Stone and earth? :/

[Takametru007]

Some people on here say that Earth: loose, moist soil. 

 

But in MoL:The Movie, Onua hoists aloft a bunch of BOULDERS to crush some Rahkshi (at the Kini Nui scene).

 

This calls into question the validity of some canonical sources: is Greg wrong in asserting that Earth is limited to loose moist soil? Or is MoL non-canon?

There is also some point (in one of the books) where Whenua seals off a tunnel to protect himself from a Rahkshi. If he seals off this tunnel with loose, moist, soil, it would seem pretty useless in stopping a servant of Makuta.

 

An interesting thing to note too is that in some early bio information, it was said that Pohatu could turn earth into stone (Onua however does not have the reverse ability), denoting there is a difference- though what that is seems pretty arbitrary and unclear.

 

I think we can agree that the canon is actually incredibly contradictory on the difference between Stone and Earth. Greg may have said one thing, but canonical sources seem to indicate other things. At the end of the day, it's really not that big of a deal: I feel life the rules of Bionicle are more relaxed than hard and fixed like we want them to be.

 

Ultimately, we have to remember that the BIONICLE story, as amazing as it is, really only exists to promote the toys. Of course they don't explain the difference between Stone and Earth: kids intuitively know the difference. Just ask your 8-12 year-old self, or any kid who likes BIONICLE, and they will give you a lengthy dissertation about what powers come with each element.

 

And since the canon contradicts itself so much, they'll probably be right (and wrong at the same time).

[SPIRIT]

Some people on here say that Earth: loose, moist soil. 

 

But in MoL:The Movie, Onua hoists aloft a bunch of BOULDERS to crush some Rahkshi (at the Kini Nui scene).

 

This calls into question the validity of some canonical sources: is Greg wrong in asserting that Earth is limited to loose moist soil? Or is MoL non-canon?

There is also some point (in one of the books) where Whenua seals off a tunnel to protect himself from a Rahkshi. If he seals off this tunnel with loose, moist, soil, it would seem pretty useless in stopping a servant of Makuta.

In MoL, I always assumed it was just big chunks of dirt.  I mean, even in Journey to One we see the difference between Onua and Pohatu's powers is still fairy ambiguous.  It's a lot easier to animate rocks than it is to animate loose soil.

 

As for Whenua, that's a bit easier to rationalize since there are rocks underground.  All he would need to do is cause a cave-in by affecting the soil around the rocks and the rocks would fall to block the tunnel.  Also for arbitrary reasons, the Rahkshi on Metru Nui weren't as competent as the Rahkshi on Mata Nui because Makuta hadn't given them a specific task.  (In real terms, obviously Greg needed some generic villains who weren't Vahki for the Toa Metru to fight and the Rahkshi fit the bill).

[Soran]

Relevant Comic I've made in the past addressing this.

 

 

~Soran

[Iku]

If I recall, I think I remember Greg saying something along the lines of Stone, Sand and Earth elements being defined by their particle size, where Stone is anything larger than Sand, and Earth is anything smaller than Sand, but neither can control it. Kinda makes sense and tbh I think it's the best rough explanation of what element controls what - a good rule of thumb to go along with the general sense of what soil/dirt/earth is compared to stones.