Best and worse retcons

[CommanderKumo]

Bionicle has many retcons, but which are for the greater good and which are bad?

I would like to hear what everyone has to say about the matter!

 

here are my two examples: 

 

Good retcon:

Lowering the first 3 movies' place on the canon hierarchy

 

Bad retcon:

Decanonising love

[Pohaturon]

I can't really recall any retcon which I think is good, but there are plenty which are utter nonsense. Lacking a good example, I'll provide two.

 

The first one is the whole mess around Kanohi. First, they're special masks which grant users powers based on the shape of the mask. Then, the shape doesn't matter, and the mask doesn't even have any powers, but it just amplifies the innate power of the user. So what determines the powers? Why bother using different masks? What the blazes is happening, and what prompted Greg to even come up with something so pointless and needlessly complicated? Masks should just be magic masks!

 

The other is what I feel to be the single worst retcon, and I refuse to accept it as canon. After 2008, Greg said Pohatu was always orange. Retroactively, brown Pohatu never existed. He was orange. He came out of his canister orange. 

 

Like...

 

That's not how this works. 

 

[TERIDAX941]

The first one is the whole mess around Kanohi. First, they're special masks which grant users powers based on the shape of the mask. Then, the shape doesn't matter, and the mask doesn't even have any powers, but it just amplifies the innate power of the user. So what determines the powers? Why bother using different masks? What the blazes is happening, and what prompted Greg to even come up with something so pointless and needlessly complicated? Masks should just be magic masks!

 

So I'm confused. The masks always had powers of their own right? The Matoran make them using Kanoka, the combination of which determines the mask power and the level of the mask power (Great, noble, etc) so when was it retconned that masks don't have powers? I know that Masks do allow Toa more energy when worn, (presumably it does the same with other species but I don't think that was ever established)

 

Also:

*sigh* 

[CommanderKumo]

I can't really recall any retcon which I think is good, but there are plenty which are utter nonsense. Lacking a good example, I'll provide two.

 

The first one is the whole mess around Kanohi. First, they're special masks which grant users powers based on the shape of the mask. Then, the shape doesn't matter, and the mask doesn't even have any powers, but it just amplifies the innate power of the user. So what determines the powers? Why bother using different masks? What the blazes is happening, and what prompted Greg to even come up with something so pointless and needlessly complicated? Masks should just be magic masks!

 

The other is what I feel to be the single worst retcon, and I refuse to accept it as canon. After 2008, Greg said Pohatu was always orange. Retroactively, brown Pohatu never existed. He was orange. He came out of his canister orange. 

 

Like...

 

That's not how this works. 

 

Yes, the masks thing is annoying, simplicity is story telling is a key factor!

 

Pohatu was always orange!? 0_0 what is the point in that!?

[Umarakthefan]

Bionicle has many retcons, but which are for the greater good and which are bad?

I would like to hear what everyone has to say about the matter!

 

here are my two examples:

 

Good retcon:

Lowering the first 3 movies' place on the canon hierarchy

 

Bad retcon:

Decanonising love

If love isn't canon why does sidorak want to marry roodaka?

[CommanderKumo]

 

Bionicle has many retcons, but which are for the greater good and which are bad?

I would like to hear what everyone has to say about the matter!

 

here are my two examples:

 

Good retcon:

Lowering the first 3 movies' place on the canon hierarchy

 

Bad retcon:

Decanonising love

If love isn't canon why does sidorak want to marry roodaka?

 

According to canon, he wants a political alliance, not a marriage...

[That Matoran with a Vahi]

The other is what I feel to be the single worst retcon, and I refuse to accept it as canon. After 2008, Greg said Pohatu was always orange. Retroactively, brown Pohatu never existed. He was orange. He came out of his canister orange. 

 

Like...

 

That's not how this works. 

 

 

I didn't even know that was a thing. But... Takanuva literally pointed out, in canon, his surprise that Pohatu was orange upon arrival in Karda Nui. If he'd always been that colour, that line is now absolutely nonsensical

 

 

That said... my personal biggest peeve has always been with the retcon that said the entire '01-'03 storyline took place over the period of a single year in canon. I just... no, I don't accept that. It makes those storylines, which I always imagined as covering a good amount of time, taking each a good year or so in their own right, crammed into far too short a time to be believable for me. Granted, the original comics and MNOG didn't give much of an idea of time passing, but to me... it always felt like a good long time - especially for the Bohrok war, and the rebuilding of the island in its aftermath.

