Banana Gunz

First of all, you misspelled Nya. Second of all...well, excuse my brashness, but this is heresy. Whoops! My bad, fixed it. Hey, at least I got the other right? And lol why is this heresy?

Every year, it's become a drip of joy to see the new season of Ninjago start and see what honest fun and adventure will meet the ninja this time around. For me, the show isn't particularly ground breaking in its story telling ideas all the time or even quite on the level of other things that interest me, but it's fun and a surprisingly smart show considering its demographic. To me, this is perhaps a sign that children being exposed to so much media so consistently and on such a saturated level is making it harder to keep their attention and making cheap and easy content with no thought isn't quite going to cut it anymore. But regardless of what the show may be saying about the state of modern children in a modern world and how media and toys are being branded and show cased to them (a subject that I could literally go on about endlessly), I think something fun to talk about would be the possible future of the line itself. Kids nowadays with there being such a constant demand to grab and hold their attention, perhaps need two things to keep them hooked and invested story-wise. First off, there's consistency and characters they can be attached to. The Ninjago show is quite brilliant and almost revolutionary for LEGO to have a single cast of characters considering the theme's long run time. No other theme has quite matched up with running for so long with a central and organized cast that's clear and easy to follow, distinguish and associate. The other aspect necessary, would be new and fresh ideas. Ninjago has also been pretty successful with this, every year introducing new characters and story lines as well as themes and plot ideas that tie in well with what's already been established. Whatever your argument may be for the shows "inconsistency" or "unplanned" way of being written, it does well for what it is especially for LEGO. The main cast of Kai, Jay, Cole, Zane, Nya, Wu, and a little later Lloyd, are prominent and important figures that have interesting arcs that though aren't always addressed consistently through every season, are focused and easy for young children to spot out. But to me it's the second element that makes me worried: the part about keeping things fresh. Sure, it's not terribly difficult to come up with a new idea for each year. Whether it be robots, pirates, or anything else, there's always inspiration to keep going and making sets. Unfortunately, there always seems to be a point in story telling, especially when the story isn't planned far into the future where it feels like the creators ran out of ideas and things become less interesting. Now normally for LEGO this wouldn't be an issue considering most of their themes don't last more than a few years, but Ninjago has been going on for a while and LEGO has no plans to stop, even announcing it to be an ever green theme. Having a main cast of characters is brilliant to keep children involved, as it'll keep them coming back to see how they're doing and what perils await them and what futures lie ahead. Unfortunately, eventually even that can get old for many. Ninjago is already about five years old, having debuted in 2011 (fact check?). When you think about it, the original sets were listed as being target towards 6-14 year olds. Usually when kids reach about the 12-14 age range they will already be phasing out of it naturally, looking to more "big kid" things to enjoy, and are less likely to get into new themes. So a kid from anywhere between 6 and 11 in 2011 by now will be anywhere on the later end of the age range onward, and likely losing interest. Now of course, most of this is assumption and it varies per person for sure, but the main point is that eventually the kids that grew up with Ninjago and loving those characters would have likely moved on. They were the ones that stuck with the ninjas since the beginning and have the strongest attachment to them. Kids that are younger today and getting into Ninjago probably aren't running into this problem right away, but I can imagine eventually there being too much of a distance between the roots of the characters and where they are today. So what's the solution? Well, it's not an immediate "threat" and there sure is no panic to start rebooting the theme or changing things. Adding and removing characters to the main cast has kept things relatively fresh, but remember Ninjago is now an EVERGREEN THEME, meaning LEGO has NO plans to stop. So this is all looking to future. For now, I like most others would love to see the ninjas we have now have their stories completed and have an excellent finish. Getting rid of them would be absolutely ridiculous since they are basically the heart and soul of the series. I think in a few to several years, it would be smart to take an interesting turn with the theme and freshen things up to be more open to newer kids who are less attached to the characters (and of course as long as kids love the sets they'll love the theme, but this is all about the story, as story can be a huge and more important selling point that many think, even in the case of LEGO). So what to do? Pull a Bionicle! And no, don't start replacing the cast of characters like every two years, that's just, no. Bionicle has suffered from that somewhat in the past. My vision is that eventually in a new wave, we are introduced into a soft reboot kinda like what recently Creed and Star Wars: The Force Awakens have done. They take the simple bones of the originals and what worked there, and expand on it a bit with new characters that follow the legacies of the old. I was inspired by seeing older reflections of the ninja last season and there futures. I want to see a world where Sensei Wu has either passed on or was killed in the previous season, which in an ideal world is an epic and beautiful wrap up leaving the ninja as fully matured and walking their own paths. We already see Wu comment this season that the ninja are growing up, and though Kai may still be a bit egotistical and Jay a bit reckless, and they still struggle with their flaws as is the nature of a good character, they are more focused as a team and more responsible than they ever have been. So what's the best way to follow up the ninja being fully matured and focused adults/individuals? Pull them apart! That will give an extra layer to their characters and leave their older selves with a new and interesting element. They'll still be mature and the same old characters, but they won't be the same since the split up. Eventually they reunite, making that moment all the more special and important. So the death of Wu has greatly impacted these characters, and being older and less reliant on each other it makes sense that they're finding their own lives now. In the reflections, Jay and Nya will likely be married/lovers, with the two being accomplished inventors and living somewhat fulfilled lives. Cole goes about traveling and studying the world and life itself to gain a greater understanding of his universe, and Kai likely would be living in somewhat isolated or hidden among the common crowd. The ninja know generally where they each are, but haven't talked in years. Except