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So what's a Protector?


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So we've all seen these new Protector dudes. But I'm wondering what exactly is the deal with them. Are they the new Matoran? Is it Toa=Masters, Matoran=Protectors? Why do they all seem to have the same mask?

 

Are these Protecors just six dudes who have the same mask or does every 'protector' in the village look exactly the same? Also what about Turaga? Will there be an Elder class too or something?

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I think they are the new Matoran, and they are Protectors since they protect their village and their element. I'm sure they would all look different, but they all wear the same mask. (I assume that since in the trailer, the floating masks were all the same masks that the protectors wear.)

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At the panel they discussed the Protector's roles briefly. Their roles are essentially those of the Turaga, but with more of a focus on action—they are both the leaders and primary defenders of their respective villagers. I don't know for sure but I would also reckon that the villagers are biologically similar, rather than having entirely different powers and capabilities like Turaga and Matoran. In other words, I expect Protector to be a title, not a species or classification like Turaga.

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Maybe Protectors are defenders of the masks or something

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That seems better than just dropping villagers completely, and if defenders are villagers, they look pretty capable of defending themselves. So why do they need Toa again?

I don't think all villagers will be Protectors—the panel made it sound like each Protector was an individual leader. And the villages having their own guardians doesn't mean that the Toa aren't needed, since there's no telling how big the threats facing Okoto are. Most of the villages in the original Bionicle had defense forces of some sort, but they were still under constant attack by Rahi, and their insular nature (not seeking help from the other villages in most cases) meant that it was only a matter of time before they were overrun one by one.

 

By the sounds if things it would be like if Jaller lead Ta-Koro

I don't know. I think it'd be more like if Vakama also had Jaller's responsibilities and the fighting skills to perform them. The Protectors sound like they'll still be wise leaders, but that they'll also be powerful enough to protect their own—like Uncle Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender or Yoda from Star Wars.

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Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

Aanchir's and Meiko's brother

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I like the idea that they are still the villagers, but won't go down without a fight. They aren't completely helpless and do what they can when the Toa aren't around. 

 

So I guess there are no Turaga, but doesn't mean there arent elders in the population. 


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I like the idea that they are still the villagers, but won't go down without a fight. They aren't completely helpless and do what they can when the Toa aren't around. 

 

So I guess there are no Turaga, but doesn't mean there arent elders in the population. 

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If the Protector sets are individual characters, shouldn't they have specific names? It's possible that they gave them simpler names just for the sets and that they will actually have unique ones story-wise. But I also feel that they should have different mask designs if they're different characters, though that's not too bothersome for me. Their colors and designs are already pretty unique for their sizes.

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Hmm interesting so they are similar to Turaga except they clearly can kick some rear if they have too.

 

As for their masks perhaps they all wear a protector mask to signify their status above the other villagers. Just wondering what the villagers look like now and where did these Toa come from? Guessing the whole Matoran and Toa stone thing is out the window.

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Wow for new villagers $10 seems a bit of a high price, depending on how many pieces they carry we will see, but I wish it could be like back before 06 when most smaller sets were around $4 so you wouldnt be forking out $60 for all 6 of them and only like $24 which is less than half of that. But still I will be getting most of them if not al of them because from pictures they look pretty cool!

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I'm not sure how I would feel about the whole villager species wearing one uniform mask. One thing I could guarantee from it, though: it would make creating sprite sheets a hundred times easier.

*cough* MNOG Kakamas *cough*

 

I wouldn't sweat it. I think that there are going to be a few named ones in the humble-jumble of the villagers. 

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Hrm.... I do like the Protectors being the village head, but now I reeeeally want to know what the villagers are supposed to look like?

Do they have a unified body type that gets changed when promoted to Protector?

Do they only don those masks as Protectors?

Do the villagers even have masks?

What the heck is a Sonic?

 

I, for one, really like the Protector mask, and it's icing on the cake that it comes in so many colours, but boy I would be happier to see a variety of new mask designs in the future.

