Alright, @Tarvaax , it’s time for a debate. I won’t just let this comment slide.
Light DOES have mass. It has been scientifically proven that light is made up of certain particles, giving it weight. Also, it has been noted that rooms filled with light are heavier than rooms in the dark.
Okay, this is the main part of my debate: light being a “useless” element. Maybe for Earth it would be, but in BIONICLE light is the element that Makuta fear most. Why? Because all Makuta possess control over the element of shadow, which is their most dangerous weapon.
If you happen to have a Mask of Light, a Makuta now has to deal with an even match against a Toa. Which is why Makuta wanted it destroyed. Light also brings morality into the user and gives encouragement.
As for Shadow, it is an element which bends the minds of the user to being afraid, having a dark heart, and overall gives Makuta a reason to be feared out of the inhabitants of the MU. It’s able to influence the minds of Matoran to doubtlessly follow the will of Makuta.
And Light is the only thing that can overpower and combat shadow. That is why it is so important in the BIONICLE universe.
[quote=“Chronicler, post:66, topic:12905”]
Light DOES have mass. It has been scientifically proven that light is made up of certain particles, giving it weight. Also, it has been noted that rooms filled with light are heavier than rooms in the dark.
[/quote] Photons don’t have mass though.
While this is true, in G1 BIONICLE had a knack for having a semi-realistic explanation for everything. Greg even says that he won’t go into detail on how elements work because it would probably ruin the mystery.
Keeping this in mind, what is shadow other than an atmospheric alteration of the world around you used to create fear? While it might be scary, shadow can’t do anything besides make things cooler than they were before. Light on the other hand gives off heat, so I suppose that a Toa of Light could do damage to things using heat energy, but that’s trivial when you already have Fire Toa, which fill that roll better. I understand the reason for why Shadow and Light exist in the BIONICLE world, but as elements in a science-heavy world, there are things that they should and shouldn’t be able to do.
Are you kidding? That’s not even how Shadow works in BIONICLE. I’m sorry, but “science” really doesn’t explain Tahu one time being able to ignite FIRE without any source of oxygen.
The Mask of Shadows itself corrupts, dilutes the minds of users. Shadow itself produces FEAR to Matoran and other specimen, and fear is what controls us all. In reality, it’s probably one of the most important elements in BIONICLE. It’s not about what it makes you see or the temperature it gives off, it’s pretty much fear itself. And yes, the whole point of shadow is to BE scary. That’s the whole point of it’s existence, and like I said, fear makes up who we are.
Which is why light is also important: it is the best element to use when battling a Makuta,
Here’s the thing, though: BIONICLE’s science is pretty much bogus. Also, from what I’ve seen in the battles for BIONICLE, light has only been used to inflict damage onto those who use shadow powers or create illusions.
Light serves as a counter-balance, and ying with the yang in the BIONICLE universe. Light and Shadow are used to keep each other in check. Make the world work. That is their purpose.
Photons have no mass, but I’d argue this possibility makes Light and Shadow even more dangerous elements as this presents a way to “cheat” reality. Imagine piercing an enemy’s body only to find that it has no effect. While it hasn’t been used in either canon (although perhaps Umarak’s shadow teleport could be considered a variation of this) the possibility remains.
Regarding Light specifically, not only do I think it’s a useful element but also an incredibly OP one. The skill set is almost endless even from the scientific standpoint. Unfathomable speed, ability to produce intense heat (lasers), holographic projections, a possibility of even traveling time, Light has nearly all the bases covered.
So Shadow is fear, and I need to look at this in a more spiritualistic/psychological way. Got it. It’s the yin and yang thing I argue for in G2. I didn’t ever see that concept in G1 until now because, well G1 never knew what it wanted to be. Sometimes it was all mysterious and magical, and then most of the time it would try and explain those things using modern day science which always ended up being a load of BS.
[quote=“Triple, post:69, topic:12905”]
Photons have no mass,
[/quote] Woo! Not completley rekt!
[quote=“Triple, post:69, topic:12905”]
Regarding Light specifically, not only do I think it’s a useful element but also an incredibly OP one. The skill set is almost endless even from the scientific standpoint. Unfathomable speed, ability to produce intense heat (lasers), holographic projections, a possibility of even traveling time, Light has nearly all the bases covered.
[/quote] Makes sense, and it certainly does make me appreciate both elements more. As a kid I always looked back at MoL after things started getting super serious in 2008 and thought to myself “…are these even part of the same story?”
What’s even more confusing is that Makuta and Takanuva only fight once in the series, and that Takanuva had taken Mata Nui’s spot from 2003 and onward as Makuta’s rival. G1 was just all over the place man.
Photons are already their own antiparticle though, but I get what you mean.
Light in BIONICLE seems to allow the production of photons, while Shadow seems to allow the destruction of photons.
Which is a bit weird considering all the other elements allow the user to create or destroy their element.
Perhaps Light and Shadow really are the same element, just the morality of the user tends to determine which half of the element they use…
Anyway, my favourite element in BIONICLE is Ice, although if G1’s Air had been closer to Avatar’s Air then I would choose that.
@Tarvaax Photons don’t have mass, but they could create mass though, with real science of course! If you are interested you might, wanna see this neat video (start at 1:14) explaining how that could happen.
My favorite element is water, not only is it useful for combat as shown in JTO and other media but it is also able to heal (at least from what I understood from MoL) also the color that represents it (blue, duh) is just my favorite.
My favorite is Earth. I don’t really know, I just love black I guess. And also I think earth has the lowest rate of bad sets over good sets in all of bionicle.
That and onua gen 2 is purple too, which is genius!
Because the names are figurative, not literal, at least given the evidence that makes the most sense,
water refers to liquids such as water or liquid protodermis, while ice refers to freezing, and manipulating ice-like structures, such as the crystalline protodermis of ko-metru.
Stone is surface rocks, boulders and sand, earth is soil and the sediment.
I’m fairly certain toa of fire can only absorb flame and not pure heat,
Just as toa of ice can’t absorb pure cold.
Well, a toa of ice can freeze water, a toa of water has no kinesis over ice.
It is and that was addended in g2, making sand not be controlled by stone in g1 was a mistake.
Yes, in g1 it was referred to as ‘the green’.
As far as I can tell, Greg wanted more elements and those seemed cool. I’m not sure if anyone ever asked Farshtey his reasoning.
If I got any lore wrong I’m sure some archivist on the boards will correct me.
Ever since I first discovered Bionicle, I’ve been wondering what the difference is between the Earth and Stone elemental powers. Aren’t those basically the same thing? Bionicle media has always been really vague on the difference, so…could someone please explain it to me?
