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2020-Present
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Myths and Legacy is a collaborative story project created by ToaGonel and BobTheDoctor27.
Intended as a strictly canon-compliant venture, the storyline takes place across the a number of multimedia platforms, offering further insight into the historical past and projected future of the Generation One BIONICLE storyline. Other authors have since been brought on for collaboration.
Development[]
Originally devised in late 2018, the Myths and Legacy project was conceived as the natural progression of ToaGonel and BobTheDoctor27 discussing headcanons on the Custom BIONICLE Shivtr Forums. With both users concerning themselves principally with canon-compliant ventures like Relevance and Invasion, the pair entered into a formal collaboration intent on filling in gap periods unexplored by the canon storyline.
Following the revival of the Custom BIONICLE YouTube enterprise, Myths and Legacy was picked up as an evergreen series intended for the wiki's channel. In hopes of reaching a wider audience in as many different platforms as possible, all stories created in the Myths and Legacy storyline came to be written with the intention of one day being converted into audiobook format.
Writing began shortly after the launch of the YouTube channel, with stories such as The Perilous Catch and Pincers being planned for early release. The groundwork for more ambitious stories spanning multiple chapters was also laid during this period, with ToaGonel notably spearheading Invasion.
In September of 2019, War Trophies became the first independent story to be released under the Myths and Legacy banner, launching the collaboration and making the project known to the wider userbase of Custom BIONICLE Wiki.
In 2020, Invader39 would join the project in both a writing and digital design capacity. This year would also see the beginning of a formal collaborative venture between Myths and Legacy and BIONICLE Generations, with The Perilous Catch releasing in May 2020. Discussions with Chicken Bond also yielded the inclusion of The Mentor's Way within the Myths and Legacy continuity. As one of the winners of the BZPower Memoirs of the Dead contest, The Mentor's Way was meant to be accepted into the official BIONICLE canon. However, Greg Farshtey was unable to read or approve the winners of the competition, meaning The Mentor's Way was never officially canonized.
Following the launch of the Custom BIONICLE Wiki:Bara Magnan Tales Writing Contest, both BobTheDoctor27 and ToaGonel would submit stories from existing projects for consideration. As such, Way of the Lawless and Road of Fury would see releases in September of 2020.
With the coming of 2021 and the twentieth anniversary of BIONICLE, Myths and Legacy would see the posting of an official Launch Blog as well as the formation of a growing audiobook team and the promise of regular story publications. Nicrophorus-Americanus, renowned BIONICLE fanfiction writer, would also come to partner with the project in early 2021, offering Out of Their Elements and An Even Exchange into the Myths and Legacy library. 2021 would also see an extensive revision of Relevance to keep the story within the narrative constraints of the Bohrok Kal Saga, situating it more firmly within 2003 with information available at the time by omitting specific references to later story years.
To this day, ToaGonel and BobTheDoctor27 continue to write a content library in anticipation of their next release.
Mission Statement[]
With our work, we place emphasis on several attributes--namely a high level of canon compliance, accessibility, and quality.
Key Qualities[]
Accessibility[]
Our work primarily centers on known characters, and those characters we do create rarely reappear between stories. For those exceptions, no background knowledge is necessary to understand these characters, and an audience can reasonably jump into a story without knowing any prior lore that we may have established.
Additionally, all characters introduced are original to the M&L project -- we don't integrate characters we have established in our prior fanfiction. (Certainly we may love our original characters, but we feel this is important for the audience's sake). This is done largely to divorce any of our fanon characters from the potential baggage that could come with these characters in the other works. It wouldn't be ideal, necessarily, to have to read an outside fanfiction to appreciate a character in any of our stories.
Last thing on characters: Something we try to stay contentious about is not overwhelming the audience with fanon names or terms. We tend to avoid referencing noncanon species names, and if there's no need to name a character, we tend not to (which, ironically, ends up being more authentic given how Greg was limited by his list).
