Jump to content

Rhotuka Spinners and what can use them


Recommended Posts

Ok here is a interesting thought, but I recently was rereading the Hordika Venom entry and noted that it would have no effect on anyone native to Sphereus Magna. This makes sense as it would be Biological Protodermis that the venom was composed of, and only beings born within Mata Nui (I mean the Matoran Universe) would naturally have it in their genes. But that got me thinking there was another item brought to light during the Vhisorak saga, the wheels of energy with a verity of powers the Rhotuka Spinner and we all know one of the most morally backstabing and in it for themselves has the power to mutate too.

 

Roodaka, the queen of the Vhisorak and one who made sure she was always on the hights of power! She possesses a Rhotuka that can mutate anything it hits into what ever she wishes, a Toa of Air and a entire team of toa who risked their lives to save the Mask of Light all knew too well. The only thing that could undo her alterations would be the Ignika, Pit Mutagen would make it worse and so would Hordika Venom. But unlike the Venom this power is supposedly anyone could manage if they had a way to charge a spinner and had a want to force things to be as they wished like Roodaka does.

 

Would that mean even Sphereus Magna residents with out a ounce of Protodermis in them could create a Rhotuka and by extension be mutated, dehydrated, put into a void of Shadow and more just as Matoran, Toa and even Makuta could be? I think this is a thought that needs further discussion as nowhere have I found a truly conclusive answer to this question. At best I say it should do the same thing to any living creature (Mask of Life can Affect even nonliving matter it is merely easier for it to control life touched things, where is the proof it can change inert matter why the Legend Reborn, Mata Nui's body was born from Sand and some sand will hold bits of life forms but it is mostly stone) and it is a simple matter of having knowledge of the concept and a way to launch the spinner to have one yourself. 

Bionicle is amazing.

Legends Never Die!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:kaukau: My understanding is that you can construct a spinner if you're a Bara Magna resident, but the only people who will have a physiological reaction to it are Protodermis-based lifeforms from the Matoran Universe.  I'm not a story expert (goodness, I'm not; the books never sold in my area), but to me it sounds like this is comparable to a disease bred in a lab.  You know what, I think I'll expand on that analogy with a specific hypothetical scenario.  Indulge me for a minute.

Let's say that during World War II, German scientists experimented with biological warfare to create a virus that could annihilate entire populations.  Unfortunately for them, probably due to their cumulative medical knowledge being incurably tainted with research tainted by certain presuppositions about what kind of people were worth their attention, their most efficient virus only really worked on their own gene pool — the German gene pool.  They snuff out the virus, but true to their character, they keep all documentation.  Not only is the data useful for further development, but such a virus would still have its uses in a worst-case scenario.  Among the most fanatical members of the Party, there was a commitment that Germany should be the preeminent world power, or it may as well not exist at all.  I know that this sounds rather extreme even by World War II standards, but the political elites of Germany at the time were genuinely crazier than what the movies depict.  So, leading up to the Fall of Berlin, though the officers and the true fanatics were quite willing to distribute cyanide tablets among themselves and their families in order to avoid judgment for their war crimes, getting everyone else to go along with this was a different story.  Hence, this hypothetical virus would have been the ultimate fail-safe.  Something happens, and they aren't able concoct a batch on time.  When the Soviets occupy Eastern Germany, they confiscate the virus and all related research.  They do not use it, but it is kept around as a fail-safe of their own.  The U.S.S.R. was, at the time, paranoid that Germany would rise again.  Perhaps they weren't paranoid — history will never know what Germany could have been capable if the Soviet Union didn't go overboard with preemptive measures such as deporting every last German from Prussia and importing an entirely Russian population to make sure that Germany would never, never, never ever have any Prussian generals again.

In this analogy, the virus is the Rhotuka Spinner.  It was created by Germans (the Protodermis-based lifeforms) who, given their limited reality, only knew about German (Protodermis) genes.  Their virus therefore was designed purely to destroy the gene pool that they best understood, the German (Protodermis) gene pool.  However, the Russians (Bara Magnans) could still use the virus (Rhotuka) to affect Germans (Protodermis lifeforms).  

The main difference is that the Bara Magnans can still find other uses for the Rhotuka.  I mean, there's nothing stopping them using them in a game of Ultimate Kanoka Golf when they couldn't get any Kanoka Disks because all of the Matoran called dibs on them.  Not surprisingly, those Matoran didn't want to touch the Rhotuka, and it's like that situation where everyone at the Thanksgiving family reunion gets to the turkey before you can, but the vast majority of them are lactose intolerant, and so you have the tasty but not-quite-as-festively-appropriate cheese pizza instead.

