They don’t need to be physically taller, but by imagery, superheroes are portrayed as “larger than life” and always standing above the citizens they protect.
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I believe matoran should be tall because then matoran will look like a similar race to the toa, were the protectors taken seriously? No! In nexo Knights Lego have the tall guys who are meant to be taken seriously, the squire bots are not supposed to be taken seriously plus if we have normal sized legs for adult matoran we can have short for childeren, say if HukiXMaku 
(NO)is in this land then say they have a daughter/son and name it after Idk hafu? Then he/she can have short legs to look younger but if young hafu and his mother and father are the same size as him then they will look the same age plus why do matoran have to be so small originally they were small so they would work as McDonald’s toys then they had the ‘great rebuilding’ to make them good enough as small sets for families with not enough money for the big sets also how would Lego make small sets that have characters without wasting the toa (I think the toa will all be in different sets, Tahu would be in one of the most expensive and maybe the cheapest but most of the team would be in the most expensive) I think they should make battle packs such as Matoran Warriors and maybe one of those for each village and maybe for the baddies we could have variants of regular unnamed brotherhood of makuta soldiers who are like more mean looking matoran possessed matoran kinda like shadow matoran, if they had short legs they’d look silly, the matoran aren’t childeren they’re adults like me and you, maybe there might be a massive matoran village with a baby matoran and child matoran but I think matoran should stick with normal legs because they don’t need to be small but the old matoran and protectors needed to be small to be affordable because they’d mostly be in affordable sets, maybe they cold make
Battle on Naho bay
Lego.com description
A matoran fisherman is attacked by deadly rahi you can build Gali and her mini boat and fire the flick fire missiles to save the day includes three minifigures Gali Fisherman and Fish rahi
Imagine if that fisherman was tiny, how would he look if he was tiny? Would he look good or this one
Ta koro Warriors battle pack
Get an army of ta koro Warriors with this battle pack, combine with Makuta Warriors for battle, this set includes four minifigures, Ta Koro Infantry X2 Ta Koro flame troopers X1 Ta Koro Gunner X1
Imagine if those Warriors were tiny would they look serious or scary or like good fighters, would the military look good if they were all tiny?
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The matoran don’t need to be tall to be taken seriously. The dwarves from the Hobbit could be taken seriously with the short legs, so just because a matoran is short doesn’t make it silly. Especially since these legs do not have the huge size gaps like the original toa and matoran. There doesn’t need to be child matoran either. These are technically robots we’re talking about here.
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You forget this is not the same cannon as the '01-'10 bionicle was this bionicle can have relationships also what really is the point of seperate gender if there is no relationship? They could be emotionless robots but is there point of giving them genders other than to be like people and robots could feel emotion please watch AI, it’s about a robot who feels emotion I guarantee you’ll be crying by the end, if they do not reproduce there is no point of genders plus look at lewa and Gali on the TTV designs for them they wouldn’t have ------ if they couldn’t reproduce
the TTV crew have said that Matorans can reproduce in G3, like the Okotans in G2.
remember, these are not pure robots. These are actually Biomechanical beings. part organic, part machine. That have been the main point of all of Bionicles in both G1 and G2, and is continued in G3.
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Oops must have missed that part about the reproduction. I know they are biomechanical, but what I meant by robots was their mechanical outsides. But what I was mainly trying to say was that we most likely won’t see young matoran in a set, although there could be matoran in canon.
I wasn’t saying that these are pure robots that have no emotions, I was trying to say that child matoran in a set is not a necessity, and since the matoran are TECHNICALLY robots on the outside of their bodies I was merely stating that the thought of a baby matoran just seemed a little silly in my opinion. We don’t need a new type of minifigure for the child matoran though, since I doubt that if Brickonicle was a thing Lego would put child matoran in a set.
