So close to hitting the trifecta today. I have today's Random Part and Random Minifig, and I have the regular version of this, the one that didn't come with sweets.

I think the name "Nokama" originated from the Maori language as did many Bionicle sets like 8545

@Maxbricks14 said:
"I think the name "Nokama" originated from the Maori language as did many Bionicle sets like 8545"

I thought it was a reference to Lego's recent clone choices...

Bah, so this is the Kabaya Sweets version released in Japan, not the mainline set. Good thing they are pretty much one and the same, apart from packaging.

I own Turaga Nokama, and initially, she played an almost-invisible role to followers of the BIONICLE. One of six Turaga, a village elder, she, like the Toa of Water she advised, was the only female Turaga. And her village, Ga-Koro, was made up entirely of female Matoran (originally called Tohunga). Nokama was wise, befitting her history as a teacher and as a Toa herself. But that is another story for a different set. This set was everyone's introduction to Nokama and her Kanohi Rau, the Noble Mask of Translation. With it, she could decipher script written in ancient or foreign tongues.

Nokama didn't just lead Ga-Koro. She was the keeper of Toa Gali's legend after the Toa washed ashore and began her quest for the masks of power. When Gali became a Toa Nuva, she watched over not just the rebuilt village (it was heavily damaged after the Bohrok invasion) but the new Suva shrine dedicated to her new Nuva symbol. Unfortunately, the Bohrok Kal were still able to steal Gali Nuva's symbol from Ga-Koro, and Nokama went on to do something about it (aside from the knowledge and advice she had already imparted to Gali).

After Pohatu and Onua sprung a complicated trap on Tahnok-Kal, Nokama was able to verify the mad ramblings of Tahnok Kal's Krana Kal. She told Onua and Pohatu Nuva that the Bohrok Kal were indeed seeking the Bahrag, the queens of the Bohrok swarm, in order to free them, restart Krana production, and unleash the swarms once more. And with all the Nuva symbols, they were close to achieving their objective.

Taking Nokama's information to heart, Onua and Pohatu reunited with the other four Toa and eventually challenged the Bohrok Kal, recovered their powers which they had lost when the symbols were taken, and won. Reinvigorated, the Toa Nuva once again went their separate ways as true peace settled on the island of Mata Nui.

In this time of peace, a Kohlii tournament was started amongst the villages. The top three teams played in the Ta-Koro arena. As it turns out, a team from Ga-Koro, Macku and Hahli, made it and as such, Nokama was one of the Turaga present at the final match. She witnessed first-hand how the representative Toa Nuva still squabbled, and noted how their recent victories over the Bohrok Kal and Makuta himself had blinded them to the Matoran virtue of Unity.

Nokama witnessed her team actually win the Kohlii match, only to see one of the Ta-Koro players, Jaller, drop the long-lost Mask of Light. Later on, as the Turaga inspected the mask, Turaga Nokama was able to use her translation powers (thanks to the mask she wore, remember?) to verify the writing on the inside of the mask as genuinely identifying the mask as the Mask of Light, destined to be worn by a Seventh Toa. She and the other Turaga let Jaller and Takua begin a quest to find this Toa of Light immediately, for Ta-Koro was soon under attack by Rahkshi sent by Makuta, the same one the Toa Nuva thought vanquished. Even though there were 3 Toa Nuva present, their disjointed attempt to fight the three Rahkshi lead to them all being defeated and the village destroyed. Nokama and the others managed to escape, however.

She was present during the great debate at the Kini-Nui after the Seventh Toa had been found. Takanuva, Toa of Light, had gone into the depths to face Makuta alone as his first act, and Nokama found herself going underground with the rest of the Turaga and Matoran after him. While most Matoran were impassioned by Hahli's final speech, the Turaga were aware this could be the first step to finally awakening the Great Spirit himself. After Makuta's defeat, they discovered a mighty cavern and a seemingly endless sea of protodermis. A revived Takanuva and resurrected Jaller (earlier killed by Rahkshi Turahk) stood alongside Hahli on symbols representing Unity, Duty, and Destiny. Thus, Takanuva was literally able to shine a light in the gloom towards Metru Nui

....[cut off and continued from the previous comment]...Turaga and the Matoran (though they at least did not remember this). Nokama was aware of this momentous step, but she knew Metru Nui held plenty of its own dangers, some of which she once faced as a Toa herself!

I'll stop there, for most of the story focuses on Toa Nokama as a flashback for two years in BIONICLE. Her latter appearances and what she did upon returning to Metru Nui were trivial by comparison.

Well, it’s no Gold Good Guy.

Great timing! BIONICLE day was a couple days ago. I haven't gotten through all the streams yet, but a few cool things happened during it that I'd like to talk about briefly.

Cryoshell released a new BIONICLE song! As, Above, So Below. It's pretty good. We finally got confirmation on the appearances of the five named-but-unseen Le-Matoran from MNOG II (in addition to a bonus sixth one.) Perhaps most excitingly, Greg Farsthey is writing BIONICLE stories again! Since he no longer works at LEGO they'll be non-canon, but he's finally finishing Powers That Be and Yesterday Quest. Took nearly a decade, but BIONICLE might actually be finished after all these years.

Lego_Lord_Mayorca already talked about most of what I would've, so I'll try to keep things brief. (I didn't oops)

Nokama was once a Matoran in the city of Metru Nui where she served as a teacher. She was eventually approached by Toa Lhikan during the city's time of need and transformed into a Toa of Water. As a Toa she pushed her team toward the virtue of Unity and tried to get the team to accept each others differences and work together.

