The central heroes of the BIONICLE line from LEGO are the powerful Toa, who are the heroes of legend who were prophesized to save Mata Nui, their island home. The Toa are powerful warriors who derive their power from six basic elements - earth, air, water and fire (the four basic elements of mythology) and stone and ice. Through various battles they have faced adversity and triumphed, leading to the latest evolution - the Toa Nuva. The Toa Nuva are basically enhanced versions of the six Toa, and the background is covered in an article on them.

Of the six, this Spotlight will shine underground to locate the Toa of Earth - Onua. Onua has become Onua Nuva, though his love of tunneling and the earth hasn't changed. Instead of the tunneling claws Onua's arms have been transformed into chainsaws that can chew their way through rocks and earth. As Onua Nuva ("Onua Chainsaws Hands" was too long) he can also use the saws as rollerblades to zoom along, even over rough terrain. He also has some heavy duty armor and a more powerful (and larger) mask.

The Nuva version is larger than the regular Onua that was released with the first series of BIONICLE figures, but still has the same color scheme. The Toa Nuva encorporate some of the same articulation and action features as their prior versions. Onua Nuva has ball jointed shoulders, wrists, thighs and ankles, and the neck can also swivel. The chainsaws can easily be switched from the hands to the feet to avoid and backscratching incidents. The back of the figure has an action feature that allows the arms to swing up in back counter to each other to simulate digging through the earth.

LEGO sets are designed for construction as much as play, and this also allows them to be customized based on personal desire. Onua Nuva will take around 15 minutes to build by following the isometric instructions, but one of the best features is that he can be joined with two other Toa Nuva (Tahu Nuva and Pohatu Nuva) to form a larger being. A third of the instructions are included in each of these figures, and this has been a standard feature of the figures in the BIONICLE line.

Onua Nuva comes packed in a pod canister similar to those released with the older Toa, but the design is slightly more streamlined. It still has places to mount extra heads and masks for display, but they have increased the mounting positions from seven to eight. (Six are around the edge of the lid, and two are in the center. The molded-in face has been replaced with two slots to mount faces.) The pod is very sturdy and can be used to safely transport your Toa Nuva from one place to another.

Where to buy Onua Nuva: Onua Nuva and the rest of the Toa Nuva are due to be released in September 2002. They will retail for about $8 USD each, and will be sold wherever LEGO toys are sold, at stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, and Toys'R'Us, as well as various online toy retailers. Several such online stores are RTM sponsors Big Bad Toy Store and NHAtoys.com. (Be sure to check the other RTM sponsors, listed on the Shop Center.)