BIONICLE 2015 Toa Discussion

[Chronicler]

Now it’s time we discuss specifically about the Toa in the reboot, and how they have changed.

Let’s look at the new personalities:

Tahu: Hot-tempered, brave, and is prideful. Fairly forgetful, however, and born under a “lucky star”. (Perhaps the red star?) So, Tahu is forgetful now? Oh nice, I can see the potential in this.
Power: Fire Control and resistance to heat.

Gali: Wise and peaceful, but can also become very fierce. Has a strong sense of justice. But cannot tell a joke right! (Wait, H2O is she doing here?)
Powers: Water control and can out-swim any creature.

Lewa: Daredevil and rebellious (kinda like Matau). Has both love and hate for others, and can find new ways of doing things. His actions get him into trouble.
Powers: Communes with plants and the wind.

Kopaka: Noble, reserved, and has a strong sense of justice that may make him seem cold at heart at times. However, he is not good with a sense of direction and is pretty clumsy. (Something I did not expect to be changed about him, and I don’t really like it.)
Powers: Freezing Touch and resistance to cold.

Pohatu: Brave and filled with stamina, Pohatu is stubborn and a leader of the team. He isn’t afraid of anything except for the dark. (Pretty strange change for him).
Powers: Super-Strong, being able to break and hurl rocks.

Onua: Understands things very well and is wise. He likes to meditate under the stars, being silent. He also likes to sleep! He hardly says a word, but when he does, he speaks wisdom.
Powers: Night-Vision and can make Earth-Quakes.

Not a fan of some of these, but hey, you just gotta live with them. Besides, I like to imagine Onua sleeping in a cave, like a giant bear.

[Hawkflight]

I’d like to think that some of these changes can actually be played out well. I gave the idea that Onua’s sleepiness is a curse by Makuta’s spirit to interfere with his destiny. (Imagine Onua fighting sleepiness while also fighting to take the skull spider off Lewa.) Same with Pohatu, maybe his fear of the dark is something that Makuta plays off of to test him (if only it was confirmed for Makuta still had shadow powers…) I think Nyran suggested that for Kopaka, his lack of direction and clumsiness angers him and his narcissistic self-image. Lewa could be the one that comes up with the most original ideas but he gets looked over by his teammates (a la LEGO movie plot). Can’t seem to think of what to do with Gali, except a running joke about her smacking Lewa when he fails to laugh at her jokes. And Tahu… now we know what that second pair of swords is for.

Some of those powers intrigue me… it implies that Kopaka won’t be able to control ice storms or control ice from afar, only directly with his hands. Also means that Pohatu can’t manipulate stone into a bridge, or Onua be able to change earth’s density so that he can seamlessly pass through it, or any other number of obscure and creative powers.

[Risebell]

I like these new quirks that have been added. The Toa Mata/Nuva were never really the most well defined characters to begin with- Like Tahu, he has anger issues and controls fire… Woo…
Now however, we have Tahu- Master of fire! The Reckless yet lucky fire-fightin’ leader of the team who’s luck get’s him out of and sometimes into trouble. He actually sounds relateable now.
Or Kopaka, sure we haven’t seen what he’ll act like yet, but now that he’s clumsy and not just cold and distant we might see some more development in his character instead of just getting use to him and coming to like him more and more over time. Sure the Toa grew and changed over time, which we saw when Tahu fought that Skakdi on Bara Magna, but now… I feel like we’ll see more development in these two than just getting more power ups and getting stronger.
Yeah this is a story of… Well… Robots fighting other robots, but… Anyone who says that can go kiss a Muaka for all I care.

[Willess12]

Remember, in the original Bionicle guidebook, they were given pretty much these exact same power desctriptions. Doesn’t mean they don’t have full elemental power.

[Chronicler]

I don’t feel it’s a “robot vs. robot” thing this time. That was Hero Factory. No, the mythos of BIONICLE is back, with “The Legend” as an appropriate back story for BIONICLE.

The personalities that they changed, I am not a fan of, but I will deal with it.

[Leoxander]

They make them more relatable IMO. Small children can relate to Pohatu’s fear of the dark. The dark is scary

[Chronicler]

I realize this, and I am cool with what they are doing. But I am not a fan of some of the changes. Oh well, I cannot really do anything about it.

Meanwhile, Gali is looking awesome.

[Nyran]

Similar to what @Hawkflight was saying earlier about my theory, I do indeed feel that Kopaka’s clumsiness will lead to him being insulted and condescended by his companions(likely Tahu and Lewa), and give hims something to prove

This will only further his cold distance from the others. Mayhaps give Pohatu a role in their friendship as Vitriolic Best Buds, like seen in Tale of the Toa and The Powers That Be. Maybe Pohatu is the one who comes to Kopaka’s defense in matters of Tahu and Lewa’s jerk-ness.

This route could lead to one of two things with Kopaka. He will have something to prove either way and that will drive him, but either:

1: Kopaka’s drive and motivation lead him to betray his strong sense of Morality and lead him to a path of Darkness, leading in a temporary face-heel turn, and his challenge will lead in his arc culminating in his redemption.

2: Kopaka will succeed, and become the Ace, overcoming his flaws with little issue, leading to Tahu becoming Jealous, and undergoing the Vakama 05 transformation but more justified.

[btmomegar]

I’m fine with most of the changes. The only one I really don’t like is Kopaka’s clumsiness. This one is just too slap-stick for me. Besides, I always thought of him as the coolest Toa, almost a Batman-like figure. This kind of makes a dent in that image. Also, I find Lewa’s changes to be… interesting. Rather than the carefree, happy-go-lucky Toa, he is more akin to the archetypal swashbuckling rouge. I don’t mind this like I do Kopaka’s change, but I thing it is very noteworthy among all the changes.

[Chronicler]

Yeah, I fine with all the changes besides Pohatu and Kopaka. Pohatu has always been the nice, friendly guy, and Kopaka has always been like Batman. Oh well. Lego can do what they want.

[btmomegar]

Yeah, I forgot about Pohatu…
The stubbornness thing could make a good character, but isn’t that what Tahu was more like in the Mataverse? I just think it contrasts too much with his previous image.

[Chronicler]

Yeah. I like Pohatu taking a leadership role, although I wish Tahu stayed as leader.

[Calvatron]

Pohatu and Tahu are too similar now.

[btmomegar]

Wait… Pohatu is the new leader??? What? I guess his new personality might suit that a bit better than the laid-back Pohatu of the Mataverse, but I agree, Tahu should be the leader.

[Chronicler]

As far as the new info tells us, yes, Pohatu is the new leader-figure. I always imagined Pohatu as the guy who keeps the Toa together, not leads them. Leading is Tahu’s job.

[Helryx08]

I just hope that the Kopaka/Pohatu bromance is still in play.

About the characters… I am not a fan of all of the changes (Kopaka is clumsy now? Why?), but I am glad that they are clearly describing the characters from the get-go.

[Calvatron]

I’ll admit: I’m really going to miss the Dark Knight Toa,

[Chronicler]

I can’t wait to see the animations that are going to come out. Seeing some of the concept art from Lego, they look pretty spectacular. I mean, look at this!

[Leoxander]

I can’t stop looking at it

[Chronicler]

You’d better. Otherwise your eyes will shrivel up due to their pure awesomeness.