Im sometimes shocked that Bionicle was actually just toys. I mean, all those big ideas of this fictional world are bigger than most. Being a Dane myself, i also find it amazing that all those big ideas came from this small country.

Wow. Imagine an official connection to Hero Factory. Crazy to think about

Its sort of harrowing to watch this. It's hard to explain but there's a love and a passion behind every sketch, drawing, and idea he brings up this video. The concept has so much potential behind it and a respect to what came before that you rarely see for any form of media let alone a toyline. Yet, what we got instead was just...G2 Bionicle. Some weird story that abandoned so many precious details and characters for something that was less than the sum of its parts. We'll never see the full realization of these ideas as long as we live, but in a way, we can be happy with the Chronicle of what almost was. It makes the memories that much more precious.

Here we go! Gathered friends, listen again to our legend of the BIONICLE. In the time before time, The LEGO Group attempted to revive the BIONICLE theme, as Generation 2 rose from the ashes of the original and its incomplete storyline that remained online before all traces of what was to come were lost.

This is why G2 failed. It lacked the mystery and depth of G1, and hearing all these ideas made my mind come up with so many possible connections between both generations and even Hero Factory! It’s fantastic what you can imagine with just a few ideas planted around. Thank you, Mr. Faber, for not giving up on this legendary journey!

I knew! I freaking knew it! I have been saying it for years! Mr. Makuhero was a turaga all along!!! It explains why the main 6 heroes were almost the same elements as the Toa Mata, why he looked like he was wearing a mask, why he was obsessed with the Quaza. HE WAS MAKING HIS OWN TOA! I was eating my dinner while I watching this and I spit out my noodles when I heard that. I am...flabbergasted and just so excited.

The cracked monolith and the well of time are both very mysterious and intriguing setpieces! The questions and mysteries flow naturally when considering them. I am always impressed by your ability to worldbuild in a way that is so deeply inviting for speculation. All it takes is one enigmatic, otherworldly sight...

I think the biggest reason a lot of us Bionicle fans didn't really warm up to Gen 2 was because they not only abandoned the lore that G1 spent 10 years building up, but also abandoned the mystery, buildup, and atmosphere from the early years that made us fall in love with the setting in the first place. This concept art, though ... I'm pretty sure we all would have loved G2 had it leaned into this direction.

I think the theory that Bionicle somehow predates the Hero Factory universe is more popular than people realize, lots of people in the community were discussing it in the community over a decade ago. Given that Hero Factory seemed to take place in a dystopian future and much of Bionicle's story took place on primitive islands, swamps or oceans in a time before time. All of the 2004-2005 Metru-Nui stuff seemed to speak to an ancient yet advanced civilization that had fallen. It reminded me of Halo's Forerunners, Ancient humans and how despite humanity being a highly advanced star faring species before recorded history, a cataclysmic event seemed to reset the entire human race akin to how the Toa metru had to bring the Matoran to Mata-Nui to begin again. Halo is the only other franchise that Bionicle has the biggest overlap with and there are a lot of parallels between them for two franchises that got their start in 2001. Hero Factory always felt like the time after time to me, and as always time is the focal word here, connecting before and after periods.

Im am kinda sad and angry that we didnt get this pitch for Bionicle G2, instead getting a threadbare version what was invisioned by concept pitches. What could have been would have been far more Bionicle than what we got. Faber you are truly talented, your attention to details and the breath of imagination is all inspiring. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring so much, not just for revealing this concept pitch, but for Bionicle in general. You made it more than a toyline.

When I was a kid, I liked to think Hero Factory built heroes were amnesiac Matoran souls rescued by Mr Makuro and imported in new bodies through quaza cores

The image of monoliths and bottomless chasms taking you across history and rending the world apart is as intriguing as the canisters washing ashore a beach. Descend and save the past. A past unknown to anyone. Even those familiar would fall victim to these strange lands where history is altered. I love it. Because such paracausal warping of reality and exploration are so liberating and provides endless opportunity to make your own stories! Going to mata nui the island, altered or in a time when it was still unfinished. Truly a time before time. A time before legend!

