Hero Factory



"We, the good, bold and virtuous, stand united against the malignant forces in the universe. Our sole and unwavering resolution: to root out and eliminate all things lowdown, vile and villainous. We go forth with conviction and courage, and strive wholeheartedly against the dark. Together, we build a safer universe. We build a better tomorrow. We build heroes."

LEGO's successor to Bionicle, following the end of its toyline.

Hero Factory revolves around the construction of robotic heroes in order to protect the similarly robotic populace. Each Hero is unique, with their own distinct personalities and equipment. Our story takes place in Makuhero City, located on a terraformed asteroid. At the heart of Makuhero City is the towering Hero Factory, where new Heroes are constructed in the dozens and equipped with the tools they need for the latest job, whether it be fighting fires or bringing in villains.

Like Bionicle, Hero Factory has a more detailed story told in various media. So far there's an online comic and animated TV miniseries/DirectToVideo projects, Rise Of The Rookies, Ordeal of Fire, Savage Planet, and Breakout.

Our heroes are the Factory's elite Alpha Team:
 * William Furno. The Hero originally, though has moved on to Older and Wiser. A Rookie with potential to be an incredibly powerful Hero. Pushes himself hard - probably too hard - to live up to Stormer's high standards as well as his own.
 * Preston Stormer. Alpha Team Leader. Level-headed and no-nonsense; he sets high standards for everyone under his command, including himself.
 * Mark Surge. A Rookie alongside Furno. A nice guy but tends to let his emotions get the better of him.
 * Natalie Breez. Another Rookie with Surge and Furno. Graceful and confident; her experimental systems give her the ability to communicate with animals.
 * Duncan Bulk. Your standard Dumb Muscle and Boisterous Bruiser.
 * Jimi Stringer. Laid-back and an amateur musician. Lately also adopted a dose of "southern stereotype" mannerism.
 * Nathan Evo. One of the first 2.0-model heroes to be built. A calm and meditative weapons master.
 * Julius Nex. Another of the first 2.0 Heroes. An outgoing expert in communications (including social networking) with enhanced flexibility and senses.
 * Rocka. The newest Rookie and replacing Furno as The Hero, beginning with the crisis on Quatros. Modeled on Furno but is perhaps even more impulsive.
 * There's also the Recon Team: The information and intelligence division, led by Merrick Fortis. Out-of-universe, it was set up by Lego to give fans a place to incorporate their Sailor Earth characters, allowing them to actually design and purchase figures of their custom Heroes. On April 11th 2012, Hero Recon Team will be updated with a more complex building system, however the models will be no longer buyable.

Together, they fight against the many evil villains of the universe:
 * Von Nebula: The head of a criminal organization with a grudge against the Factory.
 * The Fire Lord: Once a mining bot, he was modified to absorb energy from fuel cells as an alternative to needing a refueling station. But he and the other modified bots became addicted to energy and started attacking power stations.
 * Witch Doctor: Envious of the Heroes' Power Cores, Professor Aldous Witch went to the jungle planet of Quatros to illegally mine some of the raw material, Quaza. There he found a stone skull, which when empowered with Quaza turned him into the tyrannical Witch Doctor.
 * Black Phantom: Has caused a massive jailbreak, forcing the Factory to stretch their forces thin while he attacks their assembly line.

"(He) is also the head of Hero Outreach. Follow him on HeroFeed, or friend him on HeroBook!""
 * All There in the Manual: Several things are in the Brickmaster Hero Factory Booklet that you can't find in other places, like why Von Nebula wants to destroy Hero Factory.
 * The website also explains a lot.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In Hero Factory FM Podcast 4, there is a look at Gargantuan Smash's "villainous past". There is a recording of a typical "terrorizing streets" rant, followed by what sounds like he's opening fire on a restaurant over an ended promotion.
 * Animal Motifs: The 3.0 Heroes.
 * Big Badass Bird of Prey: Furno
 * Big Badass Wolf: Bulk
 * Everything's Worse with Bears: Stringer
 * King of Beasts: Rocka
 * Panthera Awesome: Nex
 * Rhino Rampage: Stormer
 * Badass Biker: Furno 1.0 and Breakout villain Speeda Demon. Stormer applies as well, in the TV show at least- in his fight against Speeda Demon he rides what looks to be a white and blue replica of Furno's bike.
 * The Beast Master: Witch Doctor
 * Beehive Barrier: Part of Rocka's and Breez Breakout gear.
 * Big Bad: Von Nebula, Fire Lord, Witch Doctor, Black Phantom.
 * Big No: Furno in the Ordeal of Fire series.
 * Break Out the Museum Piece: A short-term one, with the first-year Hero helmets getting reused in the latest (4th) season.
 * Character Blog: Sort of; there's the Hero Factory FM Radio.
 * There's also an in-universe version mentioned in the online bio for Evo.

