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The Toa Inika are a team of Toa heroes from the Legends story arc of LEGO Bionicle storyline. Unlike most Toa, they have special lightning powers and living Kanohi Masks.

Before the term "Inika" was released, the fan community referred to this team by the names "Toa Voya" and "Toa Igniters". Jaller named the team "Inika" (which means "energies of a star" in the Matoran language) as a reference to how they became Toa.

Contents 1 History 2 Powers 3 Toa Inika 3.1 Jaller 3.2 Hahli 3.3 Kongu 3.4 Hewkii 3.5 Nuparu 3.6 Matoro 4 Notes 5 Trivia 6 References 7 External link

Shortly after the Matoran return to Metru Nui, Jaller becomes upset that the Turaga are once again keeping secrets from the Matoran. Turaga Nokama comes to him in secret and explains that Mata Nui is in danger of dying; this was kept from the Matoran to keep them from worrying about something they could do little about. Refusing to wait helplessly while the Toa Nuva go after the Ignika Mask of Life that could save the Great Spirit, Jaller decides to gather a group of strong Matoran with Toa Takanuva and travel to Voya Nui to aid the Toa Nuva.

On the way, the group travels through a dark tunnel, and Matoro helps what he assumes to be one of his friends, only to be disturbed that not only was the person not part of his group, but it seemed there was nobody there at all. Unfortunately, Takanuva is soon forced to turn back when the group encounters a gateway that no light (or Toa of Light) is allowed through. The rest soon find themselves in the realm ruled by Karzahni, which legends stated was a land of the dead - and while the Matoran living there aren't dead, they are so physically and spiritually broken they might as well be. Karzahni tries to make Jaller's group abandon their old identities, just as he had with the other Matoran in his realm, by taking their masks and making those who rebel see horrific alternate futures. While Hahli, as a Chronicler, tells Karzahni of the world outside his kingdom, the other five search for an escape route. What they find is the realm's true purpose; it wasn't to be a place of punishment for Matoran who worked poorly, but a place of repair. The group encounter a Matoran who built the Toa Canisters and convince him to let them use the canisters. When Karzahni tries to stop their escape, Matoro challenges him to show them the worst future they could think of, and therefore all witness the death of the universe that would occur at Mata Nui's passing. While Karzahni recovers from the shock of what he saw, the Matoran enter the set of Toa canisters and took off. When the canisters arrive on Voya Nui, they are struck by lightning from the mysterious Red Star, turning them into strange Toa.

In examining their new bodies and tools (including brightly glowing faces), each of the new Toa begin instinctively activating their mask powers - which causes some chaos, as Nuparu is airborne, Kongu can't turn his telepathy off, Matoro seems to be dead and Hahli is talking to thin air; but eventually they get things under control.

They soon meet a band of Matoran - Balta, Dalu, Piruk, Velika, Garan, and Kazi - and learn of the situation: six beings calling themselves Piraka have invaded and enslaved most of the Matoran in their quest to claim the Mask of Life for themselves. The Piraka also have an ally, a giant named Brutaka, that has beaten the Toa Nuva and taken them captive. While Jaller, Hahli, Dalu, and Piruk went to free some of the slaves with Zamor Launchers provided by Velika; Balta and Kazi brought Hewkii and Matoro to another giant being named Axonn, only to find him badly beaten; Axonn tells them to stop Brutaka before it is too late. Meanwhile, Kongu, Nuparu, Velika, and Garan raid the Piraka's stronghold looking for the Toa Nuva, but are unable to find them before they are caught. The other Toa Inika arrive just in time to help them fight, but while the Matoran continued to search for the Toa Nuva, two of the Piraka (Hakann and Thok) are able to steal Brutaka's power and they soundly defeat everyone else.

In order to stop them, the Toa form an uneasy alliance with the remaining Piraka to try and return Brutaka's power to him. The piraka are able to form a zamor sphere to reverse the effects. Axonn also appears and gives Jaller a Zamor Sphere, stating that the Mask of Life needs protection; but he elects to stay behind and watch over the near-unconscious Brutaka. Meanwhile, Hakann and Thok have started fighting each other, and a massive explosion makes the two easy to find. In the ensuing fight, the Inika and Piraka have the upper hand when Hakann and Thok finally agree to work together, but even as they attack, Hewkii uses a specially-prepared Zamor Sphere to take their power and return it to Brutaka. In the end, Zaktan is the only one still standing; Hakann and Thok fainting from the power loss and the rest having been knocked out by their attack.