Honestly, I really like this alternate timeline concept. The Vahi was there from the very begining, and I like how in this version that it plays a much larger role. For some reason, I feel that Ahkmou, if he was still alive, would somehow be involved.

I am dreaming of a world, where Bionicle was expanded into more books, Shows, Movies and games. This lore is so inspiring. SO inspiring, that I am theming my current D&D-Campaign around it, and my players, who never got into Bionicle, have no clue, hehe!

Tying into Hero Factory would be one hell of a twist! Thanks for the insights on what could have been. Really hope you can share some love for Hero Factory one day. I feel like its world held a lot of untapped potential.

I would've loved it if during the Mata Nui Online Game I ran into a slate that just said "Time is Forbidden" in Matoran text. My imagination would've had a field day.

Hyped to learn more secrets!

There's a sort of poetry in so much of this potential future being routed out from what I believe was the very first mask every physically made for the actual Lego line. What could have been was only possible from the first design at square one. That's *beautiful* and you can't convince me otherwise.

I was born in the year of 2001 so bionicle was THE thing I grew up with, and growing up I watched the movies countless times and I had som of the toys, my favourite one was and still is Whenua, I still have my figurine of him from all those years ago and he is special to me, He's been with me on so many journeys and the world of bionicle is such a special thing and it holds a very dear place in my heart. much love and appreciation from eastern Jutland

I've definitely been thinking up ways to combine Bionicle, Roboriders, throwbots, and hero factory into a single shared universe.

oh boy here we go

Mr. Faber, I want to say how much I appreciate you as an artist. You're kind of a hero to me in the way you've influenced my own style. I've loved Bionicle since I discovered it in 2007, and it inspired me to make my own worlds, characters, designs. Recently I saw a picture of an advanced future rocket with ceramic heat shield tiles shaped as repeating hexagons, and I remembered the motifs of the packaging in 2008, and how cool and futuristic that world looked, how genuinely epic they felt. I think you've influenced a lot of people with the special touches you brought to that world.

This has been an absolute TREASURE TROVE of creativity! I love hearing about all these ideas and concepts for stories. This has given me a ton to go through, and I definitely want to find ways to mix these ideas in with my own about what could be with Bionicle. I'm especially fascinated with the Mask of Time, because I actually had my own theories about it and the other legendary masks. In my theory, the Mask of Time, as well as the two other legendary masks: the Mask of Life and the Mask of Creation, were meant to be used to heal the planet of Spherus Magna where the Mata Nui robot originated, by bringing back life, time, and creativity. Like maybe the explosion of protodermis that broke the planet disconnected it from these things, and the masks were needed to bring them back. In the original story the Mask of Life was used one last time to restore the ecosystems of the planet. And it was said that the people of the planet lost the ability to create new things after the planet shattered, so maybe the Mask of Creation could bring the ability to create back. So then comes the Mask of Time. I wonder if while the planet was broke, they were also disconnected from the flow of time. Would explain their crazy long lifespans and the fact that very little changed on the world even after 100,000 years. Perhaps the Mask of Time was needed to jump start the flow of time again. But the mask is so dangerous, there are huge consequences, flowing like ripples of time out from the mask...and maybe that's where the Well of Time comes from. Trying to get time flowing to the future, but ending up changing the past. Again, love all the ideas, and I can't wait for the discussion and dialogue in the community to start coming up with ways to create awesome community led storytelling around this. Thanks so much for sharing!

You know you are doing something right when just hearing and seeing all these insane concepts, art and lore for a continuation of the Bionicle story that never fully came to fruition has you already extremely intrigued of what could have been.

Dang, the link to Hero Factory blew me away. I mean the vibe was always there, that there was a deeper mystery too Mr. Makuro and Quaza, so I'm really happy to see some confirmation that the connection was at least considered. Totally adopting this for my headcanon, it just feels right. You can't imagine how happy that little tidbit made me, thank you! (As a side note but I would LOVE to see any other Hero Factory story concepts that you may have, the theme will always have a special place in my heart and I always felt there was much more to the universe than what was shown in the tv episodes.)

