Mata-Nui Stone

[Tuuli]

So when I looked at the Mata-Nui stone carving in the amaja circle, I noticed he had sort of "whiskers" on the side of his face. The kanohi hau has similar 'whiskers' but also I was looking at the mask of life and couldn't help but notice more whiskers just like the Mata-Nui stone, and even mor, I think I saw some whiskers on the great spirit robot's face. So what does this mean? What do the whiskers mean?

[Aanchir]

So when I looked at the Mata-Nui stone carving in the amaja circle, I noticed he had sort of "whiskers" on the side of his face. The kanohi hau has similar 'whiskers' but also I was looking at the mask of life and couldn't help but notice more whiskers just like the Mata-Nui stone, and even mor, I think I saw some whiskers on the great spirit robot's face. So what does this mean? What do the whiskers mean?

I don't think they "mean" anything. They're just a common motif in BIONICLE. I never really saw them as whiskers, either.

[Makaru]

It's a very recognized theory that Mata Nui's whisker tribal markings allowed the Great Spirit robot to judge width between planets during cosmic travel. Makuta sabotaged these whiskers, which caused the Great Spirit robot to crash on Spherus Magna.

 

I'm sorry, that entire paragraph was made up. Let's ask some more esteemed scholars what they think, over in Storyline and Theories.

 

Boosh...

[bonesiii]

Mata Nui is a cat.

 

Not really. They're not whiskers, they're parallel indentations. The similarity is probably intentional, and meant to imply the symbolic connection of all those things to Mata Nui himself.

[Tuuli]

Makuta has whiskers too, I believe.

[fishers64]

No he doesn't. 

 

His mouth is way too big for that. 

[Crunchyn]

The telling of the tale used to be done on solid protodermis instead of sand and the Makuta stone was a darker version of the Mata Nui Stone. When it was repeatably dropped on the surface, chips fell off until it came to look like the stone we know today.

Edited July 16, 2014 by CrunchbiteNuva

[Ballom Nom Nom]

I've never imagined the Mata Nui stone or the Hau to have whiskers, but I have always considered the Great Komau to have them. It's a bit inconsistent, but that's how I see things. And then of course there's how the Pakari indisputably has a huge ear-to-ear grin, but that's a different story completely.

 

~B~

[fishers64]

The telling of the tale used to be done on solid protodermis instead of sand and the Makuta stone was a darker version of the Mata Nui Stone. When it was repeatably dropped on the surface, chips fell off until it came to look like the stone we know today.

This is also a myth. The Makuta stone was the piece of the Makuta prison Roodaka cut and placed over her heart and which was used to free him from said prison. Vakama ended up with it and used it for his stories. 

* * *

Also, these are not whiskers: 

 

 

...as they are up too high to be whiskers, as compared to this image of an actual cat:

 

 

[electrodude]

I think it's also about Mata Nui's role as a protecter, the Hau being the Mask of Shielding as well as the mask that was the most used in the early advertisement campaigns for Bionicle. 

[Zox Tomana]

Actually, it likely has everything to do with the Hau. In one of the comics it is revealed that the Hau is one of the symbols of Mata Nui. The "whiskers" on the stone are there simply to make the "face" better resemble a Hau.

[Toa Kayn]

Does this mean Naruto is actually Mata Nui?

[Oroki]

Nyan, Mata Nui-Neko kawaii ^^

[Toa Kayn]

Nyan, Mata Nui-Neko kawaii ^^

Mata Nui definitely doesnt say 'Nyan'

[Makaru]

Believe it.

[Fry]

Orrrr maybe they just looked cool?