"Akiyama Makuro: [Until the upgrades are safe to roll out] the current crop of Heroes are keeping the galaxy safe just fine. Cut to Alpha Team barely holding out at a mining shaft"
 * Chained Heat: Furno and Breez wind up with their weapons stuck together at one point in Ordeal of Fire. Like a Chinese finger trap, the break free by moving closer together as per Nex's suggestion.
 * Chest Insignia / Brought to You by The Letter "S": Heroes' Power Cores are on their chest, in the shape of the factory's H logo. During the Breakout, the Heroes' chests are further decorated with designs which somehow represent their element (Furno's flames) or their personality (tech-expert Nex's circuit-like patterns).
 * Chromatic Arrangement: (Former) Rookie group Furno, Surge, and Breez.
 * Compilation Movie: Rise of the Rookies is basically the four episodes of the TV series put together
 * Contest Winner Cameo: BZ Power's 53rd BIONICLE-Based Creations Contest. The winner was chosen by LEGO and was featured in the TV series (with a somewhat more simplified design).
 * Cool Helmet
 * Dark Is Evil: Von Nebula and Black Phantom, with their almost completely black armor.
 * Description Cut: From Ordeal of Fire

"The leader of the fire villains hates to be touched. Even if someone wanted to touch him, his incandescent personality would be burned into them, along with second degree burns."
 * Dual-Wielding: Breez in her first two versions and Surge's first version
 * Elemental Powers: Well, Elemental Motifs, anyway, used in versions 1.0 and "4.0":
 * Blow You Away: Breez
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Bulk
 * An Ice Person: Stormer
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Stringer
 * Playing with Fire: Furno
 * Shock and Awe: Surge
 * Environment Specific Action Figure: The version of Bulk 1.0 that is packaged with Vapor has a jetpack and extra weapon.
 * The 2.0 and 3.0 heroes arguably fall under this trope.
 * The fourth version of Furno wears underwater equipment.
 * Evil Is Burning Hot: Fire Lord, quite obviously.
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's a factory that builds heroes.
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Fan Fic Magnet: The Recon Team is a deliberate invocation.
 * Fantasy Gun Control: Sort of. Most of the characters use non-standard weaponry, but Duncan Bulk has his 'metal sphere shooter'.
 * Five-Man Band: Again, six, but who's counting?
 * Fashionable Asymmetry: Several Heroes have rather asymmetrical armor.
 * Faux Action Girl: Natalie Breez has barely any screentime in the animated series. So much so that every time she manages to get a word in edgewise, she considers it such an achievement that she has to fist-bump Surge to celebrate.
 * She becomes more of a genuine Action Girl in Ordeal of Fire.
 * Four-Fingered Hands: The initial 2010 line had this due to the use of the hand piece from Bionicle. Averted with the 2.0 series onwards. The sets, that is. Strangely, the TV series still portrayed characters with Four-Fingered Hands until the Breakout arc
 * French Jerk: Black Phantom and his heavy French accent.
 * Friend to All Living Things: Breez
 * Funny Background Event: In one scene of Ordeal of Fire when Akiyama Makuro is describing the Upgrade, you can see Julius Nex flirting with reporter Daniella Capricorn in the background. It's all done very subtly with hand gestures, so it's easy to miss. But it's all worth it for his mopey look when she rejects his flirtations and returns her attention to Makuro's press conference.
 * G-Rated Drug: Mere energy for the Fire Lord and his gang. He even has a speech about how strongly they're all addicted to it and can't stop getting more.
 * Hates Being Touched: The Fire Lord, according to his online bio

"The function of the surrounding blades has not yet been determined, but one senior analyst suggests they are there to make the entire staff "look scary.""
 * Heart Light: the Hero Cores
 * Helicopter Pack: Rotor
 * Heroes-R-Us: It's called Hero Factory; what do you expect?
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: In the movie, Stormer is John Schneider, Prof.Zib is Henry Winkler and Von Nebula is Mark Hamill. Also Charlie Adler as Corroder.
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: In the animated series, and it applies to everybody.
 * I Will Tear Your Arms Off: Stormer threatens to do this to the DJ Mak Megahertz in one of the Hero Factory podcasts. It's implied that he carried out the threat, too, but Mak's a robot, so He Got Better
 * Katanas Are Just Better: Breez's "4.0" form wields two of them in the same hand, as part of her arsenal.
 * Speeda Demon dual-wields two gold katanas while riding a motorcycle.
 * Lampshade Hanging: In the description of Von Nebula's staff on the website:

