Is the Kaukau only useful underwater? Or is it useful against gas attacks?

[Toa Jaxus]

Odd thought experiment on the Kaukau; does it only work with water or can it be used to breath in other irregular atmospheric conditions such as poisoned gases or low oxygen environments?

[xccj]

Based on BS01 it sounds like the mask was only good for water; I recall somebody asking about this before and it getting shot down by Greg.

But let's be honest, of the six original Toa masks, the Kaukau got the least amount of attention, with the only presented use of it on BS01 being attributed to only a semi-canon book.  Part of it is that the power is passive when a character is underwater, and it's also far less showy than levitation or shielding.  There are plenty of ways the Kaukau could've been actively utilized but the story just never seemed to care.  (Heck, in 07 when there was a big deal about needing to breathe underwater they still didn't refer to the mask.)  So canon wise it's really hard to tell what the limitations of the Kanohi could be because it was just never used.  (Of course, BS01 says something about time limitations and inability to handle difficult pressures, although this was a retroactive explanation from a reference book released years later.)  It was one of my favorite masks so it was always disappointing that it got so little use in the stories.

Having the Kaukau work as essentially an air tank would make it particularly more useful indeed.  And given some of the multiple uses of other masks, it seems like it wouldn't be an unreasonable extension of the mask's power.  But if the power is only to extract oxygen from water as opposed to having a reserve of breathable air, then water would be required.

[jchavoya]

Sadly, i think (as the person above mentioned) Greg shot it down and said it only let's you breath water. BUT!!!! What if it's worn by an extremely skilled toa of water? Need to breath in space like you asked? Form a water bubble around yourself and breath in that sweet, sweet, water. Poison gas in the area? Double layer water bubble. Hypothetically,  i would think the first area would act like a P-trap in plumbing to help keep the fumes out. I would imagine it would take a powerful, creative toa to make full use out of a mask of water breathing, but i think that can be said of any mask. Practice, creativity, focus, and power. The only thing that makes my above comments special to toa of water, is that theyre the only ones capable of providing a constant source of water to breath in areas without air.

[Lorentz]

Canonically it only works in water and water-like substances like liquid protodermis. But many people have the headcanon that it allows you to breath in almost any environment besides a vacuum.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Lorentz

[(-Kopaka Toa of Ice-)]

It was also mentioned that nuva versions are able to to suffocate enemies through sharing with other beings and force them to be unable to inhale air.


Now thats a scary thought, but only 5 of the toa nuva have this mask.

https://biosector01.com/wiki/Kaukau_Nuva

[Lorentz]

9 hours ago, (-Kopaka Toa of Ice-) said:

It was also mentioned that nuva versions are able to to suffocate enemies through sharing with other beings and force them to be unable to inhale air.

You could only do this while activating the power for yourself, so unless you create a bubble of water around your own head, it's extremely useless.

[(-Kopaka Toa of Ice-)]

There's always so many possibilities that Bionicle never tried to cover due to being toys first and story second.

[jchavoya]

On 5/24/2022 at 1:42 AM, Lorentz said:

You could only do this while activating the power for yourself, so unless you create a bubble of water around your own head, it's extremely useless.

Agreed....and if you could create a bubble of water around your head to prevent you from suffocating while you use the mask to suffocate enemies....why not just create a bubble of water around enemies head in the first place to suffocate them....

[Lorentz]

1 hour ago, jchavoya said:

Agreed....and if you could create a bubble of water around your head to prevent you from suffocating while you use the mask to suffocate enemies....why not just create a bubble of water around enemies head in the first place to suffocate them....

Correct. 

[TERIDAX941]

On 5/26/2022 at 12:03 PM, jchavoya said:

Agreed....and if you could create a bubble of water around your head to prevent you from suffocating while you use the mask to suffocate enemies....why not just create a bubble of water around enemies head in the first place to suffocate them....

Actually, Gali did this exact thing to Gorast during the Final Battle. She didn't let Gorast drown, Krika attacked her and broke her concentration before that happened, but she did employ this tactic.

[Lorentz]

4 hours ago, TERIDAX941 said:

Actually, Gali did this exact thing to Gorast during the Final Battle. She didn't let Gorast drown, Krika attacked her and broke her concentration before that happened, but she did employ this tactic.

Since when do Makuta need to breath? It's not like they were devolved like Icarax.

[TERIDAX941]

20 hours ago, Lorentz said:

Since when do Makuta need to breath? It's not like they were devolved like Icarax.

True, normally not, but when the Mistika Makuta were mutated by the swamp coincidentally Gorast's mutation included the need to breathe air again (along with needing to train light via her stinger or she'd die of "hunger")

[Master Inika]

She also did it to Hakann, too, if I'm not mistaken. I don't have the book on hand, but I think she broke off the attack purely to adhere to the Code and not kill him.

Just thinking out loud here: a non-Water Toa could hypothetically suffocate (or at least severely impair) an enemy by randomly switching the mask's power (for both of them) on and off, since they'd know when to take a deep breath first.

[TERIDAX941]

22 hours ago, Master Inika said:

She also did it to Hakann, too, if I'm not mistaken. I don't have the book on hand, but I think she broke off the attack purely to adhere to the Code and not kill him.

Actually he escaped his predicament by using his heat vision to turn the water into steam. I read that book many many times and have that particular battle practically memorized lol

[Master Inika]

3 hours ago, TERIDAX941 said:

Actually he escaped his predicament by using his heat vision to turn the water into steam. I read that book many many times and have that particular battle practically memorized lol

Oh, you're right.

Confirmed: Gali would have killed if given the chance.

[Lorentz]

2 hours ago, Master Inika said:

Oh, you're right.

Confirmed: Gali would have killed if given the chance.

How is that confirmed? People pass out before they die from drowning.