Alternative Mata Nui?

[The 1st Shadow]

So, I was hanging out with my friend who's back in town fro the holidays, and he and I were reliving the past, and he wanted to know how the Bionicle fandom was doing. So, I brought him up to speed on what BZPower has been up to, and just what all we'd seen in the storyline over the years.

 

At some point during our conversation, we got to the topic of Mata Nui, the giant robot, the Matoran Universe, and the inhabitants therein. We went over how the Universe worked and debated the nature of how his body affected their little world. That's when it occurred to us:

Mata Nui could have been such a jerk to the Matoran Universe.

 

Think about it. 

 

First of all, his eyes acted as a sort of skylight for Metru Nui. We know that there was probably some artificial light generated by the inside of his eyes, as well, but as we saw in LoMN, the rampant formation of the island on his face during the great cataclysm blocked most of the light coming through and made it appear that his eyes were closing.

Now, if that were the case all of the time, and the "suns" over the city were just big skylights, then Mata Nui, if he so chose, could have simply covered his eyes and blocked the light for a few minutes at a time while he was flying through space. Picture it, if you will:

 

MN: Hm, I'm bored. (covers eyes) Night time! (uncovers eyes) Day time! (covers eyes) Night time! (and so on)

 

I would hate to be working in Metru Nui if that just happened at random points in the day. Imagine all the sudden accidents it could cause.

 

On another note, what would happen if Mata Nui just started poking himself? Are the MU inhabitants like fish in that they get freaked out when you tap the glass/protodermis casing?

MN: (repeatedly taps biceps) Hey, hey, hey, Dark Hunters. How's Odina today? You guys enjoying the quakes? lol (begins poking other bicep) Yo, Artakha, my man, how's it going today, dude? I hope I didn't just disturb anything important you were working on. 

Or worse, if Mata Nui decided he wanted to sing during his interstellar travels. If his body is anything like ours, then his "vocal chords" would be right under/over Karzahni. And for something as big as he is, they would definitely feel the effects of the bass. It'd be like living on top of a city-sized subwoofer. I don't think I need to paint a picture of that one. 

 

 

Well, there you go. If you got a laugh out of it, great. That was part of the point. But it does raise a lot of questions, like how much of an effect could MN have on his subjects?

[Pohaturon]

I'm not sure how serious this thread is - I was certainly amused by it if that's the goal.

 

However by way of serious answers: I'm fairly certain many of these phenomena wouldn't occur. Firstly, I believe Mata Nui was not actually aware that there were beings within his body previous to his banishment by Teridax. Seeing as he technically was just a computer program running in a massive artificial body, if we wasn't "programmed" to do things like cover his eyes or poke himself, he wouldn't. In fact, if these things would cause disturbances inside, the Great Beings would likely have programmed safeguards against such actions into Mata Nui's program. 

 

As for speaking/singing, I'm pretty sure the GSR had some kind of speakers in its mouth instead of "vocal chords". Why a machine like these even can speak is beyond me, since it seemingly serves no purpose related to the intended task of the machine.

 

When it comes to poking himself, I doubt it would be felt inside. Since the GSR was intended for interstellar travel with a whole ecosystem within, it probably had "inertial dampeners" or some other sci-fi thigamajig that solves this issue. 

 

However if this is a joke thread as I suspect, props for the ideas. Prankster Mata-Nui would have been so much cooler than "asleep for 90% of the storyline" Mata-Nui.

 

[The 1st Shadow]

 

However if this is a joke thread as I suspect, props for the ideas. Prankster Mata-Nui would have been so much cooler than "asleep for 90% of the storyline" Mata-Nui.

 

It was mostly meant as a joke, as I said at the bottom of the original post, but it does have some serious connotations.

 

For one thing, he did actually know that there were beings inside him, he just didn't think they were important unless his health was at risk. For example, when Teridax's virus hit him, he had to personally change the stars and "rewrite" destiny to throw the Makuta off and have him play right into the grand scheme of things, which involved making Vakama and Co. into Toa. He was very aware of the universe within, as he would cease to function without them. It was just that he eventually started to ignore them as he got more and more involved in his ongoing mission.

[Ghidora131]

Well he's a giant robot with a different internal system than the human body, mind you. So if he decided to sing, it may not have the exact same effect as a city-sized subwoofer. I'm not sure on the scale here, but the inhabitants would be quite close to microscopic level in comparison to each component of the GSR - and the germs don't go flying off the hood of your car when you start the engine.

