How do you imagine the characters' appearance?

[Alyska]

Interpretations of Bionicle characters' appearance has varied a lot across different media. Most media suggests that all Matoran and Toa have hands with fingers and thumbs, for example, but only the movies visually depict this. The comics tend to depict their masks always obscuring the mouth, the books suggest that they generally don't, and the movies have it about 50/50. Do masks move or flex to show emotion? Do the characters have much visible organic tissue, or is it all hidden under armour? Should Toa have humanoid proportions, or are gorilla arms okay? Are there any physical differences between male and female Matoran/Toa?

 

In light of these variations, there have been a huge range of fan interpretations, so I thought I might as well ask: How do you imagine the characters? What sort of depictions do you enjoy the most? Are there any pet peeves or things you would change?

 

What do Bionicle characters look like to you?

[Ghidora131]

Well I think the movies got it okay, although sometimes the mouths were too hideous to bear. And if you're going to do fleshy bits, don't make it look gross and unreal, like Jaller's confusing gut-thing in MoL.

 

Also, the Hau Nuva should not flap around like a Bulldog's cheeks. Seriously.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

If the character has a set, then I always picture them in their set form. If they don't, then it varies on how I picture them. It just depends on what of description we are given of said character.

 

For the movies, I liked them when they stayed somewhat resembled to their set counterparts. They are some exceptions to this, like with the Toa Hordika's weapon fused arms. I thought those were cool. 

[Bionibbles]

I usually just picture them in set form, but as far as the movies go, I actually think that's one thing the legend reborn did right. The constantly spinning pins were a bit much, but I like how the mouths and eyes were done, and their more set accurate appearance. I feel journey to one did pretty well in this respect too.

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

Generally it depends on the source, usually i'll imagine em like the sets but w/ more "skin" or tissues (and better proportions/fingers/etc.)

 

but sometimes i want more expression or simpler appearances so i can draw em faster or hair so i sorta go wild w/ dropping set accuracies while retaining visual cues.

 

 

I  guess basically, so long as it can still be called a "bionicle"?

[Specter Knight]

To be honest, I always pictured the Characters to be very much like their set depictions, but made to look more... human-like. (For example, Matoran/toa/etc have hands, the masks have an opening at the mouthpiece to show the mouth, Females generally have more curves, etc.) Also, I picture Matoran to be less "wide" so to speak, a lot like their depiction in the Chimoru/Chimoru R kit. As a side-effect from watching the movies a little too much, all the Turaga wear those cape/robe things and use their badges of office as canes. not that they need them for walking, as I once read that they're slightly stronger than Matoran, but just as a symbol of authority.

 

And then there's the Non-Matoran/Toa/Turaga characters. Whilst I picture most of the Sapient characters appearing very similar to their Set form (or movie form), the Rahi, on the other hand, I imagine they are more bestial than their set counterparts. For instance, The Muaka and Kane-Ra look wildly different, asides from the Tread-forelegs, The Tarakava is some strange cross between it's set form, an eel, and a praying mantis, and many of them actually have fur, rather than Armour. In short, I base the main characters on their sets, and the Rahi (sans the visorak and possibly the Rahkshi) on existing animals with a Bionicle-y edge.

 

And now onto more specific things;

 

-The Rahi=Real creature kind of overlaps with the Toa Hordika, as I imagine them gaining animal characteristics as a result of their transformation. Oh yeah, and they have one arm that ends in a weapon, like the third movie.

-Same thing goes with the Barraki, but with sea-dwelling creatures.

-The Phantoka/Mistika look more accurate to their Basic Nuva forms, but with the weapons/armour styled to look like the sets (sans the mask)

 

...Honestly, I could go on all day about this, but simple descriptions wouldn't do these any justice. I should probably draw some of these eventually, If the demand is high... and even if the demand isn't high, I'll draw them anyway!

[Pohaturon]

I think of them as they appeared in the movies, and when considering character that haven't been depicted in movies, I think of them how I assume their movie form would have looked like.

 

I.e. no gaps, no holes, hands, mouths (when applicable) more uniform proportions, etc.

 

[Kopekemaster]

I think I pretty much imagine them in set form. Masks aren't flexible, their bodies aren't... "squishy"? Like humans, I mean. I tend to imagine the tendon-y things that are sometimes found on limb or armor pieces to be like tough, exposed human tendons (as gross as that sounds).

[Electric Light Gunhaver]

Whenever I read the books, I imagine the characters as being much more human-like than the sets let on. All masks are rigid shapes that the characters wear, while their faces can move behind them. Armor is just that: armor. It's not their skin. I morph the sets around a design that is more human. But, my interpretation of their appearances changes rapidly and is very fluid. I can't exactly explain it all that well, but Daronus has a vary close description of my views.

[The 1st Shadow]

It varies for me. Most of the time, I envision them as looking like the movie forms, because it feels a little more realistic than everyone being made out of the exact same torso piece despite different origins.

