Uses of Protodermis

Going back from the Storyline, I know that Protodermis was discovered by the Great Beings only to have the Protodermis to be used for the Mata Nui Robot. I know that Protodermis is used to making Kanoka Disks, as well as Kanohi masks, weapons, tools, and vehicles. I also know that Molten Protodermis was used in Metru Nui to heating a a city as the substance is dumped via subterranean pipe system. Knowledge Crystals are able to grow from the Crystalline Protodermis and the Memory Crystals, Lightstones, and Heatstones are made up of crystalline Protodermis. If that is the case, what if there are more uses for Protodermis?

Going back, I mentioned that Protodermis was used for heating, if that is true, what if it can be used as fuel? This could be used to powering up vehicles. And speaking of Vehicles, I know that Matoran would need to move some heavy cargo, so there is a possibility of a express train; if that is true, what if there is a Train that moves on tracks that are made up of a type of Protodermis that uses gravity to push and move the train? I know what you are thinking of, why of all a train, well trains were a means of transportation and in real life there was an experiment of using magnets to move trains and there were some trains that used magnets for movement.

There was also another idea I had for Protodermis, what if there was a way to create solid light? When I mean solid light, I mean light that is so hard you could touch it. I mean it is similar to those Energy Constructs in Green Lantern as well as the energy used in forming Hoverboards in Ben 10. Imagine if there were Protodermis that could emit hard light, as this could be beneficial for future technology.

Another thing to add as well. I know that there was Zamor Spheres filled with Energized Protodermis to reverse the effects of the Antidermis in order to free the slaves. In other words, Protodermis was used as a form of projectiles for weapons. Letā€™s look at RWBY for example, the characters have weapons that use Dust but the way they use Dust from their weapons varies going from shooting Dust to imbuing weapons with the Dust elemental power as well as imbuing oneself for combat and on clothes for defense. If that is the case, I believe it would be possible for any Matoran or Toa to use the Protodermis in creative ways in fighting. Imagine if another Toa created a crystallized or rocky clone/decoy of himself/herself using a type of Protodermis similarly to Blake Belladonna from RWBY. Anything is possible.

The third thing is what if there was a device that Matoran could use as phones which are powered by Protodermis? I know that iPhones in real life runs on batteries and some batteries are made up of Quartz which is a type of crystal which I mentioned being used to conducting electricity from my last topic, Is going from Earth/Stone Toa to Earth/Stone and Lightning Toa possible? [Link in the description], and if there is a phone-like device in the Matoran universe, there needs to be some sort of Wi-Fi but in order to create WI-Fi, there needs to be a Tower, and what better way to communicate through Protodermis powered phone than a Protodermis powered tower? You see where I am following with this?

To sum it all up, we have seen how Protodermis was used in the comics as well as being told in the stories, but we havenā€™t seen how Protodermis can be used in a myriad of ways. If you have some comments to prove to be the case or contradict what I had stated, please discuss here and I will follow up with what you have to offer.

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Im pretty sure Energized Protodermis can be used as fuel. And in reference to another one of your questions, lightstones are essentially solid light, although it requires a Toa of Light or an Av-Matoran to produce solid objects from naturally occurring light.

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Can Protodermis be used to creating electrical power as well? I mean it was used to heating up Metru Nui, and I know that water in real life is used in generators, I mean have you seen the old game on Miniclip, Chasm? Water is used for running the generators so maybe. I know that Protodermis can be in the form of a Gas so what if there is a machine that runs on gaseous Protodermis? I mean this can be used as fuel or used to moving fans. The Protodermis can be used to converting energy in two efficient ways as I stated.

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Protodermis was created, not just discovered:

And it was created long before the idea to create the Mata Nui robot, based on the fact that the robot was only created as a response to the Core Warā€™s destruction of the planet, which followed the discovery of Energized Protodermis, which itself followed the creation of protodermis:


No, theyā€™re crystalline protodermis:

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Okay if what you are telling me is that Protodermis was created for creating the Mata Nui Robot responding to the Core Warā€™s Destruction, who created the Protodermis in the first place?

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The Great Beings created protodermis, but not for the Robot.

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Thatā€™s not what Iā€™m telling you. I specifically said that protodermis was created before the idea of the Mata Nui robot ever existed:


The Great Beings:

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Protodermis was indeed created by the GBs before the discovery of EP or any plans for Mata Nui robot. It should be mentioned that this piece of information is one of those internally contradictory facts which have many sources telling us different things. But the interpretation others have put forward here seems to be the most consistent one (even though I personally think there are other, more believable versions, but what can we doā€¦).

