Bionicle For Girls

[You just lost the game]

She kinda went out with... her side kick... kissing a fair bit... And the creator of that show said so himself (as afore mentioned, now i remember who he was)

I never watched the last episodes, so I wouldn't know. lol About the other post.A younger child, say eight years-old would think that anything with too much girl, with less fighting would be boring.Any newcomers of about the same age may think the same thing and think it's "girly".

[Astrotorical]

And to this i agree with you. As a 17yo I do not mind such things (i didnt see that KP ep either, the creator mentioned it). but then its not aimed at me, its aimed at younger children

[Shadix]

I think that genders in Bionicle is a must--or at least some sort of gender-type system. The male mind processing things very differently than the female mind, and I love the diversity that comes when both genders mesh. Personally that's why I believe genders were added in the first place was for the personality differences rather than reproducing. Besides, a touch of femininity is always nice.

[Phovos]

Gender has never been an issue with Bionicle. Anything gender-related, like love, barely exists, and all we have/had are friendships. There was never a need for making a line or altering anything for girls because, even if there was a large female fan-base, the story has never pushed male or female characters away, nor has it needed them. Also, there have been plenty of female characters with plenty of roles. Not as many as males, but that's no different from society today. The space is there, it's just that it's nor required to fill it.

[Alyska]

There were four main females in Avatar ,as I recall.In Avatar, were they not fighting? They weren't planting flowers, that's for sure! Every, well known, female character had a large role in the story. Why change it to have MORE females? I'm quite content with the amount of female presence in the story line as it is.

When did I say I wanted them to plant flowers? When did I say that the fighting should be taken out? You seem to have this persistent misconception that any entertainment designed to attract girls must automatically be a dull, insipid piece of sugar-coated trash that insults the viewer's intelligence. To be fair, this is a fairly common misconception, held by just about everyone, from eight-year-old boys to professional TV writers. And, a lot of media for young girls produced over the past few decades does perpetuate that stereotype. But, once again, it doesn't have to be that way. Writers of children's media are gradually beginning to realise the importance of well-developed, interesting female characters, and girls' entertainment with coherent, well-thought-out storylines, and I think that Lego should try to keep up with these changes in attitudes.

[Brave Dragon]

Bionicle attracts girls by having being into Bionicle being the only way to play with their brothers, who they adore and love in every single way.

I have no brother. I just like cool robots.

[Phovos]

I just like cool robots.

I just like Bohrok...Anyway, the females in Bionicle are already well thought out characters. Maybe there could be more, but what we have is enough.Another point is that, when you look at the box, you see a robot. You don't see male or female. Most will go to assume said robot is male. But how do you make a robot look female without making her stereotypical? You can't make them pink. You can't give them breasts. You can't give them pink hearts. Look at Gali. She's female, but you'd only know that by looking at the story, which you can't see from the box. Making a female version of Bionicle wouldn't work because you're detracting from what makes Bionicle as a whole, and changing the plot just for girls seems just as pointless as females already have a fairly major role in the story.

[Alyska]

Anyway, the females in Bionicle are already well thought out characters. Maybe there could be more, but what we have is enough. Another point is that, when you look at the box, you see a robot. You don't see male or female. Most will go to assume said robot is male. But how do you make a robot look female without making her stereotypical? You can't make them pink. You can't give them breasts. You can't give them pink hearts. Look at Gali. She's female, but you'd only know that by looking at the story, which you can't see from the box. Making a female version of Bionicle wouldn't work because you're detracting from what makes Bionicle as a whole, and changing the plot just for girls seems just as pointless as females already have a fairly major role in the story.

This is why I think Bionicle (or another "constraction" line) should have a TV show, to help get the story out there. This would attract not only young girls, but also a wider fanbase in general, bringing in more older fans.( At the moment, Bionicle may have a lot of older fans, but it is not attracting many new ones, since most of us are only here because we liked it as kids). The story and characters were what attracted me to Bionicle, and I wouldn't have known about either of them had I not been looking over my brother's shoulder as he was playing MNOG. A TV show would help distribute the story to potential fans. As for set design... any good MOCist can show you how to make a character look feminine without resorting to pink armour or breasts. Lego's designers have been downright lazy in that department. Hero Factory has the right idea in having a show, but the only female character is barely more than a background character. In the one storyline where she would be really useful (Savage Planet, since she can talk to animals etc.), she is left out altogether! Add that to the overall quality of the show, and we're not looking at a particularly wide audience here.

