What is Your Least Favorite Moment in Bionicle?

[Toa o Uria]

All of 2009. I never really got into the Glatorian. Would've rather seen a new Toa team with cool new masks. P.S. I can never get over the hand parts. 

[Gonel]

I think that I largely agree with that. I can't say I was much on the hand pieces either. Although I was fine with the BaraMagna/Spherus Magna run, for the purpose of this topic, I will say that those were probably my least favorite years.

 

One thing I did notice, though, was that I found myself really engrossed in the backstory not too long ago when I was working with it on a project. I wasn't much on Spherus Magna at all before, but when I was doing that, I did start enjoying it. Still not as much on Bara Magna, though.

[Naota Takizawa]

The reveal of the prototype robot. 

[MrSciFiGuy]

I'm still iffy on the Phantoka/Mistika. There didnt feel like there was much of a lead up to me for how they introduce these Toa back into their quest

[Irrie]

The kolhii match to decide if Takanuva would save Mata Nui or not.

I mean...there are some other bad ones, but come on. A kolhii match?

[Naota Takizawa]

The kolhii match to decide if Takanuva would save Mata Nui or not.

I mean...there are some other bad ones, but come on. A kolhii match?

What's cooler, a normal fight to the death or a deadly game of lacrosse?

 

I also have more moments I didn't like:

• The Bohrok-Kal story arc (Because adding a coat of silver to already existing villains totally makes them unique. I also dislike how the toa nuva were hyped up to be more powerful than before, but their powers got drained immediately.) 
• The 2006 story arc (The story's attempt to be dark and edgy made me lose interest in the story.) 

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

The kolhii match to decide if Takanuva would save Mata Nui or not.

I mean...there are some other bad ones, but come on. A kolhii match?

 

I dunno, i always felt it was pretty important how Makuta decided, rather than face Takanuva up-front and have a light-vs-shadow fight, he wanted to mock and humiliate him with the very sport he played as a matoran, and had indeed played (and lost) right before going on his quest! (idk how omniscient Makuta is, or if he saw that at all though.)

 

I liked that makuta, certainly more than "one-step-ahead-of-everything" Makuta teridax. :t

[YoYoSirRahka]

When it ended.

Edited September 25, 2015 by YoYoSirRahka

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

 

The kolhii match to decide if Takanuva would save Mata Nui or not.

I mean...there are some other bad ones, but come on. A kolhii match?

 

I dunno, i always felt it was pretty important how Makuta decided, rather than face Takanuva up-front and have a light-vs-shadow fight, he wanted to mock and humiliate him with the very sport he played as a matoran, and had indeed played (and lost) right before going on his quest! (idk how omniscient Makuta is, or if he saw that at all though.)

 

I liked that makuta, certainly more than "one-step-ahead-of-everything" Makuta teridax. :t

 

Still the same guy. Even in Metru-Nui, he used psychological warfare against Vakama, and he used it against Matoro in The Pit. He tried it with Mata Nui just before the Battle of Bara Magna about how you were once the god of a universe and now you can again but with with me, but Mata Nui had an immediate response (that being a big NO).

 

And the guy liked to watch his play-things, see what they were doing and how he could use their free will towards his Grand Plan and even manipulate them into doing things he wanted or needed. I am sure he sometimes read their minds (one at a time) when he couldn't tell what was to happen. Who knows, maybe sometimes he would have liked to see what people would do and if they strayed from his vision after a while he would slightly push people into the path he needed them to go.

[Sumiki]

The first half of 2003.
 
This has nothing to do with anything but how much I dislike the Bohrok-Kal.

[Sir Kohran]

I understand the dislike for the Kal, but bear in mind they were only ever meant to be filler between the Bohrok and Mask of Light stories.

[Toa Imrukii]

I greatly disliked 2008, the Toa looked AWFUL, some of there masks and designs where alright but otherwise it SUCKED! The Av-Matoran on their own where TERRIBLE SETS, The story didn't really feel like BIONICLE anymore past that point, I like the idea of other worlds, but the way they did it was so, just wrong. They should have had 2 series after 2008 one that followed the journeys of the Matoran universe under Teridax's control, and another about Mata Mui (though it wouldm't explicitly say if it where him or not), perhaps they could even branch off into a bota magna saga that included a new toa team originally from the matoran universe and mata nui's team!

