I've been wondering if the Bionicle story team was setting up an reality-warping / dream arc on Spherus Magna. Making the characters and the audience question the nature of reality, dreams, perception, and how they interact.

Also the idea of desires and wishes and to make things real that you want.

From the GSR, the Shadowed One with the sleeping virus entered, as did Voporak with the Vahi. Mata Nui said to have had dark dreams while he was in his coma. And then there's the Golden-Skinned Being / Irnakk who can make dreams into reality.

On Spherus Magna, we have Annona who's a reality warper, feasts on dreams, and created the Dreaming Plague.

Theory: The Golden-Skinned Being would've been named Irnakk had the story gone on.

From a meta perspective, Greg only had a limited number of approved names to pull from, and with Bionicle no longer being funded, I imagine this list wouldn't update itself. I don't blame him for reusing names like Artakha or Tren Krom, which were originally introduced during the Mata Nui saga as the names of locations, before retconning them to also be based on actual characters. Constantly referring to the Golden-Skinned Being as such might've gotten old for Greg, understandably.

Not to mention; Irnakk and the GSB share a lot of similarities? Aside from their golden appearances, they're both fusions of the Piraka, from a set and story perspective; Irnakk is a combiner model, the GSB is made from all six. They both have power over dreams, and are revered by the Skakdi before being made real.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of MoCs use Irnakk's spine piece to create the GSB, and in general it's portrayed with a Skakdi spine; Yes, there are technically other people who went into its creation, but they're no-names who appeared out of nowhere for that scene. People mostly recognize the GSB as the culmination of the Piraka, who themselves encountered a fabrication of the mythical Irnakk on Voya Nui. Given Zaktan's whole encounter with Irnakk, it makes sense he and the rest would bring this legend to life a second time.

Greg already gave us Karzahni, the sapient plant, and then Karzahni, the actual character the plant was named after; So the case of two Irnakks seems reasonable, and one could argue the first Irnakk seen in 2006 was technically an extension of the Piraka themselves, being derived from their fear and imagination. So maybe the real Irnakk was the friends they made along the way... In all seriousness, Irnakk was always just a figment of Skakdi imagination; So the GSB, which brings dreams to life, is itself a dream brought to life. For all we know, Irnakk was originally a prophecy, and now it’s come true.

irnakk attack

Finally built all the 2006 combiners:

Botar - 11/10. This made me realize *why* Axonn was built so weird while Brutaka was a killer solo set; it's in order to meld them both fully into Botar. If you only have time/budget for a single combiner in your collection, this is the one you want to get. How small the pile of unused pieces is when your done is *shocking,* it might be the smallest ratio ever amongst combiners. I don't want to spoil it too much, but it's great.

Kardas - 3/10. Points mainly come from an interesting chest and wing build, but *all* the limbs feel wrong. Wrong to look at, purposeless and spindly vibes as you build it, squandered use of the piston pieces. I've table scrapped better arms and legs. The neck barely stays upright, and falls over from a stiff breeze. Loses points because of: how annoying it is to need to rebuild Vezon from the waist up and the Fenrakk skull; I lost a 3Long pin in the Kardas skull when rebuilding it into Fenrakk, truly bad design there; it doesn't conserve pieces in order to provide pins for Vezon to stand on, he's just hanging off the chain in the promo pictures even.

Whereas Brutaka and Axonn combine beautifully, Kardas needs another draft to incorporate V&F. I think an opportunity to make the axes the hands of the dragon exists, but serious work would need to be done on the legs and neck. Not worth your time, unless you're the kind of mad lad who wants to rebuild it better AND you have the budget to buy three titan sets, or already have some of them. (Tangentially, I have a vague memory of OnuaNut doing this on BZP with the Mata Nui titan set but I don't know how to find it again, anyone seen that thread?)

Lava Hawk - 9/10. Similar to Botar, I now get that the matoran looked That Way to accomodate this satisfying build. Also just a great looking bird. If your combiner budget isn't super high, this one is an easy second to Botar.

