Nuva Symbol

	Nuva Symbol
	; Toa Nuva Gali's Nuva Symbol appears
	Object
Manufacturer	Artakha
Users	Toa Nuva
Function	Store Toa Nuva's Elemental Powers
Status	Hidden (five active, one dormant)
Location	Spherus Magna
Pronunciation	NOO-vah

"Only a symbol, he says. But to we Matoran, it is much more: It is a reminder that the Toa Nuva will always be there to protect us."
— Matoro, Divided We Fall

The Nuva Symbols are objects that contain the Elemental Powers of the Toa Nuva.

History

The Nuva Symbols were made by Artakha^[1]^[2] and sent to Mata Nui upon the Toa Mata's transformation into the Toa Nuva. The Toa and the people of the Koro on the island noticed the symbols, and the Matoran kept the Symbols safe in their Suva.

The Bohrok-Kal stole the symbols in an attempt to unlock the Nuva Cube and free the Bahrag. After the removal of the symbols from the Suva, the Toa Nuva lost their elemental powers.^[3]^[4] Eventually, the Bohrok-Kal found the Nuva Cube, and almost unlocked the Bahrag's Toa Seal, but the Toa Nuva tapped into the powers within the symbols, and overloaded the Kal's powers, destroying them.^[5]

After the Bohrok-Kal incident, the symbols were moved to more secret and hard-to-reach places on the island,^[6] where they were constantly guarded by the Matoran. They were later taken to Metru Nui.

When Tahu was devolved back into his Toa Mata form by the Kanohi Ignika, the connection to his Nuva Symbol was broken. Tahu's elemental powers no longer rely on the object and his symbol has become dormant.^[7]

After the Matoran Universe was destroyed, the Nuva Symbols were taken to Spherus Magna.^[8]

Functionality

The Nuva Symbols are stone tablets that are connected to the Toa Nuva's elemental powers. As long as the symbols are in the possession of friendly forces, the Toa Nuva retain their powers, but if enemies gain the symbols, the Toa Nuva are rendered powerless. The symbols can be fitted onto the Nuva Cube like a puzzle, which could open the Toa's Toa Seal. When the Toa are near the Symbols, the Toa can tap into the powers within the symbols, which can be used to overload the Symbols' thieves' powers.^[9]

The Symbols are active when the Toa Nuva remain as Toa Nuva. If one of the Toa gets devolved back into his or her Toa Mata form by the Ignika, the connection to his or her Nuva Symbol will be broken. The Toa's elemental powers will no longer rely on the object and his or her symbol will become dormant. This only happened to Tahu.^[7]

Symbols


Tahu	Onua	Pohatu	Kopaka	Lewa	Gali

Trivia

If a Nuva Symbol were to be broken, the corresponding Toa Nuva would lose their elemental power.^[10]

Takanuva's non-canon Nuva Symbol as it appears in the game.

An advertisement at the end of Powerless! contained information on the six Nuva symbols. The page claimed that Tahu's symbol was forged in the Mangai Volcano; Gali's drawn from Gali's Bay; Kopaka's as cold as Mount Ihu; Lewa's born of the living jungle; Pohatu's carved from the hardest stone; and Onua's a treasure from deep within Mata Nui. This is non-canon.
In the Game Boy Advance version of BIONICLE: The Game, Takanuva displays his own Nuva Symbol when he uses his Elemental Power of Light. This is non-canon.
The six Uniter sets released in 2016, which share the names of the six Toa Nuva, displayed their respective Nuva Symbols on their chest armor.