Badge of Office

A Badge of Office was a staff or tool carried by a TuragaTuragaFormer Toa who fulfilled their destiny and transformed into leaders. Turaga wield Noble Kanohi masks and weakened elemental powers, guiding their communities. to symbolize the experience and knowledge that the position demanded. In most cases the Badge of Office was the elder's Toa ToolToa ToolThe weapons Toa use to channel their Elemental Powers, from swords to crossbows, designed for focus rather than just killing., transformed at the moment its bearer surrendered their Toa Power to become a Turaga, and in some cases it was an implement the bearer had carried even further back, from their days as a MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body..

Origin and meaning#

When a ToaToa (2001)Biomechanical heroes bonded to elemental powers and masks. Not born, but chosen and transformed. gave up their Toa Power, most often by channeling it into others, the being shrank into the smaller, elder form of a TuragaTuragaFormer Toa who fulfilled their destiny and transformed into leaders. Turaga wield Noble Kanohi masks and weakened elemental powers, guiding their communities. and retained only weakened elemental power. The ToaThe Toa: Heroes of the Matoran UniverseThe Toa were biomechanical guardians sworn to protect the Matoran, bound by a strict code and defined by sacrifice across every age of the universe. Tool the warrior had carried changed with them, taking on a new and usually smaller shape, and the transformed implement became the Turaga's Badge of Office. Each Turaga carried one, and it served as the outward sign of the rank, marking the bearer as one who had completed a Toa's service and now led a community as an elder. The object stood for accumulated experience rather than for combat strength, though many Badges of Office retained some function from their earlier life.

Not every Badge of Office began as a Toa Tool. VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years. had used a FirestaffFirestaffA heated tool that forged masks in Ta-Metru, the Firestaff became a symbol of Vakama's ascent from Crafter to Turaga. to weld ProtodermisProtodermisThe engineered substance building the Matoran Universe, protodermis exists in countless refined states from mundane metal to diamond-hard crystal to the destruction-or-transformation force of energized form. objects while still a MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body., and he kept the same staff through his time as a Toa MetruMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. and on into his life as a Turaga, so that one implement spanned all three stages of his existence.

Known Badges of Office#

VakamaVakamaA Ta-Metru maskmaker transformed into the Toa Metru of Fire, leader of his team through the Visorak war, and Turaga of Ta-Koro for a thousand years. carried the FirestaffFirestaffA heated tool that forged masks in Ta-Metru, the Firestaff became a symbol of Vakama's ascent from Crafter to Turaga. he had owned since his Matoran days, the same staff he used to carve the Mask of TimeKanohi VahiThe Kanohi Vahi was the Legendary Mask of Time, forged by Toa Metru Vakama from the six fused Great Disks of Metru Nui during the city's evacuation.. NokamaNokamaNokama served as Toa Metru of Water, endured the Hordika mutation, and led Ga-Koro and later Ga-Metru as Turaga through three eras. bore the Trident she had made from the bones of a dead MakutaMakuta (2015)Ekimu's brother and rival Mask Maker, who forged the forbidden Mask of Ultimate Power and was sealed in the Shadow Realm with Capital City. Fish, using it for combat as a Toa MetruToa Metru: Heroes of Metru NuiThe Toa Metru were the six Toa transformed from Matoran of Metru Nui by Toa Lhikan's Toa stones, who defeated the Morbuzakh, sealed Teridax after the Great Cataclysm, survived mutation into Toa Hordika, and carried the city's Matoran to the island of Mata Nui before becoming Turaga. and as her Badge of Office afterward. OnewaOnewaOnewa served as Toa Metru of Stone, led Po-Koro through the Dark Time, and constructed the Metru Nui statue honoring the fallen Toa Mahri Matoro. kept the Stone HammerStone HammerTuraga Onewa's staff and Badge of Office, used to carve Protodermis on Metru Nui. with which he had carved Protodermis as a Matoran stone-cutter. MatauMatauA former Le-Metru test driver who became a Toa Metru, Matau wielded air, illusion, and shape-shifting before sacrificing his Toa power to wake the sleeping Matoran.'s badge was the Kau Kau StaffKau Kau StaffTuraga Matau's Badge of Office, formed from his fused Aero Slicers and named after the cry of the Brakas monkey of Le-Wahi., named by OnewaOnewaOnewa served as Toa Metru of Stone, led Po-Koro through the Dark Time, and constructed the Metru Nui statue honoring the fallen Toa Mahri Matoro. after the cry of a BrakasBrakasBrakas is a Rahi whose members appear in black, brown, and orange coloration and remain extant. monkey.

Others were direct transformations of a Toa Tool. NujuNujuNuju served as a Ko-Metru seer, Toa Metru of Ice, and Turaga of Ko-Koro who spoke only in bird calls translated by Matoro.'s two Crystal SpikesCrystal SpikesThe Crystal Spikes were the paired Toa Tools of Toa Metru Nuju, used to channel Ice powers and to scale the vertical architecture of Metru Nui. became a single Ice Pick when he changed from Toa to Turaga, and WhenuaWhenuaToa Metru of Earth and later Turaga of Onu-Koro, formerly an Onu-Metru archivist whose career in the Archives shaped his role across the rescue of Metru Nui and the long residency on Mata Nui.'s twin Earthshock DrillsEarthshock DrillsThe Earthshock Drills were the paired Toa Tools of Whenua, used to channel Earth and to excavate the tunnels of Metru Nui. merged into the smaller Drill of OnuaDrill of OnuaTuraga Whenua's detection staff, forged from his Earthshock Drills when he ascended from Toa to protector.. LhikanLhikanToa of Fire, leader of the Toa Mangai, and the last Toa of Metru Nui, who surrendered his Toa Power to create the Toa Metru and died defending Vakama. carried a Firestaff and a shield as a Turaga, believed to be his Fire GreatswordsFire GreatswordsThe Toa Mangai's signature weapons, remembered for the molten protodermis rescue that saved Vakama and led to Lhikan's capture. transformed, which were left on a rocky plateau near the Great BarrierThe Great BarrierThe enormous underground dome of rock and solid Protodermis that enclosed Metru Nui and the Silver Sea, sealed Teridax into a cliff face, and was finally cracked open during the Great Cataclysm. after his death. Turaga DumeDumeDume is a Turaga of Fire and the former ruler of Metru Nui, distinguished by his red and black coloring and the Noble Kanohi Kiril, the Mask of Regeneration. As a member of the Turaga of Metru Nui, he wields a Staff of Office and commands a weakened mastery of Fire. He later resides on the reformed Spherus Magna. likewise carried a Firestaff, thought to be his transformed Toa Tool. Beyond the better-known elders, the deranged Turaga of SardaSardaSarda was a Ta-Matoran from Toa Lesovikk's homeland, mutated to breathe water and serving as a jailer under Hydraxon in the Pit.'s island carried a Badge of Office, and Turaga JovanJovanJovan led the Toa team that retrieved the Kanohi Ignika during the Great Disruption, then served as Turaga over the population that became Voya Nui.'s badge was lost in the waters around Voya NuiVoya NuiAn island born from catastrophe and hiding the universe's most powerful artifact, Voya Nui was everything Bionicle 2006 promised: danger, mystery, and a race against time. during the Great CataclysmThe Great CataclysmThe day Makuta Teridax put the Great Spirit to sleep, the Great Spirit Robot fell from the sky, Metru Nui flooded, and Voya Nui tore loose from the Southern Continent..