What is this? I’ve liked many things throughout the years. While some have fallen out of my attention, others remain firmly cemented in my memories and feelings. So, I’ve decided to start a mini-series where each week (hopefully), I pick something random that I like or have liked and discuss it, why I like it, and its impact on me. These things can be varied, and range from more trivial matters such as my favourite animal, to books, games, and movies I’ve liked, to topics that have shaped who I am as a person. The posts, accordingly, will vary in length. See my rating system here.

The entry for this week is a series I enjoyed back when I was a kid, in elementary and middle school, Bionicle. A short warning that this post has spoilers for the endings and secrets of the universe!

I first got into the series when my uncle gifted me the set for the Rahkshi Panrahk. From there, I began reading the books of the Metru Nui saga, accumulating sets and reading all the subsequent books, until the Legends saga ended.

In short, the series is about a giant robot named Mata Nui, which contains within itself an entire universe of biomechanical creatures. The series details struggles between various factions, with one particularly ambitious one even plotting to take over the entire robot and its contained universe.

Chronologically, the robot was sent to travel the univese, and the entire canon of the main story takes place within the final ~1000 or so years of the robot’s lifetime. In the order of progression, however, the fact that the entire known universe was a robot was not revealed until almost near the end of the series. I spent my entire childhood unaware, so the fact that there was an “outside world” was quite a shock to me.

I regret not being more involved with the series when it was still active - I don’t have a complete set of any line of the heroes besides the Toa Mahri, and LEGO has ended the story (with a failed reboot in 2015 no one talks about).

I’ve also lost track of a lot of the story after the main young reader books ended in 2008, but fortunately passionate fans have compiled the complete history of the series into volumes of online pdfs for fans like me to catch up on.

See you in the next one!

TIL Rating: 2. The series has pretty much ended, and if any new content comes out I’d take a look but otherwise I’ll leave it resting in peace.