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Hero Factory

Sub‑themes	Hero Recon Team
Availability	2010–Present
Total sets	70
Characters	(See Characters)
Official website

Hero Factory (stylized as HERO FACTORY) is a line of toys by the LEGO Group marketed primarily at 6 to 12-year-olds. It was created in response to the decision to discontinue the Bionicle theme in early 2010.^[1]

Plot [edit]

Far away in an entirely different galaxy to our own, there lies the surreal and high-tech Makuhero City, home to the Hero Factory, where new robotic heroes, powered by a strange semi-sentient material called quaza, are built every day. The factory was created by the wise architect of Makuhero City, the philanthropic Mr. Makuro, with the intention of upholding peace and prosperity throughout the universe, fighting the worst villains and monsters from all over the galaxy. The main story revolves around the Hero Factory Alpha Team and their allied rookie heroes combating evil on several different planets.

2010 - Rise of the Rookies [edit]

A rogue hero from Stormer's past, Von Ness, who disappeared after abandoning Stormer and leaving his team leader to die when a mission went bad, returns to get revenge on his former team member, changing his name to "Von Nebula" in the process, hearkening to his new-found, deadly ability to create black holes. Stormer, his current teammates Bulk and Stringer and three rookie heroes, Furno, Surge and Breez, take on Von Nebula's hired criminals, XPlode, Rotor, Meltdown, Corroder and Thunder in a number of locations across the galaxy, at one point corrupting Stormer, turning him evil against his own will. Furno encourages him to fight the possession until they get back to Hero Factory, where he is given an antidote. The heroes then come into contact with Von Nebula himself through a black hole in New Stellac City, the place where he went rogue a number of years before. Stormer and Furno jump into the black hole to settle a score, leaving the other heroes to take out his thugs once and for all. After a tedious encounter with Von Nebula, Furno uses anti-gravity thruster rings on his and Stormer's boots to repel the black hole, while Stormer uses Von Nebula's black hole orb staff to imprison him. Returning unharmed to their fellow heroes, they discover they have captured the other villains. As they return, the heroes are met with a news reporter covering their mission, and the Alpha Team introduce the new rookie Heroes.

2011 - Ordeal of Fire/Savage Planet [edit]

When Refueling Depot Tanker Station 22 is attacked, Stormer, Furno, Surge and Breez depart to rescue the civilians and capture the villains behind the assault. When they arrive, they realize that the perpetrators of the destruction are the mysterious "Fire Lord" and his henchmen Drilldozer, Nitroblast and Jetbug, trying to steal the depot's Hero Pod fuel to power themselves. Meanwhile in Makuhero City, Mr. Makuro unveils the first two heroes using Hero Factory's new building system, Nex 2.0 and Evo 2.0, at an official press conference. Back at Tanker Station 22, when trying to take down the villains, the heroes realize their weapons are useless against the Fire Villain's armor and power, causing them to abandon the attack and focus on rescuing the civilians. Showing no mercy, the villains surround the heroes and civilians, planning to kill them all. However, after feeling useless, Surge decides to sacrifice himself to save the others, destroying some fuel to grasp the cronies' attention. On Fire Lord's command, all four villains begin to gun Surge down. Despite this, Stormer still orders the heroes to retreat to their Hero Craft with the civilians, and to return for Surge later. When they reach Hero Factory, Stormer demands the upgrade, and after being denied once by Mr. Makuro is accepted. After the upgrade process is done, they take time to acclimatise to their new bodies and features, then head back to Tanker Station 22. At first they go for a stealthy approach, until Furno misuses his new weapon and gets noticed by Nitroblast. Stormer then attacks Fire Lord himself, knocking him over. In the midst of a long battle, Fire Lord explains to Stormer that the villains have an addiction to power, due to their circuits becoming corrupted, so they cannot stop consuming fuel. Meanwhile, Furno and Breez are fused together by Jetbug's Fuel Supply Ship, unluckily just as Drilldozer begins his attack, while Stormer is about to be dropped off the edge of the station. All seems lost until a Hero Pod carrying Evo and Nex distracts the villains, allowing Stormer to escape, and his fellow heroes to take down Drilldozer. After his minions are defeated, Fire Lord starts to absorb all the fuel from the heart of the station, making himself too powerful to defeat. Fortunately, Surge drives a ship directly towards Fire Lord, surprising and weakening him enough so Stormer can defeat him. In the end, Surge gets the 2.0 upgrade and all of the fire villains are taken into custody and to have their circuits repaired.

