Alyska

Ah- thank you! So, if it's Rahi, that means literally anything created by a Makuta, right? (Assuming it wasn't "created" from an existing creature.) And it would exclude natural animals. ...Wait... does that mean it grants access to potentially all of the Rahkshi powers? That's pretty OP. It's kinda weird to think of Rahi being "from" a particular place when they all come "from" a vat of viruses in a Makuta cave. Some of them are designed to live in a particular area, but there are probably Rahi that can be considered part of all three main environments, and some "failed" experiments that don't really belong anywhere. I'm also wondering whether the mask differentiates between a "power" and a physical adaptation. Like, in the case of flight, does it allow you to copy creatures that achieve mechanical flight by having large wings and a lightweight body structure, or would it only work if the creature was using some sort of power (levitation, magnetism, gravity manipulation, etc) to fly?

Questions about the gloriously overpowered Kanohi Faxon... 1. What counts as the user's general area? Is it where they currently are, or where they are from/adapted for? 2. Can only non-sentient animals be copied? Can terrestrial users copy the powers of other Toa? Does being organic/artificial make any difference? 3. The creature does not need to be present, you just need to know it exists. How well do you have to know it, though? Would "I once heard about this thingy that does this, so I'm gonna do the thing too" suffice? Do you need to know its name? Have seen one in real life? Even have a specific creature in mind? 4. Given the number of creatures that have flying as a "power"... is Kongu likely to regret making disparaging comments about Hahli's wing-fins anytime soon?

Yeah, reverse evolution of the Bohrok would cause a lot of problems for the Matoran society... But what are those Bohrok doing anyway these days, just sitting around in half destroyed nests in the GSR waiting to clear the surface of an island that will never again exist? But then again I could see Mata Nui doing that, he seems like the type of dude who would retreat into thousands of years of meditation inside the Inika, only to come out secretly from time to time to play pranks on the Matoran and Agori... He has to be getting bored of sitting in that mask eventually! I like to think he watches over Spherus Magna society, and very occasionally bestows a "gift" or grants a wish- sometimes with a slight twist, depending on how noble the wisher's intentions were... lots of fun fanfic fuel there.

Av-Matoran grow taller than normal while living in Karda Nui. Presumably they shrank back down after moving to Metru Nui. Also, some Matoran were mutated into water breathers in Mahri Nui- there could have been some secondary changes happening with prolonged exposure. There are also canon variations in physique that aren't necessarily reflected by the sets. Po-Matoran and Onu-Matoran are meant to be among the strongest Matoran, so they're probably a bit bulkier than, say, a Ga- or Le-Matoran. I like to imagine other little differences as well, such as Le-Matoran being quite tall and lithe, with a lot of dexterity in the hands and feet. Ga-Matoran could have a slightly elongated torso with short, sturdy legs, maybe slightly webbed feet (like lil' biomechanical otters). Ko-Matoran could have big feet, like built-in snow shoes. Onu-Matoran might have large eyes for dealing with low light (or you could go the other way and make them have tiny eyes, like moles). On the topic of evolution- I think it's something that could happen to a large population, but not "naturally"- it would need to be triggered by something powerful, like the Ignika, or exposure to Energised Protodermis (would we get Matoran Nuva, I wonder?). Though, there have been things like the Makuta all spontaneously "evolving" into antidermis, or Av-Matoran "evolving" to Bohrok, which are things that happened just because they were destined to happen. I was entertaining the thought the other day that Mata Nui/Ignika might choose to devolve the Bohrok back into Matoran since they had no purpose on Spherus Magna, but that would open up a whole other can of worms in retroactively making Nuparu a mass murderer. Best not to think about that.

Mindy Kahling would make an adorable Ga-Matoran. I'm thinking Macku, but someone like Dalu with that sort of voice could be entertaining as well.

Kivoda expects his son Macku to marry a nice girl from one of the Water villages, and is devastated to learn that the lad has been sneaking off to the desert to meet up with a beefy, boisterous tomboy named Hewkii.

The fact that the Piraka named themselves that is pretty hilarious because they probably did it just so that all the goody-goody little Matoran would be forced to swear every time they talked about them. Naming Day... I guess it's like those parents who name their kid "Macques" instead of "Max" to show how very special and unique the child is. Why any being would willingly inflict it on themselves is another question. Anyone remember the non-canon Naming Day story? Takua got pretty miffed that all his friends got new names, the national sport got a new name, and even his pet crab got given a new name, but he didn't so he just sat in the corner carving out a passive-aggressive chronicle of the whole thing while everyone else had a party. Poor Takua.

