided to bring the sleeping Matoran to this new island, that they named in Mata Nui's honor.

When they returned to the city for the Matoran Pods they found it overrun by odd sticky webs. Vakama ended leading the team into a trap and they were captured by spiders of the Visorak Horde. The Visorak used their venom to mutate the Toa into strange monstrous beasts known as Hordika, but before they could be killed the Hordika were rescued by the odd Rahaga.

These Rahaga had heard legends of the mysterious Keetongu, who could cure any ailment, and offered to help the Toa find him.

Matau was effected the worst by the Hordika venom. Not only had it twisted him more than the others, leaving him covered in scars and rust, but the hunched back and reptilian features stung straight in his vanity. He blamed Vakama for getting them into this mess and doubled down on his bulling of the Fire elemental. Eventually he pushed Vakama so much that he left the team and ended up joining the Visorak Horde after hearing the snake-like words of Viceroy Roodaka, quickly becoming their general!

Eventually the remaining Hordika and Rahaga found Keetongu. He offered to help them, on the condition that they drive the Visorak out of Metru Nui. The Hordika laid siege to the Coliseum and fought the spiders, while Matau himself chose to go after Vakama.

Matau climbed to the top of the Coliseum's highest spire where he and Vakama came to blows. During the fight Matau apologized for everything he had done and how awfully he treated Vakama, and when he saw the light returning to his brothers eyes said:

"If there's any of the Vakama I know left, he'll know what to do next."

Matau then hurled himself off of the spire, plummeting to his death. Vakama acted quickly, using a nearby Visorak web as a bungee cord to save his old teammate.

Back in the court of the Coliseum, Roodaka had managed to corner the Rahaga and other four Hordika

Back in the court of the Coliseum, Roodaka had managed to corner the Rahaga and other four Hordika. Vakama returned and tossed Matau in with the lot of them. Roodaka was originally impressed with his skills in catching Matau, before he gave a new command to the Horde. General Vakama commanded the spiders to go free, and seeing escape from Roodaka's tyranny, they fled without second thought.

Roodaka manged to get away, she even freed Makuta, but the Hordika had won. Keetongu kept his promise and made them Toa once more, and with his help they loaded the Matoran Pods into Airships and returned to the surface.

On the shores of Mata Nui, the Toa Metru sacrificed their Toa power to awaken the comatose and amnesiac Matoran. This loss of power transformed them into Turaga elders, who helped settle the Matoran into six villages across the island. Matau gained a reputation as a very laid-back leader, encouraging frequent partying, music, and relaxation in his village while he'd usually rest and nod along to the beat, but could still throw it down if the dance floor needed a boost.

As a Toa Metru, Matau wore the Kanohi Mahiki, the Mask of Illusion, that let him confuse and confuddle others with false visages. He wielded two Aero Slicers, swords that not only channeled his Elemental Power of Air, but could transform into a pair of wings.

Oh also there was this odd thing in both the books and movies where Matau would flirt with Nokama Toa of Water, who did not reciprocate. While the movies might make sense because they had different writer teams, Greg Farshstey has repeatedly called these scenes non-canon because Matoran/Toa can't feel romantic feelings. But like dude... you wrote the books. You could've just cut those scenes out the ones you were in charge of, but you kept it up.

I always found background artworks in Bionicle sets to be captivating. Very interesting, otherworldly sceneries.

@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"I literally know nothing about Bionicle - because Bionicle never made it easy to know anything about it! Nobody, NOBODY can keep track of all the names and variants and Toa and stuff.
No wonder it ended in 2010 and the reboot was a flop."

I mean, to be fair, Takadox, Pridak, and Kalmah all have more distinct names, more distinct designs, and more plot relevance than Razar, Ripnik, and Razcal.

The vast majority of characters are divided into color coded teams of six, and they'd usually do one hero team, one villain team, and one civilian team per year so it was pretty easy to organize them into little charts. You look at the team, and the color, and you're good.

I mean, that was all I was gonna comment, but you know what, off of my head, variants of the Toa we got.

Toa Mata, 2001, the Toa of Mata Nui
Toa Nuva, 2002, the "new" and upgraded Toa
Toa Metru, 2004, the Toa of Metru Nui
Toa Hordika, 2005, the Toa mutated by the Horde
Toa Inika, 2006, the Toa from the "Ignition" arch
Toa Mahri, 2007, the underwater/marine Toa
Adaptive Toa Nuva, 2008. Same dudes from 01/02, split into two subteams. Phantoka, Spirits of the Sky (phantom=spirit), and Mistika, Spirits of the Mist (mist=well mist)
Masters of the Elements, 2015, reboot dudes
Uniters of the Elements, 2016, from the combiner function wave of sets

In case you're curious:
Mata/Nuva/Adaptive/Master/Uniter: Tahu, Kopaka, Gali, Lewa, Onua, Pohatu
Metru/Hordika: Vakama, Nuju, Nokama, Matau, Whenua, Onewa
Inika/Mahri: Jaller, Matoro, Gali, Kongu, Nuparu, Hewkii

And that's all the main/big teams. But lets do more!