After completing a mission, new hero Rocka picks up a distress call from Aldous Witch, a professor who had been banished from the Hero Factory. Going against orders, Rocka heads towards the jungle planet Quatros to save Aldous Witch. Upon landing, Rocka is attacked by a group of Fangz, under the control of Aldous, who had transformed into Witch Doctor. Back at the Hero Factory, Stormer, Furno, Bulk, Stringer, and Nex are equipped with new weapons and armor and sent to Quatros to save Rocka. They find Rocka and also learn about Witch Doctor, and his plan to harvest all the quaza from the planet, which will kill it. After giving Rocka his 3.0 armor, the heroes locate an ancient transporter that will take them to a temple where Witch Doctor is loading quaza. The heroes split into 2 teams: Furno, Stringer and Nex, and Rocka, Stormer and Bulk. Furno's team explores the jungle while Rocka's team takes the transportation system to the temple, but are shrunk in the process. While exploring, Furno's team is attacked by a Waspix and a Scorpio. After a quick battle, Furno removes the quaza spikes from Waspix, releasing it from Witch Doctor's power. They then head for the temple, where Rocka and Bulk have been captured by Witch Doctor. At the temple, Furno and Stringer remove a quaza spike from Scorpio, and it attacks Witch Doctor. Witch Doctor turns Raw-Jaw against the Scorpio while his blimp containing all of the planet's quaza starts to lift off. Nex re-powers the transporter, and brings Stormer, Bulk, and Rocka back to normal size. While Stormer attacks Witch Doctor, Furno, Nex and Rocka decide to surprise Witch Doctor. Rocka emerges from the temple in his XL form, and charges. They briefly fight, and as Witch Doctor is about to strike Rocka, Stormer steals his staff and breaks it into pieces. Bulk and Furno get the blimp to fall into the temple, releasing the quaza back into the planet. They leave the planet with Witch Doctor in custody, and the planet heals itself once more.

2012 - Breakout [edit]

When the seemingly trapped villain Voltix activates Von Nebula's Black Hole Orb Staff, it causes a mass security breach in the prison facility of Hero Factory, allowing all of the captured criminals to escape through the black hole created in the prison. The leader of the breakout is the malevolent Black Phantom, who stays and infiltrates Hero Factory with the intention of destroying it, while all Heroes, apart from Rocka, are sent on missions to re-capture the escaped villains. Stormer is dispatched to apprehend Speeda Demon on planet Kollix IV, Furno is sent to re-capture Jawblade on Scylla, Evo is dispatched to re-capture Toxic Reapa on his home planet, Z'chaya, Surge is sent to apprehend Splitface on the Sigma Sigma Communications Satellite, and Stringer is dispatched to apprehend Voltix on Tansari VI. Once they have apprehended their respective criminals, the five Heroes return to Hero Factory to help Rocka fight against Black Phantom. With Black Phantom apprehended, it is revealed that the whole breakout was a huge distraction, enabling an outside force to steal the plans for Hero Factory. The plot continues in the second wave of sets, though it is told through the books in the series rather than the TV episodes.

2013 - Brain Attack [edit]

As the operation "Catch 'Em and Cuff 'Em" continues, a mysterious villain releases the Brains, parasite-like creatures that can control a being's mind. The Brains take control of several different species (Pyrox, Scarox, Aquagon, Frost Beast, Ogrum, Scarox, and a colossal creature known as Dragon Bolt) to attack Makuhero City. Stormer, Furno, Breez, Bulk, Rocka, Evo, and Surge are outfitted with new gear (including clamps to protect their Hero Cores) to defend the city. Bulk soon discovers a way to free the creatures by striking the Brains on their heads. However, Surge is possessed by the Brains while trying to defend Hero Factory and soon begins to create drones to stop the Alpha 1 Team. While the other Heroes battle the drones, Rocka battles Dragon Bolt and frees him from the Brains' control. Breez manages to free Surge, who then shuts the drones down, ending the crisis. As the Heroes begin to repair the damage done to Hero Factory and the city, two city workers discover a horde of brains underneath the Hero Factory. Two early encounters with the Brains are explored in the Secret Missions book series.

