I wonder how fast the spinner projectile would have to rotate (without being launched) to turn him into a helicopter?

The Hordika were among the more "same-samey" of Bionicle's cannister sets: the switch to diversifying so that an entire wave wasn't clone builds wouldn't really start until the following year, so though I don't actually have Matau, I'm able to say from my Vakama and Whenua that... eh, the Hordika are fine enough toys, but if masks were your hook into Bionicle, they really don't do the trick.

Matau's head would actually get reused again, I think--unlike the other Hordika. His weapons, the other unique mould here, are fine, I guess. They're neither pointless nor exceptionally cool.

First off, the Toa Tuyet Fanon contest just finished wrapping up! While not an official part of the story, unlike the TTV contests were, this is the closest we'll ever get to a visual representation of the book only traitorous Toa of Water: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy5b182inAU

We had Turaga Whenua on here a few days ago, and his lore has a lot of crossover with Matau's lore. Also I've got other things to do tonight, so lore's gonna be the basics.

Matau was once a test pilot in the region of Le-Metru, who made sure new vehicles and inventions were up to snuff. When the city's protector Toa Lhikan was in danger, he gave Matau and five other Matoran Toa Stones to transform them into Toa.

As a Toa, Matau was hostile and aggressive towards his fellows. He had a high ego, perceiving himself as the most handsome (and to some extent most powerful) member of the team. This ego was somewhat a front for his own insecurities, though he rarely opened up his about his true feelings, preferring to pretend everything was fine to make it seem he had a handle on things. He was snappy and rude with his fellows, especially to the team leader Vakama. On a more positive note, Matau was a naturally born comedian. While his jokes didn't always land, he'd often try to make light of any situation.

During the events of the 2004 story Matau helped rescue the Matoran Orkham, retrieved the Great Disk of Le-Metru, and even tried to fight the Great Tahtorak one-on-one. (Bothersome gnat.)

During the Great Rescue, the Toa Metru were captured by the Visorak horde and mutated into the Toa Hordika. The Hordika venom caused emotions in the Toa to run high. After seeing his new ugly and hideous form, Matau quickly blamed Vakama for leading them into the trap.

Eventually Matau and Onewa's hostilities, before and after the mutation, and Roodaka's smooth talking mixed with Vakama's Hordika side. The Toa of Fire betrayed his team, and joined up with the Visorak horde.

During the final battle at the Colosseum, while the other four Toa fought the Visorak below, Matau scaled the center tower to confront Vakama. During the following duel, Matau apologized for the way he had treated Vakama, and begged him to return to his siblings. Vakama remained enraged. Eventually Matau found himself dangling off the edge of the Colosseum's balcony. After a final apology and words of encouragement, Matau said the following:

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

And he let go and plunged towards his death.

Vakama thought quickly, and grabbed a nearby Visorak web to use as a bungee cord and rescue his brother. Safely on the ground, the two agreed to play prisoner so Roodaka would still trust Vakama and they could ambush her at the end of the fight.

Later on the island of Mata Nui, Matau settled down as the elder of the village of Le-Koro. Le-Koro was filled with an air of care-freeness and a love of parties, with Matau often cracking out his excellent singing voice for the festivities. He remained a comedian and prankster, but his time as a Toa had taught him the importance of teamwork and understanding others, creating a stronger bond with his fellow Turaga. These lessons he tried to impart on his student, Toa Lewa, when the new Toa of Air arrived on the island 1,000 years later.

As a Hordika, Matau had largely lost his power over Air, though he could still channel it through his Rhotuka Spinner. In addition his Hordika form completely lost access to his mask power. As a Toa/ Turaga, Matau wore the Kanohi Mahiki, the Mask of Illusion. This mask let Matau shapeshift into new forms or create holograms and projections to trick opponents.

@Shadowcloner said:
"I wonder how fast the spinner projectile would have to rotate (without being launched) to turn him into a helicopter? "

The Rahaga used their spinners as helicopter blades in the movie, but there they were less of a disk and more of long wing-like blades that could fold back when not in use. I do think there was a point where a Toa fired their Rhotuka, then grabbed it with the end of their blade, and it carried them over a gap or chasm.

If there was a nadir to BIONICLE apart from its ending, it had to be the year 2005. Multiple storylines, horribly unfavorable set release dates (Europeans got almost everything except the Hordika months before the USA), and bland, clone sets like the Toa Hordika really made it feel like after the triumphs of 2003 and 2004, the BIONICLE team was starting to phone it in. Thankfully, 2006 turned things back around in a superb way, so 2005 just feels like an awkward stumbling block rather than a "dark age" for the theme.

Toa Matau Hordika here had the same time of partially-rubber weapons and Rhotuka spinner shooter on his back. He was probably one of the last Toa Hordika I bought since I wasn't a fan of the new dark green introduced the year before with Toa Metru Matau and the Matoran Orkham. I was pleased, however, to see how he rose to second billing among the Toa in that year's BIONICLE movie, Web of Shadows. Matau went from a douchebag who blamed everything on Vakama and worried about his new mutated appearance to a more conscientious Toa that offered the olive branch to Vakama after the Toa Hordika of Fire turned against the Toa and became a leader in the Visorak army. After an intense duel, Matau knocked some good sense into Vakama and finally established a real friendship that had been absent between the two characters since the beginning of the Metru Nui saga. The Hordika experience humbled Matau a bit, and even after returning back to his Toa form thanks to the mystical Rahi named Keetongu ("the Key to Nongu?"), he kept the lessons learned foremost in his mind. He would still partake in a good practical joke from time to time, though!

Hey, it's that spinny thing I still use to play with my cat!

The green guy seems like an unnecessary addition to the cat toy.

@Lego_Lord_Mayorca the three titan sets of 2005 were the strongest part. Who can forget, Robot Cyclops, Tall Red Guy, and 11 year old's first BDSM experience (was that Bionicle set a sexual awakening?)

Roodaka, Sidorak and Keetongu were great. The two Toa Hagah were great. The rest of the year? It was bland.

@Formendacil said:
"Matau's head would actually get reused again, I think--unlike the other Hordika. His weapons, the other unique mould here, are fine, I guess. They're neither pointless nor exceptionally cool."

8940 Karzahni actually reuses Vakama's head in dark green.

@GSR_MataNui what, no commentary on his flirting with Nokama?