Alyska

That might make a good concept for an alternate-universe story, especially if it crosses over with the main universe somehow.

I guess helryx's personality changing over time and experience makes sense. I seem to recall that she was the one who invented the Toa Code, but she has now excluded herself from it...

I had an absolutely perfect opportunity the other day...I help out with a Year 5 drama class, and we were getting ready for the end of year concert. One of the kids was playing Pegasus, and I needed to try the wings on her, but she wasn't in class that day.I grabbed another child, said " Congratulations kid, you're the new Pegasus!" and stuck the wings on her instead.Good thing she liked horses...

I was talking to a couple of kids the other day, aged around eleven or twelve years old. The subject of Bionicle came up:"You know they're not making Bionicles any more, right?" said one."Yeah, I heard about that," I said. "But they still make something similar, right?""They make Hero Factory, which is kinda lame. " he said."The TV show is really bad. I mean, they all have guns and stuff, but because it's a kids' show, they can't actually shoot properly. They keep missing each other. ALL THE TIME." said his friend."They're like stormtroopers!"The kids still liked Bionicle sets, and still played with them, but neither of them had bought any Hero Factory sets. But from what I could tell, neither of them had been particularly interested in the Bionicle story- they didn't even seem to know the characters' names. However, they had encountered Hero Factory's storyline, and it was apparently enough to deter them from buying the sets.Now, this isn't necessarily a criticism of Hero Factory, since they might have just as easily been put off Bionicle if they'd happened to watch The Legend Reborn. But I think it illustrates how having a good- or bad- story can affect a child's enthusiasm for buying toys. Now, maybe it's just that Hero Factory is pitched at a slightly younger audience, but I think a few tweaks to the story and a different approach to the TV show would make it more compatible with kids over the age of ten.Another example- Beyblades. They're pretty ordinary as far as toys go- they're little more than dressed-up spinning tops. They didn't sell well in some Australia when they first came out...until Australian TV started showing the cartoon. Suddenly, everyone wanted one, and my mother spent several hours outside Toys 'R' Us in a long line just so my little brother could have a Master Dragoon for Christmas.So, for you, how do the Bionicle and Hero Factory storylines affect which toys you buy?

Has anyone else here been tempted to incorporate pony quotes into everyday life, regardless of whether the people around you understand them or not?

I think there's still a few hours left on voting, but at the moment it looks like we're getting Arceus...

Trouble is, even the prefixes have to go through the Legal department now......But we're getting off-topic.I think they could have still presented Orde as "a mistake" somehow without making him male. What about an aggressive, out-of-control female Toa of Psionics who was far more powerful than normal? In response to her behaviour, future models would have reduced power levels or something, and the Toa would have spent some time in hiding from the Great Beings who wanted to deactivate her.Then again, if that was the case, we would miss out on the "Great Beings are sexist" explanation...Actually, now I'm wondering just how much the Great beings studied their creations' behaviour. I mean, they knew enough about Orde to tell that he was behaving aggressively, but they still seemed to think that female Toa are always gentle... even though the first Toa they created was Helryx. Maybe Helryx started out passive and gentle, but her personality changed dramatically over time?

So, I let my brother find out I liked MLP the other day.Well, I didn't explicitly say I was a fan, but I started watching it on the computer in front of him. He wasn't impressed:"Why, Alyska, Whyyyyy?""Well, why were you watching that stupid romantic comedy?""...That's different. It was on TV."

Well, the gender imbalance is present in all of the story-based Lego lines, so Bionicle actually has it good in comparison to them.So, they obviously don't have a problem with female-looking figures, but they seem to have an issue with writing female characters.I guess the stance I take on the "but it's for little boys" argument is that it makes it understandable, but it doesn't make it okay.While the gender ratio may work for that age group, I think it has hindered Bionicle's ability to appeal to a wider audience, especially when it comes to sustaining an older fanbase.Kumata, it may be true that a lot of toylines have the imbalance, but for me, that's just a symptom of a bigger problem with Bionicle, especially in the later years- it was constantly playing follow-the-leader with other franchises, and was afraid of doing anything a little differently.

I felt that was an attempt by him to break the gender roles, actually. By making Orde male, he's kind of given himself an excuse to introduce another "anomaly" at a later date, that one possibly female. I believe he once said he didn't care much for the gender rule himself, but he had to follow it through and through nonetheless. He also didn't like Vakama turning evil during the Visorak saga, but that's what he was told to write.

Except that he told me he would never do that. And Greg never goes back on his word, except when he does.

Another minor point that annoys me. Remember how the The Green was supposed to be a female element, but because of an error, the book a Toa of it was mentioned in referred to him as a male, so the element 'had' to become male? I really don't know why Greg couldn't have said "it was only a typo, they're still female". I mean the books have made plenty of errors before. I don't see why this one was so set-in-stone, sorry-can't-change-it.

I've heard a lot about that, but any time someone brings it up to Greg, he denies having any memory of it ever happening......Somebody brainwashed him!

You have a point, Eeko. I think Greg is one of the more self-aware people at Lego, and he doesn't have complete control over the characters, so he's not really to blame for the gender imbalance.However, while it justifies examples from the "main", set-driven storyline, it doesn't excuse examples like Orde. There doesn't seem to be much reason for Orde being male other than to provide a smattering of backstory, and enforce the unwritten "one girl per team" rule.

Hasbro doesn't seem to mind - and I certainly don't think just watching is so bad. Now, downloading them and then selling them is piracy, but simply viewing? ... nah, doesn't seem fair to call it piracy.