Truly amazing how easy it was to depict the island of Mata Nui with a simple sketch. The demonstration of the time well is easy to grasp for a concept that is so thought provoking.

As someone who jsut got back to this franchise. Someone who loved bionicle as a kid far into my teenage years only to come back to it now as an adult. It is so cool to see this. The ideas, the inspirations, what could have been. It is so clear to me that Bionicle was a franchise filled with passion and love put n it. If it could have kept going. Imagine what we could have got. What a amazing video. A true joy honestly.

Such amazing concepts, they’re very inspiring and make me want to create my own stories. I also like the idea (even if it’s controversial) that the Hero Factory universe could be related to the Bionicle universe, just very far in the future in a separate timeline, it makes sense that these mechanical beings would eventually become technologically advanced enough to rebuild themselves like the Hero Factory inhabitants do

To me it makes sense that the turaga that would go and sacrifice himself should be Vakama. He probably would feel guilty having created the mask of time and would feel the need to right his wrongs. And the new location could be something like a “Realm of Mask Makers” if that’s a possible origin of the hidden 2001 masks. Vakama would have to content with “supreme masks crafters” to find the Vahi again.

The saddest thing about it is to see how much you engaged into it and how you loved this world while after all it all failed. I know it's impossible but damn I wish you could make G3 like this without any limits because all you have said was too amazing to be true...and looks like it was too amazing for LEGO so istead of this we get just a G2...what a shame

Thank you for uploading again! All the stuff falling into the "this is how we were at first planning out this specific thing you know" "this is what we wanted to add to the series but ended up not being able to" pit so essentially all the mental greebling of what could've been has always been to me something really exciting and the best thing about it is that in this specific fanbase some of the ideas can be given second life by unbelievably dedicated people.

Ah, those "Elemental Monsters" definitely remind me of those element creature baddies from the cancelled 2001 Bionicle PC game. Nice seeing the box illustrations for Slizers+Roboriders brought up too! I love how your visual style looks when it comes to illustrating environments, and I'd definitely love to see more of it.

From the first video I was impressed that the "Mask of Time created two alternate timelines" theory was true, and now you're telling me the Mr. Makuhero was a Turaga theory is also true!? When all this concept art is said and done I'd love to see how the fanbase manages to tie it all together into one story. I remember an old fan theory from around 2018 or so that Umarak was The Shadowed One's real name. My new theory from all this time-travel shenanigans is that the two characters are *actually the same* and this is where Voporak's theft of the Vahi led. There are so many fun directions to take this in!

I remember being a kid and having my own head-canon story that connected Hero Factory to Bionicle. I wish this story had been fully realized. You are so creative man, I eagerly await more stuff on Rebel Nature.

A time well, definitely sounds like something that you'd never expect in a story like Bionicle! It's incredible!

I always thought the hero factory era was just the advanced future that resulted after mata nui himself left.

This is amazing!!!! I'm so sad tho that all this exceptional story-writing didn't come to life. I HEREBY SEND MY MESSAGE TO ALL BIONICLE FANS AROUND THE WORLD! USE THIS AS A FAN FICTION! BE CREATIVE! LET'S SHOW LEGO WHAT ALL THEY COULD HAVE DONE WITH THIS! I BEG EVERYONE WHO CAN DO IT, GIT IT A TRY! Thank you

Loved hearing the connection to Hero Factory! Such a fun plan you guys had. Thanks for sharing, and giving us some closure and more ideas to fuel our theories!

Its funny how that one of the ideas for G2 was for it to possibly tie in with hero factory because when I was a kid I always felt like they were connected and even tried to write a fan fiction where the factory ended up digging into a sealed chamber while harvesting production resources and inadvertently released some of the toa and makuta frozen in the crystal protodermis and the story was going to deal with the toa struggling to come come to terms with this highly advanced civilization they find themselves in and the fact that the Mata Nui they knew and protected has been gone for eons. Never got off the ground though, mainly because I couldn't really get the personalities of the various characters right and find a balance of power that didn't just create mary/marty sues that trivialized stakes. It's awesome that you get to show us this stuff now, I always enjoy getting a peek behind the creative curtain that goes into stuff like this,

damn 1:15 gives me the chills. brings out that warning tablet from naruto that sadly got altered by black zetsu. and that poster of the shadow cloud slowly covering mata nuis sick design too.

