Bionicle/Awesome

Exactly how does a line of action figures owned by LEGO manage to last for 10 Years? By being having Awesome Moments like these, that's how.

Spoilers ahead.

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2001: Quest for the Masks

• Toa Kaita fight the Manas
• The Toa Mata fight Teridax in the Mata Nui Online Game.

2002: The Bohrok Swarms

• The Exo-Toa. Giant autonomous suits of armor. That is all.

2003: The Bohrok-Kal Strike / The Mask of Light

• From the first movie: The Rahkshi have so far spent their time sinking the village of Ta-Koro (which is a floating rock fortress in the middle of a volcano!). When Takua and Jaller meet up with Kopaka, Toa of Ice, the Rahkshi appear and flings Kopaka down a mountain/glacier by use of a friggin' disintegration beam. Takua, who the Rahkshi were following, grabs the Mask of Light they're after and tries to cross a small lake by using Kopaka's shield as a raft. The Rahkshi can fly, so that doesn't work out too well. But what does Kopaka do the moment he wakes up? He utterly wrecks their shit. An initial blast of his ice power sends all three Rahkshi tumbling into the water, and then a quick stab with his sword freezes the entire lake solid. "Washed and chilled" indeed.
  • Let me clarify: Kopaka took down three beings who repeatedly wiped the floor with his team in one shot.
  • Made even better with extended comic canon. After Ta-Koro, three Rahkshi took down Tahu, Gali and Lewa and trapped Onua and Pohatu in a cave full of krana. Kopaka then finds himself facing all six, taking down two solo before backup arrives.
• There's also Jaller's Heroic Sacrifice in The Movie when Takua is under attack by Rahkshi Turahk. He does so by literally clinging onto his staff and absorbing all the fear energy from his attack. Nothing says brave like hanging on as pure fear is being pumped into you.
• Need I say: The Birth of Takanuva from the Bionicle film, The Mask of Light. To elaborate, Takua just lost his friend to Rahkshi Turahk and remembers him saying, "You know who you are". He then realizes who he is, shifts his expression from one of grief to one of boldness and determination, dons the Mask of Light, and becomes the very Toa of Light he was searching for. After christening himself as Takanuva, he then one-shots Turahk and finishes revealing the hidden statue of himself as the Herald before going off to mourn Jaller.
• What, no mention of the epic Takanuva vs Makuta battle? Teridax mockingly challenges him to a game of deadly kolhii, which Takanuva wins. Then, when Teridax gets back up, Takanuva jumps on him and wrenches the Mask of Shadows off the Makuta's face, sending them toppling back into a pool of energized protodermis, fusing them together. Oh, and Takanuva ends up in control of that fusion. He's fused with the mind of the big bad himself, who had intricate plans within plans comprised over thousands of years, and Takanuva out-willpowered him.
  • The awesomeness is a little undermined by the later revelation that Teridax intentionally lost that fight to keep the Toa off his back for a while.

2004: Legends of Metru Nui

• In the second movie: the protodermis cage. The Toa seal Makuta in a barrier only they can unlock. I repeat. The most powerful villain in the series can't escape from it. Not bad for a couple of rookies with two weeks of experience.
• Kind of Fridge-y, but Vakama's creation of the Vahi, the Legendary Mask of Time. Sure, it happens fairly quickly in the movies, but think about it: the Vahi is a mask so powerful, if damaged, Time itself would be undone within the Matoran Universe. There are only two other masks as powerful: the Ignika, the Mask of Life, and Artakha's Mask of Creation. Guess who made those? The Great Beings, more or less the greatest inventors and creators in Bionicle. That's right, Vakama is a mask-maker on par with the creators of his universe. Of course, he did have help from Artakha, who made the mask's composite materials (the Great Disks), but the point still stands.

2005: Web of Shadows

• Matau, definitely gets his in the third movie, "Web of Shadows." While the other Toa are fighting the hoard, he manages to escape, find Vakama, and they have a duel, Anakin/Obi-Wan style. In the end, Vakama knocks Matau to the edge of the tower they're fighting on. Matau manages to grab onto the edge to avoid plummeting to his doom. Vakama steps on his hand, trying to get him to let go and fall. Vakama tells him "You are weak, brother." Matau, the ego-maniac who never admits to ever being wrong, then gives this speech as he hangs thousands of feet above the ground: "You're right, Vakama. I am weak... We all make mistakes, Vakama. That's what happens when you're brave enough to make decisions. I understand that now... Wait! I'm sorry. For doubting you. Our strength comes from our unity, Vakama. Which means... you can't be strong without us." Vakama interjects: "I'm better, stronger alone!" Matau continues: "I don't believe that! And I don't think you do, either. You're our LEADER, Vakama. You're my leader. We've got a job to do! ... And if there is any of the Vakama I know left, he'll know what to do." Matau then let's go of the ledge, falling head first to his doom.
  • This trooper used to absolutely despise Matau, but that scene redeemed him in her eyes.
  • Vakama, of course, jumps after him with an extremely long vine. Matau laughs gleefully. Moments later Vakama grabs him: "Hang on; I've got a plan."
• Also, Keetongu's Determinator act of absolutely refusing to die as he climbs up the tower, is finally shot down, and then rises up and proceeds to kill Sidorak.

