#greg farshtey

[herora-nuva]

Who wrote the Bionicle books? (in-universe)

When talking about the Bionicle books with fans, Greg Farshtey (the real world author) would sometimes take a page from J.R.R. Tolkien and say that the stories were actually texts from the Bionicle universe that he "translated" into English. Which got me thinking, if these were stories that were written in the Bionicle universe, who wrote them?

And I thought the cutest answer would be, it was the Chroniclers who wrote them! And the more I thought about it, the more I realized this theory works surprisingly well! There were 3 main Chroniclers (Takua, Hahli, and Kopeke) corresponding to the 3 series of Bionicle books (Chronicles, Adventures, and Legends)

Takua was Cathy Hapka, and the primary author of the Chronicles series, relating the adventures of the Toa Mata to the island of Mata Nui. In some cases it was implied that he was either there in background of the events, or simply heard of them from the Toa themselves during his many conversations with them. The exception was Tales of the Masks, written by Greg Farshtey Hahli. The Tales are included in the Chronicles as they take place during that time, though as they are the story of how the Turaga decided to reveal Metru Nui just before the Kohlii Tournament, they were only revealed and published after Takua ascended to the ranks of Toa, and are the first events she recorded. Mask of Light was also written by Takanuva as a final chronicle relating his own journey to find the Seventh Toa. It is often grouped with the Chronicles, though as he was no longer officially the Chronicler, it is sometimes considered separately.

Next is the Adventures, written by Hahli, translated by Greg Farshtey. You can really see the distinct writing styles between Hahli and Takua emerge here. She recorded the Adventures as she was canonically there for almost all of the Turaga's council sessions where they told the Toa Nuva.

The Legends series was written by Kopeke, who became Chronicler after it was discovered Hahli had also been transformed into a Toa. Kopeke learned of many of the events that took place second hand from Hahli, who canonically told him of the events in the Pit, and probably told him of the adventures on Voya Nui. Having been given his stories from the previous Chronicler, Kopeke's writing style is noted fro being highly similar Hahli's both written by Greg Farshtey. Kopeke also later learned of the events in Karda Nui when the Toa Nuva returned home. Much of these Legends had to be written in secret during the Reign of Shadows, as a hope to keep the stories of the Toa heroes alive during the dark times.

But then of course there are the Bara Magna books, and I believe these were recorded by Berix, who took on the role of Chronicler in Mata Nui's band of Glatorian in their adventures. After the Reformation, he worked closely with Kopeke to recount the events of the Battle of Bara Magna, leading to his style being heavily influenced by Kopeke's and Hahli's Farshtey styles.

And so there you have it! Those are the true authors of the Bionicle books in my headcanon! Let me know what you guys think about this

#bionicle #books #chronicler #takua #hahli #kopeke #berix #cathy hapka #greg farshtey

[cboffshore]

if Greg Farshtey had ever had the chance to write extensively for Nadakhan I think I would have exploded, tbh. we KNOW the Dark Island Trilogy slaps, and true, Farshtey gets to do SOME Nadakhan writing in that bizarre five minute stories anthology (which includes QUITE a threat aimed at Clancee iirc), but if those two BLENDED? Lethal. Delicious. He should have broken into the writers room and made Skybound as bizarre as people think it is, because while Skybound is in fact bizarre, it's missing the Farshtey Touch that could tip it over the edge.

#lila speaks #ninjago skybound #Ninjago Nadakhan #Greg Farshtey

[jurakan]

I am well acquainted with BIONICLE Cthulhu, but please enlighten your other followers on his grotesqueness grandeur

Alright, both you and @edgar-allan-possum asked for this so here we go! Ladies, Gentlemen, Tohunga, and other random people (I stole this joke from a BZPer), Today You Learned about Tren Krom, BIONICLE's very own Cthulhu!

[]

...No picture? Okay, yeah, it makes sense that we don't have a picture.

So starting in 2007, BIONICLE starting having web serials, which gave out stories in a serialized format to fans who wanted more of the characters they loved, and introduce new ones. See, because LEGO had to keep putting out new sets, the main storyline for each year had to focus on the characters depicted in the sets, and often people would get left behind. Lead writer Greg Farshtey did these serials to help fix this problem.

In the serial "Federation of Fear" (which I want to emphasize was definitely a BIONICLE take on the Suicide Squad; I only realized this a couple of years ago), the team goes to an island to pick up some weapons from a cache and run into...Tren Krom, an insanely powerful, hideous, and insane thing bound to the island. He disintegrates one of the team members, and reads the others' minds.