In addition to this emphasis on accessibility, our stories are very modular. Although we frequently organize our stories into overarching categories, and although there may be thematic parallels or allusions from one story to another, each story stands on its own. A reader/viewer is not required to review one story in order to enjoy another--though reading them in order may often serve to enhance the reading experience.
Way of the Lawless, one of the project's first official releases
Finally, canon-compliance is a must in terms of accessibility. A level of sidestepping is permissible, especially if it's an answer Greg may have off-handedly given in answer to a question, but stories should not outright contradict established lore -- especially lore that has been officially printed or animated. Stories should be well-researched, though we can certainly try and help with some of that.
Quality[]
In order to try and make our stories as good as we can get them, we welcome any and all feedback on our work. Our stories are thoroughly critiqued by each other, and we try to run them by other authors as well, but we're eager for all feedback--not only from project members, but also from general audiences. Even if we publish the stories as audiobooks, they are not necessarily set in stone. This doesn't guarantee we'll make changes, but we will strongly take it into consideration, especially if it's pretty unanimous.
Additionally, in terms of story submissions, we will vet every entry personally, including author notes and additional materials submitted to us. No matter the story, we will give feedback and revision suggestions; however, if we feel it has particular promise or could fit well into our library, we will work closely with the author in the revision phase. Full acceptance into our library will mean we will give it the full treatment of any of our stories; however, even if we reject it for Myths and Legacy, we'll still work to promote the story and the author.
If you are interested in submitting work to, or otherwise getting involved in/updates on the Myths and Legacy project, feel free to leave messages on Bob's or Gonel's talk pages. You are also welcome to message Gonel on Discord at Gonel#3219.
Categories of Content[]
With our content as it's evolved, we've come to categorize our work in a few different ways:
Stories vs Guides[]
The primary point of emphasis in this project is on the stories. Generally our focus when coming up on a concept is trying to find a fun story that supplements the established lore, or overall feels like a "lost chapter."
Some of our more notable concepts and stories have been drawn from projects Lego started but cancelled, such as Invasion, Power of the Great Beings, the 2005 Web Comics, or even the Adventures-style flashbacks Bob Thompson planned but which never came to fruition. These we write to feel as authentic as possible and represent whatever we may know about the story.
In addition to the above, some of our concepts are ones Lego may not have originally planned but which otherwise fill in off-screen adventures, such as Takanuva's fight with the Frostelus, or Icarax's 2007 adventures. For some reason they are moments in the lore we feel especially drawn to and feel there is a compelling plot or character piece that can be drawn out of them.
Other stories are written purely as character examinations, such as a piece on Malum's quest for dominance over the wastes of Bara Magna, or one of the Barraki as they are attempting to stomp out resistance on Zakaz. Others are concept pieces, such as Gatherer's attempt to determine the Kanohi power of his opponent, or the Voyatoran unwittingly sending gifts to the Mahritoran, or one where the Kaukau saves the day. Much less rhyme or reason to these, it's just whatever catches our interest.
On top of the stories, we do have a few guide concepts we've considered for release. Guides were so central for Bionicle as a whole, and there are some interesting ideas that could work, but only one has been written for this project, and it isn't something at the center of our focus. For one thing, we want to avoid veering too far into fanon content, and for another, it's a surprising amount of work.
"Storylines"[]
In addition to the broader genre categories as listed above, we have in the past few months adapted another categorization system, especially in terms of our loose storylines we've established. It stems from the same idea where we got our project title--as we envisioned it originally, "Myths" were stories prior to the arrival of the Toa Mata, and "Legacy" as a component was anything after their arrival. However, as most of our content ended up falling under the "Myths" brand anyway, we've revised the system somewhat largely based on volume of content per era.
A full list of our current stories according to these divisions will be posted at a later date, but these are the loose definitions according to our current system.
- Myths: Our random stories taking place in the many years leading up to the height of the Toa. These are the most one-off of our one-offs, and very rarely center on the same character twice. These generally don't have any thematic relation to each other.
