Bionicle's Storyline

[Vandenreich]

Well I recall looking at the Unpopular Opinion's thread (Yes self advertisment) alot of people seemed unsatisfied for the most part with Bionicles storyline and/or writing.So I was wondering what do you think Bionicle would have been like if the storyline was the main focus. And not really selling toys. Like if they put more efort into the writing team and made more media related stuff (Cartoons, Video games and what not.)Instead of just a four Movies and acctually tried to build up the Bionicle world much more exstensively like say Transformers. (Not to say Transformers isnt to sell toys but TF:Prime does a good job in not giving the to sell toys feeling) think it would still be around not have lasted as long or been much more sucsessfull.Just wondering.

Edited April 14, 2012 by Deltus

[LaputanMachine]

I think it would've been immensely more popular than it was, and would have even gained a blockbuster or two, like Transformers did.

[Tilius]

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Edited April 27, 2021 by Tilius

[Cederak]

I don't think Bionicle would have been as successful without a set sales option. There's a possibility that things would've taken a more Hero Factory direction, in terms of giving Bionicle a TV show. Who knows, more comics might have been made as well. But I'm pretty sure that set sales gave Bionicle a longevity that allowed them to continue to work with the story, and Bionicle could not have lasted more than 5 years without that support. You referenced Transformers, but I wonder if that franchise would have stood the test of time without toy sales, relying on other media instead? It seems unlikely.-Ced

[bonesiii]

Transformers is totally not the example I would ever think of. Anywho, moving to Storyline & Theories...

[fishers64]

Transformers is so...savage compared to Bionicle. They are not on the same plane. Er...tough question. If they could make a more storyline-focused Bionicle, then I would say yes. But I don't think they could. They already had the problem of people merely following the story and not buying the sets, so it would have made that problem worse.

[GSR]

Well, frankly speaking, Lego is a toy company at the end of the day. They're not here to tell stories, they're here to sell toys, and they don't really have the personnel or experience to create a more story-based line without sets being a major part of it. (Plus it'd just be weird - people go to Lego to buy sets, not to have stories told to them.)That said, I think one of the reasons Bionicle's story got to be such a mess was that the way it was told was so fragmented - you had your comics, your books, your online animations, your online serials, the occasional movie - the list goes on. A high-visibility, long-form way of telling stories like a TV series might have given the plot room to breathe, as well as provided some inherent structure (you're going to want to build up towards something climactic at season's end.) I'm not sure how 2004-2005 would have fit in to that, though; it was already a little odd and contrived for them to spend two years in the past, and I don't know if you could feasibly pull such a thing off in a series, even a kids' one. I mean, Avatar: The Last Airbender was aimed at a fairly young audience (maybe a little older than Bionicle's), and I'm given to understand it usually moved the plot forward at a pretty good pace. Would people really have wanted them to spend a season showing the elder characters as young heroes? In other words, like Tilius said above, some of the cruft would have been culled, most likely.If they had pulled it off, though, they might have been able to leverage these alternative methods of producing the story to make the series profitable beyond toy sales, which would have helped it. Of course, the flipside to all this is that if you do have a very story-based series, it can only run so long - if they played up the continuity of the story too much in a more focused format, they'd probably running into "new fan lockout" even earlier than they did.

Edited April 15, 2012 by GSR

[Parazan]

Of course, the ending was very, VERY stretched out and rushed. This is why I made an epic titled "The leaking" to finish the end.Yes, towards the end of BIONICLE's life, the storyline was stretched out, and the sets were having less pieces so that you could build faster.

[Zestanor]