Yes! But letā€™s backtrack a little bit. First you asked if it could be used as fuel. It already is. The protodermis was mined on Mata Nui and used as a source of energy:

The mysterious substance had been mined on Mata Nui for years, used as a source of power.
-BCh2

Other indicators of protodermis containing energy is the manufacturing process of Kanoka disks and Kanohi masks.
Perhaps even more importantly the entire population of the Matoran universe is made out of protodermis and runs on protodermis-derived energy. This energy had several names in the story, such as internal, personal, or physical energy (I call it physical energy for short).

So to sum it up the ā€œenergy of protodermisā€ is essentially identical to the energy contained in Kanoka, Kanohi and beings. Speaking of beings, many of them have non-elemental electricity powers (Axonn or Suukorak for example), which draw upon this energy - therefore the protodermis can indeed produce electricity albeit indirectly. It first starts out as this ā€œenergy of protodermisā€ which is not electricity in itself:

Q: A Toa of electricity could restore the energy of a Matoran who lost his mask and maintain this energy until the Matoran has a new mask?
A: No. What they get from a mask is not simply electrical energy.

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I see that it can be used as an energy. By the way can Protodermis exist in different Variants, such as powdered Protodermis or an elastic-type of Protodermis?

And another thing, can Protodermis be used for transmuting? When I mean transmuting I mean used in brewings, alchemy, experiments, research, etc.

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Yes. Literally everything in the Matoran Universe is a protodermis variant, with the exception of the Makuta (who are made of Antidermis), a handful of Great Being-made artifacts, and whatever fell into the robot through the hole in Voya Nuiā€™s dome after the Great Cataclysm.

The real question here is whether or not transmuting is possible at all; if itā€™s possible, then protodermis can be used for it because essentially everything in the Matoran Universe is made of protodermis.

And to answer that question, there are a small number of beings with the power of transmutation throughout the story: Boggarak can transmute victims into either stone or gas with a sonic hum, Sentrakh has unspecified molecular transmutation abilities, and the land of Karzahni could turn Matoran to stone if they sat for too long.

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He uses them to turn Vakama to stone in Time Trap.

Interestingly, both this and Karzahni stone transmutation are reversible if the process isnā€™t completed.

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We see dust all the time, which would be powdered protodermis. Those with the power of elasticity do acquire elastic protodermis bodies and all of the organic protodermis is elastic to a certain extent.

Since the entire MU is made of protodermis and it works at all, the answer has to be yes. Also, they do have various sciences in the MU, such as physics, chemistry and biology:

That said , this aspect is not really explored in story - most notable example might be Ga-Metru laboratories dealing with protodermis research.

PS: As for brewing, this is very unlikely, because we know the fermentation processes do not work the same for protodermis-based matter as they do for natural material:

He glanced around, looking for something that would inspire an idea. He found it in a pile of rotting vegetation atop an islet of mud off to the east. They reminded him of something he had seen once in the swamps of Le-Wahi on the island of Mata Nui. Turaga Matau had said something about some of the plants on the island not being like those in Metru Nui. They didnā€™t seem to be made of protodermis and didnā€™t break down the same way when they died. Tahu realized that in the end they resembled these dead plants in Karda Nui.
It makes sense, thought the Toa of Fire. Matau said some of the plants might have come from other islands. The plants here might have come in with the waters that flooded Karda Nui from outside. And he warned me not to use my powers around them when they started to rot, becauseā€¦
Tahu smiled. Oh no. Wouldnā€™t dream of it.
He turned then and remained hovering in the air, not far from the decaying plant matter. Vamprah never hesitated, flying straight toward him, hungry for a fight. Tahu waited until Vamprah was just over the islet before tossing a fireball. But he didnā€™t aim it at the Makuta ā€“ he aimed it at the plants.
As soon as the fire came near its target, there was a huge explosion of flame. The shock sent Vamprah reeling and even Tahu rolled through the air before finally regaining control. When he looked back, a shaken Vamprah was clinging to a tree, the only thing keeping him from plunging into the swamp.
Score one for swamp gas, Tahu said to himself. One spark, and boom! I guess Matau was right after all.

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If what you said is true, where is the evidence?

Also can Protodermis become papery as well as being used as ink or be mixed with Ink to make the writing last longer? There was a concept I had of a Matoran cutting a protosteel-imbued paper with scissors. Also can Protodermis be used as a fabric similar to Life Fibers from Kill La Kill?

If so provide evidence to prove the following.

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Evidence for what, the dust? I didnā€™t provide any reference because it is just so ubiquitous it really didnā€™t need any - open any piece of Bionicle media and you have dust there. Most obvious example could be the second movie (at 0:20:30) a dust storm is activted. Then later (at 0:34:27) in the scene with Kikanalo, the stampede kicks up a massive cloud of dust. And those are just two examples, but there are many more throughout the movie.
DH Darkness has elasticity powers and the organic protodermis being elastic is self-evident neccessity.

