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Proto Pitons?


MoarBotar

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Ok so I recently got a Brinklink order with Metru Onewa in it, and it just dawned on me: what ARE the Proto Pitons? 

Are they grappling hooks? Or are they more like medieval flails? 

BioSector says "Onewa used them to swing from sculpture to sculpture in the Sculpture Fields", but this doesn't necessarily imply that this was their INTENDED use (BioSector also says "He was courageous, and ever-ready to crack a joke... He found being a Toa thrilling, like Matau" so maybe it wouldn't be too out of character for him to go "hey, I bet I could swing over there..."). I've always assumed they were grappling hooks, but after taking a closer look at the set form I'm not sure....

Also, LMN portrayal, if anything, seems to make this more confusing. 

What do you think? 

  

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The Bionicle Heroes game isn't too helpful in this regard either as the thing is a rocket launcher there. Bizarre. 

Anyway, I would tend to think they're climbing tools. A piton is a spike you use in climbing, though I don't know what the "Proto" is meant to mean - it's probably just Lego getting alliterative with their weapon names. I imagine judging by their looks it could function as a sort of flail, too. 

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Yeah, now that I think about it, all the Toa tools for the Toa Metru were designed with travel in mind, so I guess it makes sense that these would be too. 

Honestly, I totally thought "piton" was a made up word that just sounded like it fit with "proto" well-I guess it helps when you actually know what the word means lol

11 hours ago, Toa_Kralich said:

don't know what the "Proto" is meant to mean

I assume it's because they are made of Protodermis.

(Side note: you know you're a nerd when you know what the imaginary word means but you don't know what the real word means :P)

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To be fair, the only reason I knew what a piton was was because I was looking up a VR climbing game once - I don't claim to be more than a geek myself :P On the topic I s'pose I will say I was never a fan of either Nokama's weapons or Onewa's - they both felt too specialised and not tremendously MOC friendly when it came to using them for bulking armour or weapons or suchlike. I think they work on the original models, but that's sort of it. 

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1 hour ago, Toa_Kralich said:

To be fair, the only reason I knew what a piton was was because I was looking up a VR climbing game once - I don't claim to be more than a geek myself :P On the topic I s'pose I will say I was never a fan of either Nokama's weapons or Onewa's - they both felt too specialised and not tremendously MOC friendly when it came to using them for bulking armour or weapons or suchlike. I think they work on the original models, but that's sort of it. 

It's because they're designed to look like they're swingable when they're really not. Even the movie knew to just have the weapons be solid weapons.

"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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I think the movie benefits as a result, for sure. I often use weapon parts for more utility purposes in my MOCs. I do wonder how they might've worked had the middle connection been something like chains instead to hit home the "swingable" motif, with the top and bottom parts being solid pieces instead, the midriff being the chains. Thinking about it, I might've seen a Nokama MOC that did something like this once, but I can't be sure. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

let's be honest; Proto Pitons is kind ov a silly name for such silly weapons! i mean, yes they were used for climbing like in the Toa Onewa animation (and perhaps the books & comics), but in Bionicle 2: Legends ov Metru Nui Onewa only has one Proto Piton AND it's not used or climbing and looks more like an over-sized (albeit stylized) pick-ax! what the actual frick were they thinking with this one?! who designed them in the first place? the Proto Pitons are just very weird weapons! at least with the movie version (since the handle rod is way more stable) Onewa can hit a target with no problems, BUT HE ONLY HAD ONE!!! if he had two ov those in the movie he could dual-wield them (like the toy) with no problems, BUT THEY STILL GAVE HIM ONE FREAKING PITON!!! why? i don't know! i don't understand this! i will never understand this! whoever was in charge ov the weapons designs for the movie didn't think a lot ov it through thoroughly enough! *sigh* oh well! the movie was still awesome! :) 

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