Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[Clone 01354 Productions]

Question: How long are Bionicle characters supposed to live? Because wasn't the period between Metru Nui and Mata Nui a thousand years long? So then why does Takua sound like a kid?

And they all have jobs in society, in one form or another, and are treated equally, so there is no kid and adult distinction. You know what it reminds me of? Spongebob: You don't know if he is a kid or adult; he acts like a kid, but has a job, and lives alone and owns property. The Matoran are just like that.

[Quisoves Pugnat]

Question: How long are Bionicle characters supposed to live? Because wasn't the period between Metru Nui and Mata Nui a thousand years long? So then why does Takua sound like a kid?

Forever, barring accidents. :P

There, now that I've got the obligatory reference out of the way, Bionicles do age, albeit very slowly (Time Trap confirms this.) Which rather explains the voices. Takua may simply not be physically old enough to sound older than a human adolescent. That said, it's quite probable that the MU inhabitants' voices are synthesized, in which case they never change, except by transformation.

[Aanchir]

Question: How long are Bionicle characters supposed to live? Because wasn't the period between Metru Nui and Mata Nui a thousand years long? So then why does Takua sound like a kid?

Would you rather that all the characters sound like wheezy thousand-year-old men? Everything on BIONICLE operates on an utterly implausible geologic timescale, and usually the characterization was not time-dependent.

Takua sounds like a kid because he acts like a kid, and he acts like a kid because that's how he was characterized — a reckless adventurer with a childlike sense of enthusiasm and an aversion to staying too long in one place. If you think his age conflicts with his attitude, that doesn't mean the writers screwed up his attitude, it means they screwed up his age, because his attitude came first.

It's also worth noting that the person who voiced Takua, Jason Michas, was twenty-seven years old when BIONICLE: Mask of Light was released. It's not like they got a twelve-year-old voice actor (or a female voice actor, as is often done in the animation industry to give child characters a high-pitched voice). They picked an adult, male actor who could still give the character the kind of spontaneity and enthusiasm he needed to adequately play the role.

[Mr. Gundam]

Question: How long are Bionicle characters supposed to live? Because wasn't the period between Metru Nui and Mata Nui a thousand years long? So then why does Takua sound like a kid?

And they all have jobs in society, in one form or another, and are treated equally, so there is no kid and adult distinction. You know what it reminds me of? Spongebob: You don't know if he is a kid or adult; he acts like a kid, but has a job, and lives alone and owns property. The Matoran are just like that.

To give you an idea, Most of the Glatorian Characters have been alive through all Mata Nui Robot saga. I assume everyone doesn't age at all

[Quisoves Pugnat]

To give you an idea, Most of the Glatorian Characters have been alive through all Mata Nui Robot saga. I assume everyone doesn't age at all

Characters in Bionicle definitely age. The Shadowed One was aged by Voporak's time field (three thousand years apparently meant something to him,) Raanu and Ackar are more aged than the other inhabitants of Bara Magna that we saw, and Gresh is one of the youngest of that lot.

Just because Bionicle characters take longer than we do doesn't mean they don't age, in the same way that we still age despite doing so at a much slower rate than most other animals.

[Timeline15]

Bionicle Characters take the phrase "you're only as old as you feel" to heart. Takua is ancient, but physically younger than the toa nuva. Likewise, Helryx is the oldest Toa, but physically younger than the Turaga (for some reason, becoming a Turaga mimics advanced aging, and also makes you more crotchety to boot, seriously, would anyone believe the Turaga from MoL used to be toa?)

I thought Jaller's voice and personality fitted him just fine. He was like Laval from Chima, but infinitely smarter and less annoying. He still had a bit of his uptight captain-of-the Royal Guard-ness, but felt youthful too, which made sense for the hero of the future rather than the present.

In my view, Matoran only grow old when they've settled into the role they were meant to play. Anyone with a destiny still left to complete should be young. This fits in with the whole mata nui robot thing too. Only the cells with no function left can age or die.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Timeline15

[Mr. Gundam]

Characters in Bionicle definitely age. The Shadowed One was aged by Voporak's time field (three thousand years apparently meant something to him,) Raanu and Ackar are more aged than the other inhabitants of Bara Magna that we saw, and Gresh is one of the youngest of that lot.

