Onua in MoL

[Toa Turing]

I watched Bionicle: Mask of Light for the first time in ages, and I noticed something. Onua is described on BS01 as quiet and wise, yet the way he was portrayed in he movie, he did not seem that way at all. Has anyone else notices this? Why do you think this is?

[GSR]

I could be mistaken, but I believe that except for the broad strokes of the plot, MoL's writing was handled by writers otherwise unconnected to Bionicle. As such, the characters sort of got reinterpreted, and not always to their benefit. After all, Takua was pretty adventurous and dedicated in MNOG and other early depictions, but he spends a good chunk of MoL being fairly cowardly about his situation for the sake of the plot.In Onua's case, the writers probably looked at the general information about him (Hero of Earth with the power of super strength who lives underground in an energetic mining city) and said, "that sounds like a pretty boisterous, almost dwarf-like guy, let's run with that." He was pretty much a bit character in the film, so there wasn't any need to put too much work into him.Also, in broad terms the other Toa's personalities do match what you'd expect from their elements/roles/powers - hot-head Tahu, standoffish Kopaka, helpful Gali, joyful Lewa, outgoing Pohatu - so the writers probably assumed the same held for Onua.

Edited July 22, 2012 by GSR

[Terra Nuva]

There apparently were many plot discrepancies in the first three movies. Such as Mataus romantic ride-drive comment.

[Gatanui]

I could be mistaken, but I believe that except for the broad strokes of the plot, MoL's writing was handled by writers otherwise unconnected to Bionicle. As such, the characters sort of got reinterpreted, and not always to their benefit. After all, Takua was pretty adventurous and dedicated in MNOG and other early depictions, but he spends a good chunk of MoL being fairly cowardly about his situation for the sake of the plot.In Onua's case, the writers probably looked at the general information about him (Hero of Earth with the power of super strength who lives underground in an energetic mining city) and said, "that sounds like a pretty boisterous, almost dwarf-like guy, let's run with that." He was pretty much a bit character in the film, so there wasn't any need to put too much work into him.Also, in broad terms the other Toa's personalities do match what you'd expect from their elements/roles/powers - hot-head Tahu, standoffish Kopaka, helpful Gali, joyful Lewa, outgoing Pohatu - so the writers probably assumed the same held for Onua.

You think Lewa was joyful in the movie? Honestly? -Gata Edited July 23, 2012 by Gatanui

[Sir Kohran]

Of the original Toa, bellicose Tahu, aloof Kopaka and kind Gali seemed to have had the most distinctive and lively personalities which captured people's imaginations most. Onua, Lewa and Pohatu's personalities were more tame (stoic, carefree, genial) and became a bit overlooked, so it's unsurprising that the movie played rather loosely with them. I'm not excusing it - I think they should've stuck closer to the original characterisations - just providing a possible explanation.

There apparently were many plot discrepancies in the first three movies. Such as Mataus romantic ride-drive comment.

Romance was initially part of the storyline, as evidenced by the Huki/Maku and Jala/Hahli stuff. But at some point it was decided that Bionicle characters were asexual, and the romantic element was dropped from the canon. Matau's line probably wasn't a 'discrepancy' when it was written.

[bonesiii]

Yeah I think they just didn't care about staying true to the canon perrsonalities perfectly. It's a common trait among moviemakers as we all know. Sometimes to good effect... in the case of Onua (and Whenua IMO, and some others) not so much.

[Nuparu1995]

While many people with TLG work with the studio creators of MoL, there are definitely a few differences with character's canon personalities, mostly because of the different people who were behind the storyboard. Either way, I think they did very well creating a quality movie with dynamic characters overall.

[GSR]

I could be mistaken, but I believe that except for the broad strokes of the plot, MoL's writing was handled by writers otherwise unconnected to Bionicle. As such, the characters sort of got reinterpreted, and not always to their benefit. After all, Takua was pretty adventurous and dedicated in MNOG and other early depictions, but he spends a good chunk of MoL being fairly cowardly about his situation for the sake of the plot.In Onua's case, the writers probably looked at the general information about him (Hero of Earth with the power of super strength who lives underground in an energetic mining city) and said, "that sounds like a pretty boisterous, almost dwarf-like guy, let's run with that." He was pretty much a bit character in the film, so there wasn't any need to put too much work into him.Also, in broad terms the other Toa's personalities do match what you'd expect from their elements/roles/powers - hot-head Tahu, standoffish Kopaka, helpful Gali, joyful Lewa, outgoing Pohatu - so the writers probably assumed the same held for Onua.

