Hero Factory
Encyclopedia
Hero Factory is a line of toys by the LEGO Group
Lego Group
The LEGO Group is a family-owned company based in Billund, Denmark, and best known for the manufacture of Lego-brand toys.The company was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen...

 marketed primarily at 6 to 16-year-olds. It was created in response to the decision to discontinue the Bionicle
Bionicle
Bionicle is a line of toys by the LEGO Group marketed primarily for 5- to 16-year-olds. The line was launched on December 30, 2000 in Europe and June/July 2001 in Canada and the United States. "Bionicle" is a portmanteau constructed from the words "biological" and "chronicle"...

 theme in early 2010.

Production

Hero Factory was intended to replace the Lego Bionicle
Bionicle
Bionicle is a line of toys by the LEGO Group marketed primarily for 5- to 16-year-olds. The line was launched on December 30, 2000 in Europe and June/July 2001 in Canada and the United States. "Bionicle" is a portmanteau constructed from the words "biological" and "chronicle"...

 theme. Most of the Hero Factory pieces are completely compatible with Bionicle and Lego Technic
Lego Technic
Technic is a line of Lego interconnecting plastic rods and parts. The purpose of this series is to create more advanced models with more complex movable arms, such as machines with wheels, in addition to the simpler brick-building properties of normal Lego....

 sets. The first series of Hero Factory had buildable action figures with pre-bent limbs and attachable armor. The heads and cores were interchangeable. The villains had simple body parts in special shapes and had bendable knees. The second and third groups of heroes had a skeleton with clip-on armor and bendable limbs. Many more things (such as the weapons) were widely mixable.

Plot

Far away in an entirely different galaxy than our own, there lies the surreal and high-tech Makuhero City, home to the Hero Factory, where new robotic heroes are built every day. The factory was created by the wise architect of Makuhero City, 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.

Summer/Autumn 2010

A rogue hero from Stormer's past, Von Ness, who disappeared after abandoning Stormer and leaving his team leader to die, 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 team mates 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, who the Alpha Team tell of the praise the rookies deserve.

Winter/Spring 2011

When Refuelling Depot Tanker Station 22 is attacked, Stormer, Furno, Surge and Breez depart to rescue the civilians and captured the villains behind the assault. When they arrive, they realise 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 realise their armour is impenetrable to the their weapons, 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. To Fire Lord's command, all 4 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, he accepts. 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 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 into outer space. All seems lost until a Hero Pod distracts the villains, allowing Stormer to escape, and his fellow heroes to take down Drilldozer. After his minions were defeated, Fire Lord started to absorb all the fuel from the heart of the station, making himself too powerful to defeat. Fortunately, Surge drove a ship directly towards Fire Lord, surprising and weakening him enough so Stormer could defeat him. In the end, Surge got the 2.0 upgrade and all of the fire villains were taken into custody and to have their circuits repaired.

Heroes

  • Preston Stormer: Leader of Hero Factory's prestigious Alpha 1 Team. Considered by many to be the greatest Hero of the modern age, Stormer has completed several missions in his time as Alpha 1 Team leader. Dedicated and no-nonsense, Stormer has displayed a remarkable sense of loyalty
    Loyalty
    Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person, country, group, or cause There are many aspects to...

    . However, Stormer is secretly shaken by the Von Ness mission, and he feels that he could have done something to prevent his friend from going rogue. Stormer later found out that Von Ness had been transformed into the evil Von Nebula, and was the principal target of Von Nebula's campaign against Hero Factory. Stormer defeated Von Nebula and his henchmen with the aid of William Furno and the other rookies, promoting them afterward to full-fledged heroes. He is armed with an ice
    Ice
    Ice is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...

     blade
    Blade
    A blade is that portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with a cutting edge and/or a pointed tip that is designed to cut and/or puncture, stab, slash, chop, slice, thrust, or scrape animate or inanimate surfaces or materials...

     weapon
    Weapon
    A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...

     that can double as a blaster and a sword with a saw and a grappling hook, and has been dispatched alongside Surge, Breez and Furno to defend Tanker Station 22 from the Fire Villains. He was upgraded to 2.0 with the same system used for Nex and Evo and rearmed with a version of the multi-tool ice shield with a freezing super blade, a tube that connects from his core and two ice spikes. He has recently been upgraded to 3.0 and has now got an animal-controlling helmet, that resembles a Rhinoceros
    Rhinoceros
    Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....

     head, and dual fold-out blades so he can stop Witch Doctor. He is voiced by John Schneider
    John Schneider (television actor)
    John Richard Schneider III is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of Bo Duke in the 1980s American television series The Dukes of Hazzard, and as Jonathan Kent on Smallville, a 2001 television adaptation of Superman.Alongside his acting career, Schneider performed as a...

