History YMMV / Bionicle

** Vakama's FaceHeelTurn in ''Web of Shadows''. Unnecessary character assassination of an interesting protagonist just for the sake of conflict, or an interesting and logical twist after so much {{Wangst}} in ''Legends of Metru Nui'', one that ultimately [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap saved the character in many people's eyes]]? Fans can't agree on the subject ''at all.''

* EvenBetterSequel: While ''Toys/{{Bionicle}} 2: Legends of Metru Nui'' undeniably has its flaws, it was far better-written and executed, not to mention [[AnimationBump far better looking]] than its predecessor and is far above most MerchandiseDriven direct-to DVD childrens' movies. It depicted a crucial time in the franchise's history and lived up to the importance of the moment. The third and fourth films, on the other hand, fall more into the realms of ContestedSequel and {{Sequelitis}}, respectively.

** Nidhiki crosses it in ''Legends of Metru Nui'' when he drops Vakama toward the smelting pits even though Lhikan had surrendered.

*** ''Legends of Metru Nui'': Lhikan's death.

* SpecialEffectFailure: Ever so noticeable in all four movies. Especially noticeable in ''Legends of Metru Nui'', where every other shot has some sort of animation fault in it. Rather oddly despite this, NoFlowInCGI is regularly averted.

** ''Legends of Metru Nui'' was full of faulty, unfinished animation. For starters, lip-sync (or even lip-''movement'') was a rarity. The screen would pixelate at parts, and the movements would suddenly become very choppy. Some of the Kikanalo's texturing [[UnmovingPlaid didn't move in unison with their bodies]], and at one point, the red glowing effect of their eyes shifts to the side. The final scene has noticeable clipping errors, the most obvious being the top of Jaller's head protruding through his solid mask.

* TheUntwist: Makuta was [[HijackedByGanon the mastermind behind so many evil plots]], that fans quickly grew tired of how often he was revealed to be the BigBad, especially in 2004, which featured a different setting, different heroes, and two new major villains -- one was just a FillerVillain to the BigBad, who was in fact Makuta in disguise. It didn't help that the movie of that year, ''Legends of Metru Nui'', spoiled that at the very beginning and contained like three subsequent "Makuta is the villain" reveals in later scenes, some of which even contradicted each other (at one point Dume is seen relaying information to Makuta ''[[MindScrew despite being Makuta himself in disguise at that point]]''). That being said, the novel ''Time Trap'' {{Retcon}}s this and instead paints a picture of Makuta as being TheChessmaster, and the 2006 storyline makes his BigBad status more subtle, while the 2007 storyline introduces a new set of villains with their own agenda who are acting independently from Makuta. The culmination of his plans in 2008, however, makes all of his previous schemes much more fitting in hindsight.

* {{Wangst}}: Vakama in ''Legends of Metru Nui''. Oh god, how much he angsts... He's also like this for much of ''Web of Shadows'', but he gets over it by the end of the film.

** On Website/{{Tumblr}}, the idea that Kraata are a larval stage of Makuta is a rather common head-canon (though there's absolutely no evidence for this in-universe, and would seem to contradict what we know).

** ''BIONICLE: The Game'' was of debatable quality in terms of gameplay, and it arguably handled the lore worse than ''Heroes'' did; the latter game simply decided to ignore the lore in favor of gameplay (not to mention the galleries in the console versions detailing characters and items from the story to show that, apart from a few errors, yes, [[ShownTheirWork they did their research]]), while in the former, the game seemed to actually be ''trying'', but ended up cannibalizing it. It's like a a translation that has {{Dub Induced Plotline Change}}s, except they didn't even need to translate. Also, sweet mother of Karzahni in a gravy boat was the voice acting ''atrocious''. Seriously, the only redeeming factor about it was the [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic soundtrack]], which was filled to the brim with masterpieces, and for that, you can just look on Website/YouTube.

** Almost every time a character received a new toy, this was the fandom's reaction, as with the exception of the Toa Nuva they tended to look very different.[[note]]The reboot thoroughly averted this.[[/note]] This applied very heavily to the Phantoka and Mistika Toa sets. The fans' complaining was actually one of the main reasons why set designers shied away from joining forums like Website/BZPower.

