Bionicle

After suffering a ten-year downturn in the 1990s, the Lego Group went forward with the belief that a theme with a storyline behind it would appeal to consumers. Their initial attempt was the space opera franchise Star Wars, which became an instant success. However, the royalty payments to Lucasfilm marginalized Lego's profits, prompting them to conceive their own story-driven themes. Their first attempts were the short-lived Slizer/Throwbots (1999) and RoboRiders (2000) lines, which proved popular and prompted Lego to move forward with their idea of a new story-driven theme that would run continuously for at least two decades.

The project was originally conceived as "BoneHeads of Voodoo Island" by art director Christian Faber and Lego employees Bob Thompson and Martin Riber Andersen from a brief by Erik Kramer that was sent to outside writers. One of the writers who received it was Alastair Swinnerton, who rewrote the concept and was later invited to pitch it to the Lego Group at their headquarters in Billund, Denmark. The revised concept was well received and Swinnerton was commissioned to expand his initial pitch into a full 'bible'. On his second visit to Billund, the project was given approval and entitled "Bionicle" at an internal Lego meeting (a portmanteau constructed from the words "biological chronicle").[1] The names "BioKnights" and "Afterman" were also considered prior to the finalization of the brand.[2]

To accompany the sets, Lego worked with Swinnerton and the creative agency Advance to create an elaborate story featuring red herrings, arcs and extensive lore centering on half-organic, half-robotic characters and telling it across a vast multimedia spectrum including comic books, novels, games, movies and online content. The use of tropical environments and characters based on classical elements were carried over from Slizer/Throwbots and RoboRiders, as well as the Lego Technic building system featured in those sets. One particular element – the then-innovative 'ball-and-socket' system which created free joint movement – would feature heavily in Bionicle and be expanded upon in subsequent sets.

The first wave of Bionicle sets were initially launched in December 2000 in Europe and Australasia as a "test market" to predict how well the series would sell in North America. The official website, explaining the premise of Bionicle, also debuted around the same time. After a positive reception, Bionicle premiered in North America in mid-2001, where it generated massive success and earned the Lego Group £100 million in its first year.[3] New sets were released every six months, ranging from buildable action figures to play sets and vehicles, and would gradually increase in size and flexibility with every new wave. Collectibles such as weapon ammo and the "Kanohi" masks that certain characters wore were also sold; some became rare and valuable and withheld secret codes that when entered onto the official Bionicle website, provided the user with "Kanoka Points" that enabled them to access exclusive membership material.

As Bionicle's popularity rose, it became one of Lego's most successful properties, accounting for nearly all of their financial turnover from the previous decade. Bionicle was named as the #1 Lego theme in 2003 and 2006 in terms of sales and popularity,[4] with other Lego themes at the time failing to match profits generated by Bionicle. Its popularity led to high web traffic on its official website, averaging more than one million page views per month, and further kinds of merchandise such as clothes, toiletries and fast-food restaurant collectibles.

On November 24, 2009, Lego announced that production on new Bionicle sets would cease after a final wave was released in 2010. The decision was made due to recent low sales and a lack of new interest in the theme, possibly brought on by its decade-long backstory and lore. A successor theme, Hero Factory, launched in mid-2010. It continued to utilize the building system introduced in Bionicle before evolving into the Character and Creature Building System (CCBS) that would later be carried over into other Lego sets and eventually Bionicle's 2015 reintroduction.

At his request, long-term Bionicle comic book writer and story contributor Greg Farshtey was given permission to continue the Bionicle storyline, with chapters for new serials arranged to be posted regularly on the website BionicleStory.com.[5] However, Farshtey stopped posting new content in 2011 due to other commitments and the website was shut down in 2013, leaving a number of serials incomplete. Farshtey continues to play an active role in the Bionicle community and regularly contributes new story details via online forums and message boards.

Work on a reboot to Bionicle began in 2012. Matt Betteker, who was a junior designer on Hero Factory, was promoted to senior designer for the project. The theme's comeback was announced on September 19, 2014, with the first wave of sets and story details revealed at New York Comic Con on October 9.[6] Dubbed "Generation 2" by fans, the new storyline features the same premise as the original, albeit with simplified lore and a smaller media platform.

The reboot launched in January 2015 to a mixed reception from toy critics and fans of the original Bionicle franchise, with the playability of the new sets and the inspiration taken from the theme's first toy wave being praised, but the simplified story and undeveloped characters receiving less positive feedback. Despite plans to release new Bionicle sets through to at least 2017, Lego discontinued the reboot in 2016 due to low sales.

A promotional image used for advertising the original Tahu set (2001).

Set in a science fantasy universe featuring a diversity of cyborgs, the main story details the exploits of the Toa, heroic beings with elemental powers, whose sworn duty is to protect the Matoran – the prime populace of their world – and reawaken the Great Spirit Mata Nui, their god-like guardian who was forced into a coma state by the actions of the evil Makuta.