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The fact they are basicially clones makes their role even more generic. 

At least I hope they'll be relevant in the story.

When exactly did the meaning of "clone sets" change? Because back in the day, it referred to sets like the Bohrok, or Toa Hordika, or Vahki: sets which often featured DIFFERENT masks and one-piece weapons but which had the same basic build. By that definition, the Protectors aren't clone sets at all—they may all share the same mask, but their builds are completely different from one another.

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Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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The fact they are basicially clones makes their role even more generic. 

At least I hope they'll be relevant in the story.

When exactly did the meaning of "clone sets" change? Because back in the day, it referred to sets like the Bohrok, or Toa Hordika, or Vahki: sets which often featured DIFFERENT masks and one-piece weapons but which had the same basic build. By that definition, the Protectors aren't clone sets at all—they may all share the same mask, but their builds are completely different from one another.

 

 

Well, they are still made to look/act similar, but I do agree with you. Lego put plenty of nice variation in them to keep them from being clone sets.

 

Clones are just the worst (just ask the StarWars community).

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Personally I'm part of the clone army on this one and I think Lego have been pretty lazy with these protectors, not purely the sets but their role and purpose too... I know these aren't really clone sets and I also know that many of the early Bionicle releases were but the fact that they share a mask is what breaks it for me. Kanohi is what Bionicle is all about. Right up to the Mahri (piraka not necessarily included!) the masks were a pretty big deal, especially when it came to the early collectibility of the franchise. Sure that died off a bit later but they still found the time to give even smaller sets individual masks. Even Dekar and Defilak had their own mugs, even if they were later shared with other sets...

 

On top of the sets themselves though, it seems Lego has essentially brushed a large of amount of story potential under the carpet by saying "these guys are like all the other guys but they're in charge". What, so there are no matoran or turaga anymore? No real infrastructure at all by the sounds of it! All these guys are led by another guy who is basically just another one of them. That's pretty lazy if you ask me. I still love the nostalgia of 2001 matoran and their different masks and colours. It gave them personality, think back to MNOG and all the different matoran you met.

 

I kind of feel like Lego can't be bothered trying to take us back to that great place and is simply focussing on the Toa for hype and the protectors for money...

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I don't know in the images they have released on Facebook the red protector is seen with another one who looks just like him except he's smaller so perhaps they are bigger.

 

As for the masks someone had an interesting theory that since the two great mask makers went into slumber no more good masks were made so perhaps the villagers had to make they're own cheap and not ask good masks that are all exactly the same while hiding their old personal mask away In their homes if they are undamaged.

 

I agree though meeting all those Matoran with different masks really did help give them personality.

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As for the masks someone had an interesting theory that since the two great mask makers went into slumber no more good masks were made so perhaps the villagers had to make they're own cheap and not ask good masks that are all exactly the same while hiding their old personal mask away In their homes if they are undamaged.

 

Doesn't that seem like a rather lazy decision though? (hypothetically speaking) There's just something about the protectors that suggests they needed more time and attention prior to the release. I would've been happier if the initial release was just Toa done well honestly, then we could've got protectors with the first set of bad guys later in the year (if they follow that formula again) By then Lego would have an idea of how popular the relaunch was and they could've given a bit more time to the smaller sets and (hopefully) story.

 

But maybe I just want too much hey... Either way I don't think we'll get anything even half as good as the 2001 launch though. Everything about it was brilliant. I think the 2015 relaunch will be pretty great, but not 2001 great...


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On top of the sets themselves though, it seems Lego has essentially brushed a large of amount of story potential under the carpet by saying "these guys are like all the other guys but they're in charge". What, so there are no matoran or turaga anymore? No real infrastructure at all by the sounds of it! All these guys are led by another guy who is basically just another one of them. That's pretty lazy if you ask me.

... that's exactly how human government works. You don't need to be different beings to be a leader.

