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Plantlife as a female element?


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Is there any truth to the rumor that Plantlife was intended to be a female element, but was changed because of one typo?

If so than what a shame, it was a missed opportunity.

 

We all know that Bionicle has a lack of female representation, but I don't want to change already established characters. So my idea was to make Plantlife a female element like it was "supposed" to be.

 

It would be perfect what with the whole "close to nature" aspect. I'm not trying to enforce stereotypes, but there is the whole "Mother Earth" thing so it fits on a surface level.

They need different colors though. Blue doesn't fit at all. Green and brown would work so much better.

I would also throw in pink as a tertiary color. As much as I dislike that color, it's very thematically appropriate for plantlife with flowers and all.

 

And as far as I know there are no named canon characters with that element, so no one would have to be genderbent.

 

It's just my headcanon but I hope you guys could like it too.

I'll draw some art later to show what I mean.

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I agree with you on the fact that females are not very well represented. 

However, I think that pink would be kind of jarring and stand out a bit too much.

Tan and green could give it more of a 'grassland' feel, but I'm not sure that that's where they live. And the Turaga could have a deep brown and a dark green to have the impression of a majestic, old tree. 

Edited by The Irrational Rock
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bZpOwEr

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It's funny, way back in the day, my older sister drew a pink version of Tahu Nuva (well, not exactly him, but that was her inspiration) and made her a Toa of Plants. That was waaaaaaayyyyy before we knew about Toa of Plant Life in the story, and it was quite cool. :) So yeah haha

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I don't agree with using pink because Bionicle was still a toy line targeted at boys, that's why there were only 1 female Toa in each group, boys weren't looking for many female characters to play with. 

This isn't really from a marketing perspective, since there were no plans to have Bo-Matoran sets. 

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bZpOwEr

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I've never heard that. You might be getting confused with why Orde was made male even though Psionics was set as a female element. Some have theorized Greg just forgot (I dunno if he ever confirmed this). But it didn't result in the element as a whole being changed, and wasn't about Plants. :shrugs:

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I've never heard that. You might be getting confused with why Orde was made male even though Psionics was set as a female element. Some have theorized Greg just forgot (I dunno if he ever confirmed this). But it didn't result in the element as a whole being changed, and wasn't about Plants. :shrugs:

 

You obviously don't remember 2006, when Legacy of Evil featured the first canon mention of "the Green" as an element. Greg had been planning to make the element female, but in an offhand mention of the Toa guarding the Makoki Stone, he absently described a Toa of the Green as a "he". For some reason, overly literal interpretation of the text won out over original intent, and so Plant Life got canonized as a male element.

 

I, and every other fanfic writer with a lick of sense, have proceeded to completely ignore this rule ever since.

Edited by Yaldabaoth
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Honestly methinks it'd be better just to disregard all barriers and problems and start over with each element being mixed gender like the Av-Matoran, if only just for the sake of flexibility with writing about certain characters and it gives one the freedom to create a character without having to resort to changing their element if they'd rather them be male or otherwise. 

 

(that's kinda what makes the glatorian and agori rather nice cuz it really doesn't matter what tribe they're from. Okay sure we only got Kiina (blue) but you know what I mean)

 

But I'm sorry I digress. Plantlife had always been female for me and my family, so that's probably what they'd be in my fanfics :)

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Honestly methinks it'd be better just to disregard all barriers and problems and start over with each element being mixed gender like the Av-Matoran, if only just for the sake of flexibility with writing about certain characters and it gives one the freedom to create a character without having to resort to changing their element if they'd rather them be male or otherwise. 

 

(that's kinda what makes the glatorian and agori rather nice cuz it really doesn't matter what tribe they're from. Okay sure we only got Kiina (blue) but you know what I mean)

 

But I'm sorry I digress. Plantlife had always been female for me and my family, so that's probably what they'd be in my fanfics :)

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly. BIONICLE was full of horrible mistakes, poorly-thought-out storylines, and glaring plot holes... but the gender restrictions were, far and away, the stupidest thing in all of the saga. >_<

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"You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant."
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Honestly methinks it'd be better just to disregard all barriers and problems and start over with each element being mixed gender like the Av-Matoran, if only just for the sake of flexibility with writing about certain characters and it gives one the freedom to create a character without having to resort to changing their element if they'd rather them be male or otherwise. 

