Given my BIONICLE collection going on last year and this year, it’s no surprise that you’ll see another BIONICLE-related entry. And this time, I’ll be bringing up something slightly similar, but much bigger.
It goes without saying, but they both have different origins. BIONICLE is one of the LEGO themes, and it’s owned by LEGO. And Pokémon started out as a video game. Another difference is that BIONICLE started in 2001 and got discontinued in 2010 (then revived but re-discontinued later). It used to be hugely popular at the start, but as the years went by, it lost popularity, then got discontinued, and now, it’s hardly recognized. Pokémon, on the other hand, first started in 1996 (1998 in the United States), and is still going on. It remains to be the largest multimedia franchise and will live on.
Despite big differences that make BIONICLE and Pokémon apples and oranges, there are a few things that both have in common. This is what today’s entry is about.
WARNING: There are spoilers below. If you are interested into playing Pokémon Sun/Moon or watching The Mask of Light, but have not experienced either, do not continue reading until you experienced both. If you have experienced both or don’t want to play Pokémon Sun/Moon or watch The Mask of Light, you may proceed further.
General:
BIONICLE and Pokémon have a lot of focus on powers and abilities. Both of them were also centered on battling and adventure.
- Pokémon involves training Pokémon, raising their stats, battling other trainers’ Pokémon, and becoming the champion. Each Pokémon also had their own base stats, can learn different moves, and have their own abilities.
- The quest for more power was exactly what the early years of BIONICLE was about. Every mask had different powers. If the Toa collected them all, they would be ready to fight the Makuta. If they defeat the Makuta, they can awaken Mata Nui. If they awaken Mata Nui, they can restore Spherus Magna.
Another thing that BIONICLE and Pokémon have in common is that they are more collection-based. For Pokémon, the tagline is “Gotta Catch ‘em All!”. Every game has a Pokédex, where for every Pokémon you catch or evolve, a new entry will appear in your Pokédex. The goal is to fill it up. BIONICLE did have this in the early years, where you have to buy the blind boxes to get more masks, which is the real-life version of what the first chapter is about – collecting the masks of power. If you were collecting Kanohi, you would want to get them all. They’re also a toy line, and one thing you want to do with toys is to collect them all to complete a collection.
I would also like to focus on the elements. There are six in BIONICLE, but eighteen in Pokémon. Creating the parallels between Pokémon and BIONICLE, here are the matching elements:
- For Onua and Pohatu, Onua is the Toa of Earth, while Pohatu is the Toa of Stone. While that may seem weird, Pokémon also has two different earth-based elements. The closest Pokémon type that Pohatu’s and Onewa’s element matches is the Rock Type (which includes the moves Power Gem, Stealth Rock, and Sandstorm), while the closest Pokémon type that Onua’s and Whenua’s element matches is the Ground Type (which includes the moves Earth Power, Spikes, and Sand Attack).
- For Lewa, he is the Toa of Air. Common air-based moves include flying, wind control, and dashing. The closest Pokemon type to match Lewa’s and Matau’s element is the Flying Type. It also helps that Le-Wahi (were Lewa and Matau are from) is home to many bird species, like the Taku, the Kewa, the Gukko, and the Kahu. Nearly every bird Pokémon are of the Flying Type, including Pidgeot, Fearow, Farfetch’d, Dodrio, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.
- For Tahu, Kopaka, and Gali, their elements are more straightforward, since there are three Pokémon types that have the same name – Fire, Ice, and Water.
- Even individual Kanohi may count as this. The Avohkii, Takanuva’s primary mask, is the Mask of Light. That would match the Psychic type. The Kraahkan, Makuta Teridax’s primary mask, is the Mask of Shadows. That would match the Dark type. The Ignika, which eventually became Mata Nui’s primary mask, is the Mask of Life. For a strange reason, the best matching type is the Grass Type.
And more thing, it took a team of six Toa to fight the Makuta Teridax. That’s exactly how many Pokémon you can have at most in a single party.
Mata Nui Era and Pokémon Sun/Moon:
Before BIONICLE had a change in theme, it started out with the islander theme. There was also a Pokémon game that was set on a Pacific island. Even some of the names sound similar, if not, are the same. One of the most annoying rivals bears the same name as Tahu’s mask of power.
So what is Pokémon Sun/Moon about? Like every Pokémon game, you start with a starter Pokémon (in this case, Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio), battle other trainers, fight the villain team that was stealing others’ Pokémon, find the legendary Pokémon, and become the champion. But Sun/Moon had an interesting twist. Instead of badges and gyms, you have the island challenge, where you have to participate in seven different trials. Each time you complete a trial, you will also have to fight the Totem Pokémon. Defeat it, you will earn a Z-crystal. The villain team is a team of bullies that nobody takes seriously instead of a criminal organization that’s way more dangerous. And the box-cover Legendary Pokémon? They are actually from an evolutionary family.
Some of the stuff you do in Pokémon Sun/Moon, that’s exactly what BIONICLE was about in the early years. In particular:
- Every village in Mata Nui, including the temple, Kini-Nui, had at least one similar area in the Alolan region.
