So, due to this topic discussing Hero Factory, I’ve begun giving HF itself more thought, as well as how I would rewrite it. Since these trains of thought invariably result in me starting a fanfic, and since me starting a fanfic invariably leads to me failing to finish a fanfic, I’ve decided to try something a bit different this time around.
Usually I write down about half of my thoughts and keep it all immensely secretive, and progress peters out as my interest shifts and I have nobody to keep a discussion going. Thus, I’ve decided to try to chronicle my ideas and thought process in a much more public way, in the hopes that doing so will help me maybe actually finish this for a change.
But what is this, exactly? It would be a complete rewrite of Hero Factory, taking the base characters, concepts, and locations, but rearranging the story and drastically fleshing out the world and personalities. While I aim not to make it overtly dark and heavy, I also want to use the premise to explore some themes I felt fit very well with the concept - Free will in robotics, what being a Hero really means when you’re built/born into the role, and what defines good and evil, along with the grey area in between.
I call it Hero Factory: Year 10
Disclaimer: While I watched some of the TV episodes, my knowledge of the base canon is rudimentary. While many concepts have been changed intentionally for the sake of the overarching story, others will most likely be due simply to my own lack of in-depth knowledge. You have been warned.
Idea Log 1: The History and Structure of Hero Factory.
Hero Factory has, as of the start of the story, been operational for nine years, and the tenth has just begun. (Thus the title.) Initially beginning as a much more low-key experiment built in an unused warehouse by the genius inventor Mr. Makuro, (Thanks to @Chro for the spelling fix!) he built a trio (who would be retroactively dubbed “Team Alpha One”) of robotic heroes, powered by cores of Crystal Quaza, to defend the metropolis from various threats that were springing up. It was, after all, a time of rapid technological advancement, and with that came upheaval and many individuals with more power than wisdom.
An unexpected side effect of Makuro’s process with the Quaza cores was that the heroes each gained self-awareness and personality, something that Makuro was quick to account for in how he handled them. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before one of the original three encountered a foe too strong for them to handle, and was destroyed.
Makuro was devestated, for he had grown to regard his three creations as younger siblings or children, and so vowed to create enough heroes that together, they could keep the city safe without costing their own well-being. He did long research on the original models, identifying what he had done wrong and what needed more work, and with that knowledge, created three more sets of heroes within that year, whom he dubbed Teams Delta, Epsilon, and Omega, respectively.
The increase in numbers proved to be immensely helpful, but it was not foolproof, and the other two members of Team Alpha were also destroyed soon enough. Yet, they had all done an admirable job of saving lives and stopping evil, and the citizens of the city were immensely grateful. So much so that many neighboring cities heard of Makuro’s heroic inventions, and wished to be protected as well.
Over the next several years, the fledgeling Hero Factory grew and developed, falling into an easy rhythm - three heroes would be created each season to be added to the roster, labeled after the four greek letter “families” and the “generation” they were created during. Alpha family was added to in the summer, Delta in the fall, Epsilon in the winter, and Omega in the spring. While the four families were largely seperate, combinations of members of different teams within the family would be sent as “squads” to handle each mission based on their personal specialties. Older heroes regrettably were destroyed, but new generations took their place, and each family developed certain traditions that were passed down through those generations.
In Year Four, as Hero Factory’s influence had now come to encompass the entire planet, Makuro decided to expand the base of operations to suit that, and to that end the now-iconic sail-shaped Hero Factory Tower was constructed, and the former warehouse returned to its old function of storing things.
As the ranks of heroes swelled and Makuro himself became more distanced from the process of creating and managing them, (despite his attempts to retain a personal, hands-on approach) a system of directors was introduced, with each of the four families managed individually by an administrator who assigned squads to missions and saw to the heroes’ well-being and happiness. These individuals were further managed by a head executive who themselves answered directly to Mr. Makuro. Family Alpha was managed by Zeta, (who later gained the nickname ‘Zib’) Delta by Sigma, Epsilon by Gamma, and Omega by Lambada. Further, a call center was set up, reluctantly run by the last surviving member of Team Epsilon-One, one Lucy Cobalt.
Year Six saw further changes, as a fifth family, simply known as the Recon Team, was established - in the two months between the release of a main-family team, two other heroes were created - less sturdy, but more stealthy, designed to patrol the system and try to contain bad situations long enough for a proper squad to arrive. Run and managed by the reclusive but loyal Merrick Fortis, Hero Recon quickly proved to be an immense asset to the Factory’s effectiveness.
Year Eight saw the final notable expansion to date, in the form of the “2.0 build” that drastically redesigned the standard hero body into a more powerful, more flexible, and more customizable form. Not only were the new Heroes built with this system, but once it had been tried, tested, and proven to work, all surviving heroes from prior generations were rebuilt as well. Of note were Team Alpha-Eight’s progidal leader Preston Stormer, and the equally gifted Duncan Bulk.
Year Nine, however, proved to be a harsh blow to the Factory, as a training excersize with the freshly-minted Team Alpha-Nine ended in a disaster that wiped out almost all of the Alpha family, leaving only Stormer, Bulk, and the inexperienced Jimmy Stringer with cores intact. Simply known as the “Von Ness incident,” all official information has been marked highly confidential, and only rumors and wildly conflicting eyewitness reports remain for someone to attempt to piece together what happened.
Year Ten has begun, and with it comes Team Alpha-Ten, comprised of William Furno, Mark Surge, and Natalie Breez. What the future may hold for them is uncertain, but one can only hope they will successfully prove themselves to be Heroes… to the core.
So, yeah. Any thoughts so far?
