ShadowBionics

Overused concept, and a sort of cop-out solution to problems... and the cause. For example, the fate of Tuyet. I think that one annoyed me the most. Not only that but then it's like every other serial had something to do with alternate universes in 2008 and onward. Not saying they were bad. Dark Mirror and The Kingdom were some of my favorite stories. But after that, it's like BOOM! More Alternate Universes. Alternate Teridax joins the fight. 50+ Alternate Takanuva's join the fight. Tuyet who we thought was dead but was really alive the whole time because she was in another universe joins the fight. It all just got... complicated and weird.

I saw the name of this topic and I freaked out, thinking I had gotten old and BZPower had changed something. Of course, I'm not familiar with every word in the word filter, other than the word that "Cool dude" replaces. To answer your question, yes, as some others have pointed out, the name that gets replaced by... that bizarre image in my head... they were a hacking group that went around making idle threats to members and the forums. I even got a PM by someone claiming to be them and I reported it like ASAP because it scared me. This happened around 2009-2010, when the forums went down for a really long time. Sadly close to when G1 was officially cancelled. Those were some very sad, dark times indeed. So, I guess in the future, if you choose to use those specific words in a topic title or even a post, it'll manifest itself as that. Kind of a shame, since those words are also the name of some popular movies as well. Oh well. Cest la vie.

I'm glad you think so. If I'm able to do more, I'll try my best to "re-write" Makuta to make it so that we do see that initial desire to do good that's eventually twisted and warped into his current insanity and lust for power. Pretty much, you can think of this as a writing exercise, except I'm actually sharing it instead of keeping it locked away and never critiqued. Makuta and Terankos will have to go through some serious development, especially in Makuta's case, to show where they're coming from. Elitha has served as the "poster girl" for a lot of my writings (mostly in comedies) and deviant art profile. No matter which dimension, it seems Elitha is doomed to suffer at the hands of "Makuta" as her master. Her G1 story unfortunately doesn't exist beyond some various notes on the before-mentioned DA, some for viewing and others kept in private, and ideas rattling in my head since 2010 that never made it to writing. I would at least like to think her G2 counterpart will have a somewhat "happier" ending. Artakha did sort of "drop out" from view, in the sense he made 3 lesser beings (compared to him anyway) to run everything while he concentrates solely on maintaining time and space. One thing I'd also like to do is maybe something that focuses on the four of them and show more on what they're like. I sort of ran with the idea of his official G1 counterpart, whose name sort of faded into legend and you don't really see him and very few even know he's there. Likewise here, he did some pretty good stuff for the universe by giving them protectors and hope for a peaceful afterlife. But once those three were doing their jobs, he sort of dusted off his hands and said, "okay, your problem now," to go back and make sure time and space didn't go crazy, which would take a lot of energy out of him. Almost so much he would need help doing even that. One thing not mentioned in the Prelude is that before Artakha "took time" from his busy schedule to make those three, he practiced first by creating twelve time sorceresses to also serve as the ones who would temporarily do his job while he made the three. Once that was done, him and his additional twelve "daughters" departed to fully commit to maintaining time and space. Unlike the three divine beings, the sorceresses all had the same general appearance, personality, even names, as Artakha sort of rushed through because he just needed somebody to do the job while he wasn't watching and to practice how to create someone with so much power. The twelve Calza's (sorceresses of time) were so obscure, no one other than Artakha knew they existed.

Main Topic here: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/23801-the-knights-of-terankos/ This may or may not become anything. I say that because it'd depend on whether I see potential in this, if anyone likes the idea, and most importantly if I have the time and motivation to. Lately I've lost my motivation to write anything, and my time has become shortened, nothing like it was when I was a writer 10 years ago... My goodness, I began writing here in February of 2006. So this story kind of ties in with a few one-shots I made in the short stories forum. Most notably, one that serves as a prelude and spring-board to what I might be planning on doing in reference to the G2 story. Essentially, this is me attempting to fill in some stuff into the somewhat overly barren Bionicle G2 world. As such, there's ultimately very little we know about this world, who's in it, and their motives. Who are these villains, and what makes them so bad?? I've explained it before in those other topics, but I do this, I'd end up taking some creative liberties in trying to make some sense with some characters. And as crazy as it might sound, maybe re-write whatever I didn't like about the story, whether because I flat out did not like it or because I felt like it could've gone better or maybe have more elaboration to it. Anyways, if I were to make this into an actual thing, this story would go over the Knights of Terankos, a very dark and wicked group from far away who chose to ignore the light and anything to do with it in favor of relishing in the shadows and following the god of shadows that I have for this universe, Terankos, versus everyone else who honors Mata Nui. Where G1 had the Brotherhood of Makuta, I decided maybe we could have a little something like that here to explain where most of the "bad people" come from and maybe go into their motivations and history. Volchior, a character of my design, was one of those knights, and one of the most dedicated to their cause. So much so, that even to this day he lives by their "code," despite there no longer being any knights or code to live by. SPOILER ALERT: Umarak, at least in this universe, was also one of those knights. He was a very skilled hunter who fought many battles and carried out the wishes of their leader, becoming one of the highest ranking knights. He was a skilled bowman and expert with traps and tracking. I'm unsure about what other abilities the Shadow Traps themselves had, but for the sake of this story, Umarak can also be somewhat aware of what the Shadow Traps are doing and what they see/hear thanks to a mental link he can share with them. Meanwhile, Volchior, another high-ranked knight, searches for him, as they share a common past and bond. However, while Umarak has moved on and changed somewhat in his motives and personality, Volchior cannot let go of the past so easily and is so determined to find the only living member of their former organization in order to find some meaning with his life that has become so depressingly empty and without purpose. The rest of the story would take place in a large flashback, showing more about the Knights, how they functioned, their leader, and when everything went wrong, finishing off with an epilogue about what Volchior ends up doing, and how he might end up accidentally playing into Makuta's hand. This could be the start of a series I begin, but again, that'll only be if I see it's worth writing and if I'm able to piece together a coherent story. Right now, all I have are some ideas in my head and some ideas written on index cards so I don't forget. Literally, the knights all exist on an index card.

Prologue This place sure went to the blazes, didn’t it? A lone warrior clad in black armor wandered through the stone region of the island of Okoto. With both his mask and armor, it would be easy to mistake him for being a black dragon, a mythical creature knowing for dwelling in the shadows. The warrior had traveled long and far to get to where this island, intent on fulfilling a personal duty he upheld with up most importance. Once, a magnificent paradise, now the island was stricken by darkness. This weather… this atmosphere… This sure does take me back. It makes me think of that day. The moment when… Lightning flashed brightly in the sky, followed by the roar of tremendous thunder. The dark skies and rain plagued the land, and the overall landscape appeared to be broken and shattered. Of course, he secretly coveted this darkness, as he was born from this darkness, or so he believed. He took a moment to look to the faded insignia on his armor. This symbol… This was once a badge of honor. It stood for so much. Now it just serves as a grim reminder… He continued on, eventually coming to what he believed was the right path. The lightning continued to flash brightly in the sky, enough to scare off some of the smaller creatures unfortunate enough to be in this storm. It would be easy to get lost in a place so unfamiliar, and yet something deep down told him that the path he was taking would lead him to the one he was searching for. This island has seen better days. Something transpired here. Whatever that may be, it matters not to me. Once I’ve found him, I won’t be seeing this place for much longer. Okoto had seen better days indeed, as it was once a glorious paradise for the villagers and creatures that lived there. That was before a great darkness pervaded the land, brought about by a mask maker and his wicked creation. Pathetic… Truly pathetic, if you ask me. To think this island was devastated by some pretender born from the light truly disgusts me. As he proceeded down a valley, he thought he heard something scuttling behind him. He paused and looked behind him. There was a moment of silence before he heard the sound again. It seemed like not all of the roaming creatures were scared by the atmosphere of the storm. He slowly backed himself up against the face of a cliff before using the power of his mask to conceal himself from his possible attacker. The Marauder’s mask… my oldest friend and ally aside from my fellow knights… former fellow knights. The moment he vanished, that was when his followers made themselves known. They were relatively small insects with four legs, a tail, and most notably a body in the shape of a skull. The warrior overheard some villagers refer to creatures resembling these as “Skull Spiders,” when he was scouring the island while avoiding detection for reconnaissance. As the spiders drew closer, he reached behind him to grab his lance. As the spiders continued to gather to where they last saw their prey, the warrior chose to reveal himself. When the lightning flashed once more, he deactivated the powers of his mask and took to the air in a swift motion, leaping into the air with both hands gripping the lance. It was too late for most of the spiders to react, as he plunged the lance into the ground, destroying a good number of spiders on contact and unleashing a growing radius of shadow energy around him to take down more of them. When he took his lance out from the ground, more of the surviving spiders quickly rushed for him. With his swift movements, he swept a number of the spiders with his lance, defeating them with ease. A few more were heading for him from behind, believing their prey would be caught off guard. This was far from the truth, as in no time he pulled a secondary weapon from his hip, a powerful hand axe, and with one swipe he managed to defeat the rest. Child’s play. Nothing but mere child’s play. If this is what plagues the island of Okoto, these villagers have no hope. If a mere infestation is enough to keep them at bay, I can’t help but laugh at the thought of something much larger terrorizing the island and how they handle it. As he was sheathing his weapons, something else caught his eye. Not too far away, he noticed something else had been watching him. However, it was not a Skull Spider. This was something he recognized, as he had seen these a few times before. It was a Shadow Trap, eyeing him from afar. It was beginning to back away, but before it could take a few more steps, the warrior had already leapt into the air and landed just inches away. “Umarak…” he spoke. “I know you are out there. I will find you.” If Umarak was nearby, he was not showing himself. No, he was nowhere near this exact location. This Shadow Trap was merely a scout for him, in search of something the hunter was after. The warrior looked right into the single eye of the trap, which start to shake and back away again. “I know your master is here. I know he is out there. I want him to know that I have come for him. I want him to know that Volchior, former Knight of Terankos, is here for him.” Review Topic here: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/23802-review-the-knights-of-terankos/

