The concept of the Kaita today
Before we start, I should note that the concept of the Kaita as they appeared in 2001 has some differences from the one we saw in 2003–2010. To begin, I’d like to talk about how Kaita work in the new, Greg-approved, sacred canon.
So, by the power of BS01:
“A Toa Kaita is a being formed by the melding of the bodies and minds of three Toa of different elements.
All Toa have the capacity to form into Kaita. The combination of three Toa also results in a new Kanohi, which contains the powers of all three Kanohi used in the formation.
A Toa Kaita combines and amplifies all attributes of the three component Toa, from physical characteristics such as speed and strength to attributes like personality and knowledge.
Therefore, a Toa Kaita is inherently faster, stronger, and smarter than its components simply working together. A Toa Kaita also possesses greater elemental power than its three component Toa, and can wield the powers in combination.
Toa Kaita remain whole as long as they maintain the focus of the fusion; when the concentration is broken, the Toa Kaita reverts to the three Toa. Makuta also possess the ability to dissolve these fusions.
The only Toa known to have formed a Kaita are the Toa Mata, who joined to form Akamai and Wairuha. The Kaita journeyed to Makuta Teridax's lair, using their enhanced powers to defeat the Manas. Upon arriving at his chamber, they were transformed back into their individual selves by Teridax's power.”
So, to summarize, what do we have? Three Toa of different elements can just want really hard to become a bigger Toa and then it becomes reality. Their bodies and minds merge, their abilities merge, their elements merge and they get a shiny new mask to boot – one that still has all the abilities of the component masks. The only down side – you have to focus on keeping the fusion together and that takes a lot of effort. Makuta can destroy the Kaita. Did I miss anything?
I would also like to note that Matoran, Turaga, Bohrok Va, Bohrok (-Kal) and Rahkshi have the same ability, but with slightly different rules – Bohrok (-Kal) work with one dominant Krana, while Rahkshi get another extra ability (that the writers came up without of nowhere. Don't ask why, it's just more fun).
It is also known that Matoran and Turaga can form not only Kaita, but also Nui. Each Nui consists of six different elements and as such requires a much higher level of concentration than regular Kaita. But in return the Turaga getsix mask powers at once. One Nui can just kick a Rahi in the nuts and run away. Toa? Who needs those guys...
Kaita and Nui were seldom featured in the story, really only when it was good for the plot. They appeared several times in the comics and even fewer times in the books, since they tried to be a bit more serious than the comics. 'Cause everybody understands that the Kaita is a massive powerhouse, only rivaled in its OPness by the Nova Blast. It allows the user to beat everyone in short time in the name of everything that is pure and holy. Of course, it comes with a few drawbacks, but if you concentrate enough those just vanish. Greg Farshtey conveniently “forgot” about this power in his stories, which makes perfect sense story-wise – a lot of fans noted that two-three Kaita and several Nova Blasts could easily solve every single problem within the Matoran Universe. And that's just how we roll, because storytelling rules demand that a Makuta with 42 Rahkshi powers gets killed by a mutated overgrown Toa of Earth.
The Kaita Chambers and Makoki Stones
Well, let's cut right to the chase. The main difference between Kaita as they appeared in 2001 and Kaita in all following years is the following – the Toa can only form Kaita in specially-made chambers. If we're being honest – this is a really great limiting story element. Even here, concentration is still required for the fusion to remain together. And if we remember that there were originally supposed to be six and not infinity cannon fodder Toa then it means that these Kaita rooms were meant for these specific characters in this specific place. There are only two of these rooms—or so it seems initially. And now for a bit of explaining.
Before the appearance of this already quite old video we all thought that those white stripes in the background of MNOG was just some cool linear art, but it turned out to be very different – those were the walls of the Kaita Chambers.
The main source of this information is an amazing cutscene from the cancelled PC-Game Legend of Mata Nui. In it, in a manner reminiscent of the MNOG cutscene, the Toa unite their Makoki Stones and open the gates to Mangaia, the dark tunnels beneath the island that crisscross the Mata Nui head. Then they use those same stones to open the doors to those half-sphere halls which transform them into the Toa Kaita. Note that those halls have special grooves designed for the feet of the Toa, further symbolizing their limited usage.
Three Makoki Stones are inserted in one of Kaita Chamber locks. Nice lighting. After transforming, the Toa Kaita fight the Manas crabs, throw away the Mana-Ko and are then split back into six Toa again. A siimilar scene takes place in the MNOG, with added Gali exposition:
Tahu: What has happened?
