The Return of Protodermis

[Takametru007]

What do you think? Masks, which were a huge part of G1, are back. Will Protodermis have a place in the new story too? As a power source, or a catalyst for transformation, or a possible third magical use? Or is there another thing that will/currently does fill the role Protodermis played in G1? 

 

Considering they've brought back so many other things that are explicitly BIONICLE, like the terms Toa (and the Mata names), Mask of Power, and the Makuta, not to mention the Island location, it would make sense for Protodermis to become an integral part to the new story, much like how Chi is to Chima. What do you think?

[Iblis]

I don't think primitive skin (of a mega robot) will be back.

Something that does similar stuff? Well they've already mentioned magic.

So any substance that does 'special' stuff basically is Protodermis.

 

I sincerely hope they drop the name unless it's what the Toa's armour is made of et cetera, & even then eugh.

 

Seriously hope they replace it with magic & a bit less whatever the plot demands.

[Mailli]

Yeah, any mystical liquid that does stuff will be the gen 2 protodermis, and it's possible they'll use the same name. Whatever it will be called, there will be some form of it.

[MrSciFiGuy]

Yea, I don't think protodermis is coming back. 

 

Right now we dont really know exactly how organic the Toa are also. They are just keeping things pretty darn simple with no unnecessary explanation of things, unfortunately we all want to know exactly how and why it all works just like in G1

[Cressona]

I kind of hope not.  Although if regular protodermis comes back as a building block of some part of the island, it could be a hint that something similar to the G1 setting is going on, and we'll have some sort of G2-version of Great Beings or a GSR (hopefully still significantly different from the G1 edition, if still recognizably inspired by it).

 

Energized protodermis, on the other hand, was always sort of a deus-ex-machina in G1.  Need the toa to transform? Dunk 'em in EP! Want to combine Takanuva and Makuta, or for that matter any other characters? Dunk 'em in EP!  And the whole sentience thing, which we never really got to flesh out, was kind of cool but mostly felt like just too much.

 

G2 is, so far, giving off a vibe of a far more simple, streamlined, mythological approach to the Bionicle story, and protodermis is definitely a complicating element in that narrative.  Unless there are very compelling reasons for it to make an appearance, it seems likely it won't be back.

[Takuta-Nui]

I feel similarly that the broad and powerful concept of protodermis is something that belongs more in G1 BIONICLE. It was, as others have said, essentially a catch-all deux-ex-machina even if it did provoke a deeper and richer story of the Great Beings, the Core War, and the Shattering later on in the canon storyline. It became ubiquitous to the point of (for myself at least) getting old and eliciting more "of course it was" than "I didn't see that coming!" reactions.

 

In G2 if they feel the need to do something like that again, I suspect they'll restrict it to objects of power such as the masks. That would set limits and consistency - normal villagers and Toa don't have their own powers, but when they wear masks made of x or use tools made of the same x stuff, they can tap into its power. That would create a clear boundary between the ordinary and the extraordinary in this universe.

 

It still will leave room for twists - maybe finding out that subjecting that material to some kind of energy will do something new. That'd be the equivalent of energized protodermis. Okay to use for one or two plot points, but hopefully not as overdone as it was in the latter years of the storyline.

 

Then again, they may simply not do this at all and only go with the simpler idea that when something is forged or created by a sufficiently skilled or powerful being, it simply becomes special and has unique powers. Go with that on a case by case basis, only watching out for plot conflicts the longer the story goes on.

[Sergei Rahkmaninoff]

Might it be of note that the Mask of Creation was described as being 'forged from raw magic and solid gold' (or something like that)? I think that would imply that masks aren't made from protodermis in Gen2. More likely they're just whatever metal works (perhaps some metals, like gold, are more effective) and a bit of 'magic' to provide the power.

 

When you look at it like that, perhaps 'magic' is the protodermis of Gen2. Both do pretty much the same thing in terms of affecting the plot.

[Cressona]

Might it be of note that the Mask of Creation was described as being 'forged from raw magic and solid gold' (or something like that)? I think that would imply that masks aren't made from protodermis in Gen2. More likely they're just whatever metal works (perhaps some metals, like gold, are more effective) and a bit of 'magic' to provide the power.

 

When you look at it like that, perhaps 'magic' is the protodermis of Gen2. Both do pretty much the same thing in terms of affecting the plot.

