What's one Canon event/character/concept you'd want changed in G1?

[FallenAtlas]

For me, I would have loved to see Sidorak return as a villain in a later arc, maybe on Voya Nui or Karda Nui.

 He was a great villain and I hated to see him die when he did. I felt he had great potential for more shenanigans.

[Nato G]

As much as it pains me to say it, I'd drop the Barraki.

I love those sets, and the whole backstory of the League of Six Kingdoms. But it frustrates me to no end that the story did absolutely nothing with that plot after 2007. The idea that these six other races who'd been all but erased from history were the true "chosen people", not the Matoran, and that the Great Spirit himself hand-picked six ruthless warlords and allowed them to use military might to enforce peace throughout the universe... it changes everything we thought we knew about the history of the Bionicle world. The return of the Barraki should have completely upended the entire religious and political foundation of Matoran civlisation. It would have been an amazing opportunity to have the heroes question everything they'd been told, and wonder whether Mata Nui was truly worth saving (a question the story flirted with at other times). Instead, the Barraki went back to jail and became minor nuisances in the serials, without their truth ever being told.

In place of the Barraki, I'd have had the Piraka pursue the Inika into Mahri Nui and become mutated themselves. Having a villain team transform and return the same way the heroes did would have been an interesting angle to explore. As it is, after all of the build-up and characterisation they had, the Piraka got turned into snakes off-screen and imprisoned, leaving their stories frustratingly unresolved. 

[Archius]

Skip 2005

I would  have made a new island with complete new cast of characters instead of reusing old ones all the time.

[FallenAtlas]

43 minutes ago, Nato G said:

As much as it pains me to say it, I'd drop the Barraki.

 This is a fantastic point. It would have been incredible to see the complete shakeup of the entire belief system we had been told about so far and presented Mata Nui as a morally gray individual instead of this lawful good god being he had so far been.

34 minutes ago, Archius said:

Skip 2005

I would  have made a new island with complete new cast of characters instead of reusing old ones all the time.

 Is your only criticism that they brought back Vakama and the gang for that arc or were there other reasons?

[FallenAtlas]

2 hours ago, NuparuFan8913 said:

H*ll, I would’ve skipped the whole Toa Metru Saga altogether. I just never liked the Toa Metru as characters and think the whole 2004-2005 story didn’t need to be told at all.

 Wow, that's a hot take(I think).

 I do agree we spent two years on effectively prequel material versus advancing the story of the Toa Mata/Nuva.

[TahnokTrapper]

17 hours ago, Nato G said:

As much as it pains me to say it, I'd drop the Barraki.

I love those sets, and the whole backstory of the League of Six Kingdoms. But it frustrates me to no end that the story did absolutely nothing with that plot after 2007. The idea that these six other races who'd been all but erased from history were the true "chosen people", not the Matoran, and that the Great Spirit himself hand-picked six ruthless warlords and allowed them to use military might to enforce peace throughout the universe... it changes everything we thought we knew about the history of the Bionicle world. The return of the Barraki should have completely upended the entire religious and political foundation of Matoran civlisation. It would have been an amazing opportunity to have the heroes question everything they'd been told, and wonder whether Mata Nui was truly worth saving (a question the story flirted with at other times). Instead, the Barraki went back to jail and became minor nuisances in the serials, without their truth ever being told.

In place of the Barraki, I'd have had the Piraka pursue the Inika into Mahri Nui and become mutated themselves. Having a villain team transform and return the same way the heroes did would have been an interesting angle to explore. As it is, after all of the build-up and characterisation they had, the Piraka got turned into snakes off-screen and imprisoned, leaving their stories frustratingly unresolved. 

I'd go the exact opposite route and ditch the Piraka. I find the Piraka to be overly gimmicky and overhyped villains, very much a product of a time where everything needed to be edgy. Unlike the Barraki, which at least added some intriguing lore on top of being a dysfunctional team full of backstabbers, the Piraka were just some overpowered jerks that slowed our heroes down a little and then did nothing else worth noting (aside from combining into the GSB later on). Introducing the Barraki in '06 would've allowed them and their background to be developed more than they were. '06 and onwards were very much the years where Bionicle expanded outside of the Metru Nui/Mata Nui comfort zone, both geographically and thematically - I see the Barraki as potentially challenging both the belief systems of the heroes as well as being a physical threat. The Piraka only ever posed a physical threat.

16 hours ago, NuparuFan8913 said:

H*ll, I would’ve skipped the whole Toa Metru Saga altogether. I just never liked the Toa Metru as characters and think the whole 2004-2005 story didn’t need to be told at all.

I wouldn't go that far, I'd was nice getting some insight to the Turaga's previous lives. Though I would definitely excise 2005 and condense the 2004 story so there'd be less farting around (cut The Darkness Below and Voyage of Fear novels because they don't really advance the plot, cut out all the times the novels retell the same story beats and then maybe expand Time Trap because that book is way too short).

EDIT: Oh, and maybe use 2004 as means of foreshadowing some of the themes in the later years (the whole question of morality with Mata Nui and what not).

