Hey everyone!
This topic is part of my bionicle fan fiction story. This story line is unrelated to the Bionicle story. This specific topic focuses on some of the elements people use in this universe. Three additional elements are not included because they fit into a different category. I hope you enjoy and if you’re curious for more, I’ll link my wikia page at the end. In short, this is a list of alternative elements that resemble the ones in Bionicle, and their descriptions.
Introduction:
Energy Elements are the most commonly used elements within Dimension Beta. There are seven Energy Elements total: Combustion, Electricity, Magnetism, Electromagnetic, Wave, Gravity and Psionics. The first four, Combustion, Electricity, Magnetism and Electromagnetic are known as the Great Energy Elements. The latter three, Wave, Gravity and Psionics, are known as the Dark Energy Elements (I will either add those elements to another topic later). These seven elements have dimensions being fed energy by a company in the Primary Dimension called Prism. Within the Primary Dimension, these elements are commonly referred to as the Prism Elements. The Dark Energy Elements are given such a name because they lost their status as Prism Elements after the Elemental Hero War, in which three rogue warriors from the Primary Dimension mastered the Dark Energy Elements and wreaked havoc on Dimension Beta and four warriors using the Great Energy Elements stopped them. Seeing the environmental damage the Dark Energy Elements could cause to the dimension’s space, and life within, Prism ceased fueling the dimensions of the Dark Energy Elements and isolated them from all other dimensions allowing the Abyss to eventually eat away at them until nothing remained.
The Elemental Dimensions allow any being practiced in creating, or connected to the element or it’s dimension to summon it in much greater amounts. There is more information on the formation on Elemental Energy on its page.
The rest of this article goes into the specific Energy Elements and their capabilities
Combustion:
Combustion, commonly referred to as fire, is the element of explosive, combustive energy. Combustion is the most frequently used element. Most elemental warriors find it easiest to use as it is much easier to summon than Electricity in large quantities and requires less focus than Electromagnetic Energy. An additional reason Combustive Energy is used more than the rest is that the process of combustion occurs so frequently that almost every living being has enough experience with it to be able to summon it.
While users of Combustive Energy are numerous, very few are exceedingly powerful wielding it. By the time any being is able to posses significant power, more often than not, they have likely found an alternate method of fighting more suited, or specific, to who they are. However, as with other elements, those few warriors who have dedicated their skills to summoning, conjuring and manipulating the element of Combustion are not to be taken lightly. Due to the element’s ability to be summoned and created with ease, a powerful user can cause wide scale destruction on a much larger scale than any other elemental warrior of equal strength. At a high skill level, creating a lethal fire ball is child’s play. Powerful users of combustion have been known to be able to decimate entire towns and even armies.
Electricity:
Electricity, commonly referred to on the battlefield as lightning, is the element of controlling electrical charge. Electricity is a fairly common element for an elemental warrior to use. While fire may provide the most widespread damage, Electricity can be pin point precise and cause a lot more damage. In fact, out of all the elements, Electricity is unquestionably the most lethal. For elemental users who primarily rely on it for combat, Electricity is a common second element learned.
However, when it comes to highly accomplished elemental warriors, Electricity users are the most dangerous in a one on one battle. Unlike other elements, Electricity is geared towards taking a single opponent down as fast as possible. Highly accomplished users of Electricity have all kinds of tricks and attacks to throw at their enemies. Common attacks are lightning bolts (powerful, instant damage directly from user to target), chain lightning (lightning that goes from the user to the target, transfers to other conductive objects nearby, and returns to the target to inflict even more damage), storm clouds (massive charge separation above a targeted area that cause a lightning storm - this is one of the few lightning attacks that can effect a large group of opponents), manipulation of non-biomechanical components (because most non-biolomechanical systems rely on electricity rather than the users direct life blood - it’s a safety so that your prosthetic limb or power coil doesn’t siphon the life out of you by accident - Electricity users can do many things with it; for example draining it of power, rewriting it’s programming to attack the wielder, or just explode).
It is important to note that, while Electricity is a powerful weapon, there is much this element contributes to everyday life as well. Many Elemental users work to develop their electrical abilities for just such activities.
Magnetic:
Magnetism is the most versatile and useful element. A user of this element can control/manipulate, conjure and summon Magnetic Energy. The catch is that while elements like Combustion and Electricity can be learned moderately easy, Magnetism is much harder to become practiced in. Users of Magnetic Energy are often very skilled with their abilities. It is quite rare for someone to only learn a basic introduction to Magnetism without pursuing it further. More often than not, elemental users of Magnetism dedicate themselves to their element’s study.
