What Would Bionicle Have Been Like if We Had Never Left Mata-Nui?

[Banana Gunz]

I love Bionicle, and I love almost all of it. And even some of the lesser parts of it are commendable for their creativity, but I always wonder: What could Bionicle have been like if we had never left Mata-Nui, or simply never went inside of the Mata-Nui robot?

 

The Bionicle RPG here partly explores that idea, but it's unmistakably a fan run RPG that does things Bionicle would've never been. So I was thinking we could all have a fun time here and toss around ideas for what Bionicle could've been like after 2003 and come up with a cool new story as a sort of group-assembled fanon!

 

One idea that was never put to full fruition was three-finger island. As a starter, what do you think that could've been and what would you have wanted it to be?

 

Let's get creative!

[Naota Takizawa]

If they never went inside the robot, then the inhabitants of Mata Nui would simply be living unaware of the Great Spirit Robot & it would never be awoken. As much as I love the tribal & magical aspects of the early years of Bionicle, I don't think it would've been possible to keep Mata Nui interesting for nine years unless another island was made. However, I did like the idea of a 7th tribe dedicated to worshipping Makuta with Ahkmou as a member or even the leader of the tribe. 

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

It'd get boring quick. An invasion from the island from the three-finger archipelago forcing the toa mata/nuva to infiltrate the enemy islands and take it down from the source would have been able to keep it interesting as well as the immediate effects from said invasion. I am reminded of the Maori invasion of the pacifist Moriori, but I am not sure if I want too delve to deep into that here...

Edited April 25, 2016 by Iaredios the Hip Historian

[Toa Imrukii]

Speaking of the Archipelago, I assume it's nothing more than a disguise on the robot, unusable to all, unless if say it could be used as a hatch to escape out of, to be used by forces such as the Zyglak, and other MU inhabitance, still within the robot itself. Hypothetically mind you, there very well could be an entry point there.

 

Frankly, we would be looking at a very different BIONICLE then, however, something just came to mind, what if this is sort of the whole Plotline of G2? People living on an island isolated from the rest of the world, having to face the threat of possible invaders, coming from other lands, and even from underground. That could very well be the backstory to the world of BIONICLE G2.

 

How about this, a long lost fallen society, escaped long ago to a new land, bringing with them a great mask, the Mask of Time, and other great feats of knowledge. When invaders from another land came, the ones who had died were simply buried in shallow graves within the city, whilst but one of these people surrendered and became well like amoungst the Okotans (*cough* Skull Slicer *Cough*). And, perhaps after the Cataclism Skull Slicer was one of the last protectors of the city, destined to stay there and keep eye. When the mysterious Skull Spiders invaded, they forced Skull Slicer directly to the colosseum where he fought until one of them took hold of him, and there he stayed until the Toa finally arrived.

 

We are talking about a period of 1000 years from cataclism to Toa Arrival, and a Possible invasion may have come within that time. However, to my knowledge we do not know why exactly they left the city. The Island was split between the elements, and the city wasn't completely destroyed, was it? This is certainly something to think about.

 

What'cha all think of that?

Edited April 25, 2016 by Toa Imrukii

[Erasmus Graves]

Obviously, it would have been harder for the writers to think up interesting ideas.

In my opinion, it wouldn't have run as long, and the sheer scope of things would have been severely limited.

Like Iaredios said, an infiltration of the three-fingered island invaders would have been pretty cool and would have kept it interesting for a few years more. But an epic 10-year runtime? No, I doubt that would have happened.

Maybe we'd have a Cthulhu-style invasion of this alt-universe's equivalent of the Great Beings, with some Lovecraftian vibes (Makuta in a sort of Wilbur Whatley role, perhaps), or... I dunno, an inter-island war?

Personally, I believe the migration from Mata Nui was the best way for things to proceed story-wise from the end of 2003. We had a great time on the island of Mata Nui, but the expansion of a microcosm into a universe awaited...

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Speaking of the Archipelago, I assume it's nothing more than a disguise on the robot, unusable to all, unless if say it could be used as a hatch to escape out of, to be used by forces such as the Zyglak, and other MU inhabitance, still within the robot itself. Hypothetically mind you, there very well could be an entry point there.

I doubt that there are exit points on the fingers. Maybe the palm, but not the fingers.

 

Brainstorming: how the islands could have been settled is that a sizeable group of Makuta worshipers were exiled out to sea over time, the amount exiled leaving an even 1000 matoran on Mata-Nui, and they eventually discovered and settled on the islands, plotting revenge over time.

[Erasmus Graves]

 

I doubt that there are exit points on the fingers. Maybe the palm, but not the fingers.

 

Picture this:

The sea darkens and begins to rise upwards, like something crawling beneath liquid skin. Water spills off a titanic metal platform, circular in shape. A waterfall appears, foaming and raging like a rabid member of the clan of 4chan. The platform towers above the sea's surface, a metal monolith turned rough by millennia of interstellar travel and water depths. Slowly, the top begins to slide open...

Wouldn't that look great in a video, eh, guys?

​Mind it'd just look like a small-scale version of the Mata Nui robot coming out of the deep, but it'd be interesting if they'd never left the island, I suppose.   

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

 

 

I doubt that there are exit points on the fingers. Maybe the palm, but not the fingers.

 

Picture this:

The sea darkens and begins to rise upwards, like something crawling beneath liquid skin. Water spills off a titanic metal platform, circular in shape. A waterfall appears, foaming and raging like a rabid member of the clan of 4chan. The platform towers above the sea's surface, a metal monolith turned rough by millennia of interstellar travel and water depths. Slowly, the top begins to slide open...

Wouldn't that look great in a video, eh, guys?

