Hypothetical Monster Fighters Revival/Reboot

[Karalora]

Largely inspired by @Robert8's post here.

Even though I eventually resold most of my sets, Monster Fighters is a theme that remains close to my heart. A badass team of seasoned adventurers sallying forth to square off with the lyrics of Bobby Pickett's most famous song...what's not to love? And like most themes in the action/adventure category, it offered unique "treasures," one per set, to entice you to buy them all and complete the collection. For MF it was the "Moonstones," a series of mystical gems, each keyed to a different monster type and bearing an emblem to match. The lore of the theme had it that Count Dracula Lord Vampyre, the leader/most powerful of the monsters, could use the six (actually seven, but we'll get to that) Moonstones in a ritual to blot out the sun and allow the monsters to rampage in the mortal realm as well as their own Monster Realm. The six Moonstones were as follows:

• Trans-red: Vampires (bat emblem)
• Trans-neon orange: Werewolf (howling wolf emblem)
• Trans-neon green: Swamp Monster (seaweed emblem)
• Trans-green: The (Frankenstein's) Monster (lightning emblem)
• Trans-light blue: Ghosts (ghost emblem)
• Trans-purple: Mummy (Eye of Horus emblem)

But there was actually a seventh, included in a limited-edition set that I never managed to get my hands on not that I am still salty about that, LEGO. This "bonus" Moonstone was:

• Trans-dark pink: Zombies (erupting grave emblem)

So many years post-MF as an active theme, I would have been content to leave it at that, but then our buddy Robert8 had to go and posit a "prequel" to the story, complete with an eighth Moonstone!

• Trans-yellow: Headless Horseman (jack-o-lantern emblem)

Clearly there is more of this story to be told--monsters not included, transparent LEGO colors still gone unused. I've offered my own suggestion for another Moonstone:

• Trans-black: Skeletons (skull emblem)

Robert8 and I also both independently came up with:

• Trans-clear: Invisible man (dashed minifigure outline emblem)

But he thought that was a dumb emblem, and I'm not even sure the Invisible Man counts as a monster as such. He's just a guy who did a weird science thing to himself and used it to indulge his id. Monstrous, perhaps, but not a monster in the traditional sense. So trans-clear is still open. I'd also like to include trans-dark blue, and maybe trans-orange if it's sufficiently distinct from trans-neon orange. We just need enough classic Halloween monsters to go around!

In my next post in this thread, I'll respond to feedback and keep going with some more ideas.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Karalora

[Eggyslav]

Trans Dark Blue could be something Lovecraftian, A Cthulhu expy of sorts, perhaps as a biomechanical mecha driven by a cultist and powered by the Moonstone. The Emblem would be an octopus.

[ToaIruini]

Maybe this is me yearning for a Power Miners revival, but: 

Trans-light purple: Rock with crystals

 

the monster would be a rock golem, something similar to the bigfigs from power miners. It’s not very Halloween inspired, but I think it’s cool. The fighters would drive some sort of abandoned excavation equipment. 

[Karalora]

5 hours ago, Eggyslav said:

Trans Dark Blue could be something Lovecraftian, A Cthulhu expy of sorts, perhaps as a biomechanical mecha driven by a cultist and powered by the Moonstone. The Emblem would be an octopus.

Something aquatic does seem to be the obvious choice, but I want to stay close to the tone of the original, and Lovecraftian cultists seems rather out of bounds. The mecha sounds fun, though. I'll keep that in my back pocket.

Onto further ideas...

@Robert8's idea that maybe one of the monsters used to be a Monster Fighter suggests the intriguing possibility that maybe some of the monsters can be converted, befriended, or pacified rather than straightforwardly defeated. Likely candidates include:

• The (Frankenstein's) Monster: In the words of Scott Evil, he never asked to be artificially created in a lab! Even in the source fiction, the Monster is an intelligent and sensitive creature who only turned bad because he was done dirty by his creator. Alluding to that very fact has become quite fashionable of late. Perhaps the MFs can unplug the mind-control implants and turn the Monster into a Monster-Fighting Monster!
• The Werewolf: Werewolves are more often portrayed as good guys than bad guys nowadays anyway. It must be because we stopped hating wolves and started admiring them instead.
• The Ghosts: Ghosts haunt because they left unfinished business from their lives, yes? Help them resolve that issue, and they can move on to a proper afterlife, or at least settle down in this one.
• Lady Vampyre herself: If she was a Monster Fighter before she was turned, then she can potentially be induced to remember that and join the fight against the one who turned her. (Whether she can be turned back or not depends on how you decide vampires work in this world!)

