McToran Madness

[Potato_Goose]

Here I have a few questions about some things I have been confused about by Matoran sets that I would just like to put out there to the community to discuss and if anyone has answers please let us know.

First, in the original wave of Matoran/Tohunga/McToran 2001, all of them have the same mask as their respective Toa except for Macku who has a blue Huna. Why?! I theorize that they didn’t want to include a transparent piece in a McDonalds set for some reason, perhaps it cost more to make or they wanted it to be exclusive to Toa Gali. And why did Hali replace Macku as the main Ga-Matoran in later media? Was it her mask? If so, why didn’t they use it in the first place? She is also the only set who joins the Chronicler’s Company. The other’s are original to MNOG.

Speaking of which, second, on BioSector01 under the gallery of Matoran images, I find several images of Tohunga style promotional/sets of the character’s in the Chronicler’s Company, and a few other’s like Kotu and Hali. Where did these come from and did they ever exist physically? There are also a number of Metru Nui type Matoran / MetruToran sets of characters like Nuparu and various MNOGII villagers. I think these are from Promo CDs but did they exist physically?

And thirdly, the Toa Inika are made up of all the McToran except Macku and Onepu, being replaced with Hali and Nuparu. I suppose it may be because Hali was in the MoL movie and Nuparu was the most recent Onu-Matoran or they didn’t want to use Purple in the set (which would have been cool) but again, Why? (and why not use some of the cool secondary colors from the McToran on the Inika)

[StudentScissors]

@Potato_Goose

except for Macku who has a blue Huna. Why?!

I don’t think this has anything to do with not wanting to include a trans piece, I think it simply comes down to Lego wanting the MCtoran to have exclusive masks. If Macku had a kaukau it would’ve been blue, just like Gali’s.

@Potato_Goose

And why did Hali replace Macku as the main Ga-Matoran in later media?

Because Macku was already an established character and they probably wanted a blank slate as the protag for MNOG II

@Potato_Goose

but again, Why?

Because Hahli had a connection to Jaller with her prominent role in mask of life and Nuparu was a far more developed character than Onepu was who’s most memorable quality was being purple.

@Potato_Goose

and why not use some of the cool secondary colors from the McToran on the Inika

Because they probably weren’t initially designed with any particular characters in mind, and more importantly recolours are expensive and designers work on a budget

[Eilrach]

@Potato_Goose

Macku who has a blue Huna. Why?! I

I always believed it was due to the fact that it would make her look like Gali

[TheChronicler]

@Potato_Goose

I find several images of Tohunga style promotional/sets of the character’s in the Chronicler’s Company, and a few other’s like Kotu and Hali.

I am interested to know this as well. I would guess that Lego wanted us to know that there were other matoran, and what they looked like. I do not have the answer, unfortunately.

@Potato_Goose

did they ever exist physically?

They did not exist physically. Sometimes I look at their parts and wish that Lego made more villagers.

@Potato_Goose

the Toa Inika are made up of all the McToran except Macku and Onepu, being replaced with Hali and Nuparu

Again, I don’t have the answer. Hahli and Nuparu seem to be more fleshed-out characters, through MNOG and the Boxor respectively. Onepu was kind of a bland character (not that most matoran had huge character arcs) and Macku was kind of just a Hewkii love-interest. Nuparu was inventive and Hahli was spunky and the main character of a game.

@Potato_Goose

they didn’t want to use Purple in the set

Tell me, did any of the Inika base their colors strictly off of their matoran iterations? Jaller had no yellow, Matoro had no sand-blue, and Kongu certainly didn’t have turquoise. They could easily have chosen Onepu and painted him black like they did with Nuparu, who once had an orange mask.

[Ghid]

This has been answered competently enough, so just a couple comments from me:

@Potato_Goose

I theorize that they didn’t want to include a transparent piece in a McDonalds set for some reason, perhaps it cost more to make or they wanted it to be exclusive to Toa Gali.

Here’s another possible reason:

This is hideous. A transparent mask would plainly reveal it. Maybe that’s why Maku got the spot over Hali.

Well… That time, anyway.

@Potato_Goose

And why did Hali replace Macku as the main Ga-Matoran in later media?

The name Macku is hard, and it’s not obvious to the average consumer how it’s pronounced. Hahli clearly has only one or two possible pronunciations, and it’s a softer name which can stick in people’s heads easier.

Plus, for the movie, the Huna was already being used on one character - Vakama - and had been given massive eyebrows. Redesigning it for another character, an extremely feminine one at that, would kill the monopoly on looking old and decrepit Vakama had going.

Now I know what you’re thinking - “but isn’t that an image of her in mask of light and she looks completely fine?”

The answer to both is… Yes! She’s still in this film in spite of all the reasons to the contrary. However, one final possibility for her exclusion from the plot is that the filmmakers wanted to force romantic dealings between Jaller and Hahli, and Macku was… Taken.