- Quests: Stories taking place starting in the height of the Toa era around 15,000 YA and ending with Makuta's attack on Metru Nui. The Quests series is particularly focused on the exploits of Toa Dume, the Toa Mangai, and the Toa Hagah. Taken as a united whole, these stories serve as a story of the decline of the Toa and the rise of the Plan.
- Adventures: Any exploits of the Toa/Turaga Metru that haven't yet been put to paper. The Adventures, especially taken in view of the Quests, are the climax to the decline of the Toa and the rise of Makuta. The Toa Metru are retroactively the final stage in a series of Toa teams leading up to the Great Cataclysm, and show the universe in its darkest hour.
- Chronicles: Exploits during the Dark Times, though generally focused on the Matoran of Mata Nui and eventually the Toa Mata. With the Legends, they present the return of the Toa as they work to reverse the events shown in the Quests/Adventures.
- Legends: Exploits during the Ignition timeframe, though generally focused on the locations of Voya Nui, Mahri Nui, and Karda Nui and the Toa Inika/Mahri and the Toa Nuva. With the Chronicles, they present the return of the Toa as they work to reverse the events shown in the Quests/Adventures.
- Epics: Literally anything on Bara Magna
- Legacies: Events that occur in the post-storyline world. Currently, we have no plans of our own to develop a full post-storyline arc, and it is doubtful that we ever would. However, there have been a few stories/characters that we've taken an interest in, and whose arcs we feel we can write strong endings for. Our hope is that these can be taken and incorporated into the conclusion storylines other people write.
If our project (or people's submissions) end up delving more into the broad timeframe we've categorically named "Myths," we may well break it up further -- although this timeframe will by definition be difficult to explore as it would require more fanon content -- something we seek to avoid. Regardless of this, "Myths" will always be the first of all the categories chronologically. Consequently, although the titular dichotomy of this project -- "Myths and Legacy" is irrelevant as we originally conceived it, our project can still be said to explore anything from the earliest Myth to the last Legacy.
Stories Featured on CBW[]
| Stories | |||||
| Series | Title | Setting | Format | Writer | Description |
| Myths | Old War Rahi | Remote Southern Island ~100,000 years ago |
TBD | ToaGonel | When Brutaka is sent south to stop a rising barraki warlord, the challenge he faces will reshape his life forever. |
| Myths | Old War Rahi 2 | Remote Southern Island Less than 100,000 years ago |
TBD | ToaGonel | As Brutaka and Axonn are sent to stop a fledgling cult, both will find themselves forced to content with ghosts from their past. |
| Myths | Pincers | Zakaz ~90,000 years ago |
TBD | ToaGonel | The Barraki have spread fear and order throughout the universe, forcing the races of the world into submission. Only one island holds out against their rule: Zakaz. Under the leadership of the famed warlord, Nektann, the Skakdi resistance launches one last gambit against the Barraki--one which threatens to undo everything they have fought for. |
| Quests | Understanding | Destral Over two thousand years ago |
Short story 4,300 words |
ToaGonel | As he awaits assignment to a Toa Hagah team, Kualus is assigned the thrilling responsibility of... feeding the Rahi in the terrifying Destral pens. Kualus is embittered at the assignment, but it takes a kooky old Toa to teach him that when it comes to Rahi, there is far more than meets the eye. |
| Quests | The Mentor's Way | Metru Nui Over 1,000 years ago |
Short story 4,442 words |
Chicken Bond | The Ko-Matoran scholar Ihu reminisces about his tutelage of a particularly challenging student named Nuju. |
| Adventures | TBD | Metru Nui 1000 years ago |
TBD | ToaGonel | Having gained an edge in recent battles against the Visorak, the Toa Metru make a bold decision to go on the offensive for the first time against the invaders. But they will quickly come to understand the nickname "stealers of life." |
| Chronicles | Warlords | The Pit 1,000 years ago |