Dagger Spider - 7/10. Body build is neat, but another spider? After all that visorak stuff? C'mon man. The Matoran look That Way for this again. Solid little build, slap it together if you have the sets but you don't need to seek out another four legged spider, there's already a dozen of those.

Jovan - 5.5/10. It's... Nuparu but bristling with metal. Totally devoid of the blue or yellow from Hewkii and Hahli. Iunno. Maybe this'll be good for people who buy the Batman or evil Star Wars sets made of only black and grey. It's not doing anything for me. Neat use of Hewkii's chain but it is, truly, just another Inika build, if slightly wider. Bonus half point for staying upright, unlike Kardas. But it's also unsalvageable, unlike Kardas - I don't see a way to nullify the problems here. Skip this one, even if he's the only non-Takanuva Toa set to control an element that's not one of the main six.

Irnakk - 8.5/10. Honestly, this is as good as the Lava Hawk, but I'm docking half a point because you can't build it with just the sets, you technically need five extra pieces. Still looks *really* good without them, and the build is even fun unlike some on this list. Next to Zaktan, it does look like something that would fuck him up. Give it a whirl.

Protodax - 7.5/10. Bahahaha. This one was made for me specifically. It's goofy and silly AND it looks better than most of the 2005 rahi combiners. YMMV but I loved it. Good use of a piraka spine. The build isn't anything to write home about, but I looks like a blorbo, if a blorbo had three heads. Adding a half point purely because of the out-of-the-box design that may be the most unhinged *while-still-cohesive* build I've seen simultaneously. This is the anti-Jovan in a lot of ways. Look, just build it for me so you can have a good laugh as well, okay? Great.

some Very Peculiar Lads

some notes :) bc im proud of these hehe

That's of course not Krahka's actual appearance :)

She stole traits from all the Metru! Her hair is most obvious since she has all of their styles at once (short, braid, twist, ponytail, buzzcut) but she also has Matau's large mouth, Whenua's nose, and Nokama's lips

She also has cheetah-like "tear" marks, a long neck and long ears to make her a lil bit less human

Akamai and Wairuha share respectively Tahu/Lewa's face shape, Onua/Kopaka's hair texture, and Pohatu/Gali's hairstyle

The Ignika forgot living beings have a face. whoops

Maxilos, on the other hand, is a robot! He don't got a real face!

Nektann has seen some battles. Maybe more than a few. His hair got thinned from stress and it will get thinner after Tahu beats his ass into the sands of Bara Magna

Irnakk has no scars because I concluded that the one thing that would make a Skakdi shake uncontrollably in fear would be the image of a clearly veteran but pristine warrior, skin completely unmarred by wounds - which means that nobody ever managed to lay a finger on them before dying by their hand

He's also the only character whose hair isn't colored! For the golden spine and face he has

Umbra came to me in a vision. I don't know why he looks like that

Akamai, Wairuha, Irnakk and Umbra's eyes lack pupils to emphasize that they are not fully "natural"

Did somebody say Irnakk redesign?!

Using only parts from Vezok, Reidak, and Thok, I wanted to modify Irnakk to look a bit more intimidating in stature and scale. The body and head are unchanged, but I went to town reworking the limbs.

First up, I reworked the legs. The official model’s permanent squat always confused me, it added stability at the cost of making the legs a glorified kickstand. The ankles are a little bit flimsy at times, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. The digitigrade leg design gives some serious height over the average Skakdi. As seen prior, I turned the Zamor sphere arm into a sort of crab claw with Thok’s Ice Gun and a Skakdi skull thumb (which articulates!) Quite proud of how elegant it is with so few connector parts to work with.

The major change was taking the weird Zamor rack and turning it into what I’m calling a catcher claw. Since Irnakk is meant to be a scary myth that can do all sorts of cryptid stuff, I figured a big claw meant to bind a victim before using his vision power or Zamor spheres. Nektann has been selected to demonstrate how that might look in action, and as you can tell by that side-by-side this Irnakk is TALL.

But yeah! Was in the mood for some combo model shenanigans and the official Irnakk disappointed me, so I had some fun modding that. May do some more combo model shenanigans soon!

I already posted this on my main blog around 2 years ago, but I headcanon that the Korean Piraka combiners are actually a pair of Skakdi warlords that intentionally make themselves look like Irnakk.

