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Why did Nuparu Replace Onepu?


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So, we all know that the original tohunga released were the characters destined to transform into the toa Inika. If we had gotten the Onu Koronan team as sets in 2003, I bet you it would've been Onepu, and Taipu. So Onepu was always advertised to us as part of the group that would later become the Inika, so why did the story team take an odd turn and choose Nuparu for the job? He had only gotten an actual set appearance because the designers needed someone to power to boxor, and Onepu was already a grand champion in the Ussal Crab races, so why Nuparu? Onepu helped more in the battle of Kini-Nui than Nuparu ever did! Why did the story team change its mind?

 

One idea I have for this (though I admit it's quite unlikely) is that Onepu is actually a Matoran of Gravity... I mean, I know that purple is a very common color scheme for Onu-Matoran, but it's possible he was a gravity matoran visiting Metru-Nui when all of the crazy forcing-matoran-into-spheres thing was going on and got brain-washed into thinking he was an Onu-Matoran. I personally don't believe this myself as it feels very unlikely, but it's still somewhat possible.

 

Second, is that he might've been a bit "lacking in modesty", as BS01 puts it. Maybe destiny didn't want a selfish toa of earth as part of the Inika? Dunno.

 

Plus, Nuparu was an inventor, and the Inika already had two warriors, so when Jaller was choosing matoran for the voyage, he thought Nuparu might be of the most use to them. This personally sounds the most likely to me.

 

Are there any Greg quotes or such that tell exactly why? Which option do you think is the most viable? And who would you have preferred to be the toa Inika?

Edited by Banana Gunz
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Onepu isn't the only Tohunga who didn't become an Inika, though. Macku was also one of the originals, and she did not become the Toa Inika of Water. As for why, it's hard to say. I doubt it was a choice that had all that much thought put into it, since, to be honest, it's not like the amount of characterization any of them got before 2006 was significant enough to compel them either way. At least, in my opinion. I don't actually know.

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So, we all know that the original tohunga released were the characters destined to transform into the toa Inika.

We do? According to the Official Greg Discussion, the orginal McToran were Jaller, Kongu, Hewkii, Onepu, Macku, and Matoro. No correlation was implied or assumed, and no Greg answers I find imply that such a correlation ever existed. 

 

4)Who Picked the Matoran who were to become the Inika? Were they Planned to become Toa or were the Inika just a general idea at the time.

4b) Any real reason those 6 were picked? Why not Onepu instead of Nupuru for example?

 

4) The story team did. And yes, I believe they were part of Bob’s original plan for the story, as he was part of planning 2006-2007

4b) I really don’t recall the whys and wherefores, that was all discussed five years ago now.

Correlation denied. The six inika, and who would be, were planned from the beginning. The set release had little/no influence. 

 

Edit: Of Onepu: 

 

 1) OK, some BZPers have been wondering about this. Sine Gravity’s colors have been decided as purple and black... does this make Onepu a Ba-Matoran? If you’re intending to work this into a future plot twist, you can just reply "I can’t discuss future story" and we’ll understand.

1) No, it does not. I am not going to ret-con an entire character because of a color poll, that would be stupid.

Edited by fishers64
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I don't think Taipu would have been the second for the Onu-Koro team, since all the others had the same body colour, and he would have probably been confused with Hafu since the only cosmetic difference is their masks. I think Nuparu would have been much more likely, though he might have had his feet changed to Orange like Takua and maybe been given a different mask to differentiate him from Onepu.

 

Man, I really wish that they made Onu and Le 03 Matoran :/ .

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Well, I remember back in 2001 on the original BIONICLE site it said Onepu was clumsy. That was later replaced and he was an Ussal Crab Champion. SO they have changed several things about him. I also remembered somebody mentioning purple being a weaker color in set form much like lime green was, although I'm not sure how true that it.

 

However, why they made Nuparu a Toa rather than Onepu, I guess that is unknown. Although destiny does work in mysterious ways. I personally think because of how he faced the Bohrok and invented the boxor made him more likely to become a Toa rather than Onepu.

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So, we all know that the original tohunga released were the characters destined to transform into the toa Inika.

We do? According to the Official Greg Discussion, the orginal McToran were Jaller, Kongu, Hewkii, Onepu, Macku, and Matoro. No correlation was implied or assumed, and no Greg answers I find imply that such a correlation ever existed. 

 

4)Who Picked the Matoran who were to become the Inika? Were they Planned to become Toa or were the Inika just a general idea at the time.

4b) Any real reason those 6 were picked? Why not Onepu instead of Nupuru for example?

 

4) The story team did. And yes, I believe they were part of Bob’s original plan for the story, as he was part of planning 2006-2007

4b) I really don’t recall the whys and wherefores, that was all discussed five years ago now.

Correlation denied. The six inika, and who would be, were planned from the beginning. The set release had little/no influence. 

 

Edit: Of Onepu: 

 

 1) OK, some BZPers have been wondering about this. Sine Gravity’s colors have been decided as purple and black... does this make Onepu a Ba-Matoran? If you’re intending to work this into a future plot twist, you can just reply "I can’t discuss future story" and we’ll understand.

