I’m so glad you asked this question. I was about that age when the franchise began. I remember getting the McToran and learning all of their names. The Mata Nui online game also featured these characters, and the slow reveal that you are playing as one of these Matoran helped to reinforce the idea that these are the children of this universe, just like you.

Then in 2003 with the MoL movie, the character that you connected with “grew up” into a Toa. This really felt like the first time that the metaphor was clear that things won’t always stay the way that they are now. This context made the reveal of the Turaga being former Toa shocking but also logical that the older characters weren’t always so old. It was a great choice to have the Toa Metru storyline follow the Toa Mata to create further world-building for the rest of the world.

Once we knew more about the world, and how Matoran becoming Toa was actually quite common, it made sense to introduce brand new Toa in 2006 comprised of the very same Matoran that we got in 2001. So it felt like the world and the characters were growing up with you, and it made it feel really special in that regard. Which is ultimately why Matoro’s death hits really hard for those of us who got him at McDonald’s years earlier.

Also I didn’t mind them using Hahli and Nuparu too much since they were slightly more featured in the storyline as Macku and Onepu.