[TTV G3][Poll] What is the core of Bionicle?

see: Mad Max Fury Road

4 Likes

It’s hard to pinpoint which one of these was the core of Bionicle. All of these elements were, without a doubt, important to the franchise. However, strip away the characters, the plot, the sets, and you still have a gorgeous world to explore. Now, stories with good characters and boring worlds will do better than stories with amazing worlds and boring characters. That being said, a good set of characters in an amazing world is possibly the best way to have a good story. Plot is definitely important, but it is easier (for the most part) to have a good plot once the world and characters are created. Plot is really just the characters’ interaction with the going-ons in the world. And you can have characters conform to the needs of the plot, and worldbuilding to the plot, but usually it’s the other way round, and I think Bionicle followed this (plot out of worldbuilding/characters). Bionicle had a good plot, arguably, because the characters it had, and the world they created.
But, why is world/atmosphere over characters for the core? Well, I think Bionicle wouldn’t change on a fundamental level if the characters were either different in personalities than they did originally or if they were different all together. It would still be biomechanical beings on an island with tribes fighting against (basically) nature itself.

And as a side note here, Bionicle’s plot is very much ‘man’ vs nature. Sure, technically there’s a main villain, and ‘man’ vs ‘man’ is very much there, but Makuta is very much a force of nature villain. For a good explanation of force of nature villain, here’s a video by extracredits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyyE8c27-9Y
Makuta in MNOG is practically the dark side of nature. We see this with the charred forest (if you talk to kapura, he goes in depth on this) and Makuta’s monologue at the end about how he is basically the embodiment of destruction, and everyone has a little bit of that in them too.
All of that being said, Makuta lends to the ‘man’ vs nature aspect of the world. These tribes are trying to survive wave after wave of rahi, natural disasters, etc.
If G3 is going to capture part of the worldbuilding of bionicle, I really think the man vs nature element of G1 will go very well with it. (That being said, G2 did show man vs man could work… if handled right. Unlike G2)
Now, enough side tracking.
The reason the worldbuilding is the fundamental core is because you can swap out characters and plot, and it would still be bionicle. The world itself is what brings about the actual identity of Bionicle.

Boy, I rambled on a bit there. Hopefully that made some sense. Anyways, these are just my views on the matter, so take it as you will. :slight_smile:

5 Likes

…is it normal that I think a poll like this is actually kinda detrimental to understanding what defines Bionicle? It makes it look like there should only be one worthwile thing that forms the entire line. G1 is practically a Rorschach test for the fanbase - everyone takes one look at it and values it differently, but that doesn’t mean what the majority sees is the real core. It’s like looking at a human body and asking: “Which one organ keeps us alive? Is it the stomach? The lungs? The heart?”

Bionicle is definitely a combination of everything listed - maybe everything to different degrees, sure, but finding out these proportions through a poll doesn’t mathematically make sense anyway (if 95% of people like cake because of its sweetness, then cakes must be made out of 95% sugar, right?). Each element has its own functions that are important, and it’s difficult to discuss them in any order because of how they all tie together; pick one over the others, and you miss the big picture:

a) Sets: What Lego actually needs to succeed - and is how most people got into Bionicle im the first place (if not everyone). Release bad sets, and the line fails instantly - but it isn’t necessarily what everyone loves about it. On the other hand, I’ve known ex-fans who only care about the sets and nothing else. The toys are definitely the core from a business perspective, but not directly what made it successful or too impactful. When you favor this over everything else, you get G2; great toys, but placed in a context where there is no real reason to care about anything.

b) Story/Plot: Bionicle’s story isn’t the most well-written thing on earth, but it’s definitely capable of resonating with people. This the core from a very broad perspective, as it serves as the vehicle for all the other points to shine: sets need to be sold somehow, characters need to do something, and the worldbuilding needs to be used in some form.

c) Characters: Though many don’t realize it, some of the best tales have characters driving the story, and not the other way round. Most of the time Bionicle’s characters weren’t the most three-dimensional, but they served their purpose. Characters serve an important yet overlooked purpose to everything: sets need to sell something, a story always needs to be about someone, the universe has to be explored by someone, and the tone needs to be expressed through people, not events.

d) Worldbuilding/Atmosphere: I think this point is kinda cheating, because it’s easily two different elements placed together for being what clearly sticks with everyone the most. It’s what Bionicle excelled at during its early years. Worldbuilding creates atmosphere, but they aren’t the same. Worldbuilding is the universe your characters inhabit; a universe without someone to marvel at it is duller than you might think. Atmosphere is what the story, characters and universe make the protagonists and audience feel. These are the core of Bionicle for the impression it gives, burning it into our minds. But these poins can only be justified by all the others - otherwise, it’s a hollow experience.

If you haven’t voted yet, please distinguish what you like and what you think is most important. If you agree with what I said, there isn’t really one choice.

Edit: I just realized how bitter my wall of text reads, moments after posting it. I’m not, before anyone gets on my case, but I do think it hinders discussion to be forced to pick one option and stand by the opinion that that’s what matters most in a multi-faceted franchise.

TL;DR: Pick your favorite brach off a tree, but don’t call it its “core.”