The first story arc (2000–2003) takes place on the tropical island of Mata Nui, named after the Great Spirit, and deals with the arrival of six Toa, the Toa Mata (later transformed into the more powerful Toa Nuva), and their adventures in protecting the Matoran villagers from Makuta's minions. A heavy emphasis is placed on the Kanohi masks worn by the Toa, which supplement their elemental powers with abilities such as super strength and super speed. The second arc (2004–2005) acts as a prequel to the first. Set on the island city of Metru Nui, it explains the Matoran's origins and how they came to settle on Mata Nui island. The third arc (2006–2008) sees a new team of Toa set out on a quest to find the Mask of Life, an ancient artifact that can save the dying Mata Nui's life, while the Toa Nuva resume their quest to reawaken him. A fourth arc (2009), originally envisioned as the start of a new era of the franchise, introduces the desert world of Bara Magna and its inhabitants. However, when Lego cancelled Bionicle later that year, the remainder of any planned storyline was scrapped and replaced with one that concluded the entire saga in 2010.

Typically, characters such as the Toa and Matoran are divided into tribes based on six "primary" elements: fire, water, air, earth, stone, and ice. Less common "secondary" elements, such as light, gravity, and lightning, began being introduced in 2003.

The whole narrative was developed on a multimedia platform by a team of Lego employees led by Bob Thompson[4] and spans online animations, comic books, console and online games, guidebooks, novels, short stories, and a series of direct-to-DVD films – Bionicle: Mask of Light (2003), Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui (2004), Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows (2005), and Bionicle: The Legend Reborn (2009). The majority of comics and novels were written by Greg Farshtey, who also published a number of in-character blogs, serials, and podcasts that expanded the Bionicle lore. While the toyline was discontinued in 2010, publication of these serials continued through to 2011 before halting abruptly.

A reboot of the original story, the revival chronicles the adventures of six elemental heroes, the Toa, who protect the bio-mechanical inhabitants of the tropical island of Okoto from Makuta and his minions. Again, characters are divided into six elemental tribes: Fire, Water, Jungle (changed from Air due to creative reasons), Earth, Stone and Ice.

The reboot's multimedia spectrum was scaled back in comparison to the first generation's; online animations, a series of books and graphics novels authored by Ryder Windham, and the animated Netflix series Lego Bionicle: The Journey to One (2016) detail the narrative. The saga was originally planned to span into at least 2017 prior to Lego discontinuing Bionicle for a second time.

In 2002, several Māori iwi (tribes) from New Zealand were angered by Lego's lack of respect for some of their words which were used to name certain characters, locations and objects in the Bionicle storyline.[12][13] A letter of complaint was written, and the company agreed to change the names of certain story elements (e.g. the villagers originally known as "Tohunga" was changed to "Matoran")[13] and met with an agreement with the Māori people to still use a small minority of their words.[14]

In the story, the reason for certain name changes was dubbed as a Naming Ceremony for certain Matoran after doing heroic deeds (though the pronunciations remain the same), an example being the name change of 'Huki' to 'Hewkii'.[15] Other names such as "Toa" meaning "Warrior", "Kanohi" meaning "Face" and "Kōpaka" meaning "Ice"[13] were not changed.

• Ultimate Spider-Man (2005) – Spider-Man refers to a group of enemy cyborgs as “bionicles.”
• Room (novel) (2010) - Jack briefly watches a comercial for "Bionicles" on the TV.
• Star Wars: Smuggler’s Guide (2018) – a character mentioned in this Star Wars reference book borrows the name of main antagonist of Bionicle, the Makuta.

• Friends – in several episodes, the 2001 Toa Mata sets in their combiner Toa Kaita forms are seen in Joey and Chandler's apartment, as well as a maskless Toa Mata Kopaka figure that appeared on top of their microwave.
• Even Stevens – in one episode, the characters of Louis and Beans play with the 2001 Toa Mata and 2002 Bohrok sets.
• Malcolm in the Middle – the episode "If Boys Were Girls" shows the character Dewey playing with the 2001 Toa Mata sets, albeit with different names given to them.
• The King of Queens – in the episode "Friender Bender", the 2001 Toa Mata sets can be seen in the toy store where characters Doug and Carrie are buying toys.
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide – the character Cookie appears to wear a Bionicle joint piece to help hold up an extra lens in his glasses.
• Johnny Test – the season 1 episode “Johnny and the Mega Roboticles” is a parody of the toyline and features a parody of Toa Tahu named Roboticle.
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – the episode "To the Lighthouse" sees character John Henry playing with the 2008 Mistika sets and discussing the storyline. He is seen with them again in "The Good Wound", asking why God didn't use ball-and-socket joints to create humans, referring to the Bionicle building system.
• Suburgatory – in the episode "Victor Ha", Lisa finds her adopted brother hiding a 2010 Stars set and bonds with him over her love of the franchise.
• Clangers – the episode "Small's New Star" features Bionicle set pieces among the junk in the Iron Chicken's nest.

• Through the Woods - a journal entry in the game mentions a Bionicle set that had belonged to a child.

• The Lego Movie (2014) – a promo image of the Toa Mata is shown, presenting one of the many realms in the Lego universe.
• The Lego Batman Movie (2017) – the words "The Bionicle Man" are shown on a marquee, a pun on the television series The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man.
• Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) - sets of Nidhiki and Krekka appear in the background.
• Marriage Story (2019) - the set of Skull Basher appears throughout the movie.