 

But now I'm just rambling. I hated 2008 - 2009. 2010 was a good year, but it could have been WAY better, especially if they branched bionicle into two series, one for an older audience, and one for a younger one, that way they could possible introduce the CCBS system, or something very similar to it eventually. That way the final battle would have been greater, more story, more characters, more building possibility with the sets, and more fun, a better end in total. That way BIONICLE could have had some closure in the end.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Toa Imrukii

[Toa Smoke Monster]

I guess mine would be the Tuma vs. Mata Nui fight in 2009. Empire of the Skrall showed just how cunning and strong Tuma was capable of being. His fight with Mata Nui just turned him into a sad boss for the hero to face. Even with EotS giving an explanation on why Tuma was weakened when he went into that battle, I still think he should've won due to his experience alone.

[Pranciblad]

I understand the dislike for the Kal, but bear in mind they were only ever meant to be filler between the Bohrok and Mask of Light stories.

But that's exactly why they're so disliked. They were filler, and nothing more. There was no redeeming value.

[Lyichir]

 

I understand the dislike for the Kal, but bear in mind they were only ever meant to be filler between the Bohrok and Mask of Light stories.

But that's exactly why they're so disliked. They were filler, and nothing more. There was no redeeming value.

 

In terms of story, they had quite a bit of redeeming value. Keep in mind that they were the first series of foes (as opposed to singular foes like Makuta and the Bahrag) that were actually sapient, as opposed to mind-controlled creatures or swarm enemies. They could have been better in that respect (they didn't really have unique personalities at all), but it was still a big step for Bionicle that wouldn't be repeated until 2006.

 

As for my least favorite moment... you could pick almost any moment from the serials, particularly the later ones. Too much dimension-hopping, too many meaningless character deaths, too much cruft added to an already complex story.

[Sir Kohran]

 

I understand the dislike for the Kal, but bear in mind they were only ever meant to be filler between the Bohrok and Mask of Light stories.

But that's exactly why they're so disliked. They were filler, and nothing more. There was no redeeming value.

 

 

The dislike goes beyond that - the sets were simply recoloured Bohrok with different claws, plus the Toa losing their powers and only winning through a trick of the Vahi made for a pretty unheroic story, and there was the third use of the 'going underground to face the enemy then returning to the surface' as an ending.

 

Something being filler doesn't automatically make it bad. If you think about it, the Bohrok in general were filler between Bionicle's first year and the Mask of Light story.

[Pranciblad]

Look, I'm not implying that the Bohrok-Kal arc being filler was it's only failing-- far from. I just found it odd that you pointed out that it was filler to try and excuse its failings, because every other time I've heard the arc called filler it was used as a point of contention, not in its defense.

[Lyichir]

 

 

I understand the dislike for the Kal, but bear in mind they were only ever meant to be filler between the Bohrok and Mask of Light stories.

But that's exactly why they're so disliked. They were filler, and nothing more. There was no redeeming value.

 

 

The dislike goes beyond that - the sets were simply recoloured Bohrok with different claws, plus the Toa losing their powers and only winning through a trick of the Vahi made for a pretty unheroic story, and there was the third use of the 'going underground to face the enemy then returning to the surface' as an ending.

 

Something being filler doesn't automatically make it bad. If you think about it, the Bohrok in general were filler between Bionicle's first year and the Mask of Light story.

 

Going to take issue with one of the things you said... a "trick of the Vahi"? The Vahi accomplished nothing in that fight, just like in Vakama's fight with Teridax in Legends of Metru Nui. Despite being made out to be such a powerful and legendary mask in story, the fact that no character who ever used it could control that power made it literally useless in every appearance except for Time Trap, where the threat its destruction posed allowed it to be used as a bargaining chip. The Toa won by channeling their elemental powers into the Nuva symbols, transferring that power to the Kal and overloading their own powers—which I do think was a fairly unique conclusion.

