The continuum of the bionicle lore

How do you think the bionicle lore should have continued? immediately after the events we already know: hordes, chiara, zaria and gelu captured by kabrua;
suspected lesovikk for killing karzahni (but it was actually velika);
and kopaka and pohatu trapped in the red star;
how do you think the lore should have ended?

5 Likes

I really think that the lore should have just been left with 2010’s conclusion.

11 Likes

We really needed a beach episode.

15 Likes

Willess12’s Bionicle continuation project is super-cool (You can find it here). Also Avaru’s idea with Dark Hunters is really neat. Othervise I don’t really know, but 1. Velika must die as a good guy and 2. Toa Nuva/Takanuva/Toa Mahri must not become Turaga. But Helryx actually can…

4 Likes

What do you think 2009 was?

5 Likes

This idea was explored here:

But I would be more than happy to sum up my ideas here as well.

The most immediate threat is Marendar, and, as the above post suggests, it would make a beeline right for Tuyet, due to her excess Toa Power. Since Marendar likely has some form of the power dampener that Kabrua had in The Yesterday Quest, most of the Toa will be powerless to stop it. Eventually, Marendar is defeated, primarily by Tuyet, Tahu’s Kraata powers, and the Elementally-charged Glatorian. The Yesterday Quest team may also find something important in the Great Being lab that we know they would eventually find. And that’s just the opening act.

Then, a number of large factions would be formed. The most obvious is the integrated Matoran/Agori society. Then, Velika would have his group, and he would likely be able to find some support from Matoran Universe inhabitants. Next, The Shadowed One’s group of villains would have their own goals. Finally, Tuyet would use her influence and excess Toa Power to create an army of Toa from handpicked Matoran that support her goals, and create the Toa Empire.

Perhaps that could be part of Takanuva’s super important destiny: since he has already fought a Toa Empire, he could be of use.

The other Great Beings would likely be split, with some helping Velika, some helping the Integrated Society, and some staying out. The only other loose end that I can think of is the Golden Skinned Being; each group would want him to fulfill their own dreams, so there would likely be battles fought just to get close to him. (EDIT: Also the Baterra. They’d be involved, probably just killing beings on all sides.)

Vezon would do Vezon-type things, interfering with everything everywhere. Alternately, you could do a side story where Vezon, as the only being with interdimensional travel abilities, returns all of the cured Shadow Takanuva to their own dimensions.

As for more specific, character based stuff, I think it would have been neat to see Hafu and Kapura end up doing something important in that little group they were part of, going back to the 2001 vibe of the Tohunga/Matoran being the main characters.

You could also do something cool with the Dreams Of The Mad Skakdi that are still wandering around.

One last thing, that I personally like, would be the Ignika finally becoming a true Toa: It probably isn’t happy that Mata Nui keeps taking over the mask, especially since it knows that people want Mata Nui to exist physically. Why is it fair that Mata Nui gets priority over the mask, even though the spirit of the Ignika has a greater desire to be a hero? So, with access to a Great Being lab, Artakha builds a new Toa, and the Ignika transfers its spirit to the Toa body, letting Mata Nui have the mask. And boom. Ignika, Toa of (probably) Plantlife.

(Pohatu and Kopaka’s adventure on the Red Star would remain a standalone adventure happening adjacent to all this. There is nothing important that can come from that story without invalidating an important death.)

I disagree with both of these points: I think Velika was going to become the next Teridax, in terms of being the main villain behind all of the lower villains. I wouldn’t want to see him getting a redemption arc.

As for the Turaga thing… I think the Nuva were headed in that direction. I got the feeling that they were starting to split. And I don’t just mean in terms of location: Tahu and Gali were key parts of the new society, while Kopaka expressed a desire to retire from the spotlight, even if he didn’t become a Turaga. I can’t really see the team staying together. Even if they didn’t all become Turaga, I think some of them would, like Onua.

5 Likes

But everyone had so much armor on.

5 Likes

Hero Factory identifies the reformed Spherus Magna and calles in an airstrike. Everyone dies.

Jokes aside, if the lore were to continue, I’d want it to involve more than just the loose threads that were given in late 2010/2011, and build up the Spherus Magnan society the way they did the societies of Mata Nui and Metru Nui. How much culture shock did the different races of the Matoran Universe experience once they were all migrated out onto a new world? Did the Shadowed One attempt to fill the power vacuum left by the deaths of Karzahni and Tren Krom, and face Marendar in a power struggle? Did the Tahtorak ever find the answer he was looking for?

5 Likes

If G1 were to continue, I imagine a cohesive conclusion that successfully juggles all the loose ends and subplots. It would be nice if the continuation attempted to mend some of the storyline’s faults, especially since things could have gone better in hindsight.

