Toa Mangai

"You and I have been friends for thousands of years. We've traveled together, fought together, and once almost died together."

- Lhikan to Tuyet, The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet

The Toa Mangai were a group of Toa led by Lhikan which protected Metru Nui from danger.

Formation
The Toa Mangai were first assembled when Turaga Dume was threatened by the Dark Hunters, who wanted to build a base in Metru Nui. These eleven Toa were called from many different islands to fight against the Kanohi Dragon, which the Dark Hunters had unleashed. After a month-long battle, in which half of Ta-Metru was destroyed, the four Toa of Ice managed to freeze the Kanohi Dragon. It was then shipped off to Xia, where it remained until its battle with the Tahtorak. Despite being given the option to return to their homelands, most Toa remained to protect Metru Nui.

Tuyet's Betrayal
At some point in time, while most of the Toa Mangai were away on missions, Dark Hunters slipped into Metru Nui, searching for a fabled artifact, the Nui Stone. One of the Toa of Water, Tuyet, caught wind of the Hunters' entrance into Metru Nui and realized they were after the stone, which she possessed. Unwilling to relinquish the stone, she murdered a Ta-Matoran, and placed a tablet with her own name on his corpse. When confronted by Lhikan and Nidhiki, she denied any knowledge of the incident, and left the other two to their investigation. Later, she killed another Matoran, a Le-Matoran, and placed the signature tablet on the corpse once more. Confronted again by only Lhikan, Tuyet revealed the existence of the stone, though she denied possession of it. She revealed to him that the Hunters were searching for it, and told him that the deaths of the Matoran were a countdown, in order to put him on a false track. Lhikan and Nidhiki later confronted these Hunters, though they themselves seemed to have no knowledge of any of the Matoran deaths. However, Tuyet was unaware of their defeat, and murdered a Ga-Matoran to keep up the semblance of the countdown. Lhikan and Nidhiki soon realized that Tuyet was behind it, and confronted her in her home. Though she tapped into the power of the Nui Stone, they managed to defeat her, and locked her in the Coliseum, from which location she was later taken away to another dimension by Botar.

Toa/Dark Hunter War
After being denied a base in Metru Nui, the Shadowed One launched several operations in an attempt to gain control of the city. When all failed, he ordered a full scale invasion of the island. While the Toa Mangai attempted to defeat the enemies, they were quickly outnumbered, and the Dark Hunters neared victory. However, Toa Naho was able to sneak past the Dark Hunter lines and off of Metru Nui, and quickly gathered more than one hundred different Toa from other lands. During the war, Lariska approached Nidhiki, asking him to betray the Toa. Nidhiki accepted and later led the Toa into an ambush in the Canyon of Unending Whispers as instructed by Lariska. Meanwhile, over two hundred more Toa were arriving to assist the Toa already on Metru Nui to defeat the Dark Hunters.

When over 300 Toa under Lhikan's command appeared in a counter-ambush, due to Lhikan having discovered Nidhiki's defection, Nidhiki and the Dark Hunters found themselves outnumbered. Lhikan, in hopes of recovering the Makoki Stone as promised by Hakann, let the Dark Hunters live, under the condition that they would take Nidhiki with them. Reluctantly, Nidhiki left with them and worked for them, training recruits into the Dark Hunters.

Several of the Toa Mangai left the city for other islands, in order to have new adventures of their own.

Teridax's Plan
After many years of peace on Metru Nui, Turaga Dume was silently captured, and the leader of the Brotherhood of Makuta, Teridax, impersonated him. The false Dume sent the remaining Toa Mangai on various missions, supposedly for the city's safety, from which they never returned, killed by Dark Hunters Teridax had hired: the mutated Nidhiki, Krekka, and Eliminator. For one mission, he sent two Toa and the Chronicler Kodan to seal Metru Nui's Sea Gates, only to have them killed by Eliminator upon arrival.



Eventually only Lhikan remained. Realizing the graveness of the situation, he stole the Toa Stones from the Great Temple and brought about six new Toa, the Toa Metru, though he was captured by Nidhiki and Krekka, and later transformed into a Turaga. Nidhiki, after failing to capture the new Toa Metru, was absorbed by Teridax along with Krekka to power the Makuta and enable him to gain a new, more powerful form. Lhikan was rescued by the Toa Metru, but eventually killed by Teridax while saving Vakama's life, leaving behind the legacy of the Toa Mangai. Various memoirs of the Toa Mangai were eventually placed inside the Coliseum for safekeeping.

Over a thousand years later, when Teridax's Plan had finally been completed, Macku found Tuyet in an unsafe area of the Archives with a shard of the Nui Stone, claiming that she was a perfect ally for the rebellion, as she had been believed dead for so long. Still harboring intentions of enforcing her own justice, Tuyet traveled with the Matoran through the Archives, encountering Tren Krom in the body of Lewa Nuva. They eventually broke into the Core Processor, and were drawn into a fight between Helryx, Miserix, Axonn, and Brutaka. The whole group of combatants, as well as the Matoran, were then teleported into outer space by Teridax and barred reentry into the Matoran Universe. However, Vezon appeared and transported them to Bota Magna.

Members
Of the eleven Toa, only four are known by name.

There were also three more unknown Toa. One of the Toa on the team wore a Kanohi Kakama. This Toa, like most of the others, was sent by Teridax in disguise to close the Sea Gates and was killed by Eliminator, leaving only the mask behind.

Trivia

 * The word "Mangai" is a Matoran word for "protector".
 * Some locations on the island of Mata Nui were named after Toa Mangai, such as Naho Bay. The volcano dominating Mata Nui itself was named the Mangai by Turaga Vakama, both in honor of the Toa Mangai and in acknowledgment of the volcano's protective nature.
 * BZPower and BIONICLESector01 member Nuhrii the Metruan created a theory that gave the Toa Mangai their name, which Greg Farshtey accepted into the official canon.

Appearances

 * BIONICLE Legends 4: Legacy of Evil (In a Flashback)
 * The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet (Not Mentioned by Name)
 * Birth of a Dark Hunter
 * BIONICLE Adventures 10: Time Trap (Not Mentioned by Name)
 * Destiny War (Mentioned Only)
 * BIONICLE: Rahi Beasts (Not Mentioned by Name)
 * BIONICLE: Encyclopedia (Not Mentioned by Name)
 * BIONICLE: Dark Hunters (Not Mentioned by Name)
 * BIONICLE: World (Not Mentioned by Name)
 * BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated (Not Mentioned by Name)