Decided to revamp Irnakk to be similar in style to the rest of the '06 sets while still trying to maintain the 'charm' of the original combo design. His chest still holds zamor spheres (better than the original) and I have a design for his cage hand I'm still iffy on but...yeah.

I took inspiration from Umarak the Destroyer and deathclaws from Fallout for the general shaping; I opted to translate the weapon from the korean piraka kaita to be his dual launcher staff to maintain the wave function.

Design philosophy aside, I'm really happy with how he turned out!

Headcanon: The specific wording here, “all the tales told by his species”, isn’t just a shorthand for “all the tales told about Irnakk by his species”. Rather, it’s a convention in Skakdi storytelling that the end of every story features a gruesome murder of all the characters by Irnakk, even if it has nothing to do with him. Not writing this scene indicates the author needs the characters alive for a sequel.

Bionicle: Dungeons and Shadows (Fantasy AU) Worldbuilding Thoughts

Because I have no self-control when it comes to the plot bunnies that bite me, here’s a brain dump of ideas for a Fantasy AU inspired by the various Isekai manga/anime I’ve watched and various tabletop games. If anyone has any ideas to contribute to this AU or help flesh it out more or have any questions that'll help me think on how to develop it better, I’d love to hear it!

Also, if it feels like it’s all over the place, blame the fact that I wrote all this on a Monday when my brain was fried from work and I didn’t want to lose the thoughts I had. Things are bound to change the next time I look at this idea. 😂

In this AU, Mata Nui is considered a deity, but is actually a Titan created by the Great Beings. The Great Beings are a pantheon of mortals known as Glatorian who rose to godhood status, though they prefer not to trifle with petty squabbles and focus on creating. Another name to refer to the Great Beings is “the Divines”.

Energized protodermis is a great source of magic that transformed Spherus Magna, imbuing organic and inorganic materials with powerful magic. These very materials were used to create the beings of the Matoran Universe, with many non-Toa possessing the capability to perform magic to varying degrees. (Note: Conjurer may or may not possess actual magic and may be using an enchanted weapon in this AU, though he claims he does like in the Prime Universe)

Toa—alongside their element—can either learn magic to augment their natural element or may learn other classes of magic to increase the range of their capabilities. Typically some classes are chosen based on a Toa’s element, such as a Toa of Plantlife choosing the druid class specialty while a Toa of Water chooses the cleric or priest class or a Toa of Stone chooses the paladin class. However, it’s not unheard of for a Toa to choose a different class outside their typical range, such as a Toa of Fire learning the druid class while a Toa of Water learns the barbarian/destructive “warlock” class. *cough*JallerandHahli*cough*

Note: Undecided if the warlock class would actually involve summoning demons or if demons would even be a thing in the Matoran Universe’s AU here. If demons are a thing, it’s possible that they may closely resemble the concept of the Skakdi myth Irnakk, or they may be more monstrous. Again, up for debate and may focus more on the destructive capabilities. The summoning aspect of being a warlock may only be for those who prefer subservient pawns like the Shadowed One/anyone from the Makuta species.

Aside from rahi that were created by the Makuta, monsters also exist in this AU that take on quite a few familiar concepts that we’re familiar with in MMORPGs or typical isekai stories. These monsters were not created by the Makuta nor the Great Beings, but were formed by the amount of magic that was stored and built up by the Mata Nui robot as he traveled the galaxy. Some places possess more magic than others, noted by many inhabitants to make the air “heavy and dense yet charged like an impending storm”.

To a degree, these monsters are more “organic” than their rahi and Matoran neighbors, being creatures made of pure magic or “energy” given mass. (The complete opposite of the Makuta species now that I think about it!)

Compared to the Prime Universe, the Toa Code’s “no kill” rule is more lax on a case-by-case basis. For particularly problematic monsters that can’t be captured or deterred, a Toa may destroy its form and release the magic back into the environment. After a while, the creature will return and it will be like a blank slate from which the residents of the nearest village/city may deter them from repeating past aggressive behaviors. If too many monsters are in one area, a dungeon will form until someone conquers it and claims the treasure hidden within.

