Matoran Lifetime

[justin_verceles]

Although the title mentions the lifetime of a Matoran, this topic really goes for all Bionicles. Do they die of natural causes? An immediate answer to this would probably be no, since they're robots and robots don't die. But you have to remember that they also have a biological and organic aspect to them, and all organisms in real life die. I was just really interested in this topic and wanted to hear your thoughts.

 

[Azani]

Although the title mentions the lifetime of a Matoran, this topic really goes for all Bionicles. Do they die of natural causes? An immediate answer to this would probably be no, since they're robots and robots don't die. But you have to remember that they also have a biological and organic aspect to them, and all organisms in real life die. I was just really interested in this topic and wanted to hear your thoughts.

They're not robots, actually.

[John Smith]

I'm not sure if we've ever seen anyone die of natural causes. BS01 says Takua was the first Matoran created, and he's still doing fine after 100,000 years, so unless he's unusually long-lived, that's probably our best guess for a minimum natural Matoran lifespan. Also keep in mind that the Red Star is supposed to revive anyone who dies, so if/when it works properly, Matoran and other MU lifeforms could theoretically live almost indefinitely.

Edited July 19, 2014 by John Smith

[fishers64]

8.Are bionicles immortal since we have’nt seen any die of old age? or have they not reached their tiring point yet

 

8) BIONICLE beings are not immortal, they just have very long lifespans

 

 

2. Can a matoran drop dead of old age?

 

2) Yes

 

Given the Red Star revives beings who have died of old age, however, it's possible for them to live on, but they would be trapped in the Red Star.

Edited July 19, 2014 by fishers64

[justin_verceles]

 

8.Are bionicles immortal since we have’nt seen any die of old age? or have they not reached their tiring point yet

 

8) BIONICLE beings are not immortal, they just have very long lifespans

 

2. Can a matoran drop dead of old age?

 

2) Yes

 

Given the Red Star revives beings who have died of old age, however, it's possible for them to live on, but they would be trapped in the Red Star.

 

 

 

 

 

According to the Bionicle Wiki, however, "The Star also served as a means of resurrecting the deceased beings in the Matoran Universe. There bodies were teleported to the Red Star, where their bodies were either repaired or their consciousness were transplanted into a new body." So they're only "trapped" in the Red Star until they can be returned, either repaired or with a different body.

[ALVIS]

Matoran lifespans are ridiculously and frustratingly long because the story team wanted the saga to have a big, jaw-dropping time scale and didn't realize what a dumb, stupid idea it was to have all the characters live much longer than the saga itself.

 

And don't even get me started on how absurdly and suspension-of-disbelief-breakingly long the Agori's lifespans are.

[Zidonaro]

Matoran lifespans are ridiculously and frustratingly long because the story team wanted the saga to have a big, jaw-dropping time scale and didn't realize what a dumb, stupid idea it was to have all the characters live much longer than the saga itself.

 

And don't even get me started on how absurdly and suspension-of-disbelief-breakingly long the Agori's lifespans are.

 

I don't think it's dumb or stupid. Remember that residents of the MU have a job to make, they have to maintain MN working, and since the GBs didn't knew when Mata Nui would return to reform Spherus Magna, it's understandable giving a really long lifespan to the residents.

[bonesiii]

It seems like this question gets asked almost every month, lol. I really should put together a FAQ topic, huh? Anyways, others answered the main question. To some other bits:

 

An immediate answer to this would probably be no, since they're robots and robots don't die.

Quibbling about your word choice aside, where do people get this idea? Of course robots die. Robots tend to wear out faster than organic beings, since organics have self-healing things, and at least robots as defined as basic moving machinery in the limbs (rather than advanced nanites being involved, which could count as robotics in the widest sense of the term) don't have self-healing capabilities. Now they can have parts replaced, but if that doesn't happen they do die.

 

Seriously, pet peeve. Like, on TNG they say things like Data will be around forever (events allowing, anyways) -- not true. Stuff wears out. If they were just robots, we might expect them to "live" far less than people, depending on the exact design (which fiction likely wouldn't specify).

 

and all organisms in real life die

Well... sort of. By the widest sense of "natural causes", something could happen to any organic cell or organism to cause death eventually (like Data being nuked ), but that isn't the same thing as lifespan. There are cellular mechanisms known that can extend life indefinitely. Essentially, if you have enough redundant copies of the genome and an error correcting system. The real trick, as has been gone into in past topics, is not getting organics to essentially live forever, it's explaining why Agori/etc. even have a lifespan at all, as once you get over a certain age with a particular error-fixing design, the chances of any error ever being fatal (genetically, again, not counting nukes, etc.) are basically nothing.

 

Normally the main factor in lifespan is length of the telomere endcaps, and if you would live as long as an Agori by that method, the endcaps would be so long you'd think there'd be no room for anything else in their cells. But it would be possible if there's a multiple-digit counting system and when a count reaches maximum, death ensues. Shorter answer is -- they're aliens, so who knows what mechanisms could make it work? We can't really rule anything out as plausible without knowing what it is.

 

I'm not sure if we've ever seen anyone die of natural causes.

 

http://biosector01.com/wiki/index.php/Lein

 

(Since the topic starter clarified he's not only asking about MU beings.)

 

Matoran lifespans are ridiculously and frustratingly long because the story team wanted the saga to have a big, jaw-dropping time scale and didn't realize what a dumb, stupid idea it was to have all the characters live much longer than the saga itself.

You're right about the reason they opted for these particular aliens to have unimaginably huge lifespans, but the last bit here doesn't seem to make sense. Lots of stories are shorter in-story than the lifespans of their characters. (And even if they weren't, what objective reason for such a rule would there be? It seems random to me. )

 

Anyways, likeisay, I don't see how we can be judging this as unrealistic when we don't know everything about what is and isn't possible, and in fact actually do know of some basic ideas that would make it work.

[John Smith]

 

I'm not sure if we've ever seen anyone die of natural causes.

 

http://biosector01.com/wiki/index.php/Lein

 

(Since the topic starter clarified he's not only asking about MU beings.)

 

Thanks for pointing that out. Mata Nui's Guide is the only Bionicle book I don't have. Figures.

 

I also don't have a problem with the long lifespans. In addition to what's already been said, it's something that makes Bionicle unique.

[ALVIS]

According to the Bionicle Wiki, however, "The Star also served as a means of resurrecting the deceased beings in the Matoran Universe. There bodies were teleported to the Red Star, where their bodies were either repaired or their consciousness were transplanted into a new body." So they're only "trapped" in the Red Star until they can be returned, either repaired or with a different body.

 

 

Like most of the Bionicle Wiki's entries, that is... partially... true. The trouble is that the Red Star lost the ability to send repaired beings back down to the Matoran universe, thereby trapping all the revived beings in the Red Star.

 

Also, as a general rule, just don't use the Bionicle Wiki. Its standards are low, its pages are incomplete, and honestly, the site's aesthetic is just unprofessional. Use BIONICLEsector01 instead. Though it's not perfect, it provides much more reliable information, and is a lot easier on the eyes. 

Edited July 20, 2014 by Yaldabaoth

[25K Now!]

They die of old age and the like, as stated before, but before the Red Star went broke, would they have been pretty much immortal if it teleported them up, repaired them, and sent them back down again?

[bonesiii]

They die of old age and the like, as stated before, but before the Red Star went broke, would they have been pretty much immortal if it teleported them up, repaired them, and sent them back down again?

Yes; see fifth quote in this post:

http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/11421-official-red-star-guide/?p=652083