I reckon there's a variable scale of canon cohesiveness when dealing with multiple media. At one end you have things like Pokemon, where the cartoon is a separate continuity/universe to the games, manga etc. The MCU is a separate continuity to the comics, but it's generally agreed that, say, the continuity of Agents of SHIELD needs to be consistent with the continuity of the Avengers films, so they're in the middle of the scale. Bionicle is probably at the far end of this scale, since all "canon" media supposedly fits into one continuity. That's why I say that the early 2000s media did well in providing a cohesive story on any of the platforms. You don't need to consume it all to get the idea of the story, but there's enough variation and additional detail that seeing it told again in another medium doesn't feel redundant.

At some point, Bingzak (Jungle villager boy from the novel who has the best name) travels with Lewa. Lewa gets spidered. Onua and Bingzak rescue Lewa, then save the rest of the village. Lewa is good with children, but Bingzak ends up rescuing Lewa at least as often as Lewa has to rescue him. Don't hire Lewa as a babysitter.

I learned a new term a few months back- "Transmedia Storytelling". It refers to a story told through multiple media, which may include film, television, print, digital and interactive media, comics, and various products. The concept is arguably as old as storytelling itself- after all, Greek myths were told orally, recorded in print, performed as plays, and represented in art through paintings and sculpture, and the trend for novelisations, comic book adaptations and other supplementary material for popular films has been going on for decades. But when I first heard the term "Transmedia," the very first thing I thought of was Bionicle. So, this post is gonna be a bit of a look into how Bionicle has used transmedia strategies successfully over the years, some aspects that let it down towards the end, as well as how they could potentially be used in future to make Bionicle a massive global brand. Bionicle seems to have really been a pioneer in terms of transmedia storytelling, in that it wasn't told through any one "primary" medium,(like how Star Wars is a film series first and a book/comic/game/animated TV series second), nor did its various media break off into separate continuities ala Pokemon. All the different media contributed towards one unified story- but it was in pieces! Back in 2001-2003, you could read the Hapka novels and get what felt like a cohesive, complete narrative, or you could play MNOG and watch the online episodes and get an equally "complete" narrative. But if you only consumed the online content, you'd never know about the Shadow Toa. If you only read the books, you'd never know about the Toa's first encounter with Makuta himself. Just like with the sets themselves, the consumer had to put all the pieces together to get the full picture. The sheer depth of the online content was remarkable. You could spend hours and hours on Bionicle.com playing the games, learning about the island and going through the chronicles. The world it created was so incredibly detailed, the characters were quirky and endearing, and it made the island of Mata Nui feel like a place that you loved to visit. And it was available to anyone with an Internet connection, completely free. Brilliant. But starting around 2004, the online content was drastically stripped back. The storytelling focus shifted to the DVD movies, as well as to the books. Both required the consumer to spend money to get the content, and that's not always something that young children are prepared or able to do unless they already have some investment in the characters. Older fans from the beginning who were still engaged kept going with the story content, and the books remained excellent, but it was becoming harder and harder for new fans to get on board. 2006 marked an interesting time in Bionicle's marketing. LEGO started producing a bunch of content designed to draw in new fans with a dark, urban, "street" feel to it, but had little or no relation to the actual storyline (Think the Piraka Rap, Bionicle Heroes, Save the Band, etc). The sets sold well, and so the brand was promoted successfully, but it didn't really help with the storytelling problem as far as the canon storyline was concerned. The fact that they'd stopped making the movies didn't help, either. Around 2007, we got the web serials (yay! Online content!), a sorta-canon mini-movie, and Cryoshell's music. I wish they'd done more with the musical side of Bionicle- it was a great idea having a band attached to it. More of a focus on canon here, which was nice, but by this time the canon was massive, sprawling, had dozens upon dozens of characters, and was quite difficult for a casual fan to get a grasp on. One series of books and a few serials, all written by one man, were struggling to cope with the enormity of this universe. Little changed