Kanohi

Kanohi are masks that grant powers to their wearers. The word "Kanohi" translates to mask. Kanohi are magnetically attached to their wearers. The Matoran have always had need of Kanohi; the first masks were created by the Great Beings for the Matoran; afterwards, Mata-Nui taught them to make masks on their own. On Metru Nui, masks were made from Kanoka. On other islands they were simply made of Protodermis, however, only powerless masks could be created in this fashion

Matoran usually begin their lives with a mask - as Matoran are made by a machine, it is likely the machine makes Powerless Kanohi for the Matoran, or that their Kanohi are pre-made by others. However, if they collect other Kanohi, these can be stored at a Suva. When a Kanohi is stored at a Suva, the Suva's owner can access the Kanohi from almost anywhere.

Properties
Kanohi of certain levels contain a power that the wearer can access, which is done through focus and concentration. If these powered Kanohi are cracked or broken, they do not function properly or at all. The color of Great and Noble masks are decided by their wearers. When Kanohi are made originally, they acquire a silvery-gray color, and stays that way until someone puts it on. Once put on, the respective color that pertains to the wearer fills the mask. Matoran masks, having no power, will not change color at all, making it necessary to color the mask with a special type of paint. There are some special cases for very rare and important masks that have specific colors given to them already. It is not known precisely why only these masks have color from creation.

When a mask-wearer has their Kanohi removed they suffer weakness - Toa and other beings feel weak and dizzy, Turaga suffer extreme weakness, and Matoran lapse into a coma-like state if the mask is not replaced within an extended period of time. Kanohi have a tendency to keep an "imprint" of their owner within themselves for a short time after being removed, so any mask can be infused with great amounts of a life-force to resurrect a mask-wearer. However, after a good while, the imprint will fade away.

Mask Making
Normally, Kanohi masks are made from Kanoka disks. The Kanoka would be melted down and reforged or carved into the desired shape. Masks on Metru Nui would be painted with a coloring additive after being made to differentiate power level. In the case of powerless Kanohi, the paint would leech away in the final forging process, leaving behind the protodermis' silver colour at the top of the mask.

Both the combined powers of the Kanoka and their power levels determined the fate of the mask being forged. Typically, common masks worn by most Toa, Turaga, and Matoran had to fulfill three criteria: They could be made from disks of any power level, three or less disks were required, and the power of the forged Kanohi should be applicable enough for most any situation. The first benchmark rarely comes into play for Noble and Great masks as they require level 7 and 8 disks respectively anyways.

What seperated an average mask-maker from a skilled one, such as Vakama, was their ability to memorize and successfully create the more uncommon masks. These Kanohi often required upwards of four disks thereby making the forging procedure that much more complex. The Kanoka power levels, too, usually had to be relatively high, making the whole process expensive; This adds more pressure on the mask maker to not blunder. Often, when making a difficult powerless mask, power levels of 5 or 6 were required or the Kanohi simply would not hold itself together.

Contrary to popular belief, Kanohi are not damaged in the process that gives them their shape, rather, impurities and imperfections arise during the Kanoka merging process. After all, any blacksmith can work with metal. The disks have to be evenly combined or both that mask's form and power would be warped which explains why the more disks are used, the harder it is the make a usable Kanohi.

Finally, certain attachments can be added to Kanohi after the mask is made, such as a telescopic eyepiece commonly added to the Akaku or a breathing apparatus as was the case for the Toa Mahri. These additions can also later be removed without damaging the mask.

Classical and Contemporary Mask Making
Classical mask making revolved around fulfilling the spiritual needs of Matoran at that time, as many wanted to manifest their ideaologies and virtues they held up in high regard into a physical object. As such, certain mask powers were developed to reflect, for example, the calm nature of Ga-Matoran, or the down-to-earth composure of an Onu-Matoran.

Classical mask making's main tenet was that when making a mask, the craftsman is not allowed to use two disks of the same power type. The reasoning behind this was to provide a small degree of distinctiveness between Kanohi as each Matoran tribe wanted a unique mask they could affiliate with. There are eight powers in total and as such, the theoretical maximum of classical Kanohi is 255. Elemental masks that could be made by Toa Disks, that is, 14, were added to the total as was the Legendary Disk of Time, as that was also made with Kanoka. This brings the total number of classical Kanohi to 270. However, no mask maker was ever able to use upwards of six Kanoka at once though it is said Artahka has experimented with seven and eight disks.