[Phovos]

Lego's designers have been downright lazy in that department. Hero Factory has the right idea in having a show, but the only female character is barely more than a background character. In the one storyline where she would be really useful (Savage Planet, since she can talk to animals etc.), she is left out altogether! Add that to the overall quality of the show, and we're not looking at a particularly wide audience here.

Lego's Designers know that the main market is with young boys, and they make their models in order to please that very large group. Yes, MOCers can make feminine sets, but will a large market buy them, if LEGO took advice from these MOCers? Would girls buy them? I wouldn't, but that's just me.As for a TV show, if girls watched it in equal amounts as boys, there would be a demand for more female sets, but until the story becomes equal to the sets, nothing will happen.

[Astrotorical]

I was just thinking, and I came across Tuyet and Helryx. 1 is a former weilder of the Nui Stone, and the other is the Leader of the OoMN. Very powerful female characters but as we have discovered:

• [*]There is no apparent need for female sets[*]These characters can only be identified through the story, which is centered towards boys.

Bringing us back to the original topic, how to appeal to girls

[You just lost the game]

@ AlyskaI'm not biased, LEGO is.BIONICLE is aimed for boys, and LEGO thinks, "Girls like this? Eh, whatever. More money for us!"In LEGO's eyes, there aren't enough girl fans for them to even bother changing what they've already made.

[Toa Doublebee]

Reading this made me realise somthing.when me and my little sister where younger,We used to Play Lego/BIONICLE evry day,Nowdays...Well,She barely even cares. and when I think about it,I dont "Play" with my BIONICLE anymore,My sister motivated me to play with her,Now that she doesnt play with me,I feel like my MoC's/Sets are just gathering dust... Me thinks that BIONICLE has nothing to offer to girls(7~11) wich I belive was the target age,I could be wrong. .

[Chibinuva]

However, given that half of BZP is now obsessed with some show about a purple unicorn who learns lessons about friendship every day, I'm curious to see if I get a more positive reaction this time.

So they make two sets of Bionicle toys, the regular ones aimed at boys, and a new line entitled "My Little Rahi: Constaction is Magic." Plus, having things like dresses or shoes instead of armor, ala Hero Factory's current building system, then that could actually work. But in all seriousness, I mainly just want more female characters (maybe up to half of the main ones being female,) and for all elements to be like light, being either gender.

[You just lost the game]

lol, no.That is a horrible idea for LEGO. More girls to replace the boy characters? That wouldn't work.The age for HF is like, 7-13. Any boy at the age of 7 would automatically classify HF as "girly".Younger boys aren't much for equality.For me, I couldn't care less. For LEGO, they'll lose customers.

[Vezon shall Return]

I don't even understand the issue here, what is the main debate about, that Lego was being sexist in not making enough female characters or products? All they simply did was aim the story more towards young boys, who are in fact not interested in girls that much. If they aimed it more towards teenagers, they would of added an equal amount of girls and suggest more relationships/dating, which 12 and up girls are more into these days (this is because of the maturity gap between the two genders.) However, their primary focus in this story was towards young boys and not teenagers, let alone girls. But because they chose not to aim towards teenagers they presented less female characters so it would look more appealing to young boys who don't care about close relationships but care about being a hero. The reason why there are less girl fans of Bionicle is because of the lack of relationships, not really because they don't like adventures and action. If you think about it, most female members are usually the ones that promote the few relationships and make fan fic stories about them. Here’s a thought, think how different Bionicle would be if there were more relationships and more female characters? It would it still be considered for kids, but more for teenagers, and look seem more like Marvel or DC comics. Here’s another thought, think how different Bionicle would be if it had mostly female characters and about one male character? It would probably be considered sexist because most likely the main character (who is male) surrounded by beautiful woman all fighting for his approval and relationship. I only thing I think of is... it would of been just be like anime, which most have a lot of fan service aimed to teenagers and young adults, mostly sexual induendos. (Which is my main disaproval of most anime and wouldn't do well with Bionicle). So you see, because of our culture and the social environment and pressure the reason why there are not a lot of girls in the story makes sense in terms of Lego's decision. However, personally I wish it was aimed a little more towards teenagers; it would have attracted more girls to it.

