Bionicle

Bionicle is a toy line from the Lego Group marketed at 7-16 year-olds. The toy line was launched in December 30, 1999 in Europe and June/July 2001 in Canada and the United States. The concept was derived from Lego Group's earlier themes Slizers/Throwbots and Lego RoboRiders. Both of those lines had similar throwing disks and characters based on classical elements. Contrary to popular belief, "Bionicle" is not "Bionic" with an "-le" suffix, but a portmanteau constructed from the words "biological" and "chronicle". Earlier Bionicle packages had displayed the Technic Logo, but it has since been phased out, evolving Bionicle into its own system.

Story

The 2001-2008 storyline of Bionicle was set primarily in a science fantasy world inhabited predominantly by part-organic, part-machine beings. This world and its races was once protected by a Great Spirit named Mata Nui, but he was cast into an unnatural sleep by the evil Brotherhood of Makuta, led by Makuta Teridax, and the universe began to decay. Mata Nui has since been revived, with unfortunate consequences.

Please see List of Bionicle characters

2001 - Quest for the Masks

The six Toa Matu, named Tahu, Lewa, Gali, Kopaka, Pohatu and Onua, arrive on an island called Mata Nui, remembering only their names. They find that the inhabitants, the Matoran, face constant attacks from Rahi, wild beasts controlled by the evil Makuta (who is later revealed to be Teridax himself) through infected masks. After searching for and finding numerous Kanohi masks, the Great Masks of Power, they each receive a Golden Kanohi mask and search for Makuta himself. After facing off against the Manas (two very powerful Rahi) and the Shadow Toa, the Toa confront Makuta and defeat him by combining their elemental powers.

2002 - The Bohrok Swarms

Defeated, Makuta releases the Bohrok, who were designed to destroy the island of Mata Nui so it would be harder to awaken the Great Spirit. The Bohrok begin to tear through the villages on the island, forcing Matoran to flee. One Matoran, Nuparu, builds a vehicle called the Boxor, made out of parts of Bohrok in order to fight off the hordes. The Toa Mata, unaware of the Bohrok's purpose, go to confront the Bahrag: Cahdok and Gahdok. The defeated Cahdok and Gahdok are locked in a prison created by the Toa's elemental powers. The Toa Mata then are exposed to Energized Protodermis, through which they gain new armor and weapons and become the Toa Nuva.

2003 - The Bohrok Kal and the Mask of Light

With Cahdok and Gahdok defeated, the Bohrok Swarms stopped and returned to their hives. However six new elite Bohrok, called the Bohrok-Kal, were released with the purpose of releasing the Bahrag. They then proceeded to steal the Toa Nuva's powers, which are the key to breaking the seal. On the verge of defeat, the Toa Nuva force all of their powers into the Bohrok-Kal, overloading them and defeating them. Later, two Matoran, Takua and Jaller discovered the Kanohi Mask of Light. They were tasked with traveling across the island of Mata Nui to find the Toa of Light. Meanwhile, Makuta created and sent out six Rahkshi to find the mask and stop the coming of the Toa of Light. The Rahkshi tore across Mata Nui, destroying Ta-Koro and Onu-Koro. The Rahkshi were stopped by the Toa Nuva, but not before killing Jaller. Jaller's death caused Takua to realize he is the Toa of Light, and he donned the Mask of Light to become Takanuva. Takanuva went to confront Makuta and, during their battle, they both fell into Energized Protodermis and became fused together into the being Takutanuva. Takutanuva then proceeded to open the door to Metru Nui, allowing the Matoran and Toa through while holding the door open. Using some of his Life energy, he revived Jaller while still holding the door open. However the use of energy to revive him was too great and Takutanuva was crushed by the door, seemingly killing both Takanuva and Teridax and leaving only Takanuva's Mask of Light. Takanuva was proptly revived when his mask was used to activate the beacon to Metru Nui. Afterward, the Matoran prepared to go back to the island of Metru Nui.

