Tanma

Tanma was an Av-Matoran, who notably took over leadership of his tribe during the Siege of Karda Nui.

Early Life
Similarly to most other Av-Matoran, Tanma was created by the Great Beings to participate in the construction of the Great Spirit Mata Nui, with no worldly desires or true consciousness. Upon its completion, he was placed inside the Matoran Universe, which then departed Spherus Magna. Shortly afterwards, Tanma and his fellow Av-Matoran came to settle underneath the Southern Continent to colonize Karda Nui before the awakening of Mata Nui. The colonization effort was hampered by frequent attacks by the Avohkah, but the Toa Mata soon arrived to deal with the threat.

Over the course of the his career, Tanma came to be regarded as an especially honorable warrior celebrated for his chivalry and courage. During the Time Slip, Tanma was known to have joined the majority of Av-Matoran sent into the caves beneath the Southern Continent, eventually settling as a colony beneath the surface. As a consequence of the Great Cataclysm, however, tectonic tremors across the Matoran Universe caused part of the homeland of the Av-Matoran to fall back into the Universe Core, forming the future Stalactite Villages of Karda Nui. Following Kirop's lead and beginning the long process of rebuilding, Tanma took up residence in one of the villages.

During this period of his life, Tanma came to observe Kirop becoming especially concerned with the defense of his people, who were now once again exposed in one of the most temperamental regions of the Matoran Universe. Sharing his leader's fear of the Energy Storms and mindful of the special role that Matoran of Light played in the Matoran Universe, Tanma would equip himself with a Booster Rockets and weapons, teaching some of his neighbors to defend themselves. Tanma would also witness the initial harvests of Lightvine to construct fences around the various settlements of Karda Nui, believing their fluorescent properties to ward off any potential invaders.

Siege of Karda Nui
Amidst rumors of paranoia, Kirop's anxieties would soon prove justified with the Brotherhood of Makuta discovering the location of the Av-Matoran homeland and mounting an invasion force. Aware that Matoran of Light were statistically more likely to become Toa, however, Makuta Antroz, Vamprah, and Chirox notably besieged Karda Nui for three consecutive days, bombarding the Stalactite Villages with Shadow Leeches and transforming droves of villagers into Shadow Matoran. Witnessing the initial attack and the corruption of Gavla, Tanma was barely able to escape the first wave of attacks, gathering with several of his fellow villagers and leading them to safety in an underground fallout shelter. Following the arrival of the Toa Nuva, however, the Makuta were repelled from the skies of Karda Nui and forced to regroup. With Toa Kopaka, Pohatu and Lewa remaining in Karda Nui while Tahu, Gali and Onua ventured to the Swamp of Secrets below, Tanma came to observe a power vacuum. Since Kirop had fallen victim to a Shadow Leech on the second day of the attack and had been transformed into a Shadow Matoran, Tanma was begrudgingly forced to take over at leader of the Av-Matoran tribe in his stead.

To Be Added

Accompanying Toa Lewa for the remainder of the Siege of Karda Nui, Tanma and his fellow Av-Matoran eventually began to round up the Shadow Matoran, who had been cast to one side as the Makuta engaged the Toa Nuva more directly. With a Klakk released into the wilderness of the Swamp of Secrets, Toa Takanuva soon discovered the Rahi's unique ability to reverse the effects of a Shadow Leech with its sonic screech, prompting him to partner with Tanma, Solek, and Photok to round up all the Shadow Matoran scattered around the Universe Core and revert them back to their Av-Matoran forms. Witnessing the restoration of Radiak, Tanma was able to guide his old friend back to Karda Nui, later escaping the Universe Core with the rest of the Av-Matoran colony before the Energy Storms destroyed the Stalactite Villages.

Reign of Shadows
Traveling to Metru Nui, Tanma and his fellow Av-Matoran attended a ceremony at the Coliseum, only to discover that Makuta Teridax had displaced Mata Nui in the Core Processor and taken command of the Matoran Universe. Forced to accept the downfall of Mata Nui, Tanma and his cohorts went into hiding beneath the Archives, only to be rooted out and captured by platoons of Rahkshi. Imprisoned within the Great Temple and subjected to a process of re-education, Tanma resisted a series of mental attacks for some time, until he was released by Toa Gali. Freed from his confines, he joined the resistance forces and later journeyed south of Metru Nui, where he united with the disgruntled Matoran masses and helped fend off the Rahkshi army amassing in the Southern Islands.

Once the Matoran Universe successfully landed on Bara Magna, Tanma and his compatriots remained inside the Great Spirit Robot while their warriors fought a battle on the surface of the planet, stepping outside of the Matoran Universe for the first time in 100,000 years. With Toa Tahu using the Golden Armor to vaporize the Rahkshi army and with the Great Spirit Robot receiving critical damage to its Core Processor, Kirop was thrown by the impact and suffered light injuries as a result of the artificial gravity being switched off. Patching himself up, however, Tanma was able to escape the debilitated Matoran Universe and set foot on the surface of Bara Magna alongside his fellow Matoran, gathering around to hear the Legend of Mata Nui told by the Turaga of Metru Nui. Following The Reformation, Sperhus Magna was revitalized into a paradisaical world able to accommodate the denizens of both Bara Magna and the Matoran Universe. .

Tanma later began working with other Av-Matoran representatives to overcome the boundaries between the Agori and Matoran societies, which were having trouble integrating.

Abilities and Traits
As an Av-Matoran, Tanma had limited access to his elemental powers, to the extent of being able to fire bolts of Elemental Light energy and change the way others perceived the color of his armor. Having spent the overwhelming majority of his life in the highly irradiated Universe Core, Tanma also grew to be considerably larger than other Matoran.

When in contact with Toa Lewa, Tanma could temporarily supercharge the Toa's Midak Skyblaster, allowing it to deal considerably more damage without draining Light from Karda Nui.

Mask and Tools
As an Av-Matoran, Tanma wore a powerless Kanohi Miru, the Mask of Levitation, and wielded twin Power Swords. He also had a rocket booster that allowed for limited flight.

Trivia

 * In the Kingdom alternate universe, Tanma was one of seven Toa to have been given Toa Stones by the late Toa Takanuva, succeeding the Toa Mahri alongside Kapura, Balta, Dalu, Defilak and Velika until his death at the hands of Makuta Teridax.

Appearances

 * BIONICLE Legends 9: Shadows in the Sky - First Appearance
 * BIONICLE Legends 10: Swamp of Secrets
 * BIONICLE Legends 11: The Final Battle