 

And it was changed for what storyline significance? Would it have affected anything else if the Toa had been three or four years on Mata Nui between their landing and the journey back to Metru Nui? As far as I can see, it wouldn't have affected anything; when the Matoran had already been on Mata Nui for 1000+ years, what difference would three more make in the overall scheme of things?

 

I just... don't like that one. I haven't even heard of some of these more recent retcons though, honestly - I've been out of the fandom for too long, I guess xD;

Edited October 5, 2017 by Darth Jaller

[Lyichir]

Like other people, I can't think of any retcons in Bionicle that made much of an improvement to the overall story.

[Toa Imrukii]

 

The first one is the whole mess around Kanohi. First, they're special masks which grant users powers based on the shape of the mask. Then, the shape doesn't matter, and the mask doesn't even have any powers, but it just amplifies the innate power of the user. So what determines the powers? Why bother using different masks? What the blazes is happening, and what prompted Greg to even come up with something so pointless and needlessly complicated? Masks should just be magic masks!

 

 

So I'm confused. The masks always had powers of their own right? The Matoran make them using Kanoka, the combination of which determines the mask power and the level of the mask power (Great, noble, etc) so when was it retconned that masks don't have powers? I know that Masks do allow Toa more energy when worn, (presumably it does the same with other species but I don't think that was ever established)

The power of the mask is determined by the disks used and the purity of the protodermis of said disks. However a Kanohi can be shaped as whatever mask, and have the power of another, generally though the shape of the mask is associated with the power assigned to said mask shape. As for unpowered masks, those are just masks made with inferior disks, that do not hold any power, which said disks are basically just blunt throwing object normally, or disks with weak powers. The disks can be formed into essentially any shape, like the powered ones. But it would seem the Matoran either have a favoritism to pre-existing mask shapes when it comes to the power it holds, or they don't often put one and one to tegether and realize that the shape doesn't inherently matter. One of the two.

 

Personally, I am split on this piece of lore, on one hand I think it's awesome that the mask itself doesn't have to inherently be shaped a certain way to hold a power, but on the other hand I feel it could spiral out of control into a special-snowflake type situation, where any mask can have any power and any shape, which for an individual consumer looking fir a custom mask is fine, but if such masks were put out the general matoran public would not exactly know what power the mask itself holds, they may assume it is one power but really is another.

 

But that brings up another things, yes I am aware that most matoran probably do not wear great kanohi, though what if, hypothetically, a matoran wearing a mask like that became a toa, so for example it looks like a Hau, if that Matoran were to become a Toa, if that hau was made from the proper disks than would have the proper power, however, if it made from the disks for a Kakama, than it would have the power of such. If that matoran became a Toa and thought they;d have the power of sheilding but istead has teh power of speed, though that would be kinda cool as say a toy, that matoran in-character would probably feel japped and somewhat betrayed.

 

However, all that asside, take to note this, the powers of the masks are determined from the disks and their purity, those disks are forged into a specific shape, though I suppose they could be cast molded instead, and that almost always the specific shape has association with a power, however it could be requested that the shape for the mask be different than would suggest the power to be.

[CommanderKumo]

 

The other is what I feel to be the single worst retcon, and I refuse to accept it as canon. After 2008, Greg said Pohatu was always orange. Retroactively, brown Pohatu never existed. He was orange. He came out of his canister orange. 

 

Like...

 

That's not how this works. 

 

 

I didn't even know that was a thing. But... Takanuva literally pointed out, in canon, his surprise that Pohatu was orange upon arrival in Karda Nui. If he'd always been that colour, that line is now absolutely nonsensical

 

 

That said... my personal biggest peeve has always been with the retcon that said the entire '01-'03 storyline took place over the period of a single year in canon. I just... no, I don't accept that. It makes those storylines, which I always imagined as covering a good amount of time, taking each a good year or so in their own right, crammed into far too short a time to be believable for me. Granted, the original comics and MNOG didn't give much of an idea of time passing, but to me... it always felt like a good long time - especially for the Bohrok war, and the rebuilding of the island in its aftermath.

 

And it was changed for what storyline significance? Would it have affected anything else if the Toa had been three or four years on Mata Nui between their landing and the journey back to Metru Nui? As far as I can see, it wouldn't have affected anything; when the Matoran had already been on Mata Nui for 1000+ years, what difference would three more make in the overall scheme of things?