Edited October 18, 2011 by TrueshadowX01

[Comment Expired]

If a girl is going to play with boy toys, she will play with boy toys. Spraypainting them pink won't affect that.

[Phovos]

Shall we just stick to the neutral, asexual side of Bionicle then?

[Vezon shall Return]

If a girl is going to play with boy toys, she will play with boy toys. Spraypainting them pink won't affect that.

Exactly... but there are still a lot of people that don't encourage that (even more towards boys playing with girl toys) and generally most girls and boys do follow the "norms" mostly from peer pressure, pop culture, and how they are raised.

[Taka Nuvia]

What about the rest of you ladies? What attracted you to BIONICLE?

What's so strange about girls liking Bionicle just becuase they do?! When the Bohrok-kal came out (this was when I got my first set, haha) I thought that they were awesome. I though Bionicle to be something cool, and got into it later. But because it was the only way to interact with my brother/boys in general?Nope. I don't believe that there are things just for boys/girls. I can go and buy 25 Bionicle sets, then give them names like "Barbara" or "Giselle" and let them have a tea party.So what?

We have seen more than once that Bionicle can be praised by girls - it's not a matter of character development; it's marketing. As it has been stated, LEGO always intended the toyline to be for boys, those of age six between fourteen. Little boys don't need a major character development saga to like something, as long as it has huge guns and is cool, they will buy it - neither do they care much for romance, as opposed to little girls, who like dolls, pretty stuff, etc. My point being this: Bionicle should, and must be loved by both genders; the lack of character development and female presence is irrelevant, either way, girls like Bionicle. It's just not so popular among them. The real problem was LEGO's marketing. It was aiming mainly for boys; parents don't usually buy hardcore warrior action figures to their girls. If they did, boys and girls would share even more interests than they do now.

So the problem is the parents rather than the children, huh? Now onto the "what children like" thing: I think this is one of the things that is, to some extent, defined by peer pressure as well. If I am a girls, and my peers hate Star Wars, admitting that I like it would make me a freak. If I am a boy, and the other boys hate dolls, the others might make stupid assumptions about me if I actually like them. However, I believe that if you grow up with siblings, chances are higher that you'll share more interests. I suppose the age difference shouldn't be too great, though, for then the relationships should be closer. (assumption, I'm just guessing)

I'm getting a lot of answers along the lines of "Girls can already like Bionicle". Yes, we can, but our numbers are not particularly significant enough to be important to Lego. What I'm saying is that with a few tweaks, potentially thousands of girls could like it. The presence of existing female fans only supports my case. ...So much wasted potential.

... I don't know whether I would have wanted BIONICLE to be something every other girl likes too back when I was around 14. Liking something that's usually liked by boys rather than girls made me feel special. And of course it gave me the possibility to talk to some of the boys. However, I do agree with you that a few tweaks could change a lot already. And I guess nowadays I would even be happy about them.

The above post is mostly a good idea ,BUT LEGO SHOULD NOT change anything that would REALLY effect there main plot or the consumer's ideas of BIONICLE. Too many girl characters may turn out to be bad in LEGO's main consumer's eyes.

... BUT why not? If they decided to bring Bionicle back, I would not mind a few tweaks. The former target audience grew up. We could take more diverse plots, and mabe *gasp* character development.(Oh wait I'm a girl oh no)

[...] I just like cool robots.

^THIS

[Comment Expired]

Exactly... but there are still a lot of people that don't encourage that (even more towards boys playing with girl toys) and generally most girls and boys do follow the "norms" mostly from peer pressure, pop culture, and how they are raised.

Nah, peer pressure isn't part of this. If someone has more than a passing interest then there are plenty of ways they can go about satisfying that interest.