Takanuva, Toa of Light, the Seventh Toa. He had three sets, original in 2003, Twilight in 2008, and Stars in 2010.
Tahu got a bonus release in the Stars line in 2010. Also the Golden Toa if you count that as a comber model (I do.)
Pohatu and Lewa got Pilot outfits in 2008.
The Toa Mangai were the old protectors of Metru Nui, but only Lhikan got a set. They share a name with the volcano from the first year of the story. (2004)
The Toa Haga where the Rahaga before they were mutated. Rahkshi+Haga=Rahaga (2005) They were: Norik, Kualus, Gaaki, Iruni, Boomonga, Pouks (I'm sure I messed up some spellings there)
Jovan was a combiner model in 2006, no real trick for remembering him.
The Toa Cordak were Lesovikk's old Toa Team (who's the only member to get a set.) They share a name with the guns released the same year (2007)
Ekimu was the Gen 2 version of Takanuva, anther Toa of Light (2016.)

And then there's a bunch of book only characters. (I might forget one here.) Off the top of my head. Helryx, Krakua, Nikola, Varian, Charia, Zaria, Orde, Tuyet, Naho, Nidhiki (well he did have a set, but as a mutant bug monster.) A bunch of the Dark Hunters used be Toa too but I can never remember who. Prototype? At least one other.

I'd say that's keeping track of the names and variants!

@Norikins said:
" @AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"I literally know nothing about Bionicle - because Bionicle never made it easy to know anything about it! Nobody, NOBODY can keep track of all the names and variants and Toa and stuff.
No wonder it ended in 2010 and the reboot was a flop."

I mean this is probably the best time to complain about naming because the word "Mata" is used to refer to the initial wave of action figures, as well as the name of a character AND setting, and this Matau with a u is unrelated AFAIK."

Also one of his teammates wears a Kanohi called “Matatu” with an extra T

@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"I literally know nothing about Bionicle - because Bionicle never made it easy to know anything about it! Nobody, NOBODY can keep track of all the names and variants and Toa and stuff.
No wonder it ended in 2010 and the reboot was a flop."

Speak for yourself. Lore was always something that clung into my head better than boring facts. Probably what led me down the career path I went down. I know my Nui-Jagas from my Nui-Ramas, my Mataus from Matatus, is what I’m saying

@PurpleDave said:
" @Miyakan said:
"Looks like Rocketman."

Rocketeer? I really wish they’d kept up the “collect every mask in every color” thing one more round because I very specifically wish they’d released this one in either dark-red or gold.

@Norikins:
The original Toa were originally _just_ Toa. When they became Toa Nuva, and the Turaga reverted to Toa themselves, I think it was the fan community that applied the Toa Mata name, as they were sent to Mata Nui, while the Toa Metru were sent to Metru Nui."

The Turaga never reverted to Toa Metru, 2004 and 2005 are prequels to 2001-2003.

Lore aside, I just really, really love this set. The dark shade of green, the mask, the fantastically designed swords and the ability to turn them into actual wings. One of my all-time favourite sets.

@GSR_MataNui said:
"'ll try to keep this quick"

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

When I was young and on holiday in France with my parents, I got all of the Toa Metru one by one in various shops across the country. The last one to be added to my collection was Matau, who we found in a toy store along the drive back home on the final day. It was the first Toa team that I completed, and to this day I still do not have all of the Toa Mata and Nuva.

Back then, to me they were simply "the red one" and the "green one", but it was around 2004 that I got into the lore and learn their names.

I wasn't old enough for Bionicle until 2007, but my local library had all of the Metru era novels, so I wound up very attached to this set of characters.

Matau wasn't one of my favourites there, but I think he has one of the better sets, I like that his Great mask still sort of resembles his Noble one and I think his weapons work better as tools than most of the other Metrus'.

@Brickalili said:
" @AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"I literally know nothing about Bionicle - because Bionicle never made it easy to know anything about it! Nobody, NOBODY can keep track of all the names and variants and Toa and stuff.
No wonder it ended in 2010 and the reboot was a flop."

Speak for yourself. Lore was always something that clung into my head better than boring facts. Probably what led me down the career path I went down. I know my Nui-Jagas from my Nui-Ramas, my Mataus from Matatus, is what I’m saying"

I'm assuming you know your Kopakas from your Kopekes, then. And, of course, OG Bionicle fans will know their Hukis from ther Hewkiis. OR WILL THEY?

To infinity and beyond!

@mediAFOL said:
" @GSR_MataNui said:
"'ll try to keep this quick"

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

I don't think you know what "try" means. This guy was in like 10 books each of which were about 100 pages long and about 20 or so comics. This is the version with only the important bits. I cut out stuff like him joining the hunt for Nokama's Disk, fighting the shapeshiftinig Krahka, the whole airship fight, the fight against the Tahtorak, the Kikanolo Herd and prison break, how he in the team actually sealed Makuta, Mavrah's whole underwater sea monster thing, them traveling though Makuta's lair and fighting all his mutant Rahi and the Karzahni Plant, Roodaka's plan that she mutated them for in the first place, Matau's tutorship under Iruini, the search for the Makoki Stones and Mask of Light on Metru Nui, the fight against the Zivion, building the Tower of Toa, and literally everything he did in the 2001-2003 story aside from being the elder. This is a big freaking story! I'm cutting the stuff that will bore y'all and making it easily half as long.

^I think you did a good job, you got all the important details in without trailing on forever. As someone who isn't terribly familiar with Bionicle, I appreciated the write-up.