Just because Bionicle characters take longer than we do doesn't mean they don't age, in the same way that we still age despite doing so at a much slower rate than most other animals.

And that's why I assume they're immoral. Lifespans going on for thousands of years. The first Toa was still alive during the end of bionicle. You are correct, with many other examples of characters with long lifespans

[Sir Kohran]

The problem with Jaller's MOL voice is the lack of anything authoritative to his tone or word choice that suggests he's spent a long time leading a military unit and organising defence efforts. He just uses the same informal teenage American drawl that Takua does, because that's what the filmmakers assumed the target audience would find easier to relate to, the only difference to Takua being that he isn't as bumbling or selfish.

The one thing that is consistent with his previous characterisation are the references to him as 'captain of the Guard', but they largely fall flat because his current characterisation never depicts him in that role or recalls any specific element of it. I understand they wanted to make him 'relatable', but that undeniably came at the cost of abandoning his previous characterisation.

[Vinyl Scratch]

Question: How long are Bionicle characters supposed to live? Because wasn't the period between Metru Nui and Mata Nui a thousand years long? So then why does Takua sound like a kid?

I can remember that the Bara Magna guys could die from old age. Certavus did, I'm pretty sure.

[Grima]

Question: How long are Bionicle characters supposed to live? Because wasn't the period between Metru Nui and Mata Nui a thousand years long? So then why does Takua sound like a kid?

And they all have jobs in society, in one form or another, and are treated equally, so there is no kid and adult distinction. You know what it reminds me of? Spongebob: You don't know if he is a kid or adult; he acts like a kid, but has a job, and lives alone and owns property. The Matoran are just like that.

In theory, they have long lifespans, but they do eventually die

Combine this with the technology to create or revive Matoran being destroyed with the GSR, and you are left with the unfortunate reality that, after a few millenia or so, the Matoran species will go extinct on Spherus Magna.

Something tells me they didn't think that far ahead on that subject :P

[Clone 01354 Productions]

Another question: Are Matoran able to....umm...."be born"? Like, can Matoran have kids? Because if the population just dies out in one generation, then there is a serious flaw there........

[Grima]

Another question: Are Matoran able to....umm...."be born"? Like, can Matoran have kids? Because if the population just dies out in one generation, then there is a serious flaw there........

nope, if there's one thing pseudointellectuals will pull out in any gender debate, it's that matoran can't reproduce. the only way to bring new matoran into being was some technology in the MU that Turaga had access to, and I think it was confirmed to be destroyed.

[mysteriouspi]

The issue with saying things like "Takua is really old so why doesn't he act that way," or anything like that, is the assumption that Bionicle characters mature in the same way that humans do. That's quite an assumption, one that I don't think we can use.

Rather, Bionicle characters seem to mature in regards to their Duties and Destinies. For instance, Takua matured over the course of the search for the Seventh Toa: he only became Takanuva when he accepted that was his purpose. The Inika team likely became Toa because they were mature enough to take the responsibility a Toa would bear (considering they left Metru Nui to help the Toa Nuva). And the Metru team became Turaga when they were mature enough to set aside their Toa powers for the sake of the Matoran.

I could be wrong, but that seems to be more than coincidence as it follows the story's themes.

[Quisoves Pugnat]

Another question: Are Matoran able to....umm...."be born"? Like, can Matoran have kids? Because if the population just dies out in one generation, then there is a serious flaw there........

Matoran do not reproduce, nor do most (if not all) of the MU's other species. This has been confirmed in a number of places. As for their potential extinction, it is worth noting that the Great Beings intended them to be only nano-technology, with the purpose of keeping Mata Nui up and running. They originally planned for most of them to be disassembled after serving their purpose. And as for those who died while the robot was still running, they could either be replaced by hidden factories, or resurrected by the Red Star (though this one didn't quite work out, to be fair.)

