So Kopaka’s shield was always an enigma to me, why have a shield that typically blocks physical attacks, but in the MU most attacks are mostly energy.
Well my headcanon now is that his ice shield works as a permanent “shield of ice” that (as noted in the comics and other media) can reflect energy attacks (see snips below for examples). Since it’s not true ice it doesn’t ever melt, and as a bonus he can also use it as a sled.
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That could explain why his shield is so gappy; it’s just a frame for him to coat with ice when necessary.
(That could also save weight when he’s not using it, though I’m not sure if tool weight is ever an issue for a Toa)
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Evidently I never shared the “GSB is Irnakk” theory here, so I’m going to.
Firstly, though, a disclaimer - this theory is expressly not canon, which sucks, because there are too many similarities between these two characters for this to just be a coincidence, in my opinion. Greg has confirmed multiple times that there is no relationship between Irnakk and the Golden-Skinned Being [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. They are not the same character, and they are not related in any way, canonically.
With that out of the way, here’s my (surprisingly long and in-depth) theory explaining why they are more or less the same character, among other things. 
First, groundwork. We know that part of Mata Nui’s goal in his observation of the Solis Magna system was to devise a solution to conflict that would prevent another Shattering-level event from occurring on Spherus Magna after the Reformation. We know that most of the sapient species that existed in the Matoran universe were programmed into the Great Spirit, not manufactured before takeoff. Finally, we also know that a Matoran universe inhabitant’s destiny can physically manifest and affect them in the real world - the clearest example of this being Toa Matoro hearing a voice instructing him to don the Kanohi Ignika in Legends 8.
Now, as the second step in this theory, let’s compare Irnakk and the Golden-Skinned Being.
- Both of them are related to the Skakdi in some way.
- They both have powers related to dreams.
- Gold is a prominent part of the color schemes of both characters.
- The Golden-Skinned Being is a fusion in-story, and Irnakk is a combiner set out-of-story.
Of these points, numbers 1 and 3 are direct similarities, while 4 is too meta to be truly relevant (though it is an interesting parallel). 2 is where it gets interesting: Irnakk and the Golden-Skinned Being’s powers are direct inverses of one another.
Noticing this is what led me to crafting this theory. Irnakk’s power is to take any living being and turn them into a thought in his mind. The Golden-Skinned Being’s power is to take any thought in a living being’s mind and make it real. If this truly is a coincidence as Greg insists, it’s a helluva coincidence.
Step three: why is this relevant? This is the part where we tie the disparate pieces of this theory together. Firstly, recall the groundwork - Mata Nui is looking for a solution to conflict, and his body is pre-loaded with tons of sapient species, most of which don’t have a clear purpose relating to his systems. Now, remember how the Golden-Skinned Being was created: six Skakdi, as well as a lower Steltian, a Vortixx, and a Zyglak were submerged in energized protodermis. We know that the effect of energized protodermis on a being is influenced by their destiny - hence we can assume that being combined into the Golden-Skinned Being is or was the destiny of the Piraka, as well as the other three beings that joined them.
So why were these beings destined to become the Golden-Skinned Being? One of the big main tenets of this theory is that the Golden-Skinned Being is the solution to conflict that Mata Nui had set out to devise. It would make sense with the subtle characterization we’ve seen of the Great Beings, who are shown to be scientific geniuses but don’t have much in the way of social skills - their programming came to the conclusion that the best way to avoid conflict is to, essentially, keep everybody drugged up all the time, lost in the wildest fantasies they could possibly dream up. Mata Nui devised this solution to conflict during his observations, and likely subconsciously. If the Toa Mahri were correct in their assumption that Teridax prompted its creation (Greg didn’t usually write unreliable narrators for BIONICLE), he likely either did not understand what he was bringing into existence, or accidentally had it created.
So, since it was the destiny of these nine beings to be combined into the Golden-Skinned Being, how can that be? The “blueprints” for the Golden-Skinned Being did not exist when Mata Nui launched, and they may not have existed at the time some or all of these beings came into existence. At the least, we know the Piraka are all over 70,000 years old (because Makuta Spiriah tampered with them). The answer comes from the fact that we know that destinies can change under extreme circumstances [1]. I would argue that the destinies of the Piraka and other beings who were incorporated into the Golden-Skinned Being were changed at some point so that they would become that being when fused in EP. This explains why so many different sapient species were pre-loaded into the Great Spirit - the Great Beings added these species as a stock of “ingredients” to be recombined into the solution to conflict, and Mata Nui performed the calculations that told him what the most effective mix would be.
Still with me? I know this post has gotten super long. Here’s what we have so far: Mata Nui was pre-loaded with so many sapient species so that he could have lots of material to recombine into the solution to conflict that he had set out to devise. The solution he came up with was the Golden-Skinned Being, and it’s possible Teridax had it created by accident. There appears to be a connection to Irnakk, even if Greg denies it.