 

(that's kinda what makes the glatorian and agori rather nice cuz it really doesn't matter what tribe they're from. Okay sure we only got Kiina (blue) but you know what I mean)

 

But I'm sorry I digress. Plantlife had always been female for me and my family, so that's probably what they'd be in my fanfics :)

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly. BIONICLE was full of horrible mistakes, poorly-thought-out storylines, and glaring plot holes... but the gender restrictions were, far and away, the stupidest thing in all of the saga. >_<

 

 

Totes for sure. But this topic has already been discussed enough so let's not let it spread to other ones.  ;)

 

Back on topic, I kind of don't care whether it's male or female. As said before, the gender rule is awful but as it is, I suppose female Bo-matoran sounds cool, but it won't change the story for me. I just have this image in my mind of them being males, like primitive jungle warriors.

 

Pink sounds a little... too bright, for the same reasons why I don't like orange or yellow on toa of stone. I admit it makes sense when it sort of represents to colors of some flora but I feel like purple is a dark and richer color than could fill in this role, or even like a magenta works for me. Brown and green works the best for me. I still don't completely understand why green and blue was the chosen color scheme. Because plants absorb water? Whatevs. I still don't like the canon colors for that element... (and in general the only element from the extended family I like a lot is lightning. The others just don't feel right for some reason...)

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I think I'd go for this kind of color. Honestly, pink flowers make up quite a small percentage of all plant life, and I think a green (different from an air-green) would be better fitting.

That green and this-ish brown would be good together for it, I think.

Ooh, I just thought of something - maybe, as the plant-life person ages/dies, the green turns into more of a yellow, paralleling plants (at least some of them).

 

Also, gender-neutral characters would be fine with me. Of course, you could have some feminine ones, and some masculine ones, but still be gender-neutral. Especially if they're Matoran, in which case, gender doesn't really make much sense anyway.

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Thanks for all the wonderful replies everyone! Yeah mono-gendered tribes were a rather silly idea in retrospect, but the GBs classified things for strange reasons. Plus, I like the challenge of coming up with a whole tribe of women with varied personalities and professions, since writing them outside of established stereotypes can be a bit of a challenge. (for me too)

 

Green and brown seems well-liked as a color scheme, but why don't you guys like pink as an option?

It was a strange idea to me too when I first came up with it, but there's nothing inherently wrong with pink as a color. I was thinking pale pink anyway, not like Pink Ranger pink. Just because it's considered a feminine shade doesn't mean it's bad. It would certainly make Plantlife stand out since no other tribe would have that color. Plus as I recall, one of the reasons AFOLs like Lego Friends is for the pastel, pink and purple colors that are nearly impossible to find in other sets.

 

And here's that piece of artwork that I promised: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/14509-female-bo-matoran/ That shade of pink isn't so bad is it?

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Thanks for all the wonderful replies everyone! Yeah mono-gendered tribes were a rather silly idea in retrospect, but the GBs classified things for strange reasons. Plus, I like the challenge of coming up with a whole tribe of women with varied personalities and professions, since writing them outside of established stereotypes can be a bit of a challenge. (for me too)

 

Green and brown seems well-liked as a color scheme, but why don't you guys like pink as an option?

It was a strange idea to me too when I first came up with it, but there's nothing inherently wrong with pink as a color. I was thinking pale pink anyway, not like Pink Ranger pink. Just because it's considered a feminine shade doesn't mean it's bad. It would certainly make Plantlife stand out since no other tribe would have that color. Plus as I recall, one of the reasons AFOLs like Lego Friends is for the pastel, pink and purple colors that are nearly impossible to find in other sets.

 

And here's that piece of artwork that I promised: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/14509-female-bo-matoran/ That shade of pink isn't so bad is it?

I think that shade of pink could actually work, however it should be used sparingly. 

Kind of like how some Onu-Matoran have purple, but most don't. I would like to see some pink, but an entire village of it might be a little weird-looking. 

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bZpOwEr

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I don't like pink. 

 

:shrugs: It doesn't really bother me one way or another. Still, ever since I read the Varian fanfic about the living plant-boat, I've always thought of plantlife as an amazing element. The thought of a girl running around in a living plant-boat like that would be awesome. :)

 

Still, it probably wouldn't be like that, more like a bunch of girltoran tending gardens. So I'd rather see it as a male element for that reason. :shrugs: 

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Still, it probably wouldn't be like that, more like a bunch of girltoran tending gardens. So I'd rather see it as a male element for that reason. :shrugs:

 

Are you implying only male Matoran or Toa can be true warriors and heroes?

Ga-Matoran being female didn't stop them from taking on a variety of roles, and Ga-Toa were just as heroic as the other elements.

 

Saying that Bo-Matoran being female would prevent them from doing certain things is well, kinda sexist. Sorry to say that.

 

And plus wouldn't you wanna see something like a superstrong lady Toa that was as thick as a tree trunk and carried a massive wood hammer? I wanna draw that now.

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And plus wouldn't you wanna see something like a superstrong lady Toa that was as thick as a tree trunk and carried a massive wood hammer? I wanna draw that now.