Like Zack Snyder's Justice League, if you saw it too Faber, these intentions could be called "Christian Faber's Bionicle G2"

Cant wait!

Late to seeing this, but I'm happy you're not beholden to the NDAs anymore and allowed to share this, because it's quite fascinating to hear about. As many have said, it makes me wish Lego was more willing to take creative risks and allow a return for Bionicle to have a more ambitious story like this. Honestly, if you were able to take things the way you liked, it could've even been darker than G1 in places. Obviously darkness isn't what makes a story good, but I think part of Bionicle's appeal is that it's able to have these darker and more mature themes but still be accessible to kids (I mean, you still have to sell them toys after all), like it wasn't talking down to them but actually respecting their capability of consuming media, something I think many would agree G2 didn't really do a good job of. Anyway, it would be great if there was somehow a way this story could be realised someday, in whatever shape or form. Naturally Lego would get the final say in what is shown, but I do think it could be interesting to see. Many old franchises seem to like coming back, and while I do wish that we eventually learn to find a good balance with more original stuff, I think of all the franchises out there, Bionicle is one with some of the most creative potential still there. I guess my ideal situation would be a way to tell whatever story creators like yourself would like without having to be constrained by needing to think about tying it in to selling toys. Like, those could still exist, but I'd love to see a version of the story where it's primarily creator driven and not having to work around the constraints of needing to constantly update things every year so you have to sell more toys. Granted IDK if removing the sets would remove a major part of Bionicle's identity or not, but I guess I just am saying I wish Lego could allow for something more creative driven and work around what the story needs vs the story needing to work around what Lego needs.

Oh! Yeah ya!

I would give my right arm to see G2 redone properly with these concepts

Thank you so much for showing this content Faber, never thought of hero factory being a sort of Alternative Universe from Bionicle, remind me of Takanuva's journey on Dark Mirror, cant wait to see more

Very interesting. I mean it's clear that this whole thing wasn't completely fleshed out but it's undeniable that there's so much potential here with so many of these ideas and concepts. It seems like it was going to be a really good mix of the old with some new. It's a shame that this vision wasn't able to be fully fleshed out by Lego. Cool stuff, Mr. Faber!

I got to be honest, one of my old story ideas i had, had demonic creatures that was very BIONICLE influenced. Biomechnicam. I even started it but i had planned so much. Going deep into the weeds of how the worlds of all franchises get connected and everything. AUs, Multiverses. Complex time lines and time flow.

Mr makuro did always look like a turaga

This is honestly amazing. The mystery, of the whole thing really reminds me of what made me like Bionicle so much in the first place, and it’s interesting to see the links (very small, but still there) between this and what we eventually got. Speaking of Hero Factory, since LEGO gave you permission to share these, do you think they could also let you share HF’s plans? Since it never got to a real ending, I’m really curious where the story was going

This mask of time story sounds like it would have been extremely interesting. I like the idea of the mask of time being in a pillar of protodermus and it either breaking itself out or something taking it out.

What was LEGO thinking about when they didn't let this come to light? This is a really incredible story, it would have been the fresh that Bionicle needed...

Awesome stuff. Feels like I'm watching the Bionicle Silmarillion be compiled into one coherent story from all the fragments of the original concept notes.

This concept inspired me to generate an idea of the legend that is based on this lore (I don't know how it exactly satisfy an original story). What if some character was sent in the deep Past to unroot the Dark forces, but when he arrived in the Past to change the Present, he get into absolute Darkness of the beginnig of Time. This character is only source of light in this world and when he is illuminating it, elementary prehistorical Life is born out of Dark. This process gave him insight that the Darkness is inseparable part of the Balance. So when he understood that a start of Light's expansion has been made and Life evolves, he made the Mask of Time and went to the Present to explain to society that it is neccecary to rethink world view. But when he arrived, skipping the process of evolution (he was in a dream during that time), he appeared in the Present as Dark character who was an antagonist in the beginning of the story. This situation opened the task to find a direction of the relationship between indivisible parts of the Whole.

