Kanohi Mask of Psychometry

The KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. Mask of Psychometry was a Great KanohiGreat KanohiThe most common mask type worn by Toa and other powerful beings, forged from the highest-grade Kanoka discs. that allowed its wearer to perceive the past of any inanimate object through direct touch. Its only confirmed wearer was Toa HelryxHelryxHelryx was the first Toa created by the Great Beings, founder of the Order of Mata Nui, and commander of its covert war against the Brotherhood of Makuta., founder and leader of the Order of Mata NuiThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe., who used it in the run-up to the conflict later remembered as the Destiny WarThe Destiny WarThe open conflict between the Order of Mata Nui and the Brotherhood of Makuta that ended fifty thousand years of operational secrecy and broke the Brotherhood's last assault on Metru Nui..

Function#

The Mask of Psychometry granted its wearer perception of an object's history through touch. On making contact with an inanimate item, the user received visions of events the object had been present for. The KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. imposed three notable limits. The wearer could not choose which segment of the past surfaced, nor end a vision once it began. The power had no effect on living beings. The user could focus on only one object at a time.

The visions delivered both imagery and contextual information, including in some cases the location at which past events had taken place. They were treated within the Order of Mata NuiThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe. as actionable intelligence rather than as ambiguous portents.

Helryx#

HelryxHelryxHelryx was the first Toa created by the Great Beings, founder of the Order of Mata Nui, and commander of its covert war against the Brotherhood of Makuta. was the founder and leader of the Order of Mata NuiThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe., the oldest active Toa in the Matoran UniverseMatoran UniverseA civilization of biomechanical beings living inside a colossal robot, destroyed when Teridax seized control., and a Toa of WaterToa of WaterToa of Water were rare heroes who commanded water power, typically selected from the Ga-Matoran people. of the Ga-MatoranGa-MatoranThe Water-element Matoran of Ga-Metru and Ga-Koro, exclusively female, who taught the schools of Metru Nui and crewed the boats and bridges of the Mata Nui coast. elemental line. As the head of an organisation that operated in secret against the Brotherhood of MakutaThe Brotherhood of MakutaAn organization of Makuta created by Mata Nui to police his universe and build Rahi, later seized by Teridax and turned into the instrument of the Plan that overthrew the Great Spirit., she required intelligence-gathering tools that conventional Toa loadouts did not provide. The Mask of Psychometry filled that need.

The KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. suited her role. The OrderThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe. operated from the hidden island of DaxiaDaxiaDaxia is a location situated east of the Southern Continent, affiliated with the Order of Mata Nui and home to the Shallows Cat. and relied on small numbers of high-capability agents rather than open military strength. HelryxHelryxHelryx was the first Toa created by the Great Beings, founder of the Order of Mata Nui, and commander of its covert war against the Brotherhood of Makuta.'s ability to extract verifiable history from any artifact placed in her hands gave the OrderThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe. a forensic capacity nothing else in its arsenal matched.

Use in the Destiny War buildup#

During the Destiny WarThe Destiny WarThe open conflict between the Order of Mata Nui and the Brotherhood of Makuta that ended fifty thousand years of operational secrecy and broke the Brotherhood's last assault on Metru Nui., HelryxHelryxHelryx was the first Toa created by the Great Beings, founder of the Order of Mata Nui, and commander of its covert war against the Brotherhood of Makuta. used the Mask of Psychometry to scan a piece of crimson RahkshiRahkshiArmor suits powered by parasitic Kraata, Rahkshi were Teridax's most effective soldiers and among Bionicle's most visually iconic early enemies. armour brought before her. The contact revealed a previously unknown source of Energized ProtodermisEnergized ProtodermisA sentient substance that could remake or annihilate any being that touched it. One of the Matoran Universe's most lethal hazards., which the Order of Mata NuiThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe. sought to destroy so the Brotherhood of MakutaThe Brotherhood of MakutaAn organization of Makuta created by Mata Nui to police his universe and build Rahi, later seized by Teridax and turned into the instrument of the Plan that overthrew the Great Spirit. could not use it to produce new RahkshiRahkshiArmor suits powered by parasitic Kraata, Rahkshi were Teridax's most effective soldiers and among Bionicle's most visually iconic early enemies..

The intelligence drawn from such scans fed the Order of Mata NuiThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe.'s wider effort against the Brotherhood, including the deployment of BrutakaBrutakaBrutaka guarded the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui, betrayed the Order during the Piraka incursion, served time in the Pit, and later led the Federation of Fear strike team., AxonnAxonnAxonn served as an arbitrator under the Hand of Artakha and later as an Order of Mata Nui agent, guarding the Kanohi Ignika on Voya Nui for thousands of years., and other agents into the field, and the eventual covert mission undertaken by VezonVezonHe started as a weapon misfire and a throwaway joke, and the canon spent four years quietly turning him into its most useful expendable asset. into DestralDestralThe headquarters island of the Brotherhood of Makuta, whose installed teleportation technology made the entire landmass mobile and turned it into the most strategically protected location in the Matoran Universe..

Limitations in practice#

The mask's restriction to inanimate objects narrowed its applicability against the Brotherhood's primary assets. MakutaMakuta (Species)Shadowy Antidermis beings and the Brotherhood's elite, Makuta commanded darkness and shaped the Matoran Universe's fate., RahkshiRahkshiArmor suits powered by parasitic Kraata, Rahkshi were Teridax's most effective soldiers and among Bionicle's most visually iconic early enemies., and other servitor beings could not be read directly. Only the gear they carried or left behind was vulnerable to the KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe.'s gaze. The single-object constraint further limited HelryxHelryxHelryx was the first Toa created by the Great Beings, founder of the Order of Mata Nui, and commander of its covert war against the Brotherhood of Makuta.'s throughput. Each scan locked her into one vision until it completed.

The involuntary nature of the visions imposed an additional cost. The wearer received whatever the object's history offered, including events of no immediate operational value. A wrong artifact yielded a wrong answer, and the KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. gave no preview of what each contact would surface.

Status of the KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe.#

No second Mask of Psychometry has been documented in the records of ArtakhaArtakhaArtakha was the master craftsman of the Matoran Universe, ruler of a hidden island, and the forger of the Toa Mata, the Avohkii, and the Kraahkan., the Order of Mata NuiThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe., or the Brotherhood of MakutaThe Brotherhood of MakutaAn organization of Makuta created by Mata Nui to police his universe and build Rahi, later seized by Teridax and turned into the instrument of the Plan that overthrew the Great Spirit. before the Reformation. Whether HelryxHelryxHelryx was the first Toa created by the Great Beings, founder of the Order of Mata Nui, and commander of its covert war against the Brotherhood of Makuta.'s KanohiKanohiMasks that grant powers and sustain life, they're the most vital artifact in the Matoran Universe. was unique or simply the only example in active service is not resolved by surviving accounts. The mask's classification as a Great KanohiGreat KanohiThe most common mask type worn by Toa and other powerful beings, forged from the highest-grade Kanoka discs. places it within the broader catalogue of standardised Toa-tier powers, but its restricted appearance suggests the OrderThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe. preferred to keep its existence outside common circulation.