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Bionicle
File:Bionicle logo.jpg
Availability2001–possibly 2010
Total sets(See List of Bionicle toys)
Characters(See List of Bionicle characters)
Official website

Template:Image Bionicle was a toy line by the LEGO Group marketed primarily at 6 to 16-year-olds. The toy line was launched on December 30, 2000 in Europe and June/July 2001 in Canada and the United States. Despite what it may appear to be, "Bionicle" is not "Bionic" with an "-le" suffix, but a portmanteau constructed from the words "biological" and "chronicle".[1] The concept is similar to Lego Group's earlier themes, Slizers/Throwbots and RoboRiders in that each of those lines had characters based on classical elements. Earlier Bionicle packages had displayed the Technic Logo, but it has since been phased out, evolving Bionicle into its own branch of LEGO. It has recently been announced by the director of LEGO that they will stop making new Bionicle sets after Winter 2010 "for the foreseeable future". However, while production of sets will stop, the story will not, as Greg Farshtey will continue to update it on the website, BionicleStory.com.[2]

The Bionicle story is set in a science fantasy world and is primarily told through the book series, Bionicle Chronicles, Bionicle Adventures, and Bionicle Legends as well as through comic books published by DC Comics. Four films have also been made. As of 2010, the main Bionicle story will be published on bioniclestory.com.

The 2001–2008 story arc of was set in a world inhabited predominantly by part-organic, part-machine beings (most notably the Matoran) in a subterranean world, which exists in massive domes underground. This world, dubbed "The Matoran Universe", and its races were once protected by a Great Spirit named Mata Nui, until he was cast into an eternal slumber by the evil Brotherhood of Makuta, namely the infamous Makuta Teridax, and the world of the Matoran began to fall apart. Mata Nui has since been revived, with unfortunate consequences beginning with Teridax succeeding in his Great Plan to conquer the Matoran Universe (namely, Mata Nui's body) and ruling it with an iron fist.[3]

2009 began a whole new saga of the story-line, leaving behind the previous years and venturing out to newer possibilities as Mata Nui, after having been banished by Makuta Teridax, finds his way to a mysterious barren planet called Bara Magna. Here he becomes the center of the story and makes new allies as he tries to find a way to save the Matoran from Makuta Teridax's tyrannical rule.[4]

Production

The concept of Bionicle was proposed in 2000.[5] During that time, Lego was suffering a ten-year downturn. In 1998, the company suffered its first loss, resulting in, for the first time, 1000 people being laid off the following year. In January 2004, Lego posted another set of dismal figures: a loss of 1.4 billion Danish kroner (140 million British pounds and 223.86 million USD). A few weeks earlier, in order to "stabilise its financial situation", another 500 jobs were cut.

Initially, the idea of Bionicle was faced with resistance from "company traditionalists" as Lego had "no experience of creating the kind of story-based, multichannel brand that was being proposed." Also, the war-like appearance of the Bionicle characters went against the company's values: "high-quality products, an emphasis on free play and encouraging the imagination, and no modern warfare or violence."[5]

However, the Bionicle line soon became the "biggest of the recent hits" and the number one product of Lego in 2003.[5] The series made its first debut in virtual form on the web in December 2000. In 2004, the sets accounted for approximately all of Lego's turnover. As the sets were produced, Lego developed them on the sets' website through "character bios and an episodic adventure game." The main storyline is developed by a team of eight people around the world.[5] These people make the decision of "which media gets which bit of the story." Because the Bionicle story is told through various media, ranging from books to comics to movies, the purpose of the website is to put the different parts together.[5] The use of making every Bionicle product "from toys to toothbrushes" promote the website has resulted in web traffic averaging at more than a million page views per month in August 2004. Another strategy used to promote the website was the use of "Kanoka points". Each toy packaging had special access codes that allows users to earn the points ("the Bionicle equivalent of a loyalty scheme") that can be used to play web games.[5]

Story

See also: List of Bionicle characters, Locations in the Bionicle Saga, Toa (Bionicle), List of Bionicle media, Bionicle Chronicles, Bionicle Adventures, and Bionicle Legends

The 2001–2008 story-line arc of Bionicle was set in a science fantasy world inhabited predominantly by part-organic, part-machine beings in a subterranean world, which exists in massive domes underground. This world, dubbed "The Matoran Universe", and its races were once protected by a Great Spirit named Mata Nui, until he was cast into an eternal slumber by the evil Brotherhood of Makuta, namely the infamous Makuta Teridax, and the world of the Matoran began to fall apart. Mata Nui has since been revived, with unfortunate consequences beginning with Teridax succeeding in his Great Plan to conquer the Matoran Universe (namely, Mata Nui's body) and ruling it with an iron fist.[3]

