Video Game / BIONICLE

To promote the LEGO BIONICLE toyline, a number of Licensed Game adaptations were released during its run.

The first BIONICLE game was Quest for the Toa, released for the Game Boy Advance in 2001. In this game, a Matoran embarks on a quest to rescue the kidnapped Turaga and bring the Toa Stones to Kini-Nui, where they will summon the Toa Mata. This game marks the debut of the recurring character Takua, who is the default canon protagonist of the game; however, the game gives players the option to customize their Matoran's colors. It was originally titled Tales of the Tohunga, but after a letter of complaint against the LEGO Group for appropriation of Māori words and culture, its title was changed to Quest for the Toa or simply LEGO BIONICLE in later releases.

Later that same year, The Legend of Mata Nui was intended to be released on PC. As a direct follow-up to Quest for the Toa, this game would have starred the six Toa Mata as playable characters as they traveled across the island of Mata Nui in search of the Kanohi masks, eventually teaming up in the Mangaia to confront Makuta. Unfortunately, development was riddled with major bugs that were unable to be solved before the projected release date, prompting LEGO to quietly cancel the game; many of its story elements eventually worked their way into other media, such as Mata Nui Online Game. An anonymous source known as "Deep Brick" recorded footage of a beta build of the game, which was uploaded to MarkOfMoD's YouTube channel in 2010. In 2018, an earlier alpha build of the game was uploaded onto the BioMedia Project by another anonymous source; a few months later, the last known beta build of the game surfaced as well. Game History Secrets extensively covered the game's history in a video here.

2002 saw the release of Matoran Adventures for the Game Boy Advance. This game is a sidescrolling platformer starring Kongu (although other Matoran could be unlocked for subsequent playthroughs) as he teams up with the Turaga to defeat the Bohrok. This was the first non-canonical BIONICLE game.

In 2003, BIONICLE saw its first major multi-platform release with BIONICLE: The Game. This Action-Adventure game summarizes the events of the 2002 and 2003 BIONICLE storylines, with the Toa Mata (later transformed into the Toa Nuva) battling Bohrok, Bohrok-Kal, and Rahkshi while Takua searches for the seventh Toa who can defeat Makuta. A sequel was planned for release in 2004 titled BIONICLE 2: City of Legends to tie in with the release of the Direct to Video BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui, although this was canceled early into development.

2005 returned to the Game Boy Advance roots of BIONICLE videogames with Maze of Shadows, an adaptation of the book of the same name. Unlike its predecessors, this game is a Turn-Based Combat Role-Playing Game. Much like the book, Maze of Shadows stars the Toa Metru as they explore the subterranean tunnels of Makuta's lair, seeking a source of Energized Protodermis to give to the Karzahni plant in exchange for an antidote to save Nokama's life.

In 2006, BIONICLE saw another major multi-platform release: BIONICLE Heroes, developed by Traveller's Tales, who had previously worked with LEGO on the massively-successful LEGO Star Wars games. BIONICLE Heroes is a very loose adaptation of the 2006 storyline, starring the Toa Inika as they battle the Piraka to obtain the Kanohi Ignika and save Voya Nui. The PC and console versions are a Third-Person Shooter, while the Game Boy Advance version uses a Three-Quarters View camera angle and the Nintendo DS version is a First-Person Shooter (notable for being the only LEGO game to receive a T rating).

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BIONICLE video games provide examples of:

• Abandoned Mine:
  • The Po-Wahi mine in The Game is devoid of any inhabitants.
  • The Magma Mines in the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes are outright confirmed to be abandoned in the level's intro text.
• Adaptation Species Change: In BIONICLE canon, the Gukko resemble hummingbirds, with rapidly beating wings and a long narrow beak. In The Game, the Gukko much more closely resembles a parrot. Ironically, the Gukko design in The Game also resembles the Kewa, which (at the time of the game's release) had been decanonized and replaced by the Gukko.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • While Matoran like Kongu are certainly brave and resourceful, they are still fairly weak and rely on Toa to protect them from greater threats. In Matoran Adventures, a Matoran can single-handedly defeat both of the Bahrag.