[You just lost the game]

@Taka NuviaThe main consumer for BIONICLE and HF is boys aged 7-13. Anyone who's aged 7 and a bit older would think HF is too "girly" if there are equal or more girl sets then boy sets.Plus, LEGO does not see much money being generated from girl fans so, why should they make it good for girls too?

[Taka Nuvia]

@Taka NuviaThe main consumer for BIONICLE and HF is boys aged 7-13. Anyone who's aged 7 and a bit older would think HF is too "girly" if there are equal or more girl sets then boy sets.Plus, LEGO does not see much money being generated from girl fans so, why should they make it good for girls too?

Okay, you win this round. ... the other thing, I don't understand, though. Could you elaborate on that, please?

[Legolover-361]

To the first pitch -- well, I don't see how girls wouldn't like Bionicle as it is. Would they prefer more pink? -- more romance? -- more female characters? If it's the former, my answer is a definite no; if it's the second, I wouldn't mind as long as Bionicle didn't become a robotic version of Twilight; if it's the latter, I agree.To the second pitch -- I'm rather leery of this. How could Bionicle sets be made to appeal more to girls without keeping them generally gender-neutral?

Edited October 18, 2011 by Legolover-361

[You just lost the game]

@ Taka NuviaWhat I was trying to say is, if LEGO doesn't have a vision of generating a whole lot of profit from girl fans, why should they make HF or BIONICLE with stuff that will appeal to girls?

[xTheExploited]

As a woman, I never thought much about the genders of the Bionicle sets I had, mainly because: 1. None of the sets* had any recognizable masculine or feminine features (i.e. small waists or broad shoulders) - they were molded plastic, for heaven's sake!2. I simply wasn't raised to perfectly align myself to any gender role - why should I care about the gender roles of my toys? * talking more about the Mata and the Metru. Could Bionicle appeal more to a female audience? I guess. If I had to choose between OP's two options, I would choose option 1.

[Taipu1]

It would be difficult to tailor Bionicle to a more female audience, as action figures are almost always targeted at boys. There are plenty of girls who like them, but the vast majority of action figures are bought by boys, so made for boys, then bought more by boys. option 1 would seem more likely to me.

[Makaru]

Spraypainting them pink won't affect that.

If it's any of the girls I know, it would have made them less likely to have played with them at that age than anything.

[Padishah Mehmet II]

Let me be very, very frank.Dovy does not agree.Absurdness is absurd. Was there a separate version of LotR for girls? Of HP? Of Clash of the Titans? Of the Saruman Trolling video?Yeah, I didn't think so.-Dovydas

[Alyska]

It would be difficult to tailor Bionicle to a more female audience, as action figures are almost always targeted at boys. There are plenty of girls who like them, but the vast majority of action figures are bought by boys, so made for boys, then bought more by boys. option 1 would seem more likely to me.

Thing is, the term "action figure" is just a clever marketing device to get boys to buy dolls...

[Astrotorical]

Thing is, the term "action figure" is just a clever marketing device to get boys to buy dolls...

Key word there, "Action". as in Action Movies.used to make it sound more Masculine.

[Dralcax]

Look, just because Bionicle isn't pink and flowery, it doesn't mean that some of them should be made like that to suit girls. If that was really what a girl wanted, they would get a Barbie or something, I wouldn't know.

[Meiko]

Hey, girls like guys. If I were a girl, I'd totally adore Furno. He's all young, and strong. Why not?

[Alyska]

In my topic post, I said I wanted better female characters with more screentime, and more emphasis on characteristion overall. I don't expect you all to agree with me, but where are people getting all this "pink and flowery" business from? Maybe you're all being sarcastic. It's hard to tell on the internet. But if this is an attitude that many of you genuinely hold about what media and toys aimed at girls (or, perhaps, of girls themselves), then I am seriously worried.

