Toa

Toa is the title awarded to a the principle peace-keepers of the Matoran Universe, a species charged with protecting the world's inhabitants and resolving conflict. ==History== During the creation of the Matoran Universe, the Great Beings surmised the basic concept for the Toa, a species of medium-sized warriors who would roam the individual domes of the Great Spirit Robot to safeguard the inhabitants of each realm should unforeseen disaster strike. Artahka was thus charged with the creation of the first Toa and, as the Great Beings had become concerned with other matters, all future generations of Toa. This experimental process using a combination of the Glatorian species genetic coding and the elemental attributes of the Elemental Lords of Spherus Magna resulted in the creation of Helryx, the first Toa. With Spherus Magna growing increasingly unstable, the Great Beings would later return their attention to the Matoran Universe, now resolving to speed up its completion before the destruction of their planet. Regardless of their concerns, however, the Great Beings took it upon themselves to create several more Toa to boost the population of peace-keepers. During this period, Toa Orde was known to have come into being as the first Toa of Psionics. However, due to Orde's aggressive nature, he failed to calm the Zyglak, a race of reptillian creatures who despised the Great Beings and all their creations. The First Toa team - the Toa Cordak - would thus come into existence, consisting of Toa Lesovikk, Nikila, and six other members. Charged with safe-guarding the Matoran Universe at an early point in its development, the Toa team encountered a number of unruly inhabitants, most notably of which were the Zyglak minority in the southern-most region of the world. The final encounter between the Zyglak and the Toa Cordak resulted in an ill-fated ambush. During the battle, Lesovikk was known to have hesitated for a fatal strategic moment in which his entire team was slaughtered. Able to escape with his life but harrowed by the extent of his failure, Lesovikk vanished from the face of the universe and his tale served as a grim reminder that even Toa can make mistakes. Now firm in their conviction that the Toa could one day prove to be inadequate guardians of the Matoran Universe, the Great Beings chose to take action at this point. As a result, they made numerous countermeasures to ensure the integrity of the Matoran Universe, such as Marendar and the Kanohi Ignika. They also chose, in this moment, to make all subsequent Ce-Matoran female, feeling that users of the elemental discipline should possess a softer feminine touch. As an added precaution, the Great Beings commissioned the creation of a dedicated, primary Toa team that would later come to be known as the Toa Mata. Charging Artahka with the creation of these Toa and contracting Helryx to discretely train them; Toa Tahu, Gali, Onua, Pohatu, Kopaka, and Lewa thus came into existence. These six Toa would later go down in Matoran legend as the principle Toa-guardians of the universe, to be summoned only in the most dire of global emergencies, their destiny tied to the continued maintenance of the Great Spirit Mata Nui. When the training of these Toa was completed, the Toa were placed in canisters and kept in stasis in the Codrex of the Universe Core, ready to be deployed in case of an emergency. At this early point in the history of the Matoran Universe, it is assumed that the Toa operated as a somewhat unified entity, banding together in times of need but rarely travelling between domes. Although the Toa adhered to no specific leadership, they were guided by an early version of the Toa Code; a list of rules and teachings that all Toa were expected to follow. As the Toa Code was never written down in its entirety, however, it became something of a global vernacular amongst members of the Toa community. With the recent disbanding of the Hand of Artahka, Toa Helryx helmed the development of a new organization. Well aware of the restrictions of the Toa Code, the Order of Mata Nui was brought into existence to provide the universe with a covert peace-keeping entity that would be unhindered by moral obligations. With the clandestine activities of the organization kept secret from the rest of the Matoran Universe, it was decided that Toa would generally be excluded from membership so as not to violate their right to follow the Toa Code. Roughly 95,000 years ago, the Brotherhood of Makuta was established by Mata Nui. Originally tasked with populating the Matoran Universe with Rahi creatures, the Makuta fulfilled their purpose and began to use their considerable abilities to assist the Toa in maintaining order across the Great Spirit Robot. On occasion, the Brotherhood