Disabilities for matoran

They’re not robots in G3. They’re biological.

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Dang it. I thought this was ask greg for some reason. Welp.

Isn’t Kopaka technically disabled with his bad eye?

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I’m talking in the sense of like, dyslexia, as mentioned in the main post. But also, that goes with my point, he’s a main character. But if you threw in some really minor characters with disabilities, it wouldn’t be nearly the same.

Yeah, but that’s also a design factor to look cool, and isn’t outright screaming disability, since It’s also pretty common in media.

I can see why the idea wouldn’t work. Minor characters with disabilities, unless they were to gain more major roles, wouldn’t really have any reason to have them. I remember reading the post Apotheosis by @DarkMaestro where the character Helryx has a prosthetic (or peg leg) which makes her look more interesting and adds to her history.

I think receiving a scar like that (to the point where one eye is a different color to the other) would impair his vision (seen here), as well as warrant for a mask built to aid him.

Yeah. I’m not saying it’s not a disability. Like you said, it’s a design choice to make the character interesting.

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We can also have characters who are veterans who have scars, mental or physical. This can also play into the civil war aspect.

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I prefer that idea more than a matoran with a disability, though I wouldn’t mostly say Veteran. Instead that character would have gone through an event that could have scared them or traumatized them, probably like Bruce Wayne when he was young. But I can still see that could still be the case if it was a character that might have been in a war, causing them to have maybe a scar or never was the same person before the war or event.

Matoran.

Having characters with PTSD-eque symptoms is walking a dangerous line, depending on how deep the story goes into it. PTSD is pretty dark for a pseudo Lego theme, and could be bad if not written well in the story.
Physical disabilities are not too bad, but if you start delving into mental truama/disabilities, it’s going to be tough to portray it properly while still not getting too mature for a younger audience. It’d probably be best to avoid that can of worms altogether. :confused:

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I also did not think of that. Geeze, I need to think-through stuff before I type it.

It could be funny to see a water tribe matoran with a peg leg.

So… Helryx from Apotheosis?

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We could go all out Stero types…

Stone matorans being steadfast and sturborn creatures but often stupid as a rock.

Water matorans Just rolling with most things but shifty and impulsive…

FIre matorans are powerful just ill tempered

And so on

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Yeah, but that feels too cliché.

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As far as mental disabilities go, I don’t think it would be a very great idea, especially if it’s for no other reason than to be relatable. Basically what Doot said:

However, that being said, I would very much like to see physical disabilities in Matoran, and seeing how they can overcome them with the resources that exist within the BIONICLE universe.

Imagine a Toa whose legs were paralyzed, so they use a Miru to levitate as a means of getting around, or a blind Toa with the Arthron a la Daredevil.

Implementing physical disabilities could open up possibility for some creative ideas and unique character traits. And overall, giving a character a physical disability and a clever way to overcome it has much less potential for controversy; Not to mention the risk of misrepresenting a mental disability and offending those who actually have it.

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Perhaps, so long as they really convincingly overcome it. But, should also remember that a lot of the characters that have been discussed so far are fighters and elites, who would not have their positions if they couldn’t perform at a peak level.

As for PTSD, it wouldn’t really fit with the setting. In real life, soldiers get PTSD because how far removed modern warfare is from the “natural” state of conflict which the human brain is evolved to cope with, but this wasn’t really a problem in more primitive societies.

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That’s true, but regardless; trauma and mental illnesses are difficult to write into this story without getting too dark for younger audiences. It’d be best to avoid it as to not risk writing something that could come off as offensive, inaccurate, or too morose.

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I want to see this in a BIONICLE fanfic now.

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