for Lloyd. Lloyd is gone. Like, totally disappeared, no one knows where he is. We will be introduced to a new protagonist/set of protagonists, with Kai being their introduction to the art of ninjitsu, an effortless parallel to his beginnings with Sensei Wu. Lloyd will be our Luke Skywalker, our Macguffin of this season. Our new cast of characters will be on a quest to discover the dead of ninjitsu, the last known masters all gone. Through happening and circumstance, they meet Kai who eventually reveals himself as being the Master of Fire. If you want, one of the new young characters can be Lil Nelson or the new "purple ninja". Just an idea, but I'd rather it be that the new cast is entirely unknown and born into a time where they only heard stories of the old ninja masters and their victories and sacrifices. The goal will be to begin training, but what we begin to see is some development for our old characters: they're not the same without each other. You see, Kai is going to find that though he is one of the most skilled and mastered in his element, he can't train these young-lings by himself. He still has that spark of arrogance that makes him a bit of a harsh teacher that frustrates the new kids. He's powerful, but he's no sensei. He's probably the most affected by the loss of Wu, and doesn't feel completely confident in his self as a ninja without his guidance. His confidence was built on that assurance of his master, the one who raised him to be a warrior. All the others are also not the same without their brother and sister hood. Cole begins to feel isolated almost. Him being a traveler and always alone is taking a toll, and he begins to feel lost. For all he studies life, it's not the same care and bond as he had with his friends. He's beginning to struggle more and more with him being a robot, and he provides an interesting internal conflict of what he really is without his brothers and if he's really even alive. Jay and Nya are also interesting. They live a happy and good marriage, but not one without some fights. They realize that for as much as they love each other, much of their relationship is built on making things, moving forward and never stopping. Because they're afraid of the slow and quiet moments. They're very eccentric personalities and though they love each other, connecting is difficult and are deep down afraid if they stop moving forward constantly, they might fall apart. Lloyd, also greatly affected by the dramatic happenings of the previous season, is out in hiding and complete isolation, as though their last adventure was a victory as usual, it was not one without terrible sacrifices... And he still faces the fact of him being the most powerful ninja, the chosen one, and whether one single being like him is un-corruptible. The other ninjas look to him as the purest force there is, but he knows he was once evil before, and feels it can happen again. Not to mention old demons come back to haunt him as he feels sorrow for never being able to have a good child hood and a stable family. Though he knows he had mastered those pains, the dynamic of "it's one thing to win the battle but it's another to be the victor" is way too interesting. Just because you can make a decision, doesn't mean it's any easier to live with it. Ah, but Cole! You thought I forgot. You thought it was convenient for me to leave him out! Or not, I don't know your life. But Cole is hard character to tackle. As seen in last season, he has no reflection! And even now, that's something he's struggling with. And I don't buy for even a second that his ability to turn invisible has a single thing to do with it. He's becoming a darker and harder character. All the characters are different from each other, but he's now completely different. He was once the team's leader, and now he barely fits in with them. So, what does the lack of a reflection tell us should happen to him? Well, two ideas. 1) He's dead. Yes, Wu wasn't the only sacrifice. I think it would be really interesting and a strong emotional event for Cole to die. Once their stoic and fearless leader, gone. It would make for a really dramatic previous season, and give even more of an explanation for why the original ninja are so unstable. They didn't just lose their master, they lost their friend, and he's never coming back. 2) Now, stick with me for this one. It's a little crazy. Cole is evil. Yes, Cole haunted by all these sudden demons turn on his brethren and sister. He's so isolated, so lonely and so separated. Him being left the way he is drove him off the end emotionally. So at the end of the last season, he turns and hurts all of the other ninja like never before. At the end, it is still a victory, but the sacrifice was too much to bear. And what if HE was the one to kill Sensei Wu!?!? He blamed his Sensei for never making him strong enough to win every battle, and becoming so different. He used to be a leader, but then had even that spotlight taken from him by Lloyd. He even lost Nya to Jay. All his old demons caught up with him, and the other ninja had no choice, as sometimes it's too late, and Cole is presumed dead. Even the lack of him having a reflection is IMMEDIATELY followed by Morro smashing through. Suddenly, it makes all to much sense. Cole is the larger and main villain for this year, or perhaps the background villain pulling strings until he reveals himself and takes the full role the next season. He'll have a cool parallel to Hades of the Olympians; a dark horse who is accepted by them, but doesn't quite fit and becomes almost alien to them. I guess earth is dark like that. I personally LOVE this idea for continuing his arc. The ninja have always bickered, but you always knew they would make up and save the day. This completely breaks that trope and changes the whole villain dynamic. The most interesting villain in most stories is one with a real connection to your protagonists, like Morro. So that's the world as it is. Oh, and just for the fun of it, maybe Lloyd turns out to be at the site of Wu's burnt down original dojo, or maybe that's where all our remaining ninja meet for the first time in so long, or perhaps where there is an ultimate and maybe final showdown between Cole and all the other ninja, or heck, why not all of the above. Our story will now be led by a new set of young protagonists to connect with newer audiences while still treating the old characters with fullest respect and expanding them and expressing new dynamics. I just feel like it would all be a natural progression for the theme's story. Oh, and all the new protagonists have different styles of uniforms. They should all look united, but not uniform like the current ones. Look to Bionicle 2015 to see how that works. Consistent, but far from the same in any sense. So I guess where I'll leave this with you fellows is who should be the new protagonists, and what will they be like? What elements will they be masters of? Will they be descendants of old masters of those elements, and how will they tie in to this "future" wave? Are they even elemental masters at all?!? In general, do you like my ideas and agree with them? Add on to it and tell what you think should be changed, and what the general overall plot should be! These are just some ideas I had on the future of the series and wanted to share them!