The Toa Inika wake up to find the six Piraka already gone, and a long underground staircase exposed from the earlier explosion. Figuring that the stairs lead to the Mask of Life and that the Piraka have gone ahead of them, they decide to follow after them immediately, preparing to fight the guardians of the Mask of Life.

To their surprise, inside the tunnel they meet the long-dead legendary hero Toa Lhikan, who warns them to turn back before disappearing. They then encounter a number of enemies they had fought in their lives as Matoran, including a Bohrok, a Bohrok-Kal, a Rahkshi Turahk, and even Makuta. In trying to subdue these enemies, the Toa's powers spiral out of control and accidentally kill them. Adding to their guilt, the dead bodies turn into those of their friends, the Toa Nuva. Despite their fears of losing control again, they press on, though they soon realize that the enemies they fought were merely illusions.

For their next trial, a mysterious voice tells the Toa that they had entered the Chamber of Death, and to proceed to the Chamber of Life they must sacrifice one of their own. The Toa realize they have no other options, and Jaller is about to volunteer himself when he remembered how he had died once before at the hands of a Turahk. The memory causes him to hesitate just long enough for Matoro to volunteer himself; reasoning that he is only a translator, not a warrior or athlete or anything as suited to a Toa as the others are. The voice accepts Matoro's sacrifice and his body dissolves - only to re-form seconds later, as the voice says that the death itself was not important, only the willingness to do so for the greater cause.

The Toa next encounter a group of creatures that Kongu identifies as giant protodites (called protodax), but the creatures are wiped out by a guardian named Umbra, who wanted to slay the Inika himself. Though Umbra's amazing speed poses a challenge, Matoro uses it against him by covering the cave with ice, causing him to slip and crash. Unfortunately, Umbra then changes into an even faster laser-like beam of light; but Matoro creates more mirror-like ice and Nuparu lures Umbra into running into it, causing him to reflect wildly until he reverts to his normal form, stunned.

Emerging into a large cavern, the Toa Inika find the Piraka setting an ambush on a bridge over the lava flow. The Inika confront them and gain the upper hand, but Kongu's and Nuparu's use of their powers cause the bridge to collapse on top of them, allowing the Piraka to reach the Chamber of Life first.

By the time the Inika arrive in the Chamber of Life, the Piraka have been beaten by the mask's guardians, Vezon and Fenrakk. Unfortunately, their ability to absorb kinetic energy was almost too much to handle; even when the Inika learned to weaken the two without using physical attacks, Fenrakk just pounded his leg to regain his full strength. Even so, Jaller was able to drive Vezon and Fenrakk towards the lava; and surprisingly Vezon urged Fenrakk to dive in!

Just as Jaller was about to follow them to get the Ignika (which was fused to Vezon's head), they reemerged, with Fenrakk evolved into a new dragonlike form that Vezon called Kardas. Kardas quickly started overpowering the Toa, but Jaller asked Kongu to use his mask's telepathy in a new way - read the mind of the Mask of Life itself. Surprisingly, it worked; Kongu found that the Ignika hated Vezon, and wanted to leave him in favor of Matoro, who had proven himself a compassionate, self-sacrificing person - the being that Matoro had helped on the way to Karzahni was none other than a manifestation of the Mask of Life itself.

Learning of the Ignika's opinion of him, Vezon became furious, and Jaller took the opportunity to fire Axonn's Zamor Sphere at him. The sphere froze Vezon and Kardas in space and time and allowing Matoro to remove the mask safely. Unfortunately, the Piraka were lying in wait for them wishing to take the mask, but Kardas got one last shot in; causing Matoro to lose his grip on the Ignika. It began to fly away, seeming to lead the Inika somewhere. The Toa followed it back to the surface and saw it dive into the bay; Hahli tried to swim after it but the water pressure soon became too much for her. As she was about to drown, a Matoran swam up from below and returned her to the others, begging for help for an underwater city before he died.

Reuniting with the Toa Nuva, the Inika were worried that they would be sent home while the Nuva continued the mission. But the Nuva recognized destiny's hand in what had happened and ackowledged that before they can complete their mission and awaken Mata Nui from his endless sleep, it is the Inika's job to save his life. Axonn then opens a secret passage that leads under the sea so that the Toa Inika could continue their journey.

