Bionicle

This should be it.

The Context: Noah1 attempted to embed a video, but apparently wrote the link incorrectly.

Edited by jouXIII on May 3rd 2023 at 11:08:25 AM

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Cool stuff

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And here's another one.

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Yeah, each of the original Toa could get a separate mask that all of the other Toa actually used, which would let them use one another's powers. They then got the golden Kanohi masks that would let them use the combined powers of all of them.

Then they got the Kanohi Nuva, which were even stronger and ran on the same principle.

Edited by theLibrarian on May 11th 2023 at 2:05:44 PM

That is the face of a man who just ate a kitten. Raw.

The third and final part of Brian Ellis's Bionicle retrospective series on his time at Bionicle; This final episode is about his Makuta prototype figure that never made it to the shelf that was created as one of there very first prototype Makuta figures for the BIONICLE PHANTOKA line

Edited by RussellStar5641 on May 14th 2023 at 3:53:16 PM

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You need the "-" in front of url(as in -J3I2cNM6kU, not J3I2cNM6kU).

Edited by jouXIII on May 14th 2023 at 10:22:46 PM

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So, I've noticed a while ago that the Brotherhood of Makuta (at least the ones seen in Karda Nui) are in many ways expies of the Barraki:

• Backstory: Both groups were created and appointed by Mata Nui to run the Matoran Universe, only to grow disgruntled and rebel.
• Design:
  •    Kalmah/Antroz   : Red and black colors, large spiked jawline, "muscular" proportions with rounded armor
  •    Takadox/Vamprah   : elongated ridged head, angular jaw with prominent incisors, narrow proportions, identically-designed folding arms
  •    Ehlek/Gorast   : Squat head with sharp cheekbones, skinny arms and legs, silver three-bladed Wolverine Claws
  •    Carapar/Bitil   : Sloped head, squat proportions (albeit patterned in the opposite way), distinctive curved blades
  •    Mantax/Chirox   : Four-fanged Monster Mouth, back-swept crests on back of head, grey accent color, skinny arms beneath Shoulders of Doom
  •    Pridak/Krika   : White and red colors with black accenting, skinny proportions, short limbs, hunched posture, uniquely-designed blades and head crest
• Characterization:
  •    Krika/Antroz   : Highly intelligent and vicious field leader
  •    Kalmah/Chirox/Mutran   : Evil Genius and creator of the team's weaponized polyp monsters
  •    Mantax/Vamprah   : Silent and secretive hunter
  •    Takadox/Krika   : Weak, but Skilled Lean and Mean Slaying Mantis who had secretly done something to betray the others
  •    Ehlek/Nocturn/Gorast   : Ax-Crazy expert of evisceration
  •    Carapar/Bitil   : Dumb Muscle who resents his position as such

The reason I bring this up in a hypothetical revision of G2 (or any other crack at streamlining the franchise's narrative), the two groups would be composited into a single recurring Standard Evil Organization Squad. The thing is, I don't know what names to give to these composites. I do have an idea for their backstory, though:

Long ago, they were the guardians of the world's only source of Antidermis, which granted them immense power. When they rebelled, they were utterly unstoppable... but the heroes of their time were able to trick them into infighting that eventually reduced their numbers. The few remaining members were defeated via a mysterious mutagen that severely reduced their powers and sealed in a deep prison, their names eventually reduced to tall-tale boogeymen. However, the Big Bad has released them, and is able to reverse their mutations bit-by-bit in exchange for their service.

Any thoughts?

Edited by Noah1 on Jul 1st 2023 at 7:28:06 AM

An open mind and compassionate heart are among the most important qualities we can have.

The Barraki and the '08 Makuta really aren't all that similar in characterization, and consolidating the groups could very easily make the universe feel small. Furthest I would go with that is maybe having the Barraki be lieutenants/generals in the Brotherhood who struck out on their own, but even then, it kind of runs into the same issue.

For any sort of reimagining, it's important to remember that the Mata Nui robot houses basically an entire planet's worth of locations and groups and cultures and had been traveling the universe for millennia. The canon story did a decent job of conveying that, with empires rising and falling, factions coming and going, etc. If anything, consolidation attempts can create a whole other problem in that the universe might end up looking stagnant.

Bara Magna, as written, ran face-first into that—100,000 years is 20 times longer than the common estimate of recorded human history, and it somewhat strains believability that they were just dicking around in the desert for all of that time without anything really changing, nevermind the absurd lifespans of what are ostensibly supposed to be biological organisms in contrast to Mata Nui's biomechanical inhabitants (who, logically, are said to have indefinite lifespans if well-maintained). I digress.

Edited by Chortleous on Jun 7th 2023 at 12:03:48 PM

I see your point, but at the same time the '08 Makuta wound up Killed Off for Real in the same year as their introduction, so I don't think too much would be lost by consolidating their role and impact with those of the Barraki. If nothing else, my idea for their composited group includes their numbers being much higher in their prime, which should leave some room for expansion.