 

I just... don't like that one. I haven't even heard of some of these more recent retcons though, honestly - I've been out of the fandom for too long, I guess xD;

 

That just 1 year thing is so confusing!! In the comic when Makuta first unleashes the Rahkshi, in his monologue he mentions that the Toa Mata thought they had beaten him "Years ago", yet in 2008 apparently it was a year!? it's like sometimes the writers forget what they already put, rather than changing it!

Like other people, I can't think of any retcons in Bionicle that made much of an improvement to the overall story.

To be honest except for the one in the first post I can't think of any more XD

[Uhmbra]

My least favorite retcon was the sudden insistence in 2008 that everything from the Toa Mata arriving to Mata Nui being awakened happened within the span of a single year. It wouldn't bother me as much if it wasn't actually a retcon, but according to Makuta's narration in one of the Bohrok-era comics, the Toa Mata/Nuva spent at least two years on Mata Nui.

 

I don't think there are any that I actually like...

Edited October 5, 2017 by Uhmbra

[Pahrak Model ZX]

It might be going a bit far to say that I like it, but the whole love isn't canon thing honestly never bothered be.  If anything, I'm annoyed by the never-ending clamor about it.

 

Does the disagreement on how the Shadow Toa battle went count as a retcon?  If so, that's one I really hate.  The explanation of the Toa accepting their darkness is interesting, sure, but that sort of idea is completely at odds with the entire story, whereas the version where they work together to help each other is a perfect fit for one of the series's core themes (unity).

 

Also I hate Orde.  And I'll count the Barraki inspiring Makuta's plan as a terrible retcon too, because that's textbook Mary Sue.

[CyclonatorZ]

Kumo, I'm not sure what you mean about the Movies supposedly being lowered on the canonical hierarchy. Because the exact opposite happened, once Greg F. took total control of the storyline. All of the characters that featured in the movies are now canonically supposed to look like they do in said movies, as opposed to how they look in the comics or MNOG.

 

One of the more interesting examples of this in-story is when Lewa describes reassembling himself in 2001, in the first Bionicle Legends book. The book states that he only had to reattach his limbs. This is clearly based on the more organic, uniform design he and every other character had in Mask of Light. It also contradicts numerous earlier pieces of media, including the MNOG and the opening cinematic of the canceled Bionicle game "Legend of Mata Nui" - where characters in-universe are clearly able to disassemble and reassemble themselves like the Lego sets that they are.

 

DId I mention this really, really sucks? MoL's graphics may have been technically proficient for a DVD movie in 2003, but the character designs were, are, and will always be hideous. More importantly, it clearly took the canonical nature of the Matoran Universe's biology in a different direction than what was originally intended - which in my opinion was a result of taking the "biological" part of the Bionicle Portmanteu literally rather than figuratively. The people in charge of making the movies had no idea how deep the metaphor of the Bio-Chronicle went, and at this point I'm convinced Greg F. didn't either.

 

Also I hate Orde.

 

Even if this isn't the worst retcon, I would argue that is objectively the stupidest, because unlike most of the recent retcons Greg has made that contradicted previous statements of his, this one was made when he was still writing the friggin' story! He literally had to make up a whole backstory for Orde out of thin air because he forgot the gender of an element that he had recently canonized.

[CommanderKumo]

Kumo, I'm not sure what you mean about the Movies supposedly being lowered on the canonical hierarchy. Because the exact opposite happened, once Greg F. took total control of the storyline. All of the characters that featured in the movies are now canonically supposed to look like they do in said movies, as opposed to how they look in the comics or MNOG.

 

Seriously!? oh man...

 

So does Greg think that Takanuva got revived by the mask instead of being split from Makuta by the gate? or that the Rahagah can fly!? and I suppose he believes that Matau loves Nokama!? with chaos like this it's easy to see why headcanon is the best canon. the only image that is currently going through my mind is how disturbing the Toa Kaita would look in move style...

Edited October 6, 2017 by CommanderKumo

[Steampunk Tahu]

the only image that is currently going through my mind is how disturbing the Toa Kaita would look in move style...

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQdTW9eW2IZZQG3M0ZRPsRciK5a3FQ2gN3z9uMiDdTzKP81aCTC9g

Probably like this.

For me? Probably making the Spherus Magnans mammals, they'd have to be sturdy beyond mammal limits to survive spherus magna. And making the Great being just a bunch of glatorian, u mean, that takes the mystery away.