    .
  • Dunkan Bulk: A member of Hero Factory's prestigious Alpha 1 Team. Bulk is physically the factory's strongest hero. However, he is not very bright and could be considered as the only-brawns-no-brains member of the team. Despite this, he is very dedicated to his duty. He is armed with a Metal
    Metal
    A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

     Sphere Shooter with mini-lasers as a 1.0 model. It is unknown what happened to him during the attack on Tanker Station 22, but he got the 2.0 upgrade eventually. Recently, he was upgraded to 3.0 to stop Witch Doctor. Now at 3.0, he has a helmet that resembles a Wolf and wrist
    Wrist
    In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as 1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand;...

    -mounted blades. He is voiced by Christopher B. Duncan
    Christopher B. Duncan
    Christopher B. Duncan is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Braxton P. Hartnabrig on The Jamie Foxx Show and he is also known for playing President Barack Obama on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He portrayed Obama in the 2010 film My Name is Khan as well.Duncan received his B.F.A....

    .
  • Jimi Stringer: A member of Hero Factory's prestigious Alpha 1 Team. Stringer is the only Hero who actually enjoys working with rookies. Laid back with an extensive knowledge of sound, Stringer is an experienced musician
    Musician
    A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

    . He is armed with a sonic
    Sonic
    -Companies:*Sonic Drive-In, a United States fast food restaurant chain*Sonic Foundry, a computer software company which develops programs for editing audio and video*Sonic Healthcare, a company that provides laboratory pathology and radiology services...

     weapon that shoots sonic sound blasts, has a smaller sonic weapon with longer range, and a little electric gadget as a 1.0 model. It is unknown what happened to him during the attack on Tanker Station 22, but he got the 2.0 upgrade eventually. Recently, he was upgraded to 3.0 to stop Witch Doctor. Now at 3.0, he has a helmet that resembles a Black Bear and a triple-bladed Bear
    Bear
    Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...

     claw. He is voiced by Stephen Stanton
    Stephen Stanton
    Stephen Stanton is an American voice actor, impressionist and visual effects artist. He is well known as an "audio double" or "voicematch" for actors: Alec Guiness, John Cusack, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Nicolas Cage, Robert Downey Jr., and Peter Cushing among many others...

    .
  • William Furno: William is very loyal to his teammates and, when he was a rookie, fought hard to earn Stormer's respect. When he was first activated, his Hero Core charge exceeded the normal blast. This caused scientists to believe that Furno had a special destiny. Furno can sometimes overexert himself during missions, leaving him physically drained, but he displayed incredible valor during the battles with Von Nebula and was recognized by Stormer as a full-fledged hero. He was armed with a dual-fire
    Fire
    Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....

     shooter that shoots heated coils of plasma and can work like a flame-thrower or a sword, owns his own motorcycle
    Motorcycle
    A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

     called the Furno Bike with dual plasma shooters, and has been dispatched alongside Surge, Breez and Stormer to defend Tanker Station 22 from the Fire Villains. He too was upgraded to 2.0 and rearmed with his own version of the multi-tool ice shield with rotating climbing hooks and ice power-up. Recently, he was upgraded to 3.0 to stop Witch Doctor. Now at 3.0, he has a plasma bow and a helmet that resembles an Eagle
    Eagle
    Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

    . He is voiced by Eric Christian Olsen
    Eric Christian Olsen
    Eric Christian Olsen is an American actor. He currently portrays Detective Marty Deeks on the CBS television series NCIS: Los Angeles.-Early life:...

    .
  • Natalie Breez: The only female member of the Alpha 1 Team, Breez is extremely agile and a skilled diplomat. She has an ability to talk with 180000 species of wild animals such as the Tratix Reptoid. Breez is very determined and always ready for any mission, no matter how difficult. She was once a rookie but showed wisdom and maturity during the battles with Von Nebula and was recognized by Stormer as a full-fledged hero. She is armed with energized, laser-shooting boomerang
    Boomerang
    A boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...

    s that are attached to harpoon
    Harpoon
    A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...

    s, and has been dispatched alongside Furno, Surge and Stormer to defend Tanker Station 22 from the Fire Villains. She was also upgraded to 2.0 with advanced multi-tool blades with a saw blaster and grappling hook, plus cloaking. She is voiced by Jean Louisa Kelly
    Jean Louisa Kelly
    Jean Louisa Kelly is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her long-running role as Kim Warner on the television sitcom Yes, Dear.-Career:...