 

 Most media suggests that all Matoran and Toa have hands with fingers and thumbs, for example, but only the movies visually depict this. 

 

I think you may have missed the McToran, Onua, Pohatu, Lewa, Tahu (although their set "fingers" were really weird, it's the thought that counts here), 2008 Takanuva, and the Tahu and Takanuva Stars. All of these sets had hands with fingers. The comics followed suit and depicted these same sets as such. Movies were not the only visual representation of fingers.

 

That said, I envision all characters to have hands, unless otherwise stated (claws, tentacles, severed limbs, etc). Where muscles and organic tissue are concerned, I would imagine that some of it is exposed, like in the joints to allow for maximum mobility. 

 

Masks are another story altogether. Mostly, I picture them as rigid, unless the character is Lewa or a Toa Inika, as the latter had organic masks that would obviously flex and move with the face underneath. Lewa's mask moves for me just because he's Lewa and generally very expressive. Some masks I imagine as having mouth-holes, but only if the mouth on the set is shown as a large hole, such as with the Hau or noble Kiril. The Olmak I imagine to have a mouth built into it, based on the features in that area. Otherwise, I don't usually picture masks that move.

 

I think the one thing Journey to One got right is the depictions of their characters, making the Toa, Creatures, and villagers look more like beings wearing armor, with more "filled-in" spaces and better shaping. I think if I went back and re-read all of G1 with JtO in mind, I would see the characters fitting that style more--staying accurate to the sets while still looking alive.

Edited June 30, 2016 by The 1st Shadow

[Alyska]

I guess those were kind of hands, but then Stars Tahu retroactively suggests that Mata were supposed to just have normal hands... At least one of the books refers to Gali Mata having hands, so it may just be a really stylised way of representing it. 

 

I tend to picture masks having some movement, but not being squishy like in MoL (apart from the Inika masks, of course.) I think of them having mouth gaps in most cases, or vents like the Kaukau. I picture the masks having an expressiveness that's not always humanlike in nature- for example, the fins on things like the Miru and Kakama Nuva might move in response to the environment for aerodynamic purposes, but could also be triggered by emotion, like a cat's ears, or the scopes on the Akaku might  start to move in response to the user's curiosity (or retract in disgust) . 

[SPIRIT]

In my mind, they're like the movie versions only more set-accurate.  The masks are probably a bit more rigid than the movie versions and typically no hands unless the story suddenly calls for hands.

 

I have no problem with hands, but my imagination doesn't seem to like them.

[unknown456]

Personally, I generally just imagine the sets, where applicable. For characters that don't have an official appearance, my mind just sorta... blurs them out, I guess. I mean, I get the general idea of them (2 arms, 2 legs, etc), but otherwise, I just sorta mentally... ignore them (whatsmore, I generally tend to forget what characters explicitly look like when I'm reading about imageless characters, be it in Bionicle or some other literature). Alternatively, my head occasionally makes weird leaps in logic, and deposits/substitutes other 'imaged' characters for the imageless characters (case in point, for the longest time I imagined that Lariska as Ravager.)

 

In terms of hands/fingers, I'm in the same boat as SPIRIT, as while I do acknowledge that characters whose sets don't have 'real' hands do actually have hands, my mental image just reverts to the standard 01-08 hand/ankle/neck piece. As for faces, it varies depending on whether they have real faces or they are covered with masks. In cases with real faces, like the Piraka or the Barraki, I imagine them as being fairly emotive. However, in cases where masks are involved, I imagine the mask being fairly flat and lifeless (even if the text calls out an emotion), while the face beneath the mask can be/is emotive. And in terms of movie masks (off the top of my head), I think the animators got it best with the Avohkii. For me, it has the perfect blend of set accuracy and movable parts. Plus, it doesn't have outrageous eyebrows (cough cough Turaga Vakama). And actually, I like how the 2015 online animations did facial emotions: they had the perfect blend of rigid-but-movable masks and eye... expressions. I dunno, it just works for me.

 

And, okay, maybe this is more of a tangent than the topic allows for, but I just realized this the other week and I can't stop thinking about it and I want to know what other people think of it. So, Glatorian/Agori are entirely organic creatures (disbarring the metallic bone structure), correct? So if that's the case, if we take TLR as a strict interpretation of what the characters actually look like, how is it possible for these entirely organic creatures to have all glowey-glow, light-up eyes?

 

But, yeah, back on topic, that's how I view the characters. But then again, everything I just said is fluid; nothing of what I just said is a hard set rule. Each case has its own exceptions, there are no real set rules as how I imagine the characters. It just sorta changes day by day, depending what piece of media I have just most recently looked at.

Edited July 1, 2016 by unknown456

[MrSciFiGuy]

I switch between more set-accurate movie versions or pretty much just the sets themselves. The later is due to me loving the Metru mini movies so much of the Toa in each of their metru.