The Great Spirit Robot

[bohrokmaster]

I remember in 2008 when the Mata Nui Robot was revealed, and the Toa Nuva reawakened him. And some of us fans weren't happy with his true form (I was happy with Mata Nui's Robot form). I Remember somewhere in the storyline that the Kanohi Hau was the symbol of Mata Nui. Would it be different if the Kanohi Hau was Mata Nui's robot face? I always think of how he would look like in his Robot form if the Hau was his face instead of his original face. What do you guys think?

 

EDIT: I made this picture 3 days ago to get a clear idea if the Hau mask was Mata Nui's robot face.

 

 

Edited November 3, 2013 by bohrokmaster

[Chro]

What do you mean by "would it be different"? Obviously the GSR's face wasn't modeled after the Hau in canon... but I don't know how it would affect the story if it was.

An interesting thought, though- if the GSR had a Hau, what would the prototype robot have?

[Toatapio Nuva]

I find the face he wound up having to be better than a Hau... simply because the current face creates a sort of feeling to Mata Nui. It's supposed to resemble the bare face all Matoran and Toa have as well. Besides, the island of Mata Nui is supposed to be the "mask" of the great spirit, and the 2008 finale was all about removing that mask to see the truth (an obvious reference to this was made all the way back in the 2003 MoL movie with Takanuva ripping off Makuta's mask).

 

And yes, let's keep Bionicle alive.

Edited October 31, 2013 by Toatapio Nuva

[fishers64]

Doesn't Mata Nui have shielding powers anyway? He doesn't need a mask.

 

Always felt the Hau-shield thing was just a symbol of Mata Nui's role - a shield to protect them from the outside world.

Edited October 31, 2013 by fishers64

[NuvaTube]

The Kanohi Hau was just a symbol created by Matoran culture about Mata Nui, of whom they had a limited understanding. They viewed him as a godish protector, so the symbol of the Hau did kinda make sense.

 

I can see why you might think it would be cool (I thought of Mata Nui as a spectral Hau in my head for a while), but it's just a Matoran symbol. I don't know what you mean by "would it have been different" though, could you clarify?

Doesn't Mata Nui have shielding powers anyway? He doesn't need a mask.

 

 

Mata Nui has no shielding powers. His spirit has no powers I don't think, As for the robot, although powerful I don't think it can make force fields. Maybe something [similar] if it's within the MU, but otherwise not.

 

We don't have a source showing Mata Nui making a force field, but we have none saying that he can't make them. I'd assume not, though.

[bonesiii]

As for the robot, although powerful I don't think it can make force fields. Maybe something [similar] if it's within the MU, but otherwise not.

 

We don't have a source showing Mata Nui making a force field, but we have none saying that he can't make them. I'd assume not, though.

In terms of hypothetical battle scenarios, it would make sense to assume not (if you were given the robot for such a scenario you would be wiser to plan for minimum potential strength, just in case it is true), but that's not the case here. Theorywise I'd think he can. He should be able to manifest all the powers he could do inside the robot outside as well. There was no indication in the final battle that the powers we saw him and the Makuta weild are all they have; when the Makuta thinks of using a gravity attack for example, it seems implied that he's just selecting one power out of a wide range of options, rather than using the only option.

 

The problem is it would be a power drain, so he likely does not generate one often. However, if there is a hyperdrive for the trips between planets, and even if there isn't, a shield is likely generated when he's in deep space, as even with the superstrong substance of his hull, over time impacts from space debris, esp. at high speeds and definitely if there's hyperdrive, would likely take their toll. So would be wiser to use energy shields as a safeguard, and since the Great Beings obsessively think in terms of such safeguards (even giving such shields to two of their important creations, the Bahrag), seems reasonable to theorize they did that for Mata Nui.

 

But this really has nothing whatsoever to do with his face's shape. It's not like he would actually wear a functioning Kanohi mask, lol. The mask is actually likely symbolic of the camouflage island.

 

Also, the identity of it as a Hau probably has more to do with the Matoran's perception of Hau-wearers as leaders, possibly stemming back to rumors of the Toa Mata, and seen also with Lhikan, plus an infected Hau was the Makuta's choice of symbol in 2001. So, Hau symbol means "important person", and Mata Nui is included in a subset of that, rather than it meaning the Great Spirit directly.

 

To the topic question -- if it was a different shape, it would be a different story, but likely not significantly so. I personally feel the mask's shape is not practical for a giant metal thing pushing up through layers of broken-up (by Bohrok) bedrock and earth. The texture of the edges of the eyes, the bottom of the mouth area, and the top of the gap in the forehead would create massive friction as the material slid away, probably doing more damage. Of course, this wouldn't apply for a heavily modified Hau-style shape, and that is in fact kind of what we got with the mouth area, actually. See:

 

http://biosector01.com/wiki/images/5/50/Animation_Great_Spirit_Mata_Nui_Stares.png

 

Notice the arch shape around the mouth, and the two slight indentations on the cheekbone areas, similar to the indentations on a Hau there. But the outer edges of these indentations are lessened in thickness by a lot, so much less friction, and the Hau's indentations from the top, bottom, and sides of eyes are removed too. So, the real answer is, "it kinda IS a Hau."

 

Kinda. Especially more similar to Lhikan's than Tahu's.

[bohrokmaster]

What do you mean by "would it be different"? Obviously the GSR's face wasn't modeled after the Hau in canon... but I don't know how it would affect the story if it was.

An interesting thought, though- if the GSR had a Hau, what would the prototype robot have?

Sorry. It was an idea floating in my head, if the Kanohi Hau was the robot face for Mata Nui.

Edited November 1, 2013 by bohrokmaster

[MrSciFiGuy]

It would be interesting, to have a freakin' huge kanohi hau the size of the island of Mata Nui. I do like the Toa face. Its interesting to have the default mask-less face. And besides, he "shelters" them in his own body so its connected well to the symbolism of the hau.

 

I understand where you are coming from, and back in 03 I thought Mata Nui was a Teridax-sized titan with a hau for a mask and they would eventually fight it out like Takanuva did.

[Toa Of Anarchy]

I have never really thought that Mata Nui's face would look like the Hau, . I agree with with fisher64 that it is more symbolic.