Here’s where they’re connected: We know that a being’s destiny can affect them in the real world. As mentioned. we need to look no further than the climax of Downfall to see this: as Matoro hesitates to put on the Kanohi Ignika, he hears a voice of unknown origin directing him to put it on (there has been no confirmation of the source of the voice). What if the destinies of the Skakdi affected them in a similar way?
After Mata Nui devised his solution to conflict, and computed the perfect recipe for it given the resources he had access to, he “updated” the destinies of all of the component species, including the Skakdi. This could have happened before or after Spiriah tampered with them, but Spiriah’s tampering is essential here to why Irnakk and the Golden-Skinned Being are connected. When Spiriah tampered with the Skakdi, driving them insane, he inadvertently brought the subconscious knowledge of the species’s destiny to the forefront of their minds, twisting the mental image of the Golden-Skinned Being into the nightmarish Irnakk. This is why their powers are directly opposed: Irnakk, being a figment of post-tampering Skakdi imagination, is a warped version of the “true” Golden-Skinned Being, which all Skakdi, Vortixx, Zyglak, and lower Steltians are aware of on a subconscious level (due to forming the fusion being their destiny).
And there you have it, a way-too-long explainer on why Irnakk and the GSB are the same, even though they canonically aren’t. Thanks for reading
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You know this is already canon. In Mask of Light novelization Kopaka uses his shield to reflect Panrahk’s shattering beam back at him.
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That’s a great theory! I may have to make a story with it someday.
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My newest headcanon is this: most energy based powers are actually variant forms of plasma, thereby rendering the existence of Su-Toa more reasonable
By extension, there may be many technological and environmental applications of this variable plasma in the MU, which would explain why Plasma was included as a Toa element to begin with
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Well, you are scientifically correct, as Fire and Lightning are both forms of Plasma.
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Huh, so it did. It’s been awhile since I read the book, and that definitely didn’t happen in the movie lol
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Yep, novel exclusive:
“The Fragmenter-Rahkshi planted its staff in the snow. A zigzagging bolt arced into the air, then down toward the helpless pair. Kopaka slid toward them, his shield up. The ice shield deflected the bolt, its energy knocking the Toa backward. The bolt blasted back toward the Rahkshi, shooting a plume of snow into the air as the creatures dove for safety.”
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I’ve been looking into some Dark Hunter stuff recently, and there’s actually a bit more supporting this theory than I first thought.
First, compare the passages below. The first is from Ravager’s entry in the Dark Hunters guidebook, while the second is from Dwellers in Darkness:
Something was nagging at [Shadow Takanuva] … something else that was not as it should be. What was it? He was certain that his armor had not been all black before … so that was one possibility. But was that the answer? No, no, it wasn’t. He was almost positive that one other thing had been different prior to his awakening.
He was pretty sure—could have sworn, really—that he hadn’t wanted to destroy the world before. But now?
The dark Takanuva just couldn’t wait to get started.
Here, there is a clear similarity the mindsets of Ravager and a Shadow Takanuva. This admittedly isn’t a super unique mindset amongst villains, but I will point out that the similarities go beyond simply being “evil”, and specifically focus on physical destruction.
I’ll also point out this passage from Ravager’s entry:
Who else do we know that gets bored easily?
The final piece of evidence I’ve noticed is that, if Ravager is indeed an alternate Takanuva, a loss of sanity and/or other mental damage at the hands of Tridax could explain Ravager’s wild colour scheme. We already know from Takua’s time as a Ta-Matoran that he can be subconsciously made to change the way his colours are seen, so I see no reason a similar thing couldn’t be happening here.
Obviously none of this is conclusive evidence that Ravager is a Takanuva, and it’s all pretty circumstantial, but it’s still a fun theory.
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I really like this theory. It has the makings of the best kind of twist: it was right there to see, but nobody noticed it. Ravager’s face is literally the Avokhii, his only official fiction emphasizes how mysterious his origin is, and no one paid any attention to it because he’s a minor character in a mostly plot-irrelevant guidebook.
One more thing I’d add, which is not evidence, but remarkably apt, is that TSO actively suspects there might be more of whatever Ravager is, almost foreshadowing the idea of an army of them.
One little caveat has occurred to me, though. While it’s possible that Takua became a Toa earlier in other timelines or in universes where time flows faster, it seems unlikely that Tridax tried to kidnap any of them until after Takanuva appeared in the main timeline. Which would mean that Ravager would need to have been mutated, escaped, and become a Dark Hunter extremely recently as of the time the Guide to the Dark Hunters material is set, circa 2006.
