Piraka
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| Parent theme | Lego Technic (2001–2003) |
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| Availability | 2000–2010, 2015–2016 |
| Total sets | (See List of Bionicle toys) |
| Characters | (See List of Bionicle characters) |
| Official website | |
Bionicle (stylized BIONICLE) was a line of construction toys created by the Lego Group marketed primarily for 8-to-16-year-olds. Originally a subsidiary theme of Lego’s Technic series, the line was launched in Europe and Australia in 2000 and in North America in 2001. Over the following decade, it became one of the Lego Group's biggest-selling properties and played a part in saving the company from its financial crisis of the late 1990s. The theme was originally discontinued in 2010 after ten years of production, but was rebooted in 2015 for a further two years.
To accompany the sets, Lego created an original story that expanded as the theme continued. Set in a science fantasy universe featuring beings made up of bio-mechanical components, it chronicles the tales of the heroic Toa in their fight against the Makuta (the arch antagonist) as well as other evils in order to protect the villager-like populace of their world, the Matoran. While notable for being one of the first Lego themes to possess a strong online presence, the main story was told through comic books, novels and animated features, while a number of additional serials were incorporated into the saga via alternative types of media that in turn expanded upon its lore. A simplified approach was taken with the theme's rebooted story in 2015, before it was discontinued again in 2016.
After suffering a ten-year downturn in the 1990s, the Lego Group went forward with the idea of storytelling and thought a theme with a storyline behind it would appeal to their audience. Their first attempt was the Star Wars line based on the film series of the same name. It was an instant success upon its 1999 release, but the royalty payments to the franchise owners Lucasfilm limited Lego's profit. The company later decided that an original story created by Lego themselves would be more advantageous to them, with their first attempts being the Slizer/Throwbots and RoboRiders themes released in 1999 and 2000 respectively. Elements from Lego Technic construction series were incorporated into the sets, with systems such as the innovative 'ball-and-socket' (new to the Lego building system at the time) being used to create free joint movement. This system would go on to be used and greatly expanded upon in Bionicle.
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