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Personally I'm part of the clone army on this one and I think Lego have been pretty lazy with these protectors, not purely the sets but their role and purpose too... I know these aren't really clone sets and I also know that many of the early Bionicle releases were but the fact that they share a mask is what breaks it for me. Kanohi is what Bionicle is all about. Right up to the Mahri (piraka not necessarily included!) the masks were a pretty big deal, especially when it came to the early collectibility of the franchise. Sure that died off a bit later but they still found the time to give even smaller sets individual masks. Even Dekar and Defilak had their own mugs, even if they were later shared with other sets...

 

On top of the sets themselves though, it seems Lego has essentially brushed a large of amount of story potential under the carpet by saying "these guys are like all the other guys but they're in charge". What, so there are no matoran or turaga anymore? No real infrastructure at all by the sounds of it! All these guys are led by another guy who is basically just another one of them. That's pretty lazy if you ask me. I still love the nostalgia of 2001 matoran and their different masks and colours. It gave them personality, think back to MNOG and all the different matoran you met.

 

I kind of feel like Lego can't be bothered trying to take us back to that great place and is simply focussing on the Toa for hype and the protectors for money...

Did Turuga differ from Matoran other than their roles?

Edited by bioniclepluslotr
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Not to mention Turaga used to be Toa :/ so they also have experience with the whole hero thing a Matoran would never understand.

Don't Bionicle fans normally tend to overuse the classic quote "You don't have to be a Toa to be a hero"? The protectors aren't likely to be pushovers in battle, seeing as until the Toa arrived they were basically in charge of defending their respective villages.

 

The only significant and consistent difference between Turaga and Matoran is that Turaga could use the powers of noble masks, while Matoran couldn't. And for all we know, in the new story mask powers might be usable by anyone who wears the mask.

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Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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I think that if the Protectors are the village leaders, then it's fine for them to have the same mask designs. But I'd like to see the other villagers have different designs.

 

You can call it lazy to not make new masks for all the village leaders, but it is pretty resourceful to avoid making a large amount of masks you might not use again. and like I said, it makes some sense. 

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It just seems weird that a year that has put an emphasis on Mask collecting is avoiding creating more unique masks though.

 

-NotS

Here's an idea. They're collecting Masks of Power, so perhaps the Protectors/Villagers wear powerless masks, which are all (roughly) the same to denote their status. Protectors and villagers wear variations of the mask that Ekimu designed, because everyone likes his masks. Imagine poor old Makuta seeing his brother's handiwork and signature everywhere, with only a few villagers wearing his designs. No wonder he got a little jealous.

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I like how the Protectors are both the villagers and the elders, with the sets representing both. It's also cool that they are confirmed not to be Matoran, as it separates the two generations further.

 

Do you really want to be MORE detached from the original franchise? Because that's kind of a nightmare situation for me personally... You want something different, that's eactly what Lego did with Hero Factory, they took constraction down a different route. Presumably a return to the Bionicle IP means a return to it's roots so it shouldn't be hugely different to the original otherwise they would've been better off starting again from scratch with another new IP...

 

I think that if the Protectors are the village leaders, then it's fine for them to have the same mask designs. But I'd like to see the other villagers have different designs.

 

You can call it lazy to not make new masks for all the village leaders, but it is pretty resourceful to avoid making a large amount of masks you might not use again. and like I said, it makes some sense. 

 

That works, all 6 leaders can share a design which is passed down to their successor. But if the other small sets use the same one too it's definitely lazy, and sets us up for a very poor narrative IMO... What I'd be happiest with as we progress would be to see Protector mask collectability in the same way we did with the 2001 Turaga. As previously mentioned, all the good masks are scattered now, maybe that's true for the protectors as well and we'll get a chance to replace their powerless 'tribal leader' mask with better ones if we buy packs to collect them in the right element?!

 

It just seems weird that a year that has put an emphasis on Mask collecting is avoiding creating more unique masks though.

 

-NotS

 

This...


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