This this all da way I wonder what particularly about Space Police makes it keep coming back. I have so many fond memories of it and I always loved it (one of my fav themes) but I guess something about cops in space catches on with kids really well. I remember reading about that jazz in an old issue of Brick Journal. EDIT: Oh, and Ninjago/ExoForce cross over for laif

I don't think that these are the same toa or whatnot, as it's still just a reboot to me, but never say never. And hey B6, no please for meester Kylo Ren there? Lol jk I love all the nods G2 gets from old Bionicle. Unity, Duty, Destiny has been my favorite so far, as the philosophical and real world applications of it give Bionicle a whole other layer of depth. I <3 you LEGRO

They were officially unveiled today during the Star Wars mass unboxing. Images released prior to today were leaks. Now they can be discussed openly. Well, I get that, but... blehk. Whatever. BZP has kinda silly rules about that stuff in my opinion but hey, if it works for them so be it. It just seems a little silly that the leaked pictures weren't even prototypes, preliminary or anything. All the same things, so it's ridiculous in my mind to just turn the other way and pretend nothing's happened. Lego knows those are their pictures, and everyone else knows those are their pictures, so I just feel like it only makes sense for Lego to own up to them. Then again, Force Friday is probably a gigantic factor here...

How is this news? Good pictures of the sets have been around for a while already. There's nothing new here...

It is pretty upsetting that they have to limit themselves time wise with these animations. There are points where better pacing could make the good moments they have much more effective. I'm still not entirely on board with the single narrator. I get that it's not laziness, it's an actual artistic choice, but for the animations I just don't think it works. Having separate character voices would be a lot better- though I have to commend the guy they've got doing them right now. It's a REALLY hard job and he does it the best he can. A plice supa spice yo dun did da goud

I mean, I thought the pun was funny. It's good to see they're showing the relationship between Tahu and Kopaka well, even if it takes a clever pun. I personally thought it was pretty well done. My only hope is that they use this to eventually make even more character development, since it's a little blatant. On one hand I agree, on the other hand I don't know. For a three year line, it might be fine to release the toa each year, so long as there are other sets/characters as well. I do completely agree though that there has to be enough changed to make it justified, or else there's no point in getting them, and if the line ends up going on for longer after that, they would have to especially find ways to make the sets stand out, or release new sets of the same toa less often. I really don't want to get what happened with Hero Factory...

