Masks on Mata Nui

[The Legendary TNT]

So, I was wondering if the original Kanohi shapes from '01 are the only shapes on Mata Nui (and subsequently Metru Nui) or if there were more Kanohi we just didn't see. Also, if the former is true, what made the future Toa Metru have Matoran versions of their respective masks in Great shape and no one else? That's what leads me to believe the later is true, because it would seem strange for everyone to have the same general Kanohi shapes and have these six Matoran have different ones.

 

I also just had a thought about the Akaku and the Noble Komau. On the Akaku, do they come standard with a scope or do some (or probably most on Mata Nui) not have one. On the Komau, what the heck is the device around the mouth? Is that even a device or is it just a design?

 

I'm sure I'll come up with more questions as people answer them, but that's about it for now.

[bonesiii]

So, I was wondering if the original Kanohi shapes from '01 are the only shapes on Mata Nui (and subsequently Metru Nui) or if there were more Kanohi we just didn't see.

Depends on if you're asking about Matoran masks or Great/Noble masks. Of the latter, only the ones we saw were hidden or worn by the Toa/Turaga.

 

But the Matoran are confirmed to have various other shapes. I guess the twelve we saw are meant to be especially popular shapes.

 

We also directly saw three masks, which Greg later canonized as the Mask of Rebounding, Fusion, and Biomechanics worn by three Matoran celebrating Mata Nui's revival. The comic isn't clear about this, but BS01 cites them as being Matoran of Metru Nui (I'm not sure if that's actually accurate, but the background looks cityish; the text says "across the universe" though).

 

Also, if the former is true, what made the future Toa Metru have Matoran versions of their respective masks in Great shape and no one else?

Not sure I understand the question. Could you clarify what you're asking? Regardless of the answer to question #1, the masks they wore as Toa were the masks they wore as Turaga; had they worn different masks, they would have different masks as Toa. (Assuming the main theories as mentioned in a recent topic are correct that the Matoran shapes translate to that actual power when Great-ified.)

 

On the Akaku, do they come standard with a scope or do some

They're optional addons included by the maskmakers. Whether they usually include them or not I'm not sure, but the Noble Akaku worn by Solek did not include one. They could also be added on, though definitely aren't standard as such, on any other mask. Nuju's Matoran and Great versions of Telekinesis had an addon (it was somehow lost in the transformation to Turaga, though).

 

On the Komau, what the heck is the device around the mouth? Is that even a device or is it just a design?

It's just style.

 

 

Edit: I just realized your second question probably is about Vakama's group having Matoran masks in Great shape versus Noble shape. The answer is sets, of course (same reason Garan's group on Voya Nui "just happens" to all have those Great masks, etc.) But Vakama had his in Noble shape, so it's not quite true anyways. But the only reason other Mata/Metru Matoran don't have Great shapes of those powers (or Noble of the others) is they weren't available in the real world yet to have them at that time.

Edited July 5, 2014 by bonesiii

[Oroki]

If we'd seem all matoran, Mata Nui woud've been highly underpopulated. There are no villages of 10-15 people each. I say yes, there were more matoran. Just look at the massive crowds of random matoran in the movies. It's obvious that there are a lot of them.

 

There's a scene in MNOLG where matoro is out in the drifts where he uses his monocle-device-thingy to zoom in on something, which suggest that any Akaku-wearer is capable of zooming. Not all of that game is considered canon, though.

 

I always saw the pattern around the Komau's mouth as some spiritual necessity. It's never really adressed, so it's probably not anything for practical uses, as that would definitely have been described as a feature/power if it did anything.

[bonesiii]

If we'd seem all matoran, Mata Nui woud've been highly underpopulated. There are no villages of 10-15 people each. I say yes, there were more matoran. Just look at the massive crowds of random matoran in the movies. It's obvious that there are a lot of them.

Pretty sure he wasn't asking if there were more Matoran (we know there were 1000), but what mask shapes they wore. I post this to ask if I misunderstood.

 

There's a scene in MNOLG where matoro is out in the drifts where he uses his monocle-device-thingy to zoom in on something, which suggest that any Akaku-wearer is capable of zooming. Not all of that game is considered canon, though.

Again I'm pretty sure that's not what he was asking (looks like he was asking if they normally have scopes or not), but you raise a good question, whether and how anybody activates the zooming feature. It might include a minor Tool power that activates it mentally, as part of the addon. Or perhaps physically moving an eyebrow or something moves a part of the addon machinery (that seems unlikely, but yeah). If it isn't canon, it could perhaps be explained that he had to use a hand to turn a gear and we just didn't see that. Or even, since there's multiple lenses, just moves his mask around a little to peer through a different lens.