Contemporary mask making was developed around 4,000 years before the Reformation at the same time the Kanoka disks were re-invented in Ko-Metru. Ko-Matoran scholars saw that Toa were becoming more and more embroiled in battles and some of the more widespread Kanohi, such as the Miru and Kaukau, were not particularly effective in battle, despite their storied histories and connotations. Based on Ko-Metru research, Turaga Dume ordered mask makers in Ta-Metru to experiment with more complex Kanohi recipes, and to attempt using multiples of the same Kanoka type power.

Masks Made from Toa Disks
Theoretically, a Kanohi can be imbued with any one of the sixteen existing elemental powers. It is very rare for a mask-maker to use a Toa Disk to forge a mask, mainly because these disks were one-of-a-kind, very hard to obtain, and it was even harder to convince the owner of the Toa Disk to part ways with it. Elemental masks are, as such, highly valued due to their scarcity and power.

That being said, these so-called "Elemental Kanohi" are in fact the some of the easiest of masks to make simply due to the fact only one mask is required to create them. The only caveat in the process of making an Elemental Kanohi are their often elegant and complex physical designs.

Masks Without Kanoka
There are other ways to make Kanohi, as Kanohi were around before mask makers were. It is possible to make masks out of purified Protodermis and skip the Disk stage.

These are the steps for a variant of basic Mask Making without the use of Kanoka:

The mask can have a different power than it's shape (ex: Hau shape with the power of a Calix), but this is not normally done, as to avoid confusion. This method of mask making was rarely used outside of Metru Nui and perhaps Artahka, mostly due to the lack of the necessary specialized equipment.
 * 1) Take some Protodermis
 * 2) Pour the Protodermis into a mold the shape of a chosen mask
 * 3) Choose a certain tube of a mask power
 * 4) Load the tube into a special mechanism
 * 5) Fire a ray of the chosen mask power at the mold to give the mask its power
 * 6) Let dry
 * 7) Remove mask from mold

Known Kanohi Formulae
Canon Kanohi formulae; click to reveal.  Legend:
 * Uncommon: *
 * Unique Mask: **
 * Immoral Mask: †
 * Legendary Mask: ‡

Power Levels
There are known forms for a Kanohi: Infected Kanohi, among many others.
 * The most common kind is the powerless masks worn by Matoran, and are made from level 1-6 Kanoka. The process used to make the mask causes the energy to leak out, which is why these masks have no powers. However, they are needed for Matoran to live and function properly. Matoran can customize their masks, doing such things as adding a scope. Matoran or Noble masks can become Great Masks when they come in contact with Toa Energy. This happens whenever a Toa is created from a Matoran.
 * Turaga wear Noble masks made from level 7 Kanoka, and have access to the mask's power. Although Matoran can feel the power in a Great or Noble Mask, they lack the mental discipline needed to access its powers.
 * Toa and other beings wear Great Masks, which offer a stronger mask power, and are made from level 8 Kanoka disks.
 * Kanohi Nuva are a special type of Great Masks that are created when a Kanohi comes into contact with Energized Protodermis. They have greatly enhanced powers.
 * Fused or mutated Kanohi also exist. Sometimes, bearers of a Kanohi undergo changes and their masks fuse to their faces. In some cases the wearer loses access to the mask powers.
 * Miscellaneous Kanohi, include any mask that do not fit under any other category. These include Golden Kanohi, Copper Victory masks,

There is also a powerful group of extraordinary Kanohi, known as Legendary Masks, that possess powers far beyond a normal mask. Only 16 are known so far, but often no more than three to six exist at one time in a single given universe:
 * The Kanohi Ignika, the Legendary Mask of Life
 * The Kanohi Vahi, the Legendary Mask of Time
 * The Kanohi Guhjii Legendary Mask of Space
 * The Kanohi Ekimu, the Legendary Mask of Creation
 * The Kanohi Vaskata, the Legendary Mask of Matter
 * The unnamed Mask of Reality
 * The unnamed Mask of Universe
 * The Kanohi Zutekhae, the Legendary Mask of Victory
 * The Kanohi Gnihton, the Legendary Mask of Nothing