Hmm... that's an interesting one. Looking back, I can't say I'd have the story any other way, but if it was... maybe it would have been even better. If we assume the premise ("In the time before time..." etc.) remains, then we can say that the 2001 story would have been the same. 2002 wasn't really necessary but... you see, I don't want to just throw stuff out, because it detracts from the whole we have now. But in reality, if Bionicle was a series of three Harry Potter #6 sized books, then it would go like this:1st book-It would have the 2001 story the same, but with the Bohrok story added in, so that the Toa would become Nuva soon after their fight with Makuta. It would focus on some Matoran too, like Takua & co. and the future Inika/Mahri. It would skip the Kal completely. Then the Mask of Light movie would be incorporated. Legends of Metru Nui would be covered briefly. Throughout the book would be many allusions to "The three that must be one, the two that must make them one."2nd book-Would focus more heavily on the Toa Nuva on Voya Nui before the new Toa come into being, and also on the Inika Matoran's trials. Oh, and from this point on, Takanuva sticks with the Nuva. The Inika would not completely gain all focus, instead much focus would also remain on the weakened Nuva. Mahri Nui would be similar to its actual form, except the Inika wouldn't shapeshift to become the Mahri (no sets.) Also would focus on the Nuvas' awakening Mata Nui list. Then Matoro saves the universe! Abound with hints of Spherus Magna.3rd book-Nuva would be in the Core, but it would also focus on the "Destiny War," with the Inika being the major players. "Mata Nui" awakes, and the giant robot secret is out. There would be a brief change of scenery to the desert world where Teridax and Mata Nui would fight as massive robots (basically, all of 2009 would be discarded.) Then the Teridax robot would be battled from both the outside (by Mata Nui) and the inside (by the Toa). Important: no one is under their feet! Makuta is defeated, and then dies, and Mata Nui melds Spherus Magna. The end.Notice, the protagonists are constant throughout the story: The Nuva, and the Inika, parallel. Anyway, I basically just edited what was in the original 7-fold Story Bible. On that note, does anyone have a link to the topic where Greg talked about what was known from the beginning? I don't know what words to search for on Google, but I remember being astounded by the revelations. That would probably be the most pure (non-set influenced) version of the story. I remember the part about the 7-fold story, but I want to see it again. I remember it went:1. Toa Mata2. Toa Nuva3. Toa Metru4. Toa Inika5. Toa Mahri6. Toa Inika 3.07. Toa Nuva returnYeah, so could someone help in finding that topic?

Edited April 15, 2012 by Zestanor

[Gatanui]

The story would have been much more profound but at the same time, it would have missed the set platform which defined the characters in their appearance. I imagine their appearance being restricted to mere drawings and sketches if physical forms had never been produced, which would have been a pity. Unless there would have been blockbuster movies, in which case there would have been many fans complaining how whichever character didn´t resemble the way they pictured them. Then again, who says there can´t be blockbuster movies for BIONICLE someday? -Gata

[Athmos]

Hmm... that's an interesting one. Looking back, I can't say I'd have the story any other way, but if it was... maybe it would have been even better. If we assume the premise ("In the time before time..." etc.) remains, then we can say that the 2001 story would have been the same. 2002 wasn't really necessary but... you see, I don't want to just throw stuff out, because it detracts from the whole we have now. But in reality, if Bionicle was a series of three Harry Potter #6 sized books, then it would go like this:1st book-It would have the 2001 story the same, but with the Bohrok story added in, so that the Toa would become Nuva soon after their fight with Makuta. It would focus on some Matoran too, like Takua & co. and the future Inika/Mahri. It would skip the Kal completely. Then the Mask of Light movie would be incorporated. Legends of Metru Nui would be covered briefly. Throughout the book would be many allusions to "The three that must be one, the two that must make them one."2nd book-Would focus more heavily on the Toa Nuva on Voya Nui before the new Toa come into being, and also on the Inika Matoran's trials. Oh, and from this point on, Takanuva sticks with the Nuva. The Inika would not completely gain all focus, instead much focus would also remain on the weakened Nuva. Mahri Nui would be similar to its actual form, except the Inika wouldn't shapeshift to become the Mahri (no sets.) Also would focus on the Nuvas' awakening Mata Nui list. Then Matoro saves the universe! Abound with hints of Spherus Magna.3rd book-Nuva would be in the Core, but it would also focus on the "Destiny War," with the Inika being the major players. "Mata Nui" awakes, and the giant robot secret is out. There would be a brief change of scenery to the desert world where Teridax and Mata Nui would fight as massive robots (basically, all of 2009 would be discarded.) Then the Teridax robot would be battled from both the outside (by Mata Nui) and the inside (by the Toa). Important: no one is under their feet! Makuta is defeated, and then dies, and Mata Nui melds Spherus Magna. The end.Notice, the protagonists are constant throughout the story: The Nuva, and the Inika, parallel. Anyway, I basically just edited what was in the original 7-fold Story Bible. On that note, does anyone have a link to the topic where Greg talked about what was known from the beginning? I don't know what words to search for on Google, but I remember being astounded by the revelations. That would probably be the most pure (non-set influenced) version of the story. I remember the part about the 7-fold story, but I want to see it again. I remember it went:1. Toa Mata2. Toa Nuva3. Toa Metru4. Toa Inika5. Toa Mahri6. Toa Inika 3.07. Toa Nuva returnYeah, so could someone help in finding that topic?

I like this. By getting rid of the more "uneventful" years of Bionicle, it's shorter, but it could be a more richer and better storyline.

[Toatapio Nuva]

The story would've been a lot worse. The sets and the fact the story was aimed at children sort of "kept it in line" in terms of violence, for example. The sets gave Bionicle its uniqueness and reshaped it into what it is. Without the sets the story would probablt be just like any other mass-produced fantasy adventure with nothing special in it.