Shadow Toa

"This is bad. How can I fight one so much like myself? How can any of us?"
— Toa Mata Onua, Tale of the Toa

Shadow Toa
Organization
Headquarters	Mangaia
Leader	Teridax
Goals	Delay the Toa Mata
Allies	Teridax
Enemies	Toa Mata
Status	Absorbed into the Toa Mata

The Shadow Toa were six illusions created by Makuta Teridax, and were evil counterparts of the Toa Mata.

History

After the arrival of the Toa Mata on the island of Mata Nui, Teridax created the Shadow Toa to be one of the obstacles in his lair, Mangaia.

After the defeat of the Manas, the Toa Mata faced the Shadow Toa, the final guardians of Mangaia. The Shadow Toa taunted the Toa and used their own Elements against them. The Toa Mata eventually realized that the Shadow Toa were extensions of themselves, as darkness was as much a part of them as Light, and they absorbed their shadow counterparts into their bodies. The Toa Mata then continued on to their final confrontation with Teridax.

Members

• Shadow Tahu
• Shadow Gali
• Shadow Lewa
• Shadow Pohatu
• Shadow Onua
• Shadow Kopaka

Abilities and Traits

The Shadow Toa were identical to the Toa Mata, except they were colored in much darker hues and were tainted with Shadow. They possessed the same elemental and Kanohi powers as the Toa Mata, making it virtually impossible for each Toa to defeat his or her own Shadow Toa.

The Shadow Toa were aggressive in temperament, and constantly jeered at and taunted the Toa Mata, urging them to give in to their flaws. For example, Shadow Pohatu tried to convince Pohatu that his teammates had abandoned him.

Quotes

"Come, give in to the flame. Let it consume you and all you hold dear — I know you can feel it burning deep inside."
— Shadow Tahu to Tahu, Tale of the Toa

Trivia

• The Shadow Toa were originally going to appear in The Legend of Mata Nui. After the game was cancelled, the Shadow Toa were referenced in The Bohrok Awake and made their first appearance in Tale of the Toa.
• In Tale of the Toa, Cathy Hapka wrote that the Toa had to face each other's Shadow Toa to defeat them. However, in 2005, the BIONICLE: Encyclopedia stated that the Toa defeated the Shadow Toa when they acknowledged that the darkness was a part of them and absorbed the shadows into their bodies. The second version is based on the original Story Bible for 2001 and is canon.
• Despite their name, the Shadow Toa created by Teridax differ from a hypothetical Toa of Shadow. A Toa of Shadow could be created by draining the inner light of any Toa of another element or a Matoran of another element that laters transforms into a Toa. A Toa of Shadow could also be referred to as a Shadow Toa, but the Shadow Toa who fought the Toa Mata still possessed the Toa Mata's six primary elements, while a Toa of Shadow would have their original element replaced with Shadow.

Appearances

Books	Comics
Novels BIONICLE Chronicles 1: Tale of the Toa Guides BIONICLE: Encyclopedia BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated (M) BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe (M)	BIONICLE BIONICLE 4: The Bohrok Awake (M)