Worst Mask Power

[CeeCee]

So there have been some pretty amazing mask powers in Bionicle history. There have also been some awful ones.Take Whenua for example. His mask can glow in the dark, big whoop. The other Toa could get the same effect by taping torches to their masks.What do you think is the worse mask power?

[fishers64]

Worst mask power? Probably the Mask of Time Duplication (the one Bitil had). All of the past versions of myself are substantially more evil than my current form, and would probably turn on me every time I tried to use them. Not a comforting thought.

[Taipu1]

The Kanohi Elda. Not really sure why Lego chose the signal for detection to be head aches there, just seems unpleasant for the purpose of being unpleasant.

[Podu]

Mask of Scavenging. Why bother draining energy from death things when you can have an Avsa and absorb whatever you want XD

[Toa Smoke Monster]

I have to agree with Taipu1 and go with the Elda.

[Makuta Matata]

The Elda was basically useless. All she could do with it was see Matoro when he was a spirit.

[Nuparu1995]

Definitely the Elda, the Aki, the Rua, and the Mask of Charisma.

[FrozenFlash]

It's either the Elda or whatever Axxon's mask is (I forgot what it's called).

[Aderia]

Mask of Scavenging. Why bother draining energy from death things when you can have an Avsa and absorb whatever you want XD

^This.

[The Iron Toa]

I don't know... I thought the Mask of Scavenging let the user easily drain energy from a lot of corpses, while with the Avsa you need to focus on one living target. Growing each stronger with each enemy you kill sounds like a pretty useful power to me.

[Ballom Nom Nom]

It's either the Elda or whatever Axxon's mask is (I forgot what it's called).

Axonn's mask (the Rode) is actually quite useful, as truthsense is helpful, as is seeing through illusions and disguises.Anyway, I agree that the Elda is pretty useless. Also, the Iden had little use as well, although possessing bodies could be pretty useful at times.~B~

[bonesiii]

I don't know... I thought the Mask of Scavenging let the user easily drain energy from a lot of corpses, while with the Avsa you need to focus on one living target. Growing each stronger with each enemy you kill sounds like a pretty useful power to me.

Right; it would be used if you (being a villain) were killing someone anyways, thus the Avsa wouldn't help.In general all masks have their uses. These topics always seem to rely on a fallacy that you can put any single mask at "worst", whereas in reality every mask is better or worse for different circumstances.I do think the Elda should have been for finding any object you needed. The headache thing... eh... I can see it being a downside, but yeah... Of course, even this logic doesn't really fly objectively because the Elda is for finding one of the most important objects in existence.

[Wotz]

The Ruru or Elda, I'd have to say. The Rau at times is useless, being more of a circumstance thing (if you're somewhere where the Rahi can't be reasoned with and all the ancient runes are just inane scribbles, for instance).

Definitely the Elda, the Aki, the Rua, and the Mask of Charisma.

You know the Aki and the Rua both have three mask powers, and the Mask of Charisma can influence basically any decision someone makes. I'd say those are pretty useful.

[fishers64]

I do think the Elda should have been for finding any object you needed. The headache thing... eh... I can see it being a downside, but yeah... Of course, even this logic doesn't really fly objectively because the Elda is for finding one of the most important objects in existence.

I think the Elda could have been used to find whatever you needed, but Hahli didn't know how to use it. The only conjecture she could make was that the mask was giving her headaches, and they vaguely had to do we where she was. If she actually knew how to use the thing, she might have been able to "name the object" and find it. She couldn't, so it was set to the Mask of Life, since she needed that. The other thing about that mask was that it was a poorly executed concept in-story, at least in the books, where Hakann and Thok blasted some rocks with Brutaka's powers - oh, look, here is that stairway to the Chamber of Life. There's a nice sign above the door to tell everyone that.

[dotcom]

How is the Ruru useless? It's a mask of night vision, which is very useful. Also, the Great version of the mask could see through stuff like a weaker Akaku. The Elda is admittedly the least useful mask, if only because it's powers are so specific there is only one situation where it'd be helpful, and even then the way the power manifests is not very pleasant.