"Rocka: Okay, Witch Doctor. The only medical care you'll be seeing to is your own!"
 * Law of Chromatic Superiority: The franchise's two lead Heroes are red (Furno) and gold (Rocka).
 * Let's Split Up, Gang!: During the "Breakout" storyline, due to the massive amount of escaped villains that need immediate attention.
 * This also happens in Savage Planet where Rocka and Furno get the chance to act as leaders of three-person teams.
 * Leitmotif: The Fire Lord and his group have a rather distinct musical piece that comes up whenever the Villains themselves do.
 * Lighter and Softer: When compared to its predecessor.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: The Missions Page on the website reveals that there are a lot of teams out there.
 * The Hero Recon Team allows for even MORE characters!
 * Love Interest: Breez defies this, even going on Hero Factory FM to say under no uncertain terms that she's not interested in any of her teammates.
 * Meaningful Name: Like, everyone, save a handful of characters.
 * Mid-Season Upgrade: Happens with every new wave of toys.
 * The Musical: One of the Hero Factory FM podcasts has Tibor Terrell presenting a clip of Hero Factory The Musical. Megahertz wastes no effort in secretly complaining about how bad it is.
 * Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Speeda Demon and XT 4.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Several of the villains have these. Meltdown and Corroder come to mind.
 * Name's the Same: The second Big Bad is the Fire Lord. Did he bring Azula with him?
 * On a LEGO-specific note, "Alpha Team" was previously a "secret agent" theme of the company's traditional brick-based toys. The name was recycled in this theme with no connection to the previous use, something LEGO does somewhat frequently.
 * No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Averted; the Fire Lord has taken weaponry used in the previous arc and upgraded it.
 * More recently Jawblade has done the same.
 * Out of Focus: Heroes are often rotated out at new story arcs. The exception is the Breakout arc, which is double-length compared to the previous ones and can therefore include all nine Heroes to date.
 * Phlebotinum Muncher: Fire Lord and his minions do this to increase their power (and insanity).
 * Power Incontinence: The main issue with upgrading existing Heroes to 2.0 was difficulty adapting to the new bodies. This causes things such as weapons being fired at the worst times and not-so-graceful movement. Furno and Breez also get their weapons locked together at one point
 * Power Trio: Furno, Surge, and Breez; who were all manufactured in the same batch and went through training together.
 * Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: Rocka delivers one in Savage Planet. The cheesiness of it is lampshaded, as Rocka complains that he "can't say it", only for Furno and Nex to tell him it's mandatory

