Kanohi masks have a grayish color and adopts a color with respect to the wearer when worn. But can a Matoran change the color of a mask when wearing it? If so, why bother in painting their masks?
We know that Jaller mantained his Hau yellow while alive, but his original mask was a red Komau (not yellow) and Lhikan Hau was golden (close but not yellow). So why is yellow?
In Karzahni, Hewkii find a Great Suletu. I guess it turn golden when Takanuva put it, but did it turn dark orange or dark turquoise when Hewkii and Kongu worn it?
Yes, they do and so does Takanuva.
The reason Matoran paint their masks is because they cannot usually change on their own. matoran wearing Noble or Great Kanohi is rare.
Same thing that dictates the color of Toa? The only time we’ve seen Matoran change color is when they also go through a form change.
Yes, and this paint faded, the color of the Matoran did not…
This is fair; I would question the canonicity of that depiction however. For one, why would they be painted if they’ve been thrown away directly after being made?
No it is not. It has been on BS01 for over a decade. I see now it has been removed in January 2018 for some inexplicable reason.
This is what it was originally:
Kanohi are magnetically attached to their wearers. Kanohi of certain levels contain a power that the wearer can access, which is done through focus and concentration. If these powered Kanohi are cracked or broken, they do not function properly or at all. The masks come in a variety of different shapes, derived from the need to discern the power a mask has. While masks can be forged into any different shape, they are not done so in order to maintain consistency in identifying the power it might have. The colors of Great and Noble masks are dependent on their wearers. When Kanohi are made originally, they adopt a grayish color which they keep until they are worn. At that point the mask adopts a color with respect to the wearer. Matoran masks, having no power, will not change color at all, making it necessary to paint them in their colors.
‘Sigh’… yet another important piece of information lost from BS01
Matoran kanohi getting their color from being painted would indeed explain why Takua’s pakari stays blue instead of turning red, yellow, or gold when he’s wearing it.
And it would also explain why Lhikan’s mask didn’t turn red like Jaller’s powerless komau:- the latter was always red no matter who was wearing it because it was painted that way, but the former changes color based on who’s wearing it, so it just turns out that Jaller’s “natural” kanohi color was gold all along, so it stays that way.*
*Or, if you want to take the colors from the sets into account, maybe you could say that Jaller’s “natural” color was actually yellow, and thus, Lhikan’s mask did change its hue when Jaller put it on.
About Takua, Av-Matoran can change their color apperance, so that could imply that Matoran Kanohi are not painted or at least not every mask (and maybe Takua just couldn’t figure out if he wanted to be a Ta or Ga-Matoran).
Maybe they don’t have just one “natural” color and it depend on the mask and transformation they are in. That could explain why Toa of stone like to change color so much.