It gets worse! Man, this hurts. You deserved more input, I can feel your frustration. Man your concepts for the stories are amazing! It is vile how they took something so personal (for obvious reasons), to you and hit you with a middle finger and bastardisation of your story. I hope you know we all support you.

I kind of like linking the different Lego action figure lines together through the G2 lore.

Faber you will always be our guide to this universe. We are waiting for new videos! I wish you health and inspiration!😉

These 'story bricks' have far more substance than most of what we actually got for g2 and it makes me sad. I can't actually remember much of g2's story, but I do remember always being intrigued by the temple of time, being used to call in the *timeless* heroes. Shame that intrigue led nowhere. Im grateful that you've uploaded another what could've been video, they're extremely interesting and it's a joy to hear about such creative concepts.

Very cool ideas and concepts. It hurts to realize that they were not used.

So cool , am really greatful that you still care about bionicle ,this dedication makes me really happy

I've always found it compelling, how Bionicle managed to stay for so long, yet unlike other long-standing franchises didn't have any time travel especially with Mask of Time being such a crucial thing in universe. And what time to introduce it if not for when the bad guy already won and was defeated afterwards. It would be a great tool to raise the stakes once again. The best part about these is the concepts shown here would still be possible to execute if there was gen 3, potentially linking both generations and maybe HF too.

Really sad that these ideas never came to be, G2 could have been something really wonderful, at least hearing about these alone takes me back to the early years in mata nui.

So Makuro could be an offshoot of the Bionicle world that started his own thing on a different planet? Fabs you are a genious.

If Bionicle G2 was actually like this, it would be sick The time well-thing is so cool! I can only imagine how visualizing that in like a cgi-cinematic would look really epic, and make it apparent how they "twist" time back and forth. I imagine like a whirlpool-thing where time is "spiraling" along The Hero Factory-tie in makes HF much deeper and impactful :D Like, matoran and turaga who were lost and on their own. and had to make their own heroes, or "toa", to protect them or something

I'm not sure about the dinosaurs being upfront and center right away, but all of the rest of this has been absolutely facinating. I also see great potential here in this having ended in a time loop, in that the start of G2 is kicked off by someone using the mask of time in a super bad way changing the standard, and the (theoretical) end of G1 being someone getting their hands on the mask of time for nefarious / overly curious reasons and realizing they made a very bad mistake, with which one came first being left up to interpretation if it's presented in a way where eeither could have but but neither could have since they're both intrinsically linked to each other leaving the universe is stuck in this prepetual time based feedback loop.

Thanks again for the concepts, your amazing Faber!

You're an incredible person with some amazing ideas I can tell that you describe things in a way that seem very general but I can imagine your brain can see it as full cinematic executed final product and I find that so powerful

I love it! Thank you for sharing this Christian. What an amazing idea, and I love how it would have been "hidden in plain site" in the logo.

I know LEGO doesn’t take steps to knowingly sabotage a toy line, but they really have to have been overly cautious to not utilize the warped history angle for Gen 2. While I don’t think anyone has been able to decisively out there finger on why 2015 as released did not work, I suspect it’s almost an uncanny valley type effect when compared with 2001. The wearer of the mask of time having unclear motives plays very well with the original bionicle material, too, and I would definitely have enjoyed a plot of the villain having good or misguided intentions initially, even going too far back and having to wait, eventually becoming a little unhinged.

I hope you know how helpful this all is for the large tabletop gaming community online currently playing in the setting you made.

Esa conexión con hero factory me rompió la cabeza. Me encantó todas esas ideas y me hace sentir resentimiento por no poder ser usadas. Ojalá, en algún futuro, esto se vuelva una nueva historia de bionicle

I am genuinely baffled on how Lego didn't go with these ideas. The mask of time alone completely justifies how the "protectors" all had the same names -- its a perfect reboot and helps continue the story, in a way. It's a shame that G2 was so lacking. I really hope we get some explanation on what made Lego go with an alternative route.

