Many of the sets of the BIONICLE line could be rebuilt into Combiners and Alternate Models. These models reused the pieces from one or more BIONICLE sets to construct an additional figure. Instructions for combiners and alternate models were released in various formats, such as being included within instruction manuals, being posted online, being featured in magazines published by LEGO, and more.
The six canister sets released in 2001, the Toa, were split into two sets of three, with instructions for a combiner model using parts from the three sets, depicting a Toa Kaita, split between their three instruction manuals. This precedent of two combiner models consisting of three sets each would be followed by many lines of canister sets in the future.
The large sets of 2001, the Rahi, each contained instructions for an alternate model that used the pieces from the set's two similar figures to create a larger model.
Instructions for other models that could be built using sets from 2001 were released in LEGO Mania magazines and on the LEGO Club's website.
Some combiner models, such as the Turaga Nui and Matoran Nui, were depicted on box art or promotional images, but official instructions were never released.
Finally, the Turaga sets that were released as a part of the Kabaya promotion included instructions for an additional combiner model and images depicting other variations of that model.
The combiner models from Bionicle's second year followed many of the same patterns as the first. The instruction booklets of the year's canister sets again contained steps to combine three sets into a Kaita, and each of the standard large sets included instructions for an alternate model.
Under the banner of Inspired by BIONICLE, instructions were released for many models that combined pieces from various Bohrok and Bohrok Va sets on the LEGO Club website. These models depicted various fauna found on the island of Mata Nui. Two other models, the Ranama and Kirikori Nui, were part of the Inspired by BIONICLE series, but they required pieces from a wide range of sets to construct and were not considered combiner models. Additionally, instructions for Bohrok Va Kaita were released on the LEGO Club website independently of the Inspired by BIONICLE series.
Another Kabaya promotion featuring Bohrok Va sets, like the Turaga sets the year before, included instructions for a combiner featuring the four Kabaya sets and depicted two other similar models. Instructions for a unique combiner model built from two Bohrok sets were also released on a Japanese website.
As in prior years, the two waves of canister sets of 2003 included instructions to build Bohrok-Kal Kaita and Rahkshi Kaita, respectively. However, the large sets contained instructions for combiner models that used parts from multiple large sets, instead of alternate models. The component sets of one of these large combiners were specially packaged and released as set 3287 Takutanuva. A special edition of this set, set 10201 Takutanuva, was also released.
An image on the back of the boxes of the Matoran sets released this year depicted another combiner model, consisting of two figures, but official instructions were never released.
Kabaya promotional releases of Matoran sets and Rahkshi bundles included instructions for additional combiner models. This was the final year in which combiner models were released in this manner.
Comic 14: At Last -- Takanuva! showcased a model built out of three Rahkshi sets inspired by Japanese aesthetics, selected from a gallery of four other models.
The canister sets of 2004 once again featured instructions to combine three sets into a larger model; however, unlike in previous years, these larger figures did not represent a fusion of their component sets' characters within the storyline. Instead, the canister sets' combiners depicted various creatures and Vahki variants that could be found in and around Metru Nui. The three large sets also included instructions to build a titanic combiner model, Ultimate Dume, which was also released as a stand-alone set, 10202 Ultimate Dume. For the first time, the year's small sets also included printed instructions to combine three sets into a new model.
Instructions to build another combiner model, depicting the Lohrak, were released within the LEGO Magazine in late 2004.
There was also a unique method of releasing a combiner model in 2004. The last pages of BIONICLE Adventures 3: The Darkness Below contained a series of black-and-white photographs illustrating how to build Krahka by combining pieces from the six Toa Metru sets, albeit without providing a great level of detail. A colored image of this model was later included as a part of the book BIONICLE: Rahi Beasts in 2005, but more detailed instructions were never released.
In a significant change from previous years, canister sets from 2005 included instructions to build combiner models that used pieces from only two sets, not the traditional three. This meant that three different combiner models were featured in the instruction manuals for each line of canister sets, not the usual two. Additionally, instructions were released on the LEGO Club website for two more models per line of canister sets that could be built using the parts from three different sets, like in past years.
