Toa Tahu was a Toa of Fire and the leader of the Toa Mata. He was gifted with the elemental power of fire; wore a Kanohi Hau, the Great Mask of Shielding; and carried a firesword. Tahu and the other Toa Mata were a part of the legend of Mata Nui, a legend that the Turaga of Mata Nui often told to the Matoran during the millennium between the Great Cataclysm and the Toa Mata’s arrival. The legend itself was spawned by a mix of common Matoran legends, the past experiences of the Turaga as the Toa Metru, and Turaga Vakama’s visions.

The legend, as the Matoran of Mata Nui knew it, stated that the Great Beings sent the Great Spirit Mata Nui from the heavens into the world to care for all living things. Mata Nui brought with him the Matoran to the paradise that was the island of Mata Nui, named so in his honor. Mata Nui gave the Matoran the Three Virtues to live by: unity, duty, and destiny; and the Matoran lived happily under Mata Nui’s loving protection. Unfortunately, Mata Nui’s dark brother, the Makuta, had followed Mata Nui from paradise and coveted the world and all that his brother had. Makuta cast a spell over Mata Nui that caused him to fall into a deep slumber. Then, Makuta claimed the world as his own, bringing darkness and destruction everywhere. Fields withered away, sunlight grew cold, and the ancient values of the Matoran were eventually forgotten. However, all was not lost; for the Great Beings would send six mighty Toa to defeat Makuta and awaken Mata Nui once more; and one day, the Toa finally did appear.

Like his fellow Toa Mata, Tahu’s origin before coming to the island of Mata Nui is very mysterious. He probably came into being about 95,000 years before he arrived on the shores of Mata Nui. He had never been a Matoran prior to being a Toa, and it is possible that he and the other Toa Mata’s sole purpose was to serve as a failsafe for the Great Spirit Mata Nui should he ever have fallen into danger. As happens with every Toa, Tahu’s spirit star came into being, which rested in the sky above Mata Nui. Whatever island that Tahu and the rest of the Toa Mata came from, they were trained in the use of their powers as Toa: the use of their elemental powers, the use of Kanohi, and the ability to form Toa Kaita. A Matoran local of the island once described the place as the “world that feeds the world,” the “wellspring of flame that burns none but its bearer until nothing is left, not even ashes.” Some time later, on the same island, the Toa Mata willingly put themselves into transportation canisters that the local Matoran created especially for them to fall into a deep sleep and await a call to action.

The Toa Mata’s call came when the Great Cataclysm occurred and Mata Nui was cast into endless slumber. Their canisters were activated and rocketed up into the sky above Mata Nui to safely fall back down again into the ocean surrounding the island. Had their canisters been working properly, the Toa would have arrived on the shores of Mata Nui, made their way underground to Metru Nui, and found a way to defeat Makuta while he was still weakened and awaken Mata Nui. Unfortunately, an unintentional mechanical fault caused their canisters to malfunction. Instead of steering themselves toward the island of Mata Nui, the canisters floated freely in the ocean with the Toa inside of them for a thousand years. Due to their prolonged time sealed in the canisters, some of the Toa’s biological ligaments decayed over time, causing some of their mechanical parts to fall apart. Their memory faded during that time as well. All the while, on Mata Nui, Makuta harassed the Matoran for a thousand years with his Rahi beasts.

A thousand years after the Great Cataclysm, the adventurous Matoran Takua gathered the Toa stones from all over the island of Mata Nui and brought them together at the Kini-Nui. In doing this, he unwittingly sent a beacon to the Toa’s canisters that finally steered them toward the island. Tahu’s canister washed up on a beach along the coast of Ta-Wahi. The canister opened, and Tahu’s loose body pieces flew out onto the sandy beach. Tahu reassembled himself, his organic tissue regrowing once he fitted his mechanical parts back together. Once Tahu noticed his Kanohi Hau lying in the sand and put it on, he felt a surge of energy course through them that he had probably not felt for centuries. Just as the Matoran’s legends had foretold, Tahu remembered nothing except dreams of darkness and his own name.