Characters [edit]

Heroes [edit]

Alpha 1 Team [edit]

• Preston Stormer - Dubbed "The Pro". The no-nonsense Alpha 1 Team leader, plagued by his failure in a past mission, and demanding in his expectations of all team members. Stormer has appeared in all storylines to date. Voiced by John Schneider in the TV series.
• Dunkan Bulk - Dubbed "The Behemoth". A physically imposing, powerful senior Alpha 1 member, whose impressive strength belies a growing intelligence. Bulk has appeared in all storylines to date except "Ordeal of Fire". Voiced by Christopher B. Duncan in the TV series.
• Jimi Stringer - Dubbed "The Supersonic"". Philosophical, laid-back, and musically inclined veteran of Alpha 1, who incorporates sound-based functions into his weaponry. Stringer has appeared in all storylines to date except "Ordeal of Fire"and "Brain Attack." Voiced by Stephen Stanton in the TV series.
• William Furno - Dubbed "Youngblood". Once a reckless and ambitious rookie Hero assigned to Team Alpha 1, now a valuable team member. Furno has appeared in all storylines to date. Originally voiced by Eric Christian Olsen in the TV series but as of "Brain Attack" is voiced by Josh Keaton.
• Mark Surge - Dubbed "Livewire". One of Team Alpha 1's youngest, a temperamental hot-head working to overcome a secret insecurity. Surge has appeared in all storylines to date except "Savage Planet". Voiced by Bryton James in the TV series.
• Natalie Breez - Dubbed "The Whirlwind". The sole female member of the Alpha 1 Team, brash in her dealings with her teammates, but with a connection to nature. Breez has appeared in all storylines except "Savage Planet". Voiced by Jean Louisa Kelly in the TV series.
• Nathan Evo - Dubbed "The Steamroller". An introspective rookie Hero working with Alpha 1, who emphasizes heavy artillery use in his missions. Evo has appeared in all storylines from "Ordeal of Fire" onwards except "Savage Planet". Originally voiced by Tom Kenny in the TV series but as of "Breakout - Part One" is voiced by Jason London.
• Julius Nex - Dubbed "The Tech-Head". Socially nuanced and technologically gifted head of Hero Outreach and a rookie on Alpha 1, with a love for gadgetry. Nex has appeared in all storylines from "Ordeal of Fire" onwards except "Brain Attack." Voiced by Jason Canning in the TV series.
• Daniel Rocka - The headstrong new rookie of Alpha 1, also covertly a member of the Hero Recon Team. Rocka has appeared in all storylines from "Savage Planet" onwards. Voiced by Tom Kenny in the TV series.

Other Heroes [edit]

• Merrick Fortis - One of Hero Factory's earliest and most reputable Heroes, now the commander of the secretive Hero Recon Team.
• Thresher - The first head of the elite Alpha 1 Team, and Stormer's former team leader.
• Lucas Valor - The leader of the Delta 9 Team and one of the most reputable heroes.

Villains [edit]

Main Villains [edit]

• Von Nebula - Formerly Von Ness, a Hero gone rogue on a mission to destroy Hero Factory. He was voiced by Mark Hamill in the TV series.
• Fire Lord - A mining bot who went insane, and began a megalomaniacal plot to steal all sources of Hero fuel. He was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in the TV series.
• Witch Doctor - Once a Hero Factory instructor obsessed with Quaza, transformed into an evil tyrant while attempting to destroy Quatros. He was voiced by Fred Tatasciore in the TV series.
• Black Phantom - A powerful villain who planned to destroy the Hero Factory's Assembly Tower. He was voiced by Mark Hamill in the TV series.
• Dark Maker - The mastermind of the Brain Attack plot. Voiced by Tom Kenny in the TV series.

Criminal Groups [edit]