IDK. MoL is just really dumb in a lot of ways.

@Potato_Goose

There are also a number of Metru Nui type Matoran / MetruToran sets of characters like Nuparu and various MNOGII villagers. I think these are from Promo CDs but did they exist physically?

No, they’re 3d models meant to populate the world a little more. It’s a shame they didn’t exist, but then again, in 2004 nobody wanted a rerelease of a matoran character that already existed in another physical form.

Note that I said physical. Fans who played MNOG would immediately notice the mention of Ahkmou as a set, along several of the cast of MNOG II.

@Potato_Goose

the Toa Inika are made up of all the McToran except Macku and Onepu, being replaced with Hali and Nuparu.

Nuparu was in the Boxor, which was really cool in conjunction with other sets of its year, and made him greater than Onepu by having a set purpose and being more than a happy meal toy. Macku was also a member of the Chronicler’s company - LEGO never broke up the Chronicler’s company, no matter what happened.

[Senit]

@Ghid

Why does she look so sad

@Potato_Goose

and why not use some of the cool secondary colors from the McToran on the Inika

Yeah simple: 1 the characters werent designed with consistency with the mctoran in mind and 2 most of the colors were discontinued or not used in bionicle anymore purple and teal were dead and idk what happen to burnt orange. Yellow got replaced with keetorange (for bionicle at least) and orange was uh just not used. (Not trans orange)

[Ghid]

@Senit

Why does she look so sad

Because the kohlii “ball” began moving before her stick could’ve made impact, based on the angle of the stick, the angle of the traveling puck, and the location of the ground

the kohlii ball is adamantly avoiding her and she just wants to be loved

[Senit]

That would make me feel sad too

[CalamitousT]

Did someone say…

???

But yeah, most of these questions of consistency can be answered by story and characters being developed second to product development and marketing. Kopeke couldn’t even stay the same between his two Matoran forms!

[Voxovan]

@Potato_Goose

First, in the original wave of Matoran/Tohunga/McToran 2001, all of them have the same mask as their respective Toa except for Macku who has a blue Huna. Why?! I theorize that they didn’t want to include a transparent piece in a McDonalds set for some reason

That’s what I originally assumed too, but now that people in this topic mentioned it might’ve been due to the fact that Macku with a blue Kaukau would look too similar to Gali.

@Potato_Goose

And why did Hali replace Macku as the main Ga-Matoran in later media?

Idk, might as well ask why Onepu was “replaced” by Nuparu. My guess is that the story team just preferred Hahli and Onepu as characters to write about. Hahli’s role in the Mask of Life might’ve contributed to that.

@Potato_Goose

Speaking of which, second, on BioSector01 under the gallery of Matoran images, I find several images of Tohunga style promotional/sets of the character’s in the Chronicler’s Company, and a few other’s like Kotu and Hali. Where did these come from and did they ever exist physically? There are also a number of Metru Nui type Matoran / MetruToran sets of characters like Nuparu and various MNOGII villagers. I think these are from Promo CDs but did they exist physically?

The Tohunga promo pics are from Bionicle.com and the Metrutoran ones are from the promotional CDs that came with the Toa Metru. None of these Matoran ever had any physical release.

@Potato_Goose

And thirdly, the Toa Inika are made up of all the McToran except Macku and Onepu, being replaced with Hali and Nuparu. I suppose it may be because Hali was in the MoL movie and Nuparu was the most recent Onu-Matoran or they didn’t want to use Purple in the set (which would have been cool) but again, Why? (and why not use some of the cool secondary colors from the McToran on the Inika)

As I said before, my guess is that the story team just like Nuparu and Hahli better or just decided they would be better for the story they were writing at that moment. As for the colors, well, the designer team did their own thing, and the story did their own thing. Most of the time the sets weren’t really designed with any particular character in mind.

@Ghid

The name Macku is hard, and it’s not obvious to the average consumer how it’s pronounced

I don’t see why the name “Macku” would be more confusing with its pronunciation than “Hahli”… Both seem pretty obvious.

@Ghid

Plus, for the movie, the Huna was already being used on one character - Vakama - and had been given massive eyebrows. Redesigning it for another character, an extremely feminine one at that, would kill the monopoly on looking old and decrepit Vakama had going.

@Ghid

Now I know what you’re thinking - “but isn’t that an image of her in mask of light and she looks completely fine?”

The answer to both is… Yes! She’s still in this film in spite of all the reasons to the contrary.

So what’s the point of bringing that up?
Also you seem to have completely forgotten that Huna was worn by mutliple Matoran in the movie, not just Macku.

[Ghid]

@Voxovan

I don’t see why the name “Macku” would be more confusing with its pronunciation than “Hahli”… Both seem pretty obvious.

MAHKu or MAAKu? Or MuhKOO?