    .
  • Mark Surge: Competitive and clumsy, Mark has a hot-tempered personality. However, he secretly believes that he was built with a flaw that will make him one day turn evil. He was once a rookie but gained valuable experience during the battles with Von Nebula and was recognized by Stormer as a full-fledged hero. He is armed with twin lightning
    Lightning
    Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...

     shooters and shield
    Shield
    A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace or battle axe to the side of the shield-bearer....

    s, and has been dispatched alongside Furno, Breez and Stormer to defend Tanker Station 22 from the Fire Villains. In the battle of Tanker Station 22, he was reported missing but found later. He was upgraded to 2.0 and rearmed with an ice spear shooter that has a climbing hook and a grappler. He is voiced by Bryton James.
  • Nathan Evo: One of the first Heroes constructed using the factory's upgraded 2.0 system. Calm and collected, Evo drops into a meditative state between battles. He is armed with a Multi-Tool Ice Shield featuring a double-barrel ice cannon with dual ice spear
    Spear
    A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...

    s, and serves as a tech and medic, constructing and repairing weaponry and keeping his comrades healthy while out in the field. He is voiced by Tom Kenny
    Tom Kenny
    Thomas James "Tom" Kenny is an American actor, voice actor and comedian. He is especially known for his long-running-role as SpongeBob SquarePants in the television series of the same name, as well as the live-action character Patchy the Pirate, Gary the Snail and the French narrator based on...

    .
  • Julius Nex: One of the first Heroes constructed using the factory's upgraded 2.0 system. Enthusiastic and exuberant, Nex is in charge of Hero Factory's outreach program, communicating directly with the general public through services such as social networking sites. He carries a Multi-Tool Ice Shield featuring an enhanced ice power-up and cutting blades, and acts as a heavy-duty fighter and communications expert. He has been recently upgraded with the new 3.0 system and now has a helmet that resembles a Smilodon
    Smilodon
    Smilodon , often called a saber-toothed cat or saber-toothed tiger, is an extinct genus of machairodonts. This saber-toothed cat was endemic to North America and South America, living from near the beginning through the very end of the Pleistocene epoch .-Etymology:The nickname "saber-tooth" refers...

    for warding off animals and a double-bladed Tiger
    Tiger
    The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...

     claw. With all this new equipment, he and the rest of the Alpha 1 Team have traveled to Quatros to stop Witch Doctor. He is voiced by Jason Canning.
  • Daniel Rocka: The latest member of the Alpha 1 Team. He was at first a 2.0 model and he later got the new upgraded 3.0 system. He has gold and black armor and a white Hero Core. Rocka carries a large multifunctional double claw combo tool on his right hand . Rocka also has a helmet
    Helmet
    A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...

     which resembles a Lion
    Lion
    The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

     head which can ward off attacking animals. He was sent to assist Aldous Witch in a small operation on Quatros, but, when he found that Aldous had turned in to the evil Witch Doctor, he called for backup from the Alpha 1 Team to stop him. He is voiced by Tom Kenny
    Tom Kenny
    Thomas James "Tom" Kenny is an American actor, voice actor and comedian. He is especially known for his long-running-role as SpongeBob SquarePants in the television series of the same name, as well as the live-action character Patchy the Pirate, Gary the Snail and the French narrator based on...

    .
  • Merrik Fortis:The head of Hero Recon Team, armed with a projectile weapon called "Good Old Trustworthy" and a claw. He is armored with a two-toned carbon chest plate, and a pair of wings.

Villains

  • Von Nebula: Leader of the Von Nebula Force. Once a rookie from Hero Factory named Von Ness who worked with Stormer (when he was also a rookie) and team leader Thresher, he then became a villain of pure evil. He carries a Black Hole
    Black hole
    A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...

     Staff and has vicious spiky armor. Overall, Von Nebula wants nothing more than the destruction of Hero Factory and Preston Stormer. He was eventually trapped in his Black Hole Staff, when it was used against him. He is voiced by Mark Hamill
    Mark Hamill
    Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...

