G2 masks

[Archius]

I'm kinda lost in the new reboot. Are the Toa's regular masks powerless ? I say this because they never used them in the animations. And what the Golden mask do ? I guess it's the golden masks that gives them their elemental powers ? Tahu was even able to control Lava when he put his.

[The 1st Shadow]

From what we've seen thus far, it is implied that the regular masks are powerless, and the Golden Masks give the Toa their elemental powers.

[fishers64]

From what we've seen thus far, it is implied that the regular masks are powerless, and the Golden Masks give the Toa their elemental powers.

The character bios imply otherwise, though. Besides, I think they probably needed the limited powers the bios implied they have on their long journey across Okoto. They were just used off screen.

[The 1st Shadow]

 

From what we've seen thus far, it is implied that the regular masks are powerless, and the Golden Masks give the Toa their elemental powers.

The character bios imply otherwise, though. Besides, I think they probably needed the limited powers the bios implied they have on their long journey across Okoto. They were just used off screen.

 

I just checked, and they say nothing of the sort. It just says, "This is the mask that -insert Toa here- wore when [they] first arrived on Okoto." Nowhere does it say that the masks have power. 

 

Now check the animations. When Tahu dons his Golden mask, the narrator says that "elemental power filled Tahu's body completely," implying that the Golden masks have powers. Prior to then, we see none of the Toa using powers of any sort. With the golden masks, their weapons change (the "fire" on Tahu's giant swords gains color, for example) and the Toa are seen to be performing great feats of elemental nature.

[fishers64]

But it says on Lewa's bio: "Powers: Communes with plants and the wind." That implies that they have that power before when they arrive on Okoto. The animations show them using full elemental powers, far beyond what the bio's powers say, implying that they have the bio power before their full element is reached. 

[Saint-14]

I imagine that the Gen2 masks just amplify their connection to their element and powers. I'd like for them to provide actual mask powers, but we've already seen Kopaka create a shield like what the Hau would create, so if anything the only thing confirmed is that the old mask powers, if any, aren't the same as the days of old

[The 1st Shadow]

But it says on Lewa's bio: "Powers: Communes with plants and the wind." That implies that they have that power before when they arrive on Okoto. The animations show them using full elemental powers, far beyond what the bio's powers say, implying that they have the bio power before their full element is reached. 

That could just as easily be referring to their powers AFTER donning the GM. Or it could just be something thrown into the bio to seem cool. In the past, the online bios haven't always been entirely accurate when compared to the rest of the story material.

 

Another thing to consider is the extent that those bits in the bios go to. "Communes with plants and the wind"--could just as easily mean "is more in tune to those things than the other Toa," not that he can control them.

Edited February 27, 2015 by The~1st~Shadow

[Zidonaro]

Pohatu constantly makes that sand swirl thing. Isn't this an example of him using elemental powers ?

[Votuko]

Somewhat related: I find it odd that the Toa only seem to be able to use their "battle mode" after getting their Golden Masks in the animations. Which if true would make all box images and instructions showing battle mode without a gold mask artistic licence, rather than "canon"...

 

Re: Kopaka's Hau-like forcefield - I imagine it will be revealed that it is a feature of his otherwise gappy and thoroughly-ineffective-looking shield. That shouldn't be too much of a stretch, seeing as Pohatu's tools allow him to make sandstorms and fly.

[Kumata]

I was under the impression that both regular AND gold masks grant elemental power, there's just a difference in power levels. Even the Protector masks grant minor elemental power.

[fishers64]

That could just as easily be referring to their powers AFTER donning the GM. Or it could just be something thrown into the bio to seem cool. In the past, the online bios haven't always been entirely accurate when compared to the rest of the story material.

I'm not sure that "Powers: Fire control and resistance to heat." for Tahu completely explains his Super Saiyan Tahu maneuver. To do that, he would have to make fire, not just control it. 

[The 1st Shadow]

 

That could just as easily be referring to their powers AFTER donning the GM. Or it could just be something thrown into the bio to seem cool. In the past, the online bios haven't always been entirely accurate when compared to the rest of the story material.

I'm not sure that "Powers: Fire control and resistance to heat." for Tahu completely explains his Super Saiyan Tahu maneuver. To do that, he would have to make fire, not just control it. 

 

Well, if you go by the bios, then it sounds like the Toa have some degree of elemental power. If you go by the animations, sounds like the GMs grant them their powers. Which media do we trust to be most accurate?

[fishers64]

 

 

That could just as easily be referring to their powers AFTER donning the GM. Or it could just be something thrown into the bio to seem cool. In the past, the online bios haven't always been entirely accurate when compared to the rest of the story material.

I'm not sure that "Powers: Fire control and resistance to heat." for Tahu completely explains his Super Saiyan Tahu maneuver. To do that, he would have to make fire, not just control it. 