Gali: The spirit of Makuta … is the spirit of destruction. This is his inner realm. The Toa Kaita cannot exist here.
Pohatu: The Manas nearly destroyed the Toa Kaita. And the Makuta is ten times greater than they. What hope do we have?
Gali: The Toa Kaita merely gave physical form to the force of our unity. We still possess it, in our hearts.
Lewa: But the Toa Kaita’s wisdom and valor were unmatched.
Tahu: Where wisdom and valor fail, all that remains is faith. And it can overcome all.
So, let's make some provisional conclusions. What do we have now? Basically, nothing changed except for:
a) The fact that the great power of the Kaita is severely limited – they cannot fuse at will. They have special spherical chambers for that, and those chambers are meant for unique characters.
b) The Kaita concept, as the physical manifestation of the Unity virtue, is part of the dichotomy of destruction and creation, as manifested by the Makuta and Mata Nui. It doesn't have any impact on the overall plot, but gives them a bit more of a symbolic meaning than just being another battle option (Right, Toa Kaita Wairuha Nuva?).
Turaga Nui and enlightenment in Kini-Nui
“The Legend of Mata Nui glossary has an interesting tidbit. The Kini-Nui entry reads: “The Great Temple, where Toa learn to be Toa Kaita and the Turaga learn to be Turaga Nui.”
This is a weird description, but it suggests that originally Turaga couldn't form Kaita – only a Nui form. That makes sense considering we never got any official Turaga Kaita builds. We only know about the potential of such a thing existing in the first place from the many questions that have been directed at Greg.
Further developing this topic, the user Peri shared with me a theory about where exactly the transformation takes place. If we look at the image of all six Turaga together we can see that in front of them there is a giant round hole.
This hole is located on the very top of the giant head next to the Amaya circle and is perfectly visible on the concept art by Christian Faber. Talking about this stone head, I should add that we never learned its true purpose. This location is where Kini-Nui is set (together with the Suva Kaita and the entrance to Mangaia) and it leads towards the Amaya circle (where the Turaga tell Legends and you can summon the Toa using the appropriate stones).
And yeah, there is also this giant head nobody knows the true purpose of (we’re talking 2001 – not 2003 where it was revealed to be nothing more than a Takua vanity statue).
Taking a little detour, I will say that originally all the Kini temples (and Kini-Nui itself) were not just beautiful structures but actually special buildings used by the Turaga to meditate and gain knowledge about the outside world – knowledge they could use to create their Legends. This fits really nicely with the original description of Kini-Nui, as a place where the Turaga could learn how to become Turaga Nui.
More about it shall be written in Chapter Six – Turaga as they originally appeared.
To further drive home the point that the round hole where the Turaga are standing is the round hole on top of the head we have the Nestle CD-Rom. Take a look at the background. Furthermore,this head-temple-structure is claimed to be the Turaga place in many forms of media. The Nestle CD, a couple of artworks, a CD put in several sets in the first wave of 2001 and finally the description in LOMN all communicate that this structure was originally meant for the Turaga, but never revealing its true purpose.
Why do they hammer on the importance of this structure so much and constantly show the Turaga climbing it? Peri guesses that inside of the structure is their fusion chamber to form a Turaga Nui and I, generally, support this idea. In the conclusion to this article I will give the reasons why I believe this to be the truth.
What the Turaga think about the Kaita
An interesting tidbit in light of the description of Kini-Nui in LoMN is the fact that the Turaga themselves don't exactly know how to form a Turaga Nui – they will only learn about it later on. As we have learned from the previous chapter of the MNOG Chronicles – originally the Turaga were never Toa. They were curators of the Tohunga’s legends and they too lost their memories after the Great Cataclysm, as did the rest of the inhabitants. They just knew more about the mission than everybody else, which led to them interpreting pieces of their memory into the legends of Mata Nui and Makuta. When it comes down to the Kaita it seems that their memories are vaguer still. Consider: Matau the Singer.
I mean, what would a probably perpetually high hippie grandfather know about the fine details of becoming a Kaita?
“By bringing all the Great Masks of Power to the Suva, it has given to Lewa a Golden Kanohi,” Matau replies. “Some legends say that after the Golden Kanohi are found, there will come the Toa Kaita – but I do not know what this is.”