I mean... I always loved the old aesthetic of gears and pistons and such, and it'll always be a part of how I remember Bionicle, but the building system itself I feel has been replaced for the better, for now. It was pretty good for its time but I think constraction was bound to separate from Technic eventually. CCBS though, I still don't feel it's the exact building system I've been looking for. It's great- it really is- but I still feel that there's more that could be done for constraction, and CCBS could eventually evolve into something even better. As good and creative and useful it is, there are some flaws in it that bother some more than others. For some people, CCBS is perfect, but for some like me those little cons can be bothersome. The progression from the old system to CCBS was natural and necessary, and though I feel CCBS has flaws and will eventually grow and change into something else and better, it does work better creatively in a lot of ways. My main complaint with it is that sometimes models don't feel and look as solid as some older ones (though plenty old sets aren't exempt from that either), but with the new G2 toa sets, it's proven itself plenty in my mind and is very welcome. The best question I have to ask myself to answer this one is "Which one would I have preferred to see come 2015?", and as cool as lots of the old sets were, I feel the system is outdated and wouldn't hold up. So, CCBS, until we get something even cooler.

*snip* Buy them. Your opinion will be very different when you have them all together in person. You're probably right; it's not entirely fair of me to judge the sets much before I actually have them in front of me. I remember when there were leaks of the first toa sets (we can at least reference those now, right? no? yes? aw shucks ai dunoo) I was pretty excited but in the back of my mind I was unsure about them and if they would really be able to work, but seeing them at comic con completely eliminated all doubt for me. This is a good question because on one hand, it'll be a cool and good event/happening to put down in the new themes history, but on the other hand I fear we barely got to see how villager life is right now. It's worth noting that apparently there might be multiple villages for each element, so they could be less important settlements that have served as a place holder for the ancient city, the Protector's true home, and so that would make it better, though it would always be great to know how things are for them exactly in their smaller villages. On detail I'd like to know is exactly why they split apart after being run out of the city. The best guess I can think of is they grouped together and moved into the elemental regions that suited each type best, since there was the most room there and protectors of other elements might now be content living in environments other than their own general types. The concept of the Protectors reuniting is really important to think about right now because the idea alludes a lot to Metru-Nui to me, since there is one great city they're moving to to unite as one people. Perhaps some of the answers to the future can be found in the past? I think it's pretty likely, especially with the buzz of unifier sets, it makes the most sense to me, though I shouldn't come to any conclusions based on the limited clues we have so far.

Sorta true, though in my mind not entirely. I feel it's a little unfair to say every wave every Bionicle villains were just color swaps of each other. Later in the line the villains got a lot more creative (generally Barraki onward), though I definitely see where you're coming from, since the majority of it were clone sets. Even later sets are often criticized for being generic/plain because of the lack of innovation with every inika build figure. I'd still argue though that in some aspects the new villains don't have as much variation. For example, though they all share parts of them that make them unified, I would have loved to have seen more done to Kulta and Skull Slicer to separate them a little more as individuals and break up the same motif going on with the other villains. And although they're not color swaps of each other, it's notable that they have somewhat less inspired color schemes, which all have a similar base of greys/blacks that take up most of their bodies, and accents that are snuck around. In all honesty, though I don't own them, the skull villains have grown on me a lot since I first saw them. I always expected more of them, and to an extent still feel there is more to be desired, but they accomplish a lot of great things that makes them stand out among previous Bionicle villains. I don't know if they're the ideal set of Bionicle villains though. For me, I still feel the Barraki were the best since they had so much diversity and looked entirely different from each other in almost every way, but still managed to look unified by the underwater sea creature appearance that varied heavily for each one. They managed to look different and similar at the same time, which worked out great along side the story as well since they could be recognized as individuals more but still be a group. Perhaps that's what I'd like to see more of with the villains, though the more and more I think about it I do think it's still a good idea to have villain sets that are "drones" or "soldiers" that there are many of.