2009 began a whole new saga of the story-line, leaving behind the previous years and venturing out to newer possibilities as Mata Nui, after having been banished by Makuta Teridax, finds his way to a mysterious barren planet called Bara Magna. Here he becomes the center of the story and makes new allies as he tries to find a way to save the Matoran from Makuta Teridax's tyrannical rule.[4]

2001 – Quest for the Masks

The story begins with six Toa Mata; Tahu, Lewa, Gali, Kopaka, Pohatu, and Onua, arriving on an island known as the Island of Mata Nui, remembering nothing beyond their names.[6] They discovered that the inhabitants, the Matoran villagers, face constant attacks from infected Rahi, savage beasts controlled by the powerful influence of Makuta Teridax (simply known only as "The Makuta" at the time) through use of Infected Kanohi (masks), a war which lasted about 1000 years. After searching for and finding numerous Kanohi masks, the Great Masks of Power, the Toa each receive a Golden Kanohi mask with tremendous power and sought out Makuta himself. After challenging the ferocious Manas crabs and the Shadow Toa (evil doppelganger-like illusional replicas of the Toa Mata [6]), the Toa confront Makuta and defeat him by uniting their elemental powers.

2002 – The Bohrok Swarms

Upon his defeat, Makuta released the ancient Bohrok. Bohrok are robotic drones that were designed to "cleanse" the island of Mata Nui to its state "in the before-time".[7] The Bohrok began to tear through the villages on the island, forcing Matoran to flee. One inventive Matoran of Earth, Nuparu, builds a powerful vehicle called the Boxor, made from parts of a damaged Bohrok in order to fight off the swarms. The Toa Mata, unaware of the Bohrok's purpose, collected the Bohrok's Krana (mask-like creatures that function as their brains) to confront the Bohrok Queens, the Bahrag: Cahdok and Gahdok. The defeated Cahdok and Gahdok are sealed in a prison created by the Toa's elemental powers. The Toa Mata are then exposed to an alien substance called Energized Protodermis, which transforms them, granting them new armor and weapons, renaming themselves the "Toa Nuva".[7]

2003 – The Bohrok-Kal and the Mask of Light

With Cahdok and Gahdok defeated, the Bohrok Swarms are stopped and returned to their hives. However, six new elite Bohrok, called the Bohrok-Kal, appeared 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.[8] On the verge of defeat, the Toa force all of their powers into the Bohrok-Kal, overloading and defeating them.

Shortly afterwards, 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 creatures called Rahkshi to find the mask and stop the coming of the Toa of Light. The Rahkshi tore across Mata Nui, destroying the villages of Ta-Koro and Onu-Koro. The Rahkshi were stopped by the Toa, but not before killing Jaller. Jaller's death caused Takua to realize he is the Toa of Light, and he donned the mask to become Toa Takanuva. Takanuva went to confront Makuta and, during their battle, they both fell into a pool of energized protodermis, a silvery substance with the power to change or destroy a being, and became fused together into the being Takutanuva. Takutanuva then proceeded to open the door to the city of 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 was too great and Takutanuva was crushed by the door, seemingly killing both Takanuva and Teridax, leaving only Takanuva's Mask of Light. Takanuva was promptly revived when his mask was used to activate the beacon to Metru Nui. Afterwards, the Matoran prepared to return to the island city of Metru Nui.[9]

2004 – Legends of Metru Nui

As the Matoran prepared to journey to Metru Nui, the Turaga (village elders) revealed that they had once been Toa, fighting in Metru Nui against threats such as the Morbuzakh plant creature and the Dume-controlled Vahki enforcement squads. They, as Matoran, were transformed into the Toa Metru by Toa stones containing power sacrificed by Toa Lhikan. Their mission was to find the six Great Disks and defeat the Morbuzakh, a plant menace that threatened to destroy the city. When they did, however, they were betrayed by Dume, the Turaga of the city. Later, they discovered that Makuta Teridax had taken the disguise of Dume and taken control of the Vahki, the law enforcement robots. His plan was to put the Matoran to sleep, wipe out their memories, and reawaken them "as their conqueror". The Toa fled, but were attacked by Teridax. Combining their elemental powers, they were able to seal Teridax away in a prison of crystallized protodermis. The Toa traveled to a new island, which would later be known as Mata Nui, vowing to return to save the Matoran.[10]

2005 – Web of Shadows

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 captured and mutated into bestial 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 made Vakama the 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. Sidorak, who was betrayed by Roodaka, was killed by Keetongu. The six Toa than defeated Roodaka. However this had the side effect of freeing Makuta as a fragment of his prison was carried by Roodaka, who allowed the Toa to strike her for this reason.[11] The Hordika then were restored to being Toa Metru by Keetongu, and brought the rest of the Matoran to the new island and sacrificed their power to awaken the Matoran, causing the Toa Metru to become Turaga, and together they established new villages on the island of Mata Nui.[12]

