Endurance: Fair enough, but numbing might not be the solution. Nerves are needed in order for proper movement, and numbing them could reduce the functionality. Maybe if it involved a higher pain tolerance and a faster cooldown time?
Stealth: Fair enough. That makes sense.
Strength/Speed: I’m not saying speed wouldn’t affect the legs; they’d have to. I’m saying that Strength should amplify the strength of the entire body (legs included), while Speed should amplify movement/reflex/processing speed throughout the entire body. If this is what you meant, then we’re on the same page.
Sense Powers: I know what each of the sense powers’ functions are, but I think that at least Night Vision should be included with Perception. Accuracy I agree should be a separate power, and it didn’t register with me until later that hand-eye coordination wasn’t strictly eye-related. I agree Sonar shouldn’t be included, and I stated that I was iffy on it.
Thanks for taking the time to respond to such a large reply.
@Jon: Is any part of the Matoran organic, or are they 100% synthetic?
Not necessarily, every brain has its designated components whether it is organic or synthetic. We are just using how a human brain functions as a reference, the actual abilities would be performed by similar functions of the matoran brain.
I’m liking the masks idea, and I may have an idea for elemental abilities. It’s somewhat based of the disproven myth that humans only use 10% of their brains full capacity, and also the movie Lucy a little. Basically, the more of your brain power you naturally use, the stronger your elemental powers are, meaning that Toa practically have 115% of their brains being used naturally. It may be possible to artificially enhance your elemental powers using stuff only available from the black market (something like chi maybe?) I definitely think that this is too unscientific, what do you think?
Lol, Imagine… As time passed, the Toa’s heads swelled to an abnormally large size to accommodate for their elemental powers and, in Naramoto’s case, immense ego…
They have parts that are synthetic that emulate organic parts. Synthetic =/= robotic or metallic.
They are 100% synthetic, they were all created by Ekimu, not birthed by him. Don’t get fooled by the old dichotomy between organic vs. biomechanical in G1. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
Yep! It didn’t really “inspire” anything yet, because I just saw it, but I’m sure it’ll have influence on what we do going forward. That and Westworld have been some very good media inspirations for how the characters are handled.
Regarding organic vs. biomechanical: I don’t know why you have these two as “vs” (unless that’s how G1 put it). Biomechanical relates to the mechanical laws concerning the movement/structure of living organisms.
Regarding synthetics: You’ve put that synthetic =/= robotic or metallic, but the TTV has described the Matoran as robots at some point. Not sure if that’s a slip-up. If not, this means that the Matoran possess parts that are artificial made, but also count as living?
Synthetic just means that these are parts made to emulate organic parts that are created in a lab. The Matoran are designed based on the Great Beings, and then emulate a lot of how that creation works. Obviously, the Matoran have many “robotic” influences in their design, as do the GB.
The closest analogy would be the “Organic Protodermis” in G1.
So technically, the mask idea I had is still plausible. Whether it’s a jolt to living nerves, or not, a signal still gets sent when they move. The synthetic brain is sending its synthetic signals to allow Matoran to move, talk, etc., so the same general principle applies.
Of course this concept is just what the group of Matoran who don’t devote themselves to the Elemental Gods/Great Beings would come up with to explain mask powers (candlehead cult or whoever else).
Also, I was thinking about lightstones recently. I don’t think G1 ever gave details for how they form. My thoughts:
Sand below the surface is subject to geothermal energy. The heat below ground would turn the sand crystalline, allowing it to store excess geothermal energy. This excess energy escapes as light when the stone dug up. This also means that lightstones can be recharged. However, they must be buried deep to work. Just adding heat via fire would shatter the crystal. It needs the high pressures of being buried to remain intact.
I also noticed that this process is probably something my self-MOC would do in his free time to help caravans (they can’t be bothered with recharging their lights, so he’ll do it in exchange for goods).