Edited December 29, 2024 by TahnokTrapper

[Lenny7092]

I would skip the online story serials and other online stories. Too much detail. The multiverse themes are a mess (I can say the same to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s).

[Nato G]

On 1/7/2025 at 1:11 PM, Lenny7092 said:

I would skip the online story serials and other online stories. Too much detail. The multiverse themes are a mess.

I feel like there's room for debate there. Even the worst of the serials and side stories have redeemable qualities, expanding the scope of the story, revisiting forgotten characters, exploring unseen locations, or introducing plot points that will be important later. For example, Federation of Fear is delightful dumb fun, throwing together a bunch of villains from previous years for a pointless adventure (the entire Bionicle storyline could function just fine without Miserix existing) but that story also introduces Tren Krom, who's vitally important to our understanding of the GSR and the Great Beings, and arguably single-handedly responsible for the heroes being able to win the final battle in 2010. Without Federation to set him up earlier, Tren Krom's role later in the story would have come out of nowhere. 

The dimension-hopping stuff gives us some fun what-ifs, especially Toa Empire and The Kingdom. Even weirder plotlines like the Shadow Takanuvas serve a purpose, demonstrating how dangerous and far-reaching the ambition of the Makuta could be, and showing that Toa of Light aren't the instant win button that many characters assumed them to be.

I think the issue isn't so much that the serials and podcasts existed, just that they - and the rest of the story - were so spread out across different locations and mediums that it made Bionicle's story somewhat inaccessible and hard to keep up with. I think the web content tends to cop a lot of the blame for that issue, because it came out on a different website, only released sporadically, and sometimes had weird overlap that was hard to keep track of. But when you read everything in chronological order it all fits together pretty naturally. 

Edited January 10 by Nato G

[Lorentz]

On 1/6/2025 at 7:11 PM, Lenny7092 said:

The multiverse themes are a mess

At least they're just side stories that don't really affect the main plot. You don't have to keep track of variants, and I'm pretty sure that two variants of the same character never even meet.

[Master Inika]

1 hour ago, ToaHordikaMatau-o5g said:

I’d also would’ve had the Toa Mahri completely turn back into their Toa Inika selves once they were transported back to Metru Nui instead of them staying their Toa Mahri selves.

I also like to imagine when they built a statue of Matoro on Metru Nui, it was of his Toa Inika self and NOT his Toa Mahri self.

Something tells me you like the Toa Inika significantly more than the Toa Mahri.

[Master Inika]

7 hours ago, ToaHordikaMatau-o5g said:

I do. In fact, I should’ve changed my recent name to ToaInikaMatoro-o5g instead of ToaHordikaMatau-o5g. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait another three months.

But yeah, looking back…when I really think about it…2007 wasn’t that great of a year for Bionicle when I really think about it and I feel like the theme suffered the “2007 effect” where the story and sets were both actually…I’m finally saying it and admitting it…bad. Not bad bad, mind you…but not great either.

It’s kind of like how I prefer Seasons 10-11 of The Simpsons (and are actually my favorite seasons of the iconic yellow family) to Seasons 12-14…even though the latter three seasons were deemed an “improvement” for the show.

First time I've ever heard of the "2007 effect." I would appraise them as roughly similar years. I prefer the Inika to the Mahri (the Mahri are just too bulky and look weighed down by their scuba gear, which I know is the point, but it still makes them awkward to actually play with), though I prefer the Barraki to the Piraka. As for the story, they're basically two halves of the same drama, so I don't know what distinction you're making between 2006's story and 2007's. 2006 in particular suffered from a cluster of overpowered characters in the latter half, between Vezon and Fenrakk, Kardas, Brutaka, Botar, Thok and Hakann stealing Brutaka's power, plus the Piraka Fusion, to the point where none of them felt like they had any real impact on anything.

The idea that the statue of Matoro would be in his Inika form over his Mahri form, in-universe, makes zero sense to me. I prefer Matoro Inika aesthetically too, but it just doesn't make sense for that to be remembered as the form he saved the world in. In 2006, Matoro didn't really do anything, we just got told he was destined to (which 2007 delivered on). Yeah, the Tryna looks kind of derpy, but I think the story would be worse if that fact was acnowledged.

[That Matoran with a Vahi]

For my two cents, I think there's an argument to be made for the statue of Matoro to be of him as a Matoran. This isn't even just my Matoran preference speaking, but rather it's what everyone on Metru Nui knew him as: very few people saw him in either Toa form. None of the Mahri really struck me as the artistic type either, so I feel like it would have been awkward for them to have had to describe in detail to a carver how Matoro had looked for at most a few days in-universe, an appearance that no-one in the city but them would know at a glance was him; I feel it would have made more sense for Hafu to just run with a design based on what he's known Matoro looking like for several hundred years, albeit still holding the Ingnika to emphasise his significance. I think in that case recognisability would be the most important factor for a major landmark like that; and it also would highlight, too, one of Bionicle's central themes: that heroism isn't just the domain of the Toa but can come from anyone.

