BIONICLE Retrospective: The Ignition Trilogy (2006-2008)

Time to go down the rabbit hole that is the Bionicle lore again
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Tracklist:
Move Along (Instrumental) by The All-American Rejects,
Somebody Told Me (Instrumental) by The Killers,
Crashed by Chris Daughtry,
Gravity Hurts (Instrumental) by Cryoshell,
Gravity Hurts (classical 2018 version) by Cryoshell ft. the Budapest Art Orchestra,
and Sea Bottom Seque by Tomoya Ohtani from the Sonic Lost World OST.
I do not own or hold claim to any footage or music whatsoever. Certain video clips used are property of Advance animation, Traveller's Tales, Eidos Interactive, DC Comics, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, DR Movie, JM Animation, MOI Animation, Titmouse, and Greg Farshtey. All video and audio footage has been used for the intent of transformative commentary and is permitted by the fair use clause.

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

An excellent video! Well edited, clear, concise, and with literary analysis I have never seen applied to Bionicle before! I am so happy this was randomly recommended to me, good job!

[@AF-qc5vo]

Hello there.

[@L.P.1987]

Eh?

[@toalesovikk7168]

I see you everywhere.

[@DoomguyIsGrinningAtYou.]

GENERAL KENOBI!

[@17jacoyne]

If only LEGO made movies for the bionicle ignition trilogy

[@cookiesontoast9981]

I wish.. 😢 Ignition is my favourite Bionicle period.

[@Antibrutaka]

Just a thought, live action bionicle? Like actors in mo cap suits similar to Iron Man, War machine and Children of Thanos from Infinity war

[@harrylane4]

@@Antibrutaka this is a horrible idea that I would pay good money to watch

[@Biohaloxboxtranfor]

Check Noah Production's Ignition trilogy movies, he's still making the story of 2008.

[@wyattbartlett3660]

They should bring back bionicle

[@Vidar4105]

You forgot to mention that one of the greatest characters in all of Bionicle was created during the ignition trilogy, more specifically 2006. Your probably wondering who is this character? Well it’s none other than Good Guy!

[@Lavapasta]

LMAO

[@sea-bassisabottlecapco3767]

“Good Guy how long have you been standing there?” “About thirty minutes” “Leave” “Okay, can I have one of your cool hats?” “No” “Okay”

[@ltb1345]

The Ignition Trilogy was always my favorite part of Bionicle. "Bionicle Legends" is actually one of my favorite book series of all time.

[@megalodon7916]

It kind of funny that the Barraki set in motion the entire chain of events that make up the Bionicle story when they gave Teridax the idea to betray Mata Nui and take over the universe, which led to him taking over the Brotherhood and coming up with his plan to become the new Great Spirit.

[@xendordawnburst9969]

Personally, I am a fan of the Inika masks. Sure, I get why they weren't as popular, but I found their designs to be quite fascinating, and the idea of the masks being organic and alive to an extent quite intriguing! Heck, I even thought up my own Toa team concept that would bring this design back. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing any custom Kanohi creators doing commissions for this style of mask.

[@fiendwithoutaface6833]

I'm glad you enjoy them but, Im not a fan, and am actually in the process of getting replacement versions from shapeways in the more standard style. I already have an Elda, Calix, and Kadin and have unique eye colors picked out too. I think the reason 3D printed masks aren't being made for the Inika heads is more because it needs to be a flexible material to fit on and be easily removal from the dome than anything else, and I'm not sure flexible 3d printed items are a thing. Now, I could be wrong about that.

[@xendordawnburst9969]

@@fiendwithoutaface6833 They are a thing, just not as common. Custom 3D plastic often uses 3D printers, but since rubber is a softer material a mold is required. I think that makes it more expensive, too!

[@Demon_1408]

I like how unique those mask are. Also wish if they leave the mask a pin hold on both side just like Piraka so we can attach it to other parts.