Edited for double-post. --John Smith
Let’s turn this all on its head. Let’s assume that the matoran and Toa are the same height. What would be the difference between the Toa and the Matoran? What’s the point of having six chosen heroes if everyone is the same size and can possibly perform just as well? What would separate the Toa from the Matoran, aesthetically speaking, as heroes chosen by dieties? Lastly, is it better to market a product where the heroes can fade into the backdrop with side characters, or have them stand out by being larger in scale? How can we make the Toa seem special compared to normal townsfolk, while still making the townsfolk something you’d want to collect just as much as the Toa?
If I were LEGO I’d be open to the idea, but these are the hypothetical qustions you’d have to ask.
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Okay…
Been reading this…
and the main discussion seems to be visual versus play value with the new feet.
As an Artist I prefer a visually destintive difference. but both legit issues
I propose to you an excuse for using an eqally high figures but in every other media the toa is taller.
Not much. Just like a head or 2.
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The Matoran should be smaller, but should not use the small mini-figure legs, since they cannot move.
one: the Toa are the only ones with the G1 based masks, armor and elemental weapons. just like with the Golden weapons from Ninjago. They are the only ones who can use said weapons, armor and masks because those who were not chosen would not only be unable to use them, but also not even be able to pick them up, like with Thor’s hammer.
two: the toa’s elemental powers are far stronger than the matorans, obviously. But they can also do things that normal matorans can’t. Their skills and reflexes would have been increased when they became Toa. basicly it would be like if they were using the Kanohi Calix:
though its not related to the masks, they just gains the skills and reflexes from the prior Toa before them.
three: The Toa are the only ones with the rune symbols and markings on their armor and masks. Again, its because they are chosen and the armor and masks are given to them by the elemental gods. Its however considerd taboo to mimick these religious symbols and markings on normal Matoran masks and clothing. Imagine if say G3 Ahkmou were to sell cheap replica Toa masks with the same markings to normal matorans, that would be consider insulting to the Elemental gods and Ahkmou would be punished for it.
thats some of the points i atleast could think off right now.
Personally, I feel that the matoran don’t necessarily have to be taller than the toa. That said, I really do enjoy the image of the toa portrayed in The Mask of Light Movie when Takua became Takanuva; I felt as it showed the level of power of the being increasing, moreso than just a change of clothes.
However, and this is where reality comes into play, I don’t think a height difference would work on minifig scale.
TTV have already detailed their toa mini-figs more-so than they would probably be in real life.
And, so far, Lego has always used their regular short legs for substantially shorter characters. These smaller legs have not nearly received as much detail as the regular legs, with the only features of the piece, as far as I can remember, have been double-molded legs; a nice feature, but lack of prints do hinder them when compared to the toa counter-parts. The other designs for small-legs allow for more articulation but still bring up the same issue with the level of detail.
Another thing, is that if small hobbit legs were used, are the elders/onlookers of the regular city going to be small as well? I, for one, feel that the motoran should look up to both their rulers and the toa, more out of respect than anything else. This was possible in constraction, but not so much in system; the only way I could see it work is if, small legs-matoran, regular legs-elders, HF minifig legs/woody legs- toa. But that would also mess up the TTV’s designs as well as their prints.
Ultimately, if we must sacrifice articulation for looks/story-wise, I’d say we should go with small legs for matoran/elders and regular legs for toa, even if there would be no legs prints for mini-figs.
The choice that I could see reasonably working, however, is, essentially, what I suggested on another topic: That we make everybody have regular legs (except for children and such), so that prints could go on every character, and then change prints’ styles, colors, etc. so that they are respectable for each minifig.
For example, a Ta-matoran could have orange tribal paint. Tahu’s tribal paint would change to blue upon his transformation (I picture the blue accent just radiating and flowing through him as he receives the fire element from ikir). And the Ta-elder would have gold or silver, more decorative paint on him/her/them.
