Do Bionicle Elements Even Matter? 

I mean, lore wise, it makes sense that the toas elements are nothing more than tools to help them repair the great spirit. Whereas the glatorian have a social reason to look more elemental as it represents their tribes

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the kaukau (mata) as an example of environmental design, given how it has distinct shapes analogous to breathing apparatus for diving.

5:10 YES! Exactly! It's so frustrating that they never made recolors of molds such as that one. The sets featuring them would have sold like hotcakes. I often imagine Nuju Hordika's weapon in black and trans red used as the tip of Mutran's spear.

You forgot about Vakama's disk launcher. His is the only Metru weapon based on his element, and that's only because he had flames on it.

That shark piece from 2007 kind of inspired the 2009 tarix weapon

all toa inika being possible vo-toa with different accents in elemental design but having same association with lightning...

Yes, and, for the six-sets, they were terribly chosen. Like, earth and stone, nobody knows the difference, consolidate them. The books mention electricity as one all the time, very well could've gotten that, could've, at least experimented with a 6-set with a purple one for one wave at least, moving air to jungle sooner since solid green isn't exactly air, though air is hard to convey. I think of air in general as silvery winds, light greys, but also light, mint greens and turquoises, with maybe a petal pink, or lavender, to give the sense of nature in the breeze. Because on the other side you can go with situational winds, of sandstorms, or blizzards, or rainstorms, or even turn it to the villains, with Ominous Wind, and dark skies, all that. I think Hahli Inika looks like a good wind character to that end, she looks like she arrived in a water spout, a great, dark tornado of water like she's here to solve a lighthouse-centred cosmic horror. And, by saccing the wind guy from the team for a jungle guy, now wind motifs are more readily available to combine with other things. So, Fire, Water, Ice, Jungle, Lightning, Earth. Red, blue, white, green, whatever you want but I'm thinking purple or yellow, black. And yea, with supporting colours, like flower colours for the jungle guy, dark grey for the lightning to give cloud energy. Course, even all these, saying words of hard commitment! Bionicle's greatest strength was the diversity of concepts, changing up one of these to a different colour and element as and when it suits the wave theme is sensible. You know, Hewkii Inika really fits the whole look of Inika's theming, in a weirdly cool contrast kind of way. The Inika all had the stormy background and to me with the whole Piraka slaver thing and them being the punk upstart rebels, it's very, chain link fences, searchlights, muddy ditches, barbed wire. And then amidst all of that you have a bulky living statue with an axe, like the Piraka ticked off The Terracotta Warriors, and those gunmetal colours with the pangs of yellow, like a JCB came to tear down the piraka complex walls. Nuparu looks great, but he's got absolutely nothing to do with earth, though. In either incaenation. Could well still be around, but they could explain him as some other, elementless figure, or heck, a friendly toa of shadows.

It took me an embarassingly long time to realize that stone and rock are literally the same thing. Like in real life, obviously, but even in the lore, the main difference is that stone is above ground and rock is below. Im pretty sure rocks are rocks, regardless of where they are lol

Generally agree with this, except to me Gresh swords fall into same category as Pridaks fins. They are more neutral than thematic.

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Long ramble incoming In a way I feel like elemental pieces simply wouldn't have worked for most of Bionicle, at least not as well as environmental pieces do. Remember that, at least before 2009, all the characters are robots (yes, they have "biomatter" made from protodermis, but a silicone heart doesn't make you a biological creature) who exist mainly as glorified maintenance crew on a giant space station. There simply is no real reason why a earth or stone robot would wear rough-hewn rocks as armor when they have access to sleek steel shells that are both lighter and more durable. Using weapons or tools made from ice, or made to look like it, is similarly silly, as ice is a temporary, ephemeral thing that would need constant maintenance from their elemental powers, and icy-looking crystals would likely be too fragile for any rough use. The Agori and Glatorian get a pass on this behavior because they, ironically, aren't inherently elemental creatures. They are tribes of non-elementals that have themed themselves around their chosen element, so using elemental-looking armor and weapons is an entirely concious effort on their end. And really, when you think about it, how often do you see truly elemental weapons outside of bionicle either? In all media, almost everyone who is affiliated with an element almost always uses environmental weapons instead of straight up manisfestations of their element, because the pure elements in and of themselves just make for shoddy weapons most of the time, being much better as spells or channeled power. That's why Water characters get tridents or harpoons, both types of fishing spears, as tools, or Ice characters get mountain picks for climbing ice, or Rock and Earth characters get drills and hammers, or Wind characters get fans to channel the wind for them. Because it still makes sense with their elements, but doesn't look as stupid as lugging a jug of water, or a chunk of ice or rock, or an inflated balloon around. Fire, in this way, is an exception to the exception. Their "environmental" tool selection is extremely limited, giving us practically only flamethrowers and torches, which in and of themselves are still just waysof carrying the element itself. The Fire toa get weapons shaped like fire, because there's nothing else to give them that says "Fire"