- One of your trials takes place in the Brooklet Hill, which consists of lakes. Another takes place in the Wela Volcano Park, which is on top of a volcano. Another takes place in the Lush Jungle. You also have a trial in the Verdant Cavern and the Pokémon League in Mount Lanakila (a snowy mountain). And the Haina Desert? That’s where you find one of the Guardian Deities. This is exactly where the villages of Mata Nui are set in, on a lake (Ga-Koro), in a volcano (Ta-Koro), a jungle (Le-Koro), a cave (Onu-Koro), a snowy mountain (Ko-Koro), and a desert (Po-Koro). As a bonus, there’s a Z-Crystal in all of these areas.
- Right where you awaken Solgaleo (Pokémon Sun) or Lunala (Pokémon Moon) is a temple called the Altar of the Sun (Pokémon Sun) or the Altar of the Moon (Pokémon Moon), which takes you to the Ultra Space. This is similar to Kini-Nui, where you go to the Makuta’s Lair.
- One of the things you do in Pokémon Sun/Moon is collecting all of the Z-Crystals. Each Z-Crystal powers up moves of different elements. If you collect them all, you’ll have more power. This is similar to the Quest for Masks, where the Toa collect the Masks of Power.
- In the story of Pokémon Sun/Moon, Lillie is trying to protect a Cosmog named Nebby from Team Skull. But then there’s the twist where Nebby was Solgaleo (Pokémon Sun) or Lunala (Pokémon Moon) all along. Once Nebby evolves into either one, you are taken to the Ultra Space, where you have to battle a corrupted Lusamine. This plot point is very similar to the Mask of Light movie, where Nebby was the Avohkii, Team Skull were the Rahkshi, Lusamine was Makuta Teridax, and Solgaleo (Pokémon Sun) or Lunala (Pokémon Moon) was Takanuva.
- In Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, Nebby gets possessed by Necrozma, creating a corrupted form. This is what happens in the near end of the Mask of Light. Takanuva and Makuta, after falling into the energized protodermis during a fight, became a titan called Takutanuva.
- As part of the Island Challenge, the player character has to travel all across Alola. Guess what Takua was doing in the Mata Nui Online Game.
- While the Ride Pager was a replacement of HMs in Pokémon Sun/Moon, at least one of them (the Charizard one, no less) had a similar mechanic in the Mata Nui Online Game. After completing the Le-Koro quest, you will unlock a song that will bring in a Kewa that can take you to other villages in an instant.
The Declining Progression and Divisiveness of the Fandom:
There’s another thing both BIONICLE and Pokémon had. Just like SpongeBob, they did have a golden age. For BIONICLE, it was the years on Mata Nui (2001-2003). For Pokémon, it was the Kanto and Johto generations. When they started up, they got popular fast. BIONICLE basically saved LEGO from its recession in the 1990s, while Pokémon became a fad. The news of new toys, games, species, or whatever led to people standing tall. But after the golden age ended, they dwindled in popularity.
Early Decline:
- To a traditionalist BIONICLE fan, BIONICLE started going downhill in 2005. Some even say that it started going downhill in 2004. While 2004 had a strong lineup of toys, the switch from the island theme to a futuristic theme turned off many people. 2005 was when the toys started going downhill.
- While a general consensus agrees that Pokémon started going downhill during the 6th Generation (Kalos), it was the 3rd Generation (Hoenn) when the Pokémon fad started to die down, and when Pokémon started becoming polarizing. Given the changes in the anime, the games not making all Pokémon catchable in-game, and other factors (like removing features introduced in earlier games), Pokémon did not live up to the expectations of the previous generation.
The Later Years:
- Younger generations of BIONICLE fans tend to think the Mask of Life Era (2006 to 2008) was BIONICLE at its best, or at least the best era since the golden age. To a traditionalist BIONICLE fan, this was when BIONICLE started to get worse. While the story was interesting, the sets released during this time period abandoned old concepts like the abundance of moving parts and the collectible masks.
- In the Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and Alola generations, Pokémon became more divisive. At least one or two of these generations was Pokémon at its best since the golden age, or even the best at all. But also around these times, there are a tons of complaints about content being cut from the games, along with other problems (like games getting too easy or providing too much help, making EXP Share turned on by default, and newer designs being less creative).
Divisiveness Towards the Early Years:
- While many BIONICLE fans enjoy or appreciate the Mata Nui Era of BIONICLE, there’s also several fans who saw the first era to be flawed in many ways. Those who started with the later years or liked the later years better agreed that the earlier sets were too blocky or lacked stuff like joint articulation, the story was too repetitive, and the sets were way too repetitive.
- Pokémon’s early generations has its flaws too. For the species alone, the first generation had no Dark Pokémon, had only one line of Ghost Pokémon, only one line of Dragon Pokémon, Bug Pokémon were basically a joke, and not enough Legendary Pokémon. For the games, Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow did not have the same essential features many modern Pokémon fans are used to (like abilities and unlimited/replenishable TMs), while also having problems with stuff like balancing, too many glitches, and broken moves/types.
One difference in this area was the direction both franchises went after their “modern” eras. Pokémon actually gotten more successful once it made its way onto the Nintendo Switch, while BIONICLE finally met its end after continued years of declining sales. Granted, both Pokémon Sword/Shield and Pokémon Scarlet/Violet were not without their controversies (one of them was the biggest Pokémon controversy since the Porygon episode), but they both outsold Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum (the highest selling game since the third generation) and Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal (the highest selling game besides Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow). And yet, BIONICLE has not seen any success as big as it got from 2001-2003.
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