2006 – Island of Doom

The Toa Nuva learn that Mata Nui was not only asleep but dying. To save him, they must seek the mysterious Kanohi Ignika, the Mask of Life.[13] The Toa Nuva allowed six new heroes to step up to the challenge of finding the legendary mask. Jaller, Hahli, Hewkii, Nuparu, Kongu, and Matoro are sent in six canisters to the island. Then, 6 lightnings from the red star transformed into the powerful Toa Inika. At their arrival, they learned that there were six enemies, the Piraka of the Skakdi race, Zaktann, Hakann, Vezok,Thok, Reidak and Avak. The Piraka were in the island to seek the Kanohi Ignika for their own purposes. They enslaved the Matoran, posing as fake Toa, in order for the Matoran to build them a fortress. With the help of the Matoran Resistance, and the guardian Axonn, the Toa Inika were able to find the temple of the mask, only to find that it was being kept by terrifying creatures like Vezon (Vezok´s alter ego) and his Spider-Steed Fenrakk, Brutaka, and Umbra. In a tremendous fight, the Toa emerged victorious with the Kanohi, only for it to rush down into the sea, losing itself in the black 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 an unknown Matoran, who had saved Hahli from drowning at the cost of him dying from decompression sickness.[14] A burst of energy from the Mask of Life transformed the Toa Inika into water-breathing forms. They discovered an inhabited village of Mahri Nui that had broken off from Voya Nui and sunk a thousand years ago. The village was threatened by ancient warlords known as Barraki that had been mutated by the nearby mutagenic waters called "The Pit". The Toa, now known as Toa Mahri, faced off against the Barraki to survive. However, by the time the Toa retrieved the mask, the Great Spirit 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.[15]

2008 – The Final Battle

After being equipped with new armor and weapons by Artakha, the Toa Nuva arrived at Karda Nui, the core of the universe. 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 because of a shadow leech attack,[16] and Toa Ignika, who is the Mask of Life itself. The Kanohi Ignika had made a body for itself because it wished to see what it was like to be a living being. With their combined forces, they reached a structure in the center of Karda Nui called the Codrex, where Toa Ignika had to sacrifice his new body to awaken Mata Nui. Takanuva, with the help of the remaining uncorrupted Av-Matoran, returned the Shadow Matoran to their previous states. Shortly afterwards, the Toa escaped the core before the energy storm caused by Mata Nui's awakening could destroy them. The Makuta, however, failed to escape, and were all killed. Back in Metru Nui, Mata Nui's awakening was celebrated, 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 the former Great Spirit cannot interfere with his control over the universe.[3]

2009 – Bara Magna

The Bionicle story now continues after Mata Nui was banished from his body, which contained the world in which a bulk the previous storylines had taken place, by Makuta Teridax onto a planet called Bara Magna. 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 warriors, called Glatorian, to battle for resources. These resources, such as food and water, are distributed accordingly. The villagers of this world are known as 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. Mata Nui then teams up with a few Glatorian to defeat the combined forces of the Skrall and Bone Hunters, two major threats to the villages, and look for a way to return to his body. He helps the villages of the world to unite, taking all of the giant pieces of robot and linking them into a large prototype robotic body, a body like the one the Matoran Universe resides in.[4]

2010 – Mata Nui vs Makuta

After defeating the Skrall and seeing the rest of the villages unite, Mata Nui stands against the challenge of taking back his body from Teridax. He learns that he was created by the Great Beings on the planet of Spherus Magna, which is now divided into a Jungle Moon, an Ocean Moon, Bara Magna, as the result of a war. Mata Nui also learns that before he was built, there was a previous robot, which the Agori use as their home. An Agori of Tesara, helps Mata Nui by showing him an ancient power source that could power up the old robot.

In this final journey, two heroes return to finish the fight: Tahu, returned to his original form to wear the powerful Golden Armor, and Takanuva. They are aided by Gresh. They fight off the Skakdi Warlord, Nektann, and his army; hordes of Rahkshi, armed with heat vision; and Skrall.[17]

Sets

Main article: List of Bionicle toys

The Bionicle toys, in contrast to most other Lego sets, are action figures built from Technic parts (with several pieces unique to Bionicle). The earliest sets were released under Technic, but from 2002 onwards, Bionicle became its own branch. Many of the Lego sets are named under 'Lego - ', while Bionicle was just plainly named BIONICLE. There are five main kinds of sets: Collectibles, Canister, Boxed, Titans (though as of 2007, these are called "Warriors" on the Bionicle website), and Battle Vehicles. Starting in 2005 and lasting until 2007 were Playsets, which are traditional Lego construction sets with minifigure versions of canister set characters. These have been discontinued since 2008. From 2002–present, new Bionicle sets have been released on a bi-annual basis, with one group in the Winter and the other in the Summer. Lego has recently announced that they will not release any more Bionicle sets ("for the forseeable future") after Bionicle Stars of Winter 2010. However, despite this, the story will continue to be expanded.[2]

