Don't Bionicle fans normally tend to overuse the classic quote "You don't have to be a Toa to be a hero"? The protectors aren't likely to be pushovers in battle, seeing as until the Toa arrived they were basically in charge of defending their respective villages. The only significant and consistent difference between Turaga and Matoran is that Turaga could use the powers of noble masks, while Matoran couldn't. And for all we know, in the new story mask powers might be usable by anyone who wears the mask. There will be no Mask powers in Bionicle G2 apart from the three "legendary" Kanohi. The Toa's masks are just elemental, meaning their elemental powers come from the masks, not from the Toa themselves.