Six chapters | Invader39 | The Barraki have been imprisoned in the Pit for millennia, constantly facing recollections of their mistakes. With these ghosts of the past haunting them, the former League of Six Kingdoms struggles for a way out. Their salvation comes unexpectedly in the form of the Great Cataclysm. |
| Chronicles | Visorak Mountain | Unnamed Southern Island 430 years ago |
TBD | BobTheDoctor27 | Toa Lesovikk and Chiara find themselves on an island supporting a splinter faction of the Visorak Horde. At the height of the Dark Times, the pair embark on a dangerous quest to liberate the land from the Visorak scourge. |
| Chronicles | War Trophies | Unnamed Eastern Island 200 years ago |
Short story 1,600 words |
BobTheDoctor27 | The Dark Hunter known as Gatherer embarks on a quest to eliminate a rogue Toa of Fire from corrupted data. |
| Chronicles | The Perilous Catch | Aqua Magna 150 years ago |
Short story 3,700 words |
BobTheDoctor27 | Starved of all resources, the Matoran of Voya Nui pay tribute to their fallen brethren by casting off what few possessions they can spare into the Cape of No Hope. Unbeknownst to them, however, this ritual sustains the citizens of Mahri Nui, who cling yet to life in the depths of The Pit. |
| Chronicles | Stolen Goods | Various alternate universes Less than 1 year ago |
Eight chapters | Invader39 | Versions of Takua and Takanuva are disappearing from across the multiverse. The only clue of their fate is the sight of a Makuta taking them in a flash of light. No one knows who this warrior is, or why he is collecting these counterparts of the same being... |
| Chronicles | The Bohrok Invasion | Mata Nui 1 year ago |
Three part anthology Six chapters |
Invader39 | The Bohrok threaten to cleanse the island paradise of Mata Nui and wipe out their civilization. It is up to the inhabitants of the island to save themselves. Six Toa. Six Matoran. The Chronicler's Company. Three stories set on Mata Nui during the Bohrok Invasion. |
| Chronicles | Relevance | Mata Nui 1 year ago |
Four chapters 17,700 words |
BobTheDoctor27 | Toa Nuva Tahu, Lewa, and Pohatu engage the Gahlok-Kal at the height of the Bohrok Kal Saga, losing their Kanohi Nuva and struggling to adapt to changing circumstances. |
| Legends | The Annals of Icarax | The Matoran Universe Several months ago |
Ten chapters 4,200 words |
ToaGonel | As the Toa Mahri struggle in the Pit, and as the Toa Nuva brave the List of Preparations, Makuta Icarax finds himself equipped with a series of tasks. Squarely into his lap has fallen key preparations that may make or break the success of Teridax's grand plan. |
| Legends | Out of Their Elements | Aqua Magna Four Months Ago |
Short story 1,800 words |
Nicrophorus-Americanus | After escaping Kalmah and Carapar in the Black Water, Kongu confronts Jaller about the choices he's made as leader of the Toa Mahri. |
| Legends | An Even Exchange | The Matoran Universe Months ago |
Three parts 4,500 words |
Nicrophorus-Americanus | Vydak, the Makuta of Stelt, has long aspired to wield the Kanohi Vahi, creating Voporak to hunt down the legendary mask. Now, as the completion of Teridax's Plan looms large, Vydak enacts a plan of his own. |
| Epics | Way of the Lawless | Bara Magna Several months ago |
Eight chapters 17,500 words |
BobTheDoctor27 | Malum, exiled Glatorian of the Fire Tribe, endures his first year as an outcast in the Wastelands, seeking answers to the questions life in Vulcanus failed to provide. With the help of a single Vorox aide, he must secure his claim as Champion of the Sand Tribe while discovering the untold history of the Vorox. |
| Epics | The Things We Unbury | Bara Magna A few months ago |
Nine chapters 11,000 words |
ToaGonel | Scodonius, Kirbraz, and Perditus find themselves in the protection of former slaves of Sahmad. Embarking across the desert to guide the prisoners back to their homes, the three vehicle riders brave the wastes to see this mission through. But it takes them much longer than it should before they realize there's more to these prisoners than it seems. |
| Legacy | Legacy Weapons | Spherus Magna Present day |
TBD | BobTheDoctor27 | Having completed their work in the Matoran Universe, the Toa Hagah are deployed on a mission to recover the Toa Mahri. But the team gets more than they bargained for, for the Toa Mahri are enraptured down to their very souls... |