And that brings me to my other nifty idea, the super-special Glow in the Dark Moonstone! The original Moonstone from which all the others were spawned, bearing a simple crescent moon emblem and possessing the power to "purify" the other Moonstones so that Lord Vampyre can't use them in his ritual. If the Monster Fighters can get the number of "corrupted" Moonstones below six, Lord Vampyre's plan will fail...but no Moonstone can be purified while its corresponding monster still rampages, and if even one corrupted Moonstone remains, it can be use to corrupt the others. If only all the Moonstones could be purified, the Monster Realm would become a place of harmless spooky fun, suitable for teenagers' dares and Halloween hayrides.

[Karalora]

It came to me as I was riding to work. Our trans-dark blue Moonstone belongs to...

The Boogeyman! (Emblem: a bed--or if that's too corny, a pair of eyes in the dark)

In fact, a rash of child disappearances is what alerts the Monster Fighters to the fact that something is going on in the Monster Realm. Normally they can only cross the border into the human world when the moon is full or on Halloween, so when children start going missing under a half-moon in June, the MFs know something is up. Fortunately, the Boogeyman is a weak monster (which is why he only picks on kids) and the team is able to swiftly defeat him, seize his Moonstone, and return the terrorized children to their homes. It's obvious that they must venture into the Monster Realm to investigate this curious occurrence...

Set: Boogeyman Attack

Price point: ~$20

The set resembles a child's bedroom with a bed, dresser, and freestanding closet large enough to fit the Boogeyman minifigure inside. Two Monster Fighter minifigs are also included. The bed and dresser together transform into a specialized Boogeyman-cage--this is a sting operation!

[Eggyslav]

Another Idea for the Dark Blue Moonstone: A ghost ship! A cursed Pirate Galleon ascending from the briny deep, complete with an undead crew, commandeered by a wicked vampire, Captain Bloodbeard (Who may, or may not be Lord Vampyre in pirate costume)! The emblem would be a Jolly Roger, or an Anchor. The set would also include a small motorboat for Monster Fighters. Still keeping with the maritime theme, but much more traditional. :)

[Karalora]

@Eggyslav That is a delightful image, but I'm a bit too proud of my Boogeyman idea to ditch it just yet. If we can think of an alternate color for the Boogeyman's Moonstone, Captain Bloodbeard's Galleon will make a wonderful addition...if not, we'll have to save it for Monster Fighters Gaiden: The Haunted Ocean. (Who says there's only one Monster Realm?)

Also, I figured out what to do with your mecha--I'm giving it to the Skeletons! Or rather, it is the Skeletons, using the power of their Moonstone to combine into a giant Osteomech piloted by the Skeleton King!

I'm also toying with the idea of having "lesser monsters" that don't have a Moonstone of their own, to drive home the idea that the Monster Realm is a dangerous place in general, not just a series of loosely connected boss fights. And expanding the Monster Fighters team a bit--it's only fair, as long as we're expanding the monsters themselves.

[Eggyslav]

Funny you mention a skeleton mecha being piloted by a skeletal monarch, since we gonna get one in the Monkie Kid set...

 

 

[Karalora]

Great minds think alike?

[Robert8]

A Witch?

Thats a classic monster 

But a witch could be like a main boss for a theme like this

 

[Karalora]

There's some witch references in Ann Lee's official backstory, but none of it seems to have made it into the actual sets, and that's fine by me. Despite being one of the core Halloween archetypes, I don't really think of witches as monsters per se. They're human women (and occasionally men) who can cast magic spells. Beyond that the lore varies considerably, but I like my witches to be neutral to good, and for their powers to be learned rather than innate. A scary green-skinned hag who can just zap you with magic isn't a witch...that's some sort of faerie.

Okay. Okay.

There is a witch in HNMF (that's Hypothetical New Monster Fighters). She's a human lady who moved to the Monster Realm because it's a convenient place to study her magic and collect ingredients for potions. She'll help the MFs out...for a price. What price? How about a spot of yard work? Her Venus Flytraps really are overdue for some pruning...watch out for the teeth, dearies...

[ToaIruini]

I thought the idea of a monster working for the fighters was fascinating for consideration, and what you wrote the witch fits perfectly. I also thought maybe a ghost, resurrected from a fallen fighter. Honestly, there’s so many ideas that could go around for a potential reboot. 