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Crazy idea: what if Ravager is the reason the Brotherhood knew to be scared of Takanuva, or, more specifically, the Avohkii. Take this quote from The Mutran Chronicles:
There [the Avohkii] was in the hands of Teridax, not even having the courtesy to be the color of a lump of clay when not being worn – oh, no, the Avohkii gleamed golden. Locked within it was the one power we Makuta dreaded, and the unspoken promise of something far worse – the existence, someday, of an actual Toa of Light.
If you think about it, why should the Avohkii automatically mean that there will be a Toa of Light to wear it? Sure, that’s what ended up happening, but there’s no reason for the Makuta to expect that; it’s not like a Garai will eventually create a Toa of Gravity to wear it.
But what if the Brotherhood already had experience with a Toa of Light wearing the Avohkii in another universe, or even the same Toa with the same mask in multiple universes? That would give them reason to worry about the mask.
We don’t know exactly when Tridax got the Olmak and created the first Shadow Leeches, but it’s possible that Ravager was a “test run”, or some other precedent to Tridax’s final army.
The Avohkii was created 2500 years ago, at which point the Brotherhood was immediately worried, meaning that Ravager must have been brought over before that. In Destiny War, Tridax says that he created the Shadow Leeches (and already had the Olmak) “not long ago”, but that could still mean a few thousand years in the context of the Makuta’s 100,000 year long existence.
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This is actually a good point considering the Toa Empire Universe. Takua there was not destined to become a Toa.
Yes, because if you alter history, you alter destiny. Takanuva was destined to become a Toa because of the need for light power to defeat the Makuta. In Tuyet’s universe, the Makuta were not destined to be a threat, therefore he was not destined to become a Toa.
I don’t think this necessarily follows. The Avohkii was created 2500 years ago in the prime universe, but could have been created sooner in other universes. Perhaps Tridax was exploring universes for other reasons, and happened upon one with a Takanuva. Fascinated and frightened, I could definitely see Tridax bringing him back to study him, find out how he could prevent a Toa of Light being created in the prime universe.
(Not saying this that I support it, just an alternative idea.)
EDIT: I took what you said for granted without checking BS01 first. The Avohkii page only says Kojol stole it 2500 years ago, not that it was created 2500 years ago.
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Yeah, that’s what I meant; Ravager was brought over (with his alternate Avohkii) quite some time before the Avohkii was made in the prime universe, which is why the Brotherhood was worried as soon as it was created.
I’m also kind of leaning in the “accidental discovery” direction.
While this isn’t an explicit confirmation, The Mutran Chronicles makes it sound like Kojol raided Artakha not long after the mask was made:
Whispered rumors had reached Destral that [the Avohkii] had come into existence on Artakha. Natually, Makuta Kojol, being the idiot he was, had not learned this directly. But he was more than ready to lead an armada against the island and seize the thing.
While I can’t say for sure that this is the case, there’s also nothing I know of that says it can’t be the case, and the “Ravager is Takanuva” theory works better the more recently Ravager was brought over (and therefore the more recently the Avohkii was made).
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Here’s my new headcanon: Mata Nui is the spirit of a Great Being, who suffered some sort of traumatic near-death that caused him to lose his memories, and the other Great Beings salvaged his consciousness like what Velika did.
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As we saw in MNOG, corrupted Kanohi kept mind of their last host inside them. Probably the corruption fused them together or help to control the mind of the wearer of the mask.
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Kanohi Avohkii can change ANY Matoran or ONLY the Chosen One into Toa of Light, and giving him power of light. Whereas, it would mean that it has no power whatsoever, just the ability to turning a Matoran into Toa.
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Turning/Mutating/Fusing is made by dormant nanobots made by the Great Beings, using schemes to chose the best form to optimize body resources, and maybe match some GB believes (like the picture of the old wise for/from a former warrior an so on) because, remember, Bionicle is a sci-fi brand.
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What do you mean by “GB believes”? It makes the fusion look like a Great Being?
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Nah I meant famous myth figures or so, like the great warriors, the elder ones, the young ones, etc…
And I think fusion would probably try to follow a specific scheme, but can fail, when mutations are corrupted or hijacked schemes
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Just wanted to get this idea out here.
My mind emphasizes Protodermis as a synthetic, programmable matter, so I think that Matoran shape it by using the miniscule amount of elemental energy they have, usually by placing their hands onto the raw, solid Protodermis and focusing their energy.
Doing so would “program” the Protodermis to a substance appropriate to that Matoran’s element (For example, a Po-Matoran may turn Protodermis to synthetic stone), which can then be made further into various goods and parts.
This is about as far as the headcanon goes for now before I start to short circuit myself.
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To be fair, it could explain the fact that Mata Nui island seems to be natural despite being a camo from the GRS.
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