Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[Dorek]

There's a difference between "micromanaging canon" and having, at the very least, ONE appearance of a fairly significant weapon. He was seen actually putting the hammer together--- it was created right there, on the spot. The shield definitely didn't exist at that moment. You can say that he may have picked it up later--- but you can also say that he didn't.

Right, and if it can go both ways, does it really matter? It's like the Kopaka mask; no it wasn't power drained in the story. Is that what it WOULD have looked like? Yup. Is that a canon representation of the power-drained Golden Mask of Ice? Yes. Again, it's one of those things people are going to have to roll with, because that type of thing isn't going to change any time soon (and really, is one of the recurring complaints of G1 in the first place!).

[DraikNova]

If you're not going to actually use it, why make it in the first place though? Considering the degree to which the animations seem to have been designed in tandem with the designers of the sets, the whole "in case we do need them" excuse doesn't really work in this case.

[Logan McOwen]

Ekimu likely has a shield in the set because...

• Leftover budget
  
• Need for more play value
  
• Exploitation of moulds due for retirement
  
• Because it's cool
  

​I honestly couldn't care less if it's canon or not. Same goes for the drained MoI. They look super spiffy.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Logan McOwen

[Iben]

Isn't it logical to assume that except it's explicitly stated otherwise, that the sets are always cannon ? Really, isn't it time we just go by logic in terms of cannon instead of doubting every single instance that isn't presented to us on a plate ?

Ekimu has a shield, he has it in the set. He didn't use it in the animation, but it wasn't stated that he didn't have one somewhere in the forge. Ergo, Ekimu's shield is cannon. It's really that easy tbh...

-Iben

[MakutaOfWar]

Yeah, where was Mata Nui's sword in his canister form? Even his Titan form didn't have the right sword... Kind of reversed the what's canon there but whatever. And does nobody role-play with their figures anymore? Maybe TLG is just supplying the support for imagination in a kid/teen/adult's own headcanon.

[Lord-Vorahk]

I imagine that Ekimu might have his shield when he appears in next year's animations.

[Iben]

Yeah, where was Mata Nui's sword in his canister form? Even his Titan form didn't have the right sword... Kind of reversed the what's canon there but whatever. And does nobody role-play with their figures anymore? Maybe TLG is just supplying the support for imagination in a kid/teen/adult's own headcanon.

That was G1. From what we've seen so far, we won't be getting the type of 100% confirmed canon we had before with Greg confirming every little doubt. And I'm fine with that. It's most logical to assume that his set form is cannon but he simply didn't use his shield in the fight. Pretty much all there is to it really, there's no need to read more in it than there is.

-Iben

[Logan McOwen]

I like the G2 leaves certain things open-ended. Like the journeys the Toa had with the Protectors, or their individual treks to the entrance of the City. Leaves a lot of room for one's own interpretations of events.

Lets say you have a headcanon that Pohatu hates Scorpios due to his experience with a few on his journey to the city, or because of their similarity to the blue Skull Spiders that roam the Stone Region. Great thing is, as that's not covered in any official media (as of yet), said headcanon is as good as canon.

For kids, I think that's especially fantastic. Hero Factory was superb for kids, as they could invent whatever kooky team of heroes or zany band of baddies they wanted to, and that was pretty much canon. Steel Team X facing off against the evil Gliptron on planet Zega 7-81-G isn't official, but there's plenty of room for it to be.

And for Bionicle to leave bits open-ended like that is similarly fantastic, even if its not quite as much.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Logan McOwen

[TFGuy89]

I like the G2 leaves certain things open-ended. Like the journeys the Toa had with the Protectors, or their individual treks to the entrance of the City. Leaves a lot of room for one's own interpretations of events.

Lets say you have a headcanon that Pohatu hates Scorpios due to his experience with a few on his journey to the city, or because of their similarity to the blue Skull Spiders that roam the Stone Region. Great thing is, as that's not covered in any official media (as of yet), said headcanon is as good as canon.

For kids, I think that's especially fantastic. Hero Factory was superb for kids, as they could invent whatever kooky team of heroes or zany band of baddies they wanted to, and that was pretty much canon. Steel Team X facing off against the evil Gliptron on planet Zega 7-81-G isn't official, but there's plenty of room for it to be.

And for Bionicle to leave bits open-ended like that is similarly fantastic, even if its not quite as much.

I absolutely agree! The Okoto saga is defined just well enough, but it's not too detailed to the point that kids cannot set their own stories. Even when creating MOCs, I appreciated being able to just pop my characters with their backstories onto Okoto. I think giving kids the chance to create their own headcanons is fantastic.

[DuplexBeGreat]

I absolutely agree! The Okoto saga is defined just well enough, but it's not too detailed to the point that kids cannot set their own stories. Even when creating MOCs, I appreciated being able to just pop my characters with their backstories onto Okoto. I think giving kids the chance to create their own headcanons is fantastic.

I disagree. The beauty of G1 is that after 2004, we had a whole *universe* out there, with plenty of room for headcanons, original characters, and everything. Now we just have a single island, and it feels like there's no room to manuever because every moment of the Toa's journey is accounted for (at least once they got inside the City, which is where all the action takes place anyway.)

Edit: To clarify. I don't expect them to stay on Okoto forever. But as long as they are, there just doesn't seem like any potential for creativity.

Edited October 7, 2015 by DuplexBeGreat

[Fulcrumfan91]

I disagree. The beauty of G1 is that after 2004, we had a whole *universe* out there, with plenty of room for headcanons, original characters, and everything. Now we just have a single island, and it feels like there's no room to manuever because every moment of the Toa's journey is accounted for (at least once they got inside the City, which is where all the action takes place anyway.)