Basically, what we're told is that when the Great Beings (basically, the gods of the BIONICLE world) started working on "the universe"*, they created Tren Krom to stabilize and run the system while it was being built. When they finished, they declared they didn't need him anymore, and put Mata Nuin in charge of the universe to keep it running. Tren Krom was bound to an island and stuck there.

This, as you can imagine, did not make him very happy.

When he reads the mind of the crooks in Federation of Fear, he realizes that the evil plan of the main villain is in effect, and decides that's far worse than any evil plan he'd come up with as revenge on the world that scorned him. So he lets them go.

Except for then later Tren Krom very clearly does care about getting out of there. In another web serial, after the main villain took over the universe (spoiler alert), the heroes send one of their own to Tren Krom to see if he'll help. He switches bodies with said hero, and actually helps out in the fight against evil! Until he gets beaten by the main villain, and the good brother of the BIONICLE Devil makes him switch bodies back.

There is one more serial that's important, I guess? There's one where one of the villains goes to check on him, and the knowledge he gets from Tren Krom inspires him to go talk to his boss and tell him how to take over the universe. Which, uh, is Plot relevant, but you would think Tren Krom would know better than to just hand out that info.

And then another web serial, written after the main line was canceled, kills him off for a cheap murder mystery.

LAME.

Alright, so what to make of this character? GregF admitted that Tren Krom was created as a shoutout to H.P. Lovecraft's work, so the Cthulhu comparisons were intentional (this also might have been how I was introduced to Cthulhu as a character). There are no official illustrations, as he was never a set, and unlike most BIONICLE characters, he had a horrifying appearance with no bionic elements (his face was a giant gooey skull or something that drove people insane). That hasn't stopped many fan artists from giving it a shot.

Also, one of the BZPower comedies, "Day in the Life of GregF", had a hilarious version of Tren Krom that spoke in ALL CAPS.

Tren Krom was wild, man. In some ways, it was a fantastic addition to the mythos, because it developed the world in a completely new way that fans hadn't seen before. I feel like he was ultimately wasted, though, because there was so much to do with this character, and it really didn't get very far. But that's the case with a lot of the serial characters, I think.

Yeah, so, we've got a BIONICLE Cthulhu.

*It's worth noting that in BIONICLE, "the universe" tends to refer to the Matoran known world, and there was plenty outside of that.

#Tren Krom #BIONICLE #Fun Fact Friday #Today You Learned #Cthulhu #Greg Farshtey

[toa-kohutti]

so i discovered an important bionicle lore tidbit, and once again, greg misusing words has resulted in something very funny:

OnionShark asks: "Since Sahmad mistook Anonna for a male, is it safe to assume she has a masculine voice?" and greg answers: "She has an asexual voice"

so i guess:

#asexual #asexuality #bionicle #bionicle lore #bonkle #bonkles #annona #bionicle annona #spherus magna #sahmad's tale #greg farshtey #so proud of u queen!

[sepublic]

A previous post of mine has me thinking because really... Icarax is kind of a meta reflection of Teridax?

He’s the completely straightforward, conventional dark lord without any subtelty or creativity; He’s a big scary dude who relies on brute force and open conquest. Icarax doesn’t care for the twists, cleverness, nor subversions of Teridax, he thinks simplicity is the best solution.

I remember an interview Greg did a while back, how he admitted Time Trap was his favorite novel because it gave him the chance to elevate Teridax from this generic supervillain who always gets foiled at the end of the day, to someone more clever and threatening... A person who’s always calculating, for whom each setback may actually be part of the grander plan.

The fact that Icarax wears the Kraahkan feels like a meta commentary in and of itself; He’s a reflection to Teridax of the villain he started off as and was intended to be by his ‘makers’, the in-universe and real life creators whose designated role he rebels against. But despite Icarax vying for leadership, we see how the machinations of Teridax always win out. Icarax thinks the Brotherhood should be open, obvious villains who fight and boast; Teridax prefers to operate from behind the scenes, manipulating the heroes into helping him win in one of the biggest subversions I’ve ever seen.

It’s like Teridax is fighting against and constantly beating a frustrated younger self, someone he once was, but again only in the meta sense; In-universe, he was always a calculating trickster, but in real life he used to be more of an Icarax. And this comparison takes a whole new meaning if you consider that Icarax’s set may have been intended to be Teridax at one point...

In the end, while Icarax takes his place as a big titan set that’s advertised in magazines, he just brings the attention away from his rival in a way Teridax actually needed. Icarax is the simplified corporate mandate that is meant to sell toys, while Teridax is the character who focuses on the story, and is represented only in writing and no longer as a set by this point.

