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Mata Nui and the meaning of "god"


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Post-'03, it was revealed that the creation myth told by the Turaga to the Matoran was a deliberately-crafted, fictional construct meant to explain the threat of the Makuta without revealing the true history of the Matoran species to them. Up to that point, the Turaga spoke of Mata Nui as if he was a god to them--which, in a sense, he kind of was, given that he created several races and ruled over his own miniature universe. Of course, the definition of "god" entails being worshiped as having power over the universe in some way. If Mata Nui was worshiped, even casually, by the Matoran, that would truly make him a god. And unquestionably real people can become gods--Guan Yu was deified post-mortem as a protection deity.

 

But was Mata Nui worshiped? Did the Matoran have a monotheistic (or, perhaps, dualistic) religion? Vakama himself says "Mata Nui protect us" in MoL, much as a Christian may say "God have mercy." This is important for 2 reasons: first, Vakama was in on the whole plot to hide Metru Nui from the Matoran; second, the writers of MoL clearly knew about the great city because the narration refers to it at the end of the film. This would imply that the Matoran saw Mata Nui as divine in some way.

 

However, there's no religion without certain behaviors in place. Deism--the metaphysical stance that there is a god--is not a religion because it is only belief, not worship. Without worship, there is no religion. (There are atheistic religions, like some forms of Buddhism, but worship still occurs, it's just not directed at one or more deities.) The Matoran certainly left signs of a religion--they built temples and shrines, and they engaged in certain rituals, like the Great Takara, which was "used as a form of praise to the Great Spirit." Matoran belief also relays social values in the form of the 3 Virtues and what they mean for Matoran life. Even if it's not strict like some real-world traditions, this is a religion, even if the Turaga didn't mean to start a cult.

 

Thus, Mata Nui was worshiped, and so he was a god. The Matoran met all the criteria for having a religion. Even if Mata Nui counted as a god before, though, he doesn't anymore. Post-08, he got a little bit deposed, and he retired at the end of Journey's End. Not only did the Matoran leave their old universe and enter one where Mata Nui was not in control, but the former god gave up what power he had and retreated into the Ignika. The Matoran might still have continued in their beliefs, but they had no-one to worship anymore. With no god to praise, they had nothing to devote themselves to but their own ideals, and these themselves were never the object of worship for them. Faith alone does not make a religion, and so died Matoran monotheism, leaving them with questions. "Where do we go now?" "What is there to believe in?" "What is the true scope of reality?" Perhaps, even, "Why the is Kek up at 1:00 in the morning making this thread?" I don't know, little android dudes. I don't know.

 

 

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After Mata Nui leaves, so begins the transvaluation of all values. Without a god above, the task of the modern Matoran must be to find the god inside the individual-- to become a ruthless, Nietzschean Uber-matoran, unconstrained by morality, killing and conquering with the coldblooded beauty of a lion on the savannah .... 

 

Either that or hold out hope for an even BIGGER robot, maybe with the whole universe inside it this time. Different strokes. 

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This is a rabbit hole that you can really fall deep into without reaching a satisfying answer. I think there was a BZPower article from way back claiming for concerned parents that BIONICLE was in no way religious and Mata Nui isn't a god or worshiped, despite the fairly obvious fact that he is, for all intents and purposes, a god.

 

Adding to the confusion is the Great Beings. In a monotheistic system, a god is definitionally the highest power, but I remember from an early stage in BIONICLE the Great Spirit was under the authority of the even more powerful Great Beings. However, in the sort of polytheistic system that BIONICLE's Polynesian inspiration practiced, Mata Nui could be considered an approachable "lesser god" specifically assigned a role by the higher and holier "highest gods."

 

The direction LEGO takes this whole thing, consistent with its desire to not alienate religious or irreligious families, is similar to how it went in the movie TRON, about a computer programmer who gets transported into the digital world, where the programs worship their "users":

 

Flynn: Ah, you guys know what it's like, you just keep doing what it looks like you're supposed to be doing, no matter how crazy it seems.

Tron: That's the way it is for Programs, yes.

Flynn: I hate to disappoint you, pal, but most of the time, that's the way it is for us Users, too.

Tron: Stranger and stranger.

 

Spherus Magna probably has its own religious mythology that LEGO wouldn't touch with a ten-bio stick.

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"You are an absolute in these uncertain times. Your past is forgotten, and your
future is an empty book. You must find your own destiny, my brave adventurer.
"
-- Turaga Nokama

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This is a rabbit

So I wanna specify that the definition of "god" is sketchy, and whether or not the GBs count lies with what definition we settle on. The one I used in the OP--that is, worship defines godhood--makes them non-gods; but Loki, who doesn't appear to have been worshiped, is often considered a god, while some angels in Christianity have received some form of their own veneration at different times but are almost never considered outright gods. Then there's what qualifies as worship: the Vodou pantheon is mostly comprised of many spirits called Loa plus a supreme god named Bondye, with only Bondye actually being worshiped while the Loa beneath him are a medium between him and humanity. So do they count as gods because they are evoked for various purposes and receive praise, or not because they're just the middlemen? I don't know if we know enough about how the Matoran saw the GBs to really get to the bottom of whether they count.

