Toys / BIONICLE (2015)

"A long time ago, on the mythical island of Okoto, all lived in harmony."

—Narrator, "The Legend"

The legend reborn.

Only five years after the end of the popular BIONICLE franchise, LEGO's having another crack at it! Who'd have thought?

The story this time around starts off on the island of Okoto, a tropical paradise that was home to two brothers, revered crafters of elemental Masks of Power- Ekimu, wearer of the Mask of Creation, and Makuta, wearer of the Mask of Control. As in the original story, Makuta was.. less popular than his brother, and not at all happy about it, eventually deciding to craft a Mask of Ultimate Power to show Ekimu up. It promptly took over his mind and started to destroy the island, forcing Ekimu to sacrifice himself and cast the both of them into endless slumber. Their masks were lost, and Okoto's Protectors, fearing for the island, called down six Masters of the elements- the Toa- to gather their elemental masks and save the island.

As old-school fans of the original series should note, Bionicle 2015 takes heavy inspiration from the early years of its first run. The backstory is quite similar to that of 2001, easter eggs and shoutouts to various aspects of the first series abound, and even the Toa themselves, despite utilizing the CCBS (Character and Creature Building System) from the Hero Factory sets, were designed to be as similar as possible to their 2001 incarnations while still having their own identities- they even have gear functions and masks that can be knocked off.

The first series features the heroes questing to search for golden masks, which once again, give them elemental powers. Then they face off against an arc boss Lord of the Skull Spiders, which, giving that the actual battle lasted little over 2 minutes, is rather pathetic. (And according to the toy size, is a pushover for even one of 'em Toa)

Then, of course, they find Ekimu, the good mask maker, who tells them that yet another mask The Mask of Creation has been stolen by a follower of Makuta, and now they face off against a whole other team of Skull-themed villains who seem to like a one-on-one rivalry against the Toa.

While the series doesn't have an online game like the much-loved MNOLG of 2001 - commonly cited as the best experience the original series had to offer - there are several online animations detailing the continuing adventures of the Toa as they fight to save Okoto. The official website can be found here.

In 2016, Netflix launched a four-episode CGI-animated show called LEGO: Bionicle: The Journey to One.

On July 29th, 2016, Lego announced that they were discontinuing Bionicle at the end of the year [1].

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Provides examples of:

