Garai
The Kanohi Mask of Gravity, granted Hewkii control over the gravitational pull on his targets during the Toa Mahri campaign in the Pit.
The KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. Garai was the Mask of GravityGravity: The Elemental Power of Gravitational ForceGravity was the elemental power over gravitational force in the Matoran Universe, carried by Ba-Matoran, Toa of Gravity, and the Bohrok-Kal Nuhvok-Kal., letting its wearer increase or decrease the gravitational pull on a target. It was one of the few masks to grant an elemental power. The mask was worn by Toa MahriToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself. HewkiiHewkiiHewkii rose from Po-Metru Matoran to Mata Nui's foremost kolhii player, then served as Toa Inika and Toa Mahri through the late wars of the universe. during the campaign in the PitThe PitThe Order of Mata Nui's maximum-security underwater prison where the Barraki warlords were held until catastrophe broke their chains.. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe; BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)
Function#
The Great Garai let its wearer raise or lower the gravitational pull on a target within a certain range, making it drastically heavier or lighter. It could work on several targets at once, and even on just part of a target's body, twisting its shape or movements. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)
The guides describe the power in terms of a target, and the stories don't settle whether the mask could act on its own wearer. Writer Greg Farshtey later said it couldn't, but not every tie-in book agrees. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)
Hewkii's Garai#
HewkiiHewkiiHewkii rose from Po-Metru Matoran to Mata Nui's foremost kolhii player, then served as Toa Inika and Toa Mahri through the late wars of the universe. became a Toa InikaToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself. of Stone on 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.. When the Mask of LifeThe Mask of Life (Kanohi Ignika), explainedA failsafe forged by the Great Beings to recharge a god. It curses everyone who touches it, and by the end of Bionicle it had learned how to be a hero. transformed the Toa Inika into the Toa MahriToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself. so they could survive the waters of the Pit, Hewkii stayed a Toa of Stone, but his Kanohi Sanok was changed into a Garai. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit; BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe)
The best-known uses of his Garai came during the fight with the BarrakiThe BarrakiSix warlords who built an empire spanning most of the Matoran Universe, fell to a Brotherhood strike, and spent millennia imprisoned in the Pit.. Held prisoner by the Barraki, he cut off the gravity of the TakeaTakeaEngineered by the Makuta from viruses and protodermis, the Takea served as Pridak's shock troops in the Pit and as one of the deep ocean's most feared Rahi species. shark guarding him and got free, then told Hahli she'd have believed a Takea could fly. Later he increased the pull on the giant mutant venom eel until it crashed into the seabed and was knocked out. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)
Origins of the design#
Hewkii's Garai wasn't forged. It came from the Mask of Life's transformation of his old mask, and its shape differed from a standard Great Garai as a result. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)
The Garai was equipment rather than a mark of destiny. Hewkii, a Toa of Stone, used it as easily as any other Great Kanohi. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)
Tactical limitations#
The Garai worked only within a certain range of its wearer, and its power couldn't be used to draw gravity in from the surroundings. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)
How dangerous gravity could be was shown separately by Nuhvok-KalNuhvok-KalThe gravity-wielding Bohrok-Kal whose own powers became its undoing in the quest to awaken the Bahrag.. When the Toa Nuva overloaded the Bohrok-Kal with their own powers, Nuhvok-Kal's gravity power ran out of control and crushed it into a tiny black hole. (BIONICLE Chronicles 3: Makuta's Revenge)
Other Gravity users#
Nuhvok-KalNuhvok-KalThe gravity-wielding Bohrok-Kal whose own powers became its undoing in the quest to awaken the Bahrag. had wielded gravity powers of its own during the Bohrok-KalBohrok-KalSix elite Bohrok designed to free the imprisoned Bahrag, they nearly defeated the Toa Nuva before the Toa turned their own powers against them. crisis, and gravity was one of the elements of the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control., but the Garai's use is most directly told through HewkiiHewkiiHewkii rose from Po-Metru Matoran to Mata Nui's foremost kolhii player, then served as Toa Inika and Toa Mahri through the late wars of the universe.'s service as a Toa MahriToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself.. (BIONICLE Chronicles 3: Makuta's Revenge; BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit)
Subsequent appearances#
HewkiiHewkiiHewkii rose from Po-Metru Matoran to Mata Nui's foremost kolhii player, then served as Toa Inika and Toa Mahri through the late wars of the universe. used the Garai again in the fighting that ended with 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. sinking back into place. No other Garai wearers are recorded in the stories. (BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall)
Legacy#
The Garai's best-remembered moments are a flying shark and a stunned sea serpent. It stayed a rare tool tied to a rare element, and the stories never explored it much beyond Hewkii's time in the Pit. (BIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit; BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall)
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Kanohi Garai?