1) No, it does not. I am not going to ret-con an entire character because of a color poll, that would be stupid.

 

 

 

You don't find it at all a coincidence that 5/6 matoran released originally as sets ended up being the Inika? Well then why didn't Kapura, Kalama, Keahi, or any other Ta-matoran replace Jaller? Maybe a correlation wasn't planned but it happened to be that way, so why go with 5 of those matoran and then decide "Oh, well, just for the heck of it, let's replace that one character with another one!". Proving that there wasn't a correlation doesn't answer any questions here. And since the six Inika's identities were planned as you say, that would give LEGO somewhat of a reason to release the tohunga of them, so then why get one wrong or change it?

 

And I never believed that Onepu was a matoran of Gravity, it was just an idea which I found hard to believe myself, I was just listing possibilities.

Edited by Banana Gunz
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You don't find it at all a coincidence that 5/6 matoran released originally as sets ended up being the Inika? Well then why didn't Kapura, Kalama, Keahi, or any other Ta-matoran replace Jaller? Maybe a correlation wasn't planned but it happened to be that way, so why go with 5 of those matoran and then decide "Oh, well, just for the heck of it, let's replace that one character with another one!". Proving that there wasn't a correlation doesn't answer any questions here. And since the six Inika's identities were planned as you say, that would give LEGO somewhat of a reason to release the tohunga of them, so then why get one wrong or change it?

 

And I never believed that Onepu was a matoran of Gravity, it was just an idea which I found hard to believe myself, I was just listing possibilities.

 

Actually, it's 4/6. Macku was a McToran who wasn't a Inika. 

 

And yes, it's a coincidence. A coincidence is two things that appear to be related to each other, but aren't. 

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So Onepu was always advertised to us as part of the group that would later become the Inika

I've never heard any such thing. Sounds like somewhere along the line somebody told you a false rumor. And we didn't even know Matoran could become Toa until 2003 anyways.

 

Anyways, it was basically because Nuparu had a more memorable story role in more recent years. Onepu and Nuparu (also Taipu) would both make good candidates, and Nuparu was chosen.

 

You also have to keep in mind set-based reasons are behind these things, and Nuparu was a prominent set more recently, while Onepu was a side set from the first year. Target audience memory doesn't go back that far in a line of this sort, so most fans who would be buying sets in 2006 would remember Nuparu more vividly than Onepu.

 

Another thing is they probably wanted avoid the unealistic predictable-ness of who was and was not destined.

Edited by bonesiii
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Second, is that he might've been a bit "lacking in modesty", as BS01 puts it. Maybe destiny didn't want a selfish toa of earth as part of the Inika?

 

Well, Matau was pretty egotistical.

 

 

 

I'm 98% sure it's because no one could consistently pronounce Onepu's name correctly.

 

Onn-epp-oo. What's difficult to pronounce about that?

 

 

 

Well then why didn't Kapura, Kalama, Keahi, or any other Ta-matoran replace Jaller?

 

Jaller was almost certainly chosen due to being a main character in the first film and also appearing at the end of the second. Kapura on the other hand never had a major role outside the MNOLG.

 

 

 

You also have to keep in mind set-based reasons are behind these things, and Nuparu was a prominent set more recently, while Onepu was a side set from the first year. Target audience memory doesn't go back that far in a line of this sort, so most fans who would be buying sets in 2006 would remember Nuparu more vividly than Onepu.

 

I don't think one year would make much difference when dealing with up to five years. Kongu hadn't been a set since '01 and was still chosen, so Onepu should theoretically have been eligible.

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So Onepu was always advertised to us as part of the group that would later become the Inika

I've never heard any such thing. Sounds like somewhere along the line somebody told you a false rumor. And we didn't even know Matoran could become Toa until 2003 anyways.

 

*snip*

 

I don't mean that that group of matoran was specifically told to us or meant to be the Inika, but either at some point LEGO decided those were the most interesting matoran that they should turn into toa, or they knew they would from the start.

 

 

 

 

You don't find it at all a coincidence that 5/6 matoran released originally as sets ended up being the Inika? Well then why didn't Kapura, Kalama, Keahi, or any other Ta-matoran replace Jaller? Maybe a correlation wasn't planned but it happened to be that way, so why go with 5 of those matoran and then decide "Oh, well, just for the heck of it, let's replace that one character with another one!". Proving that there wasn't a correlation doesn't answer any questions here. And since the six Inika's identities were planned as you say, that would give LEGO somewhat of a reason to release the tohunga of them, so then why get one wrong or change it?

 

And I never believed that Onepu was a matoran of Gravity, it was just an idea which I found hard to believe myself, I was just listing possibilities.

 

Actually, it's 4/6. Macku was a McToran who wasn't a Inika. 

 

And yes, it's a coincidence. A coincidence is two things that appear to be related to each other, but aren't. 

 

 

Alright, Macku and Onepu. Why did they change? And it doesn't feel even the tiniest bit odd that out of all the matoran that could've gotten transformations, a large portion of the ones released as sets became them? 4/6 is still pretty substantial when you look at the amounts of matoran that there were. I counted about 76 known matoran on the island of Mata-Nui.

 

It could still be very likely that it is not in its entirety a coincidence. Though the story team could've simply seen they already had sets of those matoran and decided to release them as the Inika. That's coincidence. But that still doesn't prove why they would switch two of them.

 

Proving that it is coincidence does not disprove anything else.

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I don't think one year would make much difference when dealing with up to five years. Kongu hadn't been a set since '01 and was still chosen, so Onepu should theoretically have been eligible.

But nobody replaced him, is the point. Hahli replaced Macku in story significance, and Nuparu Onepu in story and set. And when your target audience is kids, one year makes a huge difference.

 

And it doesn't feel even the tiniest bit odd that out of all the matoran that could've gotten transformations, a large portion of the ones released as sets became them?

No, and how you started out this topic takes the opposite tack, doesn't it? You're saying it's odd that they didn't have all the original Mctoran sets become Toa. In actuality, they compromised, having most of those be the Toa, one from more recently, and the protagonist of the second major online game (the protagonist of the first also became a Toa, recall). It's only odd if you ignore all that context. (And Hahli Mctoran could be MOCed easily with Macku Mctoran and Gali/Hahli MoLtoran.) It's a toyline, so why would that be odd? But as I said in my previous post, from an in-story perspective, having all those who were Mctoran become Toa would be implausible and too predictable.

 

4/6 is still pretty substantial when you look at the amounts of matoran that there were. I counted about 76 known matoran on the island of Mata-Nui.

The vast, vast majority of those either never had sets or never had a major, memorable story role. It's not reasonable to expect the candidates list to be that big. Once Takua was Toa-ized, the candidates were the Mctoran, the Chronicler's Company, Nuparu, and Hahli. Only other really memorable one that's coming to mind is Ahkmou. Since Macku was on both of the first two lists, that comes out to 13 candidates.

 

As much as we story geeks might like a Toa Tiribomba ( :P), it's just not reasonable. :)

 

So, by the later equals preferred rule, Macku got plenty of sets so is replaced with Hahli who had major story role but only one set. And Nuparu is in a similar position so replaces Onepu. That leaves Jaller versus Kapura, Matoro versus Kopeke, Kongu versus Tamaru, and Hewkii versus Hafu. In all four cases they went with the Mctoran.

 

Kopeke and Hafu also had sets in 2003 (and Hafu had a Mctoran collector's edition set), so could have been good candidates, but so did Matoro and Hewkii, so tossup, and neither Kopeke nor Hafu had as prominent, island-wide story roles as Nuparu and Hahli. So the Mctoran choices in those cases still work. And between Jaller and Kapura, Jaller had a much larger story role, though Kapura certainly had a lot of untapped potential. Kongu versus Tamaru could again be a tossup, but they stayed with the Mctoran rule. Tamaru's major story role was in the same year as Kongu's, so that rule still makes sense as the deciding factor (unlike Nuparu and Hahli).

Edited by bonesiii
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Actually, the future Toa Inika were all the best-known Matoran of their element. Jaller and Hahli starred in Mask of Light, Matoro and Kongu were the most important Matoran from their villages in MNOG (Kopeke and Tamaru were pretty forgettable), and while neither Nuparu nor Onepu had much of an appearance in MNOG, Nuparu had a bigger story role. Hewkii, well... Yeah, it should have been Hafu.

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But nobody replaced him, is the point. Hahli replaced Macku in story significance, and Nuparu Onepu in story and set.

 

I think you're making too much of this. Onepu appeared in the Onu-Koro Bohrok episode and the second MNOLG. Nuparu wasn't a set in '03. Just because his one set appearance (in a set that doesn't even bear his name) was a year later than Onepu's doesn't automatically make him the ideal choice.

 

Hahli's 'rise' is more understandable, though I find it odd that her time as Chronicler was cut so short.

 

And when your target audience is kids, one year makes a huge difference.

 

How many kids buying sets in '06 do you think would remember Nuparu or Onepu being sets at all? I don't see what influence set appearances whole years before they probably began following the line would have. 

 

as prominent, island-wide story roles as Nuparu

 

Nuparu had a bigger story role.

 

Isn't Nuparu's significance getting a bit exaggerated here? All he did was invent some machines that played no direct role in the resolution of that year's story. His only major appearance was in that one Bohrok episode, and he has brief cameos in the Ga-Koro segment and the second MNOLG. He never played a great part in any storyline before '06.

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I think you're making too much of this. Onepu appeared in the Onu-Koro Bohrok episode and the second MNOLG. Nuparu wasn't a set in '03. Just because his one set appearance (in a set that doesn't even bear his name) was a year later than Onepu's doesn't automatically make him the ideal choice.

And I clearly wasn't saying that that alone did. Read the whole context. :P

 

 

Quote

And when your target audience is kids, one year makes a huge difference.

 

How many kids buying sets in '06 do you think would remember Nuparu or Onepu being sets at all? I don't see what influence set appearances whole years before they probably began following the line would have.

We don't need to know exact numbers or percentages to understand that more recent set, and larger, more recent story role makes Nuparu more memorable to youngsters. :)

 

Isn't Nuparu's significance getting a bit exaggerated here? All he did was invent some machines that played no direct role in the resolution of that year's story. His only major appearance was in that one Bohrok episode, and he has brief cameos in the Ga-Koro segment and the second MNOLG. He never played a great part in any storyline before '06.

And all Onepu did was lead the Ussalry, with minor cameo roles elsewhere -- which did play a bit of a role in the battle at Kini-Nui, but that was amidst many others and he wasn't really emphasized. By contrast the Boxor invention was championed and imitated across the entire island and Nuparu being the inventor of it was a big thing. There's no exaggeration because nobody's saying he had any role he didn't have, just that it was larger and more island-wide in importance than Onepu's, explaining in part why Nuparu was chosen over Onepu. :) And keep it in context of the rest of what I said, like that they also partially just didn't want to be predictable.

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I was always of the opinion that, due to the characterization Nuparu and Hahli received in 2002 and 2003 respectively, they were chosen to be turned into Inika as they were more developed than Onepu and Maku.

 

As far as Onepu being a better military commander than Nuparu, Nuparu still invented the Boxor which gave the tribes a fighting chance against the Bohrok.

 

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I think it just came down to picking characters that would give the team a wider array of personalities. For example:

 

Jaller - militarry commander, brave strong, leader etc.

Hewkii - very capable athlete

Kongu - another former military commander, kinda serious, but learned to lighten up later.

Matoro - friendly translator and Nuju's homie, didn't get out very much.

Nuparu - creat creator, engineer and curious.

Hahli - used to be shy, became Chronicler

 

So with the current set of Inika/Mahri, there is a good array if characters to work with. You have the pure-of-heart leader Jaller, an amazing athlete with some serious skills Hewlii, a former military guy who's learning to look at the bright side Kongu, a very insecure but kindhearted Matoro whos job was more sedentary, arguably the best inventor on Mata Nui Nuparu, and finally the shy girl who developed a sense of adventure after being forced to step up by Nokama.

 

Now looking at Onepu's and Macku's characters, we realize that they could work out but might upset the balance of the team:

Onepu - military commander, not necessarily the most modest person, overall a character mix between Jaller and Hewkii.

Macku - brave and adventurous, loves hewkii,

 

Now if we were to have Onepu instead of Nuparu, we would lose a valuable aspect to the Inika/Mahri team. Nuparu is an inventor, and his mind is not quite the rest of the teams, so he gives them an advantage, while Onepu is just another overconfident military dude, that can't shut up, to make it worse. Replacing nuparu with Onepu would take away your brainiac, and add a guy who tricks hi friend into doing hi work for him (Taipu). So yeah. Onepu sucks.

 

Now lefs get onto Macku! Oh the adventure-loving, fanatic of Hewkii! Wait what? We all know Macku was Hewkii's "#1 Fan" so, while she has an adventurous spirit like Hahli, it would make for a weird relationship between the two during their adventures. Plus, since Macku has always been adventurous and brave, she has less depth than Hahli. Hahli was super shy, barely got out of the hut, until she was forced to and that made her develop into a nice, well rounded adventurer and hostorian of the Inika/Mahri.

 

That's my two pennies worth on the topic.

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We don't need to know exact numbers or percentages to understand that more recent set, and larger, more recent story role makes Nuparu more memorable to youngsters.

 

Your understanding rests on the assumption that kids in 2006 had been following the line since 2002. But most kids usually 'grow out of' Bionicle after three years, right? Those who manage longer are a small minority of the overall buyer base. So most kids in 2006 would be getting to know the characters for the first time. Also, the entire Mask of Light and Metru Nui storylines had happened by then, none of which featured Onepu or Nuparu, leaving both characters pretty much forgotten. So it wouldn't make any difference which was chosen.

 

But this isn't a big deal. I still think Onepu would've been a valid choice, but either way, Nuparu was chosen. If I had to think of a reason for that, I'd say it was simply because they didn't want a third military commander in the mix.

 

Jaller, an amazing athlete with some serious skills Hewlii, a former military guy who's learning to look at the bright side

 

Did you get these two mixed up? :P

 

Now if we were to have Onepu instead of Nuparu, we would lose a valuable aspect to the Inika/Mahri team. Nuparu is an inventor, and his mind is not quite the rest of the teams, so he gives them an advantage,

 

I don't really see how a Toa would have the time or opportunity to be coming up with inventions.

 

Onepu is just another overconfident military dude, that can't shut up, to make it worse. Replacing nuparu with Onepu would take away your brainiac, and add a guy who tricks hi friend into doing hi work for him (Taipu). So yeah. Onepu sucks.

 

A bit unfair. Onepu was responsible for the defence of Onu-Koro throughout the Rahi attacks, came to the aid of the Chronicler's Company at Kini Nui, and also oversaw the evacuation of Onu-Koro during the Gahlok attack. Just because he passed a bit of digging on to someone else (who was good at it) doesn't stain his character.

 

Now lefs get onto Macku! Oh the adventure-loving, fanatic of Hewkii! Wait what? We all know Macku was Hewkii's "#1 Fan" so, while she has an adventurous spirit like Hahli, it would make for a weird relationship between the two during their adventures.

 

Yeah, I was gonna say that Hewkii might've made the cut partly to keep him away from Macku and vice versa.

 

I'm fairly sure all romances had been dropped by 2006. If they were a factor in who was or wasn't chosen and Lego wanted to avoid existing relationships, then how do you explain Jaller and Hahli (something of a couple in earlier years) both becoming Toa?

 

Macku wasn't chosen simply because she didn't have the prominence Hahli had due to being the heroine of the second MNOLG and having a speaking part in the first movie.

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Now if we were to have Onepu instead of Nuparu, we would lose a valuable aspect to the Inika/Mahri team. Nuparu is an inventor, and his mind is not quite the rest of the teams, so he gives them an advantage, while Onepu is just another overconfident military dude, that can't shut up, to make it worse. Replacing nuparu with Onepu would take away your brainiac, and add a guy who tricks hi friend into doing hi work for him (Taipu). So yeah. Onepu sucks.

A little harsh, but essentially accurate. :)

 

 

 

assumption that kids in 2006 had been following the line since 2002.

Some kids. That's not really disputable...

But most kids usually 'grow out of' Bionicle after three years, right?

You seem to be missing the point -- nobody's saying everybody buying sets in 2006 remembered any of them, but the fact that some remembered nothing is irrelevant to the question which was why Nuparu was chosen over Onepu. To those kids, the 2006 Toa could have been completely new characters. But LEGO chose to appeal somewhat to some of their more longlasting fans. The point is that Nuparu is more likely to be remembered by more kids in 2006. Not really complicated. :P

 

Those who manage longer are a small minority of the overall buyer base. So most kids in 2006 would be getting to know the characters for the first time. Also, the entire Mask of Light and Metru Nui storylines had happened by then, none of which featured Onepu or Nuparu, leaving both characters pretty much forgotten. So it wouldn't make any difference which was chosen.

That conclusion doesn't follow from these premises, as none of that changes that Nuparu had a more recent and more memorable role. Onepu comes fairly close, but that is still enough to make the difference.

 

I don't really see how a Toa would have the time or opportunity to be coming up with inventions.

The whole theme of Bionicle battles is using your brain in inventive ways to solve problems. Nuparu fits this miles more than Onepu. The value of his inventive nature goes far beyond taking months to come up with some radically original invention that might get the MU version of a copyright. :P You just need what will solve the problem at hand using materials that are present -- MacGyver-style. :)

 

Some examples of how it ended up being important are how he figured out a weakness in the Nektann robots (albeit with help from Velika, but he, too, is an inventor :P), and thought of using his flight mask to spread out Zaktan's protodites, rendering him temporarily defeated even though he was normally virtually impossible to defeat. Not to mention, he was the one who figured out how to control the Toa Canisters that they needed, as Matoran, to get out of Karzahni's realm. Had that been Onepu, they would probably have all died or been permanently enslaved right then.

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Your understanding rests on the assumption that kids in 2006 had been following the line since 2002. But most kids usually 'grow out of' Bionicle after three years, right? Those who manage longer are a small minority of the overall buyer base. So most kids in 2006 would be getting to know the characters for the first time. Also, the entire Mask of Light and Metru Nui storylines had happened by then, none of which featured Onepu or Nuparu, leaving both characters pretty much forgotten. So it wouldn't make any difference which was chosen.

You're assuming that the people who joined the line in 2004 wouldn't read the 2001-03 story. Why would that be the case? People naturally want to know what happens next in a story, and if it's already out there and published, why wouldn't you read it?

 

In any case, I think we can agree that Hahli and Nuparu were given more prominent story roles. That's probably why they were chosen as Inika. :shrugs: It didn't really matter what name they assigned to the set in terms of sets, but in terms of story and the story that was written, it mattered a lot. So story prominence in 2002 and 2003 trumped the 2001 sets.  

Edited by fishers64
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We don't need to know exact numbers or percentages to understand that more recent set, and larger, more recent story role makes Nuparu more memorable to youngsters.

Your understanding rests on the assumption that kids in 2006 had been following the line since 2002. But most kids usually 'grow out of' Bionicle after three years, right? Those who manage longer are a small minority of the overall buyer base. So most kids in 2006 would be getting to know the characters for the first time. Also, the entire Mask of Light and Metru Nui storylines had happened by then, none of which featured Onepu or Nuparu, leaving both characters pretty much forgotten. So it wouldn't make any difference which was chosen.

 

But this isn't a big deal. I still think Onepu would've been a valid choice, but either way, Nuparu was chosen. If I had to think of a reason for that, I'd say it was simply because they didn't want a third military commander in the mix.

Jaller, an amazing athlete with some serious skills Hewlii, a former military guy who's learning to look at the bright side

Did you get these two mixed up? :P

Now if we were to have Onepu instead of Nuparu, we would lose a valuable aspect to the Inika/Mahri team. Nuparu is an inventor, and his mind is not quite the rest of the teams, so he gives them an advantage,

I don't really see how a Toa would have the time or opportunity to be coming up with inventions.

Onepu is just another overconfident military dude, that can't shut up, to make it worse. Replacing nuparu with Onepu would take away your brainiac, and add a guy who tricks hi friend into doing hi work for him (Taipu). So yeah. Onepu sucks.

A bit unfair. Onepu was responsible for the defence of Onu-Koro throughout the Rahi attacks, came to the aid of the Chronicler's Company at Kini Nui, and also oversaw the evacuation of Onu-Koro during the Gahlok attack. Just because he passed a bit of digging on to someone else (who was good at it) doesn't stain his character.

Now lefs get onto Macku! Oh the adventure-loving, fanatic of Hewkii! Wait what? We all know Macku was Hewkii's "#1 Fan" so, while she has an adventurous spirit like Hahli, it would make for a weird relationship between the two during their adventures.

Yeah, I was gonna say that Hewkii might've made the cut partly to keep him away from Macku and vice versa.

I'm fairly sure all romances had been dropped by 2006. If they were a factor in who was or wasn't chosen and Lego wanted to avoid existing relationships, then how do you explain Jaller and Hahli (something of a couple in earlier years) both becoming Toa?

 

Macku wasn't chosen simply because she didn't have the prominence Hahli had due to being the heroine of the second MNOLG and having a speaking part in the first movie.

I see the rest of the guys on here covered most of your argumenf, however you are right that Onepu had heroic deeds, and yes I was harsh on him to prove a point, but I think you're missing the fact that we already had a few millitant leaders background personel (Jaller, Kongu) and adding another one would potentially dull down the team's overall dynamic. I could honestly even see some power struggle over leadership if Onepu's boasting personality was thrown in the mix.

 

As woth Macku, I know that romances have been dropped, however you still had many fans who were quite fond of their romance, and saw it as such in their heads. While I guess you can argue that Hahli and Jaller had a thing, it was never hinted or explored as much as Hewkii/Macku, we only saw some, flirtation, for lack of a better word, in MOL and that was very breif as romances were pretty much decannonized by that time.

 

And yes I did mix up Jaller and Hewkii a bit where you pointed out. :P

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He was the more popular charater I guess. And in the story he was the more developed charater too. Onepu's biggest appearance was in the MNOLG and even then, Taipu had a bigger role.

Nuparu was a major supporting character in 2002 and had a more interesting personality.

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I always thought it was because it made for a more diverse set of characters. They already had three leaders of very different mindsets in Jaller, Hewkii, and Kongu, and even then, Kongu purposefully allowed the leadership role to fall on Jaller and Hewkii while he carried on the Air Toa's tradition of being the lighthearted one. Nuparu probably presented more versatility as a character since he was an inventor rather than a fighter.

 

Plus, LEGO seemed to avoid purple as much as possible back then. Not that it really would have stopped them, since Nuparu's orange disappeared when he became a toa.

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But LEGO chose to appeal somewhat to some of their more longlasting fans.

 

If they wanted to do that, they could've stuck to what they'd said and brought the Nuva back, rather than dumping them with a humiliating defeat and replacing them with a bunch of new Toa no-one wanted. But that's a different matter.

 

The point is that Nuparu is more likely to be remembered by more kids in 2006. Not really complicated.

 

That conclusion doesn't follow from these premises, as none of that changes that Nuparu had a more recent and more memorable role. Onepu comes fairly close, but that is still enough to make the difference.

 

I still don't think any kids would know or particularly care what Nuparu or Onepu did four or more years earlier, and it wouldn't have had a effect regardless of who was chosen. But as I said, this isn't a big deal to me.

 

Some examples of how it ended up being important are how he figured out a weakness in the Nektann robots (albeit with help from Velika, but he, too, is an inventor :P), and thought of using his flight mask to spread out Zaktan's protodites, rendering him temporarily defeated even though he was normally virtually impossible to defeat.

 

Sounds more like general intelligence than the technical ability of an engineer/inventor.

 

You're assuming that the people who joined the line in 2004 wouldn't read the 2001-03 story. Why would that be the case?

 

There's actually a good reason for that - 2004 was the first year since the beginning that didn't pick up from the ending of the previous year. It focused on newly appointed heroes in a location and time period completely different to the previous year's. Therefore, a fan joining at that point didn't need to know about the quest for the masks or the Bohrok or the Mask of Light to understand what was happening in 2004, because none of that story had any direct bearing on the 2004 story. They probably wouldn't read the 2001-2003 story because there was no need to.

 

People naturally want to know what happens next in a story, and if it's already out there and published, why wouldn't you read it?

 

If you mean what I think you mean - I don't recall anything in 2004 that directly stated that 'what happens next' was the story of the previous three years. So there wasn't a direct push for fans to seek out that story.

 

Not sure how Onepu's Ussalry skills would have helped much

 

It makes him an experienced fighter; surely I don't need to explain how that relates to being a Toa?

 

I think you're missing the fact that we already had a few millitant leaders background personel (Jaller, Kongu)

 

I already acknowledged that: they didn't want a third military commander in the mix.

 

however you still had many fans who were quite fond of their romance, and saw it as such in their heads

 

Lego wouldn't care about that, especially after at least two whole years away from it. Lego expect us to keep up with them, not the other way round, frustrating as this sometimes is.

 

in MOL and that was very breif as romances were pretty much decannonized by that time.