 

I didn't mind it so much when it came to being able to shape a mask to look like another. I mean, that opens up the door to things like what if Velika disguised a legendary mask like an Olisi in a "powerless" mask of victory?

[Toatapio Nuva]

 

DId I mention this really, really sucks? MoL's graphics may have been technically proficient for a DVD movie in 2003, but the character designs were, are, and will always be hideous. More importantly, it clearly took the canonical nature of the Matoran Universe's biology in a different direction than what was originally intended - which in my opinion was a result of taking the "biological" part of the Bionicle Portmanteu literally rather than figuratively. The people in charge of making the movies had no idea how deep the metaphor of the Bio-Chronicle went, and at this point I'm convinced Greg F. didn't either.

 

I'm gonna have to point out here that the characters were always intended to be partly mechanical, partly organic, and even the core story team considered the movie portrayal of the characters to be canon. The sets were never meant to be the definitive representation of them in canon. So overall, the movie versions of the characters were always intended as the official representations, and it wasn't up to Greg, or even the producers of the movies.

[Pohaturon]

 

 

DId I mention this really, really sucks? MoL's graphics may have been technically proficient for a DVD movie in 2003, but the character designs were, are, and will always be hideous. More importantly, it clearly took the canonical nature of the Matoran Universe's biology in a different direction than what was originally intended - which in my opinion was a result of taking the "biological" part of the Bionicle Portmanteu literally rather than figuratively. The people in charge of making the movies had no idea how deep the metaphor of the Bio-Chronicle went, and at this point I'm convinced Greg F. didn't either.

 

I'm gonna have to point out here that the characters were always intended to be partly mechanical, partly organic, and even the core story team considered the movie portrayal of the characters to be canon. The sets were never meant to be the definitive representation of them in canon. So overall, the movie versions of the characters were always intended as the official representations, and it wasn't up to Greg, or even the producers of the movies.

 

I was going to say something along these lines. The actual sets themselves are at the bottom of the lore hierarchy when it comes to physical representations. For one thing, canonically everyone has fingers and are capable of producing facial expressions even through masks.

 

[TuragaNuva]

I feel like I'm in the minority that doesn't mind several of the retcons (though there are definitely some that bother me).

 

If we're counting this: I actually prefer the canon version of the Toa Mata's fight with the Shadow Toa to Hapka's version. I definitely like the idea of "unity" in Hapka's story, which does fit the overall theme of Tale of the Toa better. But it always bothered me that the Toa were able to beat their copies by switching opponents: it seemed, to me, to imply that each Toa has an advantage against another, like a 6-person rock-paper-scissors. 

 

I also actually don't mind masks not having to be a certain shape for a certain power. My understanding is that masks are only made in the "correct" shapes except in specific circumstances, like the Toa Hagah wanting to honor previous Toa with their masks (though it does seem like they could've all just done what Iruini did and wore the actual type of mask the Toa they were honoring wore).

 

Pohatu always being orange, I haven't heard about before. As Darth Jaller pointed out, that makes a fun line of dialogue from '08 make no sense at all. 

 

The decanonization of love does bother me, just because it doesn't seem to do anything besides create inconsistencies. Huki and Maku's relationship? Roodaka and Sidorak's "marriage?" Why bother making all of these plot points no longer canon in exchange for no real improvement to the world or story?

 

The "the Mata/Nuva only took one year to wake up Mata Nui" thing is a great example of the biggest source of inconsistencies in the Bionicle story: Greg thought, "Huh, this would be cool," then wrote it down without checking if it was inconsistent with earlier story. I don't blame him for not remembering everything offhand (there was a LOT to keep up with), but a little more research before writing certain things could've eliminated a lot of those issues before they happened. Orde is another excellent example (and I, like most it would seem, dislike his backstory).

 

 

Now, to mix things up a little, here's a retcon I wish had happened, but didn't: the extra Kanohi Nuva never existed. When the Toa Nuva first came about, I thought it was interesting that their masks were more powerful, but they were back to one power each when on their own: to have access to the other mask powers again, they had to work together. This seemed symbolic of the actual character arc of the Toa Nuva's struggle against the Bohrok Kal: learning that, while they were more powerful, they had to work together if they wanted to succeed. It also bothers me that, despite being special, extra-powerful Kanohi, Artakha was just able to make more of them, and have them secretly hidden across the island, in a matter of days.