11 Likes

Well dang…

I think that’s one of the most well-put opinions on here… :smile:

2 Likes

Thanks! I wanted to be as specific as possible because TTV will discuss it on their podcast for everyone to hear, and they probably won’t say “this is the core of Bionicle, because X and Y…”, but instead “people like Bionicle’s worldbuilding and atmosphere more, so that must be its core - the poll proves it” (for some reason, I’m having a really hard time trying to sound neutral without coming off as grossly bitter). Dividing something into equal parts and calling your favorite “special” is a pretty bad way to analyze something - it asks “what?” instead of “how?” or “why?”.

It reminds me of a conversation that happened many years ago between my brother (about 11-13 at the time) and a cousin (girl, younger than seven years old):

C: I have so many costumes!

B: So which one is your favorite?

C: I dunno, I like all of them!

B: If they were all going to be burned, and you could only keep one, which one would it be?

C: :confounded:! …the Cinderella dress.

4 Likes

That is a good example, but if the theme is filled with an amazing world, but characters that don’t do much, it will be hard to sell sets. Most sets in Lego action themes are character-based.(Ex: Clay’s Rumble Blade.) If the characters really only just… exist… then kid’s only motivation to buy a set will be “it looks cool”. Not because it contains their favorite character that they’ve become attatched to. They won’t be invested in the story. Kid’s don’t pay too much attention to atmosphere, at least consciously. The theme would need a strong, character-driven story so that people care about the world. I honestly think all of the aspects in the poll are equally important.

^This.^

The Mad Max movie wasn’t made to sell toys, now was it?

Plus, there was only one Mad Max movie made; Bionicle had 3 movies (technically 4, but 3 actually are connected), so it needed more of a plot to prevent repetition and, therefore, prevent boredom of the people watching the movies. Without that plot, there would be no continuations, and Bionicle would have gotten cut short as it was planned to do so in 2003.

Mad Max is actually a long-running series, so there wasn’t only one Mad Max movie made. I agree that plot is pretty important, but I think because of the nature of what BIONICLE is (a line made to sell toys) allowing people to make up their own stories and be immersed is the most important thing, and that comes from worldbuilding.

1 Like

This is pretty much the reason why I haven’t chosen in the poll yet. Thank you for putting into better words how I feel. I really cannot just choose one aspect to be the center of the franchise, I don’t believe it works like that.

I mean, it’s a toy franchise, so the obvious answer is the toys.

2 Likes

MNOG will forever be my favourite media from Bionicle, due to the sheer atmosphere it creates with the locations, the sounds, the characters, the mystery. The game alone created an aura of a mythos that no other Bionicle media has come close to.

MNOG to me represents everything that Bionicle should be.

Atmospheric music is so important to Bionicle.

3 Likes

There is no one thing since Bionicle has always been a synergy of the four.

I am voting for the atmosphere, not because the TTV crew vote for this, because is nice to share a pasion for something with other people. Binicle isn’t only about the sets or plot, it’s about what you fill.

The main problem I have with is pole, and the reason I’m not voting, is because there is not one thing that defines Bionicle. All four of the option have a place in Bionicle one way or another and to say one thing is the “core” of Bionicle is not right to me.

Oh.
Welp, I dun goofed.

I think the problem here with this poll is that we’re defining the core of Bionicle based on what we remember/know which for G3, I’d rather poll what do we think is the one factor that will gravitate new consumers to Bionicle, which honestly any of the listed non-set choices would work. Just do it well.

1 Like

The issue is that the thing you enjoy most about Bionicle does not make it the core. IMO, you cannot remove any of these items and still get “Bionicle”. When you bake a cake, you have a large number of ingredients. Some of these ingredients, like vanilla or icing, aren’t completely necessary to create a cake. You cannot, however, say that the core of a cake is eggs, or flour, or sugar. And as @Kaituhi wonderfully put it, if everyone likes the sweetness of a cake, that does not make sugar the core ingredient.

I ended up choosing Worldbuilding/Atmosphere on this poll, but it was honestly a hard choice because I enjoyed all of these things. Bionicle’s atmosphere and worldbuilding (which are not the same thing) made it unique, but that doesn’t mean I could change everything else about the series and still enjoy it.

13 Likes

Here’s the reason I voted for the world: the world is the reason that, 16 years later (Oh Mata Nui I feel old now) I am still writing stories placing my own characters in the world of BIONICLE. I don’t write stories about the great Tahu, Toa of Powah, but rather about some Onu-Matoran on Mata Nui going on a quest while Tahu’s off saving the world. So I guess the world is important because it kept me in BIONICLE, 16 years later. But it isn’t what got me there in the first place.

I am groot.

~W12~

4 Likes

Definitely true; so much that I frankly think that it could have been a fifth category in the poll.

2 Likes

In LEGO’s view, it’s certainly the sets, but that’s where they differ from us. The atmosphere and world are by far the coolest things about BIONICLE. The world sucks us all in and gets us to buy sets like Good Guy and Ketar because we love the world and the characters that inhabit it. So what if some of the sets aren’t that great? The world is (usually) fantastic!

1 Like