Tahu traveled south along the coast until he reached the Tren Krom Break, and then the Charred Jungle. As he walked through the forest of burnt trees, he was mistaken for a Rahi by Jala and a few of his other Ta-Matoran guards when he stumbled into a Rahi trap. Tahu easily escaped and faced his challengers. Turaga Vakama, who had been on the beach, had noticed Tahu’s canister, and had followed his footprints, intervened and revealed that Tahu was the Toa of Fire that they had waited so long for. Vakama took Tahu back to Ta-Koro, where he and the Ta-Matoran lived. Vakama told Tahu of the island’s situation: how Makuta had been using the Rahi to harass the Matoran for centuries, and how Makuta had cast the Great Spirit Mata Nui into endless sleep. Vakama informed Tahu that, in order to gain the strength needed to defeat Makuta, he and the other Toa needed to go on a quest for the Kanohi masks of power that were hidden all over Mata Nui. Additional to his Kanohi Hau, Tahu would have to collect five other Great Kanohi – Kakama, Pakari, Miru, Akaku, Kaukau; and retrieve five Noble Kanohi – Komau, Ruru, Mahiki, Matatu, and Rau – that had been stolen by the Rahi.

Tahu met the other five Toa later at the bottom of Mount Ihu. Tahu took on his role as leader, and he wanted the Toa to split up in pairs to search for the Kanohi masks. Tahu’s ideas always seemed to contrast Kopaka’s, and an uneasy rivalry settled between the two Toa that would remain long afterwards. After a heated discussion, the Toa ended up splitting up to find the Kanohi masks of power on their own rather than working together as a team. Tahu’s temper soared when this decision was made. The Toa then got a first taste of Makuta’s own power when he sent a brief combination of hail, lightning, and an earth tremor against them to disrupt the meeting.

Tahu’s anger led him aimlessly over the foothills around the base of Mount Ihu and then back up the slopes of the Mangai volcano, where he met Jala once again. Jala told Tahu that there was a Kanohi Akaku to be found in the deepest cavern of Onu-Wahi. Tahu immediately started down a nearby entrance to the underground region. Tahu traveled deep into the underground tunnels for a very long time until he found what he sought at the far end of a narrow bridge over a deep chasm. After an encounter with small, stinging Rahi insects, Tahu successfully retrieved the mask.

As Tahu collected Great Kanohi, the masks were teleported back to the Ta-Suva when they were not in use, and could be summoned back and forth for Tahu’s use at any time. If Tahu came across a Noble Kanohi, he returned it to Turaga Vakama when he had the chance. As Tahu collected more and more Kanohi, he gained more and more abilities from the Great and Noble Masks.

Once the Toa realized that they all had had limited success in finding the Kanohi masks alone, Onua called a meeting near his landing site. Tahu met up with Onua and Pohatu and agreed to bring Gali back from her quest to the meeting. Tahu found Gali, on another side of the island, pitted against some of Makuta’s dangerous Rahi and helped her fend them off. Tahu then brought Gali back to Onua’s meeting. Onua’s meeting quickly evolved into a massive Rahi attack by Makuta meant to crush them once and for all. After a great battle against the Rahi and Makuta’s power over the island, this meeting ended in one unanimous decision: the Toa would work together as a team.

The Toa turned to the Ta-Matoran for the location of the next hidden Kanohi mask to find. The Ta-Matoran told the Toa that Tahu’s Kanohi Miru was beneath the waves of the shoreline just south of Po-Koro. With this in mind, the Toa traveled to this location as a group. The Toa still wasted much time on petty disagreements – Tahu seemed determined to completely disable every Rahi the Toa encountered on this journey. When the Toa arrived at their destination, the Toa who already possessed the Kanohi Kaukau – Onua, Kopaka, and Gali – went underwater to retrieve the mask while Tahu, Pohatu, and Lewa guarded the beach. The Toa underwater encountered a Tarakava from which they removed its infected mask. The Toa retrieved Tahu’s Miru and returned to the surface successful.

After the Toa collected many more Kanohi with significant success, they split off into two groups to find Pohatu’s two last Great Kanohi. Pohatu, Lewa, and Kopaka went to Po-Wahi; and Tahu, Onua, and Gali went to Le-Wahi. In order to get Pohatu’s mask, Tahu burned the tree that held it to the ground – an act that irked Gali.

The Toa’s quest for the masks finally ended in the drifts of lower Mount Ihu where they found Tahu’s Kaukau. After the Toa had collected all of the Great and Noble Kanohi and had for the most part freed the Rahi from Makuta’s control, they were uncertain of what to do next. They had heard rumors of Gold Kanohi, and both Kopaka and Gali had had brief, mysterious visions of the Toa Kaita and of a massive temple in the center of the island. The Toa, having each collected all six of their necessary Great Masks, returned to their Koro. When Tahu visited the Ta-Suva in Ta-Koro, where his Great masks were kept, and placed his own mask on it, his six Great Kanohi formed a single Gold Kanohi in the shape of his Kanohi Hau.