Artakha. Mata Nui. Kjetha Magna. Terankos. Despite their importance to the universe, their names seemingly vanished into legend as time went on and the people of Okoto enjoyed their peaceful and abundant lives. As a mask maker’s assistant, Elitha saw these names every so often due to the legend written in stone within the forge of the mask makers. Before serving as a mask maker’s assistant, she was only familiar with one of these names, but not the others. Her master and mentor emphasized how important they were to their history and how important it was to forever know their names and their contributions to their universe. “Without the will of the gods, we would not even be standing!” Those were his words to her the first time she asked about the significance of their names. Whenever she was not cleaning up or fetching materials to create masks, the young villager spent part of her free time reading the legend over and over again while doing some personal reading about them. Her research proved fruitful in some regards, but not so much over all, as much history about them was seemingly lost to time. The name of Mata Nui was one that showed up more often than the others, most likely because he was their great protector and thus held in such great regard by their ancestors. Kjetha Magna was a name that showed up only once in a while, mostly in some tales passed down or through songs recited by travelers. Elitha’s mother personally told her that she was in fact partially named after the goddess herself, as she saw her daughter as destined for greatness. Elitha recalled some tales of the goddess recounted by her mother, which was how she got to know about Kjetha Magna and how she became interested in conducting personal research. Artakha was one name as old as time itself, and thus was lost to it. He created the universe, his three children, but that’s all that was ever written about him. At least, in any records that survived long enough to tell his tale. Finally, there was Terankos, the mad god of shadows. There were some records written about him, yet with his descent into darkness, holding such records about him was considered taboo. Aside from finding tales about how he fell from grace, the only other thing she could find was a short recount of a group who thrived in the shadows and renounced the light. The Knights of Terankos. The name alone was enough to send a chill down her spine. Not much was written about them, but the very concept of a group who reveled in the shadows was enough to make her tremble in fear. Elitha’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door bursting open, followed by some footsteps and the sound of a door slamming. “Failure! A failure!” The golden-armored figure proceeded to throw a pair of masks across the room, sending them flying into the wall just opposite of Elitha. “M-m-m-master? A-a-are you o-o-okay?” she asked. The mask maker let out a deep sigh before looking her way. “Elitha, my dear assistant… It is fine. I am fine now. I did not mean to frighten you.” “M-M-Master M-M-Makuta…? Is there s-s-something wrong?” It was then that Makuta explained to his assistant what had gone on prior to his return. How he was looking to make the villagers look up to him as they did his brother. How he infused more than one element into his latest masks. How these masks caused nothing but trouble for those who used them. Elitha knew all too well about what he was referring to. As his assistant, she worked with Makuta on a day-to-day basis and overheard things from fellow villagers, so she could see the problem from both perspectives. Some villagers felt intimidated by Makuta, mostly due to his serious demeanor and somewhat aggressive nature. Elitha saw a little more to Makuta than what others did, perhaps even more than Ekimu himself did. Makuta would sometimes share his thoughts to her, whether it was to vent his emotions to her or to get some sort of idea or reassurance. Although, Elitha felt there was more to what Makuta let on and that there were things he kept secret from everyone. Never the less, Elitha did not pursue the matter as per her shy, demure nature and how deep down, she was somewhat intimidated by Makuta herself. I only hope I never make Master Makuta so angry… he doesn’t do to me what he did to those masks just now. “I-I-it will be all right. You’ll see.” Makuta simply shook his head and began to walk away. “I can only hope you’re right, my dear assistant.” As Makuta walked away, Elitha went over to the masks he discarded to pick them up and leave them with the rest of his things. “Whoa, what was that all about?” Startled, Elitha shrieked and dropped the masks as she heard a voice. She turned around to see the villager who worked as Ekimu’s assistant. “Oh. Quor. I-i-it’s only you.” Quor was someone she wouldn’t normally get to talk to due to their contrasting personalities. Where she was quiet and to herself, Quor was talkative and enjoyed being around others. With his friendly, out-going nature, it was only natural that everyone got along with him. Elitha on the other hand, had trouble speaking to others regularly and became nervous very easily, so she remained quiet. Whenever she spoke, she spoke in a soft, quiet voice while stuttering her words. She could sometimes overhear what some of the other villagers would say about her and how they painted her as being strange and in some cases, creepy. That was how most saw her, but Quor was different and spoke to her like a friend. She enjoyed speaking to him whenever she could, despite how nervous she felt talking to others. His kindness made her feel less afraid and less alone. Although lately, she began to have some feelings she couldn’t describe the more she found herself around him. “Makuta seems like he’s been under a lot of pressure lately, hasn’t he?” “Y-y-yes,” she started, “I think it’s been about these masks he’s been working on.” “Really? What happened this time?” Elitha grimaced at those last words. Sadly, this wasn’t the first time some kind of “mask-related disaster” happened. She didn’t like being reminded of that, however. “Well, one of the masks helped a groundskeeper with growing some berries…” “Uh-huh?” “Then the other one made the trees those berries grew on burst into flames.” “Oh… that’s… not good.” “You’re telling me.” There was a moment of silence as Elitha picked the masks up from the floor. It wasn’t long before Quor broke the silence. “You know, Ekimu says that Makuta’s contributions matter just as much as any of his.” “Master Ekimu said that?” “Well… yeah. He’s picked up on what’s been going on. He’s seen it for a while now. He’s worried about Makuta.” “Worried? How so?” “Well, I don’t remember what he said exactly, but he said that if he lets these feelings get the best of him…” Quor paused for a moment. “What will happen?” Elitha asked. Quor’s tone changed from his usual energetic one to one that was somber when he spoke again. “Then these feelings could overwhelm him and eventually drive him mad…” “Terankos…” Elitha whispered softly. “Come again?” “Terankos,” she replied, speaking louder. “The god of shadows.” “The one in the ancient writing? What does he have to do with this?” “Well… he doesn’t have anything to do with this.” Elitha shook her head. “I know it sounds crazy, but when you mentioned getting overwhelmed by negative feelings, I couldn’t help but think about how apparently the same thing sort of happened with…” Quor looked at her intently. Elitha laughed nervously. “It’s nothing. I’m just…” Elitha paused before thinking she sounded crazy. “I’m just… being… creepy. That’s all.” At that moment, Quor made his way over to her and suddenly putting a hand on her shoulder. Elitha gasped as she felt his touch. “Don’t let what anyone else says about you ever make you feel this way. You’re not something to be avoided like a plague. You’re my friend. Never stop being true to yourself, Elitha.” Elitha was unsure how to respond initially. Not only because Quor boldly put a hand to her shoulder, but because no one aside from her mother ever told her anything like that before. Before she could say anything, he took his hand back and continued. “It might sound a bit far-fetched, but I can see what you’re getting at. I hadn’t thought of it like that before… Well, I guess we can only hope Makuta doesn’t let his frustration and ambition get the best of him.” Elitha happily nodded. “You’re right. I-i-i-I’m sure he’ll be fine.” *** Makuta walked down the corridor to his private chamber. Going through the door, he proceeded towards his open balcony that overlooked the island. What…? What is my purpose here? The villagers of Okoto uphold and revere my brother while I am nothing but a second contender. I am nothing in his shadow. This… this can’t be right! My masks are just as good, if not better, than anything my brother can create! So why…? Makuta’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard some very faint laughter. Where is that laughter coming from? Makuta when back into his private chamber, where the laughter seemed to be louder than before, but to no avail did he find the source of it. As he took a few more steps, that’s when he heard someone speaking to him. You fool… “Who’s there?” Makuta demanded. He frantically turned around. The voice he heard sounded like it was coming from inside his head. Desperate, he wanted to find the owner of the voice. Somebody… Makuta looked around the room again, but still he saw no one else with him. Somebody who wishes to help you… “I don’t understand.” At that moment, Makuta noticed a pair of angular, crimson eyes glowing in a dark corner in the room. When the voice spoke once more, it no longer sounded like it was coming from inside his head. “You want recognition. You crave the admiration of others. You wish to outshine your brother in order to make others show you that same amount of admiration and respect!” “How… how do you know this?” “Believe me… I know everything there is to know about you, Makuta. Like the fact that Ekimu cares not for you or how the villagers of this place view you.” “That… that can’t be true! Can it…?” “You sound so unsure of yourself, Makuta. Where is your usual abundance of confidence? Or was that all a façade to make others respect you?” “What are you getting at? Who are you?” “I am the forgotten one. I am the bringer of judgement. I am the one they call the ‘mad god of shadows.’ I am the second son of Artakha.” “Terankos…” “I know all too well the feelings in your heart, Makuta, as I once had such feelings before suffering betrayal at the hands of my own brother and sister. History is written by the victors, and as such I am painted as a being gone insane for my downfall at their hands. You and I are kindred spirits, Makuta.” Makuta fell to his knees as the voice of Terankos continued to speak to him. He was not sure what to make of what was going on. Either he had gone insane, or somehow the banished god of shadows was speaking directly to him, offering him counsel. Normally, he wouldn’t be so easily swayed by such words, and yet being in the presence of Terankos had a very humbling effect on Makuta. The mask maker felt as though he had experienced an awakening that shook him to his very core and slowly everything he had known began to crumble. He hung onto his every word and soon, he found himself having new feelings and ideas he could not describe, taking the place of the ideals he clung to. “Your desire and ambition are to be admired, Makuta, as well as the means you go to achieve what you wish for. Even breaking the most sacred agreement between you and your brother…” “I had no choice,” the mask maker grumbled. “I was getting nowhere. I needed to do it.” “That is fine, Makuta. However, one needs more than just the courage to challenge fate in order to achieve greatness. You must have power. Only then will you garner the authority and respect you deserve.” “I’m listening…” The words the mask maker spoke were as soulless as his gaze into the eyes of Terankos. “You know what you must do. You know the way to achieve ultimate power. Gather your allies. Bargain with those who may prove worthwhile to serve you and do away with those who hinder you. I shall house a small fraction of my power within you. Anything you truly desire… I shall desire it, as well…” From the mind of the author: Picking up from my previous short story. Initially, these two were the same, with the tale of the gods being written as a small prologue, then transitioning to Elitha's thoughts at the very start. But then I didn't know if I'd ever write the whole thing, and even then I wanted something simple to refer to when/if I were to continue writing. Because if I do, that will be where everything stems off from, and I didn't want to totally include it in one writing, especially if you choose not to read this story but read another story I may/may not write. Anyways, this is more or less me playing around with some of the characters and how they behave. One important thing to note about how I will be writing if I choose to do more: I am unfamiliar with certain aspects of G2 lore. I never was able to get ahold of the books. There are some plot points that went on that I may be unfamiliar with or have some knowledge of but only limited. Likewise, there are some aspects of G2 lore that I liked and disliked. So with that in mind, as sacrilegious as it might sound, I may end up disregarding some aspects of the original story if I am either unfamiliar with it or flat out did not like how it was handled. And that'll be if I were to touch on it at all. Regardless, think of it as an almost-identical universe to G2 with similar characters and whatever, but with some deviations and changes. For example, my attempt at trying to make Makuta a little more of someone you can sympathize with before he totally goes crazy with power. Because to my understanding, he was always ambitious out of jealousy, but I figured that could have been touched on more to show he wasn't completely evil. The hardest part for me at least was trying to characterize Terankos, as he only existed on an index card for a few months before I put him into writing. If I do make more set in this "universe," I will work on how to portray him, especially if he appears more prominently in other works. For now, let's just say he's a delusional, manipulative opportunist who tries to set up all the pieces to put things in motion. Quor and Elitha are characters of my creation, and serve as assistants to Ekimu and Makuta as a way to give an aspect to them as characters and to commentate on them. Sort of to show that Ekimu does have the best interest for Makuta in mind and likewise that Makuta's not totally evil but rather just frustrated and desperate to make everyone adore him. As of right now, I have in mind what villages they go to (sort of, I'm still working on how that will play out), but I may just with hold that information for a while, since it would play into future stuff. Quor is sort of going to act like a mix of Jaller and Takua for the most part while Elitha is going to act like her "G1 namesake" that I made years ago for stuff that didn't exactly see life beyond just some Word documents and notes. Long story short: the original Elitha was an Av-Matoran who was very studious, kind, and loving, but also very shy and easily frightened. As she hated fighting, all she really had were a pair of scalpels for defense. She was eventually displaced, captured by the Brotherhood of Makuta, and eventually used as a lab rat to become a mentally-broken, power-crazed wild woman of a Toa of Shadow, stuck wearing an alternate weakened Black Ignika dubbed sarcastically by her as the mask of death. Her Toa form did have a topic on here once, but that was long ago before the forums lost some of the older stuff. Anyways, thank you all for reading. Or whatever. I hope you liked it. Or at least find some enjoyment and interest. As I've said before, I'm really unsure if I will write more stuff set in this universe. And if I do, I'm also not totally sure how much of it will see the light of day, especially in BZP's case as I've been very reluctant about sharing my writing here lately. If I do, some of the things you can look forward to would be a story about the gods and their creation by Artakha, a story about the Knights of Terankos hinted at in this story, and a story that will encompass a rewrite of the ending of JTO and a transition into what I think a third year of Bionicle could have worked that would eventually tie in all of these short stories and potential submission for the Epics forum.

