Infected Kanohi

"The great Toa is the same in body, in strength, and in speed. But his mind is gone. He has been attacked by the Makuta and enslaved by evil. His Great Mask of Power has been replaced with an infected mask, and the only way to bring him back is to take it off."
— Turaga Matau, Mata Nui Online Game

Infected Kanohi
Kanohi
Title	Infected Kanohi
Powers	Grants a Makuta control over wearer Bearer gains Mask Power
Component disks	None
Bearers	Toa Lewa (formerly) Many Rahi (formerly) Some Matoran (formerly)
Pronunciation	kah-NO-hee

A Kraata infecting a Kanohi

Infected Kanohi are Kanohi that have been tainted and corrupted by Kraata. The infection was sometimes referred to as the Madness on Mata Nui. An Infected Kanohi appears rusted and pitted. All masks but Legendary Masks are vulnerable to this infection. Although Makuta can infect masks themselves, they prefer to leave it to Kraata.

An infected Kanohi wearer is placed under the control of the Makuta who infected the mask. While infected, the user is still able to access their mask's power. For an Infected Kanohi to be cleansed, it requires the combined Elemental Powers of six Toa.

History

During the Great War on Mata Nui, Makuta Teridax fitted many Rahi with infected masks and had them guard the Kanohi and harass the Matoran. However, the Toa Mata succeeded in liberating most of them. When Teridax first confronted the Toa Mata in his Matoran form, his Kanohi Kraahkan took the form of an infected Kanohi Hau.

When the Rahkshi assaulted Mata Nui, Shadow Kraata were responsible for the infection of several Matoran.

Example Usage

An Infected Kanohi in set form

Lewa's Kanohi Miru was taken from him and replaced with an infected version, forcing him to serve Teridax alongside a group of Nui-Rama and a Nui-Kopen.

Bearers

• Toa Mata Lewa - Formerly; since removed
• Many different types of Rahi - Formerly; since uninfected
• Some Matoran of Mata Nui - Formerly; since uninfected

Set Information

The infected Kanohi are notable for being the only BIONICLE masks that were hand-painted, and were only molded in the shape of a Hau. Two of these masks were available in the Muaka & Kane-Ra set, and sometimes (but very rarely) appeared in the randomly selected Kanohi packs of 2001.

Trivia

• Since his Kanohi Kraahkan was taken from him, in the Toa Empire Alternate Universe Teridax wears a Kanohi Hau that appears infected.