You think Lewa was joyful in the movie? Honestly? -Gata

Well, it's been a while since I've seen it, so 'joyful' might be me overextrapolating from one of the few things I do remember about him in that movie. Namely, "Windfly".

[Gatanui]

I could be mistaken, but I believe that except for the broad strokes of the plot, MoL's writing was handled by writers otherwise unconnected to Bionicle. As such, the characters sort of got reinterpreted, and not always to their benefit. After all, Takua was pretty adventurous and dedicated in MNOG and other early depictions, but he spends a good chunk of MoL being fairly cowardly about his situation for the sake of the plot.In Onua's case, the writers probably looked at the general information about him (Hero of Earth with the power of super strength who lives underground in an energetic mining city) and said, "that sounds like a pretty boisterous, almost dwarf-like guy, let's run with that." He was pretty much a bit character in the film, so there wasn't any need to put too much work into him.Also, in broad terms the other Toa's personalities do match what you'd expect from their elements/roles/powers - hot-head Tahu, standoffish Kopaka, helpful Gali, joyful Lewa, outgoing Pohatu - so the writers probably assumed the same held for Onua.

You think Lewa was joyful in the movie? Honestly? -Gata

Well, it's been a while since I've seen it, so 'joyful' might be me overextrapolating from one of the few things I do remember about him in that movie. Namely, "Windfly".

That's what I thought about when you said he was joyful. And that's pretty much everything that could be considered true to his character. Or maybe I just need to watch the movie again, I dunno.-Gata

[fishers64]

Well, it's because the movie makers had an obvious bias toward Ko-Koro and Ga-Koro. :PSeriously, though, everyone else's personality is insulted in that movie...

[Aanchir]

Personally, I think MoL really nailed the characters' personalities. Perhaps Onua was a little more boisterous than he had been depicted previously, but to be honest he hadn't been fleshed out all that much by that point at all.When did the information about him being quiet and wise even come from, anyway? It's not on the old BIONICLE.com from 2003, so for all I know it might be from later than Mask of Light anyway.

[fishers64]

When did the information about him being quiet and wise even come from, anyway? It's not on the old BIONICLE.com from 2003, so for all I know it might be from later than Mask of Light anyway.

C.A. Hapka's books, actually, and Greg's Tales of the Masks brought the "quiet and wise" thing to Onua. At least, that's where I got that from... Edited August 9, 2012 by fishers64

[Aanchir]

When did the information about him being quiet and wise even come from, anyway? It's not on the old BIONICLE.com from 2003, so for all I know it might be from later than Mask of Light anyway.

C.A. Hapka's books, actually, and Greg's Tales of the Masks brought the "quiet and wise" thing to Onua. At least, that's where I got that from...

Ah, OK. I've never really enjoyed Hapka's books so I don't tend to think about them too much in terms of 2001-2003 story. It's funny that they were inconsistent with MoL in terms of characterization since one of the main functions of those books was to structure the earlier, somewhat disjointed story media into a more cohesive narrative leading up to MoL. So they had elements from the comics and online material but worked in facets of the storyline that otherwise didn't present themselves until 2003, most notably the Three Virtues.

[Sir Kohran]

It might also be worth noting that Onua received very little characterisation outside those books. He got just two short lines in the entire MNOLG, and his confrontation with Krana'd Lewa was his only 'starring' scene in the 2001-2 comics.

Edited August 15, 2012 by Sir Kohran

[I Exist]

Yeah, I felt that way too. But we must consider that not every Toa were equaly but under the spotlight over the years, so some of the characters were less definite than others.If we look at the Toa Mata, here is the list of which one I feel had the more screen time to the less screen time over the years.1. Tahu2. Gali3. Kopaka4. Pohatu5. Lewa 6. Onua