You may recall the Bionicle Myths and Misconceptions article from two months ago, in which several common myths about the official Bionicle storyline were listed, along with the facts that debunk those myths. Well, due to the positive feedback on the last article, today I thought I'd bring you a second article, addressing misconceptions left out last time. Read on for more!

As before, I will list each myth in bold. The explanations of the facts behind the myth are stated. Some things included are merely theories, but I will try to make those cases clear. Things stated as fact in this article are fully official and confirmed parts of the official storyline. And with that out of the way, enjoy!

Takanuva can turn back into Takua, or the Toa Metru can turn back into Matoran - This was a common theory back when B1: Mask of Light first came out. However, it is now disproven; Toa can never turn back into Matoran. The chain of tranformation is a one-way "formula" - Matoran can turn into Toa, who can turn into Turaga. But Turaga cannot turn back into Toa, and Toa cannot turn back into Matoran. This is part of why it is such a momentous decision when a Matoran decides to sacrifice their old life of an everyday citizen to become a hero; they cannot turn back once they have become a Toa. This fact was revealed when we were first learning about the Toa Metru back in 2004, but the old rumor still seems to stick around.

Takanuva is a Nuva/most powerful Toa - He's actually not at all. Takanuva is the same power level as the original Toa, the Toa Metru, Toa Lhikan, the Toa Hagah, and all previous known Toa, a power level we here at BZP have nicknamed "Toa Olda." The set form does look like a Toa Nuva, yes, but that appearance does not make him one. The set shows him with armor that resembles the Toa Nuva's armor. But armor alone does not make one a Toa Nuva; you must have the ability to use Kanohi Nuva and have an increased elemental power level to be a Nuva, neither of which Takanuva has. Armor in a Toa often denotes an elite Toa, like the Toa Hagah; and Takanuva is definately an elite Toa, being the only known Toa of Light in the whole history of the Bionicle universe. Setwise, LEGO needed to produce a set that looked new and cool, and the gold armor helped give Takanuva that look.

Takanuva does seem more powerful than other Toa at times, but that is because of his unique element; light can do things no other element can, and is a good match against Makuta's darkness. He is no more or less powerful than any other "Toa Olda."

The Matoran are safe from the Visorak because they're in the pods - While the pods are very tough, the Visorak can easily simply open them if they wish to mutate or otherwise affect the Matoran. If you watch B2: Legends of Metru Nui, you can see how easy it is to open the pods; all you have to do is tap the opening, and it slides open on its own. If Vakama can open a pod, so can the Visorak. Thus, the Matoran are not safe from the Visorak.

The movie appearance of Bionicle characters is less official than the set form - Actually, it's the other way around. The movie appearance of characters is in almost all cases considered the most official of the various versions of the Bionicle characters. Now, this does not mean the set form is unofficial; both forms are totally official. They're two different versions of the same characters, used for different media. While the set form was designed according to real world limitations as to what can be produced in plastic, with LEGO pieces, the movie form is designed more freely, closer to what the Bionicle characters would look like if they were actually alive. Perhaps the most significant example of this is the fact that Bionicle characters have always been said to be biomechanical, having both biological and mechanical components. Well, the set form does not show any biological components. When the MOL movie form of the Toa Nuva was developed, the "bio" was put in; movie characters are shown with some biological components. So in the story, when it comes to exact appearances, that form is the most official of the two.

Bohrok are beetles/bugs - The Bohrok are often described as "beetle-like" - and they are. However, the resemblance is mainly in the head design; Beetles do not walk upright on two feet, and carry sheilds in their hands. More importantly, the Bohrok are totally inorganic, unlike Rahi, and unlike beetles. The Bohrok also act like some types of bugs in their swarm behavior, but behavior is not what makes a bug a bug. So, even though Bohrok are similar in a few ways to beetles, they are most definately not the same thing as beetles.

Update: Thanks to DragonMaster2050 for this: "bugs" was also the Bohrok's code name when they were being developed. It stood for "Bionicle Under-Ground Squad."