It is interesting that the Kaita are only supposed to appear after all the Golden Masks have been collected. Is there any connection here? Are they required for the creation of a Kaita? Do they open the doors to the Mangaia? Maybe the old Matau didn't mean to imply a connection between the two, but a simple following ofchronological events... “but I do not know what this is.”
But Matau is not the only one who can give you interesting information about the Kaita – Turaga Nuju is also here to dish out some interesting lore.
To be fair, the entirety of Ko-Koro is really mysterious and interesting from a lore perspective. Remember how the great beings Papu and Rangi hypothetically participated in the building of Ta-Koro and how, if one seller from Po-Koro is to be believed, the pathway of destinies was builtby ancient sculptors? (Of course, before the 2002 retcon. Hafu never lies!)
“Po-Wahi is... well, there's not much to it, really, mostly sand... lots of sand. But there are the canyons, which are real pretty to look at, if the sun or the Rahi don't get you first... and the Path of Prophecies, which the ancient carvers made.”
The same goes for the Sanctum, that giant temple whose writings the Turaga and the Ko-Matoran tirelessly translate day and night in their meditative trance. I would suggest that the prophecies of the Sanctum are written down by Nuju himself, who was called the prophet by Jaa the servant. I doubt this was written down in the Bible, but it could be authorial intent on the part of Templar Studios, developing the idea of Turaga gaining enormous knowledge through meditation. The primary concept itself – a tribe of loners trying to gain a connection to space suggests that not everything here is as clear cut as it seems.
But let's head back to Turaga Nuju, what does he have to tell? Ask his translator – Matoro – about the future and this will be his response:
“He [Nuju] has been watching you for a long time. Your role in Mata Nui’s destiny is more important than you know. Mata Nui sleeps, but you, like the Toa, shall be an agent of his awakening. […] The Toa will unite and find more power in the joining. They shall merge their skills, their knowledge, their wills to become Wisdom and Valor, named in prophecy Wairuha and Akamai. In these forms, they are the Toa Kaita. The Toa Kaita will, at last, confront the Makuta. […] Nuju says that you must understand this: that in creation, there is destruction. In destruction, there is rebirth. There is no such thing as void; all things are in flux.”
“He [Nuju] has been watching you for a long time. Your role in Mata Nui’s destiny is more important than you know. Mata Nui sleeps, but you, like the Toa, shall be an agent of his awakening. […] The Toa will unite and find more power in the joining. They shall merge their skills, their knowledge, their wills to become Wisdom and Valor, named in prophecy Wairuha and Akamai. In these forms, they are the Toa Kaita. The Toa Kaita will, at last, confront the Makuta. […] Nuju says that you must understand this: that in creation, there is destruction. In destruction, there is rebirth. There is no such thing as void; all things are in flux.”
So, it seems that through deciphering hundreds of prophecies and meditations Turaga Nuju has reached a new level of knowledge. It is interesting to note that he is the only one who speaks a weird and incomprehensible language. Greg, of course, gave us a different interpretation of his language in the Adventure book series but if we connect this to the general image of a wise hermit then it could just be that he is already on the same wavelength as the Great Beings.
And despite the fact that the Makuta would like to correct Nuju's assumption about the non-existence of emptiness it could be just another part of the general creation/destruction dichotomy, same as the Kaita. And that is nice.
Origins of Akamai and Wairuha
These two begins were originally rather different from the ones we saw at the end of 2001. First there are the names – Wairuha was the name of the Kaita that would walk the path of the valor while Akamai would be the one to walk the path of wisdom. We learn this from the description of the Power Pack set on the official Bionicle website. This naming makes much more sense than the final version because of one simple reason:
Akamai – the Hawaiian word for wisdom, knowledge;
Wairua – the Maori word for spirit, ghost (yeah, you can try and say something about the meaning but remember that Swinnerton could've borrowed the words according to the principle like/dislike, even more so considering how the original meaning is close to spirit power);
Why the creators changed their names is still a mystery to me. Another unique detail about these original Kaita is the fact that Wairuha was supposed to wear a chrome mask (which was the reason why it was included with the Power Pack set.) I think that originally both Toa Kaita had silver masks. This would make sense, considering how silver is the neutral color of masks within the Bionicle Universe. When three Toa merge it doesn't favor any of them, thus losing its color and becoming silver. Also, it would make sense for both of the Toa Kaita to wear the same mask. Why would one of them wear a silver mask and the other a golden mask?