Reception

The Bionicle franchise has been well received, with one reviewer describing the sets as "good combination of assembly and action figure"[18] and first-year sales of 100 million British pounds (161.7 million USD).[19] Bionicle had received a Toy of the Year Award for Most Innovative Toy in 2001 from the Toy Industry Association.[20]

Māori language controversy

In 2001, Lego faced legal action by Māori from New Zealand for trademarking Māori words used in naming the Bionicle product range.[21][22] Lego agreed to stop commercial use of the Māori language.[23] This resulted in changes being made to a number of existing Bionicle phrases, while others were removed. Māori terms involved included, but were not limited to, Huki (the name of a stone elemental character later renamed "Hewkii") meaning "hammerstroke" and "Tohunga" (the original name for the Matoran) for "expert". The names were changed through the introduction of the fictional holiday, "Naming Day" in 2003. On Naming Day, Matoran who have done heroic deeds for their village are honored by having the spelling of their name changed (though the pronunciations remain the same).[24] However, a number of Polynesian and Melanesian terms such as "Toa" (the main heroes for much of the series) for "warrior", Kanohi (in Bionicle, the name for "mask") for "face", and "Kopaka" (a Toa of Ice) for "cold" still remain the same. Since this controversy, Lego has not made any more names that are common terms in other living languages.

Impact

The rapid success of Bionicle has had a major impact on the Lego company. According to Stephanie Lawrence, the global director of licensing for Lego, "We've created an evergreen franchise to complement the many event-based properties on the children's market. An increasing number of category manufacturers want to tap into the power of the BIONICLE universe, and the key for us now is to manage the excitement to stay true to the brand and the lifestyle of our core consumer."[25] According to one source, Bionicle changed the way children think of, and play with, LEGO products by combining "the best of LEGO building with the story telling and adventure of an action figure line," and that 85% of American boys age 6–12 know of the Bionicle brand and 45% own the toys.[25]

With the end of Bionicle, many fans on the fan-site BZPower have pooled their resources in an effort to make fanfilms based on serials and other aspects (e.g. comics) of the Bionicle universe.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ Official Greg Discussion p. 198 on BZPower forums, post #5922
  2. ^ a b "An Important Announcement Regarding Bionicle". Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  3. ^ a b c Greg Farshtey, Bionicle Legends #11: The Final Battle-Epilogue
  4. ^ a b c Bionicle: The Legend Reborn
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Building blocks for the future". Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  6. ^ a b C.A. Hapka, Bionicle Chronicles #1: Tale of the Toa
  7. ^ a b C.A. Hapka, Bionicle Chronicles #2: Beware the Bohrok
  8. ^ C.A. Hapka, Bionicle Chronicles #3: Makuta's Revenge
  9. ^ Greg Farshtey, Bionicle Adventures #1: Mystery of Metru Nui
  10. ^ Greg Farshtey, Bionicle Adventures #5: Voyage of Fear
  11. ^ Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows
  12. ^ Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui
  13. ^ Greg Farshtey, Bionicle Legends #1: Island of Doom
  14. ^ Greg Farshtey, Bionicle Legends #5: Inferno
  15. ^ Greg Farshtey, Bionicle Legends #8: Downfall
  16. ^ Greg Farshtey, Bionicle Legends #10: Swamp of Secrets
  17. ^ Bionicle Glatorian #06: All That Glitters
  18. ^ Doug Cornelius. "The end of LEGO Bionicle". Retrieved 2010-01-01.
  19. ^ Telegraph. "Lego: play it again". Retrieved 2010-01-01.
  20. ^ Business Wire. "LEGO Company to Channel Strong 2001 Performance into Aggressive Growth Strategy for North America; World leader in construction toys aims to double its Canadian business by 2005". Retrieved 2010-02-08. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  21. ^ "Lego game irks Maoris". BBC News. 2005-05-31. Retrieved 2006-08-14. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  22. ^ Griggs, Kim (2002-11-21). "Lego Site Irks Maori Sympathizer". Wired News. Retrieved 2006-08-14. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  23. ^ "Lego agrees to stop using Maori names". BBC News. 2001-10-30. Retrieved 2006-08-14. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  24. ^ Bionicle Encyclopedia, Scholastic 2007
  25. ^ a b Business Wire. "BIONICLE Fever Heats, Blazes Into New Categories; Key Players in Five Children's Merchandise Categories Jump on BIONICLE Bandwagon". Retrieved 2009-12-26. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  26. ^ BZPower,Toa Jampot. "Bionicle: Next Generation". Retrieved 2010-01-26.
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