Eh, long story short, if the energy required to charge a Rhotuka is biological, then only creatures with a Protodermis-based biology can charge them.  It the energy isn't biological, then I could see it being like the virus analogy where Group B recreates a virus invented by Group A that only affects Group A.  I err toward the latter, because something about the Toa Hagah shields screams, "This tool does not have to be tied to biology!"  A more story-savvy fan can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

24601

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Jean Valjean said:

:kaukau: My understanding is that you can construct a spinner if you're a Bara Magna resident, but the only people who will have a physiological reaction to it are Protodermis-based lifeforms from the Matoran Universe.  I'm not a story expert (goodness, I'm not; the books never sold in my area), but to me it sounds like this is comparable to a disease bred in a lab.  You know what, I think I'll expand on that analogy with a specific hypothetical scenario.  Indulge me for a minute.

Eh, long story short, if the energy required to charge a Rhotuka is biological, then only creatures with a Protodermis-based biology can charge them.  It the energy isn't biological, then I could see it being like the virus analogy where Group B recreates a virus invented by Group A that only affects Group A.  I err toward the latter, because something about the Toa Hagah shields screams, "This tool does not have to be tied to biology!"  A more story-savvy fan can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

24601

A very estute way of looking at it, though I think you are correct in erring (Wow I'm a writer and I just now learned the proper spelling of that in this context, Thanks very much for that granted they never really got too high a level on spelling in my schools trust me you did not want the system I went with. "I can Spelz gud" ;) ) on the side that it is not a biological thing. While we do know Makuta created Rahi through Energized Protodermis and Energy based virals, and Rhotuka are made of energy (Nuju used a ice block to bounce a spinner back at a Kahgarak and like all energy it bounced)  they seem to be more connected to Will Power than Biology. Since certain Visorak have spinners that have nothing to do with biological effects, coupled with the fact that the shields of the Toa Hagah needed custom shields to fire their own I am one to lean towards it working on any creature depending on the power.

I mean Roodaka  cannot possibly be thinking of every function that her mutations would need to live, so as long as there is a DNA she can mutate it to a form shape and the Rhotuka fills in the blanks to make it function. Also considering the Ignika can change Agori into Snakes and in theory Roodaka's spinner can change that it makes logical sense.

Bionicle is amazing.

Legends Never Die!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wait a moment, I think there is some confusion here.

I had never heard of Hordika Venom not affecting Spherus Magna natives. Still, while I tend to mistrust any retcon post-2010, I agree that this might be a strong possibility, since the venom was produced by Visorak spiders, whose prey were only MU natives, who are made of protodermis and are thus very different from Spherus Magna beings.

Rhotuka spinners are something else entirely. They have a variety of powers and I don't see why the majority shouldn't affect Spherus Magna natives. Keelerak, for instance, have acid spinners, which I think would burn/dissolve Spherus Magna tissue and armor just as much as organic or metallic Protodermis. Same goes for Suukorak spinners, which create electrical fields. Boggarak spinners would also work: on land, they suck water out of their victims and this should work with both real and Protodermic water. And so on...

An argument might be made that Spherus Magna natives are invulnerable to spinners which affect the mind (the Shadowed One's madness spinner, or Sidorak's obedience spinner, for instance) and the nervous system (the Oohnorak numbness spinners, the Vohtarak burning pain spinners...), since MU natives and Spherus Magna natives have respectively robotic and organic brains. However, we have seen that Orde, a Toa of Psionics, can use his power to read the mind of Glatorian and MU beings alike... so it stands to reason that other mind-affecting powers of MU beings would also work on Spherus Magna natives.

As for Roodaka's mutating spinner, again, an argument could be made against it working on Spherus Magna natives. I think there's no definitive solution here, since Roodaka only ever mutated MU beings as far as we have seen. Personally, I would prefer to think that it does... it would make more sense and would avoid too many complications. Plus, powers are "magic" whichever way you spin it... there's a limit to how much one can rationalize them.

Finally, could Spherus Magna natives create Rhotuka? Good question. We know that even MU beings who have no natural Rhotuka launchers embedded in their anatomy can use artificial launchers to produce them (examples are Roodaka, Sidorak, the Toa Hagah and several Dark Hunters). Of course, Spherus Magna natives might not be able to use this kind of tool. Again, it is difficult to say. Artificial Rhotuka depend not on the launcher but on the user, so "something" must pass from the user to the launcher for it to work. Could Glatorian or Agori generate this "something"? I can't say. Again, I would prefer it if they could, but I see no way to prove it.

Edited by Toa of Italy
  • Like 4

632461607_Bannerdefinitivopiccolo.png.8e4bc632ba965c6eaef9247ce71df1d7.png
My collection of epics: The Sanctum of Writing

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...