There is friendship and compassion towards others in the theme. Why not romance? It doesn't have to be anything beyond such romantic feelings between two beings. You know, since it's a kids' theme. And as others have pointed out, they are robots, so... yeah... stuff like... THAT.... wouldn't necessarily make sense anyway. Plus, at least in G2 there is such thing as the Okoto villagers being able to have children and what not, so it wouldn't be too far fetched that some romantic feelings might be involved somehow.

I suppose so. Unfortunately in cases like Umarak, we don't know the name of every species encountered in the story, aside from the Okotans and the Toa, for one. Well, either way, I just took something supposedly in a Lego Magazine and ran with it. Whether or not they are canonically called "Matoran" or not may never be answered with the story wrapped up and over. I might still play around with the idea for a bit before/ if I write anything further about anything involving them.

If I were to make a continuation to it, you might see a bit of that sort of fall from grace. Maybe as another short story I was tinkering with, dealing with Makuta and someone who knew him. Unfortunately I do end up letting grammatical errors slip by me, even when using Word. But then again, that's what happens when I'm writing at 2 AM. Anyways, if I do make another short story like this one, you might see some parallels between Makuta and Terankos. In which case, there might be one more short story set in this "universe," and possibly an epic or two based around Artakha and his three children, and one that looks at Umarak and his encounter with a dark group that revels in the shadows and Terankos himself. Initially, this was going to be part of a larger short story, but then I figured I'd just make this as my springboard for what I base my "fanon" on. I'd place this scroll or tablet (I'm not sure if scroll paper existed in this universe??) somewhere in the Mask Makers' Forge or maybe the Temple of Time. Maybe along with the Prophecy of the Toa as well, seeing how significant the events between these four are for the Protectors and their people. Maybe even one of them for Makuta... The magazine in question I believe came out in September. I can't be sure, since for some reason, Lego stopped sending them to me despite my subscription being up to date. Perhaps turning 24 for a magazine aimed for 6-12 year olds turned them off. The section in question has these sort of "Punch-Out!!" fight posters featuring Umarak Vs. Ekimu, Tahu vs. Lava Beast, Onua vs. Quake Beast, and oddly enough Gali vs. Storm Beast. The blurb talks a bit about the impending battle and refers to the Okotans as the "Matoran Protectors." But as the people over at the TTV channel put it, the writers may have just done that in the 11th hour once Bionicle's story was done but still wished to promote the sets... what was left of them. It was from them that I heard about this, so I just shrugged my shoulders and said "works for me." I needed some sort of collective term for these guys, and Okotan can work, does that word refer to them as a people or anyone who lives on Okoto?

