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Zaktan's true power


Chro

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When the Piraka were revealed in the Ignition arc, they each had three power types, and each had at least one of each type of power.

1. Vision power(s)

2. Elemental power

3. Miscellaneous other ability

For example, Hakann had heat vision, fire, and mental blasts; Thok had spellbinder vision, ice, and animation powers.

 

Zaktan, though, is an oddity. His powers were shown to be laser vision, air, and the ability to split his body into millions of protodites.

This makes sense, except that the power to split his body was apparently given to Zaktan by TSO's disintegration beams. So what power did Zaktan have before this incident?

Another thing- Zaktan is supposedly killed by Teridax, but manages to survive and goes to Zakaz.

 

This leads me to the main part of my theory, Zaktan's actual power.

My theory: Zaktan's true third power is the ability to not die. Whatever happens to him, he cannot be killed.

 

TSO's eyebeams disintegrate, which means they break the target down on a molecular level (or something like that), and when Zaktan is hit with the beams, he does disintegrate... but survives in a protodite form. When he becomes a sea snake (because sea snaaakes!) and his water tank is destroyed by Teridax, Zaktan clearly should have died again. (We even thought he might've died, until it was confirmed otherwise outside of the story that the green cloud was indeed Zaktan.) However, he manages to survive against the odds.

 

The one problem, as far as I can tell...

 

 

When asked how Zaktan separated into Protodites, Greg Farshtey answered that it was "his nature," and later clarified that Zaktan was likely a mutant even before Spiriah began his experiments.

 

For this reason it's likely that my theory is incorrect... unless of course Greg meant that it's Zaktan's nature to be unkillable. I think that Spiriah (despite being a screw-up) would've been smart enough not to give a Skakdi the power of immortality, and it's quite possible that Zaktan being a mutant just caused whatever Spiriah did to him to mess up and result in his inability to die.

That all said, I'd still like to propose this despite that one quote. What do you think? Plausible? No? Tear it to shreds if you feel so inclined.

Edited by Chro

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Interesting theory. I've often wondered that myself, and I think this is plausible. Spiriah apparently wasn't very good at working with the viruses to begin with, so an error in Zaktan's dose causing something along the lines of immortality is possible.

 

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For this reason it's unlikely that my theory is incorrect...

 

That all said, I'd still like to propose this despite that one quote.

Does the second sentence in this quote mean that the first one is a typo (for "correct" -- unlikely to be correct)? As for how that Greg quote relates to your theory, it's unclear. If Zaktan has the ability to avoid death, and mutation is the mechanism, and had previously mutated in some less obvious way to avoid a previous death, your theory would still be correct. Or, it could mean a "mutation" explains how he became able to turn into protodites, and it wouldn't be his power. IMO this is more likely (and in my interpretation for my retelling I have a different explanation, but it's spoilers :P).

 

Your theory could be supported by Reidak's power; he can't be defeated the same way twice. So magical whateverness to save a being from death is supported as a possible Skakdi power. Zaktan's would just be handled differently.

 

Also, both the mutant-for-other-reasons and third-power theories could both be right. I believe Avak's third power was somewhere stated to be granted due to the tampering by Spiriah, not natural to him. Similar things could cause Zaktan's third power.

 

 

However, I don't think it's necessary. In the first incident becoming protodites, anything could explain it. In the second, being protodites can explain it if a few survived. I also have a second theory related to the Protodax I plan to use to help explain the second, but it's also spoilers for my story, sorry. :P

 

Bottom line is, yes, it's possible, but certainly not the only option. It would only work if Greg just hadn't thought of it at the time, or for some reason wanted to keep it mysterious. If he knows that it's not related to Zaktan's third power, that might better explain why he hasn't disproven it already.

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For this reason it's unlikely that my theory is incorrect...

 

That all said, I'd still like to propose this despite that one quote.

Does the second sentence in this quote mean that the first one is a typo (for "correct" -- unlikely to be correct)?

Oops. I meant "likely to be incorrect"- thanks. :P

 

I know it's not the only option, just one possible explanation, but glad to hear you think it's plausible.

save not only their lives


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Isn't Zaktan's form kind of like antidermis, in that you have to eradicate all of it to kill the being? I just viewed Teridax's attempted kill as scattering Zaktan everywhere, but the protodites survived and reformed later. They are microscopic creatures, after all, as tiny as dust. Zaktan just looks semi-solid when he "swarms" because he keeps the cloud of protodites condensed. Scatter them thinner than mist, though, and they become as good as invisible. No explicit "cannot die" power needed.

 

I've wondered: was Reidak's power one that made him directly adapt to, say, resist fire perfectly, or was it just a mental one that made him ridiculously good at avoiding being burnt in the first place? Like, when Thok kicked him down a mountain, did he then adapt so that fall damage never injures him again, or did he just get a supernatural way to recognize an attempt at (and know how to avoid) getting kicked off a cliff again?

 

In any case, I felt that Teridax essentially gave Zaktan a good way to fake his own death, and may have counted on it given what happened with the Piraka fusion later. Even if it wasn't on purpose, he likely just targeted the glass bowl with an explosive power and was satisfied when he didn't detect any Zaktan in that area anymore. He might not have realized that he'd need to use plasma or something to exterminate the micro-organisms that Zaktan's body is made up of.

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In any case, I felt that Teridax essentially gave Zaktan a good way to fake his own death, and may have counted on it given what happened with the Piraka fusion later. Even if it wasn't on purpose, he likely just targeted the glass bowl with an explosive power and was satisfied when he didn't detect any Zaktan in that area anymore. He might not have realized that he'd need to use plasma or something to exterminate the micro-organisms that Zaktan's body is made up of.

