I would like to discuss a topic that always interested me. I always found it weird that the Makuta who are masters of shadows who have more power over that element than any Toa ever could lack the iconic power of using shadows to travel like Shadow Stealer. Greg has answered twice about this but I wonder if anybody else sees his replies as not definitive enough so it could still be a possibility.
The first one is this one Official Greg Discussion | Page 299 While he said they already have a teleportation power that doesn’t necessarily exclude it. While the kraata power is probably easier and less restrictive to use in comparison that doesn’t mean that a Makuta would never try to teleport via shadows if they could. Look at Chirox who learned to manipulate things with his shadow hand even though that is probably more difficult than using other powers like gravity, magnetism, vacuum, cyclone, teleportation, or elasticity who can all manipulate things from a distance to one degree or another. So just because something is easier that doesn’t mean they won’t try to develop a more difficult than using power to use if they can.
The other reply from Greg is Chat with Greg Farshtey | Page 699 while this does say that it is not an automatic part of a shadow power and sounds like a separate ability that is not the same as saying no. After all while shadow Toa can make hands made of shadows this doesn’t automatically mean they get the absorption part. But the absorption part is still a shadow power nonetheless. Also the shadow hand power has been referred to as an ability and not a power just like how Greg described the shadow hand ability.
Even if some of you disagree with the arguments I have made in favor of Makuta possibly using their shadow powers to travel there is still their pocked dimension where they store their mass. This is beyond just their shapeshifting power as their shadow hands can move matter into their pocket dimensions without their shapeshifting being used. Also I would like to mentioned that the two known instances where a Makuta utilised mass from their pocket dimensions specifically when Teridax shapeshifted when he fought the Toa Mata for the first time and when he shapeshifted before he tried to get the Vahi both times involved a large vortex of shadow being utilized in some manner as he used mass from his pocket dimension. So there is some correlation between that dimension and shadows besides their shadow hands. I do wonder if this qualifies as some kind of shadow based travel even if it can be said to be destructive and only works on mass a Makuta has or gains since it is using shadows to move matter from one place to another.
So what do you think of my ideas that Makuta do have some manner of shadow based teleportation power?
So, just to be clear, you’re arguing that Makuta should have the ability to teleport via shadows, like Umarak in G2, correct?
If so, then, as Greg said, they can teleport already. Personally, I don’t see why they couldn’t just teleport normally. I do think it could be possible that they do have the power, but choose not to use it, whether out of personal preference or because it forces then to exert more energy than ordinary teleportation. Or perhaps many of them just aren’t that creative and haven’t explored their powers like this.
Yes that is indeed my intention. And while teleportation would be easier there is merit to using shadows for it even if it is harder. Such as a Makuta using shadow teleportation to infiltrate an area which frees up a kraata power to use in the process like their chameleon power to go unseen or limited invulnerability in case they expect an immediate fight. While it is true they can quickly switch between kraata powers the ability to already have it active while they are shadow teleporting does have some merit to it.
We know Teleportation is a separate power from shadow powers because it is a natural Makuta ability and manifests in the form of Teleportation Kraata and Rahkshi. In that form, Teleportation operates distinctly differently from Shadow Stealer’s walking through shadows, scattering the user’s atoms across space before reassembling them at the target destination. It’s also arguably much more convenient as it doesn’t rely on specific lighting conditions in order to produce shadows large enough to exit through.
Also, Shadow Stealer’s powers are not a dimension hop or based on any temporal trickery with alternate planes of existence. He’s just walking through shadows.
It seems fairly case-specific. Yes, there’s a lot of potential circumstances where having the ability to sneak around whilst preparing another more potent ability is useful, but not only does hiding in darkness already fall under the purview of their shadow powers, there is not one Makuta known in canon who thinks this way. Even the most cunning or cowardly Makuta never resorts to hiding during a confrontation, even when actively fleeing via whatever power was most convenient would have saved the lives of all the Karda Nui Makuta and Spiriah.
Heck, Bitil tried to outrun what was essentially an energy nuke that vaporized all life inside Karda Nui instead of teleporting away. Dumb? Certainly, but it’s a good example of how the groupthink as a whole operated. Resorting to shenanigans and dirty tricks was a poor way of displaying superiority and power, and unbecoming of the most powerful species in the MU.
You specifically mentioned combat scenarios in which it could be utilized; Antroz was not in a combat scenario. He also did not simply teleport to the vehicle, opting instead to stealthily walk there using an ability the Toa Nuva were familiar with at that point in time.
There are certain contrived senses of honor the Makuta possessed, that motivated Antroz to care very much about tactics and Krika to regret the institution he served. As convenient as a shadow teleportation may theoretically be, the inherent Makuta ability was much more convenient, easier to utilize, and they never used it.
Except once, ironically enough, when Icarax tried to flee the scene and got vaporized by Gorast for his trouble. In every other perfectly acceptable opportunity, they just didn’t use it.
That is true but they do not always go for the easiest option Chirox for example learning to use his shadow hand without the automatic pullback getting in the way is one example of a Makuta choosing a less pragmatic option.
Only further evidence as to why the Makuta would simply never use such an ability as moving through shadows regardless of whether or not it was efficient or freed up their other powers for use.
Personally, I think Bionicle did a bad job of providing greater distinction between the plethora of Makuta we see in the story and the powers of Teridax’s Kraahkan; if there’s anyone with legitimate basis for moving through shadows, it’s the guy with the mask of shadows.
Bitil would try to teleport, but the storm was already too close. Waves of energy emananted from it, interfering with his power, and he went nowhere. -Bionicle legends 11
Granted, with all that lightning, shadow teleportation probably wouldn’t have been viable either.
If the Makuta abilities were interfered with just by the presence of undefined “energy”, it’s likely elemental abilities would have been too, especially considering the Makuta powers did not draw from a well of energy and seemed to posses no limit beyond only using one at a time.
Imo they really should’ve made the powers one per individual instead of everyone getting all 42. That way Icarax’s focus on teleportation, Gorast’s focus on acceleration, and Krika’s focus on intangibility would’ve made more sense as being inherit to their characters and not just a narrative crutch for Greg.
The one power at a time thing only seems to refer to kraata powers, and Greg did mentioned they have power reserves, and I don’t mean just the one for their shadow powers.