Why can't matoran use kanohi powers?

[Toa of Plastic]

In the Matoran Universe, most intelligent species can use kanohi powers, but do not require them for survival. These include vortixx, makuta, upper-class steltians, the six barraki races, and most of the namless, one-off species represented only by individual characters. There are a handful of species which never where kanohi because they cannot use their powers and do not require them for survival. The only examples of these are the skakdi because of their lack of mental discipline, the steltian bruisers and zyglak because of their lack of intelligence, and the Shadowed One's people because of their inability to interface with them.

Then their are the matoran. They draw energy from the kanohi they wear, which they are completely dependent upon for survival. They are clearly capable of interfacing with the masks, but are inexplicably unable to use thier powers. The official explanation is that matoran lack the willpower, mental discipline and physical endurance needed to access their mask's powers. This implies that all matoran are weak-willed and undisciplined, and yet we see several examples of very strong-willed,  highly disciplined matoran in cannon, such as Jaller, Mazeka, Dalu and so on. Morover, we see that matoran change very little, if at all, phychologically when they are transformed into toa. If they lacked the willpower to use their masks as matoran, getting taller and growing a few extra muscles won't help. I could maybe buy into them not having enough physical endurance, but we never see toa, or anyone else for that matter, get tired or physically stressed in any way from using their kanohi. Besides, turaga, who can use at least noble kanohi, are, as far as I know, no physically different from matoran. They may be stronger willed on average, but would seemingly be subject to the same physical constraints.

Why is it that while every other species that wears kanohi has full access to their powers, matoran do not? Why are they so strongly affected by loss of their masks? How do matoran survive and maintain their overwhelming numerical advantage over the other races when they suffer from such a glaring flaw?

[The Master of Energy]

For some reason, the Great Beings just didn't think it was necessary to give them use of Kanohi.

[Toa of Plastic]

19 minutes ago, Laval- Master of Energy said:

For some reason, the Great Beings just didn't think it was necessary to give them use of Kanohi.

I thought matoran were'nt supposed to be intelligent at all until Velika intervened? Why would the great beings include a built-in limitation if they did'nt intend them to have the intelligence to use the mask powers in the first place? I suppose the limitation could have been introduced by Velika himself, but that doesn't explain why the Great Beings would make them so dependent upon the masks in the first place.

[Aderia]

1 hour ago, Biological Chronicler said:

How do matoran survive and maintain their overwhelming numerical advantage over the other races when they suffer from such a glaring flaw?

I'm not convinced the Matoran do have an overwhelming numerical advantage over other races. (if there's a citation specifically against this, I'd happily stand corrected) I think the stories we've been given just happen to focus on the Matoran society. That aside, if they do have an overwhelming numerical advantage over other races, wouldn't it make sense to balance them out with a glaring flaw? Also, while it's not as important for less-powerful Matoran or Turaga, giving Toa a handicap like that seems to make sense, with all the powers they have access to, otherwise (elemental, rhotuka, fusions, etc).

Also, (total speculation) didn't the Great Beings create the Matoran rather early on in their whole Matoran Universe project? Then, later creations got more powers simply because the GBs had invented more powers by that point? 

On to your larger question - I agree with your reasoning about 'lack of mental discipline' being a shaky explanation, at best, and I agree with the counterexamples you provided. 

1 hour ago, Biological Chronicler said:

Morover, we see that matoran change very little, if at all, phychologically when they are transformed into toa. If they lacked the willpower to use their masks as matoran, getting taller and growing a few extra muscles won't help.

From what I understand, being transformed into a Toa gives the former Matoran access to latent elemental powers, as well as a reserve of Toa power. I suspect being able to access Kanohi power also may be in a similar vein. I'd say mystical Toa power is the culprit. 

I can see a lot of societal lore around mask powers, in Matoran society. I think concepts that would come into play are 'Duty' and 'Destiny'. Matoran are laborers and workmen, or at least were created as such. While some mask powers would be useful in a day-to-day Matoran society, I think they probably get by just fine without them. Toa, on the other hand, come into existence out of necessity, from what we've seen - their duty becomes a lot more dangerous, so gaining more powers makes sense. Multiple times, I remember Toa referring to their mask powers as gifts 'given by the Great Spirit'.