 

Also, I don't see how the Bohrok arc could be considered filler... it featured the Toa facing new foes, undergoing a new transformation, and was generally a much more developed story arc than the previous 2001 story. The only way it might be considered "filler" was the general absence of Makuta, and that can only really be argued in retrospect. At the time, Makuta had seemingly been defeated, and there was no way to know that he would continue to be Bionicle's primary villain for the rest of the series.

Edited September 26, 2015 by Lyichir

[fishers64]

I guess mine would be the Tuma vs. Mata Nui fight in 2009. Empire of the Skrall showed just how cunning and strong Tuma was capable of being. His fight with Mata Nui just turned him into a sad boss for the hero to face. Even with EotS giving an explanation on why Tuma was weakened when he went into that battle, I still think he should've won due to his experience alone.

EotS?

 

 

Something being filler doesn't automatically make it bad. If you think about it, the Bohrok in general were filler between Bionicle's first year and the Mask of Light story.

I thought the Bohrok were an important part of the story, given that they were a big clue to the giant robot's existence. 

[Bonkle]

 

I guess mine would be the Tuma vs. Mata Nui fight in 2009. Empire of the Skrall showed just how cunning and strong Tuma was capable of being. His fight with Mata Nui just turned him into a sad boss for the hero to face. Even with EotS giving an explanation on why Tuma was weakened when he went into that battle, I still think he should've won due to his experience alone.

EotS?

 

 

Something being filler doesn't automatically make it bad. If you think about it, the Bohrok in general were filler between Bionicle's first year and the Mask of Light story.

I thought the Bohrok were an important part of the story, given that they were a big clue to the giant robot's existence. 

 

EotS = Empire of the Skrall.

 

Anyways, I'd say my least favorite moment would probably be..... well, any of the movies. They weren't that bad in terms of story, but those mask mouths, man.

[Sir Kohran]

 

 

Look, I'm not implying that the Bohrok-Kal arc being filler was it's only failing-- far from. I just found it odd that you pointed out that it was filler to try and excuse its failings, because every other time I've heard the arc called filler it was used as a point of contention, not in its defense.

 

I'm not trying to excuse the failings, just to provide some explanation for them - they resulted from their story segment being filler. When something is put together quickly and for a minor purpose (in this case to keep the story active between one major section and another) it usually tends to be of lower quality, yes?

 

 

 

The Vahi accomplished nothing in that fight, just like in Vakama's fight with Teridax in Legends of Metru Nui. Despite being made out to be such a powerful and legendary mask in story, the fact that no character who ever used it could control that power made it literally useless in every appearance except for Time Trap, where the threat its destruction posed allowed it to be used as a bargaining chip. The Toa won by channeling their elemental powers into the Nuva symbols, transferring that power to the Kal and overloading their own powers—which I do think was a fairly unique conclusion.

 

The Vahi slowed the Kal down long enough for the Toa to come up with and carry out their solution.

 

You're right that it was an interesting way to defeat them, if a little convenient.

 

 

 

it featured the Toa facing new foes

 

Who had great sets but no personality and were effectively a more organised and imposing re-run of the Rahi.

 

 

 

undergoing a new transformation,

 

Which had no significance beyond giving them armour and more/bigger tools, and didn't change their position in the story from what it had been before. They were still six heroes with tools, masks and elemental powers guarding their villages.

 

 

 

and was generally a much more developed story arc than the previous 2001 story.

 

Not sure what was different, it still had comics and online animation, the difference being that the first was the primary storyteller and the second the supporting whereas in the first year it was the other way round.

 

 

 

The only way it might be considered "filler" was the general absence of Makuta, and that can only really be argued in retrospect. At the time, Makuta had seemingly been defeated, and there was no way to know that he would continue to be Bionicle's primary villain for the rest of the series. 

 

It was filler in that it had no bearing on the Mask of Light story that brought the first book of the story to its end. All it did was allow the story to stay on Mata-Nui a bit longer and establish the main cast a bit better.