over the next few years. By the time The Legend Reborn was released, LEGO already knew they wouldn't be continuing the line, and so little effort was put into the marketing. And so it ended with a whimper. Fast forward to Gen 2. New continuity, blank slate for new fans. I have to say, it's been a bit sparse. Certainly nothing compared with the amount of content back in '01. A series of animated shorts, good animation but only one voice actor- and the start of of a book series. I personally found the book a bit disappointing- the first half had a bit of fleshing out on the Toa's arrival, while the second half is just a transcription of the events in the webisodes. There's also games for mobile devices, which is a decent start, but still not a patch on the start of G1. We have a Netflix series coming (finally!), which might well bring the story to life properly, but at the moment, I'll confess that I'm not quite ready to get my hopes up. Sorry to be a bit negative, but I really do think that Bionicle has been wasting its massive potential recently. G1 had a universe that wanted to be enormous, but the limitations on the media used to tell stories really hurt it. Laziness and stinginess, basically. If LEGO was willing to spend a significant sum of money on it, I believe that Bionicle could have eventually become a truly massive multimedia franchise, widely adored by adults and children alike. Maybe in future generations, they'll be able to take it further. So, here's a hypothetical plan designed to mimic the story arcs of G1 (though I wouldn't want it to be a complete repeat, plot details should vary), incorporating multiple media. (spoilered for length) More 2001-2003 story: This is where the biggest risks happen. Start with online content, a MNOG-style game released in chapters, and some viral content giving glimpses of the setting. Make kids love the Matoran (or equivalents) like they love Minions- keep the Toa out of the way for now, but bring out the sets, definitely. Books, comics, games would be good additions. This is all leading up to the release of the first theatrical movie. Now, here's the tricky bit: In the event of the first movie's success, they need to be ready to get the sequel (Bohrok saga equivalent?) out, fast- two years at the longest. Requires extensive collusion between set designers, story team and everyone involved with the movie. And have a third one start early production during this time. The third movie would be basically a theatrical equivalent of Mask of Light. In the time between the release of the second and third films, an animated TV series would tell a story similar to the Borohk Kal one- something that's engaging and could make up a series-length arc, but doesn't actually have anything too important to the over-arching plot and so doesn't confuse those that only watch the films. And yeah, I know, they can't put out a feature film every year. I suggest it be done in trilogies. 2004-05's equivalent- a flashback involving a different set of characters, would be great material for a longer-running animated series. The sheer length of it makes it seem much more appropriate to TV than to movies. The sorts of online content that would be appropriate to Metru Nui would be fun to explore- perhaps some codebreaking, riddles, puzzle games etc could be incorporated, as well as serials, character blogs, etc. Next up is the Legends saga, with another film trilogy. Whether or not any TV series ran alongside it is up in the air, but having books and comics elaborate on the characters' adventures (particularly villain backstories) would be great. After that is where I'd really change it up. Two animated series. One taking place on Bara Magna, in the year before Mata Nui arrives. One taking place in the Matoran Universe, under Teridax's reign. The former would have a short run, and lead up into the next set of films, that have Mata Nui's arrival and the defeat of Makuta, while the MU series would run all the way through that storyline. After that? Who knows. There would still be stories to tell, I'm sure. I've focused mostly on the "big" media here since I was trying to wrap my head around how a film series could possibly work, though the online content is not to be underestimated. Telling the one story across multiple media to the extent Bionicle managed in the early years is something that can really be worked as a strength- just look at what Star Wars is doing right now, with the range of spin-off series and media available. Will Bionicle ever be on par with Star Wars? Maybe not, but I think it could certainly give Transformers, Lord of the Rings, maybe even various Marvel properties a run for their money. I really do hope the franchise is given its chance to shine. What do you think? What do you like/dislike about Bionicle's multi-modal storytelling? Where do you think it could go? Edit: Spoiler tag converted to "more" tag; please use spoiler tags for storyline spoilers only. -Wind-

