Yes, I agree that most people have similar image of Toa Nidhiki in mind. However, most of them are probably incorrect in some important aspect. I am pretty sure that at least 50% of potential entrants do not know (without any specifications provided in contest rules) that he has green Volitak.
But since the rules will be in place once that contest comes around, that shouldn’t be a problem anymore (hopefully).
mine has got a silver volitak but just because i havent painted it yet
I’m mostly on Dag’s side in this debate, but in this respect I have no issue with people having a common perception of what each Hagah should look like. Under the assumption that we must have canon designs for them, having more people agree is going to make these contests ‘suck less’ - whether that means they’ll ‘excel more’ is another matter.
I’m personally relieved that most of the Gaaki entries have silver armour, for instance, because that’s one less unknown to deal with when trying to vote on the basis of even colour distribution. The other Toa, unfortunately, are mostly up in the air.
But I also agree with this. I question whether the similarity between entries will produce more ‘boredom’ than it will reduce dissatisfaction. For most people (besides the pro-consistency people who will no doubt be dissatisfied in some measure), this could well be the ‘Raisin Bran’ of canon contests.
100% this.
I’m afraid not. Canon is as good as law for many. That said, the generational nature of Bionicle lets you redesign characters and still be able to call them canon-compliant. I’ve already redesigned Helryx, Artakha, Miserix and the Toa Mahri in my headcanon, under the guise of “they got beaten up bad and had to be patched up with new armour”. I can feasibly do that for the Hagah, though I’d much rather not. This logic is also harder to apply to non-Toa characters like Lariska and Marendar, without employing some crude and unsatisfying logic like ‘they got mutated’.
I mean on Marendar you could say he just adapted that way
Also, Lego themselves literally redesigned most of Bionicle’s characters every couple of years for a variety of technobabble reasons. If you want to headcanon a different appearance for a character, you can literally just shrug your shoulders, speak the words “energised protodermis” aloud, and you’ve literally put in just as much explanation for a redesign as Lego typically did.
I agree, which is why I don’t see how you can say that these contests are infringing on your “personal interpretation” of the Hagah; doesn’t the entire premise of having a “personal interpretation” of canon goes directly against the idea of following canon as close as possible in the first place?
I also try to stay as close to canon as possible, which is exactly why I love these contests; the current canon only gives us the primary colours and general shapes of the Hagah, which makes for a pretty boring and incomplete visualization.
Lego is in a unique position by being able to dictate stuff.
Yes, in theory everyone can do whatever they want with their characters and find an in-universe explanation for the difference in look if they want.
However, I don’t see this as an actual alternative for those who want to be canon compliant. You recognize a character by keeping obvious parts of them identical to a degree. Masks and heads (though not only those) for example are super important for recognizability.
Imagine Lego didn’t release the Mistika, and someone built Gali Mistika as a MOC and said that’s Gali. How many people would have recognized Gali in it?
And that’s the core problem. If I do not like the core design characteristics of a character, that is a big problem if I want to be canon compliant and want the MOC of this character to be recognized. I’m in a much better position with more canon compliant freedom when there is no template of the character. Because then I can try to convince people who like it that this MOC is said character, and they can either agree or disagree without a negative impact on anyone.
Those two don’t go against each other.
In my current personal interpretation of Canon, Gaaki looks like this:
As it stands, this moc complies with every known canon detail of Gaaki.
However, unless it wins, it won’t be canon in about a month.
Actually also a good point.
The contests canonize one thing, and decanonize multiple headcanons.
Not what I’d call a win/win situation. It’s more of a “you’re all wrong I’m the only one who’s right” situation that could totally be avoided.
I’d also argue that it’s not canon right now, either.
Though I suppose that’s where the difference in opinion is; your idea of canon is “doesn’t contradict what’s official”, while my idea is “only stuff that’s official”.
Let me restate my point in way that might make more sense.
In the case of Gaaki, a majority of people are using Galva’s Mask of Clairvoyance. I don’t know exactly why they’re doing this, but it seems to me that they like the design as the standard shape of the Mask of Clairvoyance, but are either unaware or ignoring the fact her mask is differently shaped. This was already demonstrated by the initial push to allow Pouks entries to use the standard shape for the Mask of Emulation.