 

 

 

I thought the Bohrok were an important part of the story, given that they were a big clue to the giant robot's existence.

 

All we were told was that they needed to clean the island and return it to the 'before time'; nothing about that screams "giant robot under the island" to me. The connection is only apparent once you know there's a robot set to arise (which we obviously didn't know at the time). The MNOLG's impenetrable rock layer and the island names being Maori for facial features were more relevant clues, IMO.

[CaT in Rogue]

STARS

 

STARS

 

STAAAAAAAARRS

 

I didn't like them.

 

Bad articulation, uninspired set design, only four new pieces barely applicable anywhere else, and quite possibly the single worst combiner model ever designed, the Stars outright sucked. Maybe i wouldn't have minded so much if they weren't supposed to be the last Bionicle sets ever made.

 

I am really glad we got Bionicle back, because that would've been a pretty bitter note to permanently leave as your legacy.

[Lyichir]

Can I just say how weird it is that so many of these "least favorite moments" aren't even "moments" unless you're talking about a release date? The Glatorian weren't a "moment"... they were a full year's worth of Bionicle sets and story (one tenth of the entire series' run!). The first half of 2003 wasn't a "moment" either, unless an entire story arc counts as a single moment. I had expected more of the responses to cover discrete events in the Bionicle story such as Makuta's victory at the end of 2008 or Carapar's death in the serials, but instead it seems like most of the people who have responded seem to have interpreted the question as "What was your least favorite thing about Bionicle in general?"

[Sir Kohran]

Yeah, when I first saw this topic I thought it was going to be about specific points in the story that are disliked, but the first post and most of the following have focused on disliked things in general.

 

If I'm to pick an actual moment I strongly dislike, it's be when Lewa uses the word 'buddy' in one of the Kal animations. That word is so out of place in Bionicle (as we knew it up until then) that it's just painful.

[CaT in Rogue]

Well, if we're talking about singular moments, it's where Tahu gets turned back into a Toa Mata. What was even the point of that?! I know they handwaved it by saying 'on, the armor can only work for a Toa Mata', but that just raises more questions!

Edited September 28, 2015 by Kung Fu Hiatus

[You just lost the game]

I was never really interested in the Glatorians, I would have rather had a new or old Toa in that series.

 

Also, whenever Lego decided to discontinue Bionicle early.

 

For my least favourite singular moment?

When that water Glatorian girl from BLR said "woohoo".

So cringe...

Edited September 28, 2015 by You just lost the game

[masterchirox580]

When I realized the stars were in fact the (at least planned) ending sets. 

[Toatapio Nuva]

As for my least favorite moment... you could pick almost any moment from the serials, particularly the later ones. Too much dimension-hopping, too many meaningless character deaths, too much cruft added to an already complex story.

 

I agree with this 100%

[Xarok]

I understand the dislike for the Kal, but bear in mind they were only ever meant to be filler between the Bohrok and Mask of Light stories.

That's the specific reason why we disliked them.

 

A moment I disliked was Jaller's death in Mask of Light. I felt like his death lost any meaning because they brought him back so soon after. It really cheapens the emotional impact. Maybe if they actually let him stay dead, it would have meant something.

 

I also disliked Vakama defecting only to come back. I know he had to be back so he could be a Turaga, but I felt like they could have done more with him being bad. It was like they wanted to show that Vakama would fall from grace and would have to redeem himself, but they never had him do anything bad enough that he would need to redeem himself. I think that would have made for an interesting story arc, Vakama perhaps does something bad while working with Roodaka and he has to do some soul-searching after the Toa stop the Visorak. That would have been a neat story idea and I feel like it would have justified making Vakama evil for half of Bionicle 3.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Xarok

[Sir Kohran]

 

 

That's the specific reason why we disliked them.

 

I feel I addressed this in my later posts. There were things wrong with them other than that they were filler.

 

I also disliked Vakama defecting, but more because it seems unbelievable that after the hero's journey he completed in the story up until then - maybe the most intense journey any Bionicle character had been through at that time - he'd suddenly throw it away and join evil (and then only to throw that away and rejoin good ).