Is all good, I was slightly confused about whether they were leaks or not too. I found it kinda funny when I saw BZP report on it. By the way, the name Melum is absolutely lovely. Reminds me of melons and sweets! On the other hand it doesn't sound like a villain or a steed Kopaka would ride, but again- melons!

Looks like Kopaka never recovered from his slip. RIP Kopeeka- 2015 - 2015 EDIT: Looks like Kopaka actually pulled through. May he and Malum live in peace and holy matrimony!

These are pretty nice! Simple, but they still look good. I love the weapon and the shield piece you put on the chest to go with the armor! Does he/she/it have any back story? fav outa faiv, ten atta tien: Supa dupa +A $$$

I'd like to see something new, since blades that can be turned into wings has been done time and time again. I'm imagining a whip with a blade on the end, which could be tipped with poison/venom in the story. It sounds like a weapon one would use in a jungle to swing on tree branches with. I don't know if the Nuva is exactly what's coming back if the toa are getting more sets, though I doubt it will be. If the toa are coming back, they'd probably have powered up forms, just more akin to their elements perhaps. Or at least that's what I'm imagining. Though the nuva where cool, they were pretty repetitive of the original mata, and just adding more silver this time around doesn't seem like it would work.

I'm not quite sure where Ekimu comes from, but I must say how much I love the whole brothers aspect and how it's taken an even bigger and perhaps more literal stance in the new canon. So far, I feel like Ekimu's just a wise mask maker who grew to a larger state of power from his importance and mask. I have to wonder where they got their masks though, since I'm not sure it was ever specified. It's very plausible that they made them, since Makuta made the Mask of Ultimate Power, showing they have the skill/ability to craft powerful masks, but perhaps they were assigned them by some higher power. Could be partly why Makuta felt so cheated, because Ekimu got the fancy and pure Mask of Creation- which theoretically helped Ekimu make the masks that the villagers liked more- while the Mask of Control made the less loved masks, screwing Makuta's reputation.

GOOD GRIEF. Three of these topics in as many days is too many. We need a master topic for these kinds of headcanons or something, because they're becoming a massive nuisance. Regarding your "theory", and what evidence that could support it... there literally isn't any. You're using incomprehensible lengths of time and the vagaries of legend to obfuscate the fact that the Toa (elemental masters) are, in fact, Toa, that they have nothing in common with Great Beings, that the villagers are not Agori, that the setting is different, the characters are different. We know that, canonically, there is no connection, and your theory does nothing more than ask "what if there WAS?" Not really, these topics aren't becoming a massive nuisance. If you have such a problem with people theorizing about possible connections, then you should just look the other way. I don't think his theory is right, and for reasons stated, possible- but it's not doing anything to you or the canon. It's no different than when people theorized HF and Bionicle being connected. If you can explain to me exactly what harm these topics are doing, then fine. I simply don't understand why people take these types of topics as a personal insult to themselves. It feels like some fans have developed a "higher culture" where they look down on anyone who feels differently or likes something about the old generation more than the new one or wants to legitimately criticize it. It's understandable when someone has a poor opinion built on mis-truths, but it doesn't feel like that's always the case. Bionicle is for everyone...

I've got the trans clear Mask of Fire! But that's about it. I never was as into the sets as I was into the story (especially since I got into the line late into its run) so I don't even have a huge Bionicle collection, let alone collectibles/prototype parts.

Vezon? Though to be perfectly honest I thought he was quite charming. I don't know if it's meaningful to find the single worst thing in Bionicle, since it's all pretty subjective and even objectively I doubt there's one thing, so it's only worth then making list of all the things we hate about Bionicle... making us the worst fans ever if we just pay attention to what we hate about what we love so much, so... wow lol xD

yoo that's pretty cool! Korgot strikes me as a little bit more masculine but I buy it. Are any of the other protectors also female? It would be a bit disappointing if there is only one female again.

As I learned Skull Slicer is actually a single being/individual, I've come to quite like the fact that he wears a skull spider mask. It makes him a little more different and unique. I imagine he could've worn it to identify his self in the arena or something like that. I still wonder why he has four arms and what species he might be. Perhaps a protector, just being reanimated got him some more appendages and height? I'm interested in reading his back story, whenever if ever it comes. I'm predicting we could get a name for him as well, like Kulta. I still have to wonder though why all the media is so strict on calling them by the set names, like Skull Grinder. I get that LEGO wants to simplify things set name wise and keeping canon clear of excessive names but if the characters are gonna get names anyway, I don't see the point in keeping them book exclusive.