[The Legendary TNT]

 

So, I was wondering if the original Kanohi shapes from '01 are the only shapes on Mata Nui (and subsequently Metru Nui) or if there were more Kanohi we just didn't see.

Depends on if you're asking about Matoran masks or Great/Noble masks. Of the latter, only the ones we saw were hidden or worn by the Toa/Turaga.

 

But the Matoran are confirmed to have various other shapes. I guess the twelve we saw are meant to be especially popular shapes.

 

We also directly saw three masks, which Greg later canonized as the Mask of Rebounding, Fusion, and Biomechanics worn by three Matoran celebrating Mata Nui's revival. The comic isn't clear about this, but BS01 cites them as being Matoran of Metru Nui (I'm not sure if that's actually accurate, but the background looks cityish; the text says "across the universe" though).

 

Also, if the former is true, what made the future Toa Metru have Matoran versions of their respective masks in Great shape and no one else?

Not sure I understand the question. Could you clarify what you're asking? Regardless of the answer to question #1, the masks they wore as Toa were the masks they wore as Turaga; had they worn different masks, they would have different masks as Toa. (Assuming the main theories as mentioned in a recent topic are correct that the Matoran shapes translate to that actual power when Great-ified.)

 

On the Akaku, do they come standard with a scope or do some

They're optional addons included by the maskmakers. Whether they usually include them or not I'm not sure, but the Noble Akaku worn by Solek did not include one. They could also be added on, though definitely aren't standard as such, on any other mask. Nuju's Matoran and Great versions of Telekinesis had an addon (it was somehow lost in the transformation to Turaga, though).

 

On the Komau, what the heck is the device around the mouth? Is that even a device or is it just a design?

It's just style.

 

 

Edit: I just realized your second question probably is about some of Vakama's group having Matoran masks in Great shape versus Noble shape. The answer is sets, of course (same reason Garan's group on Voya Nui "just happens" to all have those Great masks, etc.) But Vakama had his in Noble shape, so it's not quite true anyways.

 

Yeah, sorry, I probably should have clarified. Yeah, I'm talking about just Matoran masks. And I'm also talking about just the Mata Nui/Metru Nui population for now.

 

So, could there be Noble Haus, Akakus, Mirus, etc. on Metru Nui and therefore Mata Nui that are somewhat common? Same question for Great Hunas, Matatus, etc.

 

And it would make sense for not a lot of masks (including Akakus) to be scoped on Mata Nui since the upkeep of technology outside of Onu-Koro is poor. So the Matoran who did have scoped Akakus like Matoro or Pelagia (Ga-Matoran in MNOLG II) were lucky to have scopes, right?

 

And the Noble Mahiki's mouth design. Does that have a purpose or is it design, too?

 

Something else that dawned on me. Defilak traded with Metru Nui at some point before being sent to Karzahni (picked up chute-speak there). Could his mask shape have been used there (Kualsi)?

[Oroki]

 

If we'd seem all matoran, Mata Nui woud've been highly underpopulated. There are no villages of 10-15 people each. I say yes, there were more matoran. Just look at the massive crowds of random matoran in the movies. It's obvious that there are a lot of them.

Pretty sure he wasn't asking if there were more Matoran (we know there were 1000), but what mask shapes they wore. I post this to ask if I misunderstood.

 

The fact that we haven't seen these several hundred other matoran means that we haven't seen their masks. There could be many different ones among them. Add that to TNT's reference the masks of the six matoran who turned into the Toa Metru.

 

Whoops, I meant, there were more kinds of Kanohi.

 

Anyway, since there are many unseen matoran and there's no rule that there were just 12 kind of masks for all of them, the theory is pretty plausible.

 

 

There's a scene in MNOLG where matoro is out in the drifts where he uses his monocle-device-thingy to zoom in on something, which suggest that any Akaku-wearer is capable of zooming. Not all of that game is considered canon, though.

Again I'm pretty sure that's not what he was asking (looks like he was asking if they normally have scopes or not), but you raise a good question, whether and how anybody activates the zooming feature. It might include a minor Tool power that activates it mentally, as part of the addon. Or perhaps physically moving an eyebrow or something moves a part of the addon machinery (that seems unlikely, but yeah). If it isn't canon, it could perhaps be explained that he had to use a hand to turn a gear and we just didn't see that. Or even, since there's multiple lenses, just moves his mask around a little to peer through a different lens.

 

I think having the eye mechanism removed doesn't mean the model needs to be altered. I'm basically assuming that there's jus one model, but there could be some that actually work ones and some which are just fashionable. I didn't even think about the whole thing being absent, but since we haven't seen any other alterations in shapes of masks (I think), why would they?