At some level, yes, a signal does get sent - that’s how everything works on principle. But you were basing all of your theories off the idea that specifically, an electric jolt would have effects on the body - the jolt hitting different areas somehow “enhanced” that area of the brain. Simply overpowering a section of the brain wouldn’t result in expanded function (for instance, jolting the area of the brain that was responsible for communication would not allow sudden access and knowledge to other languages), nor would the additional jolt actually enhance physical function OR cause electrical discharges that placate plant life.
Of course, this is all made up. One of the key downfalls to Bionicle G1 was trying to explain too much. We have a key outline of how the Matoran work, but beyond that, the science behind it is very conceptual and needs to work for the story, instead of the story working to service our novice understanding of Artificial Intelligence and robotics.
(I would say that we are trying to stray away from anything working via electricity, simply because it would give Voriki any power she wanted. I’m also not sure about how we want to treat the “metallic” nature of the Matoran, as it gives her a significant advantage if all of her opponents are made out of material conductive to her own element)
@Jon
Certain metals are poor conductors compared to others, but you could just make up a new metal to make up the skeletal structure of the Matoran. Then, the synthetic material could act as insulators to help resist against electricity up to a certain point.
What if the masks act as a type of external hard drive that helps boost a Matoran’s abilities, depending on the mask? Wearing the mask allows the body to take in the information in the mask and adapt accordingly.
So I’m just now revisiting this topic, but yes! I think we would just call this new synthetic material Protodermis. It would be a synthetic metallic like substance, but an “organic metal” that can grow (because our Matoran have kids and grow into adults, needing for an expansion of the metal).
The power has to be inside of the masks, not inside of the Matoran. It isn’t something they can “access”, persay. The functionality isn’t in there, but the masks do give them some ability.
There is some level of “magic” that’s going to be handwaved as the reason why some things work. The Great Beings are “magic engineers”, in that sense.
Actually, I have attempted to explain that “magic” on a quantum level here. At least gives you a system, as opposed to magic where you can do whatever you want.
Quoting “Bright”, magic is: “[…] whatever you want. You want to be taller or shorter, you want 10 million dollars.” i do not like magic, I prefer pseudo magic.
I should clarify: while we generally won’t get into the exact science behind how everything works, this does not mean that the magic will not have a consistent system.
Harry Potter has a (generally) consistent system that doesn’t need a chapter to explain how Animagi can transform their size while violating one of the laws of thermodynamics.
I have to clarify my previous statement. I do not mind if you do not go in depth as to how things work. I do not mind much about violating the laws of thermodynamics, I build an entirely new fundamental law to sustain some things that would not work in our universe. Nor do I care if you do not go explaining the law itself. Harry Potter magic has an okay system that works somewhat, but has several thing that are left unclear. Good story, but the system is nothing compared to the Nen system in Hunter x Hunter where everything is clear.
Ideally I want something like as rigorous as the Nen system, not the same system some with the same consistency. Harry Potter magic is fine, and it does its job, but recently it has left me expecting a little more.
TL:DR
I just want a good power system.
Harry Potter magic level is fine, but I rather have something of the Hunter x Hunter level of rigor.
I gave an example on what I was working on.
You do not have to use the entire thing, as most of it is working on the fundamental laws of the world. While the elemental powers themselves are more an emergent laws. Focus is more on the elemental powers, not the fundamental laws.
Finally, this like many things are not going to be mentioned in the series itself. This is the same reason we have a story bible,to keep consistency.
When I wrote this, I was under the impression that only powers that augmented pre-existing abilities would be sealed within the masks the Matoran wear (strength, speed, etc.) If not, apologies.
What I think I meant when I wrote this is that the mask would act as an external hard drive, carrying the power within it. When a Matoran wears the mask, they are able to access the abilities within the mask, not themselves.
The second part of it is more to do with the masks directly affecting a Matoran’s body, depending on the type of mask. Strength would increase the size of the Matoran’s skeletal structure and muscles, eye-based abilities alter the structure of the eye, etc. When the mask is taken off, these changes are reversed.
