...of a toy brand. Yes, you heard me correctly. I will be analyzing the theology of the Bionicle universe, a popular toy line formerly produced by the LEGO toy company.
At its core, Bionicle's system is polytheistic, and thus inherently screwed up. Not only that, but there are several God-figures and devil-figures across the whole story. There are also several tiers of being in this universe.
At the highest tier of existence are the Great Beings. There are multiple Great Beings, and they are the creators of the Bionicle universe. They created a being called Tren Krom to watch over the new world after they created it, and then assembled Mata Nui, a Great Spirit, to take care of the world instead of Tren Krom. Tren Krom rebelled, and was banished. So now we have the Great Beings and the Great Spirit, each "gods" in their own right. Not only that, but the Matoran (the lowest level of creation that has not been corrupted to evil) appear to "worship" their respective Toa (which are like angels in their strength, and also in their ability to turn away from good and to evil) at the given Toa's Suva, which is a shrine.
Now, you were complaining about how messed up some out-there cults are? Ain't got nothin' on Bionicle. Despite that, it's still a rather nice sub-creation to mess around with and to read about, as long as you don't start actually looking for Nynrah ghosts to make you Skyblasters.
Hmm. Interesting premise, although I think that we can distinguish these great beings and spirits from any form of a real deity by the fact that although they possess creative powers, they do not appear to possess omniscience or omnipotence. Though I'm not sure what I would really call them, I think they are far closer to the ancient Greek concept of a Titan than they are to a Christian concept of God.
ReplyDeleteThe devil-figures are less problematic, since they basically follow the model of typical demons (fallen angels). Similarly, I don't think that the matoran "worship" their toa so much as they do invoke their aid in a form of dulia.
And no matter what you say, the world of Bionicle still makes more sense than Scientology.
Now. Ask me about the theology of Lord of the Rings. I dare you.
Actually, Miss Rachel, the Great Beings are, in fact, omnipotent. They can create and end whatever they wish to do, and even the principal devil figure, Makuta, was unable to attack the Great Beings. He settled for the demigod Mata Nui.
ReplyDeleteAnd BTW, that's Toa. Capitalized.
Bionicle is insulted you compared it to Scientology. Respect for the deceased!
But is the capability to create and end a sign of omnipotence? If so, then I must be omnipotent since I am capable of putting together a lego structure and then knocking it over.
ReplyDeleteMakuta may be a devil figure, but is he THE devil? Is he just a silly little lesser demon or is he the Big Bad of Bionicles?
Hey, I didn't compare Bionicle to Scientology. I was just saying that the former makes more sense than the latter...
@Point 1: The definition of "creation" you use is not the same I mean. What you've created with your LEGO structure isn't actually created, because the pieces to make it were lying around the whole time anyway. What you've made is the idea behind the creation, and thus, when you knock the structure over you haven't really ended your creation, only disassembled its pieces. You still know what it looked like and how to rebuild it. The Great Beings created the parts necessary for the Matoran Universe out of nothing, and then proceeded to build the Matoran Universe out of them. Does that make any sense? No, not really. But hey, is it supposed to?
ReplyDelete@Point 2:Makuta is the primary devil-figure, but he isn't the greatest in power. What you and I have been referring to as "Makuta" is actually known as Makuta Teridax. The Makuta were an entire race (before they collectively kicked the bucket) that was created solely to protect Mata Nui and the Matoran. This they did for a long time, until Teridax overthrew the leader of his order and rebelled against Mata Nui, throwing him into an artificial sleep from which he couldn't awaken from of his own accord.
Tren Krom is a similar demon-type figure, only of far greater power than Makuta. He was the closest thing to a second Great Spirit before Mata Nui was created. When Mata Nui replaced Tren Krom, Tren Krom was found unnecessary and bound to an island, which was located a great distance away from the Matoran. It was thought that he couldn't do any harm there, but eventually he was broken out, in a rather creative way. Shortly after, Makuta killed him.
Karzahni was one of the first creations of the Great Beings, and brother to another St.-Michael-the-Archangel figure (rather JW-ish, isn't it?) named Artakha. Karzahni and Artakha fought for a powerful mask, which Artakha won. There was a Matoran legend about how Karzahni became evil. In the beginning, Matoran worked in darkness. Those who did their jobs well were sent to Artakha's realm to work in light. Those who did poorly at their jobs were sent to Karzahni's realm, where they would be rebuilt. Since Karzahni was horribly inept at this job, his "rebuilds" turned out to look more like botched plastic surgery (get it?). To avoid embarrassment, Karzahni kept the Matoran with him in his realm, which became corrupted along with its ruler as time went on. Karzahni's realm eventually became a sort of "hell" for the Matoran to avoid at all costs. It was a hellish place, too, with ground that screamed when you stepped on it, ice that burned, fire that froze, waterfalls with dust falling instead of water, and if you sat down, the rock would turn you into a stone.
So really, there could be several head-honcho devil-figures. Makuta's act of rebellion was the greatest, for he was the only one to strike at the demigod-figure and succeed. Tren Krom never even tried, although he did make mischief while free, and Karzahni chose to attack Mata Nui first, and his people second.
@Point 3: Saying that one thing makes more sense than another is comparing them, in a sense.
Oh. Well then. There it is.
ReplyDelete