Hey everyone! So what are your thoughts on the Kanohi Avsa The Great Mask Of Hunger? After reading about it again it seems like it might be one of the most powerful masks out there, let me know your thoughts! Here’s the description from Biosector01: “The Kanohi Avsa is the Mask of Hunger. It allows its user to drain light, energy, or positive emotions from a target at a distance, even to the point that it kills the target.The user will absorb the energy removed from their target.The mask can also drain a Makuta’s essence.
This mask can be used to make lightless beings such as Shadow Matoran, The Kanohi Avsa places a psychological barrier in its victims that keeps their light from returning, although the light drain must be complete before the barrier is set.The power scream of Klakk can reverse this by breaking the barrier. Other beings with a sonic scream ability could also break the barrier, granted they know the exact frequency, volume, and duration to do so.”
Not entirely. The Avsa would be best used to drain foes at a distance and either turn them evil or kill them. The latter would be just as easily achieved by using a Volitak and sneaking up behind the victim before stabbing them in the throat (or just sniping them), and the former would be better done by Shadow Leeches, as they are better for wide-scale use.
Like many masks, the Avsa is fairly situational. It can certainly be very powerful, but what it does can be done better by other masks, objects, or creatures.
Fair enough, makes sense. I had no idea it could Drain a makuta’s essence! If only toa were willing to use the mask, unfortunately for the Toa it is an immoral mask and frowned upon to use. That would be extremely helpful for pretty much anyone fighting a Makuta.
I definitely think it’s unbalanced because of the sheer versatility of its potential usage. I love the idea of someone using it to absorb energy and hope from their foes, but allowing it to create Shadow Matoran was a bit much for a Kanohi IMHO.
I agree with you there. For one non legendary Kanohi it is quite versatile. I always wondered was there ever a reason given why there was only one Kraahkan?
Just because Artakha only made one. In theory, I assume it could be like the Mask of Light where a Toa of Light could help to make a Light Kanoka that can be forged into an “Avohkii” – without the extra powers.
As far as this goes:
The Avsa can drain light, energy, or positive emotions. These are three variations of the same basic “drain” power. To demonstrate versatility in Kanohi, I am going to list other Kanohi that have more than one power (or variations of a basic power, such as “translate”):
Two-variation Kanohi
- The Miru can slowly descend or hover in place.
- The Komau can deliver mental blasts or induce mind control.
- The Suletu can read minds and transmit telepathic messages.
- The Sanok can accelerate projectiles and launch them with complete accuracy.
- The Volitak camouflages the user and mutes noise around the user.
- The Mask of Possibilities can make an event more likely to happen or less likely to happen.
- The Mask of Biomechanics allows a user to interface with/control machinery and provides the user a boost to their mechanical strength.
- The Mask of Incomprehension can scramble written language and spoken language.
- The Mask of Weather Control allows the user to sense weather patterns and control the weather.
Three-variation Kanohi
- The Rau can translate carvings, written language, or spoken language.
- The Mahiki can shapeshiſt, create illusions, and mimic voices.
- The Ruru can provide night vision, provide a beam of light, or provide x-ray vision.
- The Elda can detect Huna/Volitak users, disembodied Iden users, and the Ignika.
- The Faxon can copy land Rahi, sea Rahi, and air Rahi powers.
- The Rode can detect if a user is deliberately lying, can detect Iden/Huna users, and can dissipate illusions.
- The Mask of Intangibility can fly, hover in place, and move silently. (This actually makes it better than the Kadin and the Miru, and it takes a Volitak power as well. If the intangible Toa becomes less-visible then it’s functionally a Volitak/Kadin/Miru all in one.)
- The Mask of Fusion can create fusions, separate fusions, or stabilize fusions that are being broken by a Makuta or rival mask user. (This gives it a power only Makuta normally have access to: to break Kaita.)
As far as I can tell, the Avsa is not unusually versatile – however, its basic power of “drain x from target” makes it a powerful mask to start with, and its versatile ability to drain inner light, energy, or positive emotions makes it a strong mask.
Edit: There are 62 known Kanohi, not counting the Olmak (only two ever made), Kraahkan, Avohkii, Olisi (only one of each ever made), elemental Kanohi other than the Garai, Legendary Kanohi, or hypothetical Kanohi made from Kraata powers. Of these 62 Kanohi, I found 9 that I would classify as having “three power variations” and nine that I would say have “two power variations.”
That is, just under 1/3 of all known non-unique Kanohi have multiple power variations. If you factor in the Avohkii and Kraahkan, the percentage goes up from 29% (18/62) to 31.25% (20/64). Do with this information what you will.
Thank you for the information!
It actually can’t fly.
Counterpoint:
“Willpower” also allows a MoI user to not fall through the ground, therefore determining their altitude based solely on their concentration:
Tabletoppoint: “drifting up” is different from flying, and doesn’t allow for lateral movement
I wasn’t originally going to counter this since it’s a lot of speculation about how intangibility works, but then I found this:
And I remembered that we see how a Rahkshi of Density Control uses its power in Legends #3, so we actually do have a decent idea of how the Moin works.
Greg specifically says it works the same as Vision’s intangibility — this is important because Vision’s version does allow for actual flight.
I checked BA3 and found the Rahkshi scene. While it doesn’t explicitly fly laterally (it does hover and change altitude frequently), it does manage to close the gap between Matau and Vakama while intangible in order to resolidify and grab them, suggesting that it can hover laterally while intangible.
Regardless of the exact limitations of the mask’s flight capabilities, this statement still isn’t true. The Mask of Intangibility doesn’t allow you to carry anything while “flying”, while both the Miru and the Kadin do.
This doesn’t make the Mask of Intangibility any better or worse, just different.
My point is and was that the power allows the user to hover and to move laterally, while the Miru only allows hovering and the Kadin only allows lateral movement. In this regard it beats both.
The notion that it does not work on weapons or held items is erroneous. Rahkshi require their staves in order to use their powers to full effect, so by definition their Density Control power must include their staves. Furthermore the only quotes that can be cited regarding intangibility not working on contact refer to using the power on an enemy — not on worn or held equipment.
You’re right in that it can do more varied tasks than either mask, but that doesn’t mean it’s better; just that those masks do one task very well, while this can do a variety of stuff.
As an example: Nuparu Inika carrying Hahli over the chasm in Power Play. He wouldn’t have been able to pull that off with a Moin. (okay so he kinda failed at it with the Kadin because he dropper her, but that’s beside the point)
Feels a little nitpicky, but sure. The same could be said regarding the Kadin vs. the Miru but people will say all the time that the Miru is obsolete because of the Kadin despite them doing different things. In that regard it feels a little like you’re just trying to find anything to “prove me wrong,” when at the end of the day it was one phrase that really wasn’t even relevant to my point about the Avsa’s versatility. You’ve made yours, I’ve made mine.
Oh no, I’m not trying to “prove you wrong”, it’s just that power usages/differences is something that I really like to talk about. Might be worth creating a topic for Bionicle Power Discussion.
I guess I would say that your point isn’t wrong, but I wanted to add more to it.