[Argentum]

Surely boys toys and girls toys don't exist? There's just "toys". There's boys that play with Barbies and Bratz, and girls that play with LEGO. And then there's girls that play Video Games, while boys like dressing up. There aren't boys and girls toys. All there is is a variety of toys that appeal to different kinds of people. ~Argentum~

[Aanchir]

If LEGO did make tweaks to the storyline or sets in favour of girls, would boys not start thinking that this toy is a "girly" toy? Wouldn't LEGO lose there main group of consumers?They would have made the dumbest mistake in their whole life if they tweaked anything.

Thing is, the tweaks need not be over-the top to the point of it becoming obviously "for girls". Something that incorporates female characters to the degree of, say, Avatar: the Last Airbender would be a good compromise. And yet you don't hear young boys whining that Avatar's become "too girly" beacause of all the females in it.

Note that the merchandising aspect of the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise was heavily-criticized for not having enough action figures and toys of the female characters. Seeing as LEGO is a toy company first and a story-writing company second, it could be argued that they are following that franchise's precedent by not making more female characters as sets.Here's the hard truth about this issue: it isn't exclusive to LEGO by a long shot. Companies in general just don't have much success getting girls to buy action figures. Since BIONICLE was from the beginning an action figure line (although it began to focus less on play functions and more on articulation as time went on), it's only natural that the theme would focus on a young male demographic. Specifically targeting girls with a product that girls don't tend to buy is just bound to end in tears.It's great that the girls who have become huge fans of BIONICLE have broken societal norms by investing in the theme. But TLG can't count on girls to do that. They're a toy company, and when there are so many competing influences telling girls to like things that are considered "girly", they're not going to have much of a voice at all if they try to be "gender-neutral".Hence, the reason they have developed the Friends theme for next year-- try as they may, they can't even get their regular building toys to appeal to a female demographic. Last I heard, girls account for a measly 8% of LEGO sales revenue. That's more than the 5% that AFOLs constitute, but it's still dreadfully low, and attempts to make sets that appeal to both boys and girls have in the past met with less-than-impressive success rates.I'd love to see the gender ratios of the audiences for Hero Factory and other LEGO themes balance out more, and I'd love to see the sets and stories change to reflect that shift. But from all appearances, it's not within TLG's power to make that happen.

[lavaside rahi]

I personally would opt for the first one, with the changes consisting mostly of having more female characters, and preferably having all the Matoran elements be both genders. Maybe also have more time to focus on characterisation in the story, and have a TV series to attract a wider audience. Note: This is based on an old topic of mine that I made last year. The response I got then was mostly a negative one. However, given that half of BZP is now obsessed with some show about a purple unicorn who learns lessons about friendship every day, I'm curious to see if I get a more positive reaction this time.

Hee, I wondered if the popularity of MLP tied into this somehow. Anyway, I think having more female characters certainly wouldn't hurt. There's a trend in a lot of children's entertainment of girls being the oddity, the "other", while males are the "normal" ones with more varied personalities, and having only one of the Bionicle races be female follows that trend. It also doesn't help that all the main female heroes in Bionicle had more or less the same personality (although granted I stopped following Bionicle in 2007 so I don't know if that changed during its last two years). This is one of the things that makes MLP somewhat unique, that all the girls have extremely unique personalities and, more than that, females are essentially the norm within its setting, not an "other". Strictly speaking though, I'm really looking at this mainly through a story-telling perspective, not a sell-boatloads-of-toys perspective, which I grant is the main driving force behind this stuff in the end. Edited October 25, 2011 by lavaside rahi

[Vezon shall Return]

I personally would opt for the first one, with the changes consisting mostly of having more female characters, and preferably having all the Matoran elements be both genders. Maybe also have more time to focus on characterisation in the story, and have a TV series to attract a wider audience. Note: This is based on an old topic of mine that I made last year. The response I got then was mostly a negative one. However, given that half of BZP is now obsessed with some show about a purple unicorn who learns lessons about friendship every day, I'm curious to see if I get a more positive reaction this time.