&& Jimi Stringer seems to be named after a certain famous guitar player, which makes his "cowboy talk" in the cartoon downright bizarre...
 * Remember the New Guy?: In Savage Planet, Furno seems to know enough about Rocka to object to the latter being called "the new Furno"
 * Ridiculously-Human Robots: At least Bionicle justified their characters having emotions/personalities with the bio-mechanical nature of Matoran Universe beings, and the organic-at-birth nature of Bara Magna residents. The Heroes (all the residents of Makuhero City, actually) are outright stated to be purely mechanical robots, with the Heroes literally built in an assembly line, so this trope is in full effect.
 * In the "Bulk and Vapour" set, Bulk's helmet is outfitted with breathing tubes. ROBOTS DON'T BREATHE.
 * Robotic Assembly Lines: Vertical assembly lines.
 * Running Gag:
 * The soft drink Power Core has been referenced three times: once in the Hero Factory FM podcast, once in the TV episode The Enemy Within, and most recently in the online game Breakout. Preston Stormer is always their celebrity endorsement, and he doesn't hesitate to show his reluctance.
 * The laughably bad promos in Hero Factory FM are also one of these.
 * Sailor Earth: Lego always encourages kids to create their own stuff, but the Recon Team takes it a bit further than before by setting aside a special place for these characters in canon and letting fans buy their own custom Heroes.
 * Second-Person Attack: The Trials of Furno has a shot showing Rotor's point of view as Furno lays a few punches on him
 * Shaped Like Itself: The slogan: Hero Factory. We build Heroes.
 * Shout-Out:
 * Nex mentions online ways to be friends with him and follow his adventures on Herobook or Herofeed.
 * One of the online games has S-L-I-Z-E-R-S as an access code.
 * Savage Planet makes two references to the reference source Heropedia.
 * Breeze 4.0's armor looks quite a lot like the one worn by Samus.
 * Eliminating an opponent in Roboball makes a sound exactly like collecting a coin in a famous video game.
 * Show Accuracy, Toy Accuracy: it's pretty high for the most part, but the sets do receive some changes in their transition to animated form. Namely, sets without back armour get one (even in the legs and arms- something no set features), everyone has two hands (many sets feature only one hand piece, the other one being replaced by a socket joint upon which is built a weapon), the armour arrangement is sometimely changed, many glowing details are added (glowing eyes, glowing cores, glowing armour and weapon decorations), characters' eye colour are changed. Special mention, however, goes to Stormer's 2012 form. The set is much taller than the other heroes, and is fittingly called "Stormer XL". In the show, Stormer is visibly downsized, being only slightly taller than the other characters, and fights villain Speeda Demon on a bike that isn't even included in the Stormer XL set, let alone exists in toy form (the bike is basically a recolour of the Furno Bike, a 2010 set).
 * Many of the characters also wear belts or rectangular containers, akin to a tool box. Affixed to their butts.
 * Skele-Bot 9000: Witch Doctor is clearly designed to look like a robotic skeleton.
 * So Much for Stealth: After the Alpha Team gets the upgrade, they plan to sneak into the fuel mine. This is botched when Furno accidentally sets off his weapon, blowing their cover.
 * Spiritual Successor: to Bionicle (at least in toy form if not story)
 * Spikes of Villainy: Von Nebula, Xplode, Fire Lord's three henchmen (Fire Lord himself has a pair of horns, but no spikes), Witch Doctor, Jawblade, Thornraxx, Splitface, Core Hunter and Speeda Demon.
 * Stealth Pun: Nex is colored orange, making him an "orange Julius".
 * Steven Ulysses Perhero: Witch Doctor's real name is Professor Aldous Witch. Really, that's just asking for it.
 * Stopped Numbering Sequels: The second and third releases noted the Heroes' upgrades by labeling them version 2.0 or 3.0. The fourth release isn't bothering.
 * Supporting Leader: Stormer
 * Supporting as he may be, he still gets to fight against each saga's Big Bad at least for a little while. Breakout seems to subvert this, however.
 * Swiss Army Weapon: The Multi-Tool Ice Shield that can be kitted out with different modular equipment; four of the model 2.0 Heroes carry one, and it's an option for Recon Team Heroes as well.
 * Stringer in his Breakout form (summer 2012 set) wields what looks to be a cross between a gun and an electric guitar.
 * Sword and Gun: Surge, Breez and Stormer in their 2012 sets versions.
 * Teleporter Accident: In Savage Planet, Rocka's team takes a shortcut to one of the Quaza mines via a teleporter, and they wind up shrunken down.
 * Toyless Toyline Character: Mr. Makuhero, oldest robot on record and founder of the Hero Factory. Also Prof. Nathaniel Zib, his helper Quadal, Lucy the operator, and Hero Factory FM DJ Mak Megahertz.
 * As well as another side character, Big Joe, who is only mentioned by name in the tie-in online games but appears as a supporting character alongside the previous three. His render is used in the Hero Factory TV series and in various promotions for generic male robots working at the factory.
 * Wildly subverted, however, by the Recon Team during the 2.0 and 3.0 waves, as your homemade Hero can get its own toy.
 * A Very Special Episode: The Ordeal of Fire episode's Phlebotinum Muncher plot is so strong and Anvilicious on this they might as well give up the pretense.
 * The Von Trope Family: Von Nebula.
 * They Called Me Mad: Witch Doctor invokes this trope and almost repeats the sentence word for word during his Motive Rant about 2/3 into the Savage Planet TV episode.
 * Two-Faced: The fittingly named Splitface. Though his entire body is divided into two separate colored and styled halves.
 * The Wiki Rule: Hero Sector 01, or HS 01 for short, is a sister wiki to Bionicle Sector 01.
 * Witch Doctor: The third Big Bad, called... Witch Doctor.
 * Wolverine Claws: Several 3.0 heroes, including Stringer, Nex, and Rocka. And again, a prominent Recon Team option.