BIONICLE, LEGO’s Greatest Masterpiece
As a long time fan of the company, I’m often asked what my favorite aspect or franchise of the LEGO group is. Most people would say something like Star Wars, Ninjago, or Superheroes, but I have a much more interesting choice. While the newer generation seems unaware of its legacy, any LEGO fan from the mid 2000’s is fully aware of the groundbreaking BIONICLE. I firmly believe this to be the best product provided by the company, and here’s why.
Ever since 1932 the LEGO group has been providing entertainment for children of all ages. From their humble beginnings with wooden toys to the plastic brick built empire they’ve become today, LEGO has provided a variety of independent properties through their mediums. Most of these “themes” are simple subjects (space travel, pirates, castles, cities, ect.) around which brick built toys can share design and story elements. Once in a blue moon LEGO goes out of its way to develop a “Big Bang” theme, in which they attempt to draw in teenage and adult audiences, and none of these have been more impressive or more detailed than The BIONICLE. Not only was this brand a testament to the company’s creative nature and capacity for maturity, but stands as a shining example on how to create a timeless and ageless story that stands its own against a brutal world of media.
Odds are you’ve never heard of BIONICLE, despite its immense popularity in the mid 2000’s. BIONICLE’s conception was simple but bumpy road. It began in early 1999 with LEGO’s attempts to cash in on the story driven market by obtaining the rights to produce Star Wars themed LEGO Sets. The sets sold well, but the licensing fees tied to them made it difficult to gain profits. LEGO decided to create their own original I.P. story driven toys with an elemental basis to develop a competitor to the popular Pokemon and Power Rangers franchises. Their first two attempts were Slizers and Roboriders, both of which gained little following though were praised for their additional variety to LEGO’s brand. LEGO Decided that a more tribal and technical aesthetic would be needed to sell the brand, and so employe Christian Faber began work on a large scale project under the developmental name “Boneheads of Voodoo Island.” Boneheads was given a massive amount of development in its early stages, having a twenty year story bible established to guide toy and story development. The concept and timeline of Boneheads where very compelling to the LEGO Group, who decided to rebrand the project under a more creative title. After several prototype names (such as “Afterman” and “BioKnights”) they settled on “The Biological Chronicle” or “BIONICLE” to both represent the franchises’ mechanical style and hint and its “ending” plot twist. BIONICLE’s story was originally split into two halves, each of which contained 6 thematic arcs. The first half of BIONICLE, “Chronicles,” “Adventures,” and “Legends” met full development, while the second half was cut short with only it’s first arc completed (which has no official moniker, but is often referred to as the “Bara Magna Saga.”) This created a massive story primarily released between 2001–2010 that contained 29 novels and novellas, 51 canonical comics, 4 young readers books, 9 guidebooks, 4 direct-to-DVD films, 2 canonical online games, 1 canonical video game, 23 online story serials (6 of which were written by fans), an estimated 346 toys.
The main point of BIONICLE’s expensive lore, as with most modern properties, was to sell toys. The LEGO brand had long been associated with interlocking plastic bricks, commonly used to create buildings, vehicles, or landscapes. BIONICLE aimed to delve into the action-figure market by creating ball-and-socket based buildable figurines. The characters where “biomechanical” although their toys leaned on the mechanical side. Pistons, wires, and vents were molded into the toys’ body pieces, and their more mechanical portions were covered in shells and armor that borrowed designs from Pacific traditions and culture. The toys began as a spin off of the Technic system of LEGO, and so incorporated gears, pins, and axles into their design. The 2001–2003 toys were mostly based around the concept of gear-based functions such as swinging an arm or extending the neck while biting; most would contain a specially molded gearbox into which the function was built with ball and socket limbs attached. These limbs allowed for limited articulation of the wrists, ankles, shoulders, and hips. These early models also contained weakly-attached masks allowing you to “fight” with the figures and knock your opponents mask off. In 2004–2005 the figures shifted to a more posable design; knee, elbow, and neck articulation was added to the figures. The figures also adopted darker color schemes: replacing pure with ruby red, lapis with berry blue, and parakeet with pine green. After 2006 a more “standardized” building system was established for the characters known as the “Inika build.” This build kept full possibility for the figures but removed gear functions, establishing a common building scheme among characters rather than clone builds for specific species. The majority of BIONICLE’s parts have made few appearances in mainstream LEGO sets, but the ball and socket system has renovated toy design; animals, monsters, and articulated weapons have become more common in the previously blocky LEGO toys. Thematically BIONICLE has also convinced LEGO to put more worldbuilding effort into their projects, a prime example being the long-lived Ninjago franchise.