Hee, I wondered if the popularity of MLP tied into this somehow. Anyway, I think having more female characters certainly wouldn't hurt. There's a trend in a lot of children's entertainment of girls being the oddity, the "other", while males are the "normal" ones with more varied personalities, and having only one of the Bionicle races be female follows that trend. It also doesn't help that all the main female heroes in Bionicle had more or less the same personality (although granted I stopped following Bionicle in 2007 so I don't know if that changed during its last two years). This is one of the things that makes MLP somewhat unique, that all the girls have extremely unique personalities and, more than that, females are essentially the norm within its setting, not an "other". Strictly speaking though, I'm really looking at this mainly through a story-telling perspective, not a sell-boatloads-of-toys perspective, which I grant is the main driving force behind this stuff in the end.

Well... I hate to break it to you... most girls I ever known are insane and crazy... but they do all have unique personalities and I do agree. For instance, at the begining of Bionicle 2001-2005 all of the female characters were general the same until they introduced a more wide range of personlities in female characters. I only wish they had more female character to make the heart of the story to make it interesting. Although I stopped following the story after 2008. I never liked the way they presented Mata Nui as a toa and I thought Kiina was too extreme and immature to be an appealling character. or taken suriously and it produced a very unsatisfying ending to great story. I think 2003 and 2006 were the best because they both had Hali who is probobly the best female character in Bionicle beacuse of her interesting personality and experenced the most character developement compared to any other female characters.

[Peach 00]

There are a few points I'd like to make here that I think might broaden the audience to 12+ girls, or younger than that. Sure, girls younger than 13+ are usually interested in Disney Princess and Barbies still, so getting them to notice a toyline brought more to the attention of young boys is going to be hard. At around seven, girls still think that boys are stupid (No offense to the guys here, but that's the truth. ) and girls rule, so they won't dare put themselves near stuff like Transformers and Bionicle. I, however, did, but only with Bionicle. =P So, here's my first point: Girls don't find the idea of Bionicle appealing because I suppose it has more violence introduced into it. Girls think that violence isn't the best solution to every problem, so less violence and more of a 'friendship' aspect that would come into play would appeal more to girls. Although we couldn't personally alter the story to have less violence, just create more of a friendly atmosphere to attract them more the idea. Secondly: Look at the way the characters look. To girls, they think they're ugly robots. So when they hear the female characters look like that, too, they're bound to saying 'no' if they're offered a female Bionicle set. What can we do to change that? Make the female sets look more feminine, I suppose. The masks could be altered to look more softly curved and rounder than the regular Kanohi (Take Gali Nuva's mask, for instance). The proportions should probably be thinner and shorter, and maybe add some bolts at the bottom of the feet, hm? High-heels, anyone? Thirdly: The colors don't appeal to the girls. Sure, we shouldn't have sparkly pink or glitter purple, but at least give more feminine colors than blue. Blue is a great color, but only every once and awhile. Girls sometimes need variety. Why do you think Barbie has so many dresses in her wardrobe? Well, those are most of my points for now. =]

[Dralcax]

Plenty of girls like lego already without special accomodations. In fifth grade, I saw some girl sat an after-school Lego Mindstorms NXT club. Lego already did release some girl sets in 2005, with dolls instead of minifigs and dollhouse sets, even a Princess and the Pea set. Guess why they don't make similar themes anymore. If a girl likes a boy toy, there will be no need to make the boy toy into a girl toy, and doing so is pretty much just stereotyping of the opposite gender. But I do agree that, aside from Tuyet, Helyrx, Gavla, and Gorast, most female charachters in Bionicle are all kind, gentle stereotypes.

Edited October 29, 2011 by Makuta Dralcax

[Alyska]