 

Well, if you go by the bios, then it sounds like the Toa have some degree of elemental power. If you go by the animations, sounds like the GMs grant them their powers. Which media do we trust to be most accurate?

 

The animations. But the animations don't deny the explanation I've just given you - they are entirely mute on the subject. Which means bringing outside information would be valid. 

[The 1st Shadow]

 

 

 

That could just as easily be referring to their powers AFTER donning the GM. Or it could just be something thrown into the bio to seem cool. In the past, the online bios haven't always been entirely accurate when compared to the rest of the story material.

I'm not sure that "Powers: Fire control and resistance to heat." for Tahu completely explains his Super Saiyan Tahu maneuver. To do that, he would have to make fire, not just control it. 

 

Well, if you go by the bios, then it sounds like the Toa have some degree of elemental power. If you go by the animations, sounds like the GMs grant them their powers. Which media do we trust to be most accurate?

 

The animations. But the animations don't deny the explanation I've just given you - they are entirely mute on the subject. Which means bringing outside information would be valid. 

 

The animations suggest that the Toa have no power until they access their Golden Masks. Look at Tahu's board--the flames on it are greyscale until he puts on the golden mask. When he puts the mask on, the "flames" gain color and he is said to be filled with power.

 

Notice that upon gaining their masks, the Toa suddenly seem to know everything about their powers. Tahu creates a pillar of fire, Onua summons a localized earthquake, Lewa's flying... Prior to then, Tahu just endured a hot location, Onua used his strength and shovels to dig through the ground, and Lewa was breathing air and cutting through jungle stuff.

 

So, with masks-->evidence of powers. Without masks-->no evidence of anything

 

One could argue that the animations are too brief to really go in-depth about these things, so it might be best to just wait until we get books or something that does explain it better.

[MrSciFiGuy]

I just figured they has some basic elemental powers, because why wear the masks at all in the first place? Then the golden masks give them greater control

[Lyichir]

Isn't it possible that the animations, like the comics in the instruction booklets, take liberties with the actual story information? In the instruction comics, the Toa don't use ANY elemental powers, and the masks are only changed before the Toa shift from adrenalin mode to battle mode (likely because those comics exist to demonstrate the set functions, which elemental powers decidedly aren't). The animations, too, are short and hardly cover the full extent of story information, so to jump to the conclusion that the extent of the Toa's powers is displayed in them is a pretty big assumption to make. "Power levels" are a complex thing to represent, after all—it's entirely possible that the animations abstain from showing the weaker mask powers with the intention of better emphasizing how much the Golden Masks increase the Toa's abilities.

 

Let me propose an alternative theory. The Toa's default masks DO in fact provide limited elemental powers, but the Toa (lacking their memories and pretty much any non-instinctual skills initially) aren't yet aware of it. The golden masks act as a crutch, with their enhanced elemental powers allowing the Toa to manipulate their respective elements with hardly any effort. In the summer story, the information we've seen suggests that the Skull Villains will be trying to steal the Toa's golden masks for their own sinister purposes. Perhaps that will force the Toa to use their weaker elemental powers (which they know how to access due to the experience provided by using the golden masks) to fight back.

[Tuuli]

That would be completely sucky and dumb if their colored masks had NO power at all. They do have power, just need nearly as much as the magical golden masks. I would hate to hear that they were wearing pointless masks that did nothing besides cover their faces.

[SPIRIT]

That would be completely sucky and dumb if their colored masks had NO power at all. They do have power, just need nearly as much as the magical golden masks. I would hate to hear that they were wearing pointless masks that did nothing besides cover their faces.

In the interest of being facetious, the coloured masks do protect their faces from the Skull Spiders.

 

 

Overall, it does look like the main difficulty we have is seemingly contradictory sources and no indication of which one takes precedence.  Heck, if you go by the mobile game, the masks don't do anything other than determine how many hits you can take before going down.

 

The mask names themselves are probably the biggest hint.  Each mask is referred to as the Mask of Fire, Mask of Ice, etc.  It would be a strange decision to not have them provide any sort of elemental power given those names.  I think the most likely explanation is that the golden masks just grant the user greater mastery over their element.

 

EDIT:

 

From Lego.com:

 

Each of these heroes is a master of one of the six elements… Fire, Water, Earth, Jungle, Ice and Stone. The heart of their elemental control is their mask. But legend tells of the Golden Masks, sources of even greater power, which were scattered over the Island and now lie hidden.

Edited March 1, 2015 by SPIRIT

[Prowl Nightwolf]

Well there is your answer then... Though that doesn't define what "Mastery" means. A Master of _______ could just mean a user of the element. Though then the Protectors could be classed as such to a minor extent...

