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Underrated Characters


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Over the years, a lot of characters have been introduced and then shuffled quietly offscreen once their story year was up. This is just in the nature of a toyline, but are there any that you wish had gotten more attention?

 

Personally, I find Reidak very underrated. I loved the combination of character traits he had—brutal and "simple" in a way that made him seem stupid, despite the fact that he was wicked-intelligent. In some ways that makes him a mirror image of Onua (who is wise, but strong and quiet) which was in keeping with the theme of the Piraka as "dark Toa." 

 

More generally, I'd nominate the Piraka as a group, because they really got screwed over after 2006. The whole reverse-Toa theme was really cool, and it even brought back some of the Polynesian aesthetic in the form of their crazy Tiki-faces. By 2007 Greg kind of wrote all the villains in the same quippy manner, but it was the Piraka who did it first, and it felt very new at the time. 

 

So: which characters do you think were unjustly forgotten, either by the story team or the fans? 

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Keetongu. He was introduced as this powerful mythical being, and I seem to recall a line of text somewhere mentioning that he was so strong that even the Brotherhood feared him. But after he appeared in 2005 I don't ever recall him doing much ever again. Did he even reappear after the Hordika arc? If he had been so powerful he should have played a bigger role than he did.

 

~B~

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Keetongu. He was introduced as this powerful mythical being, and I seem to recall a line of text somewhere mentioning that he was so strong that even the Brotherhood feared him. But after he appeared in 2005 I don't ever recall him doing much ever again. Did he even reappear after the Hordika arc? If he had been so powerful he should have played a bigger role than he did.

 

~B~

He showed up in the serials at some point, I think at the end of the 2008 story? Then he was teleported somewhere else and never became even a little relevant again.

 

Anyway. I think a lot of 2009 characters don't really get enough love.

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I wish there'd been more expansion of the '08 Makuta's personalities. I mean, most of them can be summarized with a single word: Hubris, Proud, Silent, Grumpy, Nerdy, Violent and Optimistic. Krika was the only one who got any character development, which is sad because I'd really have liked some of the more interesting traits the others seemed to almost express to have been developed. Like Antroz seeming to genuinely care about his allies, or Chirox's jealousy towards Mutran, or anything at all from Bitil or Vamprah.

( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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Umbra. He was simply a character used as an obstacle for the Toa Inika when they were going down the stairway to obtain the Ignika. I thought he could've been a really interesting character if given more time in the story, but he was forgotten as soon as the Inika knocked him out. 

 

Keetongu, for the same reasons Ballom mentioned.

 

Bara Magna characters like Perditus and Atakus. Sometime I forget that some of them were in the story at all.

 

Lesovikk. I feel that his character could've been expanded upon more than it was. Of course, he did appear in The Powers That Be serial. But we all know how that turned out. I just feel that he could've gotten more story time other than one serial and cameo in another. (I know he was in Dark Mirror, but that was an alternate version of him, so I don't count him in that.)

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Oh, and Karzahni. He was cool and threatening in one episode (when the future Inika met him) and then just fell down a long flight of stairs in terms of posing an actual threat. He was defeated by Teridax, defeated by Lesovikk, defeated by a couple Matoran, incarcerated by Helryx, and then killed by Velika, all eithout a single scary villainous accomplishment. A nightmare lord deserves better than that.

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( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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Jaller's Hahnah Crab. It was a really neat concept of having an animal carry a weapon, but I feel that it didn't get enough recognition in the story. To exaggerate, it was almost as irrelevant as Lhikan's Kikanalo, which is presumed to have never existed.

It was such a brilliant idea, but was so utterly wasted.  

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Jaller's Hahnah Crab. It was a really neat concept of having an animal carry a weapon, but I feel that it didn't get enough recognition in the story. To exaggerate, it was almost as irrelevant as Lhikan's Kikanalo, which is presumed to have never existed.

It was such a brilliant idea, but was so utterly wasted.  

 

Thulox and Morak, too. That was a bad year to be a Rahi.

 

It's a shame, as it would have been nice to have some cute animal sidekicks, Puku-style.

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Oh, and Karzahni. He was cool and threatening in one episode (when the future Inika met him) and then just fell down a long flight of stairs in terms of posing an actual threat. He was defeated by Teridax, defeated by Lesovikk, defeated by a couple Matoran, incarcerated by Helryx, and then killed by Velika, all eithout a single scary villainous accomplishment. A nightmare lord deserves better than that.