For me, one of the things that really "sells" a fantasy world is little details of the characters' cultures that make their world distinct from our own. In Bionicle, a lot of effort has gone into things like the characters' speech- you can tell Greg had a lot of fun replacing English metaphors, cliches and other figures of speech with Matoran equivalents. Things like "kohlii-head", "lava-bones" and treespeak, meanwhile, have had mixed receptions, but I think there's a lot to be said for the level of worldbuilding that happened here. Back in '01, it really made the island of Mata Nui a place you really wanted to visit, with cultures you wished to explore, and people you wanted to know more about. I'd like to take a moment to appreciate some of the non-verbal side of Matoran interactions. The Bionicle Chronicles book series, in particular, was quite big on them, and so there are some nice details on different types of interaction. Bowing- is done by a Matoran when greeting a Toa, possibly done for a Turaga as well. Might be exclusive to Mata Nui Matoran, and seems to be fazed out as the Matoran grow more familar with Toa. Salute (a fist touched to one's mask)- done by Jaller towards Tahu, probably a Ta-Koro guard thing to acknowledge someone of higher rank. Fist Clank- done as a gesture of unity, greetings, or congratulations among Toa who are friends. Handshake- kind of similar to human usage, but not so much done upon meeting a new person as marking a solemn promise or a sad farewell (Takanuva laments not being able to shake Jaller's hand while saying goodbye to him at the entrance to Karzhani) Seems applicable to both Matoran and Toa. As a sort of side note, the physical attributes of Matoran must in some way influence the way they perceive certain actions. The fact that they eat through their hands, for example- I've seen people mention that they find mouth-feeding bestial and disgusting, though I haven't seen a source on that one (anyone got one?), which is bound to cause a few awkward dinners with the new Spherus Magna neighbours (I don't imagine Agori would find the sight of a piece of fruit withering and shriveling rapidly in someone's hands all that charming, either). Have you noticed any other little details about how Matoran interact? Additionally, do you have any headcanons on the subject?

Ohmigosh, Yes to oddball Matoran friendships! Midak, the eccentric Onu-Matoran, adores all kinds of light. He was quite thrilled to meet Solek, an adventurous Matoran whose element was light. Solek was equally delighted to meet the guy the Skyblasters were named after. They quickly became inseparable, and now share a little hut in New Atero. They go on many adventures, admire beautiful sunsets together, and fanboy over their favourite Toa (Midak is very fond of Pohatu, and Solek still goes on and on about Kopaka, but they both go a bit nuts whenever Takanuva stops by for a visit.) All in all, they're both very happy and oh no I started shipping it send help. Heh. I reckon that's only G2 Pohatu, though. G1 Pohatu would probably just keep it on despite Kopaka's protests about having to appear with him in public. Lewa told the children that Kopaka likes being called "Uncle Frosty". Lewa sometimes lies to children for fun.

Sooooo... Who here has a disgustingly cute headcanon for the Bionicle storyline/characters? G1 or G2 welcome. Here's one for G1: On Spherus Magna, every Agori child that has ever met Kopaka instantly, unconditionally adores him. Children like the other Toa too, but Kopaka attracts them like a magnet. Nobody has found a reasonable explanation for this phenomenon. And nobody is more baffled than Kopaka himself. He's not even particularly nice to them- well, okay, maybe he's being nice by Kopaka standards. Sometimes he can summon a small field of snow to distract them long enough that he can get away, but that only makes them more enthusiastic to see him next time. And G2: Lewa has a game he likes to play during long quests. It's called "How many Toa can I decorate with flower crowns before they notice?" Onua is the easiest target- he sleeps a lot, and actually quite likes flowers so is quite happy to get decorated. Pohatu is proving the hardest. Lewa will get him one day. One day. Ugh. Right, I need to go chew on a lemon now that I've got that out. What are your sickeningly sweet headcanons?

Retrograde amnesia is absurdly common in the Matoran Universe. Cases like the Great Cataclysm or Takua's brainwashing involved a deliberate memory wipe, but there are things like the Av-Matoran dismissing the Toa Mata as a myth, despite having met them, the Mahri Matoran being unable to remember life on land, alternate universe Macku not remembering what Takanuva looked like as a Toa. It really does seem as if Matoran brains weren't designed to store thousands of years' worth of information, so they very quickly throw out memories of old ways of life when it comes time to adapt to a new home or job. This makes sense given that many of them were labourers and only carried out simple repetitive tasks, but it's a bit sad to consider all those Ga- and Ko-Matoran who spent so many centuries at university in pursuit of knowledge they probably wouldn't be able to keep. There might be a "use it or lose it" factor in play, so it's not so much that memories automatically expire so much as Matoran have to use the information regularly in order to keep it- not too different from us, though it does seem odd that they can easily forget such massive events- then again, who knows what kinds of memories we'd be able to retain if our human brains tried to cover lives that were milennia long? This might explain why nobody seemed to know the truth about the Red Star- if Matoran who came back were sent to a different place, they'd forget all about their old home, job, friends, etc as they got started in the new place. There might be a brief conflict of identity, but they'd eventually come to accept the new life and get on with it. It also explains the emphasis on chronicling- rereading the chronicles and retelling the stories would be a reliable way of keeping the memories fresh if you couldn't rely on your mind alone. Thoughts?