As controversial as G2 was, I at least like the idea it presented of streamlining the narrative, if not the execution. Even us fans can admit that G1 had a tendency to get overcomplicated and slapdash at times, which is why I've been coming up with ideas for a hypothetical "aligned universe" that unifies both approaches and potentially allows for a more frugal usage of whatever resources may be alloted.

Another idea I had was to make the Toa Inika the recipients of the Adaptive Armor, while the Toa Mata/Nuva would be focused on teaming up with the Elemental Creatures. Furthermore, Jaller, Kongu, Nuparu, and Matoro would retain their Matoran color schemes, while Hahli and Hewkii would retain their Toa colors.

Edited by Noah1 on Jun 8th 2023 at 2:38:27 PM

An open mind and compassionate heart are among the most important qualities we can have.

Double-posting to showcase this impressive MOC of Voriki, complete with custom mask design.

An open mind and compassionate heart are among the most important qualities we can have.

Alright, so I kind of fell off of Bionicle after Karda Nui, so I’m not really up on the Glatorian stuff and what came after. I do at least know the general gist of the ending, as well as what the final sets were, and I do think they’re…well, a touch packing for the final battle. More specifically, I think they could stand to be expanded on to bring them up to the traditional 12 canister sets (I’m envisioning them being released similar to how they were in 2008–two groups of three heroes and three villains), as well as a couple of story rewrites (relatively minor for the most part, I think) to get characters in place to participate. Dunno if anyone here has done this before, but here are my ideas:

• Heroes:
  • Tahu, Takanuva and Gresh all strike me as fine choices, so no complaints there.
  • Blue:I had considered Helryx, but in the interest of repping the Mahri (and not just carting them off into irrelevancy), I’ll go with Hahli, who also has the advantage of being the protagonist of the second online game (Helyrx could have a large set with some sort of vehicle if there was space for one). Have Nuparu build her a couple upgrades so that it’s not just a repeat of her 2007 set, and she should be good to go.
  • Brown/Gold: I actually have two ideas for this, both meant to represent the Metru Nui era: either Keetongu, or Krahka in a Toa Metru inspired form (not necessarily Onewa’a). I’m leaning towards Keetongu, admittedly, but either works, I think. I suppose Brutaka is also an option (I do like him a lot), but I’d rather rep Metru Nui somewhere.
  • Black: It did occur to me that Lariska never got a set or even an official design, so I think I’d like to give her this slot. That said, I do believe I read that she had teal armor, but if we really wanted to, she could have some kind of black combat armor (alternatively, she never actually appeared in a visual medium, so perhaps it doesn’t really matter?).
• Villains (I’m actually going to swap a couple spots around here):
  • Blue: Nektann can keep this spot, although I think we could change his color if need be.
  • Red: I’m actually going to change up the Rahkshi and move it here, for reasons that will become clear shortly. It could easily be another Turahk (albeit a bite spikier, perhaps), or another one with a different shade of red.
  • Green: Likewise, I’m actually going to move the Skrall over here, and actually make him a unique character by changing him to Tuma, with a greater emphasis on his green parts. I admittedly don’t know much about him, but if we’re going to rep Bara Magna, we might as well use a guy with an actual name.
  • Black: Roodaka is arguably one of the more memorable major villains, so I vote we bring her back for this. I’d also be up for her going in the white spot with newer, more silvery armor.
  • White: In the interest of repping the Barraki, I say bring in Pridak here, preferably with an epic underwater duel between him and Hahli if it could be managed. Another Barraki could fill a spot if the colors swapped around a bit, but I’m going with Pridak since he was the leader.
  • Brown: This one’s the big one: as I understand it, there was originally a plan to give Ahkmou a Shadow Toa set in 2008, but it never got off the ground. And since I also understand that Makuta made Ahkmou Turaga of Metru Nui…well, I think that speaks for itself.

So that’s my line-up. Again, there would be some story changes here to get everyone in place, but it shouldn’t be anything too drastic. What do you guys think?

Edited by KarkatTheDalek on Jun 17th 2023 at 11:43:30 AM

Oh God! Natural light!

Didn't see these so thought I'd share them here. In these Christian Faber, the Co-Creator of Bionicle, takes us on a journey through his personal archive of never-before-seen drawings and sketches. In the first reveals his original vision for the 2015 re-launch of Bionicle and the ideas that never made it to the final product and in the second he talks about the link Bionicle and Hero Factory and explains the deeper lore of The Mask of Time.

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There's a Russian rip-off called "Beeronicle" with an impressively custom MOC Bionicle as the mascot for their tomato beer:

It got trending on the Bionicle subreddit, and of course, people decided to re-create Beeronicle, the Toa of Beer:

Here's to hoping that "Beeronicle" will become the next great meme character alongside Voriki and Hoseryx.