Not to mention Makuta tore his mind into pieces. I think it would've been interesting to see more of Karzahni in that insane state. Especially in the final fight with Lesovikk. Instead, he was tricked into speeding into a cage. Not the best way for a villain to be caught.

 

 

Jaller's Hahnah Crab. It was a really neat concept of having an animal carry a weapon, but I feel that it didn't get enough recognition in the story. To exaggerate, it was almost as irrelevant as Lhikan's Kikanalo, which is presumed to have never existed.

It was such a brilliant idea, but was so utterly wasted.  

Agreed. In fact, the coolest thing I ever saw Jaller's Hahnah Crab do was be back armor for him the Toa Mahri 07 promo video. I don't even think it was suppose to be alive in the video. I think the animators didn't know what to do with it and just put it on Jaller's back. But that isn't a complaint, because I thought it made his set look even better than when it was a Rahi separated from him.

Everyone is one choice away from being the bad guy in another person's story.


 


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I'd say Keetongu (reasons stated above), and any characters introduced during the Ignition Arc ('06--'08). Basically, everyone from the Piraka to the other Makuta. The Piraka and Barraki, at least, got better than the Makuta. The former either had members reappear or appeared briefly as a group in later serials, but the Makuta all died the year they were introduced. I think we can all agree that the Makuta fared the worst.

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I think it would have been nice to explore things like Toa Kaita and Shadow Toa a lot more.  We still know next to nothing about Shadow Toa, and their one appearance really didn't have any effect on the story at all.  Kaita are definitely more well-known, but had about as much story impact, so they stick out even more obviously.

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The Chronicler's Company post-2001. They all had such great characterization, and their personalities meshed so well.

I especially have a soft spot for Taipu. Still bitter that Kopeke was made chronicler instead of him.

 

Same goes for the Voya-Nui Resistance (excluding Velika). The fact that they all had personalities slightly atypical for their elements made the story in the first half of 2006 very enjoyable.

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i could name literally any character except for Vezon, Teridax, and Takanuva.

^This.

 

Though if I had to pick the worst of the bunch: Keetongu, Karzahni, The Chronicler's Company post, the 2008 Makuta, and the Av-Matoran (namely Solek).

 

The first 4 are already covered by others here, so I'm just gonna gripe about how little development the Av-Matoran got compared to Matoran from previous years. I know it might be a bit petty, but I'm especially sour about the fact that Solek talking about being best friends with Takua and asking Kopaka his whereabouts never went anywhere and he was just in the background even after Taka finally was with him and the others. Gosh, with how happy and relieved he is to hear his best friend is alive, I was completely expecting at least a brief reunion scene with Solek being so happy to see his old friend as a Toa. But nope! He doesn't do anything at all besides trailing behind Taka looking for Shadow Matoran to cure.

 

And when Radiak insulted Takanuva? Tanma was the one who spoke up. Not Solek. Not the supposed best friend. Good grief! I can understand a reunion scene being tricky to work into the space allotted for the books, but why not at least use this opportunity to show the old friendship in two words??? Ugh, that one bit of background may as well not have been included at all.

 

Sorry for the rant; just something that's been bothering me since 2008. ^^;

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Way before Velika was revealed as a Great Being, I thought he was a really cool character. His cryptic dialogue and otherworldly skill with technology caught my attention... but then he was sidelined in favour of new characters in 2007.

 

Apart from him though, I'd say... Johmak. Nice powers and the potential for an interesting backstory, but alas she was also buried under even more characters. Just one of the downsides of populating a universe, I guess.

For me, BIONICLE was an epic science fantasy saga with a deep and complex lore, and was best when it was exactly that in its later years. I'm not sorry if that offended you.

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Mantax: he had reasons and personal frustrations tied to his imprisonment, and it was a bursen on his soul. Pity he wasn't explored after he got on land, I feel like he would have maybe even turned over a new leaf.

Keetongu: felt really unutilized for being such a gnarly gorilla.

Piraka: honestly, these guys had so much character, and wile I get that they're still in the story as a fusion, I think their backgrounds could be infinitely explored as a prequel series to the MU.