[Toa of Ice - 1987]

The pohatu orange retcon in the books. I mean really, brown was the main stone colors for 4 years straight. and then all of a sudden lego retconned it so heavily that even the first brown colors are only classified as a darker shade of orange.

 

Why did lego all of a sudden do this. It's like they suddenly hate the idea of brown having ever been in the series. and all of it because of dwindling stone sets sales.

[CommanderKumo]

 

 

 

DId I mention this really, really sucks? MoL's graphics may have been technically proficient for a DVD movie in 2003, but the character designs were, are, and will always be hideous. More importantly, it clearly took the canonical nature of the Matoran Universe's biology in a different direction than what was originally intended - which in my opinion was a result of taking the "biological" part of the Bionicle Portmanteu literally rather than figuratively. The people in charge of making the movies had no idea how deep the metaphor of the Bio-Chronicle went, and at this point I'm convinced Greg F. didn't either.

 

I'm gonna have to point out here that the characters were always intended to be partly mechanical, partly organic, and even the core story team considered the movie portrayal of the characters to be canon. The sets were never meant to be the definitive representation of them in canon. So overall, the movie versions of the characters were always intended as the official representations, and it wasn't up to Greg, or even the producers of the movies.

 

I was going to say something along these lines. The actual sets themselves are at the bottom of the lore hierarchy when it comes to physical representations. For one thing, canonically everyone has fingers and are capable of producing facial expressions even through masks.

 

 

Why on spherus magna would they put the sets at the botton? considering the only reason most people actually care about Bionicle is the sets...

 

If you were a person, with no knowledge of bionicle and walked into a shop, which would you rather buy; Any set, or an action figure of one of the movie characters?

[CroMagnonMan]

I don't see the problem with '01-'03 taking place within one year. That actually seems pretty generous to me. When the Toa first arrived, they were in quite a rush to collect all the masks, so no doubt they each got at least one a day, probably several more after they decided to team up. And would the island really have survived the Bohrok invasion for more than a month or two? Tearing up the island is their whole purpose, after all. Not much happens during the Kal saga (how long could it have taken them to locate the Bahrag, anyway?), and didn't the events of Mask of Light only take 2-3 days?

 

Now as for the entirety of '01-'08 taking place within one year... even that seems plausible to me. Aside from the period of peace between the Kal and the Rahkshi, and the move from Mata Nui to Metru Nui, there wasn't a lot of downtime as far as I recall. It was pretty dense with stuff happening, and happening quickly. So where is all the time supposed to be going, I ask?

[Pohaturon]

 

 

 

 

DId I mention this really, really sucks? MoL's graphics may have been technically proficient for a DVD movie in 2003, but the character designs were, are, and will always be hideous. More importantly, it clearly took the canonical nature of the Matoran Universe's biology in a different direction than what was originally intended - which in my opinion was a result of taking the "biological" part of the Bionicle Portmanteu literally rather than figuratively. The people in charge of making the movies had no idea how deep the metaphor of the Bio-Chronicle went, and at this point I'm convinced Greg F. didn't either.

 

I'm gonna have to point out here that the characters were always intended to be partly mechanical, partly organic, and even the core story team considered the movie portrayal of the characters to be canon. The sets were never meant to be the definitive representation of them in canon. So overall, the movie versions of the characters were always intended as the official representations, and it wasn't up to Greg, or even the producers of the movies.

 

I was going to say something along these lines. The actual sets themselves are at the bottom of the lore hierarchy when it comes to physical representations. For one thing, canonically everyone has fingers and are capable of producing facial expressions even through masks.

 

 

Why on spherus magna would they put the sets at the botton? considering the only reason most people actually care about Bionicle is the sets...

 

If you were a person, with no knowledge of bionicle and walked into a shop, which would you rather buy; Any set, or an action figure of one of the movie characters?

 

The reason why sets are on the bottom is because you last question has no relevancy to sales. ~90% of the people who ever bought a Bionicle set care absolutely nothing for the story and lore. 

 

Re-phrase your question - if you were a person with knowledge of Bionicle lore, would you be satisfied knowing that the characters had odd lumps of plastic for hands with no fingers, had woefully limited ranges of motion and perpetually reused parts? Because that is what would happen if the sets were canon.

