An Observation about the Metru Symbols

[All Or None]

Here's something I've noticed about the symbols of the districts of Metru-Nui.

I think we can all agree that the symbol of Ko-Metru represents a Knowledge Tower. But it seems the rest of the symbols represent something significant to each Metru as well.

It seems to me that Le-Metru's symbol is a chute. Yes, the chute system covers all of Metru-Nui, but it's heart is in Le-Metru, and that's where it's most significant, too.

Onu-Metru? I'm pretty sure that's an elevator shaft, representing the levels of the archives. (Maybe not necessarily an elevator shaft - the levels of the archives are the important part.)

 

Now, I'm less certain about the others. (Ironically, the other three are the ones I actually have disks for.) I think Ta-Metru's symbol is the Great Furnace and the Fire Pits. (The large circle with chunks taken out of it is the Great Furnace itself, the smaller circles above it probably represent smoke exhaust, and the chunks taken out of the sides are the Fire Pits.)

I believe that Ga-Metru's symbol is a canal connecting various... whatever the canals of Ga-Metru connect. Not sure about the bits on the sides, though.

The only one I don't know is Po-Metru. Whatever it is, it's too abstract for me to figure out. If you have any ideas, feel free to share them.

[Aderia]

Ga-Metru's symbol always reminded me of what I pictured Fountains of Wisdom to look like, maybe the three dots representing the three virtues. You know how fountains typically spray up and then umbrella out? So you can kind of see that in the contour of the design. 


For Ta-Metru, I agree, I could picture it being the Great Furnace, but also when I first saw it as a kid, it reminded me of the head of a wrench (facing downward) a bit, so I always associated it with a mask-making tool? 

Haha, and Po-Metru is anyone's guess, I agree. Maybe it's meant to be a common layout of assembler's villages or sculpture fields? 

I agree with your other three interpretations, especially the Onu-Metru one, which I hadn't thought of before. Cool ideas!

[All Or None]

14 minutes ago, Aderia said:

Ga-Metru's symbol always reminded me of what I pictured Fountains of Wisdom to look like, maybe the three dots representing the three virtues. You know how fountains typically spray up and then umbrella out? So you can kind of see that in the contour of the design. 

Yeah, okay, I can see that.

 

14 minutes ago, Aderia said:

For Ta-Metru, I agree, I could picture it being the Great Furnace, but also when I first saw it as a kid, it reminded me of the head of a wrench (facing downward) a bit, so I always associated it with a mask-making tool? 

And yeah, I guess a wrench could make sense, but the Great Furnace feels more likely to me. And the wrench (or other mask-making tool) doesn't explain the pits on the sides. I can't find any references, but I could have sworn that the Great Furnace fed the Fire Pits, so there is a connection there.

[Daler99]

I think Po-Metru’s symbol is a bunch of Mata-head sculptures around the center point to represent the carvings and sculptures made in Po-Metru.

[All Or None]

2 minutes ago, Daler99 said:

I think Po-Metru’s symbol is a bunch of Mata-head sculptures around the center point to represent the carvings and sculptures made in Po-Metru.

O.O

I think you may be right!

That's been puzzling me for years, and you very well may have solved it in half an hour!

... Okay, why didn't I post this when I first realized what the symbols were?

[Daler99]

2 minutes ago, All Or None said:

O.O

I think you may be right!

That's been puzzling me for years, and you very well may have solved it in half an hour!

... Okay, why didn't I post this when I first realized what the symbols were?

Haha happy to help!  Thanks for posting your thoughts!  I have always puzzled about these as well.  
 

I could never figure out Ta-Metru, but I had a few thoughts about some of the others.  I was thinking that Ga-Metru might be the walkway to the Great Temple and that Onu-Metru’s was a hallway full of exhibits in the Archives.  Your interpretations make a lot of sense too, so I’m glad you made this topic. 

[All Or None]

7 hours ago, All Or None said:

I could have sworn that the Great Furnace fed the Fire Pits, so there is a connection there.

Had it backwards. I found the reference in the first chapter of Trial by Fire: The Fire Pits feed the Great Furnace, as well as "all the smaller furnaces and forges" in Ta-Metru.

My point still stands though: The Great Furnace and the Fire Pits are related.

(Also: No offense, Aderia, I do understand your idea, and I do agree that the Ga-Metru symbol is probably actually the Fountains of Wisdom, but it wouldn't make sense for every Metru to depict important structures, except one that depicts an important tool.)

[Master Inika]

The disk's designs are pretty stylistic, so I don't think it's necessary to be too systematic in what they could mean.

Ko-Metru and Le-Metru are obviously Knowledge Towers and a chute, and Onu-Metru as an elevator makes sense, too. (Even though it makes no sense, I always saw Onu-Metru's design as a bird's eye view of a bridge, with a road going horizontally underneath the vertical center part.)

Ta-Metru is a general depiction of a flame, I think. The base (that wrench-looking part) is the most distinctive element, with the rest of the design fanning out from there, like a fire sending out flames and smoke to the sides and upward.

Ga-Metru's could be seen as a watery, softer version of Ta-Metru. Notice the absence of sharp angles like Ta-Metru has. Also, whereas Ta-Metru's is roughly triangular pointing upward, Ga-Metru is roughly triangular pointing downward. If you projected them onto each other, they'd look kind of like a Star of David, masculine and feminine.

Which brings me to Po-Metru, which does sort of have that double-triangle shape. I always noticed as a kid that Po-Metru's design was so much more symmetrical and spherical. Ta-, Ga-, and Ko- all have only one "right" orientation, while Le- and Onu- look the same if rotated 180 degrees. Po- looks the same rotated every 120 degrees, though, so it's more symmetrical. Po-Metru looks like a boulder to me, like it's been rolling on the ground until the most distinctive element is in the center.

Those are just my takes. They are super interesting, and there's a lot of directions they could be taken in. I remember studying them as a child, and just being taken by how cool and alien they looked. I kind of wish Bionicle did more with this aesthetic.

[Mukaukau Nuva]

On 6/1/2022 at 2:33 AM, Master Inika said:

Po-Metru looks like a boulder to me, like it's been rolling on the ground until the most distinctive element is in the center.

On 4/17/2022 at 10:08 AM, Aderia said:

Haha, and Po-Metru is anyone's guess, I agree. Maybe it's meant to be a common layout of assembler's villages or sculpture fields? 

On 4/17/2022 at 10:26 AM, Daler99 said:

I think Po-Metru’s symbol is a bunch of Mata-head sculptures around the center point to represent the carvings and sculptures made in Po-Metru.

I thought the Po-Metru one might be depicting the top of a column in the Fields of Construction, but my memory is a little hazy as to what those columns exactly looked like 😅