Mahri Nui, Karzahni Matoran: both groups moved to a new area after suffering some sort of evil, seeing how they integrated and helped the resistance would have been interesting.

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I'm gonna have to say the entire 2009 story and characters. It brought a whole new version of Bionicle that had never been seen before. The Glatorian, especially Tarix, were interesting sets with unique personalities. I felt that they could have done so much more with the lore and world but it amounted to 'Mata Nui swoops in and saves everyone' leaving the original characters stranded in the background.

 

(Some, like Gresh and Skrall, are an exception.)

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     Tiribomba. :P

 

     Seriously though, of the characters we got as sets, I'd say Nektann was worst off. He got, what 5 canon appearences? And his personality was pretty much generic warlord. But that was just 2010's fault, and he was the only Stars character not previously introduced. And the Voyatoran, too, aside from Velika.

 

     As for characters not in sets, I'd say Kapura. He was wonderful in MNOG with his eccentric wisdom, but after that he did practically nothing. The rest of the Chronicler's Company shared this fate, but I always loved Kapura for his sagacity, and because we met him first.

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Defilak. He was supposed to have as much of a role in the Mahri story as Dekar, but nothing game-changing ever happens to him.

I guarantee you it's because somebody decided he should use chutespeak, and of course Greg hated writing chutespeak, so he involved Defilak as little as possible.

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I feel like a lot of one-shot/eu characters were largely unexplored and some were so interesting that I wish we got more of them. As others have mentioned, Keetongu and Umbra. Chronicler's Company characters who were forgotten for a long time, the Piraka after 06... I guess it's what happens when you have to write around so many characters.

 

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Mantax: he had reasons and personal frustrations tied to his imprisonment, and it was a bursen on his soul. Pity he wasn't explored after he got on land, I feel like he would have maybe even turned over a new leaf.

Keetongu: felt really unutilized for being such a gnarly gorilla.

Piraka: honestly, these guys had so much character, and wile I get that they're still in the story as a fusion, I think their backgrounds could be infinitely explored as a prequel series to the MU.

Mahri Nui, Karzahni Matoran: both groups moved to a new area after suffering some sort of evil, seeing how they integrated and helped the resistance would have been interesting.

I take it, then, that you're unfamiliar with Legends #4: Legacy of Evil. The entire book was backstory on all six (and later seven) of them.

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Mantax: he had reasons and personal frustrations tied to his imprisonment, and it was a bursen on his soul. Pity he wasn't explored after he got on land, I feel like he would have maybe even turned over a new leaf.

Keetongu: felt really unutilized for being such a gnarly gorilla.

Piraka: honestly, these guys had so much character, and wile I get that they're still in the story as a fusion, I think their backgrounds could be infinitely explored as a prequel series to the MU.

Mahri Nui, Karzahni Matoran: both groups moved to a new area after suffering some sort of evil, seeing how they integrated and helped the resistance would have been interesting.

I take it, then, that you're unfamiliar with Legends #4: Legacy of Evil. The entire book was backstory on all six (and later seven) of them.

 

also the second-best book we ever got imo, after Time Trap

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Mantax: he had reasons and personal frustrations tied to his imprisonment, and it was a bursen on his soul. Pity he wasn't explored after he got on land, I feel like he would have maybe even turned over a new leaf.

Keetongu: felt really unutilized for being such a gnarly gorilla.

Piraka: honestly, these guys had so much character, and wile I get that they're still in the story as a fusion, I think their backgrounds could be infinitely explored as a prequel series to the MU.

Mahri Nui, Karzahni Matoran: both groups moved to a new area after suffering some sort of evil, seeing how they integrated and helped the resistance would have been interesting.

I take it, then, that you're unfamiliar with Legends #4: Legacy of Evil. The entire book was backstory on all six (and later seven) of them.
No, I have read it, it's actually one of my favorites. I'm saying that exploring their backgrounds opened/connected parts of history to the fans, and it's a shame we didn't get to see more of that. And just because they had such interesting personalities, it's a shame they got reduced to a fusion and snakes, instead of getting explored further.

My wording might have been off it was late when I posted that. :P

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"For one to truly feel alive, the person must kill oneself a little bit each and every day."


 


Check out my MOC, one of the new generation of Toa on Spherus Magna!


