Hi, I’ve noticed a few things about Matoran-to-Toa transformations that I think point to certain conclusions, but I don’t believe they’ve been explicitly confirmed/denied:
In his 2003 set form, Takanuva has the exact same build as Gali Nuva (just different colours and mask of course).
Takua knew all of the Toa Mata/Nuva, but he formed that special mental link with Gali that you touched upon again in 2008, so I think it’s fair to say she probably stood out for him in some way.
It has been previously established that when Matoran turn into Toa, their armour configuration takes the form of what they think a Toa looks like.
The Toa Metru had the same build and exactly the same armour as Toa Lhikan. So:
1. Did Takanuva’s armour resemble that of a Toa Nuva because he saw Toa Nuva as a “truer” form of the Toa Mata (not understanding that Toa Nuva are really a different class of Toa)?
2. Did Takanuva’s armour resemble Gali’s specifically because he respected her the most/saw her as the “truest” model of what a Toa should be, or was it just a coincidence?
3. Similarly, did the Toa Metru’s armour resemble Toa Lhikan’s because they saw Lhikan as the “truest” model of what a Toa should be, even though they would have surely seen the other Toa Mangai during their times as Matoran?
4. Did the Toa Inika/Mahri have forms apparently not based on previous Toa due to the unusual circumstances of their transformations (lightning from the Red Star/the Ignika transforming them to suit operating in Mahri Nui)?
This is most likely the case. As well there are some story implications with a grand hero in the past causing many future toa to have the Metru build, as seen with how so many toa from different regions of the universe gained this stature.
Strange ponderings came to my mind while writing the last post. Krakua’s model looks fairly similar in design as Helryx’s new canon appearance (at least toy-wise). While I am sure that this is just a coincidence, it would certainly make sense for his appearance to mimic that of the toa and leader of the organization he trained and became a toa in. Neat thought, I suppose.
The Toa-build question was asked by me earlier, though not specifically regarding Takanuva, but it was written that Krakua was ot based on Helryx, as he had never seen her.
I would think so.
Unless we’re going to say that they could’ve just as easily imagined Toa Builds for themselves due to the Nuva “not living up to their expectations”; the Mata/Nuva were the only Toa they’d seen since getting their memories wiped, so it seems highly unlikely that they would’ve seen “what a Toa should look like” as anything else.
Another reason I believe that the Toa Builds they got were involuntary is that their Toa transformations were extremely atypical:
Getting zapped by the zombie satellite.
Getting transformed by a mask that has a history of cursing things with involuntary transformations.
Furthermore, (possibly as more of an interesting detail than rock-solid proof) when they became the Toa Inika, they 1) got bodies that were strange to them (they had no idea that their faces glowed until one of them took his or her (which member did it might’ve escaped me) mask off, and 2) became Toa that were very weird and alien-looking in general. (Also, when they became Mahri, Matoro’s kind of awkward-looking build seems to reflect more on how he doesn’t see himself as fitting into the “Toa-Hero” role, as opposed to what he would see the ideal Toa as.)
-her face glowed, it was Hahli who tried to take off her mask and revealed that they were overflowing with energy. As far as odd transformations go, there is also the Nuva’s adaptive armor that at some points looked like the Inika’s. Of course the Inika wouldn’t have known about that armor to replicate it, as the Nuva still had not received it from Artahka, but it does show that there are situations where that build is ideal. This would provide a backbone reason for why they were formed purposefully different than other toa.
Something to bear in mind is that we don’t know how drastically different the various Toa designs actually are in-universe compared to their plastic counterparts.
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