2004-2005 - Metru Nui in the Past

As the Matoran prepared to go to Metru Nui, the Turaga (the six village leaders) revealed that they had once been Toa, fighting in Metru Nui against threats such as the Morbuzakh vines and the Dume-controlled Vahki enforcement squads. They, the Toa Metru, were created by Toa stones with Toa power sacrificed by Toa Lhikan. Their mission was to find 6 great disks and defeat the Morbuzakh vines, a plant menace that threatened to destroy the city. When they did, however, they were betrayed by Dume, the Turaga of the city, only to find out Teridax had taken the disguise of Dume and taken control of the Vahki, the law enforcement robots. His evil plan put the Matoran to sleep. The Toa fled, but were attacked by Teridax. Using the Kanohi Mask of Time, they were able to imprison Teridax. The Toa hid on a new island, which would later be known as Mata Nui, vowing to return to save the Matoran.

However, when they did, the evil king Sidorak and his viceroy Roodaka had reigned terror on the island with vicious spider-like creatures called Visorak. The Toa were soon caught and mutated into Toa Hordika. To revert back to normal, the Toa sought out the legendary Rahi Keetongu. Toa Vakama, however, betrayed the other Toa and joined Sidorak, who promoted Vakama to leader of the Visorak. The other Toa confronted Sidorak's Visorak hoard, and were able to convince Vakama to rejoin them. Vakama then ordered the Visorak to be free. Keetongu, meanwhile, defeated Sidorak, who was betrayed by Roodaka. The six Toa than defeated Roodaka, although this had the side effect of freeing Makuta. The Toa then sacrificed their power to awaken the Matoran, and together they established new villages on the island of Mata Nui.

2006 - The Island of Doom

The heroes were faced with the imminent death of Mata Nui and had to find the mysterious Mask of Life. After the Toa Nuva headed to the desolate island of Voya Nui, they were captured and were imprisoned by the six villainous Piraka, and six new heroes had to step up. Six Matoran, Jaller, Hahli, Nuparu, Kongu, Matoro and Hewkii set out to find the Toa Nuva, but ended up becoming Toa themselves. After allying themselves with the local Matoran resistance and their protector Axonn, the new Toa Inika faced off against the Piraka. The battle started a chase down the underground tunnels of Voya Nui to the Chamber of Life, where the Mask of Life had been placed. In the final battle that ensued, the Mask of Life flew up through the tunnels to the surface and into the nearby waters.

2007 - Sea of Darkness

Following the chase for the Mask of Life, the Toa Inika descended into the waters after receiving the mysterious clue "save the sunken city" from a dying Matoran. A burst of energy from the Mask of Life transformed the Toa Inika into water breathing forms that could sustain the pressure of the ocean. They discover an inhabited village from Voya Nui that had broken off and sunk a thousand years ago. The village was threatened by ancient warlords that had been mutated by the nearby mutagenic waters called "The Pit". These six warlords went by the name of Barraki. The Toa Inika, changed by the mask into the water-breathing Toa Mahri, they had to face the Barraki in battle for the Mask of Life. The Mask of Life, called the Kanohi Ignika, was the only thing that could hinder Mata Nui's impending death. After retrieving the mask, and while being pursued by the Barraki, the Great Spirit Mata Nui died. Realizing there was still hope, Toa Matoro rushed to the core of the universe and sacrificed his life to revive Mata Nui. In the last moments of his life, Toa Matoro used the Mask's power to teleport Toa Mahri back to Metru Nui and allow them to breathe air again. The Great Spirit's life was saved but he still had to be awakened.

2008 - The Final Battle

The Mask of Life had also been heading for the core of the universe when it absorbed Toa Matoro's life force, and had to be found by the Toa Nuva. After being equipped with new armor and weapons by Artakha, they arrived in the core of the universe, known as Karda Nui. There, they came to face the Makuta who were trying to turn the population of Av-Matoran (Matoran of Light) into Shadow Matoran. The Toa Nuva were helped by the arrival of Takanuva, now able to control Light and Shadow, and the Mask of Life itself, now known as Toa Ignika. The Ignika had made a body for itself to become a hero like Matoro. With their combined forces, they reached a structure in the center of Karda Nui called the Codrex, where Toa Ignika had to sacrifice himself to awaken Mata Nui. The Toa Nuva rescued the Av-Matoran and escaped the core before the Mask of Life sent out a storm of energy that would eliminate anything in its path. The Makuta, however, failed to escape, and were all killed by the energy storms. Back in Metru Nui, the Toa were hailed as heroes, but celebration was cut short when it was revealed that Teridax had taken over the body of Mata Nui, revealed to be the universe of the Matoran. Trapping the spirit of Mata Nui in the Mask of Life, he sent it flying into space so that he wouldn't interfere with his control over the universe.