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Mantax: he had reasons and personal frustrations tied to his imprisonment, and it was a bursen on his soul. Pity he wasn't explored after he got on land, I feel like he would have maybe even turned over a new leaf.

Keetongu: felt really unutilized for being such a gnarly gorilla.

Piraka: honestly, these guys had so much character, and wile I get that they're still in the story as a fusion, I think their backgrounds could be infinitely explored as a prequel series to the MU.

Mahri Nui, Karzahni Matoran: both groups moved to a new area after suffering some sort of evil, seeing how they integrated and helped the resistance would have been interesting.

I take it, then, that you're unfamiliar with Legends #4: Legacy of Evil. The entire book was backstory on all six (and later seven) of them.
No, I have read it, it's actually one of my favorites. I'm saying that exploring their backgrounds opened/connected parts of history to the fans, and it's a shame we didn't get to see more of that. And just because they had such interesting personalities, it's a shame they got reduced to a fusion and snakes, instead of getting explored further.

My wording might have been off it was late when I posted that. :P

 

Ah. Gotcha. Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. We all slip up once in a while.

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The most prominent one for me is Umbra. I got him for a set, but he only ever appeared in one scene of one year. Also, the entire Bara Magna arc people never got enough characterization for me. Vastus, Gelu, and Tarix are all super cool sets whose only role in the story was to be "friends of Mata Nui"

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Umbra. He was simply a character used as an obstacle for the Toa Inika when they were going down the stairway to obtain the Ignika. I thought he could've been a really interesting character if given more time in the story, but he was forgotten as soon as the Inika knocked him out. 

 

Keetongu, for the same reasons Ballom mentioned.

 

Bara Magna characters like Perditus and Atakus. Sometime I forget that some of them were in the story at all.

 

Lesovikk. I feel that his character could've been expanded upon more than it was. Of course, he did appear in The Powers That Be serial. But we all know how that turned out. I just feel that he could've gotten more story time other than one serial and cameo in another. (I know he was in Dark Mirror, but that was an alternate version of him, so I don't count him in that.)

precisely my thoughts coming into the thread. Lesovikk is one of my favourite characters in the series after Matoro, but the fact that he and Keetongu and Umbra were titan sets that were pretty much only included in passing (especially the last two being very powerful and mythical) makes it unfortunate that they were regulated to little more than plot devices. Heck, Keetongu PUNCHES HIS WAY UP THE COLISEUM to deliver a punch to Sidorak. :c

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The story had so many characters that I could name nearly any one of them and have a valid point. The Chronicler's Company really stands out to me as a group that deserved more attention, but to be fair, if they had gotten more attention, Greg would probably have ruined their characters.

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Umbra. He was simply a character used as an obstacle for the Toa Inika when they were going down the stairway to obtain the Ignika. I thought he could've been a really interesting character if given more time in the story, but he was forgotten as soon as the Inika knocked him out. 

 

Keetongu, for the same reasons Ballom mentioned.

 

Bara Magna characters like Perditus and Atakus. Sometime I forget that some of them were in the story at all.

 

Lesovikk. I feel that his character could've been expanded upon more than it was. Of course, he did appear in The Powers That Be serial. But we all know how that turned out. I just feel that he could've gotten more story time other than one serial and cameo in another. (I know he was in Dark Mirror, but that was an alternate version of him, so I don't count him in that.)

precisely my thoughts coming into the thread. Lesovikk is one of my favourite characters in the series after Matoro, but the fact that he and Keetongu and Umbra were titan sets that were pretty much only included in passing (especially the last two being very powerful and mythical) makes it unfortunate that they were regulated to little more than plot devices. Heck, Keetongu PUNCHES HIS WAY UP THE COLISEUM to deliver a punch to Sidorak. :c

 

Agreed. Though at least Keetongu got a little more screen time in Time Trap. But I still wished that he, with his vast knowledge of venoms if I recall correctly, would've gotten a little more development at least in one of the serials. 

 

But Umbra didn't even get another appearance after 06. I kind of wished that the OoMN had recuited him for their war against the Brotherhood of Makuta. Not only would that have gotten him back into the storyline, it would've made strategic scene for the Order to recuit him. After all, a being who can transform into a beam of light could be a formable opponent for a Makuta. :P

Everyone is one choice away from being the bad guy in another person's story.


 


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