[Karalora]

Let me outline some more of the sets I've come up with:

The Skeletons

Price Point: ~$30

Minifigures: Jack McHammer, Frank Rock, Skeleton King (a skeleton with a bony crown headpiece)

Builds: Jack's Hammer Glider (a hang glider with hammers on the ends of the wings, naturally--I want us all to take a moment to appreciate the absurdity of a hang glider, a conveyance that must be as light as possible to remain airborne, outfitted with hammers), Glider Launch Cart (a powered cart with a catapult in the back for launching the glider), Giant Osteomech (a big articulated figure implied to be made of the combined bones of several skeletons--at least 6, judging by the number of skulls included in construction--with an open-topped cranium where the Skeleton King sits, controlling it with bony levers. The Moonstone fits inside the ribcage where the heart would be)

Moonstone: Trans-black with white skull emblem

The Witch's Cottage

Price Point: ~$40

Minifigures: Dr. Rodney Rathbone, Ann Lee, Witch, Major Quinton Steele

Builds: Small thatched-roof cottage, open at the back for playability, with furnishings including a bed with a quilt, fireplace with cauldron, table and chairs, teacups (is it safe to drink the tea offered by a witch, though?), shelf of potion bottles, broomstick placed bristles-up in barrel. Garden patch with pumpkins, flowers, toolshed, well, and a multi-headed Venus Flytrap--Technic elements make the heads and vines writhe when a crank is turned.

Other noteworthy elements: Garden shears. Book of Moonstone Lore. Black cat--have you noticed that LEGO witches NEVER have their black cats? Broomsticks yes, the occasional frog, but never the cat!

Lady Rathbone's Haunted Parlor

Here I get to introduce one of the newly imagined members of the Monster Fighter team--Lady Rathbone, Dr. Rodney's auntie and the group's sponsor! She's the one who actually holds the purse strings, and she'd like to know just what cockamamie expedition he plans to squander the family fortune on this time, that rogue of a nephew of hers!

Price Point: ~$11.99

Minifigures: Dr. Rodney Rathbone, Lady Rathbone (an elderly proper Victorian lady), Suit of Armor (Ghost Knight)

Builds: Section of parlor wall with portraits (one depicting @Robert8's new Monster Fighter character that started me on this whole mess), umbrella stand, large flower vase, longcase clock, parlor table and chairs with tea set, gold coins

The story here is that after the Boogeyman incident, Dr. Rathbone approaches his aunt to finance an expedition into the Monster Realm to see what's going on. She's reluctant at first--fighting monsters when they invade human communities is all well and good, but must one venture into that dreadful place looking for trouble?--but quickly comes around when her antique suit of armor suddenly becomes possessed by a ghost and attacks!

[Robert8]

31 minutes ago, Karalora said:

Other noteworthy elements: Garden shears. Book of Moonstone Lore. Black cat--have you noticed that LEGO witches NEVER have their black cats? Broomsticks yes, the occasional frog, but never the cat!

31 minutes ago, Karalora said:

Builds: Section of parlor wall with portraits (one depicting @Robert8's new Monster Fighter character that started me on this whole mess),

Hahaha

Love it!

31 minutes ago, Karalora said:

Let me outline some more of the sets I've come up with:

Those sound great

Other monsters that might be included in a Monster Fighters sequel/reboot are

-Slime/Goo/Ooze Monster

-Mutants

-Pumpkin Head Scarecrow

-Monster Bride

-Boogeyman

-Ghost Pirate

-Mothman

-Werewolf Woman

Basil the Batlord himself could even the main villain this time around

Edited June 4, 2021 by Robert8

[Killian]

2 hours ago, Robert8 said:

 

-Werewolf Woman

 

They could do an updated version of the cross dressing wolf from 21315

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/media.brothers-brick.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/21315-Once-Upon-a-Brick-37-640x360.jpg

[Nerd-with-a-Pencil]

I still feel like a theme like this would be remiss not to include the Invisible Man somehow. Maybe he could be making havoc in a museum or cruise ship? I'd say train, but...

He could be a non-boss monster (perhaps a lackey for dr. Frankenstein), or he could have a moonstone. If the dotted figure outline is too corny, I suggest something like a fedora 'hovering' over a scarf, or maybe a hand only visible by the gunk it's coated in (if that's not too elaborate). Or, if you wanna be really cheeky, just make the Moonstone have an 'invisible print'.

On 6/2/2021 at 6:11 PM, Karalora said:

Monstrous, perhaps, but not a monster in the traditional sense.

I mean, the Universal Horror version does have the largest bodycount in the films...

Edited June 4, 2021 by Nerd-with-a-Pencil

[Karalora]

Did the Wacky Witch come with a cat? I completely forgot. It's been such a long time since S14 and I don't tend to keep the accessories with the minifigs.

Robert8 my guy, you mention the Boogeyman as a potential monster to include...did you not notice where I described a potential set about just that?