  • Muaka and Kuma-Nui are already very dangerous Rahi in canon, but they can't spit fireballs or shoot laser beams from their mouths like they can in Matoran Adventures, which depicts them on equal footing with the Bahrag.
  • In the canonical BIONICLE storyline, Balta is just a normal Ta-Matoran. In the Game Boy Advance version of BIONICLE Heroes, Balta jumps into Energized Protodermis and emerges as a powerful silver Matoran who can transform into the Toa Mata, Toa Nuva, and Toa Inika.
• Adaptational Curves: In The Game, Gali Nuva has a... much more detailed posterior compared to her toy counterpart.
• Adaptational Personality Change: The Piraka, while very much still legitimate threats in BIONICLE Heroes, are much more wackier and stupid than their more serious and darker canon counterparts.
• Adaptational Villainy: Despite being a very heroic member of the Order of Mata Nui in the canonical storyline, Axonn appears as boss character working with Reidak in BIONICLE Heroes for no apparent reason^note Unless you count there not being enough "titan" sets for bosses without including him.
• Advancing Wall of Doom:
  • In the Ta-Wahi level of Matoran Adventures, Kongu must keep running as a bridge collapses beneath his feet.
  • In the Ko-Wahi level of The Game, Kopaka must outspeed an avalanche as he makes his way down the mountain.
• African Chant: The music of Zaktan's Jungle in BIONICLE Heroes features tribal chanting that evokes African singers.
• All the Worlds Are a Stage:
  • The Mangaia, as seen in The Legend of Mata Nui, would have been included six short platforming challenges aesthetically modeled after each of the six regions of Mata Nui.
  • Makuta's Domain from the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes is comprised of stage elements that resemble each of the six regions of Voya Nui, with flavor text revealing that Makuta is tearing Voya Nui apart to create more obstacles in your path.
• Amusing Injuries: The entirety of the Piraka Playground in BIONICLE Heroes revolves around this trope, as the Piraka use fun relaxation equipment and injure themselves while doing so.
• Asteroids Monster: For some reason, the Nui-Kopen in The Game split into two smaller Nui-Kopen (Kofo-Kopen, possibly?) upon taking damage.
• Autobots, Rock Out!: Avak's boss battle in BIONICLE Heroes is scored by heavy rock music, complete with an electric guitar solo.
• Backbench-Hitting Attack: In Maze of Shadows, Nuju's Avalanche can damage all enemies in the current battle instead of just his opponent on the field.
• Badass in Distress: In the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions of BIONICLE Heroes, the Toa Inika have been defeated and captured by the Piraka, and it up to the protagonist to rescue them.
• Battle Discretion Shot: In The Legend of Mata Nui, the camera would have cut away just before the Toa Kaita fight the Mana Ko, with the viewer only seeing the Mana Ko falling to its Disney Villain Death afterward.
• Beneath the Earth: Onu-Wahi, Earth Region (as well as the entirety of Maze of Shadows), and Nui Caves are largely comprised of underground tunnels and caverns.
• Big Bad Ensemble: BIONICLE Heroes features the Piraka teaming up with the Rahkshi, Nidhiki, Krekka, Roodaka, Sidorak, and Brutaka.
• Big Head Mode: BIONICLE Heroes for the DS has this as an unlockable extra, making enemies easier targets.
• Blob Monster: The Earth and Water Elementals that would have appeared in The Legend of Mata Nui are amorphous living creatures of mud and water, respectively.
• Boss-Only Level:
  • The Muaka, Kuma-Nui, and Bahrag boss fights each comprise the entirety of their own levels in Matoran Adventures.
  • Each of the Piraka battles in all versions of BIONICLE Heroes comprise the entirety of their respective levels.
• Boss Bonanza:
  • In Matoran Adventures, Kongu has to fight each of the Bahrag queens in back-to-back boss fights.
  • In BIONICLE Heroes, every Piraka boss battle is followed up with a short battle against Vezon and Fenrakk.
• Boss Remix:
  • In Matoran Adventures, the music that plays during the Kuma-Nui boss battle is a remix of the Le-Wahi level music. In an unusual instance of this trope, the Kuma-Nui is the boss of the Ta-Wahi level, not the Le-Wahi level (whose own boss, the Muaka, simply uses the same music as the first half of the Po-Wahi level).