And I agree, Galva’s design for Claivoyance is great for that power, but that’s the problem. By giving Gaaki that design, it automatically cannot be the standard shape of Clairvoyance, and I think (if that really is the reason why people are using the mask), they will be utterly disappointed when they see the Clairvoyance page on BS01 still left with no image.
That’s more a problem with the community’s treatment of canon, but since these contests are community driven, I see them as one in the same.
I don’t think anyone has said canon is something that “doesn’t contradict what’s official.” That would be a headcanon, a fan created piece of lore that isn’t official, but can fit into official lore if fans want to take it as such. Following canon as close as possible doesn’t mean only sticking with what is official, but it allows for adding things to personal headcanons, granted they don’t contradict official canon. But by taking one headcanon over others, and making that one officially canon, all other headcanons are invalided and now do contradict canon.
Basically, I distinguish between 4 major factions (of course all with subfactions) regarding canon and these contests:
Faction a), if I may say so, has absolutely no business with the canon contests and should stick to BioCup and the likes.
Faction b) won’t terribly care whatever the result of the canon contest is and thus also isn’t the core target group.
Faction c) looses the most from canon depictions of characters, because this is the faction that wants to make their own headcanons work with canon.
Faction d) doesn’t really care what wins in the aftermath, as long as there’s something canon they can now display in some way.
In summary, I see the contest being targeted at factions b) and c) with a gain for only the winners and faction d).
Seems kinda suboptimal. And, moreover, I see faction c) - which looses the most from these contests - as the faction that also keeps the actual, canon Bionicle alive the most. Because this faction maintains the connections while creating new conent for others to enjoy.
Hence why I argue that any mask intended to be the standard shape by the creator should be disallowed/required to be changed just like the Mask of Emulation and the other banned masks.
That’s just if the mask was made by someone else, like Galva. If a moccist 3d prints, or an artist draws, their own mask design, that’s fine.
The way I see it, people who are concerned about their headcanons being contradicted can do one of the following:
Still, all of these ‘coping mechanisms’ add (or at least don’t alleviate) some degree of bitterness that’s hard to shake off. Hopefully it’s better than nothing, though.
Here’s a bit of a wacky take:
If you’ve already mentioned how hurt, bitter, or oppressed you are by the canon contest, or how they’re damaging the community or whatnot, it’s likely already been heard by every intended audience who could receive it, and maybe they don’t need to hear it seven more times.
Just my opinion, though. Furthermore, Carthage must be destroyed.
So just because people have already thoroughly discussed whether or not the contests in general are detrimental, we can’t/shouldn’t discuss how the Hagah contest specifically has very valid problems? I don’t particularly appreciate the use of sarcasm here.
Actually your point is totally valid, I just really like that line and wanted to use it.
I think it is still relevant to the current Hagah discussion – is the Hagah contest better than other contests, because more people have a similar vision of how she looks? Therefore, it is “ruining” frewer head cannons?
Personally, I think the idea that the contests are bad because they ruin headcanons is silly, because by that logic, any new content is bad.
You used to head canon that the Red Star was full of Great Beings having a party? Well too bad, now Ghid and Potato have gone there and we know it’s a zombie station. Sorry your moc of the Star using the Lego death star and friends sets to make a party star is no longer canon compliant.
Five quick questions:
3a) If not, then can said group shot still be included as a bonus picture, separate from the required pics?
3b) If the answer to questions 3 or 3a is yes, and assuming your entry from the MOCs vs. Art round won, then would said group shot of all six Hagah be eligible to be re-submitted as the required picture in the following round where entrants are required to enter a group shot of all six Hagah?
I mean, there was all of the discussion time prior to the contest actually occurring in which to raise issues and discuss headcanons being ruined/unoriginality. I even argued the latter as well, saying that confinement to a Metru torso and heavily encouraging standard limbs and builds would lead to a massive army of clones.
But now the rules have been decided and the contest is well underway - it’s a little late.