The element of Magnetism has many known abilities that are rightfully feared by all who know of them. An accomplished user can do almost anything to attack or defend themselves from an unprotected, magnetic foe. Some of the more common uses of their power can be listed: Energy Shield (a magnetic field that repels all objects that can be magnetized away from it), Puppetry (summoning or conjuring magnetic fields to manipulate the target - one of the most feared that often ends with dismemberment), Repulsion Blast (Magnetic Energy pushing outward away from a targeted location that can violently repel full sized foes). Weak Repulsion (surrounding one’s self, or ally with repulsive Magnetic Energy that pushes attacks away from the user - though it does not stop heavy, direct blows, it can divert weak or indirect ones while costing very little energy - it is one of the first abilities Magnetic users gain). Needless to say, any unprotected being should be wary.
Electromagnetic:
Electromagnetic Energy, most frequently called light energy, is exactly as it sounds. A user of this energy can control light. Like Magnetic Energy, Electromagnetic is very difficult to understand and employ. Though an elemental warrior focusing on Electromagnetic Energy is a rare case, they are highly revered and often feared. There is a certain air of mystery around Electromagnetic Energy that leaves the true potential of the so called “Light Energy” unknown. What can be said, however, is that Electromagnetic Energy is the most powerful of the Elemental Energies in terms of potential ability.
Users of Electromagnetic Energy have a wide range of abilities, most of which are defensive and supportive. The most commonly used ability is to concentrate high amounts of light energy in one place to act as an energy shield that is often more effective than a solid shield. So long as the shield is fed power, it will protect the user from physical and elemental harm. Another common ability is Radiance. A technique where the user employs massive energy dispersed in all directions that, while not directly effective for any purpose, can be made to follow the user’s will to perform a seemingly endless number of tasks such as an immediate light shield, a boost of strength to their physical body, constant repair to armor and body that will from then on be infused with Electromagnetic Energy to list a few. Most commonly, Radiance is used to increase the effectiveness of any other light energy based abilities (it essentially supplies the user in an environment full of ammunition for their abilities alone), and is almost always the first thing a light user will do when beginning a fight. One additional ability is buffing. Buffing is when an Electromagnetic Energy user enhances something using their energy - a frequently used ability particularly just after performing Radiance. Usually a user will buff either a weapon or their body.
Conventional offensive forms of light energy are quite similar to those of fire and lightning, only differing in that they are more precise. The precision comes from the practice it takes to use Electromagnetic Energy. Because users will practice their light based abilities so much, summoning it is so deeply ingrained within them, it becomes second nature. Some users are so intertwined with their practice of light based abilities that many of their support abilities are often triggered subconsciously, or are even constantly active. As a result of their ability to summon being so well practiced, they are able to perform their signature precise abilities.
Other abilities have been known to be possessed by Electromagnetic Energy users that are quite phenomenal. One such ability is the Enhanced Vision (informally called “light vision”). An ability that depending on the skill and intention of the user, can do many different things. The most simple application, it can be an offensive ability that strikes exactly where the user is looking with light energy. However, other implementations of it are known but not limited to enhanced mental abilities like faster thought processes and telepathy, seeing all waves in the EM spectrum allowing them to see non-visible light that passes through normally opaque objects, and Tactical View, an ability that allows the user to see their surroundings from overhead in essentially third person. Another set of abilities known to be utilized by Electromagnetic Energy users is EM Alterations, though almost entirely referred to as Illusions. Illusions are altering Electromagnetic Energy so that to anyone relying on it for information is misguided. Most often, illusions are used to hide something from view. Examples are details about a weapon - often the length of a blade or the use of a gun disguised as a blade, changes to the environment - concealing a hiding place or fabricating a false ground for a trap, and in rare cases, illusions have been used to perform acts similar to sleight of hand that disguise one action as another - a lethal thrust that appears to be an upward slash. Abilities such as illusions are less used, however, as while they may use approximately the same amount of energy as do most other abilities, but they require a much higher level of battle experience. While having the most applications, abilities like sleight of hand not only require incredible focus and precision, but also require knowledge of how to utilize the ability in battle. If a warrior is capable of performing sleight of hand, that doesn’t correlate to whether or not they know when and how to use it - If an enemy possesses a shield, and a right slash attack is disguised as a left slash attack, it does no good. Light users almost exclusively focus on refining their ability to summon their element, and typically have far less experience in close combat.
It should come as no surprise that, while Electromagnetic energy has undoubtedly the most potential for ability, it also takes the most time to develop any substantial ability. This is why other elements are favored, because until the study of other elements begins to plateau, a one to one ratio of study between other elements and Electromagnetic is a sore disadvantage to light energy.
Thanks for reading! Link to wikia page for Bionicle Shadows: http://bionicle-shadows.wikia.com/wiki/Bionicle_Shadows_Wikia