I haven’t been blown away by any continuations but hopefully that changes if someone manages to accomplish the above. The Dark Hunters, LoSK, Velika, Marendar, GSB, the Toa Mahri, New Atero, and Takanuva’s destiny are a few loose ends that come into mind.

While it would be interesting to see Marendar and Tuyet duel, I don’t think an elemental powerhouse will fare well against an entity designed to withstand and neutralize anyone with such power. So, if she can’t defeat Marendar, who will? Perhaps a trio of Toa forced to not rely on their elemental powers will succeed where a Toa who relies on such would probably fail?

7 Likes

Depends on what you mean by “continue”. Do you mean just finishing Greg’s serials? Or a full G1 return?

For a full continuation, the best thing to do would be a time skip, giving us enough time for a soft reboot. In fact, I’d probably ignore the serials but incorporate some of Greg’s ideas later down the line. Take 2005’s Doctor Who approach. Create a new arc that gradually introduces G1’s past lore while adding your own, or else you risk alienating new fans with excessive continuity.

But if you just want a conclusion to the serials… never gave it too much thought, to be honest. But here it goes:

  • I always saw Marendar as a secondary recurring antagonist. The Toa will try to stop the main threat, but Marendar keeps interfering.

  • Once Velika finishes eliminating his major obstacles, I see him revealing himself as a Great Being to the matoran. Without Mata Nui, most MU inhabitants no longer have a purpose, something that Velika can exploit and set himself up as a god-like leader for the upcoming civil war.

  • One Velika no longer needs a matoran body, he could either transform or transfer himself into a more powerful one. (Maybe Marendar? That would tie two plotlines together.)

  • With Teridax dead, Miserix has lost his main goal. As hinted in an AU, he could try to reform a new Brotherhood of Makuta out of whatever remnants he can find. Helryx may find him too dangerous and just kill him. Or, since he never rebelled against Mata Nui, may force an alliance with him. Use his powers for the Order, and make sure he never attempts any power grabs.

  • The GSB will continue to be a wild card. People may seeks to use his powers for their own ends, especially Velika. The Toa Mahri will continue to be under his influence, but someone may free them. During a battle with them, of course.

  • T̶a̶k̶a̶d̶o̶x̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶G̶r̶e̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶

  • And Vezon will save the day, in the Vezon way, with Vezon sway.

5 Likes

Yes. I don’t know if those two really left much of a vacuum, but The Shadowed One did indeed begin building a new empire with the remains of the Dark Hunters and the Skrall, as well as anyone else who wanted in. I don’t know if he was going to try a full takeover or not, though.

But Tuyet’s strength isn’t in her Elemental Power; it is in her massive amounts of raw Toa Power, which Marendar may or may not be immune to. Strong Toa Power often manifests itself in above-average Elemental Powers, but it could manifest itself in other ways that could be useful against Marendar. The first that comes to mind is strength and durability, or perhaps greater control over Kanohi. Neither of these are specifically canon, but they are certainly options that any hypothetical story conclusion could take advantage of.

Both. A full return would require a conclusion of the serials, or at least some reference to their conclusion. (but at least give the serials some kind of ending, even if there’s no full return.)

Why do so many people think this is an unresolved plot point? This isn’t the first time I have seen someone bring this up, even though it already happened. At some point during the Golden Skinned Being’s battle with Annona, the Skakdi’s sway over the Mahri was broken. Probably when Annona drove them all mad.

(That source also states that the Skakdi’s Mad Dreams are still out there. That could be a neat plot point.)

2 Likes

Because it was left unexplained/unresolved in the serials, and most people don’t have the time to read, nor the ability to remember, hundreds of pages of Ask Greg questions.

4 Likes

This isn’t just some random bit of trivia that no one has seen in the last 10 years. It’s on BS01 and everything. It just seems odd that people are seemingly familiar with every single plot point except this one.

But anyways, I suppose there is still some mystery there; they are way out on the beach with the Golden Skinned Being, after all. There could be a plot point there.

1 Like

The reason people aren’t familiar with it is because it was confirmed in a post on the Lego Message Boards in 2014. The fact is that a very small number of fans were actively reading Greg’s posts, collecting the lore, and putting it on BS01. A lot of fans were upset that Greg was still making changes to the lore, which is why this led to a big fandom war over canonization – and it’s why Greg now refuses to make new additions to the canon.

At least the Toa Mahri got out before it all shut down, though.

3 Likes

Don’t Toa express that through elemental powers 99% of the time, which Marendar is immune to? The only other times we’ve seen it used are to heal or assist someone in becoming a Toa.