[arc]

Wow. I knew bionicles story was convoluted, but no new matoran? Sure they live for thousands of years, but still, what were they thinking?

Screw that, in my world, jaller and hahli went at it, and created the new element of steam.

Anyway, this is going way off topic. So...

[Quisoves Pugnat]

Wow. I knew bionicles story was convoluted, but no new matoran? Sure they live for thousands of years, but still, what were they thinking?

There were new Matoran, they were simply created by hidden factories, rather than by biological reproduction. In fact, Time Trap suggests that Vakama is no older than 15,000 years.

[Lord-Vorahk]

Pretty safe to say that the GB's were freaking mental?

Let's see, they made a giant scorpion monster... and put lasers on it. They made the insides of their saviour robot look like habitable cities instead of just robot parts, their solution to their planet exploding was "send a robot into space to learn about the universe so it can rebuild our world somehow". These guys weren't exactly smart.

[Quisoves Pugnat]

Pretty safe to say that the GB's were freaking mental?

Let's see, they made a giant scorpion monster... and put lasers on it. They made the insides of their saviour robot look like habitable cities instead of just robot parts, their solution to their planet exploding was "send a robot into space to learn about the universe so it can rebuild our world somehow". These guys weren't exactly smart.

What giant scorpion are you referring to?

As for the cities, I believe that they came to look that way due to the inhabitants of the MU building upon them.

As for sending Mata Nui into space, the Great Beings were simply biding their time while Spherus Magna healed, hoping to learn what they could of the rest of the universe via Mata Nui's travels. They didn't count on their nanotechnology gaining sapience.

But they were definitely lacking in wisdom, hence the Core War and everything that followed.

[TheBrickPal]

Either that, or LEGO thought that the only way kids would feel attached to a story theme was to make it as complicated, far-fetched, and stretched-out as possible. It worked, obviously. But in the long run, poor sales eventually came, and here we are now, with a new saga where LEGO has potentially learned from its mistakes.

What giant scorpion are you referring to?

Skopio?

Edited October 6, 2014 by Puffle Pal26

[Quisoves Pugnat]

Skopio?

Possibly, but they don't have laser capabilities.

[TheBrickPal]

Possibly, but they don't have laser capabilities.

Pardon me, I was thinking of their built in Thornax launchers.

To be honest, I don't think the Great Beings knew what would be caused by their actions. It's like God and his creations. He's made everything we have in life, but we can't blame him for terrorism, war and such. Things just happen.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Puffle Pal26

[SirPuddings]

Question: How long are Bionicle characters supposed to live? Because wasn't the period between Metru Nui and Mata Nui a thousand years long? So then why does Takua sound like a kid?

And they all have jobs in society, in one form or another, and are treated equally, so there is no kid and adult distinction. You know what it reminds me of? Spongebob: You don't know if he is a kid or adult; he acts like a kid, but has a job, and lives alone and owns property. The Matoran are just like that.

They're not really meant to age like humans or any other organic lifeform does, seeing as they're robotic beings.

Another question: Are Matoran able to....umm...."be born"? Like, can Matoran have kids? Because if the population just dies out in one generation, then there is a serious flaw there........

They're not really organic creatures so this kind of reproduction is more than likely not the case for them.

Aaaaaanyway, back on topic now.

Edited October 6, 2014 by SirPuddings

[Dorek]

They cannot reproduce biologically, no. Spherus Magna inhabitants, on the other hand, can.

Anyway, the whole timeline thing is pretty wild as it is, but whatever serves the story. That is something I hope new BIONICLE does away with, at least; make the timeline far more realistic.

[Lord-Vorahk]

Possibly, but they don't have laser capabilities.

THe built-in Force Blasters on the TLR model say otherwise.

[2lazy]

wasn't the main city with the arena on Bara Magna called Atero? that and Okoto sound kind of similar, so maybe it is a continuation, somehow, and maybe Okoto is an Island on Spherus Magna? just a thought, hadn't seen anyone else mention it figured I'd throw it out there