Learning Elements

[Regitnui]

Off the Tamaru topic, I got to thinking about why matoran would have personalities, and especially personalities that are apparently opposite to the elemental stereotype. I know GregF eventually said it was the result of Velika giving sentience to previously robotic, but adaptable, drones. That answer doesn't ring true with me. If all the matoran of a different type were the same before being awakened, surely the stereotype would be more true, not less.

 

My proposal is that newly-created matoran instead have no elemental affinity, instead gaining it over time. A Ta-matoran becomes resistant to heat, a ga-matoran learns to swim better, etc. This 'template' build for matorwn would also go towards explaining the lack of physical variation beyond armour colour and mask shape.

 

History wise, the Av-matoran are pretty clearly Super Prototypes for the rest. When the GBs decided to make more Matoran, they didn't change elements, they depowered the Av-matoran template and mass-produced it. Over time, the various matoran became more specialized as they worked on different aspects of the GSR. Look at Takua, who showed the exact same tolerance for heat that ta-matoran did, despite being of a different element. Did he learn to tolerate the heat, like the other ta-matoran?

[SPIRIT]

If you had a group of people and kept them clustered around each other for many years, eventually they would all become more similar to one another.  Sure, you would have outliers here and there, but for the most part you would expect similar traits to emerge in the group.  Ever notice how you sometimes pick up personality traits from your friends?  My assumption would be that this would be how the Matoran personality traits arose.  Then whenever new Matoran were created, they just started picking up the traits of their fellow villagers.

 

As for Takua, I don't think he really showed Ta-Matoran heat tolerance.  There's a line in Mask of Light where Jaller points out how Takua always wanders off from Ta-Koro, presumably because on some level Takua knows that he doesn't belong in that environment.

[Regitnui]

If you had a group of people and kept them clustered around each other for many years, eventually they would all become more similar to one another. Sure, you would have outliers here and there, but for the most part you would expect similar traits to emerge in the group. Ever notice how you sometimes pick up personality traits from your friends? My assumption would be that this would be how the Matoran personality traits arose. Then whenever new Matoran were created, they just started picking up the traits of their fellow villagers.

 

As for Takua, I don't think he really showed Ta-Matoran heat tolerance. There's a line in Mask of Light where Jaller points out how Takua always wanders off from Ta-Koro, presumably because on some level Takua knows that he doesn't belong in that environment.

I'm proposing that that applies to the elemental abilities as well, not just personalities.

 

Takua would have wandered away from anywhere on Mata Nui. Remember how he's never in one place for long? It's a subconscious realization that none of these other tribes are his.

[MrSciFiGuy]

I get it, but sounds like a good template for an organic RPG that focuses on your playstyle and choices

[Dogbert]

One has to wonder how much of their culture is derived from their elements and their choice of location fo their village.

 

 

If you had a group of people and kept them clustered around each other for many years, eventually they would all become more similar to one another.  Sure, you would have outliers here and there, but for the most part you would expect similar traits to emerge in the group.

 

Case and point: Voya Nui and Mahri Nui. Because of their exceptionally dangerous enviroments, most of the Matoran showed similar behavoral patterns regardless of their element. Dalu even discusses this with Gali, noting that she had to stop being the mellow and calm Ga-Matoran stereotype in order to survive.

 

Also let's not forget that in the story we focus on the people who don't fit into their social categories, because we like to think we are like that, and because it creates conflict in the story. As many Tamarus we like to focus on, there are thousands of tree-climbing fast-swinging heavy-partiers Le-Matoran.

[Toa Azarius]

The way I see it, Matoran "software" is a Form of open source software. It learns and adapts through time. So in a way, any Matoran could learn an innate ability from one of the other elements just by spending a month or so in their village.

[Regitnui]

The way I see it, Matoran "software" is a Form of open source software. It learns and adapts through time. So in a way, any Matoran could learn an innate ability from one of the other elements just by spending a month or so in their village.

More like a year or two our time. Since matoran are practically immortal, it'd take longer for them to pick up these traits.

[Toa Azarius]

depends on how quickly they learn honestly

[Regitnui]

depends on how quickly they learn honestly

A physical trait like expanded lungs wouldn't be something picked up in a matter of weeks.