2006: Voya Nui: Island of Doom

• The battle between Axonn and Brutaka at the end of the Voya Nui saga. After spending the entire arc just barely surviving and guiding the new Toa toward their destiny, Axonn finally realizes he isn't able to turn Brutaka back from the path he's walking and shrugs off everything his former friend throws at him. Even hopped up on Antidermis (which is the essence of Teridax,), Axonn doesn't even flinch. He also has one of the best lines in the series during this fight:

Brutaka: "You fool, Axonn! Don't you realize you're fighting for a lost cause?"
Axonn: "Don't you realize? Those are the only kind worth fighting for."

2007: Mahri Nui: Sea of Darkness

• Karzahni (ruler of Bionicle hell) vs. Teridax (Big Bad who knocked out God). After a sort-of stalemate, Karzahni uses his mask to torture Teridax by showing what will happen if Mata Nui wakes up. Teridax screams for a bit before promptly ripping Karzahni's psyche in half. Then Brutaka shows up, has a Heel Face Turn, fights Teridax to a stalemate and steals back the Staff of Artaka.
• Matoro sacrificing his life to resurrect Mata Nui. Just... damn.
  • Said sacrifice also burning out the eye sockets of three Makuta with the glow from the process, as if reviving the Great Spirit wasn't enough.
  • And just before he goes, Matoro calms himself with the Badass Boast. Very few lines will ever beat the sheer awesome of:

"Turaga Nuju always said the universe was a riddle. Today, I am the answer."

2008: Karda Nui: The Final Battle

• The Toa Hagah, in one of their first actions after being transformed back from the Rahaga, stop a massive kaiju battle between Tahtorak and the Kanohi Dragon. In reference, it took a team of eleven Toa, including Lhikan, Nidhiki, Tuyet, and four Toa of Ice, to take down the Kanohi Dragon alone the last time it rampaged. Kualus disabled it singlehandedly.
• Takanuva gets repeated ones against the Makuta in Karda Nui. On more than one occasion, the darkness he got infected with influences him to get seriously pissed off against them, and he may well have killed them all singlehandedly had the other Toa not been present to calm him down.

"But I'm not my "kind", not anymore — your shadow leeches saw to that. I'm half Toa of Light, half Toa of Shadow. This was what you wanted, wasn't it? Toa consumed by darkness, Toa not hampered by things like mercy or morality. Well, now you can choke on it."

• Onua has a rather big number of these, oftentimes Big Damn Heroes-worthy. Of particular note is curbstomping Gorast when the Makuta is on the verge of murdering Gali, then doing it again when Gorast tries to lure him over to the dark side.
  • Another moment for the Toa of Earth is when the Nuva learn they must awaken the Bahrag, and in turn the Bohrok, as part of the preparations for awakening Mata Nui. While the rest of the team is unsure about the task, it's Onua who steps up to the plate and releases the Bahrag, saying that he did what was necessary -- after all, nobody ever said the path to the future would be an easy one.
• The Heroic Sacrifice ending the Mahri Nui arc was such an awesome sacrifice that the Kanohi Ignika itself was impressed, and then made itself a Toa body to try to become a hero -- and then sacrificed itself when asked what Matoro would've done in its situation.
• The Reveal of Makuta Teridax's Evil Plan / Xanatos Gambit come to fruition. Who else would have planned to allow the Toa Mahri to bring Mata Nui back to life so that he could enter his body before Mata Nui could, so that when the Toa Nuva finally succeed in reawakening him, he could announce that he won, and seal the deal by sealing Mata Nui's spirit in the Kanohi Ignika and ejecting it into space, taking care of the two biggest threats to his rule?

2009: Bara Magna: Glatorian Legends

• Mata Nui vs Tuma. That is all.

2010 and beyond: Journey's End / Sphereus Magna

• Mata Nui pushing Teridax into the path of Aqua Magna, causing him to get MOONED! (head crushed by the planet, pulled in by the latter's own gravity powers.)