** Takanuva's [[BackFromTheDead revival]] at the end of ''Mask of Light''. Apparently, a beam of light on his mask is enough to restore him. This is not explained in the movie, [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment and it's never brought up again]].

** ''Many'' fan projects that have voice acting often have Tahu's actor imitate Creator/ScottMcNeil's portrayal from ''Mask of Light''.

** ''Mata Nui Online Game'' is often regarded as one of the best, if not the best, games in the franchise as well as throughout the whole Franchise/{{LEGO}} company. The sequel though, ''MNOG II'' did not live up to it. Mostly due to its many GoodBadBugs, slow and repetitive game-play involving LevelGrinding for the Kohlii tournaments, and the rushed ending that would not make sense to [[ContinuityLockout anyone who has not seen the]] ''[[ContinuityLockout Mask of Light]]'' [[ContinuityLockout movie]].

* RainbowLens: Many in the fandom's LGBTFanbase have interpreted Av-Matoran, and Takua in particular, as a UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} allegory. They're the only type of Matoran who can be either gender, and can also use their light powers to change their color, essentially choosing their gender presentation.[[note]]Technically, one could argue that ''each element'' is its own "gender", though the Matoran only use the two familiar gendered pronouns, at least in the real-life media using TranslationConvention.[[/note]] Takua lived most of his life believing he was a Ta-Matoran, despite his mask being the wrong color, and feeling that he didn't quite belong. In the ''Mask of Light'' movie, [[spoiler:Jaller's dying words to him are]] "You were always different," after which he accepts his true identity and becomes the Toa of Light.

*** ''Mask of Light'': Jaller's DisneyDeath and Takua becoming Takanuva.

** ''Mask of Light'':

** [[spoiler:Velika]] crosses it by slowly killing off the most powerful beings of the Matoran Universe in order to more easily conquer Spherus Magna, starting with EldritchAbomination.

** [[spoiler:Velika]] crosses it by slowly killing off the most powerful beings of the Matoran Universe in order to more easily conquer Spherus Magna, starting with [[EldritchAbomination.

*** Thanks to some now defunct and discontinued polls that ran on fansites, Toa Naho is generally agreed to wear a Kanohi Huna. Also because of some WordOfDante, it's common to see depictions of Naho as an ArcherArchetype who wields a bow as her primary weapon.

** Mainly with the rest of LEGO fandom, the AFOL community in particular who feel the theme doesn't fit in with the spirit or aesthetic of LEGO. It tends to flare up during fan polls or tourneys over the best overall theme that inevitably get flooded with votes from BIONICLE fans. It's all largely one-sided, though, as BIONICLE fans generally appreciate the other themes. Unfortunately, this occurrence would turn sour upon the FanBallot to decide which classic LEGO theme would get a high-end collectors' set for LEGO's [[MilestoneCelebration 90th Anniversary]], [[https://jaysbrickblog.com/news/how-did-bionicle-win-the-lego-ideas-fan-vote-an-interview-with-bzpower-admin-tufi-piyufi/ with BIONICLE amassing the highest number of votes]] and going up against Toys/ClassicLEGOSpace, Toys/LEGOPirates, and Toys/LEGOCastle in the finals. Several YouTubers would insist that BIONICLE should not win for the above reasoning, citing the failure of [[Toys/Bionicle2015 G2]] in particular. This naturally incurred the wrath of BIONICLE's {{fandom}}, who, as mentioned elsewhere on this page, are growing desperate for the line's legacy to have some actual recognition, especially after G2's aforementioned demise and [[https://ideas.lego.com/projects/9a9b428b-108e-43bd-8b9e-3fdc7e8ec54a the proposed 20th-anniversary Ideas set]] getting passed up for approval. Ultimately, the controversy died down by the time Castle and Space were announced as the winners, and the fandom has largely accepted the 90 Years of Play mini-Tahu and the gift-with-purchase Tahu and Takua as an acceptable ConsolationPrize.

*** If you come across a MOC of Dume in his Toa form, chances are that he'll either have a [[DropTheHammer warhammer]] as his Toa Tool or some form of rifle.