 

2 hours ago, Biological Chronicler said:

They draw energy from the kanohi they wear, which they are completely dependent upon for survival.

I'm not sure if they actually do draw energy from their Kanohi. How would one draw energy from a powerless Kanohi, which many Matoran wear? I always thought of a Kanohi more of a ... bandaid? that stops power from leaking out? Except, again, all speculation, and not great speculation at that. 
 

2 hours ago, Biological Chronicler said:

Besides, turaga, who can use at least noble kanohi, are, as far as I know, no physically different from matoran. They may be stronger willed on average, but would seemingly be subject to the same physical constraints.

I'd argue that Turaga are under greater physical constraints than Matoran. Or, at least, they're usually described as frail. I think Turaga are more like expired Toa than they are like Matoran. They can use Kanohi, like you mentioned, but I believe they also have access to weakened elemental powers. That also seems to fit with the 'transformation by Toa power changes a lot' idea. 

So, yes, I agree that 'lack of mental discipline/willpower' isn't a sufficient explanation. Good question and follow up questions : ) 

[Toa of Plastic]

According to the BS01 article, matoran are needed all over the GSR to maintain his bodily functions. Most of the other races we've seen, even the named races, seem to be largely confined to their own homelands. All the vortixx live on Xia, all the Skakdi on Zakaz, ect. The only exceptions are the makuta and the zyglak. The zyglak where a mistake anyway, so they have no native land, and almost all makuta live on Destral, with there only being one individual per region.

Also, it seems pretty important for the matoran to be able to protect themselves, given how important they are to the Great Spirit's functioning. If they are in danger of being outcompeted by other species, even locally, that would be diasterous for the health of the Universe. Just imagine that you have a grove of fruit trees which rely on honeybees for pollination. You decide to remove all their stingers, reasoning that they wouldn't need them anyway, especially since you removed all the natural predators from the setting. Then, just for fun, you introduce several other, non-pollinating species of bees, but don't decide to remove their stingers for whatever reason. These new species quickly outbreeds the honeybees, driving them to extinction. Pollination ceases and the grove dies off.

33 minutes ago, Aderia said:

 

I'm not sure if they actually do draw energy from their Kanohi. How would one draw energy from a powerless Kanohi, which many Matoran wear? I always thought of a Kanohi more of a ... bandaid? that stops power from leaking out? Except, again, all speculation, and not great speculation at that. 
 

If it's just there to stop energy from leaking out, why does it have to a kanohi specifically? Wouldn't any old piece of protodermis carved in the right shape do? Also, if it's so important, why make it removeable at all? I've never heard of matoran suffering the same effects from removing other parts of their bodies, even though this is clearly shown to possible. It's like a human being needing to wear a plastic hard hat at all times to keep his blood from leaking out.

[MoarBotar]

The first thing that comes to mind is the Matoran Civil War that occured before the Great Cataclysm. The Matoran very nearly killed Mata Nui--to the point where Toa Jovan's team had to use the Mask of Life. The official explanation for this is that the Matoran neglected their duties (which kept the GSR functioning) because they were fighting; however, I think that sabotage (which we know the Civil War was rife with) was a major contributor to the damage. 

Now, if this is what Matoran are capable of WITHOUT mask powers, I think it's safe to assume that with mask powers they would have driven themselves to extinction (and done even more damage to the GSR). 

I have also suspected that Matoran have certain abilities/powers that we don't know about. Let's be real, honestly how did those little guys survive the war against the Rahi using... bamboo? Along these lines, the Matoran Nui (though rarely seen) is canon I believe (but correct me if I'm wrong on that point), which is an ability that usually only more powerful beings have access to. Perhaps Matoran are able to instinctively access a certain amount of dormant Toa Power they have when their life is in danger (sort of like the Avatar state if you're familiar with the Last Airbender or Legend of Korra). And let's not forget our buddy Kapura and his ambiguous 'traveling' abilities.  

If I were a Great Being, and I were creating creatures with a role as critical as maintaining the GSR, I would avoid giving them powers that they could use whenever they wanted (to avoid them damaging themselves/the GSR), but I would give them powers that would protect them in the case of an emergency (to prevent their extinction and the subsequent destruction of the GSR). 

That's my theory anyway.