  • In the PC/console version of The Game, the Kohrak battle music is a remix of the Ta-Wahi level music; the Gahlok/Tahnok battle music is a remix of the main Ko-Wahi theme; and the Lerahk battle music is a remix of the Onu-Wahi level music.
  • In the PC/console version of BIONICLE Heroes, Vezok's battle music is a remix of the Vezok's Coastline battle music; Thok's battle music is a remix of the Thok's Mountain level music; and Vezon's battle music is a remix of the game's main theme.
• Boss Rush: In the Final Showdown from the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes, the silver Toa has a rematch with all six Piraka, fighting two of them at a time.
• Boss Subtitles: The Legend of Mata Nui would have had them, although we only know the ones from Onua's level.
  • Fikou-Nui: Giant Spider^note Spider King in alpha v0.006
  • Nui-Jaga: Giant Scorpion^note only in alpha v0.006
  • Vatuka-Nui: Earth Elemental

• Bubblegloop Swamp: In The Game, the lower areas of Le-Wahi are depicted as a swamp.
• Build Like an Egyptian: Architecture in Reidak's Desert resembles ancient Egyptian statues.
• Butt-Monkey: The Piraka in BIONICLE Heroes. Big time.
• The Cameo: The Metru Mantis appears in BIONICLE Heroes as a Golden Constraction.
• Canon Foreigner: The Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes actually does not star the Toa Inika, but an unnamed silver Toa who collects their masks to use their powers. The silver Toa is not based upon any canonical character, though (as a Matoran in the intro cutscene) he resembles Jaller in Mask of Light.
• Canon Immigrant: The fox and whale Rahi originating from The Game were later declared part of the main canon, despite never appearing in a canonical source.
• Chain Lightning: In handheld versions of BIONICLE Heroes, Kongu's weapon can shoot bolts of electricity that hit multiple enemies.
• Creation Sequence: The formation of the Toa Kaita, as it would have been depicted in The Legend of Mata Nui.
• Dance Party Ending: The Legend of Mata Nui would have ended with the Toa Mata dancing in the Mangaia, followed by all the Matoran and Turaga dancing in every Koro.
• Death Mountain: After entering Onu-Wahi, the above-ground segments of Onua's level in The Legend of Mata Nui would have had him making precarious jumps high atop cliffs.
• Defeat Means Playable: In BIONICLE Heroes, the Piraka become playable in their respective areas after the player defeats them. Later, Vezon is made playable in all areas afer becoming defeated.
• Denser and Wackier: Unlike the serious tone of the rest of the series, BIONICLE Heroes is a comedy where the characters engage in slapstick, and they can fall apart and put themselves back together just like the LEGO toys.
• The Dog Bites Back: In BIONICLE Heroes, the Piraka frequently mistreat the Kraata they use to control their Rahkshi. The Kraata gets revenge in the ending cutscene to each level.
• Dream Match Game: Traveller's Tales put Rule of Fun before canonicity when developing BIONICLE Heroes, and therefore they brought back tons of characters from the franchise's history (including Bohrok, Rahkshi, Vahki, Nidhiki, Krekka, Sidorak, and Roodaka) who would have no place on Voya Nui in the canonical storyline.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: In Quest for the Toa, Takua has yellow arms and red feet, which would be reversed in later depictions.
• Elemental Embodiment: The elementals that would have appeared in The Legend of Mata Nui are beings embodying each element. The Stone Elemental is a Rock Monster, the Air Elemental is a living tornado, etc.
• Essence Drop: The Amana Volo spheres in Quest for the Toa replenish your stamina meter, which lets you use some of the special items you can find, like Onewa's rock-crushing hammer.
• Eternal Engine: Buried Machine from the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes is themed like the interior of one enormous machine.
• Evil Sounds Deep:
  • Makuta in The Game (voiced by Sean Schemmel of all people), keeping with his depiction in Mask of Light.
  • Most of the villains in BIONICLE Heroes have deep voices. This includes Turahk (the only Rahkshi who doesn't hiss and screech) and Roodaka. However, in the Nintendo DS version, only Thok has a notably deep voice.