Perhaps the most impressive feat of BIONICLE is its development of characters. The franchise has 20 main protagonists, 17 of which are fully introduced in the first year. Despite this, the series never seems crowded with its focus. Each of the franchises arcs picks 6 of these protagonists to focus on (with the other 2 having devoted stories) for the franchises A plot, while the other characters make cameo appearances or help develop the B plot. We get to see these characters actively grow as the story progresses, Kopaka becoming more open about his feelings after interacting with Pohatu, Jaller becoming more cautious after his near-death experience, and Tahu becoming less demanding and controlling of his group. The A plot of the franchise focuses on the arc’s Toa heroes and their current quest to protect the Matoran villagers or awaken Mata Nui. The B plot usually focuses on the Matoran and their sense of awe and wonder for the Toa, and highlights their efforts in standing up for themselves and helping the Toa along; this creates a duel scenario in which we see the world both through the eyes of the protector and the protected, which few franchises tend to do. The C plot is usually full of purely supplemental material and contained in the online story serials; it has little influence on the main plot and usually focuses on fleshing out the universe and fan favorite characters, such as explaining Nidhiki’s origin or how how Brutaka forged the Federation of Fear. BIONICLE also put a strong emphasis on its sense of mystery. From the beginning the series sets up questions about the Toa Mata’s purpose and origin, and doesn’t give any concrete answers until the end of Legends. The Mata Nui Online Game (or MNOG, arguably the start of the franchise) doesn’t even narrate the franchise’s backstory, it simply gives a visual allegory with decorated stones and lets you realize the meaning as you play. The series also has a strong emphasis on foreshadowing; the finale of Legends featured two massive plot twists, one of which had been hinted at since one of MNOG’s very first lines of dialogue. As a hole this creates a complex and interconnected timeline, which to put in the words of its creators “isn’t meant to be spoon fed to you.” While this may be off putting to children, it adds a hook for adult fans to dig for meaning behind characters and actions.
The themes and story styles of BIONICLE evolved as the story progressed, maturing in a similar manner to properties like Harry Potter or Star Wars. Chronicles (2001–2003) focused on the Toa Mata and began as a lighthearted “collect all the MacGuffins” adventure on the Island of Mata Nui. It was characterized by a strong tribal aesthetic, with bright colors, vivid landscapes, and animalistic villains. Chronicles was relatively light hearted save its final battles, which featured heavy snake and insectoid imagery in smokey and misty environments. Adventures (2004–2005) was, as mentioned before, darker, both thematically and aesthetically. Adventures was a flashback arc designed to tell the original of the characters met in Chronicles (save the Toa Mata) and focused on the Toa Metru. The arc took place in a sprawling futuristic metropolis, both pre and post-apocalyptic, with dulled hues and oppressive government sanctions. The villains of Adventures where based on themes of Nazism, Communism, and police brutality, setting a general tone of despair and fear. Legends (2006–2008) featured the Toa Inika and is often described as BIONICLE’s “angsty-teen phase.” Legends was based on exploration (ironic, given the previous installment was Adventures) and focused on creating a sense of scope. The variety of characters, creatures, and locations visited made the universe of the previous 5 years seem unbelievably small, yet at the same time managed to hit home how the actions of few could affect many. Its villains were based on thung and gang concepts, and many were simple paws in the grand scheme of things. The Bara Magna Saga (2009–2010) focused on the Glatorian and Agori and adopted a truly post-apocalyptic world (or rather two, but I won’t get into that.) War, mistrust, and deceit prevailed through this arc which analyzed how societies react to hardships, bond with each other, and look for hope in the future.
As a whole the franchise focused on themes of “grey morality,” strength of the individual, and importance of diversity. Villains were not evil just because they were evil, each had ulterior motives and desires that fueled their actions, and the heroes were portrayed as flawed individuals who desired direction. The story would often switch focus from the main heroes (the Toa) to the villagers (the Matoran) hitting home that anyone could be a hero, no matter their size or importance. Throughout the franchise the more eccentric and self defining individuals became the most prevalent heroes, encouraging people to break from the mold and forge their own destiny. Various mature themes were handled throughout the stories including existentialism, self distancing, mental illness through abuse, suicide, and even a bit of homosexuality. The deaths of the franchise where also particularly brutal, specific examples including being chopped in half by a closing portal, having your atoms teleported at random throughout the universe, and being swept up by a wave into a pool of killer sea creatures. While not particularly gorey (with the exception of Tren Krom), they do manage to capture the feeling of fear and disgust experienced by victims and onlookers.
In the end BIONICLE proved a refreshing change of pace for the children’s company. It managed to generate a mature and adult-grabbing story without relying on a heavy helping of adult language or violence. Unlike many children’s stories it choose to give dimensions to its characters and built a complex world from scratch. It’s blending of mechanical and tribal aesthetics created a unique style I’ve yet to see implemented elsewhere. Throughout this essay I haven’t even touched on its fantastic thematic music, the imprint left on future franchises, or its creator’s (Christian Faber’s) currently developing “Rebel Nature.” BIONICLE is a story fully worth its praise, and those who haven’t read it would be wise to pick up a book. My personal favorites are “Maze of Shadows,” “Legacy of Evil,” and the “Mata Nui Online Game.” I fully recommend you experience the wonder of BIONICLE for yourself.
Notable websites for BIONICLE information:
Images:
http://board.ttvchannel.com/t/makutafest-2017-skyline-contest-metru-nui-skyline/39671
http://bionicle.wikia.com/wiki/File:Christian_Faber_Files_Canister_afloat.jpg