• Aborted Arc: The entire year of 2017, as a result of Bionicle's premature cancellation. However, what seems to be plot threads from the original concept for the year seem to have been mixed in with the Journey to One finale, namely the Mask of Ultimate Power's shattered pieces and the return of Makuta.
  • Even more fitting to the trope is the Mask of Time. After being established to have some mysterious connection to not only the Toa but G1 as well (with it being stated that it's actually the upper half of the true Mask of Time, and its true name being Vahi), the Mask of Time is completely forgotten after its last chronological appearance in the story (in the prologue, no less) and is never referred to ever again.
    • Original Bionicle co-creator Christian Faber would eventually share his pitch from early G2 concepts which would have further connected the Mask of Time between the two generations, with the original G1 mask entombed in an obelisk covered in big Are You Sure You Want to Do That? warnings. When the heroes of the story attempted to crack open the obelisk to reach the mask they would have found the obelisk empty, the mask already gone. Faber also discussed the idea of a villain combining both halves of the Mask of Time to try and attempt to use time travel to create a scenario where Makuta was already victorious. Faber's departure from Advanced later on during the process of making G2 would ensure the idea would be dropped completely even if the Mask of Time connection remained.
  • And speaking of the Toa, we never learn about their true origins, or why they have no memory of who they are.
• Adaptation Distillation: Besides going back to a setting resembling the early years and shedding later continuity, there seems to be an effort to streamline things. Most of the foreign-sounding jargon has disappeared (masks are simply "masks" and not "Kanohi", for example) and the Toa's powers are simplified as well (Tahu was a Toa of Fire with a Mask of Shielding; now his power is fire, period). This may also be Lego trying not to piss off Pacific Islanders and activist groups (which they did the first time around) and have avoided using said Maori words, though maintain some old terms for IP/brand/nostalgia's sake.
• Adaptation Personality Change: All of the Toa have had their personalities simplified to some degree or another (considering most of their personality came from a decade's worth of lore that is now an Alternate Continuity), but Pohatu is now the complete opposite of the character he used to be. Whereas in the original canon he was mostly jovial and easy-going with a philosophy on life that focused on everyone getting along for the greater good of all, here he is Emo Teen levels of sullen and dour, taking his role very seriously and generally being a killjoy. This even extends to his Elemental Creature, whom he can barely stand to be around or unite with despite it behooving him to do so for the power it grants him.
• All Your Powers Combined: The Mask of Ultimate Power, created by Makuta to hold all six elemental powers.
  • Then later used by the Toa to seal Makuta in the Shadow Realm once and for all.
• Ambiguous Robots: Just like last time. Exaggerated with the people of Okoto, who are apparently capable of having children.
• Ancestral Weapon: The Protectors' masks and titles have been passed down from father to son for generations.
• Another Dimension: The Shadow Realm.
• Apocalypse How: The Great Cataclysm. Causes natural disasters all over Okoto, destroys cities, and drags the capital city into another dimension entirely. Later, the Shadow Horde invokes this, all of them being named after natural disasters that they can respectively summon.
• Arc Words: Unity, Duty, and Destiny.
• Artifact of Doom: The Mask of Ultimate Power.
• Ascended Meme: When fighting Skull Scorpios in Island of Lost Masks, Onua warns the other Toa to "Beware of their stinger tails."
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The fate of the Toa after the final battle as a result of them combining their powers against Makuta to banish him for good.
• Awesome Aussie: For now, all of them, since they were voiced by the same person (the narrator) in audiobook fashion. Pohatu in particular stands out as an intentional version of this.
• Bookends: Journey to One begins and ends with one of the Protectors recounting the tale of the Toa to a group of children around a campfire at night.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: The Skull Spiders aren't as big as, say, the Visorak from the previous continuity, but they're still rather large for bugs. Their Lord, meanwhile...
• Big "NO!": Lewa and Umarak are guilty of this.
• Blue Means Cold: Blue is a common secondary colour for ice-based characters, e.g. Kopaka, Izotor, and Melum. These characters also have blue eyes.
• Brainwashed: The victims of the Skull Spiders, alongside Umarak after putting on the Mask of Control.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: See above.
• Bug War: The first wave of the first year is this, with the antagonists being Skull Spiders and their Lord.
• Came from the Sky: The debut of the Toa.
• Chest Blaster: Korgot's (Protector of Earth) Rapid Shooter.
• Climbing the Cliffs of Insanity: Tahu and Narmoto briefly go through this on their way to the Golden Mask of Fire.
• Color-Coded Characters: Same arrangement as last time, red/blue/green/black/white/brown.
• Composite Character:
  • Ekimu and Makuta appear to have traits from two Cain and Abel pairs from the original continuity: Mata Nui and Makuta (Big Good and Big Bad respectively, the villain is named "Makuta") and Artakha and Karzahni (master craftsmen, portrayed as relatively normal beings rather than unseen mythical gods, the good one wears the Mask of Creation).
  • The Skull Spiders are basically a combination of the bug-like Bohrok and the mind-controlling Krana that powered them.