[Dralcax]

The Zatth, because you're likely to be eaten if you summon something big. if you summon something small, you order lunch for your enemies.

[Paleo]

Elda, hands down. You sense the proximity of ONE mask with the intensity of skull-splitting HEADACHES.Not to mention the mustache.

[a goose]

Definitely the Elda, the Aki, the Rua, and the Mask of Charisma.

Not true, the Mask of Charisma could be very useful. In my epics I've used it on a number of occasions - you can convince anyone to agree with your opinion. You could use it like a Komau without having to be there to direct them after using the mask.But, I have to agree with the Elda.

[dotcom]

The Zatth, because you're likely to be eaten if you summon something big. if you summon something small, you order lunch for your enemies.

That reasoning is much too limited. A large beast is just as likely to attack an enemy as yourself. A small Rahi works well if you need a diversion, and besides, just because something is small doesn't necessarily make it useless or weak. It's not like the odds are split between big and small either, there are medium-sized Rahi too. And also, combat isn't the only way to use Kanohi.

[bonesiii]

I think the Elda could have been used to find whatever you needed, but Hahli didn't know how to use it.

Unfortunately this was suggested to Greg and he denied it. There's always fan fiction though, heh. (The EM version of this can find anything in fact.)

[Toatapio Nuva]

There's no worst mask power. All powers are useful, if only in certain circumstances. The Elda might have been very helpful to the Toa Inika in 2006 if they had actually thought of using it to find the mask before the Piraka. Unfortunately, in the books, the Elda isn't used at all. Instead it gives Hahli horrible headaches and it's the Piraka who lead them to the staircase.Still, if actually used, Elda would be useful in finding the Ignika and save the Great Spirit before it's too late.

[~garnira returns~]

Elda for obvious reasons.Also, imagine this scenario for the zatth:Toa: Hah, you picked on the wrong toa, rahkshi!Toa(thinking): wait 'till I summon a muaka to eat this creature... :evilbiggrin:Rahkshi: hissssss!*A huge flash of light temporarily blinds the rahkshi, and when it fades, there is fikou standing next to the toa*Rahkshi: Hissssssssss!!!*steps on and flattens fikou*Toa: well that didn't work out the way I planned it to... *rahkshi beats the karzahni out of the toa*

[The Swimming Beard]

I think the Elda.

[Axilus Prime]

Zatth. I don't like leaving things to chance.I will not call the Elda bad, as it had its function and served it well enough.

[25K Now!]

Every mask has its own specific purpose. Some masks just have more specific purposes than others. There isn't really a 'worst' mask power, seeing that they are all suited for what situation they are required for, but the mask that had a narrower range would probably be the Elda.It's abilities were merely to detect the Mask of Life and see Iden-spirits, so it would be useful if searching for the Ignika or if one needed to communicate with an Iden-user on their team, but it would not have much use in other situations.

[Toa Zaz]

The mask of possibilities, just because it's such a poorly conceptualized power.

[The First Speaker]

Take Whenua for example. His mask can glow in the dark, big whoop. The other Toa could get the same effect by taping torches to their masks.

Whenua made his mask glow so Nuju, Onewa and Lhikan could see in the dark too. If he had been alone, I suppose he would have used nightvision instead. Remember that the Ruru is Lamp + Night Vision + Some X-Ray vision. Edited July 9, 2012 by Mr. Hyde

[dee.3x3]

I'd imagine the the Elda was not a very common mask, and Hahli was destined to end up with it so they could find the Mask of Life. But the headaches thing would be quite annoying.Anyway, I imagined that the Kaukau wouldn't be as good for toa other than ones of the water type.

[Master Inika]

So there have been some pretty amazing mask powers in Bionicle history. There have also been some awful ones.Take Whenua for example. His mask can glow in the dark, big whoop. The other Toa could get the same effect by taping torches to their masks.What do you think is the worse mask power?

He also had x-ray vision.The Elda is a unique situation. It's only useful for one situation (saving the universe from total destruction), but in that situation, it's absolutely necessary. According to BS01, is can also detect hidden (as in invisible) beings.Most every mask is useful somehow. However, the Zatth is pretty inconvenient for multiple reason. It's the "I hope this works" masks.