Some of Nokama's most notable acts as a Toa include: Her retrieval of Ga-Metru's Great Disk from the jaws of the Dweller in the Deep. Singlehandedly saving the other Metru from the shapeshifting Krahka. Using her mask of translation to befriend a heard of Kikinalo.

It was at this time Makuta completed his spell and cast Mata Nui into an endless slumber, imprisoning the Matoran and driving Metru Nui to ruin.

During their travels through the tunnels near Maktua's lair Nokama was poisoned by the vile plant Karzahni. The plant offered the Toa her cure in exchange for a vile of Energized Protodermis. The plant hoped the EP would transform him into a more powerful creature, but it simply killed him.

As a Toa Hordika Nokama's spirituality became strained. She saw herself disconnected from the Great Spirit and unworthy of entering the Great Temple. While most of the Hordika's mutations made them more violent toward each other, Nokama's mostly made her more angry at herself.

Nokama would eventually sacrifice her Toa Power and become a Turaga, awakening the Matoran on the beaches of Mata Nui. There she became the wise elder of the Village of Water. Nokama was more soften spoken and gentle than the other Turaga, often focusing on the strengths of those who visited her to inspire them. She also felt the most guilt in keeping the secrets of Metru Nui from her amnesiac people.

During the Quest for the Masks Nokama played a notable role in Takua's journey. While Onewa was the one to decide this was the correct path, Nokama was the one to provide Takua with the Book of Chronicles and crown him Chronicler. From then on Takua was no longer aimless and jobless, but the chief storyteller and history recorder of the land.

Nokama took a bit of a backseat during the Bohrok War, but became notable again for the Grand Kohlii Tournament. For her Kohlii team she took a different direction than the other Turaga. The Turaga of Ice, Air, Earth, and Stone all picked their Right and Left Hands to play the game. The village of Fire took the Right Hand Jaller, but substituted the Left Hand Kapura for the island-wide famous Chronicler Takua. Nokama did keep her Right Hand Macku in the game, but substituted her Left Hand Kotu for... Hahli. Hahli was a relative nobody. She was simply the Assistant Flax Weaver and had no experience in playing Kohlii whatsoever.

Nokama's decision proved the correct move, however. With Hahli's skill, Ga-Koro became the undisputed champions, being undefeated 5-0 during the qualifiers and wining the 3-way grand finale.

During that final match, Takua and Jaller (accidently) revealed to the crowd their recent discovery of a strange Kanohi Mask. The Turaga quickly recognized this as the Mask of Light, and Nokama translated the text inside to reveal that the Mask's "Herald" would have to search the island for the mysterious Seventh Toa.

With this Toa of Light's help, the Matoran drove back the Makuta and rediscovered their

With this Toa of Light's help, the Matoran drove back the Makuta and rediscovered their ancestral home of Metru Nui. While back in Metru Nui, the Turaga made a terrible discovery. The Great Spirit Mata Nui wasn't simply asleep... he was dying. The Turaga sent the Toa Nuva in secret on mission south to recover the Legendary Mask of Life and revive the Great Spirit.

The Nuva would be captured however, by the vile band of Piraka, and would not return. The Matoran began to get suspicious of their heroes' absence and their leader's silence. Jaller initiated a city wide strike until the people where given answers.

Nokama was the one to cave. She gave a small group of Matoran, including Jaller and Hahli, the truth of what was happening and where the Toa had gone. Not only that, but she led the group to an underground Chute that would take them out of the city in secret and set them on the right path for Voya Nui and the Nuva's last known location.

This was Nokama's last notable act in the series. Along with the rest of the MU she would eventually evacuate to live on the reformed Spherus Magna.

Nokama wore the Kanohi Rau, the Mask of Translation. As a Toa, her Great Mask allowed her to translate any spoken or written language, but as a Turaga her Noble Mask only worked on written text. As a Turaga her Badge of Office was a Trident carved from the bones of a Makuta Fish.

I love these little dudes. The first batch of the Bionicle "little helper dudes", and they were just adorable.

@Lego_Lord_Mayorca said:
" Nokama witnessed her team actually win the Kohlii match, only to see one of the Ta-Koro players, Jaller, drop the long-lost Mask of Light. Later on, as the Turaga inspected the mask, Turaga Nokama was able to use her translation powers (thanks to the mask she wore, remember?) to verify the writing on the inside of the mask as genuinely identifying the mask as the Mask of Light, destined to be worn by a Seventh Toa."

Which becomes kinda funny later when webisodes from the Hordika year reveal Nokama and her fellow Toa were the ones who smuggled it onto Mata Nui in the first place. Of course she recognises it, she helped put it there! XD

I love how the noble turaga masks still have features from their great versions from their Metru days. Nokama's is the clearest.

Yesterday I discoveres that Cryoshell, the band that started out providing the music and basically theme songs for the final few years (Creeps from the deep for 2007, Gravity Hurts for 2008 and Bye Bye Babylon for 2009), made a new song: As Above So Below

It was made specifically for the 20th anniversary of The Mask of Light film and contains themes specific to bionicle.
And it was made in collaboration with Essenger, a prominent fan

And the video it came with featured Christopher Gaze reprising his voice acting role of Turaga Vakama!

Yes, they did all that for 810nicle day, a day celerating Bionicle. Fans of Bionicle are something else! :D

I didn't know about the other stuff revealed GSRMata Nui mentioned though. Thanks!