• Von Nebula's Gang: When Von Nebula began his scheme to destroy Preston Stormer and the Hero Factory, he brought together a small group of villains to create various false trails and try to whittle down the Heroes' strength. The members of the team are XPlode (Jeff Glen Bennett), who uses explosives and has a treacherous and short-tempered nature, Rotor (Joel Swetow), who is not very bright and uses his flying blades and blasters in battle, Corroder (Charlie Adler), who uses acid and takes sadistic pleasure in his work, Meltdown (Joel Swetow), who uses degraded nuclear waste as his weapon and is clearly insane, Vapor, a similar robot to Rotor who uses twin blasters, and Thunder (Fred Tatasciore), a dim-witted villain who uses a Nebula Gas Cannon. All but Vapor and Rotor faced off against the heroes in New Stellac City and were captured while Stormer and Furno took down their employer. Rotor was captured earlier by Furno at a mining asteroid, while Vapor, the only villain who was not featured personally in the Rise of the Rookies miniseries, was later captured by Bulk and Furno. However all the gang escaped when the mass breakout occurred. The only one who has been seen to be recaptured is XPlode.
• Fire Villains: When Fire Lord and a few other robots malfunctioned, they became a small gang and took to raiding fuel stations to satiate their addiction to power. These other robots were Drilldozer (Fred Tatasciore), a drill-wielding heavy-weight robot, Jetbug (Tom Kenny), a flying robot given to uncontrollable laughter, and Nitroblast (Stephen Stanton), a sycophant safe-cracker who is fanatically loyal to the Fire Lord's schemes. They defeat the heroes when they attacked Tanker Station 22, but the upgraded heroes and their rookie backup manage to take them and their leader down. They are all taken to the Hero Factory for repair, but it eventually proves futile and they are put into their prison, only escaping when the mass breakout was orchestrated.
• Legion of Darkness: A group formed by Black Phantom to take down the Hero Factory, although they eventually dispensed with their treacherous leader and dispersed.^[2] They consist of Toxic Reapa (Nick Jameson), a crazed and power-hungry rogue from the planet Z'chaya, Jawblade (Steve Wilcox), a shark from Scylla who stole Furno's old blade weapons and sought a rusting agent to defend himself from Hero attacks, Splitface (Maurice LaMarche), a cybernetic schizophrenic with a split personality, Voltix (Rick D. Wasserman), a villain from Tansari VI who sought to create the ultimate electric weapon, Speeda Demon (Charlie Adler), a speed-obsessed robot equivalent of a highwayman, Thornraxx, a wasp-like alien renegade from Hive Planet, XT4, a multi-armed former working robot who was reprogrammed for villainy by Black Phantom. Each member of the Legion was captured and imprisoned, but Voltix schemed with Black Phantom and Von Nebula and instigated the breakout. As of the present, all members of the Legion except XT4 have been recaptured.
• Brain Factory: An organization seemingly created by the unknown mastermind behind the mass breakout in direct opposition to the Hero Factory. It is within this factory that the parasite brains are created and sent to the Hero Factory home planet, infecting and mutating various lifeforms into fighting machines to attack the Hero Factory, including Dragon Bolt, an electrical dragon with bladed wings and lightning elements, Ogrum, an ogre-like species with a flail, Aquagon a lifeform at home in the water, with two swords, Scarox, a spider like creature with blades and venomous fangs, Pyrox, a minotaur-like beast with a claw and a flame staff, Bruizer, a silicate lifeform with a wrecking fist and razor spikes, and Frost Beast, an ice creature, similar to a yeti with a claw and an ice blade.

Other villains [edit]

• Silver: A gigantic drone that once attacked New Stellac City during Stormer's early life. It was during this mission where Von Ness, later Von Nebula, defected the group, fleeing out of cowardice. After failing to stop Von Ness's escape, Stormer jumped off the Drop Ship Von Ness was escaping in and disabled the drone by blinding it, and then crossing its power cables. The drone was later taken apart and turned into a monument at a ceremony commending Stormer's bravery. This villain is not an official set, but the winning design of a fan creation contest.
• Core Hunter: A vicious and very intelligent black and red villain with razor-spike armor, a hero core remover, a multi-vision mask and a plasma shooter (stolen from one of his victims). A renegade hero, he hunts the quaza cores of heroes, and adds them to his collection (making him the robot equivalent of a trophy hunter or a serial killer). Unlike most villains, Core Hunter stayed in Makuhero City during the breakout to collect more cores. He is the only villain in the "Breakout" series to not have been a member of the Legion of Darkness. In the Hero Factory novel The Doom Box, he tried to activate the Doom Box, a powerful weapon created and hidden away by an unknown civilization. In the resulting battle, he fought several heroes and absorbs the Doom Box's power. Surge reverses the power, which shrinks Core Hunter into microscopic size. His exact current status is unknown.^[3]

Set information [edit]