Meanwhile, the Ignika had reached the undersea city of Mahri Nui and enlarged a venom eel to giant size in order to protect itself. The eel eventually got distracted by sounds of battle in the stone cord that connected Voya Nui to Mahri Nui, caused by the Toa Inika fighting a group of Zyglak,^[1] and began to attack the cord itself.

Sometime during their journey, the Inika will be transformed into new forms called the Toa Mahri.^[2] However, it has been stated that this transformation will not be due to the water of Mahri Nui (which is known to cause aquatic mutations in beings).^[3]

The Toa Inika essentially have the normal range of Toa powers: control over an element, a Kanohi Mask giving an additional power, and a personal weapon. However, due to their transformation by lightning from the Red Star, some of the details of these powers are a little different:

• Their masks are organic instead of metallic; these living masks can move and tend to recoil when touched by anyone other than their owners. The masks activate their own powers when they sense the Toa want to use them; so the Toa Inika do not need the learning process that other Toa (like the Toa Metru) have had to go through (in fact, Kongu and Nuparu have had trouble turning their mask powers off).
• Their unmasked faces glow with energy; so brightly that their features cannot be seen.
• Their weapons are energized and the elemental attacks they create are charged with lightning (though if they manipulate already-existing elements, those will not have lightning involved).^[4]
• Due to the electricity coursing through their bodies, the Toa Inika are unaffected by the Piraka's antidermis virus

In addition to their personal weapons, each Toa Inika has a Zamor Launcher built by Velika; an improved model over the Piraka's launchers in that they can hold four rounds of Zamor Spheres instead of just one. Their Zamor Spheres hold energized protodermis, which is known to transform those who are destined for transformation and destroy all others. As the destiny of the Voya Nui Matoran is being blocked by the Piraka's antidermis virus, the energized protodermis cures the Matoran of this virus. The Toa will only use these spheres on infected Matoran, as no Toa would willingly use a deadly weapon against a living being.

The following can be seen or inferred about Toa Mahri powers based on ToyFair pictures of prototypes (viewable here):

• In place of Zamor Launchers, the Toa now wield six-barreled cannons called Cordak Blasters. Jaller does not use his Blaster himself, but he has instead mounted on a small unnamed pet crab (believed to be called a "Hahnah crab")^[5] that he keeps on a leash.
• Each Toa has a new mask and a new personal weapon (though Kongu's "personal weapon" is actually a second Cordak Blaster)
  • The masks appear to be normal and inanimate, though most seem to have been adapted with a breathing apparatus. The need for such a device is unclear, though, due to the fact that the Mahri are water-breathers.^[6]
• Judging by the models' heads, the Toa's faces no longer glow

The following are the Toa's new masks:^[7]

• Jaller wears a Mask of Sonar that allows him to locate items in the water^[8]
• Hahli wears a Mask of Kindred that lets her copy abilities, one at a time, of creatures she shares attributes with - in this case, other water-breathers^[9]
• Kongu wears a Mask of Summoning; he can summon any underwater creature but he cannot control what creature he summons^{[citation needed]}
• Hewkii wears a Mask of Gravity that gives him abilities similar to a Toa of Gravity, though it is used on his opponents
• Nuparu wears a Mask of Stealth that provides partial invisibility and silent movement
• Matoro wears a Tryna Mask of Reanimation, which has been shown animating bodies of the dead

As a Matoran, Jaller was the courageous Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard; now he leads a team in saving not only a village, but the entire universe. Having seen and heard many examples of the recklessness of previous Toa of Fire, Jaller is determined not to make the same mistakes; he makes it a point to listen to his team's concerns and makes sure they're in agreement before committing to a task. He has also vowed that, once Mata Nui is saved, he will reclaim his old Matoran mask from Karzahni's realm, as it once belonged to Toa Lhikan. Hahli and he are close friends. He is also annoyed by Matoro since he is acting like the leader of the group.

Jaller is a Toa of Fire. His weapon is an Energized Flame Sword; and he wears a Calix Mask of Fate, allowing him to beat the odds and accomplish incredible leaps, dodges, etc.