Peri discovered that the names of Wairuha and Akamai were also swapped in the earlier version of the MNOG cutscene. It's pretty funny that both Toa Kaita wear Golden Kanohi in this cutscene. Perhaps the chrome Hau in Power Pack represented the shiny golden mask, not silver? Another interesting fact is Wairuha was mentioned with feminine pronouns in an early version of the script. Just a mistake? We don't know that.
Another tidbit pointing towards the original concepts surrounding the Kaita masks is the aforementioned video from LOMN. When Makuta finally breaks the bond between the Kaita they return to their original forms – but now wearing normally colored masks and not golden ones, as they wore before their descent into Mangaia. Could this be a developer mistake? Most believe that, but I have a far more complicated explanation.
If we turn our attention to the original marketing material for 2002 we can see that in several instances the Toa aren't depicted wearing their golden masks but rather their original, colored ones. On one hand this can easily just be a marketing decision that is irrelevant to the plot because the buyer is used to seeing their favorite heroes without their golden masks. But if we open up the style guide and dig around in the psd-files for the first half of 2002 we will find that in many cases the golden mask was a second layer on top of the Toa with his/her original mask. This is weird, since it would be much easier to work with the render if the Toa already had their gold masks, as it was in the files for the second half of the year. This means that the golden renders were only added as an afterthought.
Besides that – the same images (without the golden masks) are in the videos for the Wall of History, as seen in 2004. It appears that the fact that the Toa kept their golden masks is only a later addition – originally they were supposed to lose them after losing their Kaita forms.
Besides that – the same images (without the golden masks) are in the videos for the Wall of History, as seen in 2004. It appears that the fact that the Toa kept their golden masks is only a later addition – originally they were supposed to lose them after losing their Kaita forms.
This is furthermore proven by another Wall of History video, one having a mockup screenshot of the Makuta battle. There, the Toa also have their normal colored masks. It a very puzzling story, but I believe that the truth is out there. Maybe the golden masks were originally only used to form the Kaita but later on the developers decided to not devalue the 2002 collectables and just put them in the Krana packs?
Tohunga Nui Paradox
Well, this is my least favorite part of this chapter, but we can't simply ignore it. We all remember the small promo-comics from 2001, the kind that were given away for free at the fast-food McDonalds restaurant. The plot contradicts just about everything I have written above. Six random Tohunga just wanted really hard and became a bigger and meaner Tohunga. No chambers, no stones, no special knowledge. Just want and have.
And this is just plain weird. So much information, so many mysteries, cutscenes cobbled together from two different games, the Turaga being completely oblivious to how a Kaita works. Six random villagers just know it intuitively and use it against the first Nui-Jaga they meet. Can we consider a promo-comic to just not be canonical relating to the original bible? Maybe they just wanted to sell the feature about rebuilding the construction toy. And these mysterious chambers and all that lore would've just confused the ever-loving hell out of anyone. But we can’t say for sure. I think it is easier to just admit that not only 2004–2010 had plot holes.
Retcons? Retcons!
The original Bionicle bible became famous for its many interesting lore details that the creators of comic books, books, computer and tabletop games and other media could use as a basis and work with. However, not all of those details made it into "plot-oriented" media (comics, MNOG), but made it into the more visually oriented and interactive (card game, CD-ROMs, commercials) which is why many still consider them to be strange and not really thought through – as it was with the Turaga-Nui and the Kini temples.
Despite all the differences between 2001–2003 and 2004–2010, Kaita of both kinds don't differ that much. It is still just an attempt to write in a toy gimmick, making it somehow plot related. It is even cute to a certain degree, since it kills the serious tone set by the 2001 media, reminding us of the fact that these still are collectable robots united with the slogan "collect them all." On the other hand, all these mysteries and hints towards the original lore are incredibly interesting to find and confirm, just always entering in your favorite online game and dissecting it to bits. You do it as well, I hope?
P.S.
I must admit having enormous respect for the way Templar Games just laughed at the entire concept of a Kaita with their SPIRIT OF WISDOM, HEAR ME! I — AM — WAIRUHA!
Idk why, but at this moment I always just start laughing as a madman.
Original
Special thanks to my friend Frozen Death for the translation, and a big thanks to Maku for editing. I also highly recommend Maku's document that includes a lot of useful information about early Bionicle lore.
Special thanks to my friend Frozen Death for the translation, and a big thanks to Maku for editing. I also highly recommend Maku's document that includes a lot of useful information about early Bionicle lore.
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