There are a few points I'd like to make here that I think might broaden the audience to 12+ girls, or younger than that. Sure, girls younger than 13+ are usually interested in Disney Princess and Barbies still, so getting them to notice a toyline brought more to the attention of young boys is going to be hard. At around seven, girls still think that boys are stupid (No offense to the guys here, but that's the truth. ) and girls rule, so they won't dare put themselves near stuff like Transformers and Bionicle. I, however, did, but only with Bionicle. =P So, here's my first point: Girls don't find the idea of Bionicle appealing because I suppose it has more violence introduced into it. Girls think that violence isn't the best solution to every problem, so less violence and more of a 'friendship' aspect that would come into play would appeal more to girls. Although we couldn't personally alter the story to have less violence, just create more of a friendly atmosphere to attract them more the idea. Secondly: Look at the way the characters look. To girls, they think they're ugly robots. So when they hear the female characters look like that, too, they're bound to saying 'no' if they're offered a female Bionicle set. What can we do to change that? Make the female sets look more feminine, I suppose. The masks could be altered to look more softly curved and rounder than the regular Kanohi (Take Gali Nuva's mask, for instance). The proportions should probably be thinner and shorter, and maybe add some bolts at the bottom of the feet, hm? High-heels, anyone? Thirdly: The colors don't appeal to the girls. Sure, we shouldn't have sparkly pink or glitter purple, but at least give more feminine colors than blue. Blue is a great color, but only every once and awhile. Girls sometimes need variety. Why do you think Barbie has so many dresses in her wardrobe? Well, those are most of my points for now. =]

I'd agree that it would probably benefit from a few changes in the style of the sets, but putting warriors in high heels just challenges my suspension of disbelief too much. I liked the design and colours of the early sets (Mainly the Toa Mata), and the 2009-10 sets, as they were bright, fun, and even kind of cute. Hero Factory seems to have gone back to that sort of style, which I approve of. I think HF could easily attract a wider audience if they bumped up the quality of the show and added another female character or two. I also agree with the bit about female designs being smoother and more streamlined. There should be a subtle approach to gender differences, rather than pink armour or high heels. I have a lot of female friends who love Avatar:The Last Airbender, but most of them look down their noses at Bionicle. Why is this? What does Avatar have that Bionicle doesn't? I made a list : A TV show (well, duh). This makes the story accessible. I think a big problem with Bionicle is that the story requires effort to access. You have to already be mildly curious about it to buy one of the DVDs or visit a website, (like I said, I only got into it because I was looking over my bro's shoulder) but a TV show doesn't require much effort to find or follow. That said, HF has a show but doesn't seem to be doing any better with a female audience, but the quality of the show is obviously going to be a factor. Human characters: I honestly don't think this is a factor, but I feel obligated to make a note of it. The design of the characters probably does play a role, however, especially when it comes to selling the toys (see my above comments). Romance: Avatar has this, Bionicle does not. Once again, I make this note only out of obligation. Does it have something to do with the number of girls in the audience? Maybe, maybe not. In the case of my friends, I'd probably say "no." In their case, I think it's more about the characterisation and the comedy rather than romance. Which brings us to...Comedy: Now, this isn't really something Bionicle doesn't have, exactly, it's just that humour is a lot more prevalent in Avatar. Both boys and girls appreciate comedy, and, most of the time, can laugh at the same jokes. Humour is gender-neutral, people! (I think comedy is also a huge factor in My Little Pony's male fanbase). More female characters: This, to me, is obvious. Avatar's female characters, such as Toph and Azula, have proved immensley popular with both male and female fans. Once again, quality obviously plays a part, but the very act of including two female characters on a team is forcing a writer to differentiate them. As such, there is much less of the "Token Girl" syndrome. In Avatar's first season, there was only one female character, Katara. She was the calm, gentle one, who alsways served as the Voice Of Reason to those boisterous male characters. In other words, she was just like most of the Toa of Water in Bionicle. But when the writers added more female characters, they needed to differentiate them from Katara, which resulted in a much more diverse female cast. Fewer characters overall: Avatar keeps the story to one small group of characters. Sure, they meet plenty of people along the way, but the main group of heroes starts with only three and ends with six people, rather having multiple groups like Bionicle's Toa teams. When you have a group of five or six characters together, you should be able to see how all of those characters relate to one another. And, in Avatar, you can do that. All the characters have the chance to interact with one another, and you can see their relationships developing throughout the series. With Bionicle's rotating Toa Teams, there often wasn't time to show that kind of characterisation. Hahli and Nuparu, for example, are on the same team, but it would be difficult for even the most die-hard fan to accurately describe how they get along or what they think of each other. I understand that Bionicle is much more dependent on merchandise than Avatar, but there are plenty other toy-driven franchises that don't let selling toys get in the way of characterisation.