    .
  • Rotor: Servant of Von Nebula. Rotor is one of Von Nebula's most dangerous minions, he is a twisted, sycophantic lackey of Xplode's. He, like the rest of Von Nebula's minions, is wanted for numerous crimes across the galaxy
    Galaxy
    A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...

    . Capable of incredible speeds and mobility using his jet pack, Rotor can use his highly dangerous biohazard
    Biohazard
    Biohazard may refer to:* Biological hazard* Biohazard , a book by Ken Alibek* Biohazard , a New York hardcore punk band** Biohazard , a self-titled album from Biohazard...

     gas attack from any direction. The "whoosh-whoosh" sound of his rotors might just be the last sound an enemy will ever hear. He was finally captured by Furno, Stormer, Breez and Surge on the planetoid of Lemus 2 at the explosives plant. He is voiced by Joel Swetow
    Joel Swetow
    - Select filmography :* Rent ... as Mr. Cohen* Star Trek: Enterprise** episode Terra Prime ... as Andorian Ambassador Thoris* Charmed... As the Avatar named Alpha* Alias** episode Second Double ... as Jens...

    .
  • XPlode: Servant of Von Nebula. One of Von Nebula's most feared servants, XPlode has a bad temper and is covered in explosive spikes, which he launches at partially anything or anyone. He is a short-fused renegade
    Renegade
    - Games :*Command & Conquer: Renegade, a 2002 first-person shooter video game*Renegade , a 1986 video game*Renegade Legion, a 1990 board game series including the video game Renegade: the Battle for Jacob's Star...

     that cannot be reasoned with due him being very impatient. He accepts jobs only when they appear to present a significant challenge, since he already has enough. He was finally captured by the Alpha 1 Team in New Stellac City. He is voiced by Jeff Bennett
    Jeff Bennett
    Jeffrey Glenn "Jeff" Bennett is an American voice actor and musician, listed "among the top names in the voice-over field", best known as the voice of Johnny Bravo in the series of the same name...

    .
  • Corroder: Servant of Von Nebula. One of Von Nebula's newest henchmen, Corroder is lethal in close combat. His razor sharp claws and corrosive acid
    Acid
    An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...

     can cause major damage. His horn
    Horn (anatomy)
    A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...

     is his favorite weapon. He also has the ability to spit acid. He is the only member of Von Nebula's gang who might challenge his boss one day, for he likes to be the leader, instead of following orders from someone such as Von Nebula. He was finally captured by the Alpha 1 Team in New Stellac City. He is voiced by Charlie Adler.
  • Meltdown: Servant of Von Nebula. Von Nebula's most destructive and vicious servant, dabbling in in radioactive materials. Completely insane, he is armed with a radioactive sludge shooter which can cause anyone to become evil thanks to nanobots within the blast, and Meteor
    METEOR
    METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...

     Blaster. His enemies should avoid his Cyclops
    Cyclops
    A cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...

     stare at all costs. He was finally captured by the Alpha 1 Team in New Stellac City. He is voiced by Joel Swetow
    Joel Swetow
    - Select filmography :* Rent ... as Mr. Cohen* Star Trek: Enterprise** episode Terra Prime ... as Andorian Ambassador Thoris* Charmed... As the Avatar named Alpha* Alias** episode Second Double ... as Jens...

    .
  • Thunder: Servant of Von Nebula. Von Nebula's toughest servant. He is not really the smartest being around, but he is considered heavily armed and highly dangerous. He has a Meteor Blaster and a massive crush claw. He also has the ability to twist his body into a ball and bowl over his adversaries. He was finally captured by the Alpha 1 Team in New Stellac City. He is voiced by Fred Tatasciore
    Fred Tatasciore
    Frederick "Fred" Tatasciore is an American voice actor who portrays secondary characters as well as monstrous-looking types...

    .
  • Vapour: Servant of Von Nebula. Resembling a blue version of Rotor, Vapour has dual tube-fed weapons that shoots corrosive vapour. He is well known for battling Bulk after the defeat of Von Nebula. During that battle, Bulk defeated and captured Vapour.
  • Fire Lord: Leader of the Fire Villains. He and his minions were once a group of simple mining
    Mining
    Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

     robots, mining and constructing on the mining planet
    Planet
    A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...

     of Tallos 5 where he had met Stormer before (however, now Stormer does not remember meeting him), but his literal thirst for power had driven him and his minions to find more powerful sources of energy. They were then trying to steal hero-pod fuel to power their weapon
    Weapon
    A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...

    s and themselves (especially Fire Lord himself) at Tanker Station 22. He has now been taken into custody to be helped by Hero Factory. He has a lava
    Lava
    Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

     sphere shooter and a lava flame thrower. His lava armor is nearly impossible to penetrate. He is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker
    Dee Bradley Baker
    Dee Bradley Baker is an American voice actor. He is noted as his long-running-role as Klaus Heissler in American Dad! and other various characters including Squilliam Fancyson in the hit TV series SpongeBob SquarePants, Nightcrawler in X-Men: Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance...