• Final Boss:
  • The Bahrag in Matoran Adventures.
  • Makuta in The Game.
  • Vezon and Fenrakk in BIONICLE Heroes.
• Final Boss, New Dimension: Makuta's Domain from the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes, which is the final zone of the game and takes place in the destroyed fabric of the universe.
• Final Boss Preview: You briefly fight Vezon and Fenrakk multiple times throughout BIONICLE Heroes, but you are unable to defeat them until Vezon's Awakening.
• Finger in a Barrel: In BIONICLE Heroes, when Hakann tries to shoot a Kraata-Za, the Kraata retaliates by blocking the end of his Lava Launcher with its own body, causing it to blow back on him and dislodge his head from his body.
• First-Person Shooter: The Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes is viewed from the first person, and the Toa's weapons basically function as guns. This has led to the game being frequently compared to Metroid Prime: Hunters.
  • The Console/PC version of the game was also supposed to be one until the higher ups at LEGO intervened. As this would (somehow) make the game 12+ rather than 7+ which they objected agianst.
• Foreshadowing: The Mangaia, as it would have appeared in The Legend of Mata Nui, has walls that are textured like a computer chip. Given that Mata Nui's true nature was planned from the very beginning, this is a major hint that the Mangaia is located in the head of a giant robot.
• Four-Fingered Hands: BIONICLE Heroes decided to give the Piraka and Toa Inika four fingers, which is an understandable example of Artistic License, since their figures had no fingers at all, save for Toa Nuparu's huge claws.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: The Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes has a particularly noteworthy example that is not included in any other version of the game. At regular intervals during his boss battle, Zaktan will disperse into a swarm of protodites, which is true to his nature in the canonical storyline.
• Gangplank Galleon: Vezok's Coastline from BIONICLE Heroes apparently is intended to invoke pirate themes, with level names such as Smuggler's Cove.
• Garnishing the Story: Aside from rare appearances by Hikaki dragon-lizards, dragons were never really a part of the BIONICLE mythos in 2001. Still, the fact that they're so awesome is probably the reason why the Fire Elemental in The Legend of Mata Nui appears with a very dragon-like design.
• Giant Enemy Crab: The Manas and Mana Ko would have appeared in a prerendered cinematic in The Legend of Mata Nui, which also featured smaller enemy crabs that were still large enough to be the same size as Matoran.
• Giant Mook: Several giant Tahnok appear in Makuta's Domain from the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes.
• Gimmick Level: Most of The Game is an Action-Adventure platformer, but the Ko-Wahi, Po-Wahi, and Tahu Nuva levels change things up with snowboarding, minecart riding, and lava surfing.
• Golden Super Mode: In BIONICLE Heroes, the character can collect enough Technic pieces to enter Hero Mode, during which they turn gold, get a damage output boost, and invincibility.
• Golem: In Maze of Shadows: the Energized Protodermis Entity animates some pillars in its lair to become Living Walls to attack the Toa Metru.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: The Volo Lutu Launcher from Quest for the Toa.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Makuta in the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes. In the canonical storyline, he is secretly manipulating the Piraka from behind-the-scenes, although it's uncertain how much that holds true for this non-canonical game. What is clear is that he is responsible for tearing apart Voya Nui to create his own domain, and he watches over the Boss Rush against the Piraka.
• Helpful Mook: In BIONICLE Heroes, Fikou and Acid Flies are passive creatures that don't attack the Toa Inika at all, but they can be killed to drop more Technic pieces to fill your Hero Mode meter.
• Hopeless Boss Fight: The Energized Protodermis Entity in Maze of Shadows cannot be defeated during its battle.
• Hub Level: The Matoran Enclave in BIONICLE Heroes is a small area where the player can enter levels, view galleries, or visit Balta's shop.
• I Shall Taunt You: In Maze of Shadows, the Energized Protodermis Entity attacks the Toa Metru by taunting.
• Idle Animation: In BIONICLE Heroes, a Toa Inika would either knock on the screen, nod off to sleep, or play hacky sack with his head. When playing as a Piraka, he'll eventually grab the camera, yell, and spin it around.
