Toa Mangai
"You and I have been friends for thousands of years. We've traveled together, fought together, and once almost died together."
— Lhikan to Tuyet, The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet
| Toa Mangai | |
 Lhikan, leader of the Toa Mangai | |
| Toa team | |
| Headquarters | Metru Nui |
| Leader | Lhikan |
| Goals | Protect Metru Nui |
| Allies | Matoran Turaga Dume Toa Metru |
| Enemies | Brotherhood of Makuta (indirectly) Rahi Dark Hunters |
| Status | Disbanded At least one member revived in the Red Star and another still alive |
| Pronunciation | TOE-ah MAHN-gigh[1][2] |
The Toa Mangai were a group of Toa led by Toa Lhikan that protected Metru Nui from danger.
History
Formation
The Toa Mangai were first assembled 4,000 years ago, when Turaga Dume was threatened by the Dark Hunters trio Reidak, Vezok, and Avak, who had unleashed the Kanohi Dragon from its seal beneath the Silver Sea in an attempt to persuade the Turaga to ask for their assistance and allowing them to establish a base in Metru Nui. However, the Turaga refused the help of the Dark Hunters, instead sending Vahki outside of the city as a call for aid.[3] Toa Lhikan answered the call, assembling a further ten other Toa[4][5][6] - including those from his own team[7][8] - who rode on the Vahki back to the city.[9]
The Toa and Kanohi Dragon clashed many times, with both sides seeing retreats.[10][11] After a month-long battle which destroyed half of Ta-Metru, the Toa were able to subdue the Kanohi through the combined efforts of the team's four Toa of Ice, keeping the dragon frozen and rendering it comatose.[9][12][13] Lhikan and half a dozen of the Toa accompanied the dragon as it was shipped to the island of Xia, where it remained until its battle with the Tahtorak beast,[14] while Nidhiki and the others remained behind to secure the city.[15] Despite being given the option to return to their homelands, many of the recruited Toa remained to protect Metru Nui in the event that the Dark Hunters were to return.[15][16][17]
The team of Toa was dubbed 'Toa Mangai' by the Matoran,[18][19] and Lhikan became its leader.[20][21] Due to the limited number of threats to Metru Nui, many members of the team were frequently away on missions, though would typically return to the city.[22][23] The Chronicler Kodan, who had recorded the Toa's battle against the Kanohi Dragon, frequently accompanied the Toa on these missions.[24][25] Over time, some members of the team got bored and left for other islands and adventures.[20][7][26][27]
Tuyet's Betrayal
3,500 years ago,[28] while all but three of the Toa Mangai were away on missions, Dark Hunters slipped into Metru Nui searching for a fabled artifact, the Nui Stone. One of the Toa, a Toa of Water named Tuyet, learned of the Hunters' entrance into Metru Nui and discovered that they were after the stone - which she possessed. Unwilling to relinquish the stone, she murdered a Ta-Matoran, and placed a tablet with her own name on his corpse. When confronted by Lhikan and Nidhiki, she denied any knowledge of the incident, and left the other two to continue their investigation. Later, she killed yet another Matoran, a Le-Matoran, and once again placed the signature tablet on the corpse. Confronted again by Lhikan, Tuyet revealed the existence of the stone, though she denied possession of it. She informed Lhikan that the Dark Hunters were searching for the stone, and told him that the deaths of the Matoran were a sort of countdown meant to throw Lhikan off of the Hunter's scent. Lhikan and Nidhiki later confronted these Hunters, although they themselves seemed to have no knowledge of any of the Matoran murders. However, Tuyet, being unaware of the Hunter's defeat, murdered a Ga-Matoran to continue her ruse. Lhikan and Nidhiki soon realized that Tuyet must have been behind the murders and confronted her in her home. Cornered, Tuyet desperately tapped into the power of the Nui Stone in an attempt to kill the duo, but she was ultimately defeated and locked in the Coliseum dungeon. Not long afterward, Botar arrived to transfer Tuyet to another dimension.[29][30][17][31]
Toa-Dark Hunter War
After being denied a base in Metru Nui, the Shadowed One launched several operations in an attempt to gain control of the city. When all failed, he ordered a full scale invasion of the island, 3,000 years ago. While the Toa Mangai attempted to defeat the enemies, the seven Toa[32][32] present at the time were quickly outnumbered, and the Dark Hunters neared victory. However, Toa Naho[33][34][35] was able to sneak past the Dark Hunter lines and off of Metru Nui, and quickly gathered close to one hundred different Toa from other lands. Towards the end of the war, Lariska approached Nidhiki, asking him to betray the Toa. Nidhiki accepted and later led the Toa army into an ambush in the Canyon of Unending Whispers as instructed by Lariska. However, Lhikan had discovered Nidhiki's defection. Three hundred Toa had arrived discreetly via supply boats the night before and appeared in a counter-ambush, and Nidhiki and the Dark Hunters found themselves outnumbered. Lhikan, in hopes of recovering the Makoki Stone as promised by Hakann, let the Dark Hunters live, under the condition that they would take Nidhiki with them. Reluctantly, Nidhiki left with them and worked for them, training recruits into the Dark Hunters.[36][37]
During the Underwater Rahi Study, Lhikan was the only Toa stationed in the city.[38][23]
Teridax's Plan
Eighteen months before the Great Cataclysm, Makuta Teridax captured Turaga Dume silently and usurped his identity[39][40] before sending the remaining Toa Mangai on various missions outside the city. None of them returned.[16] Some were killed by the Dark Hunter Eliminator hired by Teridax.[41][42][43] Eliminator's methods damaged his victims' artificial intelligence beyond repair, meaning the Toa could not have been revived in the Red Star.[44][45] These ambushes involved several Toa who sealed the Sea Gates leading to Metru Nui (including the Toa Mangai of Earth, who lost his Kanohi Kakama at one of the gates),[46][16][47] as well as two other Toa accompanied by Kodan, tasked with a mission of unknown nature.[48][49] Due to the Toa's frequent missions, their absence raised little suspicion among the Matoran.[50]
Eventually, only Lhikan remained on Metru Nui, and began to grow suspicious. Realizing the graveness of the situation, he stole the Toa Stones from the Great Temple and brought about six new Toa, the Toa Metru. Shortly afterward, however, he was captured by Nidhiki and Krekka, and later transformed into a Turaga. Nidhiki, after failing to capture the new Toa Metru, was absorbed by Teridax along with Krekka, expanding the Makuta's power and allowing him to assume a new, more powerful form. Lhikan was rescued by the Toa Metru, but was eventually killed by Teridax while saving Vakama's life, leaving behind the legacy of the Toa Mangai. Various memoirs of the Toa Mangai were eventually placed inside the Coliseum for safekeeping.