The first Hero Factory sets were released on July 3, 2010 in the United Kingdom with the remaining five sets being released on July 4, 12, and 24. All original fifteen sets were released in the United States on July 24, 2010.^[4] Within the 15 sets released there are six hero characters, six villain characters, two vehicles, and a hero and villain limited edition set. The six hero sets are packaged in cylindrical canisters and contain around 17 to 19 pieces. The hero sets have an age rating of 6–16 and are around 15 cm (6") tall.^[4][5] The villain sets are packaged in rectangular boxes and contain 40 to 50 pieces.^[4] The exception is the Von Nebula and Rotor sets which have 156 and 145 pieces respectively and are packaged in a larger box.^[6][7] All the villain sets have an age rating of 7–16 and are around 17 cm (7") tall besides Von Nebula who is around 22 cm (9") tall and has an age rating of 9–16 and Rotor who is around 20 cm (8") and has an age rating of 8–16.^[4][6][7] The two vehicle sets are Furno Bike and Drop Ship. The Furno Bike set includes 165 pieces and has an age rating of 8–16. It contains a 30 cm (12") long motor bike and the hero character William Furno.^[8] The Drop Ship contains 390 pieces and has an age rating of 9–16. It contains a 43 cm (17") Drop Ship and a Hero Factory Pilot.^[9] The Duncan Bulk and Vapour set contains 89 pieces and has an age rating of 8–16. It includes the hero Duncan Bulk, and the villain Vapour, with both figures being around 15 cm (6") tall.^[10]

In December 2010 ten new sets were released. The sets included six hero sets and four villain sets. The hero sets contain around 30 pieces, have an age rating of 6–16, and are around 17 cm (7") tall.^[4] The heroes sets are in rebuilt forms also known as 2.0 form and include Stormer 2.0, Furno 2.0, Breez 2.0, Surge 2.0, Evo 2.0 and Nex 2.0.^[4] The four villain sets form the Fire Villain storyline. Three of the villain sets - Drilldozer, Jetbug, and Nitroblast, contain around 60 pieces, have an age rating of 7–16, and are around 21 cm (8").^[4] The exception is the set Fire Lord which contains 125 pieces, stands around 26 cm (10"), and has an age rating of 9–16.^[11]

Adaptations [edit]

Comics and Books [edit]

In July 2010 Lego Group and DC Comics released the first Lego Hero Factory comic on the Hero Factory website only. Entitled The Trials of Furno, it was released for free download at Lego.com, and follows the story of the rookie hero William Furno on his first mission, to battle against Xplode and Rotor.^[12][13] A second issue, entitled Core Crisis was released in September 2010.^[14][15] In 2012, a new series of books tied in with the Hero Factory story and toyline began being released, written by Bionicle writer Greg Farshtey.^[16] So far, one DK Reader-level 3 book has been released and four have been announced for September (The Doom Box) and October (Legion of Darkness) 2012, then in January (Collision Course), March (Robot Rampage), and April (Mirror World) 2013. They will be published by Scholastic.^[17]

Animated television series [edit]

Starting in 2010, a Hero Factory television mini-series was produced by Threshold Animation Studios, directed by Mark Baldo and written by Sean Catherine Derek (who both worked on Bionicle: The Legend Reborn). It consisted of four 20-minute episodes called "Trials of Furno", "Core Crisis", "The Enemy Within", and "Von Nebula" that began airing in Denmark and Norway on August 29, 2010 on Cartoon Network.^[18] It broadcasted in English language regions between September 20 and 23, 2010 on Nicktoons.^[19] More episodes followed; "Ordeal of Fire", "Savage Planet" (Parts One and Two) in 2011, "Breakout" (Parts One and Two) in 2012, and "Brain Attack" in 2013.

The first four episodes of the series were released as a direct-to-DVD film entitled Hero Factory: Rise of the Rookies on November 22, 2010, it was released in Region 2 on October 21, 2011. The second assortment of episodes, including "Ordeal of Fire and "Savage Planet" (Parts One and Two), were also released as a direct-to-DVD film on October 4, 2011 entitled Hero Factory: Savage Planet and received a Region 2 release on November 5, 2012. The latter episodes "Breakout" (Parts One and Two) and "Brain Attack" are yet to receive a DVD release.

Live-action film [edit]

Universal Studios are currently working to acquire the rights to create a live-action movie adaption of Hero Factory.^[20] It has been revealed that Micheal Fitch and Alex Litvak, the writers of Predators, are to write a screenplay for the movie.^[21]

Reception [edit]

Toybuzz stated that the simplicity of the Hero sets were great for people who like the actual playing experience, but not so good for Lego fans who prefer the enjoyment of the build.^[22] Toybuzz praised the sturdyness of the figures and wrote that "the best feature was that the weapons were actually one of their arms", as you do not have to spend time on putting the weapon back on. Toybuzz also praised the packaging that the Hero sets come with, stating that the plastic tubes are great for organization and for keeping the sets tidy.^[22]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• LEGO: Hero Factory products
• Nicktoons: Hero Factory: Four Night Mini-Series
• HEROsector01, An external wiki