- The Garai was the Kanohi Mask of Gravity. It let its wearer increase or decrease the gravitational pull on a target within range, one of the few masks to grant an elemental power.
- Who wore the Garai?
- The Garai was worn by Toa Mahri Hewkii during the campaign in the Pit. Hewkii stayed a Toa of Stone; his mask had been a Sanok until the Mask of Life transformed the Toa Inika into the Toa Mahri and changed it into a Garai.
- How did Hewkii use the Garai against the Barraki?
- He cut off the gravity of a Takea shark guarding him and his fellow prisoners, joking afterwards that a Takea could fly. He also increased the gravity on the giant mutant venom eel until it crashed into the seabed and was knocked out.
- What are the Garai's limitations?
- The mask worked on targets within a certain range. The stories aren't fully consistent on whether it could affect its own wearer, and it couldn't draw gravity in from the surroundings.
- How was Hewkii's Garai made?
- It wasn't forged at all. When the Mask of Life transformed the Toa Inika into Toa Mahri, Hewkii's Kanohi Sanok was changed into a Garai along with the rest of him.
Sources
- BookBIONICLE Legends 7: Prisoners of the Pit, Greg Farshtey, Scholastic, 2007
- BookBIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall, Greg Farshtey, Scholastic, 2007
- BookBIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated, Greg Farshtey, Scholastic, 2007
- BookBIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe, Greg Farshtey, Scholastic, 2009
- BookBIONICLE Chronicles 3: Makuta's Revenge, C. A. Hapka, Scholastic, 2003
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Gravity: The Elemental Power of Gravitational Force
Gravity was the elemental power over gravitational force in the Matoran Universe, carried by Ba-Matoran, Toa of Gravity, and the Bohrok-Kal Nuhvok-Kal.
The Barraki
Six warlords who built an empire spanning most of the Matoran Universe, fell to a Brotherhood strike, and spent millennia imprisoned in the Pit.
Takea
Engineered by the Makuta from viruses and protodermis, the Takea served as Pridak's shock troops in the Pit and as one of the deep ocean's most feared Rahi species.
Toa Inika and Toa Mahri
Six ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself.
The Pit
The Order of Mata Nui's maximum-security underwater prison where the Barraki warlords were held until catastrophe broke their chains.
Nuhvok-Kal
The gravity-wielding Bohrok-Kal whose own powers became its undoing in the quest to awaken the Bahrag.
Mentioned in11 entries
300-foot Venom Eel
A Venom Eel mutated to colossal size by the defensive reaction of the Ignika, active in the waters around Mahri Nui during the search for the Mask of Life.
Every Kanohi Mask and Its Power: the full BIONICLE masks list
Kanohi are the masks of power at the heart of BIONICLE. This list covers every major mask from the Toa Mata's Great masks and the Turaga's Noble masks to the Legendary Vahi and Ignika, with each mask's power and the characters who wore it.
Hewkii
Hewkii rose from Po-Metru Matoran to Mata Nui's foremost kolhii player, then served as Toa Inika and Toa Mahri through the late wars of the universe.
Kanohi Calix
The Mask of Fate let its wearer perform at the absolute peak of their natural physical ability, running, leaping and dodging better than almost any unenhanced member of their species.
Kanohi Faxon, the Mask of Kindred
The Kanohi Faxon, or Mask of Kindred, let its wearer mimic the powers of Rahi sharing their environment. It was worn by Toa Mahri Hahli and by Lesovikk, the Toa of Air who once led the Toa Cordak.
Kanohi Tryna
The Ignika handed Matoro a mask most Toa considered immoral, then sat back to see what he'd do with it. The answer involved a dead alternate Tuyet and a legion of sea-creature skeletons.
Sanok
The Sanok was the Kanohi Mask of Accuracy, granting its wearer the power to strike any target with any thrown object, most famously worn by Toa Inika Hewkii.
Takea Shark
Takea were a species of shark-like predator Rahi created by the Makuta from Viruses and liquid protodermis, found in the waters of Ga-Wahi and later organised by the Barraki Pridak into the standing army he used against the Mahri Nui Matoran and the Toa Mahri.
The Toa Mahri Descent into the Pit
The transformation that ended the Toa Inika, the Barraki's war on the newcomers, and the moment Matoro learned that his Maxilos escort was Teridax.
Toa Inika: six Matoran struck by lightning
Six Matoran of Metru Nui chased the Toa Nuva to Voya Nui and were struck by lightning from the red star. That strike made them the Toa Inika.
Toa of Gravity
A purple-armored Ba-Matoran lineage with a handful of named feats and a death toll that says more about Lariska than it does about the element itself.
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