Combiner models that used the pieces from the small sets of 2005, the Rahaga, were depicted on the backs of their boxes. Instructions for these models were later released on the LEGO Club website.
This year's large sets included instructions for combiner models that incorporated parts from two of the three large sets. A combiner model composed of all three large sets, 10203 Voporak, was also released. Unlike 10201 Takutanuva and 10202 Ultimate Dume, 10203 Voporak contained a unique manual with building instructions that could not be found in the manuals of its component sets.
Instructions for a model that combined pieces from all six Visorak sets were released in a BrickMaster magazine.
The winter sets of 2006 were the last of the first generation of BIONICLE to include instructions for combiner models within their manuals. Instructions for three models each composed of two Piraka canister sets were released, along with two other models that each used the parts from three small Matoran sets. Another combiner model, Botar, was advertised on the boxes and instruction manuals of some of 2006's large sets, but its instructions could only be found online.
Instructions for two models, depicting a Protodax and a Caravan Crawler, were released in 2006 BrickMaster magazines. Another model, Toa Jovan, was featured in the standard LEGO Magazine, but instructions were only included in European editions of the magazine. Toa Jovan's instructions were also released online for worldwide use.
Two combiner models, 8626 Irnakk and 10204 Vezon & Kardas, were released as sets for retail with unique instruction manuals, like 10203 Voporak the year before. 8626 Irnakk also included a golden spine and a few other additional pieces that were required to build the model but were not included with its component sets.
Two Korean set collections, each containing three Piraka sets, also contained instructions for a combiner model that was very similar, but not identical, to Irnakk.
Compared to previous years, relatively few combiner models were released during the last four years of BIONICLE's first run. In 2007, instructions for three combiner models, all built from three or four of that year's canister sets, were released in BrickMaster magazines. Alternate models were also shown in the back of the instruction booklets of the year's playsets, although official instructions were never released.
In 2008, instructions for one combiner model were released in BrickMaster magazines, and another 2008 edition of BrickMaster contained a code that could be used online to access instructions for a second model, although the instructions were also freely available on BIONICLE's website. Another model, depicting Spiriah, was featured in the standard LEGO Magazine, but its instructions, too, were only available online. Instructions for a fourth combiner model for 2008 were also released on the LEGO Club website.
An alternate model for the large vehicle set 8942 Jetrax T6 was advertised in the LEGO Club magazine. The magazine included a code that could be entered on the LEGO Club website to access the instructions required to construct the model.
In 2010, a combiner model that used pieces from all six sets of the BIONICLE Stars line was first revealed on the back cover of Comic 7: Rebirth, included in the March/April edition of the LEGO Club magazine. Instructions were later made available on the BIONICLE website.
The return of BIONICLE in 2015 was accompanied by the release of numerous combiner models. The instruction manuals of each Toa and Protector set advertised a power-up feature, where each Protector's weapons could be added to the Toa of the same element. Instructions for these power-up models were located on the BIONICLE website.
Two other Protector-Toa combiner models, which were more complex than the power-up models and required major disassembly (like most other combiner models), were featured in LEGO Club magazines. Instructions for both were released on the LEGO Club website, but one required a Club Code from the magazines.
Two combiner models composed of Skull Creature sets have been advertised on the boxes and instruction manuals of their component sets. Instructions for the models were located on the BIONICLE website.
While the ability to combine a Creature set and a Uniter set was a heavily advertised feature of the Winter 2016 wave, no traditional combiner models that required sets to be rebuilt were shown in instruction manuals or on product packaging. However, in March 2016, the instructions for two combiner models called TwoToa, which each incorporated the pieces of two Uniter sets, were released on the LEGO Club website. The Summer 2016 wave featured a combiner made up of four of the five sets: Umarak the Destroyer and the three Elemental Beasts. Two other models, the Shadow Spawn and Makuta, were part of The Journey to One series. However, they are not listed with the other combiner models because their instructions were never officially released by LEGO and because they required pieces from a wide range of sets.