Narratively speaking, it would be quite disappointing if Marendar was hyped up to be immune to elemental powers only to get defeated by a Toa’s above average elemental powers, no?

In rock paper scissors, you don’t win by having something larger. A dark type pokemon is still immune to a physic pokemon, regardless of their level. I don’t see how a Toa who relies on her elemental powers would ever triumph against someone explicitly immune to such powers.

I get your sentiment but it’s still a subplot in obscure side media left hanging loose. Most likely, the Toa Mahri exfiltrated with the help of the Toa Hagah or stumbled upon them after escaping.

Sharnak and Nicrophorus are right on the money. At least freeing the Toa Mahri mends one of the storyline’s faults, unlike all the drivel canonized after G1’s end.

4 Likes

Mostly, yes. That is why I suggested other possible way it could manifest itself, especially at such massive amounts that Tuyet has. She doesn’t just have a little more than usual; she has the Toa Power of hundreds of Toa. There is no precedent for that. A little bit of extra strength and durability seems well within reason.

I admit the “better at Kanohi” may be a bit of a stretch, since Kanohi aren’t exclusive to Toa, but the idea is still there. That extra Toa Power could manifest itself in non-Elemental ways. (Such as healing, as you mentioned; she could perhaps heal herself indefinitely)

Of course, these hypotheticals don’t really matter unless the story is getting finished, but still.

2 Likes

Velika encounters a fellow matoran who’s actually an extremely powerful being in disguise. This being ends Velika’s threat, disposes of the nightmarish creatures running amok on Spherus Magna, defeats the Shadowed One and all the remaining scum and villainy on the planet, and then helps Kopaka Phantoka win a fight against the '01, '02, '15, and '16 versions of himself.*

*Oh, and also, this being turns all the Bohrok back into his fellow av-matoran.

The (Perfect) End.

2 Likes

I’m gonna go radical here and say that the plot (chronologically) should have ended after Mask of Light! :stuck_out_tongue: And I think they always kept that option open for themselves, since I’ve heard that Bionicle was originally only expected to last about 3 years. Even if the premise of Mata Nui being a giant robot with his face under the island may have always existed in the background, to be revealed whenever the story requirements and the remaining years that the franchise was expected to last made it most feasible.

By “chronologically” I mean that the prequels are indeed still part of my head canon. But as far as I’m concerned, they did in fact awaken the Great Spirit at the end of the movie. And neither the film Mask of Light nor the matching video game give you any reason to believe that waking him up is a bad thing. Bad thing in terms of “you just destroyed the island you set out to save in the first place”.

I will admit that the Toa Inika themselves were a nice breath of fresh air, but I was mainly just happy to return to the present after that long drawn-out (cough Hordika) prequel era. And I did enjoy Bionicle Heroes, as repetitive and easy as it was. But in essence, sending a new group of heroes to a new island divided by elemental sections (at least that’s what the video game Bionicle Heroes implies) was just a revival of the original storyline. Kind of like Star Wars Episode VII would turn out almost a decade later :smile: . Voya Nui was the new Mata Nui, the Toa Inika were the new Toa Nuva, the Piraka were the new Rahkshi (i.e. “one bad guy per element” instead of one big boss or an army of Bohrok/Vahki etc.), and the Mask of Life was the new Mask of Light. Except now they were looking for the seventh Piraka instead of the seventh Toa.

Bionicle completely jumped the Takea for me, fittingly, when they moved the entire plot underwater with Mahri Nui, eliminating the element distinction that was so vital to the worldbuilding. While the characters of course remained Toa of their respective elements, the world they were operating in no longer reflected that.

I think I heard that it was originally one year as a hype toy alongside Slizers and Roboriders and was then expanded to 20 years in planning before it was cancelled in a meeting in 2008.
Also I think there were initially plans to make everything from the Bara Magna arc onward completely disconnected to the rest, but that decision was scrapped.
Also Mask of Life already teased Legends of Metru Nui at the end, which as far es I know was supposed to be a theatrical release to what MoL was just a setup.

Considering that almost the entire Bionicle story is based on fetch quests and elemental themes those repetitions are not a glitch in the matrix. They are the matrix. The Bionicle formular was used in different variants again and again. Pretty much every year, except for 09 and 10 is storywise a slight variant of the year that came before. With this logic 2001 is also basically Mask of Light, just as Journey to One is.

I almost agree with you here.

However, while it is true that the Bionicle sets started to get a little “gimmicky” in the later years, I personally feel that the story was written well enough to integrate these gimmicks in a way that felt natural. The only set gimmick that I personally don’t like in the story was the Matoran connection feature in 2008.

And, when your entire universe is underwater, it seems inevitable that a water mission would happen at some point or another.

3 Likes