Kanohi Komau

The KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. Komau, the Mask of Mind Control, lets its wearer see into the mind of another being and control it, so long as the wearer has the greater willpower. On Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive. it was made from Freeze, Weaken, and Remove Poison Kanoka disks, and it exists in both Great and Noble forms. The mask has no effect on beings without minds, such as the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming.. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE 2: Deep into Darkness; BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear)

Forging#

On Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive., Kanohi were forged from Kanoka disks, and each mask had its own recipe. The Komau called for three kinds of disk: Freeze, Weaken, and Remove Poison. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

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. wore a Great Komau shape as a Po-MatoranPo-MatoranThe Stone-element Matoran of Po-Metru and Po-Koro, carvers and quarry workers, the most athletic of the Matoran types and the population behind the Kohlii and Akilini circuits. carver, before he became a Toa MetruToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety., and kept a Great Komau as a Toa. (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui)

Powers#

The Komau lets its wearer look into another being's mind and take control of it, provided the wearer's willpower is stronger than the target's. It works on one target at a time. (BIONICLE 2: Deep into Darkness; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui)

It can also be used offensively. Onewa used his mask to hit a Rahi Nui with a mental blast that left it stunned rather than dead. A skilled user can go further, too, driving another being's mental influence out of someone, or sensing that someone is being impersonated. (BIONICLE Adventures 6: Maze of Shadows; BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear; BIONICLE Legends 1: Island of Doom)

The mask has hard limits. Because it only works on beings with minds, it is useless against robots such as the VahkiVahkiMetru Nui's mechanical law enforcement squads, designed to maintain rigid order but ultimately undermined by chaos beyond their programming. law enforcers of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive., and the less intelligent breeds of RahiRahiThe Rahi were the biomechanical wildlife of the Matoran Universe, built largely by the Brotherhood of Makuta, ranging from background fauna to engineered war beasts. are generally beyond its reach. Even so, the stories show it controlling several Rahi, from a Nui-Kopen to a troller and a huge tentacled sea creature. (BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; Mata Nui Online Game; BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui)

Variants#

The Great Komau was the Toa form, worn by Toa Metru Onewa. When he and his team were mutated into Toa HordikaToa Metru and Toa HordikaSix Matoran elevated by Lhikan to save their city, mutated by Visorak venom, and restored in time to deliver the population to safety., his mask was twisted along with him, and it became a Noble Komau when he later became a Turaga. (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui; BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows)

The Noble Komau was one of the masks the Toa MataWho are the Toa Mata?Six warriors built to order by Artakha, stored in canisters, dropped into the ocean. This is the origin story of Bionicle's heroes and why their first week of work was entirely amnesiac. gathered on Mata NuiMata Nui (Location)An island created by accident on the Great Spirit's face, home to the Matoran for a thousand years.. LewaLewaToa of Air, member of the Toa Mata and Toa Nuva, whose career was marked by repeated possession, body theft, and aerial campaigns from Le-Wahi to Karda Nui. used one to take control of a Nui-Kopen and ride it out of a Nui-Rama hive. (Mata Nui Online Game)

Use by Onewa#

Onewa made the most memorable use of the Komau. In Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive., as a newly made Toa, he used it to make 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. sit down in the middle of an argument. (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)

After 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., as the Toa Metru sailed away from the city with the Matoran spheres, 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. was still under the influence the Vahki had left on him. Onewa reached into his mind with the Komau and, with a crafter's sense of when a hammer was needed and when a lighter touch would do, carefully drove the influence out. (BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear)

The same voyage put the mask to work on sea creatures too. Onewa took control of a huge tentacled creature in the sea and later of an intelligent jellyfish, using the mask to get the team out of danger. (BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear)

Civic Use in MetruMetruIn the Matoran language a metru was a single district of Metru Nui; the city was divided into six such districts, one for each element, and the term covered both the place and the elemental community that lived in it. Nui#

Masks in the shape of the Noble Komau were common among ordinary MatoranMatoranThe most abundant species in the Matoran Universe, chosen by Mata Nui to inhabit and maintain his cosmic body.. VhisolaVhisolaVhisola was a Ga-Matoran student of Nokama, one of the six finders of a Great Disk, whose research deduced the location of the Morbuzakh King Root. wore one in Metru Nui, and on Mata Nui so did Matoran such as AmayaAmayaAmaya was a Ga-Matoran native to Metru Nui who taught Vhisola before the Great Cataclysm and later made flax in Ga-Koro on the island of Mata Nui. and KopekeKopekeKopeke was a Ko-Matoran ice carver of Ko-Koro who served in the Chronicler's Company at Kini-Nui and later became Chronicler of Metru Nui after Hahli.. As with any Matoran's mask, these carried no power for their wearers. (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui; Mata Nui Online Game II: The Final Chronicle; BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)

The Turaga of Mata Nui used the Noble Komau too. It was Turaga 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.'s own mask once he had become a Turaga, keeping the power he had used as a Toa. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated; BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows)

Limitations#

The biggest limit is willpower. A target with a stronger will than the wearer can't be controlled, and the mask can only hold one mind at a time, so a Komau user facing a group has to choose. (BIONICLE 2: Deep into Darkness; BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui)

Beyond that, the mask needs a mind to work on. Vahki, built to follow orders, give it nothing to grip. (BIONICLE Adventures 5: Voyage of Fear)

Etymology#

The Encyclopedia gives the pronunciation as koh-MOW. The stories don't explain where the name comes from. (BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated)