Character Design Consistency

[Alyska]

So we all know that regardless of which year, or which generation we're looking at, Kopaka has to have an eye-thingy. An X-Ray lens. A vision scope. Whatever you call it, he just doesn't look like Kopaka without it. Even in Gen II, where he doesn't have X-Ray vision, he still has the eye thing. People even got annoyed when his Phantoka set swapped which side it was on.

 

What I'm wondering is whether there are any distinctive characteristics on other Bionicle characters that people think should *always* be there. When a character gets transformed or upgraded, how can the set designers ensure that the character still looks like themselves in their new form?

 

Could be distinctive shapes, colours, body types, signature weapons, or any other feature- and it doesn't have to be necessarily true to reality, either- What sort of design consistency would you like to see in Bionicle?

[Master Inika]

I'd consider Kopaka's shield another distinct trait of his, which his Generation 2 version sort of has.

[Petewa]

Pohatu's cheeks, Onua's hunch. Pohatu's inverted torso design and slight hunch are really iconic, IMO, but they never seem to appear.

[Naota Takizawa]

This is what I think should kept consistent in future sets of the Toa Mata: 

 

• Tahu's cheek slits. (I prefer six, but if Lego decides to stick to four or two, then I'm okay with it.)
• Gali's visor. (Since Lego refuses to make widely available transparent masks of water, the least they can do is keep the swimming goggles to help the character retain some of her old identity.) 
• Lewa's cheek gaps. (They are the only feature that remained the same in all of Lewa's set forms. I'm not kidding.) 
• Pohatu's side thingies. (I don't know what they're called, but they stand out to me.) 
• Onua's cheek decorations and forehead stripes. (Without them, Onua's mask is just an octagon with eyeholes.)
• Kopaka's scope. (Because having an asymmetrical mask helps someone stand out.) 

[Irrie]

I think that Lego should stay away from keeping character designs too similar. The sets should be distinguishable from each other, not carbon copies with slight modifications. They did an excellent job with Phantoka and Mistika, although I would have preferred if they used that opportunity to ditch Kopaka's eye piece altogether. 

[Takhamavahu]

Tahu's mouth. Mistika mask was cool, but didn't feel like tahu without the round mouth. The new 2016 Tahu is starting to push how abstract it can be and still look like him, but at least he has it.

[Aanchir]

I'd say Tahu's cheek grooves are fairly iconic to the character. Overall, though, I don't know if it's possible to narrow down one essential trait for every character. Sometimes a set with or without certain iconic traits can still be plenty recognizable as the character if they maintain other traits iconic to that character.

 

As an example, the 2002 Pohatu Nuva's Kakama Nuva looked next to nothing like the original 2001 Pohatu's Kakama, but thanks to his feet additions, his color scheme, the twin "fingers" on his claws, and the narrow shoulders and wide hips of his upside-down torso build, he still felt fairly recognizable.

 

By contrast, the 2015 Pohatu doesn't have feet additions, doesn't have two-fingered hands, doesn't especially wide shoulders or narrow hips, and doesn't even have quite the same color scheme as Pohatu sets of the past. But he is shorter than most of his teammates, just as Pohatu has always been, and his mask is instantly recognizable as a new interpretation of the classic Kakama. So it's still possible to look at the character and recognize him as a new version of Pohatu.

[MrSciFiGuy]

Tahu should be red, and have lava boards. But other than that I think the biggest consistencies would just rely off the 01 masks. 

[Xboxtravis]

^With that though I kind of wonder if it's okay to have the Gold/Trans Orange Tahu we get this next year. I feel red is the more classic color, but something about Gold/Trans Orange makes him look like he is ON FIRE, literally! I am tempted someday to MOC a "Burned" Tahu, in black and Trans Orange.

[Bonkle]

Y'know what I'd like to see as an underlying trait for the Toa?

 

Bone colors.

 

Tahu should have Keetorange CCBS bones, regardless of the outer armor color. Lewa lime green, Onua gray, and so on.

 

It'd be a nice callback to the classic days.

[Lyichir]

Y'know what I'd like to see as an underlying trait for the Toa?

 

Bone colors.

 

Tahu should have Keetorange CCBS bones, regardless of the outer armor color. Lewa lime green, Onua gray, and so on.

 

It'd be a nice callback to the classic days.

Why Keetorange? It wasn't like that on the classic Tahu (though it was on Will Furno).

[Bonkle]

 

Y'know what I'd like to see as an underlying trait for the Toa?

 

Bone colors.

 

Tahu should have Keetorange CCBS bones, regardless of the outer armor color. Lewa lime green, Onua gray, and so on.

 

It'd be a nice callback to the classic days.

 

Why Keetorange? It wasn't like that on the classic Tahu (though it was on Will Furno).

My mistake, I was thinking of Furno when I typed that.

[Nescent]

I'm glad that Pohatu's pudgy cheeks have been featured in every version of his mask so far. They reflect his friendly personality well.

 

One trait that I haven't seen mentioned here is Onua's tools: He traditionally has something fit for digging. '01 had claws, '03 had saws, '15 had shovels, and '16 has a drill. His Mistika form lacked a digging tool, and that really took away from his character. (Not that Onua Mistika really looked much like Onua, anyway...)

 

I am tempted someday to MOC a "Burned" Tahu, in black and Trans Orange.

Someone actually made something just like that, it's very cool.

Edited December 15, 2015 by Nescent