Defender of the Jungle

[Hapori Tohu]

Last month Makaru shared his take on Tamaru, a Matoran we've all known and loved since 2001. Having seen her in person at BrickFair Virginia, I can attest that it's a great reimagining of the character. Armed with her trusty disk launcher and carrying a satchel full of useful supplies, Tamaru is ready to take on any threat to Mata Nui. Makaru does a great job staying true to the original color scheme while utilizing many newer Hero Factory parts. Go check it out and share your thoughts and critiques on it!

 

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[Click]

Whoa, déjà vu. And here I was hoping for Bionicle 2015 news.

[fishers64]

*wishes that future Matoran sets would be as good as this Moc*

[Dorek]

Cool MoC and all, but could you guys at least note that Tamaru being female is a fanon point of view? It's not that I mind it, so much as that there's an explicit acknowledgement of the story ("a Matoran we've all known and loved since 2001") that's incongruous with the subsequent presentation of the MoC.

[Makaru]

I think pointing out "but no actually only some people view the character this way" takes away what makes this particular presentation special in the first place (or at least that is what I have gathered from the community reviews, anyway).

 

It would be like adding a disclaimer to the end of every D.Viddy feature stating "characters in canon may be smaller than they appear".

[Noxryn]

as far as im concerned trans tamaru is canon and will always be

 

and this is still a lovely moc and i'll always love this representation of her <3

[Dorek]

I think pointing out "but no actually only some people view the character this way" takes away what makes this particular presentation special in the first place (or at least that is what I have gathered from the community reviews, anyway).

 

It would be like adding a disclaimer to the end of every D.Viddy feature stating "characters in canon may be smaller than they appear".

Yeah, which is why it's not a big deal, but the shoutout to the story while not actually being a part of the story at all just created this disconnect when reading the blurb; we haven't loved a female version of Tamaru since 2001 because that version didn't exist until 2014 (2013? I have no idea when this was actually a thing). I just didn't want people reading this to think this is the actual way the story goes, assuming anybody still reads the front page for story news updates (which it seems like BZP is trying to do, so hooray for that).

[Makaru]

...we haven't loved a female version of Tamaru since 2001 because that version didn't exist until 2014...

You may not have, but other people have. It is explained in the discussion topic for Tamaru, and details where her backstory came from, A topic Andrew graciously linked to when writing this article in the first sentence.

 

We have featured many things on the front page from members that have been fan-fiction with no disclaimer that you suggest should be required for this one MOC.

[Dorek]

I suppose the "reimagining" really should be disclaimer enough; just seemed oddly dissonant to me.

 

I know where the story comes from, and I certainly wasn't trying to step on anyone's toes. It's a great MoC, and I have no intention of distracting from that.

[Makaru]

Here's the thing though; every Wiki and official resource refers to Tamaru as "he". Even if all the Bionicle fans suddenly adopted my MOC as their headcanon isn't going to change those resources. Those sites are still where people are going to go first when they google Tamaru's name.

 

I know there's an online crusade about how annoying this is, and I get it [sort of]? But It's just my MOC. It's never going to override what people consider canon, and to perceive that I have that much power in the community, while intoxicating for my ego, is an incredible overstatement of any influence (if any) that I have.

 

TL;DR, it's a tribute and an olive branch to a handful of long-standing community members. We might just be blowing things out of proportion.