Dungeons in the Bionicle Universe’s AU are unique in that they come in two forms: natural and unnatural. Natural dungeons are places that are a natural part of the environment that anyone can enter and train or harvest materials from within, while unnatural ones are those formed by the density of magic of monster hordes congregating in one space. For example, Metru Nui’s districts each have one or two natural dungeons spread across each Metru, with Matoran being able to venture in and harvest materials to craft with or study the formations. Higher level dungeons reset their maps after a certain period of time has passed, while lower leveled dungeons meant for Matoran remain the same. The number of floors each dungeon possesses varies based on the danger levels and the quality of treasures or materials that can be harvested within.

When an unnatural dungeon forms, it creates a “dungeon master” that must be defeated in order to dispel it or make it “safe” for Matoran to enter. The more floors a dungeon has as noted by the number of stars outside the entrance of each floor (ie: 1 star equals 4 floors, 7 stars equals 28+ floors. Considering how often the number “seven” seems to follow chaos or darkness in the Bionicle Universe, I think it’s safe to say that seven stars means this dungeon is going to be very dangerous!). The higher ranking the dungeon, the more Toa are required to complete the dungeon, but the greater the reward and materials to be found and brought back, including Great Kanohi and powerful enchanted artifacts and weapons.

Random musing: should the dungeon master be transformed from the Toa Mata’s Great Masks/Toa Metru’s Great Kanoka Disks? Or should they just be intelligent monsters that are simply guarding the them as treasure?

Time magic does exist in this AU, but it is incredibly difficult to learn or wield even for a Makuta, leading many to believe it’s near impossible. Typically this magic can only be found within dungeons, used in traps or by boss monsters. Very, very few beings outside the dungeons (such as Voporak) can utilize it in some form or another, but not very well. Vakama is the only notable Toa who learned to wield it, which initially began as visions when he was a Matoran and became an unlocked ability after he became a Toa. He was initially limited to being able to rewind time by a few seconds at a time (think Prince of Persia and the Sands of Time), though using this too often will drain his mana faster than normal spells and runs the risk of suffering from mana drainage and possibly dying. He keeps this in reserve as a last resort, but he cannot alter specific instances that are unavoidable (such as Turaga Lhikan's death).

The Mask of Time is a legendary item that must be crafted, and wearing it will grant others mastery over time or act as a focus for those with time magic. Note that Vakama only uses it as a last resort to avoid damaging the timelines.

Monster parts can be used to forge equipment or enhance armor and weapons for Toa, the quality needing to be higher and higher as they progress and face stronger monsters and beings. Depending on the type of monster, these materials can grant enhancements to a Toa’s abilities such as increasing their speed or strength—though nowhere near the same extent as a Pakari or a Kakama.

Vakama was well known as a Matoran for being able to craft weapons and armor for Toa. When he became a Toa himself, the others relied on him to upgrade their armor and weapons using the materials they farmed from dungeons. Unlike crafting regular tools and masks from protodermis or disks, monster materials require a special technique that follows a certain rhythm, meaning Vakama (and any other Matoran crafter) must sing songs to keep time with each hammer strike. (Inspiration comes from this song here, which inspired this whole AU idea).

The gold skinned being is Irnakk you guys

Plot bunny:

Varian's spirit is haunting the surroundings of the GSR while she's still trapped in stasis. She doesn't remember why she's doing it or what she wants. (She's looking for familiar faces. She doesn't remember that she's trapped. She's looking for help.)

During the day, she appears as a matoran and pranks people. One of her favorite toa buddies for mischief are Lewa and Gali.

She never mentions her name around them because it doesn't occur to her. Or she doesn't remember.

In a string of tragedy, the Toa Hagah - least of all Norik - are barely around to spot her or miss her always by chance.

During the night, nightmares plague some sleeping people sometimes. Not many, around one dozen at most. Among them are Kopaka, Vakama, Gali, and Gresh. Anybody who experienced visions before. They don't realize at first all of this has the same source.

I'm undecided if Orde and other toa of psionics can sense her / have the nightmares? And what about Annona and the Irnakk?