 

Not true, romance was still canon at that point. If it wasn't, there wouldn't have been any romance in the movie at all. Romance continued even in 2004, with Matau's attempt at wooing Nokama with that 'romantic ride-drive'. The decanonisation seems to have been in or just after 2005.

 

The romance between Jaller and Hahli was kept brief simply because Bionicle is mainly an action story, not a soap opera. :P

Edited by Sir Kohran
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I still don't think any kids would know or particularly care what Nuparu or Onepu did four or more years earlier

I don't see how that (to the part I bolded) is possible to think. Not every kid's memory only goes back three years or less... Where is this coming from? Seems to me the answer is straightforward, I don't see why you have to keep questioning it. Given that they did pick Nuparu, what's the point of doing that? Do you think it was just a random choice? :P

 

If they wanted to do that, they could've stuck to what they'd said and brought the Nuva back, rather than dumping them with a humiliating defeat and replacing them with a bunch of new Toa no-one wanted. But that's a different matter.

The problem there was that they had made the mistake of "solving" fan dislike with the unrealistic convenience of the Nuva transformation just at the time the story needed them transformed, so they promised not to transform them again. They thought they were pleasing fans by leaving the Nuva untransformed, and featuring them more than in the past two years via the books. That was clearly a miscalculation (which they corrected somewhat in 2008, albeit setwise not super well). But more to the point, there was also a large segment of the fanbase who was excited by the possibility of favorite Matoran becoming Toa. It was that group LEGO chose to appeal to in 2006's story. :)

 

(By the way "no-one" seems to be a common mistake of overlaying your own tastes (apparently?) onto everybody else. I notice this mistake often; when somebody says "everybody" or the like, often they really just mean "me, but it's powerful to me." Which is okay in a poetic sense I guess but best avoided as it can be misleading. I've probably made the mistake myself sometimes, it's kinda a figure of speech in English. :P Still.)

 

Also, that humiliating defeat was, to a lot of people, one of the story's strongest points. It gets boring (and unrealistic, unsuspenseful), when the good guys always win. It also made a lot of in-story sense -- the Nuva tried to take on somebody else's destiny, and failed. They were supposed to awaken Mata Nui, not save his life.

 

Unfortunate, of course, that that meant they mostly disappeared from story for a year and a half, but pros and cons. :P

 

Sounds more like general intelligence than the technical ability of an engineer/inventor.

His quickly understanding what Velika meant about the Nektann -- mechanical things -- is definitely that, not just general intelligence. The other shows "thinking with physics", which is again more specific than "general intelligence", and in a category that narrows down toward the talents of an engineer. That's what I'm talking about, about that talent being useful for far more than strictly traditional "inventions." It also applies to innovation in general involving how things work.

 

But those things are just confirmations that his choice was important, along the lines of destiny. In terms of "real-time" plot logic, Nuparu only had to be chosen for recognized potential by Jaller. As others have pointed out, having one more military leader on the team wouldn't really add much, but adding an inventor adds more variety to the skillsets. Remember my Society Variety theory on this. :)

 

And you can't really dispute the Canisters one. :P

 

They probably wouldn't read the 2001-2003 story because there was no need to.

Remember what I've said often about "Need Fallacy" as I call it. It's not about needing to, but wanting to. :) If they're enjoying what they've got now, it's natural to be curious about what came before (since it was made by the same people, so to be expected to probably also be fun, and it is relevant to the now). I'd think that's nearly universal, but who knows. And often older story was somewhat still easily available at that point online, and this was the online generation.

 

Besides, lots of people on here have attested to becoming fans in later years and reviewing old story.

 

Also, 2004-05 were flashbacks to 2001-03, relevant to 2006+ as well, and more to the point, they were a break from present-day story. 2006 took place, and made frequent references back to, 2003 plot. So yes, fans in 2006 had a lot of reason to look up old story. No real need to, but that's wise storytelling for a toyline. But good reason to do so on the side. :)

 

It makes him an experienced fighter; surely I don't need to explain how that relates to being a Toa?

But again, we already have two of those, one of them specifically involving Rahi too (but your next statement acknowledges again that you get this, so I won't hammer the point). And Nuparu proved himself as a capable fighter too. All the Matoran on that island would basically have to be after a thousand years of Rahi raids. But Nuparu adds to that mixing fighting (albeit lesser skill than Onepu's) with a skill that's unique on the team. According to Society Variety theory, that strengthens the team as a whole. :) Having another fighter might prove important, but either choice would be a gamble (from Jaller's POV, assuming he doesn't want to bring everybody :P), and it seems more likely that having a different skill would prove useful.

 

Besides, somebody's gotta stay behind to be Grand Military Leader should Metru Nui come under threat. :lol: (Onepu was probably happily reminding people of this once it became known lol.)

 

Not true, romance was still canon at that point. If it wasn't, there wouldn't have been any romance in the movie at all. Romance continued even in 2004, with Matau's attempt at wooing Nokama with that 'romantic ride-drive'. The decanonisation seems to have been in or just after 2005.