​Mind it'd just look like a small-scale version of the Mata Nui robot coming out of the deep, but it'd be interesting if they'd never left the island, I suppose.   

 

How would interstellar travel cause erosion if there is no atmosphere to degrade the material in the star-brimmed void that is the second heaven?

[Erasmus Graves]

 How would interstellar travel cause erosion if there is no atmosphere to degrade the material in the star-brimmed void that is the second heaven?

 

Yeah, I know. But:

 

Wyndham's Fifth Law of Real Life:

If it is/sounds/looks awesome, it can defy physics*.

...

*Does not apply to Michael Bay Movies

Edited April 25, 2016 by Erasmus Graves

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

 

 How would interstellar travel cause erosion if there is no atmosphere to degrade the material in the star-brimmed void that is the second heaven?

 

Yeah, I know. But:

 

Wyndham's Fifth Law of Real Life:

If it is/sounds/looks awesome, it can defy physics*.

...

*Does not apply to Michael Bay Movies

 

Ah, I'll give you that! It made me laugh.

[You just lost the game]

Let's be honest, the writers wouldn't have stayed on Mata-Nui no matter what.

If they stayed a longer, they could have kept that mystical/mysterious vibe a little longer.

 

Invasion from the Three-Finger Archipelago is one plot point they could use, but other than that, there isn't much they could do.

Maybe while the Matoran and Toa are fighting the bad-guy of the week, start having Mata-Nui experience natural disasters.

Use it in such a way where the Matoran think "Dark Spirits" are causing these disasters, but in actuality, Mata-Nui himself is beginning to awaken.

Then have where the Turaga were actually trying to keep the existence of Mata-Nui as a giant robot a secret. They thought they'd have a better life living outside the robot, and decided to keep the Matoran's true past a mystery.

Once the island is reaching critical levels of disasters, have the Toa find a way back inside Mata-Nui and continue from there.

 

Boom, the air of mystery kept even longer with a Shamalamadingdong plot twist at the end.

I think I'm going to have to write a fanfic using this premise...

Edited April 25, 2016 by You just lost the game

[Naota Takizawa]

Let's be honest, they writers wouldn't have stayed on Mata-Nui no matter what.

If they stayed a longer, they could have kept that mystical/mysterious vibe a little longer.

 

Invasion from the Three-Finger Archipelago is one plot point they could use, but other than that, there isn't much they could do.

Maybe while the Matoran and Toa are fighting the bad-guy of the week, start having Mata-Nui experience natural disasters.

Use it in such a way where the Matoran think "Dark Spirits" are causing these disasters, but in actuality, Mata-Nui himself is beginning to awaken.

Then have where the Turaga were actually trying to keep the existence of Mata-Nui as a giant robot a secret. They thought they'd have a better life living outside the robot, and decided to keep the Matoran's true past a mystery.

Once the island is reaching critical levels of disasters, have the Toa find a way back inside Mata-Nui and continue from there.

 

Boom, the air of mystery kept even longer with a Shamalamadingdong plot twist at the end.

I think I'm going to have to write a fanfic using this premise...

Please. Write at least one chapter, this sounds super cool.

[masterchirox580]

Well if they did do that then I imagine the story wouldn't have become as complicated as it did. Chances are they would just find new locations on the island and maybe have a new team of toa to try and keep things interesting. Though at the end of the day they would have probably experienced a loss of profits for the theme quite quickly (as the theme wouldn't have been as engaging). Thus leading to an earlier end. 

[Lyichir]

To be honest, I doubt the story would've never left Mata Nui. Even if the island had not been abandoned by the Matoran and Turaga, I'm sure the Toa themselves might have still ventured elsewhere on quests occasionally (perhaps to other surface islands, like Voya Nui or the unused three-finger islands).

Apart from that, I think there would be much more change to the island of Mata Nui itself, in order to keep that setting fresh (perhaps the villages would expand into larger cities, or foes like the Bohrok and Visorak might do more lasting damage to the island and its settlements).

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

Hmmm, I dunno. I loved the island to death, but I feel like things would have gotten a little stale after 3 years on it. The ending of Mask of Light was a great place to cap the story, if they decided not to go further with it. I would have liked to see new technologies introduced on the island to accommodate the villagers and the constant stream of threats though, that would have been able to keep it fresh. 

 

-NotS

[bonesiii]

Well, I always expected they would explore the ocean and find other islands, but still keep living mainly on Mata Nui (this of course was before we learned the truth of what the island is). So, in a sense they would "stay" (or keep that as home base). Maybe it could have still been interesting for a time. Maybe it's what Gen 2 will do.

[Cheesy Mac n Cheese]

Judging by story elements from The Kingdom, Mata Nui would have died, and eventually the robot would start collapsing. The Matoran, with no knowledge of this, would not reinforce the ground like they did in said story, and so the island would crash below the sea, killing everything on it.

 

Boring story with a sad end.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

What could Bionicle have been like if we had never left Mata-Nui, or simply never went inside of the Mata-Nui robot?

 

[Lyichir]

Judging by story elements from The Kingdom, Mata Nui would have died, and eventually the robot would start collapsing. The Matoran, with no knowledge of this, would not reinforce the ground like they did in said story, and so the island would crash below the sea, killing everything on it.

 

Boring story with a sad end.

You're assuming those story elements would have remained in place if Lego had chosen to keep the main setting the same. Chances are that the "time limit" on Mata Nui's survival would have never been implemented in that case, or even if it had, that there would have been a way for the Toa to avert Mata Nui's death WITHOUT having to travel to Karda Nui.

[Tuuli]

I don't know but I'm glad we went beyond Mata-nui