    .
  • Drilldozer: Member of the Fire Villains. The strongest of Fire Lord's minions but not the smartest (though he is smarter than Thunder). His main weapon is his multi-tooth
    Tooth
    Teeth are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates that are used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are embedded in the Mandible bone or the Maxillary bone and are...

     turbine
    Turbine
    A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...

    -powered drill. He also has armor plating, red-hot molten spikes, razor-sharp claws and a lava sphere shooter. He lacks agility and is rather slow-moving. He is now under treatment by Hero Factory to repair the damage done on him from absorbing excessive amounts of energy. He is voiced by Fred Tatasciore
    Fred Tatasciore
    Frederick "Fred" Tatasciore is an American voice actor who portrays secondary characters as well as monstrous-looking types...

    .
  • Jetbug: Member of the Fire Villains. He can fly using his powerful back-mounted jet engine
    Jet engine
    A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...

    s that can reach incredible speeds. One of his most feared weapons are his razor-sharp pincers. He is constantly giggling and regarded as highly insane, though according to Stormer, he was, like the other Fire Villains, not always like this. He is now under treatment by Hero Factory to repair the damage done on him from absorbing excessive amounts of energy. He is voiced by Tom Kenny
    Tom Kenny
    Thomas James "Tom" Kenny is an American actor, voice actor and comedian. He is especially known for his long-running-role as SpongeBob SquarePants in the television series of the same name, as well as the live-action character Patchy the Pirate, Gary the Snail and the French narrator based on...

    .
  • Nitroblast: Member of the Fire Villains. With his plasma blowtorch and lava sphere shooter, he can access any security system and can crack many safes. His flaming shell protects him from almost any attack. He is the craftiest of Fire Lord's henchman. He is a sycophant
    Sycophant
    Sycophancy means:# Obsequious flattery; servility.# The character or characteristic of a sycophant.Alternative phrases are often used such as:-Etymology:...

     who constantly fawns over Fire Lord. He is now under treatment by Hero Factory to repair the damage done on him from absorbing excessive amounts of energy. He is voiced by Stephen Stanton
    Stephen Stanton
    Stephen Stanton is an American voice actor, impressionist and visual effects artist. He is well known as an "audio double" or "voicematch" for actors: Alec Guiness, John Cusack, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Nicolas Cage, Robert Downey Jr., and Peter Cushing among many others...

    .
  • Witch Doctor: An insane 'bot who was once a mild-mannered professor named Aldous Witch teaching rookies at Hero Factory. He always had coveted Quaza, so he traveled to the protected jungle
    Jungle
    A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...

     planet of Quatros ( one of the last reserves of natural quaza )and started illegally mining for Quaza. During his excavation, he discovered a stone
    STONe
    is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Sin-Ichi Hiromoto. Kodansha released the two bound volumes of the manga on April 23, 2002 and August 23, 2002, respectively.The manga is licensed for an English-languague released in North America be Tokyopop...

     skull
    Skull
    The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...

     hidden in an ancient temple and when he added a sliver of Quaza, it did not just give him great powers, it also transformed him into an enormous villain. He carries four weapons, the most recognizable being his mighty energy staff (made for that stone skull) with skeletal energy powers and a clawed launcher weapon. He then started to control the local wildlife
    Wildlife
    Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

     of Quatros (that wildlife being the Wasp
    Wasp
    The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...

    -like Waspix, the Canine
    Canine
    Canine may refer to:* Domestic dog* Animals belonging to the family Canidae, or the sub-family Caninae* Canine tooth* Ralph Canine, American soldier and government administrator* A character in Glenn Martin, DDS...

    -like Fangz, the Scorpion
    Scorpion
    Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...

    -like Scorpio and the Ape
    Ape
    Apes are Old World anthropoid mammals, more specifically a clade of tailless catarrhine primates, belonging to the biological superfamily Hominoidea. The apes are native to Africa and South-east Asia, although in relatively recent times humans have spread all over the world...