  • The Toa's redesigns incorporate elements from their original designs (particularly in the shape of their masks) along with elements from their Toa Nuva upgrades (Dual Purpose Weapons, Armour).
  • Umarak is evidently based off of the Dark Hunters Nidhiki and Krekka. Like Nidhiki, Umarak is a cunning mercenary hired by Makuta to serve him, and like Krekka is a Mighty Glacier following his transformation into the Destroyer. Also like Nidihiki and Krekka, Umarak acts as the last obstacle between the Toa and Makuta for their respective years, and is ultimately absorbed by him to become more powerful.
• Constructed World: The Solar System the series takes place in, including Okoto and the planets the Toa descended from.
• Continuity Reboot: The backstory to the relaunch mirrors the original 2001 storyline, but with some key differences: For one, the island and person of Mata Nui have been replaced with "Okoto" and "Ekimu", respectively. The Toa have also been described with character traits they didn't have before.
• Creepy Cemetery: Where Ekimu was laid to rest in the City of the Mask Makers.
• Crossing the Desert: Pohatu and Nilkuu undergo this on their way to the Golden Mask of Stone.
• Cut Short: Sadly, while Bionicle 2015 was promised to last for AT LEAST three years, it was ended on the end of its second year, with no official Makuta set (though there is a combiner model for him), no Mask of Ultimate Power, no Mask of Time, the plot thread of the Mask of Time having two halves, etc. Luckily, Journey to One managed to provide a somewhat rushed finale, but what was clearly intended to be a longer, sprawling story was cancelled.
• Derelict Graveyard: The City of the Mask Makers, after it's taken over by the Skull Creatures.
• Desolation Shot: How we're introduced to the destructiveness of the Shadow Horde.
• Devour the Dragon: In order to complete the ritual, Makuta absorbs Umarak, giving his portal the strength to carry him over to Okoto.
• Divided We Fall: The main reason for every defeat the Toa suffer.
• Dual Wielding: Tahu, Lewa, Onua, Pohatu, and Narmoto (Protector of Fire) use two weapons simultaneously.
• Dungeon Bypass: As fitting for the wisest of the Toa, upon encountering an underground labyrinth between him and Terak, Onua just smashes through the walls to take the straight-line path.
• Easter Egg: The Kanohi Vahi, the Mask of Time from BIONICLE's first incarnation, has appeared hidden in almost all of the online animations, as well as the mobile game, BIONICLE: Mask of Creation.
• Elaborate Underground Base: The City of the Skull Raiders.
• Eldritch Location: The Shadow Realm.
• Elemental Powers: As before, though most of the secondary elements haven't carried over (or at least not yet):
  • Playing with Fire: Tahu, Narmoto, and Ikir.
  • An Ice Person: Kopaka, Izotor, and Melum.
  • Making a Splash: Gali, Kivoda, and Akida.
  • Dishing Out Dirt (split into Earth and Stone): Onua, Pohatu, Korgot, Nilkuu, Terak, Ketar, and the Quake Beasts.
  • Green Thumb: In a change from before, the "green" element is Jungle rather than Air, though there does seem to still be a "wind" aspect to the powers; in this case, it goes with Lewa, Vizuna, and Uxar.
  • Blow You Away: Pohatu seems to sport this a bit, now, as do the Storm Beasts.
  • Shock and Awe: The Storm Beasts.
  • Weather Manipulation: The Storm Beasts, again.
  • Light 'em Up: Ekimu and Agil.
  • Casting a Shadow: Umarak and Makuta.
  • Necromancer: Kulta.
  • Poisonous Person: Umarak the Destroyer, to a minor extent.
  • Magma Man: The Lava Beasts.
  • Make Some Noise: Uxar, through its Sonic Crystal Wings.
  • Healing Hands: Again, Uxar.
• Exact Words: Ekimu inflicts this on Kulta in their rematch; after promising not to use his Hammer of Power, he promptly uses Onua's hammer instead, which achieves the same affect, but on the entire Skull Raider cavern.
• Eviler than Thou: As Makuta puts it to Umarak; "As strong as you think you are, I am stronger."
• Evil Overlooker: Kulta, as can be seen in the page image above, alongside Umarak in the Journey to One posters for Seasons 1 and 2.
• Face Death with Dignity: The Toa know that they have to sacrifice themselves to stop Makuta when Gali revealed what they have to do, as they would be sent back to the stars if they combine all their elemental powers to imprison Makuta for good. However, all agree that it would be a worthwhile sacrifice.
• Face Hugger: The Skull Spiders, in proud tradition of the previous continuity's infected masks and Krana.
• Gatling Good: The Protector's Blasters.
• Grave Humor: Gali isn't above this upon arriving in the City of the Mask Makers' graveyard.
• Heroic Sacrifice: The Toa stops Makuta by combining all their elemental powers, but in doing so were transported back to the stars from which they had come.
• Hope Spot: Ekimu and Agil combine their powers to blast Umarak with light, knocking him off of his feet. The toa are freed from his shadows, and Gali grabs a piece of the Mask of Ultimate Power, about to sabotage the ritual... and promptly has her soul sucked into the Shadow Realm, and Umarak reveals he absorbed Ekimu's light to power the portal.
• Ice Palace: The location of the Golden Mask of Ice.
• Intellectual Animal: Akida, the wisest of the Elemental Creatures with access to the knowledge and secrets of Okoto.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Nilkuu and Bingzak.
• Island of Mystery: The location of the Labyrinth of Control.
• Late to the Tragedy: The Golden Masks of Power were meant to be used by the Toa to stop the impending Great Cataclysm. By the time they arrive, it's already happened and Okoto is overrun by Skull Spiders.
• Lava Surfing: Tahu can do this.
• Legacy Character: The protectors, whom all inherited their roles from their parents.
• Lighter and Softer: Bionicle 2015 comes with a much lighter tone and far less deaths than its predecessor, with only two to count.
• Loophole Abuse: Kulta said Ekimu wasn't allowed to use his Hammer of Power in their rematch... but he didn't say he couldn't use someone else's hammer.