The Shadowed One is Makuta -- This is one of the newest misconceptions, and it's doubtful that it'll last after Bionicle Adventures #10: Time Trap comes out, given that Makuta and The Shadowed One (TSO) fight against each other. But I thought I'd include it anyways. The Shadowed One is the leader of the Dark Hunters, while Makuta is a member of the Brotherhood of Makuta. They are not the same character. The confusion undoubtedly happened because of TSO's name, which seems more like a nickname or a title and could be confused with Makuta's nickname, the "Master of Shadows." Well, that's because it's not TSO's "real" name; it's just that it's been so long since anyone reffered to him by his real name that nobody remembers what it is!

TSO has three legs -- That "third leg" is actually his tail. This myth may have started because the TSO combiner model is difficult to stand upright without using the tail as a third leg of sorts, or perhaps because it seems odd that a non-Rahi, mostly humanoid character would have a tail. Regardless, it is a tail. You could think of TSO as a sort of "alien" of the Bionicle world, and this particular alien has a tail.

There are only 72 Matoran on Mata Nui - This figure was originally correct; the original idea of Mata Nui was that there were no more than 12 Matoran per village. However, it was never followed precisely; the Mata Nui Online Game featured at least 19 villagers in Ta-Koro, for example, back in 2001. And when B1: Mask of Light came out, many more were shown in the Kolhii stands. The original idea of only 72 Matoran was thus abandoned altogether, and the official word on this now is that all 1000 of the Matoran from Metru Nui made it to Mata Nui, and most simply were never seen. So that is about 160 Matoran per Koro.

Turaga Nuju cannot speak Matoran -- While he almost never does, Nuju can actually speak Matoran perfectly fine. Most of the time, however, he chooses to speak in the language of the flying Rahi that Rahaga Kualus taught him in Metru Nui. He does this because he figures that if someone does not have the patience to take the time to figure out what Nuju is saying, or wait for Matoro to translate, then that person is not worth Nuju's time. But he has on occasion chosen to speak Matoran, such as when Toa Kopaka first met him back in Comic 1; in that situation it was important to convey information quickly, and with no confusion, so Nuju simply spoke normally.

The Bahrag's cage was liquid/liquidlike -- The origin of the confusion on this one is clear; the cage was actually depicted as liquidlike in the online flash animation of the final moments of the Bohrok Kal storyline, when the Kal were about to free the Bahrag. The animation even went so far as to show bubbles coming from the Bahrag's mouth, as if they were letting out air in water. Later, in the books, the proto cage was described as "gel-like," because C.A. Hapka was using the online portrayal as the source.

But this depiction was actually unofficial. According to the story bible, the Bahrag's cage was solid protodermis, identical to the cage that once trapped Makuta in every way except that it was barred rather than smooth, and it featured the Nuva cube as a lock rather than a Toa Seal. The comic portrayed the cage as a kind of net that was made out of glowing "bars" or threads around the Bahrag, much closer to this official description.

Comic 25 had Bohrok in it -- This one I am including more for everyone's benefit in case it becomes a myth, rather than it being common right now. If you've received your copy of Comic 25, you may have noticed a scene in which Toa Hagah Iruini and Norik are fighting what appear to be Bohrok. However, the colors of the Bohrok appear different from any Bohrok we've ever seen before, and we all know the Bohrok were asleep at the time. So what's going on?

Well, the answer to that was given exclusively to BZPower by Greg Farshtey back in May of this year. The Brotherhood of Makuta knew of the real Bohrok, and they realized that they were a useful design, but waking them up early would be pointless. So they had Matoran design similar machines to serve the will of the Brotherhood. However, the Matoran learned of the treachery of the Brotherhood, and sabotaged the fake Bohrok (or "Fohrok" as they're nicknamed on BZP). The machines have been "wild" ever since, serving nobody. The Toa Hagah eventually destroyed these "Fohrok." Learn more here.

Well, that's all for this article. Once again, many thanks to Greg Farshtey for countless facts that contributed to this article, my fellow "story geeks," and of course, all of you who gave positive feedback on the last article!

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