| Legacy | Mazeka | Matoran Universe Present day |
Eleven chapters 14,300 words |
ToaGonel | In the aftermath of the Battle of Bara Magna, Mazeka and Teridax of the Melding Universe have little time to rest before they must brave the post-apocalyptic Matoran Universe once again. But as they set out to end the menace lingering in Destral, Mazeka finds his very identity and belief system instilled by the Order of Mata Nui under serious threat. This story represents the second half of Brothers in Arms and is a companion piece to Legacy Weapons. |
| Legacy | Dethroned | Matoran Universe Present day |
TBD | ToaGonel | As the dust settles on Bara Magna, Miserix finds himself rebuilding his lost strength from scratch. But as he does, he is forced to work with the most unlikely of allies, who are also picking up the pieces of their shattered power: the Bahrag. |
Notable Creative License[]
Throughout the history of BIONICLE canon, different writers were notorious for retconning or altering established plotlines for the sake of new narrative strands, allowing the storyline to constantly evolve and mature in spite of limitations. While ToaGonel and BobTheDoctor27 regularly seek advice and refrain from contradicting canon, there have been sparring instances of creative license being taken in order for their over-arching story to take place. In these cases, canon is not contradicted, but usually sidestepped, ignored, or referenced only with ambiguous wording that allows for multiple interpretations. However, generally speaking Myths and Legacy considers itself bound by everything except uninspired Greg quotes.
Whilst many fans have come to envision the location names of Mata Nui being named in homage of fallen Toa Mangai, BobTheDoctor27 took a personal dislike to the Polynesian nature of these location names, feeling that they contrasting too sharply with the established names of Lhikan, Tuyet and Nidhiki. Rather than assign these names to arbitrary members of the Toa Mangai and risk conflict with other content creators, brand new names were devised for the Myths and Legacy version of the Toa Mangai, allowing readers to more easily differentiate the project from other fanon versions of the Toa Team.
The Myths and Legacy also notably posits that the entrants to the Prisoners of the Pit Building Challenge are canon, a topic that ToaGonel has felt very strongly about for some time. While the models were later retroactively canonized in 2011 due to significant fan demand, the characters remained nameless.
Moreover, the project has spawned a number of unique characters created specifically to fill out the background roles of different factions. With an unclear number of Makuta still surviving in the months before the Reign of Shadows, Makuta Parrea, Vydak, Vuudo and Zibiira were thus introduced. Similarly, with only twenty-six of the approximate forty surviving Toa named, a conscious attempt was made to designate titles to the remaining few Toa living on Spherus Magna, even if they end up going unnamed in-story.
Frequently Asked Questions[]
The following are questions that, if anyone asked us anything, they would ask a lot.
Does Myths and Legacy exist in its own canon?
Yes and no. Technically speaking, these stories don't exist in a bubble and are meant to be taken as existing within the same world. Within each entry, one may find references to lore found in other stories, and some works can be strung together into a cohesive storyline.
However, at the same time, all of these stories are intended to be detached from each other and formed into modular entities. M&L has not been built as an "all or nothing" package; each of these stories are building blocks that one can take and build into your own universe and headcanons. They are like DLC for video games which, although often helpful and insightful when it comes to understanding a story, are not (or rather, shouldn't be) strictly necessary for the game itself. Myths and Legacy is not a "universe," but rather a collection of stories that can be found across a multitude of the parallel BIONICLE universes. Some of these stories may be missing from one universe or another, but one may expect to find at least a few present.
Are the contents of the Myths and Legacy site "canonical" to the Myths and Legacy project?