#bionicle #icarax #teridax #makuta #brotherhood of makuta #foils #meta #analysis #lego #greg farshtey

[kanohivolitakk]

OK IS ANYONE ELSE WATCHING BIONICLE DAY LIVESTREAM SINCE IF YOU ARE WHAT THE FUCK GREGS BACK ON WORKING ON BIONICLE BY BEING INVOLVED WITH VISION OF GREAT BEINGS? EXCUSE ME THE FUCK

Before anyone gets too excited afaik hes not writing anything and simply just suprevising/assisting the story team to make VOTGB as close to canon as possible. The story is still fanon, now its just as close to canon as it will ever be.

#Kirika Talks #Bionicle #Greg Farshtey

[dougielombax]

Okay so apparently Greg Farshtey was fired from Lego some time in July of 2022….

Why?!

What happened?

#personal stuff #dougie rambles #bionicle #Lego #Greg Farshtey

[onvermel]

So for those who may not be up on all the “other kanohi” in the bionicle universe. Greg gave powers to random kanohi that artists had put into the comics and books as background masks. However one of the images that is meant to be a a new kanohi, (The mask of Emulation) is just a kanohi kiril (turaga Dume’s mask). 

#bionicle #lore #kanohi #Greg Farshtey #bonkle #lego #masks #other kanohi #bionicle goof

[patch444]

Greg Farshtey: The matoran and toa are all aroace.

LEGO:

Greg Farshtey: … They’re- They’re literally robots. Besides, the series is aimed for eight-to-twelve-year-olds. Romance has absolutely no place in-

LEGO:

#Bionicle #lego #greg farshtey #helluva boss #just learned about this #kind of hilarious but also like LEGO wtf? #does this count as erasure??

[rahiwatching]

Hey everyone, this month’s Knowledge Tower video is live!

In this investigation, we pit Greg Farshtey and Christian Faber against one another and use science to determine which of them is right in the question of how just how big the Great Spirit Robot truly is.

#Bionicle #lego bionicle #the knowledge tower #great spirit robot #GSR #greg farshtey #christian faber #science #youtube #bionicle science

[mistergalaxywide]

I really miss bionicle, y'all

#gone but not forgotten #bionicle #greg farshtey #lego #nostalgia

[herora-nuva]

Forgot to post this here on 810NICLE Day, but here's my tribute to Greg Farshtey, made for the Final Farshtey event that day to give appreciation for the author who brought the legend to life. I'm so happy to have gotten the chance to meet him.

Thank you Greg, you were the true Chronicler, and I wish you well for wherever life takes you.

#bionicle #greg farshtey #my videos

[cboffshore]

(I'm rereading the Ninjago pilot era chapter books and this (coupled with years of interest in Bionicle) is my takeaway)

#lila speaks #Ninjago #Bionicle #Greg Farshtey #Lila memes

[crystaltoa]

MY DASH DID A THING HELP

#Bionicle #vakama #posts that would kill greg farshtey

[tiredspacedragon]

Convinced the main reason Greg came up with the "Matoran eat by absorbing energy through their hands" thing was so that he wouldn't have to deal with the question "Do Bionicles poop?"

#bionicle #amazingly this never backfired #(to my knowledge) #after he revealed that skakdi do eat normally #posts that would kill greg farshtey

[sepublic]

I'm curious as to the writing process behind Gaardus. We know that there was a writing contest to come up with Gaardus' backstory and powers, and that the winner was Elizabeth Schroeder. Greg accordingly made Gaardus a part of the Red Star storyline...

But that's the weird thing; I thought the Red Star reviving people was all Greg's idea? Did Elizabeth just so happen to have the idea of the Red Star reviving people, and Greg decided to roll with that because he wanted zombies on a space station? Or did Gaardus' creators keep resurrecting, and the how was never specified by Elizabeth; With Greg being the one to decide?

Or was there no Red Star or resurrection story whatsoever, in which case... Gaardus' backstory just boils down to "He was a Matoran experimented upon into this, and he killed the scientists who mutated him in revenge." Which is... I'm gonna be honest, that's a pretty uninspired backstory, for something that beat all of the other entries. I guess Gaardus' unique take on teleportation did Elizabeth's entry some favors, but man. Were the other backstories that bad, and/or too convoluted? How much did winning hinge on the powers given to Gaardus? What was Elizabeth's original draft, and how much did Greg add to or alter it?

#bionicle #gaardus #red star #greg farshtey #elizabeth schroeder #meta