(Honestly I picture a hot-headed king, with a decisive, understanding queen that stands up to her husband’s complaining. Tahu could be a soldier/subject of the kingdom. If Tahu was prince, I would feel it would be too similar to Chima’s setup.)
I think that you could very realistically distinguish Toa from Matoran that are the same height by giving the matoran more muted colors, less intricate printing, more clothing on their prints(i.e. rags, shawls, etc.), and masks that looks less aggressive. This would be where the distinctions between normal, great, and noble masks would shine the most.
Plus, given the concept you guys are working with wherein the Toa are literally just elementally imbued villagers, it makes sense for them to be the same size. These are far more grounded Toa than we’ve seen in previous iterations.
That, and the shorter leg options are pretty trash as it stands.
3 Likes
As I stated earlier, even if they are the same species, doesn’t mean that they have to be the same size. Since they are being chosen by the Gods, the toa will most likely be “upgraded” to become better warriors, and more effective or special than any matoran could be. A change in size has happened before in previous generations of bionicle as well. I do really like your ideas for the matoran’s design though, I just think short legs would look better than the longer ones on a matoran.
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Screw sameness, why not have all three height differences, and two body proportions for every character, regardless if they are Toa or not…true freaking diversity.
When it comes to height of non-monster figures you have three (six if you count scirts for the three heigths) options:
Tall: very lanky people, high percentage can be found in the Region of Air and Region of Sand.
Medium: Overall standard for each region, but most dominant in Region of Fire and Water
Short: The height of normal Matoran kids, but also a height of adults which is the most dominant in Region of Earth and Ice.
When it comes to muscle density, you have the regular figure (which is shown above for all three height differences; and the regular figure can have printings for very skinny, skinny, normal, averagely toned, to buff).
Extremely buff (aka body builders) can have the large Torso add on as seen with Axl.
(can be used by any height difference…however I would make a new piece for this, since the Axel one was specifically made for that characer and that size, I would make a more general shape for the buff figure for the other two sizes).
However, despite these heights and body shapes having predominance in specific regions, that doesnt stop people from other regions being tall, short, buff, bodybuilder.
I would also propose that some of the Toa are bodybuilder figure (aka Onua), and Tall (Lewa). This would differentiate Lewa from the other girl that is Gali which has a medium height, but it also makes her stand out in the group of the Toa by having her be the tallest, as well as Onua for the similar reasons.
Matoran should not be specifically shorter or taller in general then the heroes, they come from the same race so their heigth is determand by the individual and not by power status (aka being ot not being a Toa)…so in theory you can have also a short Toa (possibly a previous incarnation) or a Buff female character, a Tall citizen…the possibilities dont limit anything and it just adds to the diverse body shapes and sizes that would make this line stand out from previous original IPs from Lego.
If you want the Toa to have something distinct from the rest, armor pauldrons, capes, printing, masks, mask shapes, mask printing, transparent body parts, colors, weapons…all of these can contribute in making the Toa stand out from the rest.
This concept doesnt exclude the existence of the short legs or their use in the sets, however it adds even more veriety to the minifigure line that has rarely been used before, but would be a greate edition to the overal minifigure standards. why only have the Toa be the medium build or the Matoran short, when you can have them both with different heights and body shapes.
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It might look a little awkward to have those huge size gaps between different characters though. But those are some interesting ideas you have there.
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Why would it be strange when we have the same deal in real life. In real life you dont have people with the same height, but various heights among people and body shapes. And since Lego would go bankrupt making new models for each and every height variation, we can stick we these already made three height variations for all the figures, just mix and match depending on the character you wish to have…this doesnt need a lot of work put into it, we already have 80-90% the model shapes created by Lego, we just need to used those more often in alarger-smaller-equal amount depending on the sets in question.
If monsters figures could have changed their body shapes before, why cant regular humanoid figures have the same variation with their heights and body shapes?