In celebration of the 5th annual 810INCLE Day and the 20th anniversary of Mask of Light:

• Team Kanohi just announced an upcoming demo of Bionicle Masks Of Power:

• Alongside this announcement is "As Above, So Below", a collab between Cryoshell and Essenger. Here's a music video with narration by Christopher Gaze, and Christian Faber providing Backstory and his reaction:

• Team Kanohi founder "Jocool 1231" releases the Fan Film Ide's Journey: Freedom from Destiny:

• User Ontocrom releases the MNOG Improvement Mod, which provides several bug fixes, graphical touch-ups, and other such quality of life changes to the classic experience:

• Lightstone Studios teased their upcoming expansion for their Fan Remake of Quest for the Masks:

• Duck Bricks announces his latest fanon contest, this time for the Golden-Skinned Being. Prizes include a 14K Gold Hau and Nickel-plated Avohkii.

• The first episode of Behind BIONICLE, a documentary that goes even deeper in BIONICLE's origin and development. Here, they release an interview with Andrew Nagel about his role in the brand's impetus. ^note Apparently, Gogos Crazy Bones was what inspired the "collect and trade" aspect from early on.

• User "iconicstills" releases the World of Mata Nui, an art-book centered around the first three years of BIONICLE.

• 26 artists from all across the globe have assembled Masks, a free 52-page fanzine.
• User "outofgloom" released the third edition of the Matoran dictionary.
• A update on the upcoming 10 anniversary of Reviving Bionicle.

Edited by Noah1 on Aug 22nd 2023 at 3:04:34 PM

An open mind and compassionate heart are among the most important qualities we can have.

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In terms of boss fights that BIONICLE Heroes could've had, it's a shame that the game never lets you fight Vezon & Kardas as a either a True Final Boss if you collected all the Canisters or just the third phase for the final boss.

Also considering that the game lets you buy Secret Chambers as bonus levels where you fight swarms of enemies, I think it would've been interesting to have Makuta Teridax as a Superboss that can be fought in his own level.

"Punishment is not the answer. Punishment is easy. It's lazy. Redemption is hard. Redemption makes you work."-Skulduggery Pleasant

Oh man, do I have things to say about Bionicle Heroes, and this is coming from someone who played and enjoyed it when it came out...

I can understand why they play fast and loose with canon in the tie-in games, but in Heroes' case I feel like that kind of hurt it, because it's ultimately just the same Lego game that Traveler's Tales usually makes but with a Bionicle skin on top.

The canon story, if you pay any attention, already provides the makings of a video game adaptation and you only need to go a little 'broad strokes' with it: Voya Nui has discrete elemental-themed sections and villains to match each, pretty much any Rahi you want for mooks and minibosses (and a built-in excuse for why they're serving the Piraka in the form of the antidermis) plus Nektann drones and whatever other robots you want to say Avak built—shit, Vahki and Bohrok (ideally Fohrok) could work with minimal justification, maybe even Exo-Toa. 'Wild' Rahkshi are a thing, too.

Moreover, the 777 steps provided a perfect excuse for a boss rush + more story-relevant bosses in the form of the Protodax and Umbra, and pretty much whatever you want in the Zone of Nightmares... but no, we get Axonn for whatever reason.

Umbra would have required somewhat more creativity with the typical Puzzle Boss design given his powerset so that probably explains that.

Edited by Chortleous on Aug 11th 2023 at 8:40:05 AM

I can't believe I forgot about Umbra. That said, Brutaka is mentioned to have worn the Mask of Dimensional Gates, so it's a shame that his boss fight wasn't built around him using portals to travel to different locations throughout the game.

"Punishment is not the answer. Punishment is easy. It's lazy. Redemption is hard. Redemption makes you work."-Skulduggery Pleasant

Case in point! I honestly forgot how his fight went. The potential was right there but TT thrives on being safe and cookie-cutter, so...

Turns out that if you swap the weapons and builds of the Phantoka/Mistika around, all 6 work better.

• Give Tahu Lewa's build, now he has a sword.

• Give Lewa Kopaka's build, now he has wings.

• Give Gali Tahu's build, now she has fins and a propeller.

• Give Pohatu Gali's build, now he has feet-jets.

• Give Onua Pohatu's build, now he has drill-claws.

• Give Kopaka Onua's build, now he has a shield.

...Huh. Some of these are small differences, but Gali being the one with fins and a propellor and Onua being the one with claws are such obvious choices... it feels like the designers could have simply swapped the colour-schemes before the release.

A new 20th anniversary commentary track for Bionicle: Mask of Light featuring Bob Thompson, Terry Shakespeare, David Molina, and Henry Gilroy.

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Some AMAZING Takanuva cosplay.

That is pretty cool.

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Hey, anyone remember when the Galaxy Explorer crew discovered an old Toa Canister?

An open mind and compassionate heart are among the most important qualities we can have.