Bionicle Book 6 Quotes That Stick Out To Me

Irnakk’s answer was a burst of crimson light from his eyes that enveloped Zaktan. The power cascaded over the Piraka’s form, transforming him from physical matter to a being of pure thought. He no longer had any substance, but was just a fleeting wisp, like a half-remembered idea. An instant later, he felt a sensation of movement and he was suddenly somewhere else. Picture the most complicated maze in existence, where slimy walls throbbed with life. Imagine a place that thundered with the sounds of madness, so loud the noise threatened to shatter the skull. Try to conceive of a place where the “air” was so heavy and thick that taking a step felt like walking underwater. Add all of this together and an image might form that was one-tenth of what Zaktan experienced in his new home. I’m in Irnakk’s mind, the Piraka realized with horror. It turned me into a thought and... drew me into its mind. An explosion rocked the walls, sending Zaktan flying. He felt like his head would burst from the sound. His lungs burned. At first, he thought perhaps someone had attacked lrnakk. Then the truth came to him – the convulsion in Irnakk’s mind had not been the result of an impact. That had been lrnakk conceiving an idea. “Welcome, Zaktan.” Irnakk’s voice boomed throughout the caverns and tunnels of its brain. “Be grateful you are... on my mind, for now. If I should decide to think of something else... you won’t even exist as a thought. - 204

Y'ever think about combiner sets

Dreams and Sleep in Bionicle...

With how Mata Nui is explicitly described as being placed into a deep sleep, the mention of his dreams and nightmares; Makuta talking a great deal about how ‘sleep spares him pain’, not to mention placing the matoran into capsules that cause them to go into comas and forget everything, similarly to Mata Nui who forgot the important purpose behind his mission...

And then the fanon and meta of Karzahni using his Olisi as a form of escapism, as a character set up as an equal to Makuta and the Great Spirit, not to mention Annona’s Dreaming Plague set against the Golden-Skinned Being, who brings dreams to reality and placed the Toa Mahri into kind of a trance, just as Makuta did the Toa Hagah with an ideal fantasy;

And really, I feel like the power of dreams and sleep, the latter in particular with their respective Rahkshi and Kraata (and the Makuta from whom they were derived) could’ve been thematically explored and emphasized more, you know? Considering it never really shows up in the story at all, having one of Makuta’s abilities directly linked to his memory-wiping actions against Mata Nui and the Matoran, and the historical revisionism involved... I think that’s kind of a missed opportunity.

Not to mention his defeat of Karzahni, which one could rewrite to have Makuta poetically trap Karzahni into a dream of his own making, a perfect alternate reality- One that Karzahni’s own Olisi would tempt him further towards! And with Artakha and Karzahni as parallels to Mata Nui and Makuta, with the latter talking about sleep sparing others pain... And it’d be oddly poetic for Makuta to cast the same fate on his own analogue, and for his false justifications to actually apply in a sense, at least in terms to how THIS victim accepts it. And ofc Karzahni applying his aptly-titled ‘Dreams of Destruction’ onto Makuta, Lesovikk, Jaller, and others.

Then this could contribute to the virtue of Duty, which I feel is the most overlooked of the Three Virtues- The idea of responsibility, this persistence and determination in the face of all else, because doesn’t a true hero never give up? The symbolism then when they die and are allowed to rest... How that applies to Matoro, who was the only person to truly stand up against Karzahni’s dreams of destruction without fear but with bravery and conviction.

And the idea that when cast into a slumber, part of the ability for someone to escape that magical trance is to want to wake up, which could be a fascinating character avenue to explore- Where everything is in place to wake this character up after a brutal coma from Makuta or a Sleep Rahkshi, only for someone to realize and suggest that maybe they don’t want to wake up... The uncertainty of this idea and how it could apply to Mata Nui and Makuta’s claims of him.

The idea of dreams and nightmares, the latter of which Turahk would really be applicable towards... Entering the mindscape with a Ce-Toa or the Makuta with their own telepathy powers, who could use that to enter the dreams of others and whisper into them, as manipulation... Dreams as an avenue for prophecy and visions, which could apply to Vakama, who ultimately had to help the matoran wake up.

