Brickonicle G3 Elements Poll [Worldbuilding] [Pitch]

You make a good point, but couldn’t the powers be used for the characters to add some depth to them, or establish some kind of conflict for them to get past? Like, for example, I would imagine Toa and Matoran of Stone tend to be very stoic, unchanging, maybe, since Stones tend to be very hard, solid masses; meanwhile Toa and Matoran of Earth are more ‘grounded’ [pun not intended, I promise] and behave in ways similar to how the Earth might [its a bit hard to explain] as the Earth is more of particles, dirt, sand, and such; its always changing, if slowly, as do the Onu people. In short; the Po People often refuse to change, to the point where they have to be ‘shattered’ if they’re to change, while the Onu People accept change and are kind of like the zen people, while the Po are strict and stuff.

This could potentially put the Onu and Po people into conflict with each other [on a sub-level, perhaps] where the Po are often irritated by the Onu and their more ‘chill’ and accepting ways.

To go a little further, this could create conflict with Pohatu and the Po people as he’s more light-hearted and friendly, and even more willing towards necessary change, almost like the Onu people; ironically making the hero of the people an outcast of sorts. As for Onua? I’d see him as appearing slow, the most motion he does casually tends to be tunneling, which he does when he needs to think long and hard; he’s also at something of a conflict with the Onu because while they are accepting of change and that it is inevitable, they prefer natural change, while Onua prefers to change things himself; that’s why he tunnels, because its a change in the landscape he can control.

Also you could say that in a backstory the Earth people did in fact control both Earth and Stone, but they were too powerful and ultimately had to be divided into the two Elemental classes.

Anyway, those’re just some ideas. The original material doesn’t need to be altered just because on the surface it might not make sense to some people; in real life there are reasons for the tings that don’t at first make sense, as such, I think it would be beneficial to have material that encourages the audience to look beyond the surface for a better understanding [that sounds almost like something my interpretation of the Onu people would say…] rather than alter it for immediate convenience [which is the mistake that G2 made]

Who said it would be controlled by a Toa, These are Ethereal elements, beyond physical beings such as Toa. Beyond the boundries of the unverses understanding. These elements would be used by the Creators of the universe…a la Great Beings.

By that point wouldnt the Toa of Air be more efficient…(there I go again with Avatar inspirations).

You want some bionicle with that reboot?

I have one simple question, why? What do any of these changes actually add/improve?

Also I’ve already gone over why combining the elements the way you are both makes no sense in regards to how the elements work in bionicle, but also drastically change the meta.

If you want to make an IP inspired by bionicle do that, don’t make it wear bionicles pelt. You can only replace so many planks of a ship before it stops being the same ship.

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Like I said, other elements would be added that can be cooler. This further backs up my point, as you say ice is “generic”, so why keep it separate?

I have a feeling you have some bias to G1 and G2, as it is a reboot. You clearly don’t see that I’m not “changing everything.” It was a simple suggestion to simply have Kopaka (or even a different Ice-user) somewhere down the line. If this was the case, Kopaka could still stay with the main cast, just aligned with a different element.

My reasons: it would allow for other element types that never got to see the light of day in G1 or G2, moving “ice” to a later point in the timeline would allow for new discoveries to be made about elemental powers (like “How many are there?”), and it would allow for different toa teams to be formed with a different combination of characters every season (like Hero Factory). Now, I could see how introducing too many main characters would make it way too convoluted, but then again, G1 swapped out the teams every few years.

Great Beings have done some ridiculous stuff in the past, but your description of Void would mean that a guy can essentially control black holes, which are rips in space-time.
And I highly doubt even a Great Being can control those.

[Nods at the Lego Movie for that bit of reference notice]

You doubt yourself to even control the universe you created…you are a weak creator of your Lego universe. Give Finn a try. (implying that the great Beings are us, the humans just like in the Lego Movie).

Sorry if this is confusing since everyone is giving their own ideas…this is not something that is a solid idea which was created over years of planing, its just an afternoon thought process.

This doesn’t justify any of the issues that the Stone/Earth debacle creates; especially the one about newcomers not really getting it. They’re still not justifiable as different power sets. That is the main problem.

That makes no sense, though. Having control over rocks wouldn’t make Earth an OP element.

Only above-ground, and they couldn’t extend their reach through walls or anything. They also couldn’t counter Light.

But your changes have no benefit whatsoever except cutting Stone. Kopaka is fine as a Toa of Ice, and I can’t really picture anyone that edgy using anything but Ice.

Both problems are easily solved without the drastic changes you propose:

  1. In later story arcs, a new set of Toa arises from the Matoran population to help the Toa Mata. These would have the remaining 6 elements not covered by the previous main cast.
  2. All the elements are represented by the Matoran people. Aside from those who comprise the main villages, there’s also specific elemental minorites, like Vo- and Bo-Matoran.