 

Also Shad, the whole "daynightdaynight" thing sounds like something you would do without hesitation

 

just sayin'

[Sir Keksalot]

The image of Mata Nui singing is hilarious in itself.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

He knew there were people in his body, and he even interacted with them during the time of Lhikan and the Toa Metru. Just that he didn't really care about them until Makuta was visibly plotting against him. In-general, he didn't take take care of his people and didn't begin to care until it was too late and Makuta's plan was already in motion. Best he could do is secure a group of heroes that could hopefully lead to his reawakening then take care of other matters.

 

Which is why in my head-canon, i like to make it sound as if Makuta was justified in his overthrowing of Mata Nui (a cult of MU dwellers joining him in this view point), but his own dark heart doesn't mean that good triumphed over evil, but rather an incompetent ruler replaced with an evil one with a just guise. Knowing his mistakes, Mata Nui must redeem himself by work and valor until he finds he is ready to save his people. Only as we know, he didn't go over to stop evil, but rather evil came over to stop him.

 

 

 

BTW, I know this is joke. The night-day thing reminds me of something from Ed Edd n Eddy, and also The Amazing World of Gumball.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Iaredios the Hip Historian

[ZippyWharrgarbl]

Firstly, I believe Mata Nui was not actually aware that there were beings within his body previous to his banishment by Teridax. 

 

Mata Nui was actually aware of there being, well, beings inside his body prior to that! In Time Trap, it mentions the Great Spirit deceiving Teridax by rearranging the stars, making him think that other Matoran were destined to be Toa, and suggesting the real destined Matoran (the Toa Metru) to him covertly for him to trick Lhikan in turn. This would have meant he'd had at least some knowledge that they were sentient creatures.

 

Also, he compares Ackar to Onua in Mata Nui's Guide to Bara Magna, in a diary entry.

 

Iaredios mentioned this already but I figured that I'd supply some examples. The 1st Santa already gave one of these examples but I spent time writing it before I saw it so there it stays.

 

Or worse, if Mata Nui decided he wanted to sing during his interstellar travels. If his body is anything like ours, then his "vocal chords" would be right under/over Karzahni. And for something as big as he is, they would definitely feel the effects of the bass. It'd be like living on top of a city-sized subwoofer. I don't think I need to paint a picture of that one. 

 

That's why it's Karzahni. The singing never ends.

 

As for everything else, I think it might be safe to assume the Great Beings planned for this sort of thing. Even if they didn't plan on the inhabitants of his body becoming sentient, things like "giant voice box causes earthquakes in some areas" and "lights flick on and off, messing up the day/night cycle" would have messed up the workflow of the Matoran Universe inhabitants.

 

Also, as Pohatutron said, the speakers might be elsewhere. I'd imagine that you'd give your giant robot the ability to speak so as to explain to any angry inhabitants of a planet why there is a giant robot watching their planet.

 

Admittedly, when I saw the title I had hope that this question would somehow contain a Mata Nui who wore plaid shirts and listened to alternative rock. :c

Edited December 24, 2016 by ZippyWharrgarbl

[Master Inika]

This topic is awesome. The immaturity is worth the images of Mata Nui covering and revealing his eyes saying, "Light! Dark! Light! Dark!"

 

I recall Greg comparing the relationship between Mata Nui and the Matoran to a human being and his cells. You don't think of your cells as sentient creatures, but you take care of them because you know you need them to survive. Mata Nui, though, doesn't seem to take care of his body very well. Changing the stars must've been like just taking a pill or something.

 

The whole thing kind of reminds me of Osmosis Jones, with Mata Nui being surprisingly similar to Frank.

[PutYaGunsOn]

The whole thing kind of reminds me of Osmosis Jones, with Mata Nui being surprisingly similar to Frank.

Now I'm thinking there should be at least one Toa who sounds like Chris Rock.

 

I do recall that one of the original writers of Bionicle came up with the idea because he liked to imagine his headache medicine pills contained tiny warriors who would deal with the problem, which probably inspired the Toa Capsules Canisters.  Does that make the Toa Mata the Bionicle version of Drix?

 

I also remember seeing (maybe on BioSector01?) that Mata Nui has control over the gravity and physics of the Matoran Universe, so I guess he could mess with them.  But since he's dependent on the Matoran Universe to function, I highly doubt he would.