Bionicle names can be tricky. Just look at Lewa- er, I meant Laywah- sorry, I meant Loowah. Hahli is… Hahli.

@Voxovan

Also you seem to have completely forgotten that Huna was worn by mutliple Matoran in the movie, not just Macku.

No I didn’t? Macku is almost as background of a character as they are, so Vakama’s decrepit monopoly is still secure. At the current level, she is not a threat to his appearance, she’s a part of the scenery and is quickly forgotten.

Still a possible reason for why she isn’t a main character and was instead substituted for Hahli. Not a very strong one, but still.

[TheJerminator]

@Ghid

Hahli.

Hae-Lee? Ha-Lye? Huh-LEE? Hah-Lee? Haa-Lee?

[Ghid]

@TheJerminator

Hae-Lee? Ha-Lye? Huh-LEE?

Wrong and more wrong. American audiences are only going to see Hah pronounced as “Hah”, and not “Hey” or “Huh” or “HAA”, because Americans will pronounce words familiar to them - notably, the word Hah. Or have you actually heard anyone pronounce Hahli as HayLye?

@TheJerminator

You’re right, Bionicle names can be tricky, if you’re intentionally trying to mispronounce them.

So, are you trying to disprove people calling Lewa Loowah (which has definitely happened) or disproving your own poi-

Ah, removed that part. I see.

[TheJerminator]

@Ghid

American audiences are only going to see Hah pronounced as “Hah”

You’re not wrong. Hahli is an incredibly obvious spelling.

It’s just that Macku is as well.

[Ghid]

@TheJerminator

It’s just that Macku is as well.

Not as much as Hahli is. Mac is typically pronounced “Mack” and yet Macku is MAH-koo, not MACK-oo. The C is entirely ignored and could potentially mislead the average consumer.

[ToaVidal]

The only issue I have with mctorans in MNOG is: why did many onu-matorans have tan bodies? It was really confusing to see onu and po-matorans with the same color scheme, specially when Taipu and Hafu join Takua, two characters with tan bodies and black masks and feet using their own village abilities like carving and digging. It’s even worse when you consider that Hafu was introduced as a set with a black ruru just like Taipu.

[Marzipancutter]

Lego is danish you know…
Seriously though, most of Bionicles names use unshifted vowels (traditional latin-style pronounced vowels), since the early names are derived from Maori culture. So most names are pretty obvious… if you’re not english.

[SirKeksalot]

@Ghid

However, one final possibility for her exclusion from the plot is that the filmmakers wanted to force romantic dealings between Jaller and Hahli, and Macku was… Taken.

Something to point out is that this wasn’t an impromptu inclusion in canon when the movie dropped. The Bohrok anims already hinted at Jaller and Hahli hooking up.

[TheJerminator]

@Ghid

Mac is typically pronounced “Mack”

I suppose that’s true.

Although, if we’re willing to ignore American grammar rules (which Bionicle clearly is), then how do we know that the “Hah” is Hahli is actually pronounced like that? Obviously we, the fans, know that it is, but not because of grammar rules. It seems like a double standard to say that Bionicle names are complicated because they break grammar rules, but then also say that “Hahli” is simple because it clearly has to follow grammar rules.

@SirKeksalot

The Bohrok anims already hinted at Jaller and Hahli hooking up.

This just moves the problem to a different piece of media, since those same animations also had Huki and Maku’s canon-defying adventures. Whether it’s the movie or the Bohrok animations, Macku was still taken.

[Ghid]

@Marzipancutter

Lego is danish you know…

And the movie was in english and targeted America as its global demographic (and Jaller sounds horrifically American in the film).

@Marzipancutter

So most names are pretty obvious… if you’re not english

Which is exactly what the movie’s main audience was. English-speakers. Amercans, to be more specific, since that was where Bionicle sold the best.

@TheJerminator

then how do we know that the “Hah” is Hahli is actually pronounced like that?

We as fans and we as two internet acquaintances arguing over it have a specific point of view, and the marketing team for a movie may have another - namely, that putting the name Hahli to be repeated numerously in the film would make more sense from a financial standpoint than the name Macku.

It happens to be pronounced exactly how one would think it is, and there is very little room for casual error in marketing tests, so if there was any initial intent to use Macku instead of Hahli, I can see an alternate decision being reached from that alone.

EDIT: Another reason came to mind.

MAH-Koo

Mah-KOO-Tah

And considering Hahli literally shows up in his lair…

@TheJerminator

those same animations also had Huki and Maku’s canon-defying adventures.

It’s really funny how Greg spoke his irrevocable word and the entire rest of Bionicle’s media (including some of the books Greg wrote, ironically enough) can point a completely different way.

Ah well. This’ll just allow him to clarify that love is canon at some point in the future and completely destroy the entire Bionicle continuity and every single Bionicle fan’s mind.