Why is that good, though? It makes things harder to keep track of; and again, this makes it harder for newcomers to get into the line.

The Great Beings of G1 created the Matoran Universe, which was simply a giant robot. They didn’t create the Solus Magna system or any other celestial body or quantum stuff. The Great Beings were capable of many things, but this is way out of their reach.

An implication I’m not following.

Great Beings in G1 were ill defined, lackluster, and not proplerly fleshed out, and a missed opportunity.

Having the real earth element of Great Beings being us the Ultimate Master builders of our own Bionicle universes fits in line with the Bionicle communities most loved pass time, making their own creations, stories, settings and artwork revolving the Bionicle theme. This will also fit in with the Lego Cinematic Universe.

The Great Beings are the ones who control the world changing elements, at least that is how the residence of that universe would see it.

Not with that close minded attitude it wont.

Yes, make Brickonicle part of the LCU, even though it’s not gonna get a movie. Wise decision.

You’ve almost swayed me, except for one thing:[quote=“SirKeksalot, post:433, topic:33898”]
These would have the remaining 6 elements not covered by the previous main cast.
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Some of these other 6 elements are quite terrible as elements, as they would be way too over powered, crazy, lame, redundant, etc., such as Gravity, Psionics, Sand, and Iron.

Also:

It’s good because it allows for more diverse colors, a deeper cast of characters (with distinct colors, I might add), which Hero Factory did pull off quite well, having each hero associated with their own color, and allows for different chemistries to build within said different cast of characters, not just limited to 6 of them.

I’m not saying Stone inherently makes Earth more powerful, I’m saying that when the Elements were established, the Earth people were given too much power and it had to be divided into two separate elemental classes; Stone and Earth.

And as to the whole debate; t never really bothered me as a kid and to a degree it still doesn’t; one commands the rocks, and the other the sand and earthquakes. Honestly, i don’t even see why it has to be such an issue to begin with. Really, who cares?

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Ice and water, physically, in the real world today, are just two different states of matter of the same molecular compound (Dihydrogen Monoxide)

In a fantasy, such as Bionicle, the two elements have defined differences: Kopaka can glaze walls with ice, make ice bridges, flash-freeze beings, etc. Gali can shroud beings in water, can control bodies of water.

I would say that the biggest difference would be that Gali can take precipitation from the air to form liquid water, while Kopaka literally create ice from his being/equipment.

For the same reason you don’t combine earth and jungle, they’re two completely unrelated power, if they were called cold and liquid you wouldn’t be trying to combine them.

G1 didn’t just swap the teams, they told largely separate stories.

You could do all of that without the changes.

:neutral_face: Ooooooooh

which, ironically would all be more shallow.

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Psionics is a power, not an element, and Sand is redundant to Stone. Gravity and Iron would have limitations in the same way every element does; Ice could be really OP if its users were allowed to just freeze everyone without end, but they’re not.

The characters’ colors are fine, though. The most Pohatu needs is what he got in 2015.

How?

It did that horribly. The characters weren’t interesting, they were just reduced to miscellaneous quirks.

But changing the Toa Mata’s elements isn’t required for that to happen.

Again, how does that work? How were they “given” too much power? How does dividing their powers solve that issue?

Sand is rock, and Earth just being “dirt” leaves it not being a cool element.

Pretty much everyone who’d be coming to Bionicle after seeing how other works tackled the motif of elemental powers, and find themselves wondering why Earth and Stone were different. I’m pretty sure that if none of us had any experience with Bionicle before today, we wouldn’t get why Stone and Earth were separate.

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Yeah, that’s because G1 and G2 literally are Bionicle. That’s what we have to build from.

And now I see the problem.

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They facilitate a new and interesting story. It allows for the fundamental concepts of Bionicle to remain, as well as characters, but makes it more accessible and immediately gripping.

And it is very much bionicle: It keeps the values of unity, duty and destiny, as well as friendship, and consequence, as well as the tribal aesthetic, with elemental and mask powers creating distinct and powerful characters.

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We’ve already seen TTV’s new story, it has no need of changes to the elements.

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Yes, the elements were never the core of Bionicle, they were important, but not that important…as example beign both G1 and G2 which didnt go in depth at all behind the inner workings, cultural aspects, and limitations of each element…why not change that this time around and put some thought into integrating hte elements into the world building

No they don’t. Merging 2 elements that don’t belong together doesn’t improve the narrative. Things like separating the tribes into rival factions, which creates a dynamic that directly affects the plot, does open new venues. What you recommend does not.

How? It’s a change to the elements. I’m a strong advocate for getting rid of Stone, but I don’t pretend like it’s crucial to the narrative because it’s not. It’s just a detail that would make sense and make it easier for new fans to come in.