Hahli used to just be a humble worker, but while training for a kolhii tournament she earned the honored position of Chronicler, where she recorded the tales of the Toa Metru. Now a Toa herself, Hahli is having trouble adjusting to the harshness of her new life, and she worries about what would happen if she ever lost control of her new power. She and Jaller were close friends since after the Bohrok war.

Hahli is a Toa of Water. She wields a Laser Harpoon, and wears an Elda Mask of Detection, which lets her see hidden things including Toa Matoro's spirit form; the mask also gives her headaches as she gets closer to the Ignika Mask of Life.

Kongu was once in charge of his village's defenses as Captain of their Gukko Force. Life for him as a Toa hasn't been much fun so far, mainly due to his Mask of Telepathy that tells him things he just doesn't want to hear - and to add insult to injury, the cave-dweller got the Mask of Flight instead of him. Despite his complaining, Kongu has faced his situation with relatively good humor, and has been tutoring Nuparu in how to fly effectively.

Kongu is a Toa of Air. He uses an Energy Crossbow and his mask is a Suletu Mask of Telepathy, which lets him read thoughts, sense strong emotions, and project his own thoughts to others; though he has had trouble stopping his mind-reading power. The Suletu appears to have been broken though it is confirmed that is how it's supposed to look.

Hewkii was a star athlete in the sport of kolhii (with Macku being his best friend and biggest fan), and he now brings the same drive and focus to his new Toa mission. He basically just wants to get the job done and go home, and has little patience for lengthy planning sessions. He seemed to be a little annoyed at first when nobody noticed that the lightning had made his armor yellow and gray (instead of the expected brown), but apparently got over it quickly. Jaller has said that, if something happens to him, Hewkii should lead the team in his place.

Hewkii is a Toa of Stone. He has a Laser Axe and a Climbing Chain; and he wears a Sanok Mask of Accuracy, allowing him to use any object as a weapon and have it hit what he wants it to.

Nuparu was originally a talented engineer, designing and building many machines like the Vahki robots and Boxor vehicle. Having lived underground most of his life, he finds his new ability to fly extremely exhilarating, and Kongu is helping him learn to make the most of it. But his greatest strength is still his mind, and he can reason out some unorthodox yet effective attacks.

Nuparu is a Toa of Earth. His tools are Great Claws and a Laser Drill, and his Zamor Launcher is shoulder-mounted instead of handheld. His mask is a Kadin Mask of Flight.

Matoro had served as Turaga Nuju's translator and trusted confidant. While an important job, Matoro feels that it has not prepared him for being a Toa nearly as much as the others, most of whom have backgrounds as athletes and warriors. Still, he is doing his best to fulfill his new duties. Matoro is also substantially friendlier and more outgoing than previous Toa of Ice have been.

Matoro is a Toa of Ice. He uses an Energized Ice Sword and wears an Iden Mask of Spirit, which allows his spirit to leave his body (see Astral Projection). His spirit form is invisible and cannot interact with the physical world, excluding Hahli and Axonn, who have masks that can see him. Since the Mask of Life chose Matoro to be its guardian, he is not cursed by touching it.

It was vaguely hinted that Matoro may become a Toa in the 6th Bionicle Adventures book (Maze of Shadows), as Nuju is thinking: Matoro bears such a heavy burden with his knowledge of our past, and the inability to tell anyone. He carries a Toa's burden in that way.

• On the Bionicle Quest Board Game it gives the Toa Inika nicknames to go with the Piraka's. These names are believed to be non-canon.
  • Hahli - "The Catcher"
  • Matoro - "The Keeper"
  • Hewkii - "The Hitter"
  • Nuparu - "The Stopper"
  • Kongu - "The Tumbler"
  • Jaller - "The Striker"

• Interestingly, the Toa Inika had the exact same Kanohi as the Toa Mata of their corresponding element in their Matoran forms.
  • Hahli - Kaukau Mask of Breathing (Gali)
  • Matoro - Akaku Mask of X-Ray Vision (Kopaka)
  • Hewkii - Kakama Mask of Speed (Pohatu)
  • Nuparu - Pakari Mask of Strength (Onua)
  • Kongu - Miru Mask of Levitation (Lewa)
  • Jaller - Lhikan's Golden Hau (Tahu, Lhikan)

• Toa Inika article at Bionicle Sector 01 Wiki