More than ten years ago, the LEGO Group released one of its most controversial themes amongst LEGO fans – Legends of Chima. First released in 2013, LEGO fans seem to take delight in deriding the theme – especially fans of Chima’s so-called biggest rival, NINJAGO. But was it all that bad?
Originally Legends of Chima was supposed to be the LEGO Group’s new big theme, aiming to fill the action-adventure slot that NINJAGO was leaving as it wound down in its third year. Of course, trying to replace such a popular theme would be no easy task, especially considering NINJAGO had built such a big fanbase. The perception that Chima was a replacement for NINJAGO led to a lot of negativity among online fans towards the theme, and that negativity hasn’t really gone away. Despite this, the theme had many positive aspects that left a big impact many LEGO fans – especially those who were growing up with it.
Until the release of Legends of Chima, modern non-licensed LEGO themes were mainly focused on people with unique jobs or abilities, only ever scratching the surface of the animal kingdom. This is one of the many unique things about LEGO Chima – its focus on animals. In the first wave of sets, there were four main tribes: the Lions, the Crocodiles, the Eagles and the Wolves. These tribes were waging war for the powerful Chi, Chima’s energy source, which if consumed, gave incredible power.
This story in a one of the best TV that the LEGO Group has ever produced. Normally, in LEGO shows, there are villains and there are heroes. But with Chima, this all changed. Here, the hero’s (Laval) best friend (Cragger) was peer-pressured into being a villain by his sister (Crooler), causing Cragger to have moral conflicts, making Cragger a morally ambiguous character throughout the first season. This constant battle of good and evil inside him became the base of the show, differing from prior LEGO shows. The story was Cleary inflicted by mythology from all over the world – as so many stories confirm, there is always good in the bad and bad in the good.
The LEGO Group wanted to promote this story to larger audiences than just television viewers, with video games also exposing potential fans to the characters and world.
To complement the regular LEGO sets, Speedorz were launched as a range of pocket money products. These small unicycles were powered by a ripcord and were used by the Chima characters for transportation. Each set came with trading cards. The game involved completing a challenge using the Speedorz and the winner of that challenge then had to draw a card, which revealed point awards for new challenges. It was a similar concept to the NINJAGO Spinjitzu spinning tops.
All of these new games and ideas were the fuel for the theme, which made it stand out and attract the attention of potential consumers.
Chima also introduced a host of appealing new head pieces for its minifigure characters, which was quite unusual at the time. Every minifigure had a unique piece for its head, representing the different animals. The prints were hugely detailed and the accessories also looked great.
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Legends of Chima’s second year saw the theme and series take a different turn. Every set had a unique function, from transforming vehicles to temples with hidden traps. After the first year had focused on real animals, the second year took inspiration from prehistoric animals, introducing extinct creatures like saber-toothed tigers and mammoths as the villains.
On the side of the heroes, fans were introduced to the Phoenix tribe, offering the perfect balance of fantasy and nature. The new creatures were perfectly picked – the saber-toothed tigers fit neatly with the wolves and lions and the Phoenix appropriately with the eagles. Their addition to the theme was well balances so that the fantastical elements didn’t feel too heavy handed.
The new characters were introduced in a smart yet simple way – by expertly weaving the new creatures into the story, showing that they had been there all along but were just awakening or being discovered.
The third wave still focused on the fire and ice tribes, but now granted the original characters fire wings so that they could fight alongside the phoenixes. These wings used new moulds and the chest plates they were attached to were also new pieces. The chest plates were even individually printed for each character.
There are many reasons that Legends of Chima has been largely forgotten, but one reason is the dirision directed at the theme by LEGO fans commenting online. Many of its positive aspects have been overlooked. There was a great TV show with deep themes, there was the unique concept of Speedorz and there were new elements with immaculate printing. The Chima world was constantly evolving and so were the sets. All of these factors demonstrate that Legends of Chima is probably one of the most unique and underrated LEGO themes of all time.