Yes, I would. I said something like that in my post. 

 

But I'm saying that Bo-Matoran would be likely to tend gardens in general. Not all of them can be plant-boat riders or superstrong wood-hammer wielders. And the female gardener is a stereotype. 

 

EDIT: Making this one more clear. :wince:

Edited by fishers64
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It's just my headcanon but I hope you guys could like it too.

 

Technically, headcanon doesn't contradict established canon. Though I do like the connection you made with Mother Nature.

 

I actually think it's pretty funny that Greg decided not to retcon that little "he". He must have just realized the mistake he made and said, "ehhh, forget it. 'The Green' is male." It was probably the easiest decision of his life. :P

 

 

 

And plus wouldn't you wanna see something like a superstrong lady Toa that was as thick as a tree trunk and carried a massive wood hammer? I wanna draw that now.

 

That'd be awesome.

 

 

 

And the female gardener is a stereotype.

 

I hope you're not implying that, because it's a stereotype, it's suddenly terrible to have a gardener who's a woman.

 

 

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And the female gardener is a stereotype.

 

I hope you're not implying that, because it's a stereotype, it's suddenly terrible to have a gardener who's a woman.

 

 

If it's your only female character, or a character who falls into numerous other tropes and stereotypes, or is surrounded by stereotypical portrayals of women that hardly vary from one another...

 

Yeah.

 

Of course, female characters who are gardeners can have a wide variety of personality and can actually become interesting, strong characters on their own... I don't have confidence that this would happen in Bionicle based on its prior writing. 

Edited by Kitania
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And the female gardener is a stereotype.

 

I hope you're not implying that, because it's a stereotype, it's suddenly terrible to have a gardener who's a woman.

 

 

If it's your only female character, or a character who falls into numerous other tropes and stereotypes, or is surrounded by stereotypical portrayals of women that hardly vary from one another...

 

Yeah.

 

Of course, female characters who are gardeners can have a wide variety of personality and can actually become interesting, strong characters on their own... I don't have confidence that this would happen in Bionicle based on its prior writing. 

 

However its not necessary for Bo-Matoran to be strictly gardeners. 

Other Matoran have wide varieties of jobs in their tribes. A gardener could only be one that a few of the Matoran handle while the rest do various other jobs that are needed to keep the civilization afloat.   

bZpOwEr

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Personally, I was never a fan of elements having a fixed gender. Why can't there be a female Toa of Fire and a male Toa of Water, a female Toa of Ice or a male Toa of Lightning? It's unfair to differentiate elements by gender. Don't get me wrong, Jaller, Vakama and Tahu would seem strange as female characters, but the options for storyline, for Greg, would have been a lot less restrictive.

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Don't get me wrong, Jaller, Vakama and Tahu would seem strange as female characters, but the options for storyline, for Greg, would have been a lot less restrictive.

Why exactly would it have been strange for any of these characters to be female?

 

~B~

 

Because they were male, and being a guy was part of whole they were - looking back on it, it's hard to imagine it otherwise. 

 

I think if Vakama was a girl, the angst and nervousness coming off of his character might have been misinterpreted in a bad way. 

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Personally, I was never a fan of elements having a fixed gender. Why can't there be a female Toa of Fire and a male Toa of Water, a female Toa of Ice or a male Toa of Lightning? It's unfair to differentiate elements by gender. Don't get me wrong, Jaller, Vakama and Tahu would seem strange as female characters, but the options for storyline, for Greg, would have been a lot less restrictive.

 

Was this even Greg's call? He may have been the head writer, but I'm under the impression that most of the world-building was done by Faber et al, while more particular major story elements (e.g. which Hordika fell under Roodaka's influence) were determined democratically, by a story council (of which Greg was a part.)

 

As for the fixed genders, while I too find them frustrating for the limitations they placed on the story, I'm not so certain that they actually limited the amount of female characters we got. 2005 and 2008 aside, whenever sets had no in story necessity to be female, none were (unless we're counting Pewku :P.) Roodaka was the only female titan, as far as I recall, and come 2006, when the first wave of canister sets weren't Toa, all six were male. Ditto the Barraki the next year. 2008 bucked the trend somewhat by giving us Gorast, a female non-Matoran/Toa/Turaga character with green and black armor. But come 2009, when there were no in-story gender restrictions whatsoever, we got a wave of Matoran-and-Toa analogues who were entirely male. Even Berix and Tarix, despite being blue-armored, were male. The only female set-character in 2009 was Kiina. On the evidence of all this, I am inclined to think that had Ga-Matoran/Toa/Turaga not been all female by necessity of the story, we would have had even less female characters.