Close -- but again, romance was never canonized in the first place. The web team and movie people often did things without getting approval from the story team. It's true that prior to 2005, Greg's answers were somewhat noncommittal on whether they were or were not canon, and it seems to have played no noticeable story role after that (until Bara Magna). However, he never said they definitely were as far as I have been able to find, and at least one quote from 2003 states that romances can't go anywhere canonically, so it seems to imply it's only semi-canon at best. And that answer implies this has always been the case. Greg admits in 2004 that he played with the theme with Matau/Nokama, but stops short of confirming it as definite canonical romance rather than just something to appeal to humans, fourth-wall-style. Numerous quotes say that it was "all" done by the web team (even though those quotes are exaggerating :P).

 

Edit:

 

Speaking of Greg quotes, I was curious, so I searched fishers' 2003+ Greg quotes file for Onepu and Nuparu. Onepu has relatively few quotes (none of them seem to be about asking why he wasn't picked). Admittedly some of them ask if he'll be a Toa, but usually just lumped in with the rest of the Mctoran. There's not a lot for him (one of them even has Greg admitting he sounds selfish). By contrast, Nuparu has TONS of hits, so many I skimmed forward after a while to try to find any that might be about why LEGO made the pick. Anybody can go through the Onepu ones in a couple minutes so I won't include those, but here's some of the more relevant Nuparu hits:

 

 

Who is your favorite Matoran?   

 

Hmmmm.. probably Nuparu.

 

Firstly, will Nuparu have ny more importance? The fact that he was in a retail set suggested to methat he may be around for some time. Or was it merely so the Boxor could have a pilot.

 

He certainly might, but not this year.

 

Will Nuparu be a set?   

 

No plans for that.

Notice at least one person singling out Nuparu. That may have played a role in influencing Greg to influence LEGO's choice.

 

What characters will we see that have already been introduced into the storyline? I recall Kongu being one of them, but anyone else?   

 

Kongu will make a reappearance .. Nuparu will, in one of the Scholastic books .. I think Kopeke does ... and I am sure others will too, some in the movie, some in the books.

 

Out of all the matoran we know from mata nui, which one will be featured most prominently in the metru nui books, and which one is the most important story wise?   

 

So far, Nuparu has shown up in the books once, I think Kapura showed up once, and Kongu makes an appearance in the movie. None of them play crucial roles.

 

Are there any metru nui matoran inventors?   

 

Yes, Nuparu, for one.

 

who designed the "clockwork mechanisms" for the vahki?   

 

Nuparu.

Oh yeah! Forgot about that. The main villains of 2004, second half. A LOT of 2006 kids would recall that. By contrast, Onepu doesn't seem to keep getting any story relevance here.

 

 

This is from a question, not an answer; the rest of the quote is irrelevant, but this does point out another reason to possibly associate Nuparu with Toa:

 

In The Darkness Below Nuparu say, “… when I heard there was a new toa of earth I came running”

 

May establish an early hint that he was destined himself.

 

 

 

(At this point there were so many I skimmed forward to 2006+ quotes.)

 

 

Balta, Velika, Avak, and now Nuparu...is there some reason 2006 has so many "tinkerer" characters?  

 

Cause they're fun to write about, and because they make sense ... the Matoran would need them, since they are cut off from  larger civilization .. the Piraka would need one, since Dark Hunters can't very well walk into a "hardware store" on a mission ... and Nuparu was my choice because I felt he was a more interesting character than the alternatives.

After this there's a ton of Nuparu quotes, most just asking for details like anybody else. The questioners seem to be completely accepting of him as the choice, by the way. One asked if Nuparu and Hahli have replaced the "old favorites", but Greg's answer doesn't really comment, he just says Onepu and Macku are in Metru Nui. I'm gonna skip forward again and see if I have better luck... Hm... nothing much in the rest of that file unless I happened to skim over it. :P I don't have time for anything more right now. Many of these are consistent with what I and others here have said, and that one about "more interesting" does basically confirm what I'm saying about story role.

Edited by bonesiii
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I'm 98% sure it's because no one could consistently pronounce Onepu's name correctly.

 

Onee-pu? Onep-pu? One-pu?

 

I notice that all 6 Toa Inika/Mahri had Toa Mata Kanohi Masks when they were in their Matoran forms

 

 

That really doesn't really relate to how Onepu's name is pronounced.

Edited by Regicidal Kaiser Manducus
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I'm 98% sure it's because no one could consistently pronounce Onepu's name correctly.

 

Onee-pu? Onep-pu? One-pu?

 

What would happen if Onepu became a Toa?

 

 

Well... if Onepu became a toa, he would in fact, be a toa.  :P I don't see anything special in particular happening.

 

I don't really care to see Onepu as a toa. In fact, matoran are some of my favorite characters and have to rely on more than special powers to make a difference in their world. There's no point in going around making toa out of any matoran we like but I just thought that since it seemed at the time like the Mctoran were the ones chosen to be the Inika that Onepu would've been made into the toa of earth. Since Nuparu took that job, I see no point in making more random toa.

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As interesting as Nuparu was, I'm intrigued now about how the Inika team's dynamic would have been affected by having the arrogant Onepu on it. Could have led to some nice comedic moments as well as genuinely good character development...

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Actually, I'd have liked the Toa Inika of Earth to be Taipu, if only so he could have the Kadin. It would have been like a life-changing experience for him to gain the power of flight, I'm sure!

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