[@thedoomaster14]

People think Infinity War's ending is mindblowing, they haven't seen bionicle ignition trilogy's end

[@cosmicprison9819]

Iliyan Stoychev I don't actually think Infinity War is a good movie. My brother even fell asleep while watching it. It's just a predictable MacGuffin quest with the kitchen sink thrown at it in terms of the size of the cast. The best part about it is Thanos, but even his motivation is illogical (wiping out half the population of the universe only temporarily fixes resource problems as long as species keep procreating and thus increasing their numbers again). Makuta on the other hand had a much more interesting motivation in 2003, when it seemed like he wanted to protect his brother from suffering. The prequels just retconned him into your standard world-dominating cartoon villain, and Ignition made it even worse, by implying all the setbacks he experienced had ultimately been part of his grand plan to take over the robot. Yeah, sure - and Palpatine always intended for the second Death Star to blow up, as Episode IX would have us believe... 😂

[@thedoomaster14]

@@cosmicprison9819 Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I respect yours. But just some things I think about what you wrote in your comment. 1. What makes Thanos such a great villain is not his agenda, but his drive to make it happen. You may think his goal is illogical, but it is clear he is not entirely sane, he is a villain after all. His motivation might not make compete sense but what makes be adore his character is his persistence to succeed, not to mention he is badass 2. Not sure why you would think Infinity War was boring, almost everyone I know loves it. Yeah it is a "find the magical artifact" story, but it is not what makes Infinity War good. Infinity war is good because of the characters, badass villain, great fights, insane ending and the fact they had time for almost every character to shine. In my book that's what you call a success. 3. About Makuta, you seriously prefer the "I'm bad cuz my brother sleeping" Saturday morning cartoon villain of 2003? His motivation was flawed. Why protect Mata Nui anyways? Oh and he is so cartoonishly evil it's hilarious. In comparison, ignition makuta is a mastermind badass who manages to completely outstart everyone and win. By the way it might be controversial but I would have preferred if bionicle had ended in 2008 with Makuta winning. Not only because it would be mind-blowing if there was nothing after that, with the villain winning, but also the continuation we got in 2009 and 2010 was not good.

[@juliad9715]

@@thedoomaster14 but i dont wanna Makuta win. Fin.

[@bushwhacker66]

*ABOUT DAMN TIME!! THE INIKA AND MARHI WHERE LIKE THE SCIFI HALO VERSIONS OF BONKLE!!*

[@skeet39]

The years of the best bionicle music for sure. Great video and summary!

[@Awakeningspirit20]

Another interesting feature of this trilogy was that we had individualized villain teams for almost the first time ever (the Bohrok-Kal in 2003 could also be considered this) that were not robots, vehicles powered by smaller life forms, animals, or representatives of a larger army. While every other story year before had the big bad be a titan character, for the first time the titans were supplemental and the villain teams themselves were complex and the focal point of antagonism. In 2006-2007, the villains posed as much of a threat to one another as the heroes did to them! You had some of the cruelest, dark, psychotic, and sadistic villains bonded together out of necessity, and they wanted to kill each other as much as they did the heroes. The Piraka lead this trend with their dumb brutishness, but then the Barraki leveled the darkness up. Both teams were basically like gangs that would literally crash the universe or hold it hostage for their own gain. Absolute evil. It was almost a surprise in 2008 to meet a team of villains who actually functioned as a team very well, and they were the first tangible glimpse of the Brotherhood of Makuta we had been hearing about since 2005. This supplemented the return of Teridax himself in 2007, and presented the most powerful villains team ever assembled in Bionicle. Of course, because it was a part of Ignition, the writers couldn't help themselves but to throw some internal treachery into the Makuta team by the end. Icarax and Krika actually rebelled for very good reason, as opposed to rebelling for a stupid or selfish reason like the Piraka and Barraki, and both were killed off by their own team, which in turn was killed off by the one they served, Teridax. Ignition was the most productively-substantive storyline of Bionicle; its peak. 2009 would arguably be more substantive, but not in a good way. The whole feeling of 2009 was 'the year tacked on that shouldn't have been;' 2008 was The Final Battle. We had a story that might as well have taken place on Earth, with power-less heroes and villains fighting over resources. Not even an action-packed story on Earth like World War II, but more like petty wars during Antiquity. The only upsides of that year were the first ever Mata Nui set as well as the best builds we had ever seen in Bionicle.

[@Toaofvideos]

I like your commentary, though I feel the need to point out that the Ignition saga wasn't really a trilogy... it ended in 2007 with Matoro's sacrifice and 2008 represents its own part of the story. Although I guess they do resemble each other thematically, so there's that.

[@tsukopara2054]

Toatapio Nuva 2008 is part of Ignition. Ignition is the story of the Ignika, which plays a huge role in 2008.

[@Toaofvideos]

@@tsukopara2054 It certainly does, but the term Ignition refers to the "igniting" of Mata Nui's heart after his death, which was the finale of that story arc. You can see in the comics, for example, that the title "Ignition" was no longer used for the 2008 comics, distinguishing it from the previous comic series.