Long ago, in a time before time, the universe was protected by the mighty god of time known as Artakha. From the heavens, Artakha maintained and watched over the flow of time, making sure there were no disruptions or dangers to the beings inhabiting the universe. He worried for those in the universe, because in addition to maintaining the flow of time, he had other duties needed to be fulfilled to the inhabitants, most notably the Matoran. His primary duty alone was one that took a lot of effort and diligence, which he could not fully dedicate to the Matoran and their livelihood. From that point on, he created three new deities that would watch over the Matoran while he continued to take care of the flow of time. Mata Nui, the god of light. Kjetha Magna, the goddess of death and rebirth. Terankos, the god of shadows. Artakha entrusted his three children to oversee the lesser aspects of the universe, such as the life and well-being of the Matoran and other beings inhabiting the universe. Mata Nui served as their guardian and protector, making sure the Matoran were safe and able to enjoy life. Mata Nui presented the three virtues which the Matoran would uphold and revere: Unity, Duty, and Destiny. Kjetha Magna served as the one who oversaw the life processes of all living beings in nature. She also served as the keeper of the souls of the deceased and creator of souls of those who were yet to be born. However, she would not be the keeper of all souls. Terankos served as the keeper of the shadow realm, a place of darkness and solitude, to serve as a prison and final destination for those who committed great enough crimes against the set of morals and standards put in place by Mata Nui to the point Kjetha Magna branded them as irredeemable. Terankos was the only one who could pass judgment of who would spend eternity in the shadow realm and whose soul could truly be entrusted with Kjetha Magna for some hope of redemption. Mata Nui, the Protector. Kjetha Magna, the Caretaker. Terankos, the Judge. These were the roles they played in the grand scheme of Artakha’s great universe. Mata Nui was granted the legendary mask of light. Kjetha Magna was granted the powerful mask of life. Terankos was granted the mighty mask of shadows. There was peace and balance for a time, and all was fine in the universe. This peace would not last, however, as Terankos slowly began to lose himself to the very shadows he had power over. The power of the shadows could corrupt and twist one’s mind, so in order to control it, one had to have a strong, pure heart and a proper amount of mental discipline, which Terankos once possessed. Ruling over the shadow realm and trying to control and break the spirits of the numerous criminals and wrong doers slowly began to take a toll on the mighty god of shadows. His mind was slowly lost to insanity and his heart tainted by the very dark morals he vowed to contain and hold back. Through his new point of view, he began to see Mata Nui as his rival and enemy for being so highly revered and celebrated by the Matoran while his deeds were unnoticed and overlooked. In his eyes, he was the true protector of the Matoran keeping them safe from the various criminals that plagued the universe. Driven insane by his desire to claim his position as the true protector of the Matoran, Terankos confronted his brother and challenged him, accusing him of being a false idol for taking credit for all of the good he did for the Matoran. Mata Nui, shocked and hurt by these accusations, tried to calm him and see what happened to the once-noble god of shadows. Terankos denied him, blinded by the corruption of the darkness in his heart and boldly declared Mata Nui to be a coward and an imposter. Mata Nui said nothing, but engaged with Terankos in combat. Saddened, he fought bravely against his brother, lost to the very shadows he controlled. They were evenly matched in combat and wit, both outdoing each other in as many ways as possible. Their battle raged for a long time until Kjetha Magna stepped in. Filled with grief over seeing her brothers locked in combat, she unexpectedly caught Terankos off guard, trapping him in chains of her own power and ending the senseless fighting. From that point on, Mata Nui declared to Kjetha Magna that their brother was dead and gone, only a shell of who he once was. He then declared that he be imprisoned in the shadow realm for all of eternity, where he would no longer bring harm or danger to anyone. Kjetha Magna asserted herself to imprisoning him herself. When she said she would take on Terankos’ duties of overseeing the shadow realm, Mata Nui merely put a hand on her shoulder and said the task would be too much for someone who already took care of the various souls of the dead and those yet to be born. They agreed they would do their best to oversee the shadow realm together, but that task proved to be too much for them in addition to the duties they already had presented to them. Even still, this would not be the last anyone heard of the mad god of shadows… In the mind of the author: Although I'm a retired writer, I still have ideas from time to time. And although my ideas may not catch the attention of many as they once did in 2006-2010, I feel like sharing them once in a while. This is one such idea. In JTO, Makuta claimed he wanted to claim his place "amongst the gods." Well... who are the gods? What are they like? Unless Lego were to do something in the 11th hour like they did with the "Matoran Protectors" from the recent Lego Magazine, I doubt we'll really know for sure. Speaking of which, I ran with that as my collective term for the Okoto villagers, since that was a mouthful. Plus, what if there's others outside of Okoto? What if there's other lands aside from Okoto? Many questions, no answers. Yet, anyway. And possibly not at all. But then if I were to make my own "continuation" of Bionicle G2, I figured I might as well establish the basis of what it would build itself on. Since this is just a short writing, I figured I would make it as a small written legend presented as a short writing, something I've never quite done before. On BZPower, anyway. The main inspiration and ideas for these characters come from Bionicle G1 (pretty obvious), Greek Mythology, Final Fantasy XIII, some aspects of Fire Emblem Fates and Awakening, and Digimon Frontier (probably the most obscure since most digi-fans don't like it while I'm part of a few that does). Artakha, serves as a Chronos sort of character. Since Ekimu has the mask of creation, that sort of bumped him out of the creator status he had in G1. But then Chronos, god of time, created his various children later on before eventually being overthrown by Zeus. In this case, however, Artakha is just a busy guy who needed some help and has no interest in betraying or eating anyone. Mata Nui, as the great spirit of the G1 story, it made perfect sense to fit him in the role of the Zeus-like figure. As such, he's the god of light, similar to the roles of Bhunivelze in FFXIII (except not evil and not filled with nightmares) and Palutena of Kid Icarus (except not a woman with a trolling sense of humor). He takes a more active role than his namesake in guarding the being in the universe. Kjetha Magna, serves a role similar to the goddess Etro in the FFXIII series and is named sort of after my character Elitha (shadow Toa and angel of death). She has the "Magna" in her name to keep in theme with the old Bionicle and with the naming scheme of Mata Nui. She is more of a motherly sort of character who adores life all great and small, and as such doesn't like fighting or conflict that could result in death. Terankos is sort of a Hades-like figure, who starts off good and pure, but eventually gets driven into madness. His name borrows spelling from Teridax, who as we know was the big bad of G1 who betrayed Mata Nui and was his "brother" and fellow protector of the Matoran. So there's a bit of a hierarchy of gods here, with three major players overseeing the universe (like the 3 celestial Digimon, one of whom became corrupted later coincidentally) and one above them who oversees.... well, everything to the point he barely had time to take care of individuals. It's a pretty generic sort of outline, but it's something I had. And it was meant to be the springboard of something that may or may not happen. There's a lot of people with their own ideas for expanding G2. So like it or hate it, here it is. Enjoy. Or don't. I don't know. This

At the risk of being judged for my opinions again, I will not say much, but I will leave this here. Someone brought this to my attention when I gave my own thoughts and opinions of Bionicle's demise. And it might align with why it was suddenly halted. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2016/09/06/the-surprising-reason-lego-wanted-people-to-stop-buying-its-toys/?postshare=7251473236887115&tid=ss_fb

I click on this expecting something different. I'm so glad it's not what I thought it was. This is probably one of the more creative MOCs I've seen in recent times. And considering I like the tuxedo/suit idea, that's definitely something I like a lot more as I have an affinity to those for reasons I can't understand. The suit, the cane, and even that top hat just work so great. Definitely made my day, so I thank you for that.

I'd be happy to try out something like this. Ironically yesterday I was swapping out parts for Mistika Onua, whose legs exploded because of these weaker parts. I'd be interested to see how these parts go.