    -like Raw-Jaw) with Quaza Spikes to do his bidding. Consequently, the more Quaza that was taken from the planet (as it was alive, supported by the Quaza), the weaker Quatros would get, and would eventually fall apart, although Witch Doctor did not care. He is voiced by Fred Tatasciore
    Fred Tatasciore
    Frederick "Fred" Tatasciore is an American voice actor who portrays secondary characters as well as monstrous-looking types...

    .

Promotion

Hero Factory has been promoted in many ways such as having a faux phone call center service, where people were able to phone in with their fake life-threatening problems, a promo video where people said they were saved by the heroes, a book released in the July–August Lego Brickmaster Magazine and a television series.

Set information

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. Within the 15 sets released there are six hero characters, six villain characters, two vehicle, and a hero and villain limited edition set. The six hero sets are packaged in cylindrical canasters and contain around 17 to 19 pieces. The hero sets have an age rating of 6–16 and are around 15 cm (6") tall.
The villain sets are packaged in rectangular boxes and contain 40 to 50 pieces. The exception is the Von Nebula and Rotor sets which have 156 and 145 pieces respectively and are packaged in a larger box. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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"). The exception is the set Fire Lord which contains 125 pieces, stands around 26 cm (10"), and has an age rating of 9–16.
7156 Corroder 40 Villain
7157 Thunder 47 Villain
7160 Drop Ship 390 Vehicle & Hero
7162 Rotor 145 Villain
7164 Preston Stormer 17 Hero
7165 Natalie Breez 19 Hero
7167 William Furno 19 Hero
7168 Dunkan Bulk 17 Hero
7169 Mark Surge 19 Hero
7170 Jimi Stringer 17 Hero
7179 Duncan Bulk & Vapour 89 Hero & villain
7145 Von Nebula 156 Villain
7158 Furno Bike 165 Vehicle & Hero
7147 XPlode 45 Villain
7148 Meltdown 50 Villain
2063 Stormer 2.0 31 Hero
2065 Furno 2.0 30 Hero
2067 Evo 2.0 31 Hero
2068 Nex 2.0 31 Hero
2141 Surge 2.0 30 Hero
2142 Breez 2.0 29 Hero
2192 Drilldozer 61 Villain
2193 Jetbug 63 Villain
2194 Nitroblast 57 Villain
2235 Fire Lord 125 Villain
2143 Rocka 3.0 30 Hero
2144 Nex 3.0 29 Hero
2145 Stormer 3.0 31 Hero
2182 Bulk 3.0 30 Hero
2183 Stringer 3.0 30 Hero
2191 Furno 3.0 28 Hero
2231 Waspix 48 Villain
2232 Raw-Jaw 52 Villain
2233 Fangz 55 Villain
2336 Scorpio 104 Villain
2282 Rocka XL 174 Hero
2283 Witch Doctor 331 Villain

Comic series

In July 2010 Lego Group and DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 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. A second issue, entitled Core Crisis was released in September 2010.

Television series

A Hero Factory
LEGO Hero Factory
LEGO Hero Factory is a continuing mini-series first aired on September 20, 2010 on Nickelodeon. The series started airing in Denmark and Norway on August 29, 2010 on Cartoon Network.-Season 1 :-Season 2 :- Voice Cast:...

television miniseries consisting of four half-hour episodes began airing in Denmark and Norway on August 29, 2010 on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....

. It broadcasted in English language regions between September 20 and 23, 2010 on Nicktoons. On November 22, 2010 the four episodes were released as a direct-to-DVD film entitled Hero Factory: Rise of the Rookies, which depicted the defeat of Von Nebula and 5 of his 6 henchmen. Vapour does not appear in the movie, but is seen in " The Enemy Within" on a flashing computer, and he is only defeated by Bulk, after the defeat of Von Nebula.

The series is produced by Threshold Animation Studios, directed by Mark Baldo and written by Sean Catherine Derek
Sean Catherine Derek
Sean Catherine Derek is a writer, story editor, actress, and producer in television and film. Her film debut as a writer, Foodfight, opens in 2007. She wrote the script for the fourth BIONICLE movie The Legend Reborn...

.

Reception

Toybuzz stated that the simplicity of the Hero sets were great for people who like the actual play, but not so good for Lego fans who prefer the enjoyment of the build. 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.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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