[Toa Azarius]

True, true. Excluding Ga-Matoran though a Matoran could learn to see in the dark, be as agile in the trees as he is on the ground, and bear the icy cold of Mount Ihu

[Archon~]

Interesting idea, but considering what we already know about the MU, matoran and their programming this is a highly unlikely occurence in my book.

 

I do think however that elemental traits can be learned through intense practice/ concentration, like the OoMN did with Detoran mental shield.

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

Thats... actually a really cool idea. Beings around a specific climate or landscape will adapt. Proximity to other beings will let their cultures flourish. Culture clash can happen when two cultures end up colliding with each other. That seems likely to have happened in the MU. I really like this theory. Doesn't necessarily have to be canon but its a good interpretation of what has come before in Matoran history.

 

-NotS

Edited May 21, 2016 by Nidhiki of the Shadows

[Regitnui]

Thanks. I reckoned it would have been strange having six different Matoran Makers in Metru Nui, when having one that made a 'Ge-Matoran' that could gain the abilities of their assigned element over time would be more efficient.

[CyclonatorZ]

There's only one problem with this idea: it brings us back again to the same unfortunate implications that inadvertently sprung from The Yesterday Quest Chapter 2, which is that one way or another, gender and elemental stereotypes have a specific correlation in the MU. Because apparently settling underground or in a jungle universally precludes you from being female, and as a general rule precludes you from being a female with the personality type tied to one of those elements.

 

Friggin' gender specific elements.

Edited May 22, 2016 by ~~Zarkan~~

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

There's only one problem with this idea: it brings us back again to the same unfortunate implications that inadvertently sprung from The Yesterday Quest Chapter 2, which is that one way or another, gender and elemental stereotypes have a specific correlation in the MU. Because apparently settling underground or in a jungle universally precludes you from being female, and as a general rule precludes you from being a female with the personality type tied to one of those elements.

 

Friggin' gender specific elements.

 

luckily i am fairly certain there's not a bionicle fan alive who doesn't find that "rule" silly and therefore most people just outright ignore it.

 

(i mean, if we're speculating and altering the canon, why not?)

[Regitnui]

There's only one problem with this idea: it brings us back again to the same unfortunate implications that inadvertently sprung from The Yesterday Quest Chapter 2, which is that one way or another, gender and elemental stereotypes have a specific correlation in the MU. Because apparently settling underground or in a jungle universally precludes you from being female, and as a general rule precludes you from being a female with the personality type tied to one of those elements.

 

Friggin' gender specific elements.

 

I know it's a hot button issue, but let's look at it with a mature view of the entire spectrum; can you get feminine men? Yes. Can you get masculine women? Yes.

 

There's practically no sexual dimorphism in Matoran, so a grey-armoured newmade matoran who hasn't been assigned a tribe would be by our standards, gender-neuter.

[CyclonatorZ]

luckily i am fairly certain there's not a bionicle fan alive who doesn't find that "rule" silly and therefore most people just outright ignore it.

 

(i mean, if we're speculating and altering the canon, why not?)

There's a world of the difference between coming up with theories about how the canon works, and outright contradicting elements of the canon. However, as you said, in this particular case I don't think anyone cares - especially since it's been proven TLG themselves don't think it was a good idea, seeing as how they discarded it with first Bara Magna and how the whole of G2.

 

There's practically no sexual dimorphism in Matoran

Well, there wasn't until someone decided to go and make the (terrible) movie designs the canonical depictions - but circa 2001, you're totally right.

[Regitnui]

 

There's practically no sexual dimorphism in Matoran

Well, there wasn't until someone decided to go and make the (terrible) movie designs the canonical depictions - but circa 2001, you're totally right.

I'm sorry, the what? Bionicle had a movie? Don't they know that the sets are highest canon?

 

Seriously though, I'd expect that the individual elements had slight variations in Metru Nui and the rest of the MU, let alone different genders; Onu-Matoran made themselves stockier, Le-matoran aimed for taller, Ga-Matoran slimmer and more hydrodynamic. The gender differences were more tribal than anything. Metru Nui must have had a thriving body-modding industry for those who wanted to stand out from the crowd.