You're not expected to do that at all. Would you rather they just didn't release instructions? Would you rather struggle to make your own version? It's not that we're expected to it's rather the idea that it's an absurd way to get your hands on an important set that was never released and how unfair it is that Bionicle was dropped without even giving us one last accessible set. No matter what you thought of G2, the reality stands that it was ended abruptly and in such a way that as a fan you really can't help being upset about. Sure, LEGO doesn't expect us to do anything, and that's because they don't understand how to deal with fandom. Just because technically LEGO doesn't owe us anything doesn't mean we should stop expecting better things from them. They didn't owe us a proper Makuta set, but getting one certainly would've made a lot more fans happy and a lot less ###### at them. The aftertaste left behind by the theme is plain disappointment. If you feel differently, that's you then, but personally the situation left isn't one where we can really learn a whole lot from it. You can't blame us fans for killing the theme since we're not big enough to sustain one through our money alone, and most of us did our part, supporting it (even if that means criticizing it) and its sets and media. The theme died because it was handled poorly, whatever the source(s) may be. Fans, as obnoxious sometimes and critical some of us may be, still are forgiving and want to see the theme thrive. If G3 was announced tomorrow, anyone who's a real fan will be to some extent glad it's happening, but if something goes wrong in production or marketing or anything else to the extent that it not only breaks the theme but damages the IP, we shouldn't just act like that's okay or that it was our fault for existing and liking Bionicle. If LEGO makes Bionicle, it's their responsibility to make it work for their own sake and not to do us any favors, because we've now seen what that looks like. You, I like. I honestly think what really crippled the line was how poorly it was handled. Lack of advertising, not much media or immersion into the story, and sets that you don't even know are there unless you follow sites like this. Even Lego booted out Bionicle from their shop catalogs not long after 2016 began, and I always wondered why. I've mentioned it in other topics, but I think this is most likely the more appropriate place to say so. However, I'm tired at the moment and I don't want to type whatever out again, but I'll run down whatever I've picked up on from interacting with other fans around the net. Compared to G1, the G2 line didn't have much to go off of. Yeah, there were the animations in 2015 and... and... the animations. Oh, and the mobile apps that almost no one seemed to know much about. In 2001, what did we get? MNOG, for one. The Comics. A lot of promotions, a lot of which were even advertised in the comics. A promised PC game that was cancelled, but at least we could have gotten it. In other words, we had more to go off for story and immersion, as well as pretty much advertising the sets. G2 didn't really have that. It's like they wanted the older fans to do that job and talk about how great G1 was and how fun G2 is (was) going to be. In some ways, Lego almost treated it like they didn't want anyone to know. It's like Lego was the Dursley family and Bionicle was Harry Potter, living underneath the stairs so he was out of the way. I hate to put it that way, but it annoyed me how they pretty much treated Bionicle the same way Nickelodeon treated Legend of Korra, but that's another rant for another day. They overall handled this line VERY poorly, and it disappoints me so much that a toy company I loved is slowly going towards the way of a fully corporate company. Don't get me wrong, at the end of the day, Lego is a toy company making toys for kids to make profit and stay afloat, much like Hasbro, Mattel, and whatever other companies there are right now I can't remember right now are doing. However, this was a company that seemed to care about and encourage imagination. Every other TECHNIC set back in the day day the words "Just Imagine..." on the boxes, and it seemed like they really did care about nurturing a child's creativity. While Bionicle had its own story, kids could still make up their own stories and create their own characters to set in this universe. And isn't that what a lot of us did back then? I mean, "My own creation" comes from that whole idea. They cared about Bionicle and they cared about the kids (or young adults as I slowly turned into) that bought these sets. Now we have G2. Comes out of nowhere, announced at Comic-Con, and then...? Aside from catching a few ads on Cartoon Network, I wouldn't have even known Bionicle was back if not for BZPower. Even the Lego Magazine, while it did advertise it, the line wasn't as featured as Ninjago or Chima was. And some people theorize Lego just shoved Bionicle out there, expecting it to be an overnight success and sell itself to save constraction sets, without really giving more into it. This made some people mad, going "OH NOEZ it's teh HERO FACTORY!!" and straight up hating the line while other fans wanted to give it a chance. I wanted to give it a chance. Sadly, by the time we did start getting new story material like the books and graphic novels, the hype died down and by the time the skull villains came out no one seemed to be buying sets anymore. The sets must have been selling so badly, Lego just had to put a halt to everything. A point some people made is also how if kids may not buy it if they do not recognize it, and that's the case with toys in general. Watching Transformers Energon, would you rather buy Rodimus, the cool Autobot commander you see on the TV show, or Sharkticon, that guy who looks kinda cool but you have no idea who he is or what he even transforms into? Some concept. In 2015, what were some big things that came out? The Avengers. Star Wars. These things, as licensed lines, sell themselves, and so happen to have ties to Lego. While not original lines, Lego still makes money because kids will see "STAR WARS" on the box and get it. If a kid goes out to look at toys, just after seeing The Force Awakens for the first time, imagine their excitement with all the new stuff out there. Now, do you think they'd rather have toys for characters like Finn, Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, etc, or these Bionicle alien robot things that look kinda cool but don't know much about because they came out of nowhere...? Of course they'll want to go for what they're familiar with, they'll go with the Star Wars toys. Ironically, the one line Lego made and created themselves sells itself short in favor of lines based off properties not made by Lego, but sell toys of based off an agreement, and those are making them money next to Ninjago for example. They've concentrated themselves elsewhere, and it's not good. All that was made by creation and imagination? Now they're just selling and making money off stuff based off something someone else made up, not their original ideas like it was with Bionicle. So going with the corporate idea, they've gone with what makes them the most money and are avoiding the "failure" of Bionicle like the plague. Retailers aren't ordering sets because they want to get rid of them from the shelves ASAP. Even Lego stores themselves are trying to get rid of these things like they're nobody's business. Because, again, kids do not recognize them and are not hooked onto them like most of us were. G1 had so many good promotions to get interest going, even things like that Free the Band deal they had back in 2006. Would they have done something like that for 2016? Yeah... The way things went, I doubt they'd even make another fake Yacht website, let alone get permission to use the likeness of an actual band. Now they're just kind of brushing it off like it's nothing. We were promised 3 years, but now that's not happening. And aside from the pictures of what Dorek took and put up on that flickr album, they don't even have the sense to make actual instructions for us like they did for Spiriah or the Destral Cycle or any of those models. Unless they took apart the model without documenting anything, they should at least have given us official instructions. Some people can work well with just pictures, and I fully respect those people. However, I'm not one of those people, and I would need to ask for a lot of help in building such a thing without instructions. And I actually did need to one time. I even related the story to my mother, who does remember how into these sets I was as a kid. She told me they're handling this very unprofessionally and it's absurd that we not only don't get instructions but we'd have to blow nearly $140 on sets just to build this thing, which based on reviews I've watched I almost don't like all that much anyway as a "toy," more than it is a model for display. I'm not tearing up my sets to build it, no matter what the scary psycho guy I watched says I "Should" do it because those sets are not worth missing and are only worth it for Makuta. No. And I'm having enough problems as it is trying to get these sets together. Sure, I can find them, but I'm still trying to get the summer 2016 stuff, and it's not like money grows out of the ground for me. When I told her about how not only would you have to use those sets to build him, but how the set wouldn't have the proper mask as it did not exist, she was like "Oh, come on, so they expect you to waste all that money for that and it's not even complete?" And she's right. While I truly respect and appreciate those who are making this mask themselves, it shouldn't have to be that way. Had Lego treated Bionicle better, we could have gotten an actual Makuta set with an actual Mask of ultimate power. Instead, we get disappointment. And it leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth as well, because I was looking forward to this line, and it was sort of going to be like my last hoorah before having to sort of "give up" on collecting them. Money and inflated prices do not go well. And maybe that's another reason why kids might not have gone for it. in the old days, $20 could almost get you 3 canister sets. Before 2006, mind you. Today, you'd only be able to get one of the larger Toa. Or a small Toa and have some money left over. Point being, this line could have been handled better and after thinking about it for some time, while I am grateful to Lego for letting me enjoy this time before I would have to move on, I'm also disappointed that they crippled this line's potential for having possibly been a lot better. It's like they didn't even give it a chance. I mean, for one they give it a show, but it's on Netflix. Not Cartoon Network like Chima and Ninjago. I mean, why not have left it as a mini-series like Ninjago's first 4 episodes were? That'd be perfect! Plus, not everyone gets Netflix. Yet CN is available on most cable TV and satellite packages, thus more widely accessible. While I'm glad we got something, it feels like there wasn't much put into what we did get, it could have turned out much differently, and that's one of the main things people are upset about. It ended abruptly and it feels just like we were robbed of something. At least the G1 story did have some closure (aside from the unfinished serials) and it feels a lot more rounded out. Some might argue it was drawn out, but hey, I mean that's part of the reason why it was ended in the first place, so that it didn't feel so drawn out. This line didn't even make it past the 3 years most themes get, which seems totally unfair and questionable. And sure, we don't have to do anything else, but then for those who do want a Makuta set... they have to go the extra mile just to get that supposed model in their collection. I got so turned off by the idea that it makes me like that model even less now. I can't say if I'll ever build it since I would rather hang onto that money and apply it towards the sets I'm still looking to get, which is pretty much all the summer 2016 ones and creatures. So aside from not even putting out an official release of the model, they can't even put out official instructions for said model as they've done in the past for other combination models. It all just leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth seeing one of my favorite lines being treated so poorly by a company that has left me sad and disappointed. And after thinking about it, it boils down to how poorly they treated it. Like the Legend of Korra before it, so much potential just buried and hidden away. At least Korra did get a full run despite what was thrown at the story team. Bionicle was not so lucky.

