Questions about the nature of the elements found on Spherus Magna, outside the Matoran Universe, as well as questions of what makes an element, what they are at a base level…
- Did the Great Beings discover the elements (outside the Spherus Magna, in the regular universe)? Or did they create them? What I am asking is, are they a naturally occuring thing (specifically outside the MU) or are they an artificial thing?
(questions based on the assumption that they are somehow a natural thing)
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What makes an element an element instead of any other substance (or even atom, as Iron controls metal and lots of metals are just chemical elements)? What makes something like Graphite not be an element over something like water?
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Are the elements tied to a unique, natural, universal kind of force? Or more than one? Like an “elemental force”, like how we have the strong nuclear, the weak nuclear, the electromagnetic and gravitational forces? (the 4 fundamental forces of the real world universe).
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Are the elemental force, if a thing, some combination of the 4 fundamental forces?
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Are elements related to one another in any way naturally? Elements are categorized under the same term, so I assume they are connected in some kind of way. If Mata Nui really did sense the Glatorian would eventually evolve to have the powers over the elements down their evolutionary path and so decided to give the five Glatorian he gave the powers in the movie early, this does imply that they are somehow connected. That if they would get these powers that the Toa and Matoran and other MU beings have around the same time in the future, these similar kind of powers, that they are somehow tied together. If that makes sense.
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And about the Ignika giving those powers. You said once that the Toa and Matoran have the elements because they are biomechanical, and so the elements are not natural. But the Ignika could give powers to people who are barely mechanical. Does this mean that the powers themselves, or the elements themselves, are not unnatural, but the MU inhabitants’ abilities to use them are? Like the Great Beings synthesized an ability they already knew existed in nature (although we haven’t seen ayone with real natural elemental powers yet)?
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Is it due to some “elemental dimension”? Perhaps a 4th dimension or other dimension?
(question based on an assumption that they could be completely artificial)
- In case it is all artifical, is just the Great Beings creating limited telekinetic and matter-creating abilities they can give anyone? If so, did they simply decide on what should or shouldn’t be an element or elemental power? This is essentially what I meant by “artificially made”. What we would call “man-made” if humans made it.
If you do not care for hard science as well as alternate science, skip this part.
Some reminders
Atoms are a thing in the BIONICLE universe. I assume they are made up of quarks like in our world, and that a lot of the chemical elements found in the real world periodic table are there in BIONICLE too. A lot of those are metals, so I assume beings of Iron could control all of those essentially. Water is a compound rather than. Glatorian are mostly organic, and they were able to have elemental powers. The biomechanical people of the MU could have these powers too, but you once said that was because they were biomechanical. But the Glatorian are not.
Some theory stuff
One theory I have heard from a friend is that the Ignika created an “organic substitute” in them of the “elemental tech” found inside the bodies of the MU inhabitants with elemental powers.
He said: "Each element likely had specific research put into making beings that can actually manipulate them. Discover in this case refers to that research, some of which was likely simple, like figuring out how to direct flames using a stripped down version of telekensis, all the way to complex things like black holes. The core of the theories are, since telekinesis is on the table, that can absolutely factor into any advancements in other elements, regardless of their sources. A way that I have thought of it is that the telekinesis of different Toa types is keyed to a particular material, as it were, so it only acts upon material meeting that criteria.
It’s possible there are “elemental planes” or dimensions that the Toa and other elemental beings are able to draw from. Like a Toa of Fire draws from a big ball of fire which can’t be seen. This could be a parallel dimension. This would explain how they are able to simply wait to have their elemental energy recharged instead of deciding on absorbing elements."
I don’t know if this is how it works, or if it’s more supernatural. Or just natural, which I think it could be or is. Something to do with a fundamental natural force of the universe.
My own theories: I am working from a assumption here that the “elements” and the “elemental powers” are two different things, potentially. That the power is the ability to bend or use it, and the “elements” themselves are just the elements, if that make sense. Another theory of mine is that, like I’ve tried to outline above, the elements are elements in virtue some universal, natural force or more than one universal, natural force, potentially made up of elemental energies. This theory is a bit wonky when you look at the fact that gravity is one of the fundamental forces of the universe as well as an element. But the theory might still work. It’s possible that everything in the BIONICLE Universe are made up of energy, just a tightly packed together sort. It would explain why energies inside of a MU inhabitants’ body can break down ingested food into energy they can use to move and live. And what keeps those energies together could potentially be forces. Fundamental ones. Just like in our univese, only difference is that the elementary particles are energy particles rather than just particles.
Sorry if this became very complex Greg 