Francais | English | Espanõl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BIONICLE is a line of toys created by Alastair Swinnerton and Bob Thompson for the Lego Group that is marketed towards those in the 7–16-year-old range. The line was launched in January 2001 in Europe and June/July 2001 in the United States.

The Bionicle idea originated from the earlier toy lines Slizers (also known as Throwbots) and Roboriders. Both of these lines had similar throwing disks and characters based on classical elements.

"Bionicle" is a portmanteau constructed from the English words biological and chronicle.<ref>Official Greg Discussion topic on BZPower forums, post #5922</ref>

Contents 1 Franchise 2 Story 2.1 Bionicle Chronicles 2.2 Bionicle Adventures 2.3 Bionicle Legends 3 Māori Controversy 4 Alternate reality game 5 Notes 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Franchise

The toys are poseable, articulated characters and share some pieces with the Lego Technic line. Characters in the toy line are based on a set of classical elements and Polynesian mythology. Most characters – primarily hero Toa, elder Turaga, and everyman Matoran – are matched to one of six elements, commonly identified by a certain color or prefix (although increasingly Lego has been introducing exceptions to this rule):

• Red characters are identified with fire and use the prefix "Ta-"
• Blue characters are identified with water and use the prefix "Ga-"
• Green characters are identified with air and use the prefix "Le-"
• Brown characters are identified with stone and use the prefix "Po-"
• Black characters are identified with earth and use the prefix "Onu-"
• White characters are identified with ice and use the prefix "Ko-"

Although almost every major group of six so far follows the color scheme, most individual "bad guy" sets have different elemental affiliations or none at all. Also, the current sets, the Toa Inika, have the "stone" character as yellow and grey instead of brown. The prefixes are mostly used to identify kinds of Matoran and where they live (such as fire villagers being referred to as Ta-Matoran or the ice region being called Ko-Wahi), though the Toa Nuva and several kinds of enemies include the prefixes or variations of them in their names (like Gahlok, Lerahk, or Roporak).

Though the Lego Group had previously created building sets based on Lucasfilm's Star Wars films, the Bionicle line was the first Lego project to get a story developed in-house, being officially credited to Bob Thompson and Martin Andersen of Lego (although Thompson has since left to form his own company, Good Story Productions), freelance UK writer Alastair Swinnerton and Christian Faber of Danish advertising company Advance. Bionicle was also the first in the company's history intended to last for over two or three years - in fact, one of the original plans involved seven major multi-year story arcs (Lego has since decided not to limit themselves to seven; should the Bionicle franchise last that long). It was also the first Lego product to have its own direct-to-video movie: Bionicle: Mask of Light; since then there have been two prequels: Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui and Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows.

The Bionicle storyline is told mainly in the book series and comics, which are written primarily by Greg Farshtey. Greg is also a member of the BZPower fan community and often answers questions from forum members about Bionicle. Through his responses (which are posted in the Official Greg Discussion thread) and other posts, he often gives advance details of upcoming storyline points; as well as clarification about current or past storylines, and the occasional quote from an upcoming book.

[edit] Story

[edit] Bionicle Chronicles

For a thousand years, ever since the Great Spirit Mata Nui had been put to sleep, the tropical island of Mata Nui had been in the dark grip of the evil Makuta. The Matoran living there, under the leadership of the wise Turaga, continued to defend themselves against Makuta's constant attacks. One day, six heroic Toa arrived and began to challenge Makuta, but they would have to deal with clashing personalities, ever-growing threats like Bohrok and Rahkshi, and a legend of a "Seventh Toa" before the island could be freed.

[edit] Bionicle Adventures

After Makuta's defeat, the lost city of Metru Nui had been found. The Turaga began to tell the Toa Nuva tales of the city's fall, a time when they were the Toa Metru: they spoke of the Morbuzakh plant monster that threatened to take over Metru Nui, of the Great Cataclysm when Mata Nui had been cast into endless slumber, and of the Great Rescue when the ruined city was conquered by the Visorak and the Matoran were evacuated away from danger.