Edited by Quisoves Pugnat
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If this is the case, then my self-MOC was a girl this entire time. :P

 

Honestly, I see Matoran of Plantlife as a mixed element; both males and females. For some reason, they seem to possess attributes that both males and female would have. It's hard for me to explain, but that's just my opinion.

 

I kinda see the blue on the Bo-Matoran being symbolic. The green represents the plants and the blue represents the water that the plants need to survive.

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mindeth the cobwebs

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There really is no need for genders in the matoran universe mainly because there is little to no indication of the opposite gender. The wiki claims Bo-matoran are male so I'm going to have to go with the main storyline. I don't really see the need for opposite gender characters besides the fact you want to make a female Moc. Besides, if my theory of the red star was incorrect, then why should this theory be accepted? I understand the head canon part of the deal. But this theory doesn't make a whole lot of sense besides that plant life could be a potential female only element. Bionicle is what you make it I suppose.

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at this point I've completely disregarded the mono-tribe canon rule. It was stupid when I was 10 and it's stupid now, and in all the EU stuff I make one of my main characters is a female toa of fire. However not everyone is as chill with tossing away canon like that (I didn't use to be) so I'd say nab as many official female elements as possible. Plantlife would bring us to... what, 3? 4, if you count av-matoran. Unless I'm missing some?

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If all that's standing in the way is a single sentence in a book, it could be retconned if the story team wanted to.

Maybe the scene was from Vezok or whoever's perspective and it was his mistake.

 

Oh, I would dearly like to see that... but the key phrase there is "if the story team wanted to".

 

And honestly, they don't. This was one off-hand mention in one line of a ten-chapter novel written and released eight years ago. And with our front-page news on the way, they probably have other priorities.

 

So, alas, I don't think there's any way to get an official retcon. Like most of the old story's pitfalls, it's up to the fans to correct Greg's mistakes.

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It was a strange idea to me too when I first came up with it, but there's nothing inherently wrong with pink as a color. I was thinking pale pink anyway, not like Pink Ranger pink. Just because it's considered a feminine shade doesn't mean it's bad.

I wasn't thinking of it that way at all, I just didn't think it fit well with plantlife. Although it does appear in nature sometimes, I guess I think of pink as somewhat of an... unnatural colour.

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If BIONICLE comes back, I do hope the silly gender restriction is one of the things they will change. Sure, maybe the sets would still be targeted primarily at boys, but there's no reason for the background lore to completely eliminate all options.

 

Teal and turquoise would work as a unique color of plant life, I think, or else they should go with the colors currently used for Air. We saw teal and lime used in the jungle-based Slizer from pre-BIONICLE series, and we've seen dark green and lime re-used in Gresh and other characters. Lewa even used to swing around in the jungle, leading those who didn't follow the story too much to just think of him as the forest guy, not the air guy.

 

So honestly, I think a different color scheme for air would actually be more pressing than one for Plant Life/Jungle/The Green. Of course, they could also both use green, but then have some strong highlight colors or designs on Plant Life. Stick wings on the air set and grappling hook vines on the plant set, for example, even if they have similar color schemes.

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I'm disappointed with BZP's anti-pink agenda. Just for that I will throw on as much pink as possible in my Matoran just to spite you. Not really.

 

But I don't get the hate for pink. It's not a bad color, and certainly not an unnatural one. What if it was on another element, like Psionics? Would that be more fitting?

 

And the reason I would keep the gendered tribes is because I don't think Lego will be rid of them any time soon for the reboot. Unless they decide to make Gali a guy, which would be the worst.

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I'm disappointed with BZP's anti-pink agenda. Just for that I will throw on as much pink as possible in my Matoran just to spite you. Not really.

 

But I don't get the hate for pink. It's not a bad color, and certainly not an unnatural one. What if it was on another element, like Psionics? Would that be more fitting?

I think that its not as much hate for pink, rather its placement in this context.

bZpOwEr

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However not everyone is as chill with tossing away canon like that (I didn't use to be) so I'd say nab as many official female elements as possible. Plantlife would bring us to... what, 3? 4, if you count av-matoran. Unless I'm missing some?

currently there are 3 female only elements (Psionics, Water, Electricity) adding plant life (which I think should've been the case) would bring that up to 4. Just pointing that out.
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Honestly, I can't understand why characters even had genders in the MU. In the story, they never really made out any differences between male and female, aside from using different pronouns, and the whole ordeal with Orde (which was quite silly, in my opinion.)

 

The only reason I can image that genders were present, is that from a marketing point of view, slapping genders on characters makes them easier to relate to from a human viewpoint, or at least for the masses anyway. I doubt LEGOs main market would be educated much in genders and whatnot.

 

As for Plant Lifes colours, I always imagined their colours to be lime green with light/sky blue. I could see pink working for glowy bits and highlights like eyes and weapons, but not as a main colour.

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