About masks: that was one of the few things that I actually like from G2, masks creators. The idea of Makuta having brother in Ekimu (Mata Nui) is very interesting and could give us many opportunities, what happens we all know. Veeery hype for seeing more of this content, I always love concept arts and ideas in style of "what if". Greetings from Poland to all Bionicle fans!!

Wow, this is such an interesting plot, I like the story and how many tales can come out of it. Also I like that everything is covered with mystery. And your sketches are awesome 🔥

I’m loving this series! I think the connection to Hero Factory could work and another great key visual! I love the ideas revolving around the Vahi too including the Column of Time. It was definitely a mask everyone was fighting over.

Thank you for taking the time to go over all this!

More I know, the more I'm waiting for G3 :) I'd love to be able to get new parts that I could use in my MOCs. I don't understand, why LEGO not only cancelled BIONICLE, but, what's much worse, made us unable to get parts needed to building technic action figures. LEGO Technic sets do exist, but without armor pieces and limbs, having only standard balljoint, it's really hard to build something in BIONICLE style. And used pieces on Bricklink won't be cheap, when in few years it will become harder to get not cracked ones.

Thank you for letting us know so much and give us the opportunity to make a spiritual successor to all those concepts !

I really hope y’all get a chance to explain more of what could have been. I would love to see this fleshed out in some kind of media. Maybe a book or graphic novel? I doubt we’d ever get a Gen 3, but this really is quite something!

I'm writing something similar in the stop motion! artakha who have mask of creation and rule the artakha island, was furious when his island was destroyed. To prevent this, he set a goal of treating the galaxy like his island and achieving perfect condition. To do so, he created/manipulated makuro and created makuhero city and hero factory.

This all looks so amazing, but it makes me sad to see it at the same time as the fact that Lego signed off on you being allowed to show this means they probably have no intention of ever producing bionicle/something with these ideas again.

I believe BIONICLE is and probably always will be the best story I have ever experienced. It reached the highest level of creativity with it's world, rules and message. I struggle to believe that anything comparable will ever emerge again.

im always amazed how complex the bionicle lore is

Why did all this beautiful stuff not happen? What happened at Lego?

What I would give to see a timeline were this all went through

I absolutely love getting to see all of this cool concept art! If BIONICLE G2 had actually followed these ideas, I think it could have surpassed even G1 BIONICLE in epicness. Even if we never get an actual BIONICLE based off of these ideas, I know that this has inspired me quite a bit and I intend to make some MOCs based on some of these concepts. I can’t wait for the next video!

The concept set of the “well of time” looks haunting. Looking forward to more goodies like that

I can understand why the time tunnel well was cut. This is very complex to wrap your head around, even for Bionicle standards

Your videos are awesome and they inspire me alot, thats for the big work! As a kid I was always curious about the Bionicle line, even played with some property of a freind, but now I really see the incredible passion that's been put onto in and now I'm a fan of the development of the IP and its history. Amazing vid! Thanks!

i hope LEGO tries bionicle again

yes! a continuation

So much Love, Story and Memories. Love it!

The time stone/monolith thing would also have been a good package design

Now that we know the truth it would be really interesting if you set some bases for your ideal version of generation 2. Like characters, and then creatives can come and fill in your vision with MOCs, art, concepts, etc. Under your guidelines we could have a true generation 2.

Incredibly cool. Thanks for sharing these!

I’m loving these bi-weekly uploads, keep up the good work Faber & Team!

Looking at videos have been interesting, especially this one. Not sure how I feel on every single idea, but I can definitely see and respect the effort you put into this, and it's a shame to see how they were put aside in the end. Honestly, most of your plans for the Mask of Time almost remind me of my own Bionicle G2 fanfiction. While there is no time travel, the lore and ultimate direction for my story skyrocketed when I included a Toa with a certain special mask. Hopefully, no one sues me for what I hope is just a coincidence. In any case, I hope all goes well, and I can't wait to see more.

The one dislike is from Makuta.

Thank you so much for this Mr Faber. I love seeing the inner workings of Bionicle

Today we learn quantum physics with Christian Faber