of Makuta would assist Toa forces, the most notable example of which occurring 80,000 years ago when the two organizations united to overwhelm the League of Six Kingdoms. Over the coming few centuries, the relationship between Toa and Makuta would begin to grow more strenuous given the favor of Mata Nui constantly being awarded to the Toa. During this period, the Toa also earned the resentment of the Dark Hunters, an organization of felons and renegades led by The Shadowed One. Frequently, Dark Hunters would be tasked with missions that demanded them to eliminate or transgress certain Toa, the general sentiment being that Toa represented a law that was unjust. For the overwhelming majority of the Matoran Universe' operation, Toa were regarded with mixed sentiments. While the Matoran heralded them as champions of justice and liberty, many of Mata Nui's less-favored creations grew jealous of the affection these peace-keepers were afforded. On Xia and Stelt, two islands with no designated law enforcement, the will of the Toa became disenfranchised with the will of the citizenry. Feeling oppressed by the Toa, the Brotherhood of Makuta's members purged their inner light and became a malevolent organization. With a number of factions now wary and mistrustful of Mata Nui's justice, so too did they become hostile towards Toa. With the evolution of the Makuta species, several hundred Toa of Iron and Toa of Magnetism were eliminated by the organization as they posed considerable threat to the integrity of their new Protosteel armor. Thus began a trend of open hostility towards Toa. By the time of the Great Cataclysm, the total Toa population had begun to see drastic decreases in size, with members of the species now being hunted by the Brotherhood and Dark Hunters alike. With Mata Nui now distinctly absent and the Matoran Universe debilitated by Makuta Teridax's efforts, it became widely accepted that the Toa had failed and that alternative methods of peace-keeping should be adopted. After Teridax's defeat at the Battle of Bara Magna, the remaining Toa evacuated to the newly reformed Spherus Magna To be written ==Abilities and Traits== Toa are created if Matoran absorb a large amount of power, usually from a Toa Stone, though a number of other possibilities exist. Energized Protodermis can also create Toa from Matoran, but not always. Each Toa has control over a certain Elemental Power, the most common being Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Stone, and Ice, though others are known to exist. And when six different elements combine, they create a protodermis seal. Toa possessing legendary elements are a rarity, as misuse of their power could lead to the destruction of one of the universe's fundamental forces. Most Toa also wear great Kanohi masks, and without them their strength and power would be halved. Every Toa has a fixed destiny that they are intended to fulfill, though it is not a given that they will succeed in doing so. If the Toa does succeed, they may choose to undergo a transformation into Turaga. The process involves locking their Toa power inside a Toa Stone, which can then be taken by a destined Matoran. Most Toa work in Toa teams, which are traditionally comprised of six members, most Matoran believe that a team of seven can cause destruction to a universe. However, there are a number of groups that disregard this rule, such as the Toa Nuva. Once a Matoran is transformed into a Toa, their armor patterns usually resembles the Toa they've met. The Toa Inika are an exception. Any three Toa of different elemental disciplines can combine into an genderless Toa Kaita. The result would has each of their traits, a combination of their tools, strengths, and control over all their mask and elemental powers. However, the Toa's thoughts must be in sync or otherwise, the Toa Kaita will separate into three. == Toa Code == Toa teams follow the Three Virtues, and each Toa Team follows a strict moral code, known as the Toa Code. Which states that Toa could not sneak around, or fight at night, as Matoran would become suspicious of them. And the code also prohibits murder and betrayal, which are punishable. As stated above, Toa who break this code are punished by their title being dropped, along with losing the respect and membership of their team, and the respect of other Toa. Toa Tuyet was infamous for breaking the code, along with Nidhiki. Lesovikk's case however, was that he had failed his team during a battle, and considered himself losing the title of "Toa". Also, several Dark Hunters were formally Toa, who were never punished, but they abandoned the code for their own reasons. However, Helryx does not follow the Toa Code, due to being in existence before the code. And she still does not abide by it.