[@naufalakhdan2410]

Terima m ggjhbb nnh ytbtrgftj, bj, tk m, mm. 6

[@jamessinclair2898]

@@naufalakhdan2410 I agree

[@roseamia25ji]

@@naufalakhdan2410 preach it brother, preach it

[@halohair1118]

2006 definitly my fav year. I liked the edgy and dark pace of change. I was in middle school when 2006 came out and the dark theme kept me attracted to the story as i got older

[@NeilReviews]

Great video! Bionicle is one of the things that got me into reading comics.

[@ptpanic2368]

I am so glad you pronounced Inika correctly

[@elgato9o]

and they succeeded. Bionicle IS now a legend to behold.

[@betterlatethannever4529]

Creeping in My Soul was a good choice for trailer music

[@wither5673]

the mari line was the best hands down, both the baraki and toa mari were fantastic!

[@daniebosman2251]

My favorite storyline from the whole Bionicle saga 2006 to 2008 was good year

[@susano7135]

There are some things in life where you take a look at 'em and you think to yourself, "This thing is too good, how does it exist? How did this happen?" Bionicle is one of those things. As a franchise, it was way too good to just be based around 10" tall collectible plastic toys for children, but it WAS that good. Sometimes a miracle like that just happens. From what I understand, TMNT is kind of the same way.

[@ebthenerd6191]

Somebody Told Me. I can see you have good taste in music.

[@Modularity]

Always glad to see these! :D

[@wernernaranjo5257]

Ignition trilogy is my fav period, it was when i discovered Bionicle, bought so many of them, discovered the huge lore, sell DBZ draws in school to buy more bionicles, I got one piraka, two inika, five barraki, three mhari, 4 phantoka and complete mistika set... Glatorian was really ok but is not the same feeling, not the same hype... Time really flies...

[@46Ran-ga]

In defense of Vezon's continuous returns due to being a favorite of the author: he is REALLY funny But absolutely, the ignition trilogy was something else. As much as I understand the grievances for the loss of early Bionicle's more mysterious and fantastic vibes for a near grimdark approach, I'm kind of glad they went with it because the result was incredible. And that massive cliffhanger of an ending! If I was a kid and got left at Teridax taking over the universe I would have shat myself. Mr Farshtey what do you MEAN I have to wait a whole year to know how my favorite characters are doing.

[@AidanMartin]

i have been waiting for this

[@danielbeardsley7846]

I loved the 06 and 07 designs and the toys themselves. It made sense to use a lot of recycled parts in 07 because both the Toa and the Barraki were supposed to have been mutated, so having them look a bit like MOCs adds to that effect. The Toa Nuva deserved so much better in 08 though. I still have my Kopaka and Pohatu but man they deserved better. I honestly think the 2015 G2 Toa were a better design than the 08 Toa Nuva

[@hexedcrab]

gravity hurts fucking slaps

[@zacharykim295]

2004 is when I got hooked, 2006 is when I fell in love.

[@tripled2096]

i'm gonna stop you when you say the cordak blasters are bad, they're amazing, and i love them so much

[@Forest-mo7lo]

Bionicle are bio-mechanical beings

[@taqresu5865]

While I love Bionicle Heroes as a video game: Incredible music, an amazing encyclopedia for every mask up to that point, and of course, the hilarious antics in the Bonus area, it failed to capture the amazing plot and made some strange decisions concerning all the enemies they crammed into the game. The books (with my 2007 Bionicle Encyclopedia as an anchor) introduced me to one of the greatest Trilogy of Bionicle waves. The stakes were never higher, and stability seemed as fragile as Hahli Mahri joints (it was a huge rollercoaster of sets, from highs like 2006's Titans and the Barraki to the lows like the severe mishandling of the Toa Nuva and the decision to settle on the Inika build pattern). Just watch the fan-made stop motion Ignition films if you want proof that this Trilogy deserves the silver screen.

[@OverlyPositiveFanboy]

Ah, Matoro Inika, my first BIONICLE I remember wanting. For some reason, despite this, I only got three Barraki afterwards and didn't become a serious collector until 2009. However, this was 2007-2008 was the time I got into the story, so this era still holds importance to me.

[@youngmadman13]

Bionicle Heroes was my religion.

[@Opt1140]

Bionicle ignition is the best part of Bionicle

[@helixxmusic]

2007 is my favorite bionicle year

[@sethzac2424]

Nice :) ,keep up the good work dude :)

[@nomDePlume999]

“Bionicle: a literary achievement of science fiction”

[@davidsymonds7090]

I feel like criticising the Ininka build when it came for being overused in the future doesn't apply to the initial release.

[@supercool2898]

Are you going to do the bara magna saga?