Edit: To clarify. I don't expect them to stay on Okoto forever. But as long as they are, there just doesn't seem like any potential for creativity.

But this is assuming Bionicle will continue past 2017, which is not at all guaranteed. G1 continued because of how popular it had become, we don't know if that's the case again for G2. Also, how is there no room for another universe? The Toa came to Okoto as comets....they must have come from somewhere else that is not the island of Okoto. I dunno, I like G2 a little more than G1 personally...and it has a lot to do with its imperfections. I feel like these Toa, their character quirks give them a much more human connection.

[Mutant Orc]

There's nothing to stop there being more islands to visit...Okoto could just be the center of a ring of islands.

[Kalhiki]

For kids, I think that's especially fantastic. Hero Factory was superb for kids, as they could invent whatever kooky team of heroes or zany band of baddies they wanted to, and that was pretty much canon. Steel Team X facing off against the evil Gliptron on planet Zega 7-81-G isn't official, but there's plenty of room for it to be.

And for Bionicle to leave bits open-ended like that is similarly fantastic, even if its not quite as much.

Don't remind me. I miss HF's open universe.

Anywho... G2's headcanon possibilities... I'm mixed.

While G1 had a well-defined story and plot, it also had tons of different species and any number of lesser islands, so it was fairly easy to squeeze your own story into the mix. And then Spherus Magna gives you a whole planet to work with, so there's that.

G2... Sometimes I feel it's open enough, and other times I feel it's a bit restricted. I mean, there's really only the island to work with (so far), so setting's kinda limited. However, with the revelation that Okoto's a pretty big place and the introduction of characters like the Skull Creatures and Umarak, there's clearly enough space to work with as well as other species on the island outside of the Protector race.

The only thing I can think of is if a fan created a Toa character because at this point we don't know if the current Toa are the only members of the species. But of course, it's not too hard to create a backstory to fit such a character into the official story.

I don't know... Things are left vague, which can mean things could go either way. Like, there haven't been many sapient species revealed. Does that mean there's not that many that exist? No. Can it appear that way? Yeah, sure.

[arc]

I'm pretty content with how the story is so far, it hasn't even been a year yet, so I'll give it some time. We have another book coming soon, the title "revenge of the skull spiders" is interesting to me, and I'm hoping for it to be decent. We'll see.

[GK733]

http://www.lego.com/en-us/club/member/articles/details/bionicle-designer-interview-db751c7745a742c7959930fc229efbab

Skull Basher concept art and an interview with the designer Thomas Bred, He also has a small tease for the next year.

[VBBN]

http://www.lego.com/...59930fc229efbab

Skull Basher concept art and an interview with the designer Thomas Bred, He also has a small tease for the next year.

Oh how I wish we had something like that concept art, those shoulders and mask are fantastic and give him such a cool "undead mammoth" sort of look. (yeah yeah Mungus I know)

[DraikNova]

Yeah, that tan skeletal structure really adds a lot. That would have made the parts really useful for fossil MOCs too. And that huge forehead would have made Skull Basher really distinctive looking. And he looks like a direct translation of that concept would have used the Hulk chestplate, which would have been cool. Even with the purple, the original version, impractical for production as it may have been, still looks so much better than the final one.

[MakutaOfWar]

Well, maybe Skull Basher should've been a 20 $/€ set... That might have caused a problem for his function's usefulness though.

[Fulcrumfan91]

http://www.lego.com/en-us/club/member/articles/details/bionicle-designer-interview-db751c7745a742c7959930fc229efbab

Skull Basher concept art and an interview with the designer Thomas Bred, He also has a small tease for the next year.

That concept art is fantastic! I love skull basher regardless of how cool that artwork is.

[Shakar]

Yep, looking that size and what could be a Hulk chest, it might be very possible that Basher was originally conceptualized as a 20 Euro/$ set.

And it looks like the Skeletons originally sported rather different colour schemes, with the bones in dark tan (much like those of a long decomposed corpse) and a tribal zigzag decoration motif on their armour. The overall look seems less Mesoamerican and more akin to a culture living in icy regions, though I can't quite tell which.

Also, he's fully armoured, the shells cover his bony arms too.

Overall, he looks much more organic, while the final sets are much closer to the idea of decomposed and ruined cyborgs (with their inner workings showing through).

Since the Masters concecpts partially found their way into the Uniters, I wonder if we'll ever see some of those concepts again? Maybe something on the Beasts?

Edited October 9, 2015 by Shakar

[Vinyl Scratch]

Just realized how amazing the Skull villains concept art must've been.

Would love to see more of the rest.

[TFGuy89]

http://www.lego.com/...59930fc229efbab

Skull Basher concept art and an interview with the designer Thomas Bred, He also has a small tease for the next year.

Loving that concept art! Skull Basher had more of an "ice age" kind of look, initially.

I enjoy all these insights LEGO gives us about the behind-the-scenes work. It really adds to the appreciation for the line. Kudos to the designers!

[Kalhiki]

Man. I wish we got that instead... So much more imposing and massive than the set. Truly lives up to the description of being "the last guardian."

[Dorek]

Shame he gets his butt kicked in less time than all the other skull villains. That concept work is amaaaaaaazing.

[TwistLaw]

I don't wanna read too much into it, but when he says

"As we speak, we are forging masks to unlock new elemental powers..."

does that mean what I think it does?

New elements in 2016/17?