Anyone remember when The Legend Reborn came out? A lot of people watched it online, and GregF was quick to call them out on it, even though they weren't selling it.Then again, I guess you have to consider whether these actions are causing the distributors to lose money or not. In the case of MLP, most of the money comes from the toys, and Hasbro benefits from the extra distribution as it creates more fans. With TLR, Lego was relying on the DVD sales, which would be hindered because of piracy.So, the act is the same, but it has very different consequences depending on context. Also, if you look back, the tLR incident would of happened around the time that Greg found out Bionicle was ending, so that probably fueled his reaction somewhat.I guess it's just one of those things, like how most fanfiction is technically copyright violation, but not many authors object to it.

As far as I can tell Greg is 'naturally sexist'; I don't mean to sound insulting when I say that, but most people in modern society tend to consider male the 'default' gender, and making the effort to create a female character is a special thing. That and a lot of his characters were Toa, so he had to follow the established gender rules there and, to his credit, he wrangled a few more female elements into the system. Was pretty annoyed when he turned one of the few female-element characters male though. ¬¬

Agreed. Especially after I had that long conversation with him in which he explained why he could never, ever make a female Toa of Fire, even as a one-off.And as for the male= default thing, I completely agree. It's subtle, but it's there. Count how many times Greg uses the word "female" as opposed to the word "male". If a character is female, it will be pointed out quite frequently by the narration, because they are considered an exception to the norm.I think Greg is at least aware of Bionicle's unfortunate implications for gender, and is attempting to fix it by having "strong" female characters, but the limited amount of screentime they get does hinder their characterisation somewhat.

Okay, this may be a bit controversial, but I have a question for you guys:If you watch the episodes on video sharing sites, are you committing an act of piracy?

Oh hey this topic is back. Cool.Jumping into the current vein of discussion, I don't have much of an opinion on female characters in Bionicle; then again, I have near zilch opinion on Bionicle characters in general because the last time I really thought about them was years ago xDThere was that short story that I was brainstorming, were a few Great Beings are theorizing about stuff and plants a female toa of fire to see just how their creations react. Might get somewhere eventually.

I always assumed that in a situation like that, the other Matoran would just be a bit curious, and possibly a little unsure of whether it was a polite thing to ask about or not. Chiara's initial treatment of Orde seems to back that up. Of course, it would depend on the Toa's personality. If she was violent or aggressive, they may assume she had a nasty glitch and be afraid of her.What about that other idea you had- the one where you write a character without using gender-specific pronouns? Did that go anywhere?

Well, even if there isn't a "mating season" as such, females who live together tend to synchronise their fertility cycles. That way, they're all ready at the same time.So, if they all banded together, the female Skrall could quite easily use their mind powers to invade the males' territory, have their way with them, steal their kidneys, draw moustaches on their faces, and then leave them with no memory of what happened the previous night.Whichever way it goes, I seriously doubt that both parties are willing, if you know what I mean. That implication in itself is pretty disturbing for a kids' franchise.

In that ad, Spike needs to be actually shown with a handful of diamonds......which he immediately stuffs in his mouth, of course.

Ooh, and she can be actively manipulating the trees and other plants while she's jumping around! Like, have her being chased by something through the treetops, and she could extend the branches she's running on, or morph branches into traps and spikes to slow down her opponent. There could be a moment when she slips and falls, only to summon a long vine from the treetops and swing to safety, Spiderman-style.That would be a pretty cool action sequence.

I thought My Little Pony was BIONICLE for girls.

As an entertainment medium, MLP is probably at least equal to Bionicle, if not better (It's certainly better executed, if nothing else).However, as a toyline... most toys for girls don't really have a lot of play-value, in my opinion. Many of them are little more than collectibles and paperweights, MLP toys included. I would like to see more toys for girls that encourage creativity, and can be used/played with in a number of ways.

Hmm...when we bring the old, flawed, boyish Bionicle back...Then we'll talk about modifications.(This is coming from a girl.)

This. Why should this be discussed if it won't affect anything?

Why should we discuss anything related to Bionicle? The opinions of a few hundred people won't have much of an impact on a huge company like Lego. It's all a waste of time even being here, if you go by that logic.It's not about what it "affects", so much; it's just good discussion for discussion's sake. I enjoy talking about this idea, and plenty of other people do, too. This topic is for people who take an interest in the subject and hold opinions on it, one way or another. If you're not interested in it at all, that's okay, but please don't try to tell me that the things I care about aren't important.

I think in the old topic I said that if I had the choice of having a female Toa of any element, I'd go with iron. I imagine her as tough, sarcastic, analytical, and good with gadgets. She could also have an element of mad scientist/ absent minded professor about her- those are traits we don't see much of in female characters.Either that or air, for the previously-mentioned reason of having a female comic relief type.

I got an image in my head last night for a pony-mashup of "Frontier Psychiatrist". I searched for it today and of course, it already existsAnd it's exactly how I imagined!...It's better than I imagined.That pony needs therapy.

Yeah, Matoro was probably the closest thing personality-wise to a male Toa of Water. Actually, Bionicle does a reasonable job of averting a lot of male gender stereotypes, between Matoro, Vakama, and Lesovikk. But I guess the sheer number of male characters makes that inevitable.

You know, I've been thinking that "Golden Harvest" really isn't such a bad name for that little ginger background pony.I mean, what kind of parents would name their red-haired daughter "Carrot Top"?

I guess the trouble with having gender-neutral elements/tribes is that Lego can potentially use it as an excuse to include even fewer female characters (2009 set the record for fewest female characters in a year, when theoretically there should have been a close-to-even split. At least having water=female forces them to make all the blue Toa and Matoran female...

It's been confirmed that there'll be some sort of big announcement with regard to Pokemon on December 17th-18th (Yes, this announcement must be so big, they had to announce the announcement!).And I think it was confirmed that Game Freak is working on a new Pokemon game, but that's really not surprising. I'm pretty sure you can assume they're always working on a new Pokemon game, given that they come out every 18 months or whatever it is.