As you can probably guess with the surge of Makuta MOCs going up on here, this is going to be one of those in the rebrick contest. Even though I have no chance of winning and he has the generic black/red bad guy look to him, and at least 3/4 people do not like him, I made him anyway and I'm going to share him. What I wanted to go for with him was to make him have the sort of feel the original Makuta had while bringing in something new. So naturally, the original Makuta was a huge inspiration to making this, along with Takutanuva and Karzahni. In addition to trying to have the same sort of spirit as the original Makuta, he's also made up of my trio of Makuta MOCs from back in 2008, who did not really make it past this year thanks to time and broken old parts. So I went and took some of the best aspects of them and put them towards this MOC, so you can say while they're not around today, at least they sort of live on here. So some notes on him. The Prototype version as I call him isn't much of anything, but you can see where I'm sort of going with him. He's small and plain-looking, but that's because I was trying to get a feel of where I was going with him. And Hodge Podge makes a cameo appearance. By now, my MOCs by the names of Norenka, Atheron, and Zartross have gone into him. Atheron's hands and some armor have gone into him. Is staff will later be broken down and incorporated into this MOC much later. Mk. .V (0.5) is closer to the final version, but still looking more bare and lacking. He's much taller now, he has the sort of animalistic legs going for him, and he's now taken a modified version of Norenka's spinning blade staff and a modified version Zartross' shield. The guy who inspired him makes a cameo appearance. Mk. I is what my final product. More armored up and looks imposing. Don't even ask me what the daggers at his collar are there for. Takutanuva and Black Phantom had stuff like that, so why not Makuta? His first gear gimmick allows him to swing his right arm. I almost made it swing both arms, but considering how heavy the shield is, I decided against it. Also, it made more sense he'd be swinging that staff around and holding the shield for defense. His second gear gimmick is carried from Norenka and inspired by Roodaka with how the blades on the staff spin around when turned. Good enough for trying to knock masks off, I thought. He's also got a lot of spikes and jagged edges around him to make him look sort of skeletal and imposing. He has armor almost everywhere to add mass, as well as skirt armor to move along with his legs. He's also got Zartross' feet. Mk. II built on what I liked about Mk. I while adding minor details to him. To give him more of a ruler of the underworld feel, I went with the inspiration of another ruler of the underworld from Bionicle lore and gave him chains on his arms, replacing the Bohrok eyes that now rest at his arm blades. He's also got more tubes on him like the set of Karzahni that wrap around to his back. And I changed the arrangement of some of his armor around to make him a little more cohesive. I personally thought he looked fine. Even my mom liked the way he looked (and she's always hated how most of the official sets look), but he seems to be generally hated amongst those I show him to. So while I may not win, I at least had fun making him and I'm personally fine with him. He does what I wanted him to accomplish, and that was to invoke Makuta Teridax. And they actually look good standing side by side together. Like a proud papa next to his mini-Hulk son. He also sort of compliments Umarak the Hunter pretty well (in my eyes, anyway). I have yet to obtain the Destroyer. Anyways, enjoy? The last time I said that, I got 3 dislikes and only one like on a video. So I guess if you like him, enjoy him. If you don't... there's at least five better MOCs in here of the same concept, so you can go look at those. I'll probably be posting other MOCs later on. This is the first one I've posted to here in years. "Prototype" Version: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/texaskid92/Creations/OverlordMakuta/dscf0683.jpg Mk. .V Version: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/texaskid92/Creations/OverlordMakuta/13686689_1164073513634241_7185628722162651841_n.jpg Mk. I Version: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/texaskid92/Creations/OverlordMakuta/image.jpeg Mk. II Version: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/texaskid92/Creations/OverlordMakuta/13902697_1175108059197453_7005632817030533732_n.jpg Front w/weapons at ready: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/texaskid92/Creations/OverlordMakuta/13873182_1172333642808228_2565810702643932444_n.jpg Front w/weapons sheathed: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/texaskid92/Creations/OverlordMakuta/13894996_1172333626141563_1389549459760447021_n.jpg Back/Side: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/texaskid92/Creations/OverlordMakuta/13912767_1172333666141559_4433302506496831360_n.jpg With Umarak: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/texaskid92/Creations/OverlordMakuta/13920775_1172333596141566_6622001984210917955_n.jpg Gallery When Public: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=565830

Do I think it'll come back. I would normally be positive and say "Yes." However, after watching a lot of "Bionicle G2 is dead!!" conspiracy videos on that website that has a ton of videos... I have my doubts now, because a lot of them make good points. Since I'm known (probably) for long-winded posts, here's another one for you all. One point that almost all of them get across is the first time Bionicle was cancelled, it was done in a way where the line was cancelled BEFORE anything bad happened, eg before it dragged on too long before possibly tarnishing the brand name. The sets were still selling well at that point, but numbers were steadily dropping just for how many sets were selling. However, the line was cancelled before retailers could go and say the line was nothing but a large shelf warmer taking up space. Ergo, it was still okay to bring it back later because it was still a trusted brand that sold well enough in the past, so retailers could feel fine about carrying these toys in their stores. Fast forward to 2015, Bionicle G2 is announced, HYPE TRAIN AHOY!!! The Toa are back, everyone is so excited, YAYZ!!! Going back to my earlier point, it's a new Lego line technically, but it's still a trusted brand, so stores are going to give it a shot because these sets with this brand name sold well enough in the past. Fast forward again to 2016. Why am I seeing Master Tahu next to Uniter Tahu? Why is there Skull Basher, Skull Slicer, and that scorpion thingy in a corner by themselves?? Why can't I find a Quake Beast anywhere??? WHY? WHY? WHY? At this point, it's clear the line isn't selling well. Retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and even Kmart are having problems clearing away last year's sets from the shelves. In the old days, I'd have been lucky to find another Toa Mata set next to one of the Toa Nuva sets. And it's at a point now where Wal-Mart and Target wanted to get rid of those sets like the plague because no one was buying them. I've seen them go on clearance and eventually vanish after that, only because they were on clearance. Not only that, but then retailers don't even want to order more sets because of how they were selling, thus leading to the summer 2016 sets to pretty much become toys r us exclusives. Worst yet, if you haven't gotten a hold of those sets now, you're almost in trouble because even TRU is not stocking them as they ought to. Meanwhile, Lego is also trying to clear out their stock like no tomorrow in the hopes of getting rid of them. Production by now has most likely stopped, and as such the line is no more. By now, the damage has been done. Whether it's because of a lack of marketing (I've barely even seen a Bionicle commercial on in the last 2 years, and it was only during showings of the Pokemon show), naysayers putting down the line because it's "Hero Factory with a new name," or kids just not liking or being unfamiliar with the brand, it was not selling. Marketing is a powerful tool. It can be the difference between something being a success and well-known all over the world, or something that is kept quiet and never popular outside of a certain group of people. In some cases, some music groups victim to bad marketing never get big around the world due to record labels not marketing their music enough. Then for you as a recording artist, you're stuck not being popular outside of Germany and doing small odd jobs. Or acting in plays like Carly Rae Jepsen is doing on and off. You need something powerful to took a kid's imagination and interest. The original commercials for Bionicle did just that. These cool alien robots on this primitive-looking island shrouded in mystery?? How cool is that?! I want those toys! I wanna get all of them! But I mean aside from BZPower and Lego's website, how else would you get to know about Bionicle? Not only that, if kids are not familiar with it, they may not want to get it. Especially considering an example of Star Wars? As a little kid who just finished seeing The Force Awakens, would you rather get a toy of the awesome characters you just saw in the movie like Kylo Ren or Finn or Rey? Or some alien robots who look kinda cool but you're not sure about who they are? Of course, an average kid will persuade their parent to get them the toys of what they are familiar with. So in the end, Bionicle ended up falling short of Lego's expectations, so they cancelled it. Why? Retailers are almost sick of these sets, trying to shovel them out the door as fast as they can. Why? Because the kids these sets are the target audience for are not interested in this line they are not too familiar with. Why? Well, that could be a number of things, but I almost feel a better marketing campaign might have helped a bit, but maybe not save the world. Marketing, competition, it could be a number of factors. I would have said I was positive there would be a third Bionicle generation, until I realized that retailers might not even want to carry those sets anymore. Instead of remembering it as the line from 2001-2010 that sold a good amount of sets in its time, now they're going to remember it as the line from 2015-2016 that they needed to get out of the way because they weren't selling enough. With that logic, it isn't too encouraging. So at this point, I'm just really unsure. I want to be positive, but then logic tells me retailers will not want to stock their stores with things people are not going to buy. As for would I want it to return, I'm also unsure. At this point, I'm becoming older and life has literally smacked me in the face with a 2,000-page book as a real wake-up call. If Bionicle did come back, I wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much as I would wish to. So I was very thankful it did come back, even for a short time, but even now it was hard to get these sets. Prices and inflation made it a lot harder for me to keep up. $20 in 2001 would have almost got me 3 $7 Toa at Kmart or a Titan set. $20 just barely gets me one $20 Toa set. And then what about the other sets? As much as I would love to keep going, it pains me to say that I can't. If it does come back, it'll just be sort of a sad reminder. One can argue I could just keep up with the story and what not, but where's the fun in that? And sadly, this generation didn't have as many books and media to go off from compared to the first generation. So it's kind of bittersweet for me, but I honestly don't even know if I'd want it to continue. Continue and leave a sadness in my heart for not being able to go after the sets as I wanted because of adult responsibilities. Or just not continue and I can rest easy knowing there is nothing more for me to do as a fan aside from continue making videos and literature to keep the spirit of Bionicle alive. I honestly don't know, maybe I'm sounding selfish. I guess with Bionicle G2, I wanted one last hoorah to collecting sets like the old days and having fun before I realize I'm 23 and I have responsibilities now.

