Matoran Elemenal Traits

Hey Greg, I have a couple of questions concerning the Matoran Elemental Traits which has been bugging me for years now.

  1. So far, we know of 16 elements (15 if you don’t count the artificially-made Kra-Matoran), but is it possible there could be more elements we don’t know about?

  2. Each Matoran has a special ability based on their elements, a “passive ability” as I’ve chosen to call them. Ta-Matoran has heat resistence, Ga-Matoran has enhanced lung capacity, etc. But are these abilities a natural part of their physiology and are just always active, or does the Matoran have the ability to turn them on and off at will?

  3. We know that the Av-Matoran are quite unique because of all the crazy abilities they possess that regular Matoran don’t. Such as the ability to shoot bolts of light, change the color of their bodies, share memories, and some other ability that can only be used when in contact with a Toa or Makuta. But are those abilities their replacements of the elemental abilities that the other Matoran types have, or do Av-Matoran also has such an ability on top of all the other abilities? Personally, I feel that the eye protection against bright lights that you gave to the Su-Matoran would have made more sense here.

  4. Speaking of unusual Matoran, when a Matoran is turned into a Kra-Matoran, do they lose their original elemental ability, or do they still have it?

  5. If no, do you know what abilities the Kra-Matoran have? Personally, I think an ability to “mask their pressence in shadows” would have been cool.

  6. We saw the Kra-Matoran who partnered with the Makuta in Karda Nui use similar abilities to the Av-Matoran, only a more negative version. But are these abilities only a result of them being former Av-Matoran or is this a standard for all Kra-Matoran regardless of their former element?

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Hopefully these quotes from BS01 will help.

  1. There are other elements, but exampling as to why there are a select few

When creating the Matoran Universe, the Great Beings decided to exclude Sand as an Elemental Power.

  1. Usually the word innate implies a natural, subconscious connection- they can’t just turn it off.

Each Matoran has an innate connection to their given element, and can manifest the ability in a small way.

  1. These are their elemental powers.

[H]ave limited elemental light powers, allowing them to shoot bolts of light from their hands.

[T]hey can change others’ perception of their body colors by bending light.

  1. Their abilities were replaced.

Matoran who have been deprived of their Light, replacing their prior element with Shadow.

  • However, their abilities can be returned.

[K]nown means of removing the mental barrier that prevents Shadow Matoran from regaining their light is the sonic scream of the Klakk.

They have the ability to launch bolts of Shadow.

  1. The combined powers are exclusive to those formed from Av-matoran.

Shadow Matoran who were corrupted from Av-Matoran also gain special shadow-based powers when physically linked to a Toa or Makuta.

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Pretty sure Sand is not a Matoran Element, so why bring it up?

This is why the Questions were specifically adressed to Greg, cuz, you know, I was asking him about some questions I wanted answered. Not asking for quotes to things I did know.

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I think the idea is that there are more elements outside the Matoran Universe than inside it, so while other elements may exist, there wouldn’t be Matoran for them.

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And this is why we have this rule.

Which is more or less what I was trying to tell you, @Kanohi_Cantri. Hopefully this serves an important example as to why the rule exists.

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Sorry if I took this out of context. @Kenji87 I’m not meaning to demean your knowledge, just trying to give some feedback that I hoped would be helpful. I apologize that this was not the case.

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I realize I might have overreacted, and I do apologize. I just got a bit upset that I asked a specific person a question, and instead, someone else comes and doesn’t even answer my actual questions.

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It’s alright, no need to apologize. Most Ask Greg conversations I’ve come upon have been open to community response, but if you want yours to be exclusively answered then I can respect that.

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All of the topics are open to community discussion, but none of them are intended to be answered by the community. There is generally… one person here I’d consider giving exception to. Otherwise, people generally fail to read and follow the rules of this sub category.