[Xarok]

 

That's the specific reason why we disliked them.

 

I feel I addressed this in my later posts. There were things wrong with them other than that they were filler.

 

I also disliked Vakama defecting, but more because it seems unbelievable that after the hero's journey he completed in the story up until then - maybe the most intense journey any Bionicle character had been through at that time - he'd suddenly throw it away and join evil (and then only to throw that away and rejoin good ).

 

Very true. I think Bionicle 2 is my favorite of the movies because of Vakama's character arc, and how he learns to believe in himself and trust his teammates. Bionicle 3 threw that out the window. It would work better if he either did something bad enough that he had to redeem himself as I said before or if he planned it all along. If he planned on defecting just so he could act as a double agent and get on Roodaka's good side so he could betray her. That would have been a neat twist.

But since we're on the topic of that, was anyone else really off-put by Matau in Bionicle 3? I get he was upset about being mutated as all the Toa were, but he was just unnecessarily harsh on Vakama and everyone else. Vakama and Matau were my favorite Toa Metru and because of that it really makes Web of Shadows hard to watch seeing one of my favorites constantly harassing and belittling the other. 

[Toa of Ice - 1987]

The fact that i was right all along. When i first heard about the 2006 storyline i kept getting nightmare thoughts in my mind regarding "there's probably gonna be a moment where someone has to sacrifice himself so others may pass." and i was instantly right when matoro was the hero i had guessed as the one to sacrifice himself hwen i had been pleading all year that it would not be a Toa of Ice (i'm referring to the chamber of death )

and that was a major cornerstone that turned out to be true when a toa of ice, my favorite element type would be killed off one way or another, and i was right when 2007 came along and the chamber of death confirmed that matoro was not gonna survive the mask of life sotry arc at one point or another.

 

I felt so annoyed that i was close to never buying another bionicle set after 2007 out of spite at how GregF had handled the story.

Edited October 4, 2015 by ---Kopaka Nuva---

[Sir Kohran]

 

 

and that was a major cornerstone that turned out to be true when a toa of ice, my favorite element type would be killed off one way or another, and i was right when 2007 came along and the chamber of death confirmed that matoro was not gonna survive the mask of life sotry arc at one point or another. I felt so annoyed that i was close to never buying another bionicle set after 2007 out of spite at how GregF had handled the story.

 

I think Matoro's death would've been the story team's decision, not Greg's, unless you meant something else.

 

I thought it made a good change to have someone other than a Fire character do something important, although if Jaller had died it might've been more poignant as fans knew him better than Matoro (who hadn't appeared much as a Matoran after 2001).

[fishers64]

Uh, Jaller had already died once. If he died again, half of the fans would be claiming that he was going to come back to life somehow and begging Greg to bring him back from the dead. 

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

When the serials ended abruptly.

 

-NotS

[jed1ndy]

When BIONICLE began.

[Petewa]

Drop your faces in awe as I admit, I have no least favorite, story-wise, at least.

[Bonkle]

Ooh, remembered another one: finding out the Bohrok were Matoran. :/

[The Editor]

Ooh, remembered another one: finding out the Bohrok were Matoran. :/

 

I was horrified by that.

 

My least favorite part had to be the Spherus Magna set stuff. It felt weird, and the hands... Sheesh. I'd have preferred a Toa team trying to fight Makuta, or something.

Storywise, I am sort of alright with the whole Spherus Magna fix-our-world thing, but it was a little clumsy and non-sense-making. The idea that Mata Nui is the face of a giant robot? I'm fine with that. Mata Nui (the spirit) being the robot housing the Matoran Universe? I'm fine with that. Scientists who can create elemental beings and shapeshifting robots and masks that defy physics and biomechanical beings who can defy physics but can't fix their planet without building a giant robot who's run by little robots with a functioning series of ecosystems in his body? Let me step outside for a moment, please.

[Sharnak the Bohrok Lord]

Three words: Giant Purple Malum.