[@Lavapasta]

I like timing my video subjects by the month/season, so probably in the summer-ish with May at the earliest and October at the latest.

[@collinsvincent9925]

Can you review Stretch Armstrong and the flex fighters?

[@jswatch9270]

@@Lavapasta are u gonna review the next bionicle story

[@Lavapasta]

@@jswatch9270 what do you think

[@jswatch9270]

@@Lavapasta like from 2009 to the very end

[@Tommy_Collada]

Can i just mention that the toa nuva never became toraga, they lasted the entire series without giving up their powers. They even served along with other toa, and didn't give up their powers.

[@darklucario7214]

Inika masks were what they are was due to them finding unusual organic kanohi masks on the nightmarish island of Karzanni

[@ESK0VER0_x]

I thought it was genius to release 3 heroes and 3 villains instead of just 6 heroes or villains. + I loved the upraged Toa Mistika looks

[@Foulowe59]

6:47 this is a mistaka lol

[@ToaFierek2]

YESSSS

[@Matoro-wp9hy]

All I can say is, 2007 best year

[@fiendwithoutaface6833]

I get why it's a fan favorite, but the sets I got from that year cracked apart when I put them together, right out of the package. Definitely not the best year to me.

[@generalgrievous3830]

All bionicle characters are are part organic Also it’s pronounced “noo-par-roo”

[@generalgrievous3830]

He should’ve also mentioned how the mask turns silver as it dies and finally black

[@mrmiclego4529]

Love your video, but i have one question. What pic did you use during 1:51

[@Lavapasta]

It's Bionicle Heroes concept art that I found on Christian Faber's blog. The whole site has some great stuff: 3.bp.blogspot.com/-uymdM_a5FRE/T8vb37uieEI/AAAAAAAAAUU/nKOCi9YG2ps/s1600/Christian+Faber+Files_Bionicle+Heroes+cover+sketch.jpg faberfiles.blogspot.com/2012/06/bionicle-heroes-cover-concepts.html

[@Mira_Mira_0n_The_Wall]

Very well done video. But you forgot about the part in 2006 where matorans travel to the land of Karzahni. i know that you're just explainig the narrative lore but you could at least mention something about Karzahni. After all he's also an important character.

[@Lavapasta]

media3.mensxp.com/media/content/2018/Oct/image2-1538991106.gif

[@catpin]

The Toa Mistika 3 looks more like the menacing or new characters or even the 2006 two Bionicle characters and the other one looks like a Borock and they don't even look like the Owna Nuva, Gail Nuva and Tahu Nuva their 2002 counterparts and 2001 counterparts.

[@legoawcstopmotioner9435]

Lego Bionicle Issue 6 The Underwater City is my favorite Bionicle comic.

[@fellowsoliderofchrist2263]

I actually really like the toa inika

[@Girard1020]

Matoro isn’t there way to bring him back to life. What about when Takunuva Toa of Light merged with Makuta brought Jalla back to life. The All of the Toa who fought for peace. Should rebuild there homes again the way they were and each Island should be merged into one.

[@ESK0VER0_x]

They should've made a movie at least about the Pirakas and Inikas

[@QuikVidGuy]

Makuta WHAT??? And uh, so If the island fell apart... does that mean the civilians all died?

[@akhyarrayhka4048]

Matoro is MVP

[@yurick]

Wait how is the island of Matu Nui on Mata Nui himself if the universe is inside of him? That kinda confused me..

[@cosmicprison9819]

Yurick Mata Nui is outside the universe. And I prefer it over anything inside of it 😜. This plot twist, while it may have been planned from the very beginning, caused many more questions than it answered.

[@betterlatethannever4529]

It sucks that we didn't get a Mahri game

[@biosonic100]

You can tell the initial Bionicle story in three big chunks. The Awaken Saga, the Enlightenment Saga, and the Ignition Saga. All that is to say, when it comes to telling this story with the intro, the backstory, and the resolution, that third chunk, the Ignition saga felt a bit too down, dark, and cynical to me. It didn’t feel character driven anymore, it was plot-driven. Sure, its great that we followed characters we knew the whole way in, but it would have been nice to keep the first Toa team as the main team throughout the whole story. Like, they could have gotten their adaptive Armor sooner, and be the heroes for 2006 onwards with new sets based on the new armor and environment.

[@KARKATELCESARENVIADODESA-pv4yd]

BRUH NOT CHARACTER DRIVEN?! HAVE YOU READ THE LORE?! THE BOOKS?! blasphemy, the Ignition saga has the deepest characters of all Bionicle, Piraka, Barraki, Lesovikk, bruh...