• Implausible Boarding Skills: In The Game, Kopaka's Ice Shield is used as an improvised snowboard, and Tahu Nuva's Magma Swords let him surf on lava.
• In Name Only: BIONICLE Heroes has its characters named after their toy counterparts and they also look like them more or less, but apart from that, the settings, the story, the personalities and powers are completely made-up. This was deliberate on the creator's part — the original story didn't lend itself to an easily manageable video game and didn't have much in the way of Mooks.
• Indy Escape: In The Game, a Tahnok sends a giant boulder rolling after Kopaka, who must outspeed it.
• Interface Spoiler: Throughout Heroes, puzzles that can only be completed by the unlockable Vezon are found as early as the first stage. They even show a little mark with his face in it. So much for a surprise playable character.
• Island of Mystery: Mata Nui and Voya Nui each fulfill this role in their respective games.
• Isometric Projection: Quest for the Toa and the Game Boy Advance version of The Game use a fixed isometric camera angle to create the illusion of 3D space.
• It's All Upstairs From Here: The goal of the aptly-named Tower of Ascent from the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes is to climb your way up to the top of a tower, and then take an elevator up to the Sky Fortress above.
• Jungle Japes: Le-Wahi and Zaktan's Jungle are both set in jungles.
• Lava Is Boiling Kool-Aid:
  • Tahu Nuva can surf on lava in The Game.
  • In the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes, the Kanohi Cadin negates damage from touching lava. This allows the silver Toa to walk through lava as though he was walking underwater, with nothing more than a red tint to the screen and the occasional particle effect.
• Lethal Lava Land: Ta-Wahi, Fire Region, Hakann's Volcano, Lake of Lava, and Volcanic Core are volcanic areas full of lava.
• Level in Reverse: The second half of Buried Machine in the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes is an upside-down version of the first half. The first upside-down level is even called Familiar Territory.
• Lightning Gun: The handheld versions of BIONICLE Heroes represent the Air element with lightning, so the weapons of Kongu and Zaktan are functionally this trope.
• Little "No": During his boss battle in BIONICLE Heroes, after losing both his arms, Thok lets out a defeated grunt that sounds suspiciously like the word "no".
• Losing Your Head: In BIONICLE Heroes, it's a recurring theme, and every boss you defeat (apart from the final boss) is left as just a head at the end of the fight. Rule of Funny applies. There's also an Idle Animation where your character starts playing keepie uppie with its head.
• Lumber Mill Mayhem: The Logging Post in BIONICLE Heroes features a giant wooden machine with spinning saws operated by Lerahk.
• Minecart Madness: The Po-Wahi level in BIONICLE Heroes has Pohatu and a Po-Matoran ride a minecart to activate locks and open a door to escape an Abandoned Mine.
• Murphy's Bed: In the Piraka Playground in BIONICLE Heroes, a Piraka can try to relax on a lawnchair, only for the chair to suddenly fold in half with him trapped inside.
• Mythology Gag: The cutscene that plays at the start of Hakann's boss battle in BIONICLE Heroes is very similar to the commercial for his set.
• Named in the Sequel: The player character in the GBA game Quest for the Toa was originally a Featureless Protagonist but was given a Canon Name (Takua) at the very end of the Web Game the Mata Nui Online Game, which acts as a direct sequel to Quest for the Toa. Takua would go on to become one of the most important characters in the franchise.
• New Game Plus: Collecting their respective masks in Matoran Adventures will let you replay the game as Huki, Jala, Matoro, Maku, or Onepu.
• No Name Given: Even in the final beta build of The Legend of Mata Nui, all elementals (except the Vatuka-Nui) are left unnamed.
• Non-Standard Character Design:
  • The Game Boy Advance version of The Game uses prerendered 3D sprites for all in-game characters, but uses a screenshot of Mata Nui Online Game to represent Takua in his text boxes.
  • All character models in BIONICLE Heroes are faithful to their set counterparts or else can be built with BIONICLE pieces... except for a silver Matoran in the Nintendo DS version, who uses the art style of the movies, and the Kraata in the PC and console versions, which don't really resemble their set or movie counterparts.