2009 - Bara Magna

The BIONICLE story now continues after Mata Nui was banished from his body, which contains the world in which the whole storyline has taken place, by Makuta on a planet called Bara Magna. The inhabitants, unlike those within Mata Nui, are organic with some mechanical implants, as opposed to mechanical with some organic parts, with the exception of a few wildlife species. Bara Magna is a barren desert planet, which only supports so many resources, so each tribe on the planet has a few 'Glatorian' to battle for resources, and resources, such as water, are distributed accordingly. The villagers of this world are the Agori. The Agori together make up six different tribes, each affiliated with a region. After the Mask of Life lands on Bara Magna, it creates a body for Mata Nui to use.

• Movie

A fourth Bionicle movie was released on DVD on September 15. It is titled Bionicle: The Legend Reborn, and features Michael Dorn as Mata Nui.

• Books

So far, two books have been released by Scholastic under the title of simply "BIONICLE". The books are Raid on Vulcanus and a novelization of the Bionicle: The Legend Reborn. There has also been many Young Reader novels. AMEET and LEGO have published Mata Nui's Guide to Bara Magna and Makuta's Guide to the Universe.

• Promos

A Bionicle promo was put on the MMOG Poptropica. Raanu asks players to gather water fom a cave guarded by Bone Hunters. Completing the task gets the player a Mata Nui costume and Thornax Launcher. There is also a promo on YTV.com, that brings in a new Augumented Reality game.

Māori language controversy

In 2001, Lego faced legal action by Māori activists from New Zealand for trademarking Māori words used in naming the Bionicle product range. Lego agreed to stop commercial use of the Māori language. This resulted in changes being made a number of existing Bionicle words, while others were removed. Māori terms involved included:

• "Huki" means "hammerstroke," "quaking," or "convulse;" it was used as the name of a Po-Matoran, Toa Inika, and a Toa Mahri, and was changed to "Hewkii."
• "Kahu", meaning "cape" or "cloak," and "Kewa" were used for types of birds; they became one and the same as "Gukko birds." (However, a recent advertisement for the Toa Mahri listed Kongu as a "Kahu" bird rider.)
• "Maku" means "wet;" it was used as the name of a Ga-Matoran and changed to "Macku."
• "Puku" means "stomach," "belly," etc.; it was used as the name of a pet Ussal crab belonging to Orkahm. The crab's name was changed to "Pewku."
• "Tohunga" means "craftsman," "expert," etc.; it was used for the race of villagers and replaced with the term "Matoran."

In 2003, Lego introducing a new holiday to the Bionicle story line, Naming Day. On Naming Day, Matoran who have done heroic deeds for their village are honored by having their name changed/lengthened. This fixed the gap in the story caused by the changing of key character's names.

However, a number of Polynesian and Melanesian terms still remain the same, specifically ones introduced early in the storyline during Bionicle Chronicles. Here are some examples, though this is by no means a complete list:

• "Akamai means "clever" in Hawaiian, and is the name of a Toa Kaita combined of Tahu, Pohatu, and Onua.
• "Kanohi" is the Māori word for "face" and is the Bionicle word for "mask."
• "Toa" is the Māori word for "Warrior" and is the title held by some of Bionicle's main heroes.
• "Kopaka" is the Māori word for "cold" or "ice" and is the name of a Toa of Ice.
• "Onewa" is the Māori word for "basalt" and is the name of a Matoran, Toa Metru and Turaga of Stone.
• "Pohatu" is the Māori word for "stone" or "rock" and is the name of a Toa of Stone.
• "Tahu" is the Māori word for "burn" and is the name of a Toa of Fire.
• "Turaga" is a Fijian title for village chief and used similarly in Bionicle.
• "Whenua" is the Māori word for "earth" and is the name of a Turaga of Earth.
• "Koro" is a Fijian word for "village" and is used similarly.

Since this controversy, Lego has been careful to make sure that all new Bionicle names are not common terms in other languages.

External links

• BIONICLE.com Official Bionicle Website
• BIONICLEstory.com Bionicle.com subsite to feature storyline information
• BZPower Unofficial BIONICLE forum site and news site
• BIONICLEsector01 Unofficial BIONICLE fan reference site
• KanohiJournal Unofficial BIONICLE fan magazine