PS: The heroes size should not indicate their power, look at Yoda, the greatest Jedi Master of his time, was a freaking midget in height. Why cant some of the Toa also portray this message. Height should not indicate you are better than someone, it should just indicate how far your nead is from your legs, thats it.
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One reason I don’t think that the Matoran shouldn’t all be short characters is because LEGO never has many short characters in a line. In most lines, say there are 30 characters in a line, the majority of all of the characters have regular legs. Only about 5 or 6 of the characters have short legs. The only exception to this rule is the Hobbit line, which had about 15 short characters in the sets. If we are going at this realistically, we wouldn’t have the majority of characters as midgets.
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For those saying that the toa should be tall to be good compared to the matoran, Warrick Davis is not what you would call tall yet he has still accomplished many things such as being a famous and well respected actor, also matoran were like I said small to be cheap sets however matoran can be tall and respected just like toa,in real life there is not just 6 people who are the heroes, I believe there should be respected matoran such as helpers of the toa or even warriors
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And therein lies the problem. This isn’t real life. It’s a fan made concept based on an already existing fictional IP that feature bio mechanical beings. Like in G1, Toa are Matoran, but with elemental powers given to them (as stated in G3 canon), thereby giving them a larger stature (IMO).
Size doesn’t have anything to do with respect. As you mentioned above, Warwick Davis is an extremely respected individual, and has led an incredibly successful life. The Matoran are no different. Jaller, Takua, Hahli, Macku, Hewkii, etc. are all fan favorite characters due to their roles in MNOG and other material, and many of them expressed how heroic they could be despite their stature, further teaching kids that anyone could be a hero.
It’s just that the size difference between Matoran/Turaga/Toa helps differentiate their respective roles to those that are unfamiliar with BIONICLE lore. As Var stated on the recent podcast in the over-blown and too long argument with Jon, the difference in size between minifigures will help a hypothetical random customer figure out which character is the more important. I personally believe that the Toa should have added tribal printing on their body/armor to help differentiate between roles, alongside being taller.
Also, that hypothetical general consumer probably isn’t going to have a problem with the shorter, non articulated legs that the Matoran would have. There hasn’t been a massive outcry from the general consumer population to give the smaller figures leg articulation, and I doubt that a smaller population of people complaining about it on various forums and message boards would sway LEGO to change anything anytime soon if Brickonicle were real. If Brickonicle were being done by LEGO, the Matoran would all be shorter figs.
True, but how many Matoran would ever be released to the public in this hypothetical scenario? As Var said, there would be one or two Matoran MAX in each set (and even then there may not be any in some sets) to help create the conflict in a box. If only the larger $30+ sets have Matoran in them, there are around 14 sets in a wave (just pulling arbitrary numbers out of my head) and half of those are $30+, then you’d end up with only 7-10 Matoran, and who knows how many Toa and enemies duplicates. That’s not exactly a lot. It’s less than The Hobbit sets.
I started out this past week thinking the Matoran could be regular minifigures while the Toa would be differentiated by armor add ons and printing, but after all of this discussion, in my opinion, the Toa should be regular minifigures while the Matoran remain with the “Hobbit Legs”. Sorry.
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No need to be sorry however toa should have more markings than matoran just the same height, [quote=“prentice1215, post:67, topic:35702”]
And therein lies the problem. This isn’t real life. It’s a fan made concept based on an already existing fictional IP that feature bio mechanical beings. Like in G1, Toa are Matoran, but with elemental powers given to them (as stated in G3 canon), thereby giving them a larger stature (IMO).
Pohatuisawesome:
[/quote]
But it can be inspired by real life! do you watch a show or movie and say “I do not care for the main character because he is not real” no bionicle should be more realistic in order to appeal to a younger generation matoran should be tall to be more human, plus it makes the matoran more appeal and if they ever fight back they can look more serious, who took the Protecors V Elemental Beasts seriously? The guards in nexo Knights are what the matoran should be like, the squire bots are not supposed to be taken seriously
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