[Click]

I'd say Elda, but I also want to point out that the reason it gave headaches was because it was organic, and the headaches was the way it communicated with Hahli. It could also sense hidden beings, but there's a ton of masks that do that too.Some other ones that seem kinda pointless are Mask of Aging, Conjuring kind of, since it sometimes takes longer to program it than it gives you to use it, and you need to be always ready, or your stuck without a mask power. Rebounding kinda, as well as the Arthron. It always bugs me how many masks there are specifically for hiding and finding hidden beings. We have the Elda, Arthron, Mask of Sensory Aptitude (possibly), and Rode for detection, and Huna, Mahiki (kinda), Iden, Volitak, and Mask of Intangibility (kinda) all for hiding. At least one of those have to be rendered pointless.

[fishers64]

The Iden hides things? More like leaves your body vulnerable while you hunt for things at faster than body movement speeds.

[Click]

Well, kind of, I guess. It hides your "astral projection" while your body remains there, so it has a similar function to, say, the Arthron, but you can't affect your environment at all, but can move faster, as long as your body is safe.

[fishers64]

Well, kind of, I guess. It hides your "astral projection" while your body remains there, so it has a similar function to, say, the Arthron, but you can't affect your environment at all, but can move faster, as long as your body is safe.

More like a find things-while-staying-hidden type thing?Anyway, just because there are multiple masks for finding/hiding things doesn't render them useless - they all find or hide them in different ways, and each might be better for a specific situation. Some of those masks also have other uses, like the Mahiki. There are lot of masks with similar uses - the Suletu, the Mask of Mind Control, and the Mask of Charisma all affect the mind, and the Miru and Kadlin and Garai all deal in one's vertical position in the universe. But each one of them has differences that matter in situations, and has other uses.

[bonesiii]

I'd say Elda, but I also want to point out that the reason it gave headaches was because it was organic, and the headaches was the way it communicated with Hahli.

I have never heard this; you're saying the normal version of it would NOT produce headaches? Is that confirmed?

[Click]

I remember somewhere that since the masks were organic, they communicated to the Inika via headaches with everyone, or something similar. It seems kinda natural to assume that a normal mask would do something less drastic.

[bonesiii]

No, they could communicate in a simple telepathic way to them all, basically informing them of how to use the mask powers. Only Hahli got headaches.

[LordofBionicles]

that´s not the Elda´s only use, you can also see beings using the power of a Huna, Volitak and Iden if I´m not mistaken.

[The Iron Toa]

And that would make the Elda a much more useful mask if the Rode didn't also have that ability. As for the Mask of Aging, that depends on how long the mask takes to age a being that lives for a hundred thousand years any meaningful amount.

[bonesiii]

And that would make the Elda a much more useful mask if the Rode didn't also have that ability. As for the Mask of Aging, that depends on how long the mask takes to age a being that lives for a hundred thousand years any meaningful amount.

The mask's main use as I imagine it would be to age nonliving things like rock or metal structures to make them crumble.As for all the detection/concealment oriented masks, the problem with saying that one or more must be pointless is that there is an infinite variety of protodermic (mask) powers possible with various Kanoka mixtures, so it's inevitable that some will be very similar to others. As long as one does what you need it to do, the fact that the same thing could be done with a different power is irrelevant.Also, it enables you to have a wider variety of "faces" when the basic purposes of detection and concealment are needed. Since masks are the faces for many beings, this makes sense.

[The Iron Toa]

As for the Mask of Aging, that depends on how long the mask takes to age a being that lives for a hundred thousand years any meaningful amount.

The mask's main use as I imagine it would be to age nonliving things like rock or metal structures to make them crumble.

Oh, right. I even had it used for something like that in my epic once, haha. But still, the Kanohi Jutlin would work better for that. If the Mask of Aging could age beings like Voporak could, or even half -- a quarter or less, even -- as quickly, it would be good for killing or weakening beings by rapid aging.