And of course, the usage of dreams as a motif to emphasize a fantastical, dream-like quality to a world... Maybe one could go all Link’s Awakening, and have a powerful character whose dreams come to life around them- And to awaken them would be to destroy the dream? That could apply to Mata Nui, especially if we go weird and have him explore the gauntlet of his own dreams as a character study.

Really, you could apply the Link’s Awakening parallel to how Mata Nui’s own awakening requires the destruction of the island bearing his name, just as Link must dispel Koholint to awaken the Wind Fish... And Makuta is of course the nightmare, which for the Mask of Light arc where he espouses these escapism justifications, fits with Fear as a particular motif that lethally kills Jaller as Turahk, the most feared (excuse the appropriate pun) of the Rahkshi. And speaking of Mask of Light, there’s the Av-Matoran subjected to the Time Slip by the Order of Mata Nui, also like a brief coma and amnesia... The Toa Mata waking up from their slumber in the canisters, with Greg’s first Bionicle lines about Kopaka awakening from his dreams? 

Maybe I’m just biased to the concept of Sleep as an unorthodox power in Bionicle, but again. All this talk of dreams and sleep, slumber and comas and escapism, things don’t seem quite real as you’re fooled, the nightmares and fantasies, and having to wake from it all lest you forget who you are and what’s real... I think that’d be a fun theme to explore for Bionicle, since Mata Nui’s slumber has been a central part of the original mythos that fans are so fond of.

Makes you wonder what weird shenanigans could occur in his brain Metru Nui, as symbolic of these dreams after the Great Cataclysm- If the Visorak infestation represents a nightmare, which it’s sort of compared to in Vakama’s visions from the comics... Victims asleep in their cocoons before they awake as nightmarish beings, etc. I just realized but the dream-like quality and mysticism IS a pretty neat and applicable atmosphere for Bionicle...

And when the Matoran return to Metru Nui after Takanuva opens the gate, what positive dreams might they see in the stars of Ko-Metru? Especially after Matoro’s sacrifice, in which Greg poetically writes of Mata Nui’s dreams, and the hope that he can awaken and his nightmares are just that- Dreams? Sleep really is THE avenue for some trippy storytelling, which fits a lot of characters such as Vakama, Karzahni, Irnakk, and then of course there’s the Iron Tribe and how they die from a lack of rest and dreams, itself a contrast to Mata Nui’s own predicament...

How HE could’ve interacted with this history in Sahmad and Telluris, how would Mata Nui feel about being unable to sleep, when that was all he could do and it was a curse? And it’s a curse for the Iron Tribe to suffer the opposite? Annona as the other-worldly threat that weirdly vindicates Makuta’s false claims... It’s the room for a LOT of surreal discussion and unsureness, and the lingering question afterwards- Was it all real? 

Connecting to Annona and the Iron tribe’s Dreaming Plague, there’s the Skakdi and THEIR relationship to the Golden-Skinned Being, who conversely brings dreams to life- And how they normally feared dreams in the form of Irnakk, another golden-skinned Skakdi derivative, who was never real until that nightmare was brought to life by the Ignika? Just like the dreams of the Golden-Skinned Being... That weird contrast and poetic duality between the Skakdi and Iron Tribe then- And how with the Piraka having Irnakk come to life from nightmare to reality, Zaktan briefly trapped in his mind- Did that play into their destiny of becoming the Golden-Skinned Being that feeds on dreams?

It’s just a LOT of weird room for thought here... And talking it out now, I definitely appreciate the Golden-Skinned Being more, and how the Piraka’s past with Irnakk factored into its creation, the Skakdi culture conflicting with the Iron Tribe and almost suffering the same fate, etc. Irnakk is dispelled because you can end dreams by waking up, or by dying and entering a different kind of rest altogether...

I guess dreams and sleep are a motif that deserve to be emphasized more in a Bionicle rewrite, and/or given more appreciation by the fandom as underrated y’know?

INKTOBER DAY FIFTHTEEN: LEGEND

I know this is a little... late. But here's Irnakk scaring Baby Thok