They are not, both because M&L doesn't have a canon (see prior question) but also for the following: For a story to be added to the Myths and Legacy library, the story must be vetted by at least Bob and Gonel for canon compliance and probably subjected to some amount of revision. Myths and Legacy has guidelines for the sort of content we introduce to the project (as outlined above), and although we may sometimes hold more loosely to the line, we nevertheless hold to it.
The Myths and Legacy website, on the other hand, is a general assortment of any high-quality canon-compliant media, to be used as a sort of streaming service. Though some sections may be set aside for prominent content creators such as Litestone Studios, all content brought on tends to hold to the general style of M&L content, even if it isn't vetted so closely. All content is canon compliant, and much of it is peer-reviewed and modular in nature. No alternate universes are featured, although the site is going to keep a regularly-updated index of all fan content.
Can I use your stories, story excerpts, characters, ideas, etc in my own work?
Speaking for BobTheDoctor, Gonel, and Jeff Douglas: absolutely. Everything we publish under the Myths and Legacy banner is intended to integrate within the collective fan narrative of BIONICLE. This entire endeavor is a community-centric project, and the completed material we publish immediately (insofar as it can) enters into the public domain. Credit is appreciated of course.
With regards to the works published by other authors for the M&L banner, you should check with them individually and see what they prefer, but they'll probably be happy to work with you.
When you say "canon compliant," what do you mean? How strict are you?
Not long ago, PlanetPerson of the Great Archives published a tiered list denoting BIONICLE canon. In an ideal world, we wouldn't need tiers at all, and could just see everything as occupying the same level of canon. But when there is even one contradiction that cannot be rationally explained, only then is when tier levels get weighed against each other.
Fortunately, M&L is not as encumbered as the actual canon, and we keep a simpler, more binary approach. All sets, books (including Hapka's content), comics, movies, animations, and story-oriented games occupy the same level of canon and cannot be contradicted (unless the contradiction is explained in-story). This is an even tier, and all interpretations within these versions are considered "canon" even if occasionally contradictory. When faced with contradictions, we endeavor to either sidestep or explain the contradiction, so as to be compatible with whichever interpretation the reader prefers.
Similarly, we do not consider ourselves bound strictly by Greg quotes, or even determinations by Bob Thompson that Taxi Crabs are not canon, for example. Published content takes priority over out-of-story determinations. This isn't to say that we outright ignore it (less still that we would include love in a MU-based story) but it does mean that these quotes will be weighed individually. However, there are a few reasons why we do not hold them to the same level as other canon sources:
- Often Greg would make statements to appease fans and answer their questions, but he himself was not bound by these, and sometimes overturned them when they inconvenienced his creativity, or when the story team decided to overrule him. So too do we approach Greg quotes.
- Having such a monumental index of information and data is overwhelming, and even now the experts on TGA and BS01 are mining the collection for information. We cannot expect our writers to walk back extensive sections of a completed story simply because a quote was eventually discovered that contradicted it.
- Given how prone Greg quotes are to contradiction and error, there is no easy rule to weighing which quotes become representative of canon. Sometimes earlier quotes are more reconcilable with canon, sometimes later ones are. Sometimes one quote is consistent with known information, but it contradicts a dozen other quotes that go the other way. Sometimes Greg flips back and forth repeatedly on a question. Given how difficult it can be to apply strict standards to the archive, and given how interpretive the process can be, we do not view the Greg archive as a source fully worthy of the same dedication as other media.
Here is a full list of story content we take into account in no particular order:
- Books
- Serials and published works by Greg Farshtey
- Works by Cathy Hapka
- Comics
- Comics from official lines
- Comics exclusive to graphic novels
- All promotional comics
- Games
- Quest for the Toa
- Mata Nui Online Game 1 & 2
- The Legend Continues
- Toa Metru CD-ROMs
- Maze of Shadows(?)
- Animated content
- Movies
- Templar animations
- 2005 Hordika animations
- Animations by ADVANCE
- Other
- The Ministry of Tourism