Nova VS Nuva: Blasting Theory! · 1:00am May 26th, 2016
You've probably heard about something called a "Nova Blast," and no, I'm not talking about the person who goes by that name. I'm here to speak about a power shared by all (known) Toa, and several "empowered" Glatorian. Namely, the ability to gather excessive amounts of one's elemental power from the surrounding environment, put it through an internal feedback loop to exponentially increase its quantity, and then release it all in one great blast, the radius of which is about that of a small nuke. (Gali Nuva is on record as having done this once in order to destroy the island/realm of Karzahni, before her team journeyed to Karda Nui to awaken Mata Nui, but that's another story entirely.)
The result, as one might expect, is usually a massive crater, and a lot of collateral damage. This tends to leave the user drained of all energy for several days if they're a Toa, or the strain of such power kills them if they're a Glatorian, and so is usually used as a last resort.
What most folks either don't realize, or refuse to acknowledge, is that there is a similar, yet less powerful, version out there, called a "Nuva Blast." The useage of this power is not well documented, though it has appeared in one of the Bionicle video games (being utilized by the Toa Nuva,) and in one of Turaga Vakama's tales (in which it was first discovered and used by him as a Toa Metru, while facing off against an entity made entirely of flame and heat. This was most likely some early form of fire elemental or Flame Archon.)
The method behind it is similar to it's more well-known cousin, except without the feedback loop. One merely draws the energy in, and then releases it in a burst. This uses up some of a Toa's internal reserves, but because the feedback loop is not present, the release does not "sear" the routes usually utilized in using one's power, and as such, one is theoretically capable of creating several Nuva Blasts in somewhat quick succession. Given the fact that each one is powerful enough to break shadow cages, or perhaps knock down an entire city block, and that each element has a different general effect when used, testing of this ability has been understandably nonexistent before now.