---

Actually, thinking about it, something I said there brings me to my answer to the thread's main question:

What I'd change about Bionicle is, I think, the timeline. It stretches my suspension of disbelief how little time passes between any of the major transformations in Bionicle, but none more so than Jaller and co. who after being changed from Matoran, were Toa Inika for a week at most before being zapped into a completely new form that lasted a matter of days before being at least partially changed again on return to Metru Nui. Watching the story unfold in real-world time it's not as obvious, since we've seen the team remain as Inika for a good year before they undergo the Mahri transformation, which feels fair; but in the super-compressed timeline that the story actually takes place over it just starts to feel silly.

Same goes for the Toa Classic becoming Nuva mere weeks after arriving on Mata Nui in the retconned timeline, and the Metru likewise only being Toa for maybe two months, Hordika transformation included, before becoming Turaga. Iconic forms seem to last no time at all when you look at them from in-universe time, and it just doesn't click for me. Especially with the several multi-thousand-year gaps in the timeline where we know of nothing of note happening, only for everything critical to all play out in like three months; it feels like there's no balance.

Personally, I think I'd have the Bionicle story events play out over about a decade, just like they did in real time. Have the journeys, quests, etc. feel like they actually take time, have more space for the characters to deal with the changes that have happened to and around them instead of just shuffling them right on to the next catastrophe. When everything's chaos all the time and there's no downtime to actually get to know the characters, I feel like it takes away from the sense of stakes. I'd like Bionicle to feel like those stakes matter again by taking the time to really let us get to know the characters and how the things that happen affect them personally, the same way that MNOG did.

That's my thought, at least... 🤔

Edited January 16 by That Matoran with a Vahi

[bioniclegood]

honestly i think the whole toa nuva thing was kinda dumb, because they were just the toa mata + like 2 parts, and so were the bohrok-kal in that sense

[bioniclegood]

also kopaka looks bad, especially the mask, but MoL kopaka looks alright

[TahnokTrapper]

5 hours ago, That Matoran with a Vahi said:

For my two cents, I think there's an argument to be made for the statue of Matoro to be of him as a Matoran. This isn't even just my Matoran preference speaking, but rather it's what everyone on Metru Nui knew him as: very few people saw him in either Toa form. None of the Mahri really struck me as the artistic type either, so I feel like it would have been awkward for them to have had to describe in detail to a carver how Matoro had looked for at most a few days in-universe, an appearance that no-one in the city but them would know at a glance was him; I feel it would have made more sense for Hafu to just run with a design based on what he's known Matoro looking like for several hundred years, albeit still holding the Ingnika to emphasise his significance. I think in that case recognisability would be the most important factor for a major landmark like that; and it also would highlight, too, one of Bionicle's central themes: that heroism isn't just the domain of the Toa but can come from anyone.

---

Actually, thinking about it, something I said there brings me to my answer to the thread's main question:

What I'd change about Bionicle is, I think, the timeline. It stretches my suspension of disbelief how little time passes between any of the major transformations in Bionicle, but none more so than Jaller and co. who after being changed from Matoran, were Toa Inika for a week at most before being zapped into a completely new form that lasted a matter of days before being at least partially changed again on return to Metru Nui. Watching the story unfold in real-world time it's not as obvious, since we've seen the team remain as Inika for a good year before they undergo the Mahri transformation, which feels fair; but in the super-compressed timeline that the story actually takes place over it just starts to feel silly.

Same goes for the Toa Classic becoming Nuva mere weeks after arriving on Mata Nui in the retconned timeline, and the Metru likewise only being Toa for maybe two months, Hordika transformation included, before becoming Turaga. Iconic forms seem to last no time at all when you look at them from in-universe time, and it just doesn't click for me. Especially with the several multi-thousand-year gaps in the timeline where we know of nothing of note happening, only for everything critical to all play out in like three months; it feels like there's no balance.

Personally, I think I'd have the Bionicle story events play out over about a decade, just like they did in real time. Have the journeys, quests, etc. feel like they actually take time, have more space for the characters to deal with the changes that have happened to and around them instead of just shuffling them right on to the next catastrophe. When everything's chaos all the time and there's no downtime to actually get to know the characters, I feel like it takes away from the sense of stakes. I'd like Bionicle to feel like those stakes matter again by taking the time to really let us get to know the characters and how the things that happen affect them personally, the same way that MNOG did.

That's my thought, at least... 🤔

I agree with you. In fact, forget axing 2005 and all the other minute changes - this right here might be the thing that needed to be changed the most. 

[Nato G]

9 hours ago, That Matoran with a Vahi said:

For my two cents, I think there's an argument to be made for the statue of Matoro to be of him as a Matoran.

Absolutely agreed. He was Nuju's translator for way longer than he was a Toa, and most people who knew him as a Matoran never even saw either of his Toa forms. 

The fan continuation story Legacy Weapons actually does include a scene in its final chapter where a statue of Matoro is unveiled. The author went with a statue of his Mahri form, but also placed Matoro's original Akaku at the base of the statue, which I think is a nice middle ground.