• Non-Standard Game Over: The Game has three instances of unique "game over" cutscenes playing if the player fails to meet certain requirements:
  • If Kopaka fails to defeat the Gahlok before reaching Ko-Koro, then the Gahlok will wreak havoc upon the village.
  • If Kopaka fails to defeat the Tahnok before it regroups with the rest of its swarm, then the game fades out as Kopaka is surrounded by Bohrok.
  • If Tahu Nuva arrives at Ta-Koro after Kurahk, then he misses the jump and falls to his doom, while Kurahk terrorizes the village.
• Obstacle Ski Course: In The Game, as Kopaka snowboards his way down a mountain, he has to avoid Rahi, ice spikes, and large chasms.
• Oh, Crap!: In BIONICLE Heroes, once a boss has been reduced to their last hit point, a cutscene shows them reacting in a way that can best be summed up as this trope. Vezok, in particular, says "uh-oh" once his legs have been blown off.
• Ominous Latin Chanting:
  • The Kohrak boss theme, Bohrok-Kal boss theme, Onu-Wahi battle theme, Lerahk boss theme, Panrahk boss theme, and Makuta battle themes from The Game feature ominous tribal chanting.
  • The Rahkshi and Vezon/Fenrakk boss themes from BIONICLE Heroes certainly make use of dramatic choir, though the Titan boss theme really sounds like ominous chanting in some foreign language that may or may not actually be Latin.
• Orchestra Hit Techno Battle: A lot of the battle music from The Legend of Mata Nui, such as Gali Theme and Makuta Theme, could work just as well as techno dance music.
• Oxygenated Underwater Bubbles: In The Legend of Mata Nui, Gali can only survive underwater for prolonged periods by breathing air bubbles. This is no longer necessary once she acquires the Kanohi Kaukau and gains Super Not-Drowning Skills... but even then, she has to continue collecting energy spheres to keep the Kaukau active, so this energy ends up serving the same purpose as air bubbles.
• Palmtree Panic:
  • Ga-Wahi, Vezok's Coastline, and Voya Nui Bay are set on coastal regions of their respective islands.
  • The Legend of Mata Nui would have opened with Onua arriving on Papa Nihu Reef and working his way inland before entering the underground Onu-Wahi tunnels.
• Port Town: Ga-Koro is a village set on Lily Pad Platforms just off the coast, where Ga-Matoran ferry Matoran around the island in canoes.
• Primal Stance: In the beta build of The Legend of Mata Nui, Lewa stands with a hunched posture, giving him a monkey-like stance to fit his treetop-dwelling character.
• Racing Minigame:
  • Quest for the Toa has the Great Ussal Race, Ignalu Lava Surfing, and Ngalawa Boat Racing.
  • The Game has Tahu Nuva's level, where he races Kurahk to Ta-Koro.
  • Maze of Shadows has the Tunnel Flight Challenge, involving Matau with a Nui-Rama or the Red Serpent.
• Recurring Boss: Vezon and Fenrakk are fought at the end of each zone in BIONICLE Heroes.
• Reformulated Game:
  • The Game is a typical Third-Person Action-Adventure game on console and PC, with an extremely simplified version of the Bohrok and Mask of Light story arcs. The Game Boy Advance version is similar, but features all thirteen Toa, has more levels, and does not even bother with a plot.
  • BIONICLE Heroes is an Always Over the Shoulder Third-Person Shooter on consoles and PC, with a barely coherent version of the Voya Nui story arc. The Nintendo DS version is a First-Person Shooter about an unnamed silver Matoran-turned-Toa rescuing the Toa Inika, who have been captured by the Piraka and Makuta. The GBA version is a mixture of the two formulas above; a Top-Down View Shooter about a silver Toa (who can transform into any of the Toa Mata, and later Nuva and Inika) rescuing the Inika from Vezon.
• Rock Monster: The Vatuka in Quest for the Toa, the Stone Elemental in The Legend of Mata Nui, and the Living Wall in Maze of Shadows all appear as creatures made of rock.
• Sequel Hook:
  • The Legend of Mata Nui would have ended with a shot of a Bohrok sleeping in its cocoon.
  • Heroes ends with a shot of a whirlpool forming in the sea, hinting at the 2007 storyline in Mahri Nui.