Known Kanohi Formulae
Fanon Kanohi formulae; click to reveal. For a full list, click here.  Legend: Additionally, there are Kanohi of every Rahkshi power.
 * Uncommon: *
 * Unique Mask: **
 * Immoral Mask: †
 * Legendary Mask: ‡

Semi-Legendary Kanohi
These masks are sought by many who want to gain wealth and power. It is impossible to create Noble or Matoran versions of these Kanohi. These are also Seni-Legendary Kanohi. They vastly superior to most Kanohi and rival the Legendary Kanohi themselves, but can come in Noble and even unpowered variants.


 * The Kanohi Silmaris, the Legendary Mask of Command
 * The Kanohi Plaiixia, the Legendary Mask of Planets

Unique Kanohi
Another group of extremely rare an unique Great Masks exists. They have different powers from other regular versions.
 * Mask of No Powers (unique in multiverse)
 * Mask of Dark Gates
 * Dyadis, Mask of Duality

Cursed Kanohi
Cursed Kanohi are any Kanohi which have been infected with a Makuta's shadow energy. It causes a "Shadow Plague" to spread on Matoran around the wearer, turning them into Shadow Matoran. The plague is spread into several stages;
 * Stage 1: The surrounding Matoran develop a hatred of the wearer of the cursed Matoran and shun them. Few progress past this stage.
 * Stage 2: The surrounding Matoran begin performing evil acts.
 * Stage 3: The surrounding Matoran become Shadow Matoran physically.
 * Stage 4: The surrounding Matoran completely transform into Shadow Matoran.

Cursed Kanohi can be any Kanohi - even legendary ones - as long as they are worn by a member of the Matoran species. The only known Cursed Kanohi is a Noble Kakama, worn by Avramus as an Av-Matoran. The effects of this kind of Kanohi are so devastating that the wearer's personality begins to change into a self-hating and depressed one. The only Makuta known to have been able to place a Makuta Curse was killed shortly after doing so, though whether or not this was because of the curse's placement.

Zypvera Kanohi
On Zypvera, Kanohi are crafted using Kanohi Stones instead of using the usual Kanoka.

Special Kanohi
Four of the six Origin Beings wear enhanced Kanohi : these are Kanohi created by the Great Beings which are similar to their Great counterparts, but possess much more powerful powers.

There are Special versions of :
 * Kanohi Kualsi : worn by Toa Iruini, this mask allows him to teleport to any place he knows with a speed unmatched in the whole Universe. He can take people with him.
 * Kanohi Iden : worn by Toa Matoro, this mask allows him to separate his spirit from his body. He can possess spiritless bodies, such as dead bodies and robots, and even attack the spirit of another person.
 * Kanohi Mahiki Hordika : worn by Toa Matau Hordika, this mask allows him to cast powerful illusions to fool his enemies. He can shapeshift into anything of any size he wants and trap his foes in a world of illusion, though he must remain very focused while doing so. The Kanohi Rode and Elda cannot see through these illusions.
 * Kanohi Faxon : worn by Toa Lesovikk, this mask allows him to mimic the powers of any Rahi he knows for a period of time that can be as long as a whole day. He can mimic more than one power at the same time.

Unnatural Kanohi
These Kanohi were created in unnatural ways, resulting in powers and levels of power that vary from normal Kanohi masks, and as such cannot be created using Kanoka disks. They are extremely rare, are often hard to control and have vastly differing power levels unfitting of Noble, Powerless, Great or Legendary. They include:
 * Mask of Catastrophes
 * Kanohi Pepmem, Mask of Bad Decisions

MARVELOUS-Verse Kanohi
In the MARVELOUS-Verse, Kanohi are crafted from Ore instead of the usual Kanoka. Certain strains of Ore bestow the Kanohi with certain powers.

Trivia

 * The number and initial idea of the 255 classical masks was calculated and developed by CaptainLandr0ver.
 * The spiritual values of certain Kanohi were developed by BobTheDoctor27.