• Mask of Power: Once again a focus of the franchise; though now they enhance a Toa's elemental powers rather than provide a completely different power.
• The Maze: The Labyrinth of Control. Also where Terak and the Uniter Mask of Earth are located.
• Medium Blending: Journey To One combines Cel Shaded CGI character models with 2D effects.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Lewa loses his mask to the villains, and Onua plays a key role in its retrieval... yet again.
  • In Episode 13, Lewa says he feels a breeze. Kopaka says, "What are you, the Master of Air?" in reference to the original Lewa being the Toa of Air.
  • This page on the BIONICLE website (click on "The Forge") claims that "masks of strength, of speed and a thousand other miraculous powers" have been forged in the City of the Mask Makers. The original BIONICLE line had a Mask of Strength and a Mask of Speed.
  • Speaking of masks, an image of the Mask of Time from the original story has appeared in many of the online animations. It has also been confirmed that this storyline has a Mask of Time as well.
  • All six Toa are defeated by a single blow from Kulta's weapon, similarly to what happened at the end of the Dark Destiny book with Brutaka.
  • The "Uniter" versions of the Toa feature the Nuva Symbols from the original's Bohrok-Kal storyline as Chest Insignia on their chestplates and masks.
  • In G2, Makuta once more hires a 'shadow' hunter (very similar name to Dark Hunter) to help him with his scheme and eventually absorbs them to become more powerful.
  • Once again, Makuta finds himself sealed away after six toa combine their powers into multiple beams to trap him.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Pohatu's near universal refusal to unite with his Elemental Creature (due to an unresolved fear of scorpions which his creature resembles), Umarak manages to blindside him in the maze and steal his creature which allows him to take the Mask of Control for Makuta.
  • Although Ekimu's burst of light frees the Toa from Umarak's shadows, it also gives the Destroyer the necessary energy required to finish opening the portal to the Shadow Realm.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Makuta's open gloating about how the prophecy reveals the outcome of the final battle allows Gali to find it and figure out how to defeat him.
• Nobody Poops
• Offhand Backhand: How Tahu responds to the last of the skull spiders that attack right after his arrival, effectively subverting what was initially set up as a Mistaken for Badass moment and turns it into an actual badass moment.
• Patchwork World: Okoto is distinctly divided into six elemental regions by several mountain ranges.
• Phantom Zone: The Shadow Realm.
• Red Is Heroic: Again, Tahu the red Toa of Fire takes prominence.
• The Remake
• Schizo Tech: The Okotans are known as villagers and live in primitive huts, use archaic tools such as spears and torches, and have blacksmiths. They also have airships and machine guns.
• Sealed Evil in a Six Pack: After being knocked off of Makuta's face, the Mask of Ultimate Power shatters into six pieces, forcing Umarak to recover them years later to free his master from the Shadow Realm.
• Shoulder Cannon: Protector of Fire's Fire Shooter.
• Shoulders of Doom: Dang near everyone. Most of the Toa, both of the Mask Makers, and a few of the more humanoid villains.
• Skeletons in the Coat Closet: The Skull Spiders. Summer 2015, meanwhile, introduces a whole slew of skeleton-themed villain sets, complete with skull masks and bone-shaped limb pieces.
  • Dem Bones: The Summer 2015 Skeleton villains actually seem to be undead warriors. Skull Scorpio still fits with the above trope, though.
• The Smurfette Principle: As before, the Toa are five guys and one girl. The Protectors also seem to be five guys and one girl, although the girl is not the Protector of Water but rather the Protector of Earth, Korgot.
• Start of Darkness: Makuta used to be a somewhat decent person, but his plan to create the Mask of Ultimate Power acts as this, as it sets him down on his path to personally outdo his brother, ultimately transforming him into the megalomaniac he is now.
• Strictly Formula: All the mini-comics in the instruction manuals (and duplicated on the website) follow the same pattern: Protector fights Skull Spiders while leading Toa to Golden Mask, Skull Spider attaches to Protector's face, Toa finds and puts on Golden Mask, Toa drives off Skull Spiders and rescues Protector, Protector gives his/her weapons to Toa.
• Tap on the Head: This is how the masks are knocked off of the toys, rather than hitting the masks themselves as in the original toyline.
• Team Shot: From time to time.
• To Hell and Back: Gali briefly gets her soul sucked into the Shadow Realm but manages to escape shortly afterwards using Makuta's portal.
• Tunnel Network: This is where Terak and the Uniter Mask of Earth are located.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: Ekimu and Makuta. The two craftsmen responsible for creating the Masks Of Power.
• Underground City: The City of the Skull Raiders.
• Vocal Dissonance: Due to the fact that all the characters in the web animations are voiced by the same (male) voice actor as the narrator, Gali has a voice second only to Dr. Girlfriend's in masculinity for a female character.
• Water Is Blue: Just like the previous series.
• Word Purée Title: Unless it's changed from the original series; it's short for "biological chronicle", whatever that means.
• Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: After giving Ekimu a power boost to fend off Umarak's shadows, Agil disappears completely.
• When the Planets Align: This signals the arrival of the Toa.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Despite the prophecy detailing Makuta's defeat at the hands of the Toa, he still tries to win, and predictably, fails.
• Zeppelins from Another World: The airships shown in the second Graphic Novel, Battle of the Mask Makers.

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