[Lyichir]

Well there is your answer then... Though that doesn't define what "Mastery" means. A Master of _______ could just mean a user of the element. Though then the Protectors could be classed as such to a minor extent...

Do we really even need that defined? It means what it sounds like—these Toa are or at least are considered to be the most powerful or skilled users of their respective elements. It's really just a tagline, not an explicit character class or rank.

[Prowl Nightwolf]

All the more reason to ask one's self. Are they the authority on their respective elements? If so then Masters(rank) it is. Based on the PoF in the animation seems could be rank of sorts. Though Toa I think means master this gen doesn't it?

[Lyichir]

All the more reason to ask one's self. Are they the authority on their respective elements? If so then Masters(rank) it is. Based on the PoF in the animation seems could be rank of sorts. Though Toa I think means master this gen doesn't it?

No, I'm fairly sure Toa means pretty much the same thing it used to mean—hero. Again, "Master" is just a tagline. There's no indication that it needs any more meaning or definition than the definition of the word itself.

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

I'm gonna have to agree that it is a little confusing on what each mask does. The sites and animation aren't really that clear. I'm guessing (like everyone else) that the regular masks do give them control of their elemental powers, but the gold ones truly let them Master it. I mean, the Protector of Fire can make fireballs and he doesn't wear a Toa mask, so it's safe to say a Toa could do the basics with just the regular coloured masks as well.

 

-NotS

[SPIRIT]

 

All the more reason to ask one's self. Are they the authority on their respective elements? If so then Masters(rank) it is. Based on the PoF in the animation seems could be rank of sorts. Though Toa I think means master this gen doesn't it?

No, I'm fairly sure Toa means pretty much the same thing it used to mean—hero. Again, "Master" is just a tagline. There's no indication that it needs any more meaning or definition than the definition of the word itself.

 

Actually, in the character page animations, all the Toa talk about claiming their golden mask and becoming the master of their respective element.  So it appears that not only is "Master" a thing, but it's what the Toa become when they acquire their golden masks.

[Lyichir]

 

 

All the more reason to ask one's self. Are they the authority on their respective elements? If so then Masters(rank) it is. Based on the PoF in the animation seems could be rank of sorts. Though Toa I think means master this gen doesn't it?

No, I'm fairly sure Toa means pretty much the same thing it used to mean—hero. Again, "Master" is just a tagline. There's no indication that it needs any more meaning or definition than the definition of the word itself.

 

Actually, in the character page animations, all the Toa talk about claiming their golden mask and becoming the master of their respective element.  So it appears that not only is "Master" a thing, but it's what the Toa become when they acquire their golden masks.

 

My point is that the definition is self-evident. They got more powerful elemental powers, and thus they consider themselves "masters" of their elements. There's really no need for a more complex explanation. This isn't a role-playing game where their character class was upgraded to a new "master" status which carries with it explicit stat boosts... it's just a way for them to say "my elemental powers are stronger than ever".

[Prowl Nightwolf]

Wait, didn't the PoF call Tahu "The Master of Fire" in the arrival animation? That would mean that Tahu was the Master prior to getting his golden mask...


EDIT: I just re-watched the animation and the PoF says they are destined "to go on a quest for golden masks to unlock each of their great powers." So maybe it is true and they have no actual powers yet until adorning their Golden masks...

 

Now I am really confused....

Edited March 4, 2015 by Prowl Nightwolf

[Iblis]

Wait, didn't the PoF call Tahu "The Master of Fire" in the arrival animation? That would mean that Tahu was the Master prior to getting his golden mask...

 

 

EDIT: I just re-watched the animation and the PoF says they are destined "to go on a quest for golden masks to unlock each of their great powers." So maybe it is true and they have no actual powers yet until adorning their Golden masks...

 

Now I am really confused....

 

"unlock each of their great powers." Doesn't mean they didn't already have some powers.

 

Normal Toa Masks - "Small" (relatively?) power

Gold Masks - more power.

 

Sure it's incredibly vague, but I don't think it's really been said that their normal Masks do nothing but look "pretty" or any other contradiction as far as Masks go...

[Prowl Nightwolf]

This is true... They may have some form of power or jut simply skill. Kind of like how the Matoran have latent elemental power in the form of athletic prowess. You know the Po- and Onu- Matoran being strong, Ta and Ko Matoran being resistant to their respective elements, etc...  It is all speculative until hard evidence either way can be provided.

[Takametru007]

i don't know if this has been brought up, but do the toa have any elemental powers independent of their masks? If that's the case, of the toa switched masks, would they suddenly become the "master" of a different element? what would happen if the toa switched masks around?

[Prowl Nightwolf]

We don't know yet. It is possible that each mask has a designated owner & wearer. Meaning nobody else can wear the mask or control its powers.