On the plus side, at least BZP is not down for the cancellation of G2 as it was for G1. Unfortunately, without a place to stand together during the first cancellation when the site was having problems, the fanbase kind of started to decline on here. That being said, other than that being a possible factor, once it was cancelled, people seemingly lost interest in it, especially without the serials or any story material to discuss or look at. I've had many friends I used to talk to a whole lot on here suddenly just stop coming on here, having found other interests and having life sort of catch up with them, and I can see that. It's been hard on me as well, and I almost don't even pay attention to other Lego themes because I have so many things to do for college and eventually looking into entering the workforce that I can't dedicate myself as I used to. It's like I either buy this new set or I eat tonight, one or the other. So back then, everyone just sort of went their separate ways and the once crowded forums that would sometimes go offline due to too much people being online at once sort of got quiet with what would be a fraction of what I used to see on here when I was around more. It's like, there'd almost always be someone online you could interact with. You could post in the library forum or general artwork forum and your topic would definitely get views and replies depending on how interested people are within that same week, if not even the same day, and the topic would eventually become a "hot topic" with over 30 replies, and your topic might even make the formerly "hot topics of the day" list that was on the front page. Now, we don't exactly have that kind of activity. Topics might sit around and get replies here and there. In my case, if you get replies at all. I used to be a decent writer on here and people used to enjoy reading my topics. These days, if I try to write anything, it'll just sit there with no replies and I may not get the feedback I was used to getting back then, so I'll never be sure if I'm just a bad writer now or people just read but don't reply. There's not too many people online as much, and the number of members online at once is noticeably smaller. But there would be people online still, because there is still an interest in the line. It's just not as present as it once was back when G1 was thriving. However, because most of my friends left BZPower and because no one seemed to enjoy my work anymore, I became sort of like a "Phantom" on here as I like to call myself. I phase in and out whenever people least expect me, so I'm not gone from the forums but I'm not always there like I used to be in my younger years. So my guess is that the forums might quiet down a bit without much story material to discuss, but forums that involve creation and fan work will still be open seeing as I imagine a lot of people will still want to contribute somehow to the Bionicle universe and share their work with other fans. Whether it's fan art, fan-fiction, web comics, etc, that won't go away. But forums like Bionicle theories and story discussion will most likely quiet down since we no longer have much story to discuss and some possible theories to go over, but not so much. Granted, G1 still has so many unanswered questions and I feel like we barely even got to know the world of G2 due to it being ended prematurely. As for what the site as a whole did without Bionicle, there was a transition to sort of just becoming a fan site for all Lego overall, even doing set reviews on sets from other themes and reporting news having to do with Lego as a whole. Since BZP still sort of does that, I imagine that will continue still. We just won't have as much Bionicle-related news on the front page anymore unless out of nowhere we get new sets, new story material, etc.

I only faintly remember something around the lines of this. Faintly. By that, I mean hardly at all. It almost sounds like they bailed out on the contest idea close to the last minute. Unfortunately I never paid attention to the HF contests so I mostly skimmed through them. I've never thrown away a single Lego Club magazine... however, those that I own have all gone to the scattered corners of my garage, so I can't even begin to say where I might be able to find anything. I found a magazine advertising the Hordika just a few days ago in my garage, but that was by accident. So seeing as I barely even remember such a contest nor do I think I can find much information about it, I may not be of much help to you.

That's not a bad idea. I loved those Bionicle tubs of parts (I still own one and use it to store extra parts) and as someone who was casually following the HF line, I thought there was more potential to the whole Hero Recon Team and the ability to design your own hero. If they did something like that for Hero Factory, I would've totally gone for it. That way I wouldn't have to had bought duplicates of various 2011 sets to create my own MOCs... I mean, to fully explore the options of actually creating and expanding on the idea of building your own hero. Or the villain. I think one thing that could have been played into more with Hero Factory is the whole idea of how there's many heroes in this universe that you don't see. And while the A-Team is the one the story centers around on, it still leaves the door open to someone to make their own stories with their own characters and allow imagination and creativity to take place. But alas, a missed opportunity. Hopefully it'll be one Lego thinks of exploring again. Given, they think of another line in the same vane as HF and Bionicle. I've listened to so many "Bionicle is Cancelled" videos with so many theories and what not that part of me still wants to be hopeful yet all the NEIGH-sayers are making me feel otherwise.

A side dish very much liked and coveted in the Village of Earth is the side of Es-Kargot. It was Kulta's sick moves with a skateboard on some rails that earned him the nickname of "Skull Grinder" among his friends. It was at that moment Tahu saw the band of marching Skull Warriors he was surrounded by the Walking Dead. Takadox was furious because he could not open the door and make his escape unless he found the Barra-KEYS in time. A confusing yet strange misconception is how the Ra-HE are interpreted as being all male while Rahk-SHE are female. When the traitor of Bara Magna approached his captives with a squad of Skrall behind him, they looked confused at his sudden appearance, at which he looked back at them and apologized, saying, "My apologies, but you haven't Metus before, have you?" There's a new form of music called Lerahk that's said to be poisoning for your mind and body. There was a great leader who led a team of 300 Toa against a great threat. His name was Lhikan-idas.

I was one of the people who thought a hard reboot was the best course of action. And I still do. Think of it this way... Star Wars is a huge franchise that has many fans spanning generations. However, one thing that sets it apart from Bionicle is how available the main media is. The movies are always there, whether they're on TV, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, etc to be shared with many future generations of fans. That's how I got into it in the first place. If not for them being preserved on VHS, it would've been hard for me to get into them. And with me owning them on DVD and Blu-Ray, I can share them with friends, family, and future generations. Bionicle does not exactly have that. All the comics, movies, games, graphic novels, all that cool stuff? It's either out of print or super hard to find. I can't even find any of the G2 books or graphic novels these days, and now it might become harder for me with the line's cancellation. But looking at the story of G1, there's a lot to take in and a lot to swallow. I mean, some of the kids in the target demographic were probably born close to when the line ended or were to young to remember anything. And even then, they'd have to play catch-up with whatever they did miss out on, and it's like it's tough luck on them for getting into the story later on for whatever reason or another and now they need to hunt down these books, comics, etc. that were made a long time ago (and in some cases, possibly before they were born) that aren't easy to come by. If Lego were to continuously pump out the books and media so fans could keep up and get into the story even in this day and age, then I would be all for continuing the G1 story, especially with how unfinished it is. But the books have been out of print for years. The comics are no longer a thing. The old graphic novels are also out of print. And the last time I saw a Bionicle movie on store shelves was Web of Shadows in a Kmart discount bin 5 years ago. And maybe some people either aren't aware of all this story media or they are discouraged by the means of how to obtain this media, like paying prices on eBay or the lack of availability. Aside from sites like the BS01 wiki, you don't have too many other options of viewing or reading this stuff. But with Star Wars and even Transformers G1, they're putting the movies and TV series on DVD every so often so fans who have always wanted to get into it and experience it for themselves very well can and they don't have to be discouraged by any sort of difficulties. I wasn't alive in the 1970s and 1980s but thanks to things like this, I can experience these bits and pieces of them thanks to the companies putting out the movies like this. So going back to "it's a whole lot to swallow," you have the issue of "the G1 story is too complex and complicated" as well. Not everyone feels that way, but a lot of people did. So in addition to having to track down all this out of print media, new fans also have a whale of a story to digest in order to understand what's currently going on in the storyline. If availability and accessibility of the story media was not a problem, then maybe the task at hand would be much easier. Need to read up on the storyline of 2001-2003? No problem. You'd have the CA Hapka- Greg Farshtey books there as well as the Mask of Light movie to tell you what went on in those years. But getting all that might not be a simple task as it would be going into Kmart and picking up the Blu-Ray copies of the original Star Wars trilogy. Another way to look at it is with Transformers and how they handled it. G1 and G2 of their franchises were connected to one another. Although, G2 is not remembered as fondly as G1 based on the loud color schemes of the various repaints of toys, various gimmicks, lack of media and coherent storyline (well, I'm still confused by it), and the "in your face" attitude of the commercials with some of the most hilariously bad raps you'd ever heard. That only lasted 1992-1995 compared to the 1984-1988/9 that the G1 line went on for, and that had the G1 Marvel Comics, the Sunbow Cartoon, various means of comics and Japanese Manga, and it's still being continued to this day if you consider the reinvention Dreamwave and IDW did with the characters. Likewise, the Regeneration One comics that also bring back the old Marvel Comic characters into the spotlight from where they were last left. G2 Transformers didn't seem to sell well from what I understand, compared to G1. But then in 1996 came Beast Wars, a reinvention of the Transformers brand that brought it back into popularity and is one that I'm more familiar with as I literally grew up with it. While it had its own set of haters and NEIGH-sayers (TRUKK NOT MUNKY!!!), kids loved it. You had robots that turned into animals, which changed the formula of vehicles and objects, as well as the Mainframe series noted for its story telling and character development. Even today, while it hasn't aged well, I know fans that still regard it as one of the best Transformers stories made, and with Shout! Factory putting Transformers stuff on DVD, kids of today can very well get into it, as well as the adults who were the kids who enjoyed it in its hey day. And all the while, Beast Wars was a somewhat sequel (and prequel) to the G1 story, and it was something the older fans of G1 could get into, but then kids didn't have to get into the old G1 if they weren't born back then, thus weren't totally punished for it. Granted, I did get into G1 once my cousin introduced me to some of the episodes on VHS, so it helped make Beast Wars make a little more sense. Essentially, what I'm saying in all this is there is a way to go about doing a reboot. You can have a continuation of the series, but make sure the older media is at least still available for fans who weren't around back then so they don't feel punished for it. You can have a soft reboot that is sort of a continuation but doesn't totally punish newer fans. Or a hardcore reboot that has nothing to do with the old story and creates a new one with some familiar characters or possibly whole new ones. Bionicle G2 embarked on creating a hardcore reboot with new elements and challenging some of the old Bionicle mythos we knew and grew up with. Did it work? I would like to think so, but I guess sales didn't reflect that. Why? I have no idea. Perhaps the story did not interest younger fans as Lego hoped it would. However if there is a silver lining in this, it shows they know there is a demand for the line. They tried it out, but sadly it didn't work. But they know there is an interest in it among older fans. So maybe someday we will have a Beast Wars of Bionicle that manages to reinvent the line and capture the hearts and imaginations of both new younger fans and older fans who fondly remember the times of days past. Hasbro didn't give up back then, and I hope that neither will Lego.

