Light and iron are both on the list already. Though I do find it interesting that light seems to be even with the others, whereas shadow is considered to be entirely separate.
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Yeah I was commenting on those I can’t think of one to add as of yet
I don’t see why she wouldn’t. It’s still liquid water. I can even see Toa of Ice/Water taking one anothers’ elements and changing their state into something they can control; i.e. Kopaka freezing water and then controlling it now that it’s ice.
If I understand what you’re asking correctly: yes. As I’ve set it up, each Toa has a connection to a certain kind of mana, a property which each element has. They expend the energy in their bodies to exert control over this element, and can create it on a whim, though this burns more energy. How much energy they burn varies by element–Tahu doesn’t need to work as hard to create a flame from nothing than Onua does to conjure a stone.
“Shadow” is only what it’s called for lack of a better name. It’s still associated with the Makuta (who is one being rather than a species), but it’s not literally just the absence of light–it’d be more accurately translated from Matoran as “void,” but their word for it, kra’akan, is used for both that and literal shadows, as they consider it the “shadow” cast by the material world on the immaterial.
Iron–which is already in there–cannot affect Matoran or Rahi bodies. Living creatures in this universe are made of protocorpus, a broad category of organic substances including protodermis which I intend to use as a plot device. Its nature and origins are poorly understood, but thought to be divine, and it is not classed as an element because it only appears on sentient creatures, which are considered inhabitants of the world, not a part of it.
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On this point, why can’t thoughts be made physical as part of the power itself? We’ve seen this in comics with Psylocke (of the X-Men), who can make mind blades:
Why not has Psionics be this type of Element? Or, if you want to be more comprehensive, combine it and other mental/spiritual powers into a “Spirit” Element that gives access to some sort of spiritual dimension, as well as its powers…
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This sounds like an awesome power and one with a lot of potential for a “non-elemental” Toa power, but I have some misgivings:
- This would mean that the Toa can control a substance that technically doesn’t exist. Either it has fixed properties as a material, which I’d have to decide on rather arbitrarily; or this “mind matter” can be whatever the hell the user wants, which is OP because it can effectively stand in for any of the other elements. There is probably a way to assign fixed rules for such a power that make sense, but nothing’s terribly obvious right now.
- Again, this “mind matter” doesn’t exist as part of the physical universe, meaning it doesn’t comprise part of the world or cosmos. It would be like having a Toa of Plastic in this universe; plastic, ironically, doesn’t exist yet because the Matoran haven’t even gotten to their medieval period, so it would be an element that can be conceived of, but doesn’t really make sense when categorized as part of the material world.
I have considered this, but there I’m, once again, a bit unsure about it.
- The spiritual/immaterial world isn’t part of the material world. The elements are what the tangible, “real” world is made of, but anything trans-material goes beyond that. This is why mana (which I’ve explained as being how Toa connect to their element) isn’t an element: it isn’t stuff or energy, it’s something else entirely. Magic, if you would define it so. The same goes for souls and spirits.
- Everyone’s going to assume that this power manifests in different ways. Some would just leave it at energy bolts, some would assign object animation to it, Greg himself left it at telepathy and telekinesis–the fact that you thought of mind blades and I didn’t demonstrates this pretty well. I want every element to be fairly self-evident in what it does, at least in context. If you say what the element is, it should be clear what it does. What’s Aether? Well, it’s the fabric of space, so Toa of Aether can bend it, push and pull it, open holes in it, etc. But “the ■■■■■■■ spirit world” entails something different to everyone.
I think that having a heavier element of metaphysics could heavily aid your prospective G3, especially contrasted against the Aether. Metaphysics is the examination of the fundamental relationship between the mental and the physical, and I think that as much as our minds are seperate from our material reality, our minds are intrinsically and irrevocably altered by that physicality, and alter it in turn.
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I mean, if you’re quantifying Elements by what can physically exist, then Gravity is a bit weird as well, since we can’t see the application of gravity. If someone were to do so, it would look a lot like telekinesis, albeit a more rigid and limited form, as it can only be used to make things heavier or lighter, rather than move them about.
A good way to limit this kind of power is to establish a basic hierarchy of structure. For instance, while it is theoretically true that this “mind matter” could be crafted to imitate Fire or Ice, would it necessarily behave exactly as they would? Would it be more or less powerful than they? Or perhaps creating realistic approximations of other Elements is a near-impossible task for anyone but a veteran, meaning that most Toa could only manage to make a mental blade, or to conjure a holographic illusion?
Of course, but you would in this case have to be the one that defines it. If you establish boundaries for this spirit world, such as what can be done in it, what it looks like, etc., you can eliminate the issue of interpretation, as every character will experience the same world.
If your idea, then, is to have the Elements have some sort of magical essence that the Toa connect to, perhaps that, then, is the spirit realm you’re looking for, a place where the elements are fully manifested. Simply toying around with the basic fundamentals of this new BIONICLE world you’re creating will probably help you discover the missing pieces.
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I mean…you can. You’re not floating away out of your seat right now because of gravity. (I am, though, because not even the laws of physics can restrain me.)
That’s not at all the extent of gravity as a power. Creating a gravitational field in a given location affects everything within a certain radius of that field, so everything nearby gets pulled towards it. That’s ultimately what Toa of Aether play with, aside from ripping holes in spacetime to create wormholes.