In a way, yes it can, but it is not paper. Instead it takes on a form of a metal foil (think aluminum) and can be used for writing. And yes, they do indeed have pens to write with in MU, as we have seen one used by Kazi, but we donā€™t know if it uses any ink. Carving on stone tablets is the most prevalent method of keeping written records and this pen might just be one of the tools used for that:

As he had done five times before, Toa Lhikan placed the stone on a thin sheet of metallic protodermis in his open palm. Then he clenched his fist, wrapping the sheet tightly around the stone. Behind his yellow Great Mask of Shielding, Lhikanā€™s eyes narrowed. He knew that he was doing far more than taking valuable objects of power. He was taking a step that would change his life, the lives of six others, and the very future of Metru Nui. He held his other hand over his closed fist and concentrated. Six streams of energy came from his hand, then merged into a single white lance of power. It flowed over the wrapped Toa stone, then abruptly came to a stop. When Lhikan opened his fist, he saw that the metallic sheet was now sealed around the stone. Imprinted upon it was the symbol of the three virtues of the Matoran: Unity, Duty, and Destiny.

He undid the foil wrapping to find he was holding a Toa stone. It was then he noticed the writing on the metal wrapping, but before he could examine it more closely ā€“

As soon as they were out of sight, he went back to the metal wrapping. On closer examination he could see the writing on it was a detailed map ā€“ a map of a place every Matoran knew well.

The Ko-Matoran placed down his pen, and stared at the tablet for a moment as he read it over.

Not familiar with ā€œLife Fibersā€, but they do have fabric cloaks. Most of the Turaga, Vezon and mutated Karzahni should be the best examples.

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Really now. If there is such a thing as metallic foil Protodermis, are the Matoran capable of using the Metallic foil to create origami or some Satellites that use the Origami concept to help with saving space?

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Are you asking for a source that Matoran are physically capable of folding thin metal?

What are Satellites and Origami?

I know what those English words mean, but the context of the question and the capitalization make it sound like they are special powers or something.

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Origami, which are paper foldings? Like an Origami crane or something.

Say that one Matoran was inspired by some Rahi and thought of using the folding technique the Rahi does to itself as well as inspired by Origami as well to make a Satellite to put into space.
Similar to this

I am asking if this is possible or not.

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Well, they have the foil and Matoran are creative people. Nothing is stopping them from making origami in their free time.

As for the fold-out satellites, in theory nothing is stopping them there either - except for the fact that Matoran are not known to have a space programme.

The only time we see any indication of such thing (except for GSR) is in the Kingdom AU:

The Turaga shook his head. ā€œIt canā€™t last. Onua and the others have done all they can, but the original island cannot survive much longer. We will have to move on again, perhaps to the stars if Nuju and Nuparuā€™s project works. But until then, the Makuta ā€“ if they still live ā€“ must not be allowed into the Kingdom!ā€

It is plausible that they might make use of satellites like you suggest, but that is pure conjecture.

The only thing we know about this future spacecraft is that it would be launched into space by a massive cannon:

Vezon walked between worlds.
At least, thatā€™s how he saw it. Lately, it seemed like every step he took left him somewhere completely different. One moment, he was out in the sunshine, seeing Matoran and Dark Hunters working together in perfect harmony (granted, they were building a giant cannon, but they were still getting along well).

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I see. If that is the case, can the Matoran make Nanotechnology out of Protodermis? And if so, can they make a robot similar to the Mata Nui Robot but smaller and with the power of shape-shifting like this?

Also I know that the Great Beings had magic right? If that is the case, would Magic work on Protodermis in myriad ways?

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Unknown. One can imagine this being possible because protodermis can do just about anything - it is essentially programmable matter. But nanotechnology is not something Bionicle story ever went into and likely never would. But in a way GBs do use nanotech - it is just macroscopic in scale. All of the MU is nanotech:

Things had not gone quite as planned. There had evidently been glitches in the AI of Mata Nui, Makuta, and the Great Beingsā€™ other creations. Instead of a simple repairing of the planet, there had been a robot war and the bizarre sight of nanotech creations nobly sacrificing themselves in battle and, in many cases, dying to save others. That was not the behavior of bio-mechanical servitors. That was an actual, new species fighting and dying for its freedom.

Magic does not exist in Bionicle. Great Beings had amazing technology which could create beings with awesome powers, which looks like magic - but even in universe, it is not called magic. The only reference to magic is in a sarcastic and mocking way in the DH Conjurerā€™s entry:

He schemes to take over the Dark Hunters, never realizing that my ā€˜magicā€™ is more powerful than his by far.

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