[@jr9529]

I kinda wanna see a mistika revamp where they actually look more like the characters in question. I'm surprised I haven't seen it yet

[@nikajinpusno9563]

I don't agree on the Inika sets. You can say that the sets are the same build for all the years before 2006. In fact, the Inika builds were actually more varied than previous years' sets, and the Inika were also the foundation for the more varied set builds in later years. Maybe the build was repeated later, but it wasn't that bad. We still got original colour pieces in later that were cool for MOCs, despite being Piraka or Inika pieces. Plus we got the cool Makuta body torsos in 2008 that were new. And come on, the Toa from 2008 are cool. They didn't need to resemble the Toa from 2003. And it's good they didn't, because the sets gave us cool pieces in unique colours and unique masks to add to the collection. If they went for revamps of 2003 Toa masks, we'd probably get something like gen 2 Toa masks. The only thing I can agree on in 2008 Toa Mistika is that Gali's mask was a bit of a stretch, plus both Gali and Onua got pretty much the same weapon as Kopaka Phantoka (Just a launcher with a laser). They could have given Onua and Gali something else for weapons. But Onua and Tahu's masks were great to me. Form 2008 Lewa, I actually preferred his mask from the Axalara T9 vehicle-adapted armour set. I think Lewa's mask in that set was the coolest mask of that year, maybe even cooler than the Ignika itself.

[@MaliceWocky]

I had my complaints with the Toa Phantoka&Toa Mystica but tbh they're the same thing as the Toa Ignika. None their Mahri Nui forms look anything similiar to their Voya Nui forms. Nuparu looks more white than black and Hewkii even wears a helmet more than a mask. But i also wonder if there was other ideas for the designs since Kopaka Phantokas mask looks more like Toa Nujus mask. Maybe the Turaga were supposed to come back?

[@TikiFoamy38]

2006 sets are lackluster. But sometimes simple is better. :)

[@eliphas_vlka]

You have forgot the Toa inika/the one with the silver mask of life

[@collinsvincent9925]

Can you review Stretch Armstrong and the flex fighters?

[@Sealdrop]

bionicle boomer

[@MatthewKite]

I don't recognize where the footage at 1:53 is from. Help?

[@ashfl999]

The intro to Bionicle Heroes

[@fernandoorozco5968]

their biomeachial beings

You do know that when it came to lore, you guys were spoiled right? Any of the books or related media (including the Mcdonalds sets) were shipped to latim america at the time. Which was a shame!

[@catpin]

0:53

[@Sunaru6914]

My favorite bonkle years are 2005 2006...

[@firelightyear]

OH MY GOD! THEY KILLED MATARO!

[@andreworders7305]

3:31 free the band?

[@karolinak3188]

I got the 3 titans in 2020 christmas

[@michaelbuckner5385]

Check out similar art on www.deviantart.com/bstyle3

[@RaptorofRex07]

Voya Nui the skull island of Bionicle lol

[@Girard1020]

2.02 I remember that great game I wish to play it again. I miss it. The designs from 2001-2010 need to make a comeback what’s wrong going retro? I wanted to use the parts to create MGR: Revengence Metal Gear RAY

[@tariqstarks1691]

Can you do both camp camp and/or bee and puppycat. Please.

[@Lavapasta]

January 31st, 2018: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4rbo353a9uplas

[@briepare4516]

Do 2009 2010

[@Lavapasta]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHq2aZRvbbF6gKs

[@emphorepolpatinedasenate]

If u call the inika a cookie cutter then u better call the metru and hordika cookie cutters

[@catoticneutral]

matoro died for our sins

[@DaveHelios99]

I actually like Mistika

[@Lichzim]

*YO YO PIRAKA*

[@eliphas_vlka]

Matorooo

[@colehaney8836]

And then the line got cancelled

[@squirtle3859]

4:55 nerfed....?

[@namkha209]

I mean... They went from dual-elements (Electricity+their own) and op mask to honestly dissapointing bushwackers. Jaller went from FIRE AND LIGHTNING FATE-BENDING ONE FREE D20 GIGACHAD to a crab herder with a fancy sword who can boil the water or use sonar.

[@ondururagittandeska2004]

Super heroes vs vampires where have I seen that before hmmmm

[@Cerberus111-s2y]

Tbh I thought the toa phantoka and toa mestika where the toa metru

[@SuperFireburst]

Lol... lackluster character designs. The gull on this kid

[@eloiseyasso6898]

misika is beter because i want to see new characters

[@GameingMasters1]

*new pa roo*