Perhaps that could work. Functionally, this “mind matter” differs from other elements in that it can be made to stop and start existing on a whim, which can actually be deadly in a fight–the user’s ingenuity can be a good way to restrain that power. It’s also a fundamentally Lego way to incorporate it, sorta like imagination in Lego Universe (can I get an F?).
My concern is that I have to define it and lay out all these rules for it. The most esoteric elements in the list rn are Aether (which your input has me seriously reconsidering) and Kinesis, which are rooted in real-world scientific concepts you’ll probably be familiar with after getting through middle school.
This is actually really thoughtful and, even if I don’t end up with a proper metaphysical element, gives me something useful to chew on besides my socks for once. It also kinda makes sense that the Matoran would have a “magical” element: they’re still a very superstitious people who take their own cosmology and mythology quite seriously, and believe spirits and magic to be very real parts of their everyday lives, not unlike how the Greeks believed there were nature spirits in seemingly every kind of environment. Of course they’d say that there’s a magical part of the world.
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Eh, at this point I’m going to hazard that it would be best to just leave the element list at 11. If you need two teams of 12 Toa for your story purpose, you can just repeat 1 Toa of 1 element on Keksa Nui. 
I’m not going to fire the story director of G3 for including 2 Toa of Ice.
Or maybe…how about Plasma…? If there must be 12. Someone else thought of the element of Crystal as well, but that would probably go under Stone/Earth.
Personally, I would go for a more compact list of elements.
Perhaps throw out Ice and Stone, which were only added because LEGO wanted to maximise sales, and return to the classical Greek four.
However, it might be more interesting to look at Maori myths to determine the elements, in keeping with the rest of the background lore.
Their creation myth goes something like:
Initially there is only darkness / the void, from which emerges light / creation. The clouds and moisture form from the light, then their descendants (all of these are deities / personified) are associated with agriculture and the gift of fire.
Based on this I’d suggest a three-tiered element system:
- Shadow (the absence of all elements), Light (the presence of all elements)
- Air, Water (inc. ice, steam), Earth (inc. rocks and sand, potentially metal)
- Fire (needs fuel?), Flora (plantlife), Fauna (communing with animals, perhaps some potential to be psionics-like)
Tier 1 is most powerful, relating to creation and destruction.
Tier 2 relates to the fundamental ingredients of the world. There’s a loose symbolism with the common states of matter (gas / liquid / solid).
Tier 3 is weaker, needing external substances, but able to achieve more technical feats. Each member can symbolise aspects of life at a different scale (chemical reaction / unconscious growth / sentience).
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If I felt I could do this without losing something, I would. However, keeping the number 6 in such prominence gives a metanarrative callback to Bionicle’s origins. The Matoran, believing the universe revolves around the number 6, assign all matter and energy into 6 categories, believe that Toa come in groups of 6 (or multiples thereof), etc, hearkening to where the idea of 6 Toa ultimately comes from.
Like I said in the OP, that’s now under Fire for practical reasons.
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How about radiation?
That’s just light. It’d also be a lousy element when it’s only really good for giving people cancer. Try honoring the Toa code with that.
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Here’s one idea: bonds, aka shattering/fusion.
If you have, say, a block of wood, it doesn’t fall apart, because there’s a force holding it together. Toa of this element could manipulate this force, breaking the wood, or reconnecting it.
There’d be limits, of course – it’s easier to break wood than metal, and fusing two different materials is harder than fusing wood to wood, for example.
Idea two: biochemistry. This would encompass poison and maybe acid(?), but also chemicals/toxins/pheremones that make you sleepy, or suggestible, or itchy; or do the opposite, curing ailments, soothing, clearing someone’s head.
Idea 3: glue/something sticky.
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While “Toa of Bondage” doesn’t sound like something you can market to kids, I will say that, given the already-presented ideas about “metamagic” elements, this kind of thing has interesting implications, especially for something based on Lego. That disassembly is just as much a part of assembly as anything else could be the perfect idea to work with, though I’m unsure how to actually make that feel like an element in the same vein as all the rest.
This sort of thing has already been posted, and I’m definitely keeping it open as an option under the name “Miasma.”
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
More to the point, what naturally-occurring material would this be? Because if it’s not part of the natural world, it can’t be an element. This is why there’s not a cloth or candy element–that’s stuff that must be made, not which may be found.
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Spider web, for example. Some other creatures secrete sticky fluids/materials.
I know, I was simply expounding on it.
Oh gosh, I did not think of that. Yeah, definitely don’t call it that.
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With the way my system works, the Matoran wouldn’t class spiderwebs as an element, so this “glue” element would need to be made by some organism they can’t see. Which might actually work, I guess? Idk what to call it, but it’s definitely feasible if that’s the case. The main hurdle here is finding a way to relay to the audience exactly what it is without letting the Matoran themselves know.
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You don’t include sonics because it isn’t something you can throw at opponents but you include light!?
Light is energy. You can shoot lasers at people. Sound is just a vibration, which you feel through an existing medium which would just be another element. No medium, no sound, and as I’ve said, if you can’t have it in a vacuum, it shouldn’t be an element.
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oh