• Shifting Sand Land: Po-Wahi, Reidak's Desert, and Desert of Sorrows are set in deserts.
• Shout-Out:
  • In The Legend of Mata Nui, one of Turaga Matau's lines is "I love the smell of Kewa bird in the morning!"
  • In BIONICLE Heroes, if the player decides to shoot Vezon before he sinks into the lava, he reenacts the T-800's famous "thumbs up" death.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Ko-Wahi, Ice Region, Thok's Mountain, the Ring of Ice, and Glacial Peak are icy or mountainous areas, although the actual "Slippy Slidey" aspect is typically downplayed in most games.
• Speaking Simlish:
  • In The Legend of Mata Nui, the Toa, Turaga, and Matoran would have spoken subtitled gibberish.
  • In BIONICLE Heroes, most of the dialogue is delivered through grunts, laughs, and pantomime. Occasionally subverted when a character says something intelligible, like Vezok saying "Uh-oh..." or Brutaka saying "Come on!"
• Stealth Pun: Avak, the Piraka of Stone, has rock music as his Leitmotif.
• Suddenly Voiced: Turaga Nuju, who is normally communicating through whistles and clicks, is voiced for the first (and, as a Turaga, the only) time in The Game. He also speaks normally in The Legend of Mata Nui, although that does not necessarily count since it was never released.
• Super Drowning Skills: In The Game, Onua and Lewa will immediately drown if they fall into water.
• Super Not-Drowning Skills:
  • In The Legend of Mata Nui, this trope would have been played straight once Gali obtains the Kanohi Kaukau, the Mask of Water Breathing, but averted until then.
  • In Matoran Adventures, Matoran and Turaga can remain underwater indefinitely. Unlike other instances of this trope, this is not justified, since Matoran cannot use Kanohi and none of the Turaga have a noble Kanohi Kaukau.
  • In The Game, Gali Nuva can remain underwater indefinitely thanks to her Kanohi Kaukau Nuva.
  • In the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes, the Kanohi Elda lets the silver Toa remain underwater indefinitely, even though the Kanohi Kaukau does not.
• Tennis Boss: In The Game, Makuta launches shadow orbs at Takanuva, who must use his shield to turn them into light orbs and deflect them back at Makuta to damage him.
• Theme-and-Variations Soundtrack: No BIONICLE game has featured this sort of soundtrack from beginning to end (even if they do have recurring main themes), but the Ta-Wahi and Onu-Wahi levels of The Game and the Thok's Mountain levels of BIONICLE Heroes each feature a unique melody that is remixed throughout the main, battle, and boss music tracks.
• Third-Person Shooter: Enforced with the PC and console versions of BIONICLE Heroes. It started as a First-Person Shooter, but this was changed due to concerns that it would be rated T or M, which would've been too high for a LEGO game (ironically, this didn't stop the DS version, which received a T rating). According to developers, they decided to go for this camera angle because the BIONICLE character models have a high level of detail that they felt would be wasted if players did not get to see them up-close all the time.
• Three-Quarters View: The Game Boy Advance version of BIONICLE Heroes uses a camera angle which looks down upon the world but characters and objects can be seen from the profile, similar to a 2D The Legend of Zelda game.
• Tree Top Town: Le-Koro is located on wooden platforms built high on trees, as seen in Quest for the Toa.
• Underwater Ruins: The Legend of Mata Nui would have included Gali swimming through the ruins of an underwater temple to collect the Tsunami Glyph.
• The Unfought:
  • Despite being the Big Bad, Makuta is never fought in the last known beta build of The Legend of Mata Nui. Unused text◊ indicates that he would have been "defeated" by each Toa completing their platforming puzzle challenges.
  • When he appears as the Greater-Scope Villain in the Nintendo DS version of BIONICLE Heroes, Makuta is content to watch the final battle from the background and then simply vanishes after the Piraka are defeated.
• Useless Useful Spell: The Legend of Mata Nui would have sadly been plagued by this trope.