 

Then how did Zaktan get down to the Skakdi where the EP was that turned into the fusion? I don't think could float down there - he was a water being. He'd drown. Teridax probably planned the whole thing.

 

Unless his secret power is teleportation. :P I would rule that as unlikely though, because then he would have teleported away from TSO's eyebeams in the first place.

Edited by fishers64
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Then how did Zaktan get down to the Skakdi where the EP was that turned into the fusion? I don't think could float down there - he was a water being. He'd drown. Teridax probably planned the whole thing.

 

Unless his secret power is teleportation. :P I would rule that as unlikely though, because then he would have teleported away from TSO's eyebeams in the first place.

For some reason I never quite believed that protodites could "drown". The lungs of Zaktan would technically not be working, they would just be formed of a living mass of smaller, self-sufficient protodites. He could easily fake gasping for air, awaiting a chance to escape. Edited by Katuko
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I've wondered: was Reidak's power one that made him directly adapt to, say, resist fire perfectly, or was it just a mental one that made him ridiculously good at avoiding being burnt in the first place? Like, when Thok kicked him down a mountain, did he then adapt so that fall damage never injures him again, or did he just get a supernatural way to recognize an attempt at (and know how to avoid) getting kicked off a cliff again?

 

^^ This. I was thinking that it would simply make him more resistant to whatever hit him, mainly element-wise. You know, it would be just less harmful to him for the same application of elemental energy. But as for kicking off of a cliff - I never thought that would go under this adaption power.

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It could be that he has the same power as Reidak, but far more extreme, so that he can "adapt" or "mutate" into something that let's him survive almost anything

Yes, that's one way of looking at it. Immortality by adaption, I guess? >.>

save not only their lives


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but their spirits

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Well it is a Biological Chronicle so I always assumed that Zaktan survived due to the power of plot.

 

 

In any case, I felt that Teridax essentially gave Zaktan a good way to fake his own death, and may have counted on it given what happened with the Piraka fusion later. Even if it wasn't on purpose, he likely just targeted the glass bowl with an explosive power and was satisfied when he didn't detect any Zaktan in that area anymore. He might not have realized that he'd need to use plasma or something to exterminate the micro-organisms that Zaktan's body is made up of.

 

Then how did Zaktan get down to the Skakdi where the EP was that turned into the fusion? I don't think could float down there - he was a water being. He'd drown. Teridax probably planned the whole thing.

 

Unless his secret power is teleportation. :P I would rule that as unlikely though, because then he would have teleported away from TSO's eyebeams in the first place.

 

Maybe he attempted to teleport, but the eyebeams interfered and lead to his protodite form?

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Well it is a Biological Chronicle so I always assumed that Zaktan survived due to the power of plot.

 

 

In any case, I felt that Teridax essentially gave Zaktan a good way to fake his own death, and may have counted on it given what happened with the Piraka fusion later. Even if it wasn't on purpose, he likely just targeted the glass bowl with an explosive power and was satisfied when he didn't detect any Zaktan in that area anymore. He might not have realized that he'd need to use plasma or something to exterminate the micro-organisms that Zaktan's body is made up of.

 

Then how did Zaktan get down to the Skakdi where the EP was that turned into the fusion? I don't think could float down there - he was a water being. He'd drown. Teridax probably planned the whole thing.

 

Unless his secret power is teleportation. :P I would rule that as unlikely though, because then he would have teleported away from TSO's eyebeams in the first place.

 

Maybe he attempted to teleport, but the eyebeams interfered and lead to his protodite form?

Possible, but not likely. The eye beams are designed to disintegrate, not transform.

 

Also, there's a lot of instances where teleportation would have been useful, but Zaktan decided not to use it. Avak's cage, the 777 stairs (especially with Irnakk)...but maybe that's why we never saw it in story, as teleportation is hazardous (rematerializing inside walls etc). :shrugs: But that wouldn't explain the eyebeams thing.

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  • 1 month later...
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Maybe he always DID have the power of turning into protodites, but didn't know how, kind of like a Toa and his/her mask. Perhaps when he realized that "oh , I'm so dead" his body reacted by itself and activated his ability, which he didn't know he had. I think that's kind of similar to how and when Vakama found his mask power. He was fighting Makuta, and he probably knew he was totally screwed. His mind and body reacted by themselves and caused him to use his mask power of invisibility.

 

I'm so tempted to make a game theory reference here ._.

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Except that he didn't turn into protodites to avoid the disintegration eyebeams- he was hit by the blast, but then became small living particles, instead of becoming small dead particles. ;)

According to BS01:

 

Zaktan's body was originally of the same substance as any normal Skakdi's, but when the Shadowed One's eyebeams altered Zaktan, his body and Three-Bladed Scissor became made up of billions of Protodites, each containing a fraction of his consciousness.

 

But I don't know if that's speculation, or if it was confirmed to have developed only after he was hit. :notsure:


And I could be wrong. Since, you know, this is just a theory. A game Bionicle theory. :P

save not only their lives


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but their spirits

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It's correct that Zaktan wasn't made of protodites before. To Irnakk, he described himself as such:

"Horror is looking into the eyes of the Shadowed One, knowing you are about to die ... and then being forced to live. Horror is waking each day to see every part of your body moving on its own, a shifting mass of Protodites where once was solid metal and living tissue. Horror is what is in the eyes of your partners when they look at you ... and in the cries of your enemies when your swarm engulfs them. Don't talk to me about fear, creature — I am fear!"

Unless he's lying through his teeth (which I doubt, in this case) we may gather from this that Zaktan was a regular biomechanical creature, at least from his own point of view. Whether a closer examination of his pre-eyebeams body would have revealed him as a mutant is an open question.

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