Armed with his new Gold Kanohi, which gave him the powers of all six Great Kanohi he had collected, Tahu journeyed with the other Toa to the Kini-Nui. It was there that they met the Chronicler’s Company, who agreed to defend the Kini-Nui from the Rahi while the Toa were facing Makuta. The Toa then unlocked an underground passageway to Mangaia, Makuta’s underground lair, through the Kini-Nui with the Makoki stones. The Toa traveled through this tunnel down to Makuta’s realm. When, on their way to Makuta, the Toa encountered the Manas – Makuta’s two most powerful Rahi guardians – they could not find a way to defeat them until they merged their beings together to form two powerful Toa Kaita. Tahu merged with Pohatu and Onua to form Toa Kaita Akamai. The Toa Kaita were able to defeat the Manas and move on toward Makuta’s inner lair.

Once the Toa Kaita reached Makuta’s inner lair, they split apart once again into the six Toa. It was there that the Toa faced the Shadow Toa – dark essences of themselves given independent life by Makuta. The Toa were evenly matched against their Shadow Toa counterparts. The Toa, faced with essentially fighting themselves, still managed to triumph by acknowledging that the darkness was a part of them, just as it was a part of all beings. This realization enabled the Toa to reabsorb the Shadow Toa back into their bodies, ending their threat.

With the Shadow Toa defeated, the Toa faced the Makuta himself. Makuta revealed only a small part of his true form to the Toa, at first taking on the appearance of a pitted, scarred, infected Matoran. Then, after greeting the Toa, he transformed into a mass of tentacles that quickly beat back the Toa. Even with their mask powers, the Toa were rapidly caught up in an intense battle that did not seem to press on in their favor. It was only when the Toa used their elemental powers together against Makuta’s being that they were able to defeat him. Makuta, beaten, mysteriously disappeared. After their great fight, the Toa started back up to the surface of Mata Nui victorious. The Toa, it seemed, had saved the island of Mata Nui and its Matoran at last.

When the Toa reached the surface, they did not hear the sounds of peace but the sounds of turmoil all over the island’s landscape. They found a Ta-Matoran near the Kini-Nui who repeated one word over and over: Bohrok. The Toa used their Kanohi to speed their way to Ta-Koro to investigate, where they found mysterious creatures attacking the village. As it turned out, these new creatures were swarms of Pahrak and Kohrak. The Toa were able to drive away these creatures; but the Toa had just faced Mata Nui’s newest threat: the Bohrok swarms.

As the Toa stood around a single fallen Pahrak, Turaga Vakama told the Toa the legend of the Bohrok, which was yet another prophecy spawned by his visions. This legend stated that the Bohrok had slept a seemingly endless sleep for thousands of years. When they wakened, they would rampage throughout Mata Nui and devastate the island. The weakness of any Bohrok, however, was its Krana – a purely organic creature within the Bohrok’s head plate that guided the Bohrok on its mission and gave it extra power. Even the mightiest of Bohrok would be rendered helpless if parted from its Krana.

Turaga Vakama told the Toa of a new mission: to gather the eight Krana breeds from each of the six Bohrok swarms – a total of forty-eight Krana to collect. The Toa took a Krana Xa from the fallen Pahrak. As leader, Tahu ordered the other Toa to return to their Koro to make sure their villages were safe and to start on their mission to gather the Krana.

Tahu continued to furiously defend his village from the Bohrok over a week’s time. Tahu was giving a motivational speech to the Ta-Matoran at the gates of Ta-Koro when Kopaka arrived to tell him an important discovery about the Bohrok: they came from within Mata Nui itself. Tahu demanded proof, so Kopaka led him to the tunnel entrance to the Bohrok nests that he had found in the rocky wastes between Ko-Wahi and Le-Wahi. Tahu wanted to charge into the tunnel immediately, but Kopaka convinced him to gather the other Toa first and return later. Tahu traveled up the foothills of the Mangai Volcano with Kopaka, where the two met up with Pohatu and Gali, and later Onua and Lewa. When the Toa summed up the Krana they had collected, they realized that they had gathered all they needed.