  • Although Tahu will have access to all thirteen Kanohi by the end of his level, only a select few will ever be useful to him. The majority of Kanohi (Pakari, Rau, Kaukau, Komau^note Lewa only uses it in a cutscene, Matatu, Mahiki, Hau, and Vahi) are only used for a few puzzles in the level that you find them in, and then are rendered completely obsolete once the next level begins. The Ruru and Akaku are used outside their original levels, but are so limited in use that they'll never be used outside these puzzles. The only masks that are truly useful throughout the game are the Huna, Kakama, and Miru, and even then only the Miru is required in a later level. Adding insult to injury, no Kanohi masks may be used during elemental boss fights, really limiting the creative potential that could've been used.
  • Each Toa unlocks a unique elemental power to stun enemies and solve puzzles. Problem is that these elemental powers are acquired so late in each level that they see very little practical use. You're never required to use Gali's Tsunami, Kopaka's Hail Storm, and Lewa's Hurricane. While Pohatu's Stone Rain was needed to fight the Stone Elemental in alpha v0.006, a Game-Breaking Bug prevents this strategy from working in the beta, therefore rendering it useless. Tahu's Volcano is only used to begin the Fire Elemental battle. Onua's Earthquake is able to be effectively applied against the Earth Elemental Vatuka-Nui, but even then it still suffers from being restricted to the very end of the level.
• Vaporware: The Legend of Mata Nui was to be released in September 2001, as part of LEGO's multi-media promotional push for their then-new toy franchise. It was advertised with screenshots, concept art and the intro video in catalogs, magazines, LEGO instruction booklets and on promo CDs, and LEGO even forbid their writer from concluding the story in the comic series, because they wanted to tell it via the game. It never came out, although a number of beta disks are still floating around, and a decade after its cancellation, some gameplay footage was released on YouTube. The likely reasons for its canning are the bugs (the first level cannot be completed, for one), general gameplay and design issues, and probably the lack of budget and a rushed schedule which the infamous Māori lawsuit^note some Māori people were giving LEGO legal trouble for making money off words from their language had a large hand in. Allegedly, the game also had trouble running on most PCs of the time. For years, fans have tried to acquire the beta disks from their owners, even contacting the current right-holder of the game, to no avail... until an early alpha build was finally leaked onto BioMedia Project in February 2018, followed by the last known beta build in May 2018.
• Vine Swing: Lewa's platforming levels in The Legend of Mata Nui and The Game both prominently feature him swinging between vines.
• Vocal Dissonance:
  • In the Game Boy Advance version of The Game, Gali uses the same voice clips as the rest of the Toa, who are all male.
  • In BIONICLE Heroes, Hahli and Roodaka use the same deep-pitched voice clips as the rest of the male cast, despite being the only female characters in the game.
• Walk on Water: Hahli can walk on water in BIONICLE Heroes.
• Wall Crawl: One of Nuparu's special abilities in BIONICLE Heroes is his ability to climb up specially-marked walls.
• Wicked Wasps: Nui-Kopen in The Game are giant enemy wasps that split into smaller wasps when fired upon.
• Windmill Scenery: A windmill can be found in the Le-Wahi jungle in The Game, most likely due to the region's association with the air element. It serves no known functional purpose as a windmill, although Lewa grabs uses it to reach higher ground.
• A Winner Is You: The Game offers a short outro, which quickly cuts to the credits rolling over the loading screen. Said outro is also anticlimactic, confusing, and makes no sense if you haven't watched the DVD movie on which it was based.
• You Don't Look Like You:
  • The Game gives radical redesigns to the Hoto, Nui-Kopen, Ruki, Makika, and Gukko, to the point where they hardly resemble their set counterparts.
  • Maze of Shadows has two notable instances:
    • In Mask of Light, Ash Bears have a unique model that resembles an orange biomechanical bear. In Maze of Shadows, Ash Bears use the design of the Makuta Nui combiner model.
    • The book describes the Energized Protodermis Entity as resembling a silver Toa. The game depicts the Energized Protodermis Entity as resembling Makuta from the waist up, and a formless pillar of Protodermis from the waist down.
  • In BIONICLE Heroes, Kraata are best described as green featureless slugs. They don't really resemble the Kraata from the LEGO sets, which are highly detailed and come in a variety of colors, or the Kraata from the movies, which are serpentine and have large spines.

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