Lhikan was later sent to the Red Star to be resurrected, but was trapped within it due to the star's damaged teleportation system.
Over a thousand years later, when Teridax's Plan had finally been completed, Macku found Tuyet in an unsafe area of the Archives with a shard of the Nui Stone, claiming that she was a perfect ally for the rebellion, as she had been believed dead for so long. Still harboring intentions of enforcing her own justice, Tuyet traveled with the Matoran through the Archives, encountering Tren Krom in the body of Lewa Nuva. They eventually broke into the Core Processor, and were drawn into a fight between Helryx, Miserix, Axonn, and Brutaka. The whole group of combatants, as well as the Matoran, were then teleported into outer space by Teridax and barred reentry into the Matoran Universe. However, Vezon appeared and transported them to Bota Magna.
Members
Of the eleven Toa, only four are known by name. The group was notable for having no less than four Toa of Ice among its ranks to better combat the Kanohi Dragon,[51] as well as two Toa of Water. No members of the team originated from Metru Nui,[52] and none of the other Toa were from Lhikan's homeland.[53] However, some of the Toa may have shared homelands.[54][55] They likely wore armor akin to that of Lhikan.[56]
Those whose fate is unknown could be still alive on Spherus Magna, deceased (in the course of individual adventures or because of the Dark Hunter Eliminator) or revived in the Red Star.[16][41][42][31][57][45]
| Toa Mangai | ||
|---|---|---|
| Toa | Kanohi | Tool(s) |
| Lhikan, Toa of Fire (former leader; revived) | Hau, Great Mask of Shielding | Fire Greatswords |
| Nidhiki, Toa of Air (rogue; mutated then deceased) | Volitak, Great Mask of Stealth | Air Scythe |
| Tuyet, Toa of Water (rogue) | Great Mask of Intangibility | Barbed Broadsword |
| Naho, Toa of Water (unknown fate) | Unknown[note 1] | Unknown |
| A Toa of Ice (unknown fate) | Calix, Great Mask of Fate[47][64] | Unknown |
| A Toa of Ice (unknown fate) | Great Mask of Conjuring[47][64] | Unknown |
| A Toa of Ice (unknown fate) | Rode, Great Mask of Truth[65][64] | Unknown |
| A Toa of Ice (unknown fate) | Kaukau, Great Mask of Water Breathing[47][64] | Unknown |
| A Toa of Stone[66] (unknown fate) | Unknown | Unknown |
| A Toa of Earth[67] (deceased)[46][43][68] | Kakama, Great Mask of Speed[47][69] | Unknown |
| A Toa of the Green[note 2] (unknown fate) | Great Mask of Healing[74][75] | Unknown[note 3] |
Trivia
- The word "Mangai" is a Matoran word for "protector".[note 4]
- Some locations on the island of Mata Nui were named after Toa Mangai, such as Naho Bay. The volcano dominating Mata Nui itself was named the Mangai by Turaga Vakama, both in honor of the Toa Mangai and in acknowledgment of the volcano's protective nature.[citation needed]
- BZPower and BIONICLEsector01 member Nuhrii the Metruan created a theory that gave the Toa Mangai their name, which Greg Farshtey accepted into the official canon,[18][citation needed: Nuhrii?] although he has also said it would be safe to assume they were called Toa Metru.[78]
- While most Toa Mangai lived in the Metru of their respective element, the Toa Mangai of the Green resided in Ga-Metru, due to the fact that it was a place close to nature for a city.[79]
Appearances
| Books | Online | Multimedia |
|---|---|---|
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Adventures Legends
Guides |
Story Serials
Short Stories |
Movies
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References
Notes
| Toa Mangai | |
| Leader | Lhikan (revived) |
| Members | Naho (unknown fate) | Nidhiki (rogue; deceased) | Tuyet (rogue) |
| see full list | |
| Toa Teams | |
| Current | Toa Hagah (Rahaga) | Toa Mata/Toa Nuva | Toa Inika/Toa Mahri |
| Former | Toa Cordak | Toa Mangai | Toa Metru/Toa Hordika |
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