Something else that dawned on me. Defilak traded with Metru Nui at some point before being sent to Karzahni (picked up chute-speak there). Could his mask shape have been used there (Kualsi)?

I say yeah. Metru Nui traded with a lot of places in the universe, so it's common sense that all kinds of masks would end up there, including the Kualsi. So unless the Kualsi is a very rare mask, or for some reason unwanted in Metru Nui, why not?

[bonesiii]

So, could there be Noble Haus, Akakus, Mirus, etc. on Metru Nui and therefore Mata Nui that are somewhat common? Same question for Great Hunas, Matatus, etc.

Could be, yes. Of course, I don't think we have specific confirmations.

 

And it would make sense for not a lot of masks (including Akakus) to be scoped on Mata Nui since the upkeep of technology outside of Onu-Koro is poor.

Actually that's irrelevant, since they weren't making new masks on Mata Nui. They brought a collection of extra Matoran masks on the airships. All replacements given out on Mata Nui had been made on Metru Nui, so whatever the tendency is for scopes there could be there on Mata Nui too.

 

Although if a scope broke down on Mata Nui you couldn't as easily fix it, so I suppose I'm probably wrong to say it's totally irrelevant.

 

So the Matoran who did have scoped Akakus like Matoro or Pelagia (Ga-Matoran in MNOLG II) were lucky to have scopes, right?

Sure, I guess.

 

And the Noble Mahiki's mouth design. Does that have a purpose or is it design, too?

Just design. The only confirmed addons that I'm aware of are the scopes. Although others could be possible, presumably.

 

Defilak traded with Metru Nui at some point before being sent to Karzahni (picked up chute-speak there). Could his mask shape have been used there (Kualsi)?

Probably, but I don't know.

 

I think having the eye mechanism removed doesn't mean the model needs to be altered. I'm basically assuming that there's jus one model, but there could be some that actually work ones and some which are just fashionable. I didn't even think about the whole thing being absent, but since we haven't seen any other alterations in shapes of masks (I think), why would they?

I didn't think of having the scope side included without the actual addon. Yes, that's possible. Though the evidence we've seen with Solek's Noble one would indicate probably that they don't do that. It could vary based on maskmaker preference, though -- we know different maskmakers have various unique style markers.

[fishers64]

One other thing - it's basically confirmed that Masks of Regeneration were probably around for Matoran, seeing as Dume had one - although I suppose he could have gotten it from somewhere else...

 

Also I think masks like the Kualsi would be relatively common since you could just make them out of straight Kanoka without any power mixing. You'd think that at least one Matoran would have one of those. 

[The Legendary TNT]

Also I think masks like the Kualsi would be relatively common since you could just make them out of straight Kanoka without any power mixing. You'd think that at least one Matoran would have one of those. 

That's true, didn't consider that. You would think the Pehkui (Norik's mask) would be common since it just uses a diminishment disk.

[bonesiii]

I thought of a possible answer to the following question after it was too late to edit the above post:

I think having the eye mechanism removed doesn't mean the model needs to be altered. I'm basically assuming that there's jus one model, but there could be some that actually work ones and some which are just fashionable. I didn't even think about the whole thing being absent, but since we haven't seen any other alterations in shapes of masks (I think), why would they?

They might have a sort of rule/guideline against having the visor side's style of the mask if it doesn't really have an addon for the same reason they put silver paint on Matoran masks (in Metru Nui anyways) -- so nobody mistakes it for having the addon. Say a Toa needs an Akaku plus visor really quick, and there's three Akaku on a shelf, one symmetrical (no scope side), the other two with the scope side. It wouldn't be easy to tell which of the scope version ones really works and which just uses them for decoration. The situation would be highly unlikely but who knows. They might want to avoid that just in case, so if you see the scope appearance, you can basically know the zoom feature really works.

[The Legendary TNT]

Ok, I just thought of something else. Do Kaukaus always have a visor eye piece? It would make sense if they did.

[bonesiii]

I haven't heard specific confirmation of that either. It's possible some don't. (The Nuva version didn't, but I dunno if that really counts since that shape results from EP transformation rather than maskmaker design.)

[Click]

You know, this could be all style preference. I mean, Metru Nui was a pretty advanced place. They had masks rolling out in dozens from Ta-Metru forges. It seems like during the thousands of years the city has been running that fashion trends in Kanohi would develop. Maybe those twelve masks were the style, and certain exceptions (Toa Metru, Dume, Hagah, etc.) were choices not to follow the trend. Maybe the fashion even extended to their coloring: dark colors with dark grey highlights. Out of all the possible color choices for each element, all the Matoran chose that.

 

Just something to think about. It would make Metru Nui a more interesting place if there were fashion leaders. Just imagine billboards with wealthy Matoran showing off their new masks and colors over the Metrus!