Good point, I think it's interesting to note the apparent prevalence of "magic" as a feature of G2-- which I have mixed feelings about.  On the one hand, it makes sense that the legendary mask makers should use "magic" to forge masks of power, and it contributes to that mythological feel.

 

On the other hand, "magic" could open the door to, well, whatever anybody wants it to be, allowing powers to be thrown around without restriction or explanation.  Now, lack of explanation I won't mind so much, in keeping with the mythology, but unless there are clear and consistent restraints on that power (which magic, as a vague and fluid term, may lack) it could get out of hand pretty quickly.  Just like energized protodermis!

[Lyichir]

The fact that there is no giant robot would seem to suggest that Protodermis, as a concept, is not a part of the new universe.

 

Frankly, I don't mind—especially since Protodermis lost a lot of its conceptual value when it went from being just the "skin" of the robot to being a substance which could imitate any other (water, rocks, trees). And "energized" protodermis just muddled the issue even further. I'm fine with "pure gold and raw magic" if the alternative is a scientifically suspect miracle metal.

[aldero]

I would like to see the return of specialised metals, but I hope they give the universe's periodic table some variety this time. Protodermis was quite literally everywhere in the Matoran Universe. Kanohi? Kanoka? Weapons? Buildings? Great Spirit Robot? Sea Liquid? All protodermis. Why is everything made of protodermis? Wouldn't everything be shimmering silver?

 

So, yeah, bring back protodermis, but give us some new materials this time.

[Iblis]

All protodermis. Why is everything made of protodermis? Wouldn't everything be shimmering silver?

 

Protodermis? Be consistent? Hahahahahaha! ^{Technobabble + word-of-creator + streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetching (seriously this here requires less filling in on the creators behalf...)!}

 

Seriously though it always bugged me that we didn't see something else like "Protosteum" (not really) or Neocutis (jks)...

 

I entirely expect to see something that causes multiple beings to be fused together though, whether that just be Magic or a Magical X or whatever... I sincerely hope it comes down to item/substance is Magical or has these properties (as opposed to anything & everything except semi-random. maybe. not).

[Tuuli]

Because everything was made of Protodermis for a reason, it is basically the building block of life for Bionicle(no kidding?), and that everything in the matoran universe was made of protodermis meant that they were creations by the Great Beings, I personally liked the idea of this because it is similar to cells or atoms, and they all build up as part of a bigger biological system, and I really think Protodermis should come back to G2, because everything in the Bionicle universe is protodermis, and we should keep it that way!

 

And I don't really want to think the Toa and protectors are made from anything else but protodermis. It's like they are made out of iron without it

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

oddly, i could only stand to have protodermis back if it came without any connection to the great beings or the core war or whatever.

 

i just like it for its fictional-shimmer-metal properties, and the name's sorta become a bionicle must in my opinion. :0

[Takuta-Nui]

Because everything was made of Protodermis for a reason, it is basically the building block of life for Bionicle(no kidding?), and that everything in the matoran universe was made of protodermis meant that they were creations by the Great Beings, I personally liked the idea of this because it is similar to cells or atoms, and they all build up as part of a bigger biological system, and I really think Protodermis should come back to G2, because everything in the Bionicle universe is protodermis, and we should keep it that way!

 

And I don't really want to think the Toa and protectors are made from anything else but protodermis. It's like they are made out of iron without it

I think it's important to understand that G2 isn't simply the BIONICLE universe - it is a new universe that shares much in common with the original universe we're acquainted with. Plus, you might be forgetting that it was only the Matoran Universe that was all protodermis (and there were even exceptions such as Tren Krom and the Glatorian found in the Core Processor). It's still quite possible that G2 takes place in the same universe but with a huge separation of space and time.

 

Even so, protodermis became such a central part of G1, it makes more sense to me to make it not at all central to G2. We ultimately want a new story, don't we? We would be more disappointed if LEGO was just repeating the same storyline with minor tweaks. So if they confirmed that protodermis still has the same role here as it did before, that would result in us being able to predict parts of the story and start racing ahead with theories.

 

That'd take away the mystery for me. I'm honestly fine if they come up with a protodermis equivalent as long as it's sufficiently different. That way we can't rely on our current vast knowledge to spoil the surprises.