In general, I'm trying to stick pretty close to the vibe of the original, which is very much classic Halloween mixed with wacky pulp adventure. And I'm kind of treating this like an expanded version of the story suggested by the original line--i.e. it's still about stopping Lord Vampyre from blotting out the sun, but there are a lot more episodic adventures with various monsters along the way as well as exploration of the Monster Realm's mysteries. While thinking about this, I've been making notes nailing down the individual Monster Fighters' skills and combat specialties, based partly on the official info and partly on what I think is interesting. I'm probably putting more effort into the story aspect than LEGO did when they developed the line. XD

[Eggyslav]

Do we have a Trans Black moonstone? It could be used for Boogeyman, and the Dark Blue could go to the Ghost Ship.

Oh, the trans black would be used for skeletons, never mind.

 

HOWEVER, There is a Trans Bright Green, that is different from Swamp Monster's trans neon green. That could be the colour for the ship!

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Eggyslav

[Karalora]

Trans-bright green could definitely work. I've been tiptoeing around it because we have two greens already, but it is pretty distinct from both. And of course, it already exists in Moonstone form if you count Vitruvius's lollipop-staff. It's the same mold.

Actually, as long as I am re-envisioning this theme with tweaks and additions, I'm going to swap the colors of two of the original Moonstones. I think trans-green is more suitable for the murky water of the Swamp Creature's home, while trans-neon green is more suggestive of mad science chemicals and lurid lightning.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Karalora

[Eggyslav]

Exactly, that's what I was thinking!

 

[Lion King]

I have some proposals for potential enemies:

- New Jersey Devil - Dark red (forked tail emblem)?

- Imp - Brown (horn emberlm)

- Dark Fairy - Dark Pink (wings emblem)

- Troll - Brown-greenish (club emblem)

-  Dark Elf - Dark Violet (leaf emblem)

I mean we need some dark fantasy creatures!

Edited June 6, 2021 by DBlegonerd7

[Karalora]

On 6/6/2021 at 5:44 AM, DBlegonerd7 said:

I have some proposals for potential enemies:

- New Jersey Devil - Dark red (forked tail emblem)?

- Imp - Brown (horn emberlm)

- Dark Fairy - Dark Pink (wings emblem)

- Troll - Brown-greenish (club emblem)

-  Dark Elf - Dark Violet (leaf emblem)

I mean we need some dark fantasy creatures!

I've been mulling this over. I do love me some fantasy creatures and cryptids, and part of my goal in this was to expand the MF cast, but for the initial concept I want to keep it pretty close to its classic Halloween roots. And there's also the issue of running out of transparent colors for the Moonstones to be in. While it's always lovely when TLG releases new colors--for example they really ought to have something that mimics amber glass such as you find in old medicine bottles (and modern vanilla extract bottles)--after a point we reach the limits of what would be easy to distinguish during play. You'll notice I haven't tried to come up with a monster for a trans-medium blue Moonstone--it's not different enough from trans-light blue to be striking.

However, if I go back to the earlier idea of a "sequel" theme where the MFs have more adventures on a haunted, monster-infested ocean...that also opens up the possibility of still more adventures and monsters once they get to the other shore! So now I've got a trilogy of concepts:

Phase 1: Expanded version of the MF theme we actually got (Halloween-type monsters)

Phase 2: Monster Fighters: The Haunted Ocean (sea monsters)

Phase 3: Monster Fighters: The Forest of Mystery (fantasy/mythology monsters)

And I figure we can solve the problem of running out of Moonstone colors by coming up with different sorts of collectible treasures for the sequel lines. For the Haunted Ocean it's obvious enough: Pearls. A nice spherical piece like the Technic ball but maybe somewhat bigger. And it would be an excuse for TLG to expand their palette of pearlescent colors, which is an area where I feel they have some shortcomings.

For the Forest of Mystery and its fairy themes, then, the treasures should probably use the glitter-trans colors, but I haven't yet decided on the form they should take.

Edited October 24, 2021 by Karalora

[ToaIruini]

I think for Part 3, each treasure could be something unique. I.e, a goblet, gem, ring, sword, etc. rather than a whole bunch of moonstones in different colors. 

[Devcon101]

Rebooting Monster Fighters would be great! I used to get a lot of the sets way back when, though they're largely in pieces now unfortunately.

If there were to be a reboot I'd like to see their take on Igor. He's a classic aspect of monster films and it'd be interesting to see them try and make a figure seem hunched over.

[Lego David]

I see a tone of really cool ideas in this thread, but if people don't actually do something to put them in practice, they aren't going to get anywhere. Why not pitch some of those ideas to LEGO World Builder? Fun fact, this month LEGO is doing a thing called Pitch Fest, where creators can submit their ideas for evaluation and potentially secure a pitch meeting with the LEGO Entertainment Team.

 

Edited June 10, 2021 by Lego David