After rewatching Legends of Metru Nui, I discovered something interesting. The Toa Metru’s personalities correspond to common teenage stereotypes, and many of their masks reflect that. Here’s the list I’ve compiled.
Nokama: Nerdy girl. Her Mask’s eyes could represent glasses.
Matau: Hotshot speed demon. hits on the nerdy girl. the long swept back mask could represent slicked back hair.
Whenua: History buff. Not sure if his mask ties into that or not.
Onewa: Bully. His Mask’s one eyehole is reminiscent of sunglasses
Nuju: Genius. his telescopic eye is like a lab microscope
Vakama: Guy who’s unsure of his place in the world. kinda depressed. His Mask has a mustache at the bottom.
So, what do you think? Am I seeing patterns that aren’t there? Or have I uncovered a secret that has lain hidden for a decade?
Whenua’s mask lets him see in the dark, or “history.” Onewa’s mask lets him control other people just like a bully would. Matau is you jokester, who imitates other people, just like his mask of Illusions, and Nuju can use his little telescope to see stuff other people can’t.
I’ve always thought the toa metru were more -excuse the term- “human” than the nuva, or even the inika/mahri. They had realer struggles, more difficult dynamics and more strenuous inner turmoil.
Actually, if you think about, each year the Toa team seemed a bit older than the last. The Toa Mata were young and inexperienced, the Metru where, as you said, teenagers, the Mahri were young adults, and the Mistika/Phantoka were adults. This also corresponds with the size of the sets, how they grew as time went on.