 

[CommanderKumo]

 

 

 

 

 

DId I mention this really, really sucks? MoL's graphics may have been technically proficient for a DVD movie in 2003, but the character designs were, are, and will always be hideous. More importantly, it clearly took the canonical nature of the Matoran Universe's biology in a different direction than what was originally intended - which in my opinion was a result of taking the "biological" part of the Bionicle Portmanteu literally rather than figuratively. The people in charge of making the movies had no idea how deep the metaphor of the Bio-Chronicle went, and at this point I'm convinced Greg F. didn't either.

 

I'm gonna have to point out here that the characters were always intended to be partly mechanical, partly organic, and even the core story team considered the movie portrayal of the characters to be canon. The sets were never meant to be the definitive representation of them in canon. So overall, the movie versions of the characters were always intended as the official representations, and it wasn't up to Greg, or even the producers of the movies.

 

I was going to say something along these lines. The actual sets themselves are at the bottom of the lore hierarchy when it comes to physical representations. For one thing, canonically everyone has fingers and are capable of producing facial expressions even through masks.

 

 

Why on spherus magna would they put the sets at the botton? considering the only reason most people actually care about Bionicle is the sets...

 

If you were a person, with no knowledge of bionicle and walked into a shop, which would you rather buy; Any set, or an action figure of one of the movie characters?

 

The reason why sets are on the bottom is because you last question has no relevancy to sales. ~90% of the people who ever bought a Bionicle set care absolutely nothing for the story and lore. 

 

Re-phrase your question - if you were a person with knowledge of Bionicle lore, would you be satisfied knowing that the characters had odd lumps of plastic for hands with no fingers, had woefully limited ranges of motion and perpetually reused parts? Because that is what would happen if the sets were canon.

 

 

I suppose, but the lego movie does just fine, just look at how much the parts from characters are reused in that XD

[BioFan95]

Some reckons that peeved me off:

 

-No love

 

-Vakama didn't have visions, his AI was just glitchy

 

-The Matoran having sapience was just a fluke

 

-Pohatu was always orange, from day one.

[Toatapio Nuva]

I'm actually curious, where did this whole "Pohatu was always orange"-thing come up? I've never heard of that retcon before, and nothing in the story supports this in any way.

 

Speaking of disappointing retcons though:

1. Love as non-canon (I get it, they don't reproduce, but that doesn't mean they must be incapable of feeling the emotion)

2. Great Beings are just intelligent Glatorian (yes, this is a retcon, cause earlier Greg specifically said that the Great Beings were NOT Glatorian)

[TwistLaw]

Re-phrase your question - if you were a person with knowledge of Bionicle lore, would you be satisfied knowing that the characters had odd lumps of plastic for hands with no fingers, had woefully limited ranges of motion and perpetually reused parts? Because that is what would happen if the sets were canon.

 

 

Well, 90% of vertebrates have extremely similar bones that could be mistaken from each other, especially within the same group, so I wouldn't be bothered at all to know that canonically Bionicle characters share similar pieces in different colours. I mean, don't we do the same with clothes?

As far as hands are concerned, I've always thought that the socket hands could be opened just like our hands, with small mechanical fingers able to be compressed in such a way they look like a single piece, granting the best grip possible on weapons and tools.

 

And talking about organic parts, I always imagined them INSIDE the pieces, far from the eyes and protected from any external agent, just like our muscles.

 

I've spent hundreds of dollars on Bionicle sets and I want them to look like exactly the way I paid them. besides thinking them as warriors made out of "pieces" strengthens their uniqueness (and their Lego-ness), instead of making them just another bunch of cyborgs trying to kill each other.

[Podu]

I'm actually curious, where did this whole "Pohatu was always orange"-thing come up? I've never heard of that retcon before, and nothing in the story supports this in any way.

 

Speaking of disappointing retcons though:

1. Love as non-canon (I get it, they don't reproduce, but that doesn't mean they must be incapable of feeling the emotion)

2. Great Beings are just intelligent Glatorian (yes, this is a retcon, cause earlier Greg specifically said that the Great Beings were NOT Glatorian)

 

Besides the fact that Pohatu's sets are categorized as shades of orange by LEGO (Nuva/Mata - Earth Orange, Phantoka - Bright Orange and Gen2 - Dark Orange), the only thing I could find that suggests Pohatu's always been orange is this post: http://greg.thegreatarchives.com/2008-2010/page274#post10956

 

But that sounds more like Greg saying that the adaptive armor is orange, not Pohatu himself