 

And I just wanna say this: as someone who has never been religious at any point in his life, everyone who's worried about being alienated by a fictional society having a fictional religion can cool it. Societies form religions. It's what they do. People want an explanation for things they don't understand, a purpose to pursue, a sense that there is meaning and order to life and the universe. Leaders seek means to keep their people in line and ways to impart ideas they consider important. The individuals behind promoting these traditions are wildly imaginative, and the story changes each time it is told, mutating into more and more spectacular tales. This is how we ended up with thousands of religions across our own species. Whether or not we agree with a fictional society's religious teachings, the only mature and sensible decision to be made is to accept that, yeah, those teachings would be around in this world. Worldbuilding is fun when it's believable, and this is all in the realm of fiction, so I really have to question if Lego's not just overestimating the power of the vocal soccer moms who also hate fun in general.

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Rule #1: Always listen to Kek.

Rule #2: If you break rule #1, kindly don't.

Rule #3: EVERYBODY TYPE IN THE CHAT "AVAK IS A STUPID TRIGGER"

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This is a rabbit

Also a rabbit

 

Good points. Mata Nui is definitely the one the Matoran identify with.

 

There was an interesting topic a while ago about how the original Toa were regarded as mythological figures by the Matoran early on (thunderstorms being Gali and Lewa fighting, for example) but was abandoned pretty soon after in favor of making the Toa more human and relatable.

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"You are an absolute in these uncertain times. Your past is forgotten, and your
future is an empty book. You must find your own destiny, my brave adventurer.
"
-- Turaga Nokama

nichijou2.jpg

Click here to visit my library!

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 It's not behind the rabbit, it is the rabbit!

I feel like not letting the Matoran have mythology at all beyond their creation myth was just paranoid. Religion, sure, I at least understand that; but while it does sound like the Toa were more godlike early on, they could still have been part of a tradition like the Matter of Britain, with the Toa being similar to the Knights of the Round Table. It'd also be interesting to see what spirits and superstitions the Matoran believed in. Were they susceptible to disease, and did they blame it on a malicious being? What did they believe would happen when they died, since Artakha and Karzahni didn't seem to be considered afterlives? We saw they had one folk hero, Lhii; but that was an intentional lie from Vakama meant to preserve Lhikan's memory, so would they have had more? Vakama alludes to the importance of the "Bionicle," and we get some hints as to what the word really means, but what was the cultural significance of reciting parts of the Bionicle, how did it change over time, and what was the purpose of reciting it beyond taking lessons from its content?

 

I love good worldbuilding and it just hurts that we never got a more believable culture from the Matoran. I have plans for my own G3 concept that I may or may not follow through with, and I made it a point to go into Matoran religion in detail, explaining what kinds of deities the Toa were viewed as and how this affected their relationship with the Matoran. I ditched the idea of having them start as Matoran who became Toa just so I could show the dynamic of gods among men who don't quite get that they're gods, and how the Toa view Matoran tradition serves to develop them here--something we could never get from G1. I don't know if this is the best way to go about incorporating religion into the worldbuilding and story, but at least I'm man enough to do it. That, and I'm also bitter and stubborn enough.

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Rule #1: Always listen to Kek.

Rule #2: If you break rule #1, kindly don't.

Rule #3: EVERYBODY TYPE IN THE CHAT "AVAK IS A STUPID TRIGGER"

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It's not behind the rabbit, it is the rabbit!

I feel like not letting the Matoran have mythology at all beyond their creation myth was just paranoid. Religion, sure, I at least understand that; but while it does sound like the Toa were more godlike early on, they could still have been part of a tradition like the Matter of Britain, with the Toa being similar to the Knights of the Round Table. It'd also be interesting to see what spirits and superstitions the Matoran believed in. Were they susceptible to disease, and did they blame it on a malicious being? What did they believe would happen when they died, since Artakha and Karzahni didn't seem to be considered afterlives? We saw they had one folk hero, Lhii; but that was an intentional lie from Vakama meant to preserve Lhikan's memory, so would they have had more? Vakama alludes to the importance of the "Bionicle," and we get some hints as to what the word really means, but what was the cultural significance of reciting parts of the Bionicle, how did it change over time, and what was the purpose of reciting it beyond taking lessons from its content?

 

I love good worldbuilding and it just hurts that we never got a more believable culture from the Matoran. I have plans for my own G3 concept that I may or may not follow through with, and I made it a point to go into Matoran religion in detail, explaining what kinds of deities the Toa were viewed as and how this affected their relationship with the Matoran. I ditched the idea of having them start as Matoran who became Toa just so I could show the dynamic of gods among men who don't quite get that they're gods, and how the Toa view Matoran tradition serves to develop them here--something we could never get from G1. I don't know if this is the best way to go about incorporating religion into the worldbuilding and story, but at least I'm man enough to do it. That, and I'm also bitter and stubborn enough.

 

That sounds like a great concept. One of my favorite BIONICLE moments was when Onepu first met Onua and freaked out, and Onua was just confused.
  • Upvote 1

"You are an absolute in these uncertain times. Your past is forgotten, and your
future is an empty book. You must find your own destiny, my brave adventurer.
"
-- Turaga Nokama

nichijou2.jpg

Click here to visit my library!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Early Bionicle (like MNOLG era) was different.  The Tohunga and Toa were both much more robotic and there was an almost WestWorld quality to the story.  I wouldn't say it was religious so much as a story about characters that were existentially lost.  The Tohunga lived in a post-apocalyptic existence with only myth and legend to give them meaning.  The Toa were thrown into a situation with no intrinsic knowledge of self or purpose other than what the Tohunga expected them to be.  Obviously that all had to change as the property evolved, but that first 2ish years had something special.

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Don't mess with the Forest Elf Mafia.

 

Equal rights for Onepu and Maku!

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