Before I begin, this isn’t really a thread about elements. It’s about characters, worldbuilding, and action scenes.
I’ve been cooking various ideas for my own take on Bionicle, and one of the things I sought to revise was the element system. I wanted to refine it into a somewhat hard magic system and to refine the list of elements into something more intuitive. The current list, following some helpful feedback from another thread, looks like this:
Fire, Water, Earth, Ice, Air, Lightning, Flora, Kinesis, Iron, Ash, Poison, Light
You may notice that Stone is gone, and this isn’t about my opinion on these elements so much as my goal of making it clear what each element is. We’ve been debating whether Earth and Stone should be separate for almost 20 years, and I think that’s enough reason to merge them because that tells me that the difference isn’t intuitive enough.
This, however, creates a problem, as the Toa Mata, who return as this story’s protagonists, cannot have 2 Toa of Earth because of how they’re integrated into this world. In short, they’re essentially gods or culture heroes, and the Matoran believe they are the immortal spirits of the natural world. Each element thus gets only one Toa. (Also, it’d be boring to have 2 Earthbenders on the team.)
EDIT: At another poster’s recommendation, I am amending this post and including a poll. There are now a handful of options; Kinesis was formerly on the table for replacing Stone, but the decision now comes down to the following options:
- Pohatu now becomes the Toa of Iron, and Po-Koro becomes the village of Iron with an economy more based around metalworking than stonemasonry. The Po-Wahi desert could now be red or blue from iron or copper deposits in the sand.
- Onua now becomes the Toa of Iron, as the Onu-Matoran work with machines and mine for ores.
- Onua becomes the Toa of Flora (Plantlife under a new name), and Onu-Wahi is now built within the roots of great trees that reach for miles beneath the ground. Just as the plants bore into the earth for sustenance, so too do the Onu-Matoran.
I want to preserve as much of Onua and Pohatu’s fighting styles as possible, as well as the lifestyles of their respective villagers. Here’s a poll for you to gauge what you think is the best option: http://www.strawpoll.me/21134012
There’s probably more things I haven’t thought of, but that’s kind of why I’m turning to you. I’ve made a decision, and now I need to work out how best to keep it from interfering with the fidelity to my source material. I want it to feel like a new story that builds on the old rather than just erasing it.
So, thoughts? Which option sounds better to you, and what other ramifications would each one have?
EDIT: At another user’s recommendation, here’s most of the important parts of the lore, just so you understand some of my machinations and what I’ve already laid out. Not all of this is relevant to the discussion, and you can probably afford to skip it, but it may help get us on the same page.
- The Toa are the 3rd run in a hierarchy of gods. They represent the forces of nature and dictate daily life and commerce. Who are the 6 Toa? Well, different Matoran will tell you different things. It’s a bit like Mesopotamian religion, wherein every city-state chose a different supreme deity–Babylon, for example, favored Marduk, but its rivals did not. The Toa are culture heroes and purported ancestors of the current 12 Matoran ethnic groups, but the Toa Mata we know and love return to the world of the living for the main story…except they know nothing of their past, and they’re not quite like the legends told that they would be.
- Above the Toa are the Great Beings: Artakha, the god of life and creation; Karzahni, the god of death and tormentor of wicked souls; Akamai, the god of war; Wairuha, the god of wisdom and knowledge; and Papu and Rangi, whose functions I still have to work out. At the top is Mata Nui, who currently slumbers. Banished into the void is the Makuta, Mata Nui’s 7th son who betrayed his father and was banished by the Toa long ago.
- Matoran geopolitics draw on historical city-states, like those of Greece and Mesopotamia. The story takes place in the midst of a period of peace brought about by the incumbent Turaga, all of whom are renowned war heroes. There are regional disputes, but recently, the Turaga have made an effort to decide these over games of Koli rather than military conflicts.
- Love is canon, as are children. Some named characters are actually related: Jala, for example, is Vakama’s grandson, and Nuparu is Onepu’s nephew. (Side note: because Matoran aren’t sexually dimorphic, they have no concept of sexual orientation and have no word for “gay.”)
- Matoran don’t live for thousands of years. They last a couple centuries at most, and that takes a lot of luck.
- Matoran are very invested in their religion, and they believe that the ultimate goal of existence is to bring the return of Mata Nui so the Makuta can finally be destroyed.
- All elements are divided based on what kind of mana they have. Mana manifests in matter and energy, and it comes in different types. This is how Matoran explain the difference between elements beyond their obvious properties. Ice is not Water because it has different mana. Toa are innately linked to certain mana and can control anything with that mana as though it were part of their own bodies.
- Nobody knows what Protodermis is or how to use it. Matoran and Rahi bodies are made from it, and there are some giant Protodermis structures in Okoto-Nui, but its origins are unknown and generally ascribed to Mata Nui himself. What the structures are for and how they got there is still a mystery.