Rewriting Bionicle G1

[ColdGoldLazarus]

In Bionicle's later years, one of the things that bugged me was the tangents - 2008 had several titan sets of random matoran in three-legged tanks and jets and whatnot. 2009 had Sahmad and a bunch of other guys with speeder bikes. I still have no idea how Mazeka and Vultraz were even remotely relevant to the goings-on in Karda Nui, and so ignored them. It worked too, because they didn't really come up outside of a serial I haven't read.

 

But this also got seriously problematic in places. While I read the comics and whatnot, I mainly followed the Bionicle storyline through the books, as those were the most centralized and consistent media that included pretty much everything you needed to know. Until 2008, that is, as the books there require reading Gali's Blog serial thing to understand how the Toa got their adaptive armor, knew to go to Karda Nui, actually got to Karda Nui, ect. It was evidence that Bionicle's story was starting to grow too big and become unsustainable, and that of course was what eventually ended it.

 

During the five years between then and the announcement of the Reboot, I've been putting some thought into how I would rewrite it, both paring it down to the central storyline whilst improving on and detailing said central story, and part of that would be in taking all the serials, comics, and other tangents, and either ruthlessly cutting them (really, was that stuff with the Mahri and the Golden Being even necessary?) or integrating them into the main story. (Gali's Blog, the Federation of Fear, ect.) Basically, Adaptation Distillation with just a bit of Adaptation Expansion for the sake of better character development and whatnot. On top of that, I wanted to keep the later year's important elements intact while giving them some of the mythical, mysterious feel of the Mata Nui arc. Particularly, leaving the Makuta race as-is (purely for the sake of Krika, I'll admit) whilst making Teridax align more closely with that shadowy figure that once uttered "You cannot defeat me, for I am nothing..."

 

So in short, I've pretty much built up a whole continuity in my head, remaining loyal to the original storyline while reworking it into something less bloated and more thoughtful. (I'm kind of glad G2 is going in a completely different direction, actually; I was afraid there would be some mutual stepping on toes going on between my rewrite and the Story Team's plans.)

 

My question is this - do you think I should do a broad discussion of my rewrite and the general thought process behind it in this thread, or should I move it over to the fanfic archive and actually write it all out serially?

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

Just a clarification, but the book "Downfall" actually ends with the Nuva gaining the Adaptive Armor and being teleported to Karda Nui. Now, while that's not an element of the story that is shown in any sort of visual media, the books were the main form of storytelling for G1 Bionicle, so having it appear as an epilogue in a major book was not problematic IMO. Visual media has never been the go-to for story - they serve the basic function of telling a watered-down version of the story in a limited number of pages while also advertising the sets. The comics and online animations are more supplementary than mandatory if you needed to digest the main bits of the story (minus perhaps MNOG, which told the 2001 story better than anything released in that year). 

 

My stance on serials is that they were fine, as they did not directly affect the main story. They are a separate part, the EU of Bionicle. You can nitpick at them all you want for the writing, but to say they were vividly-important to the main story is inherently wrong. Like I mentioned above, Gali Nuva's blog was not exactly needed to understand the Nuva's return in 2008 because of books like Downfall and Shadows in the Sky. Even though it features main characters, it's as periphery as Brothers in Arms is.

 

Another point I'd like to mention is that the serials DID NOT clutter the main story of 2007 - 2009 in any way. I'd argue that the original 3 beloved years of Bionicle were messier, as it is impossible to learn all of the main story points from a single source. You will always be missing a portion of it due to the extensive transmedia marketing approach they were going for. In fact, I'd argue that 2007-2010 really perfected the transmedia portion of the franchise simply because it was split up so well: Want the main story? Comics and books. Side-stories? Serials online. 

 

Now, yes, the serials themselves are problematic. A lot of them were made with fans in mind, and that is about it. They served no purpose other than to provide us with a fun-filled story with fan-favourite characters, so I don't see any issue with removing them entirely. Obviously, serials like Destiny War did provide some light on an other-wise ignored important event, as did Reign of Shadows, but that was more additional information. If you really wanted to, you could erase the events of Reign of Shadows and the 2011 serials and have the series end with Journey's End, which wrapped up the main story rather well. 

 

Honestly, a retelling that retains the main focus and characters of each year will get bloated eventually due to the significant cast changes with each arc. Bonesii's (chronological) retelling avoids that issue by making it focus around a single character, which could help in that aspect. 

 

Anyway, I think I have ranted enough. To answer your question, I think it would better belong in the fanfic archive because this will end up being just that. However, if we are going to get into the nitty-gritty and delve deep into aspect of Bionicle story, I think this could work as a starting point for discussion. Really depends on where you want to take it. (though this topic may be too close to have two topics in tandem).

 

Anyway, I wish you luck and definitely hit us up with a link when you start!

 

-NotS

Edited November 14, 2014 by Nidhiki of the Shadows

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

I think it would work best if it was put up as a fan fic. I have taken a similar quest, but my house does not have internet aside from one phone, which makes updating a pain.

[user-402520536]

I'd like to see this happen; upvotes for sure and good luck!

[bonesiii]

Fanfic, definitely! If it's your thing, anyways, but if you have a vision for it, IMO go for it. I'm biased -- that's what I'm doing myself basically. And I've heard from some others who are planning projects like this.

 

Just be aware how huge a workload it is if you actually go through with it -- namely, be very careful not to bite off more than you can chew. Even following that rule, and even though my retelling writing has now gotten near the end, I still reached a point where research and unexpected other drains on my free time have seriously slowed down the writing. So, anything you're tempted to add that you think honestly you might not really need, if you're thinking "eh, I can handle it"... well maybe you can but be careful with it.

[Twister92]

Fanfiction - wait, are there many of us wanting to rewrite the original storyline? Because I'm having serious thoughts of doing so myself. In fact, I literally just opened up Microsoft Word to start laying down notes.