[edit] Bionicle Legends

Once the tales of Metru Nui have been told; the Matoran, Turaga, and Toa Nuva all return to rebuild the city. But the Toa Nuva are soon sent on a new quest to keep the Great Spirit Mata Nui from dying.

Meanwhile, evil beings called Piraka have come to the island of Voya Nui, enslaving the Matoran who live there. Their goal is to get the powerful Mask of Life that is hidden somewhere on the island. The Toa Nuva arrive also seeking the mask, but are soon defeated by the Piraka and their ally, Brutaka. But all hope is not lost, as Brutaka's former friend Axonn still stands against him and the Piraka, and six Matoran,(Matoro, Nuparu, Kongu, Hewkii, Hahli and Jaller) who have followed the Toa Nuva, are now taking up the fight as Toa Inika. However, the Mask of Life has several guardians, and if the Piraka get their hands on it, an ancient evil could be released.

[edit] Māori Controversy

In 2001, Lego faced legal action by Māori activists from New Zealand for illegally trademarking Māori words used in naming the Bionicle product range.<REF>"Lego game irks Maoris", BBC News, 2005-05-31. Retrieved on 2006-08-14. (in English)</REF> <REF>Griggs, Kim. "Lego Site Irks Maori Sympathizer", Wired News, 2002-11-21. Retrieved on 2006-08-14. (in English)</REF> Lego agreed to stop commercially using the Māori language, <REF>"Lego agrees to stop using Maori names", BBC News, 2001-10-30. Retrieved on 2006-08-14. (in English)</REF> which included a number of existing Bionicle words being changed or removed:

• "Huki" means "hammerstroke", "quaking" or "convulse"; it was used as the name of a stone character and changed to "Hewkii",
• "Jala" was used as the name of a fire character and changed to "Jaller",
• "Kahu", meaning "cape" or "cloak", and "Kewa" were used for types of birds; they became one and the same as "Gukko birds",
• "Koli" was used as the name of a sport and changed to "Kolhii",
• "Maku" means "wet"; it was used as the name of a water character and changed to "Macku",
• "Puku" means "stomach", "belly", etc.; it was used as the name of a pet crab and changed to "Pewku",
• "Tohunga" means "craftsman", "expert", etc.; it was used for the race of villagers and replaced with the term "Matoran".

However, a number of Māori 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:

• "Toa" is the Māori word for "champion" and is the title held by Bionicle's main heroes,
• "Kanohi" is the Māori word for "face" and is the Bionicle word for "mask",
• "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 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,
• "Whenua" is the Māori word for "earth" and is the name of a Turaga of Earth.

Other words that continue to be used also have meaning in other languages; for instance "Turaga" is a title used in Fiji for a village chief.

Since this controversy, Lego has been careful to make sure that all new Bionicle names are not common terms in other languages. ^{[citation needed]} The closest exception to this is a character named "Umbra", after a Latin term for part of a shadow; its use was considered okay because of Latin's status as a dead language.<REF>Official Greg Discussion p. 202, post #6036</REF>

[edit] Alternate reality game

In 2006, the Lego Company created an alternate reality game featuring the All-American Rejects to be Bionicle's American national promotion for the summer of 2006. It started with a website called Free the Band, which stated that the All-American Rejects (AAR) had disappeared, that the main suspects in the disappearance were the Piraka, and that the Inika were trying to rescue them. Since then, two more sites have been discovered: Inika Unite!, a blog made by two kids who are following the events of the game, and Rock Yachts, apparently the front company the Piraka used in the game to kidnap the AAR.

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• List of Bionicle toys
• List of Bionicle media
• Bionicle timeline
• Bionicle society
• Characters and groups in Bionicle
• List of objects in Bionicle
• List of places in Bionicle
• Rahi - Bionicle wildlife and creatures

[edit] External links

• Bionicle.com Official Bionicle Website
• Piraka.com Official Piraka Website (Note: not considered canonical, storyline-wise)
• Free the Band Alternate reality game featuring the All-American Rejects. Also non-canon.
• BZPower Bionicle fansite with news and forums

es:Bionicle

fr:Bionicle he:ביוניקל nl:Bionicle pl:Bionicle fi:Bionicle sv:Bionicle