That one time Hewkii and Kongu got very verrrrry drunk and broke into a recording studio. They won't do it again. Also, we need to start using "You are out of your insane Bionicle brain" on this site to describe particularly crazy thoughts or ideas... ...Speaking of which... BZP should totally have a Bionicle rap competition. Prizes for the best raps, as well as cheesiest, and most mentally scarring. It would be hilarious.

So, The Lego Movie is getting a sequel, a Batman spinoff, and there's also Ninjago, which may or may not be in the same universe (multiverse?). What would you want to see in any of these films? My wishlist for Lego 2 so far... Bionicle anything.Olivia from Friends as a Master Builder (she would build giant pink battle mechs and be best friends with Unikitty, and be animated with a silly hopping movement due to the lack of leg articulation)Dumbledore and Gandalf being adorable wizard husbands. (That's right, I ship it.)More musical numbers- especially Batman's, though Gandalf or Unikitty doing one could be great.Finn playing with his dad and sister.The appearance of a certain elf from Lord of the rings, in minifigure form, who is at some point separated from the lower half of his body. Introducing... Legless Lego Legolas!The Twelfth Doctor annoying Batman. Preferably with electric guitars involved. What would you like to see?

Cracky idea of the day- David Attenborough as Whenua.

Ooh! Russell Brand as Vezon! We need that kind of manic, verbose lunacy for Vezon.

Here's a challenge: Describe the Bionicle storyline (or something else from Bionicle) in a way that... a) Is as specific and detailed as possible, and b) Also happens to describe something from a completely different work of fiction And then reveal what the other story/character/thing was. Sound confusing? Here's an example I came up with in another topic. "A group of brightly coloured beings live peacefully inside the head of a much larger being, doing their daily jobs to keep their host's body and mind working properly. But disaster strikes after some of these beings are ejected from from their home and are unable to perform their jobs. Their host begins to shut down, the world inside the brain starting to crumble away. It is a race against time to retrieve the shiny objects that can repair the host. One heroic being sacrifices his very existence to help save his world. But even after this crisis is prevented, our heroes face many more challenges ahead... " The answer? The more specific the description, and the weirder the comparison, the better! Have fun! (Apologies if this is not allowed or doesn't belong here, please deal with accordingly)

Interesting that a lot of people interpret the idea as being based on G1- though it is definitely open to that interpretation. I actually think the most likely scenario would be a release of a new continuity beginning 5 or so years from now, starting its first year with a movie. It'd be nice if it had some recognisable ties to previous gens, but I think it makes the most sense to kick the movie's story off on a blank slate.

Well, Hugh Jackman's gotta be Pohatu, obviously. I'm tempted to go with Idris Elba as Kopaka... And, said it before, will say it again: David Tennant as Lewa. There's so many different interpretations of Lewa in the canon, from Hapka's innocent, hyperactive cinnamon roll baby to Farshtey's gleeful snarker to Mask of Light's soft-spoken flying hippie, and of course all the dark-Lewas that happen when Onua leaves him alone for five minutes. Tennant could probably blend all of those together into one believable character, and top it all off with a lovely Scottish accent. Will add more later, those are just the ones that immediately spring to mind...

Onepu as a Toa might have been fun, but it might be too similar to Matau's character arc. Whereas Nuparu, as an inventor, brought in something that we hadn't really seen on a Toa team before in his approach to problem-solving. It might be fun to see Onepu as a Matoran working among beings who are much bigger and more powerful than he is, where charm and bravado doesn't always work. Or a situation where Taipu becomes a Toa, and Onepu's a) immensely jealous and b) still trying to take advantage of him- Taipu would probably catch on eventually, but just go along with it 'cuz hes a big softie.

Seriously, though, imagine Lego Batman gearing up to do another angsty metal track on his electric bat-tar, and then Twelve shows up and hijacks the song with a solo of his own. While riding a dragon, or some other stupid awesome thing you couldn't do on the BBC's budget. I wonder if Peter Capaldi can sing? Or do a heavy-metal shouty voice? If he was gonna do a song in-character as the Doctor, Lego Movie 2 would be the place to do it. Also, I like to think he's good friends with Dumbledore and Gandalf. Maybe the three of them are in a band or something.