Something to kind of test the waters with. I had this idea ever since the original Hyrule Warriors game was released. And I did actually have some stuff ready to go. However when I heard there was going to be a 3DS Hyrule Warriors game, I immediately stopped since I heard they'd have more stuff to it. And now that Hyrule Warriors Legends has been shown in more detail, that solidified my decision to hold off on writing anything further since there is another story to go along with the main story of the original game. That being said, I didn't want to totally abandon the project. So instead I'm going to take a cue from Team Fortress 2 and sort of introduce some of the characters to give people an idea of who is going to be in the story and how they're going to be like. And so I don't forget some of the stuff I was going to go with. I'll do 2-3 of these per "chapter," mixing it up with a hero and villain character each time. These won't be any spoilers, so no worries there. Think of these more like me having fun with the characters. Kind of like when I did that smash bros spoof way back in the day no one remembers. And before you ask, I'm glad no one remembers it, I didn't like how it turned out. This won't be where the actual story will be posted, that will be a different topic when there is actual story for me to write. Think of this as my writing pad that I'm sharing with you all. Or whoever chooses to view it. Which is probably like maybe 2 people. Anyways, enjoy. Also, since some people didn't like my shoehorning too many Zelda characters in with the Bionicle characters, I've gone and made some of my own characters to be in their place, save for some of the villains like Ghirahim and Zant because I didn't want to stray away too much and plus they were just too much fun to write about. So in this case we have Cia and Lana being played by... somewhat genderbent versions of 2 Glatorian twins I had in a story no one will ever find. And Elitha has been around in my stories for a while. She's essentially a Matoran who became a Toa of Shadow wearing a corrupted Mask of Life (but it isn't), and she's my answer to Majora and Majora's mask. Meet the Lewa *Lewa is humming happily to himself while he’s taking out random red guys with squealy voices until he is interrupted.* Proxi: Lewa! Princess Nokama is in trouble! Lewa: I know that, but look at all the enemies in the way! What do you expect me to do? Kill enemies or save the princess? Proxi: Well, can’t the guards do it? Lewa: They take 20 minutes just to take down one of these. Proxi: Oh… *The scene cuts away to Nokama, giving her thoughts.* Nokama: When I first met Lewa… I knew there was something special about him. He’s clearly more capable than most of these guards are! Although he might be kind of slow… And destructive. *The scene cuts back to Lewa, who is in front of a boulder blocking the pathway.* Proxi: The way is blocked off… Maybe we could find an alternate route and… Lewa: Surprise bomb attack! *Lewa hurls a bunch of bombs to destroy the boulder. And it works.* Proxi: Can’t you do thing in a more civilized manner? Lewa: Oh, sure-fine. Let me just put down my sword and quiet-surrender to the enemy! Proxi: That’s… not what I meant. *The scene cuts to Nokama.* Nokama: But it works great! *The scene cuts to Lariska.* Lariska: Whatever the princess says, I agree with. I see some potential in him. He just might be a hero in the making. *The scene cuts to Calza the dark sorceress.* Calza: I’m-a make him my man. *The scene cuts to Alda the super moe kawaii light sorceress.* Alda: Admittedly… there’s something about him that makes me feel… indescribable. *The scene cuts to Lewa, using the fire rod.* Lewa, laughing maniacally: Who has the fire now, huh?! *He unleashes his fiery wrath onto a horde of enemies… and their commander.* Antroz: Why does this keep happening to me?! Meet the Lewa. Metru Nui Warriors. Coming Soon (or whenever ShadowBionics feels like it) Meet the Lord Ghirahim *Ghirahim teleports randomly around the room doing the Macarena before he stops, brandishes his sword and does that creepy thing with his tongue.* *The scene cuts to Calza the dark sorceress.* Calza: Ghirahim has style. No doubt about that. He’s not all about style, though. He’s not someone you want to mess with. *The scene cuts back to Ghirahim, who snaps his fingers, summons his daggers, and with the motion of his hand, sends them flying towards his enemies.* Lewa: How does he even do that?! Fi: MEGAMAN MEGAMAN! Lewa: Shut up, Fi! *The scene cuts to Elitha.* Elitha: I… really don’t like him. At all. He’s creepy. He’s sadistic. He’s cruel. He will make anyone he crosses paths with suffer. Trust me… I know firsthand. Did I mention his… choice of attire? *The scene cuts back to Ghirahim, cosplaying as Jack Sparrow.* Ghirahim: It so does fill my heart with such joy hearing your screams of terror. But play time is over for you! *He summons his tile floor of doom from above and brings it down to cause chaos.* *The scene cuts back to Elitha.* Elitha: Granted, he’ll get the job done. There’s no question in that. The less time around him, the better off you are. I know I’m crazy, but this guy… I’m almost tame compared to him. Of course, there are plenty of others who make me look tame when compared to them. Zant: Princess Luna, I can’t find my fur coat or shoes made of cardboard! Elitha: I rest my case. *The scene cuts back to Ghirahim.* Ghirahim: All will suffer in the name of my master! Don’t expect me to hold back! *He takes that moment to turn into his more “metallic” self and take on the enemies.* Kiina: This guy’s not letting up?! What gives?! *Ghirahim takes that moment to strike a FABULOUS pose.* Ghirahim: Because honey dear, I’m too FABULOUS! Meet the Lord Ghirahim. Metru Nui Warriors. Coming Soon (or whenever ShadowBionics feels like it)

No. no, no, and no. No. Absolutely not. As much as I loved the G1 story, I really think it's time to give the story a break and focus on a fresh new story instead, especially for the sake of newer fans. Plus how would you like it if you found out you needed to get ahold of material 5-10+ years ago, most of which is out of print/circulation for many years? Keep G1 and G2 separate from one another, that way newer fans who try to keep up with the story don't get freaked out and we can still have our storylines coexisting peacefully with one another. The G1 storyline as good as it was, slowly became chaotic to the point I needed to have someone explain a few things to me, such as the big reveal of Mata Nui being the MU because I didn't fully understand what I just saw when I watched the Mata Nui Rising video.

My initial name was Lord of shadows (yeah, very original, I know) in reference to Makuta. I eventually got tired of that and combined that name with one of my email addresses into the name ShadowBionics, which sounds more original and somewhat better, actually. So while there's no really no inspiration for it, you can say it's just a combination of my love of Bionicle ("bionics," part of my email) and how I tend to like a lot of villain characters such as Makuta before he became overused ("shadow"). As a joke, I did change my name to something I REALLY don't wish to go into. I changed my name back once my "90 days of shame" were over and I could drop the joke. Otherwise, I don't totally plan on changing my name. I've even gone on to use this name and variations of it online.