At Lewa’s suggestion, the Toa wasted no time in traveling with their Krana to the entrance of the underground Bohrok nests. The Toa descended into the tunnel, trying their best to avoid exiting Bohrok and fighting past them when they could not. After the Toa traveled into the tunnel for some distance, Tahu descended down an opening in the floor that sealed itself shut once he was inside the Tahnok nest below. Meanwhile, a slab of stone suddenly came down and sealed the tunnel ahead of the Toa waiting up above. The five Toa then faced a surge of lava flowing down the tunnel they had come just down through. Unaware of the Toa’s plight above, Tahu faced the Tahnok swarm alone. Tahu was briefly overcome by the Tahnok, who removed his mask and affixed a Krana to his face. Tahu was able to take the Krana off before it could take over his mind and regain his mask, but he would refuse to ever speak of the experience later. To escape, Tahu heated the air in the Tahnok nest until the air pressure blew the nest apart. Tahu met up with the other five Toa who had escaped from the tunnel when he burst through the floor near them.

The floor gave way under the Toa, sending them falling into a large chamber below. The Toa used their mask powers to cushion their fall and landed safely. They noticed special niches in the ground specialized for the Krana they carried, so they placed in them the Krana they had worked so hard to collect. Once the Toa did this, the ground shook, causing six doors in the walls of the chamber to crumble. The doorways revealed six entrances, and each Toa went into his own passageway. The Toa discovered powerful Exo-Toa armor in the new chambers, which gave them more might than ever before.

Coming back to the larger chamber and occupying the suit of Exo-Toa armor, Tahu encountered Cahdok – one of the Bahrag, twin queens of the Bohrok swarms. Tahu drove Cahdok back into the larger chamber as Lewa and Kopaka drove Gahdok into the area as well. The Toa quickly surrounded the Bahrag and drove them into the center of the chamber as a strategic move. However, the Bahrag’s symbiosis allowed them to grow more powerful as they came closer together. When the Toa attacked the Bahrag with the new weapons of the Exo-Toa, they had no effect. Despite the new power that the Exo-Toa gave the Toa, their battle with the Bahrag did not seem to be in their favor. Most of the Toa were promptly overcome, and they found themselves once again fighting a battle that did not seem to move along in their favor. Tahu unleashed a blast of flame against Gahdok, who responded with a barrage of stones. Tahu strained to block the attack with his Mask of Shielding. Gali called out to Pohatu, who saved Tahu before Gahdok’s attack overwhelmed him. Tahu finally reasoned that the only hope to win the fight was to get out of the Exo-Toa, which hindered the use of the Toa’s elemental and Kanohi powers. After he ordered the Toa to shed their Exo-Toa armor, the Toa attacked the Bahrag as one, this time combining their elemental powers in a single beam against the Bahrag. This beam of the Toa’s six elemental blasts combined created a barred cage of indestructible solid protodermis around the Bahrag, imprisoning them. Because of this, the Bahrag’s mental link was cut off from the Krana, and in turn cut off from the Bohrok. The Bohrok all over Mata Nui ceased their rampages at once, and the Toa had saved Mata Nui once again.

Immediately after the Bahrag’s defeat, the Toa were drawn into tubes in the floor of the chamber that were filled with energized protodermis. As destiny would have it, the Toa were transformed by the substance into something more powerful than any other Toa had ever been, with greater elemental powers, stronger Kanohi masks, and shiny new armor. No longer were they Toa Mata. Forever after, they would be known as the Toa Nuva. Tahu became known as Tahu Nuva.

Throughout his existence, Toa Tahu possessed the elemental power of fire, which basically allowed him to create and manipulate heat and flame by using elemental energy. Tahu could absorb elemental fire energy from his surroundings to replenish it in himself. This elemental power also gave him resistance to extreme heat. Before he received his gold Kanohi, he favored to wear his Kanohi Hau, which he had possessed even before the time he arrived on Mata Nui. Tahu carried a firesword as a Toa tool, through which he could channel his elemental power of fire. Tahu was also an accomplished lava surfer, able to use rocks to surf lava flows. He took being a leader extremely seriously, and was often impatient with the other Toa. He had a habit of hurrying into dangerous situations without having a plan. Tahu could be fierce, short-tempered, and stubborn, but when it came down to it, he could be the most brave and loyal of all the Toa.