LEGO Bionicle MOC: Vorox evolved

Continuing the ominous Vorox & Zesk evolution storyline, the latest from Zeyek includes these two possibilities (same MOC) for the future, further evolved (devolved?) appearance of the Vorox.  Zeyek believes the 4-legged stance is the correct one, and that this solves a longstanding mystery, which he will soon reveal.  What will it be??

LEGO Bionicle MOCs: Mini-Rahaga

Continuing the mini theme, I realized I might be able to go even shorter by doing mini-Rahaga!  Ha!  Of course they're not canon Rahaga, just random creations.

LEGO Bionicle MOCs: The Minis

This is just a series of little dudes I did in a quest to see how small of a Bionicle-based MOC I could come up with.  They were pretty fun.

The final piece of the puzzle

At last, I have been in contact with Milethi once more.  The price was exhorbitant, but the information she has presented has priceless, though intangible value.  Milethi, a highly skilled scientist in the highly controversial field of Bionicle evolution, first determined the anatomical design of the ancestors of the Vorox, based on evidence in the recent fossil record.  She then did the same for the Zesk, with peculiarly identical results. 

In this newest exploration, Milethi has calculated the eventual evolutionary destiny of the Vorox.  The first image she showed me was this:

I was, unamused, to say the least.  Aside from some slightly altered proportions and colors -- colors, how useless -- this might as well have been an image of a modern-day Vorox!  I had delivered the heads of eight nearly-extinct giant, predatory insects for Milethi's bizarre alchemic experiments, and this was my reward??

Thankfully, for her sake, Milethi quickly explained in more detail how her methods could only determine the likely anatomical details of a past or future creature, not its habits, and certainly not its specific posture.  She then offered the following alternate rendering of the same creature:

Now this, this was the result I had expected.  Ah, yes.  Walking on four legs, prone.  Head forward.  Stinger up.  Like the Zesk!  With the passage of further millenia, I have no doubt whatsoever, that the Zesk and Vorox will one day be but one species again, just as they were countless generations ago, before...

Hrmm.  It is time, I see.  I must... visit an old friend.  He is holding onto some... pictures... for me.  Very valuable pictures.  Pictures, that the Great Beings would very much like to see destroyed, forever.

LEGO Bionicle MOC: Proto-Toa, the TRUE first Toa

This post from Zeyek explains the creation, and the demise, of the peculiar creation that was the first Toa.  Don't be quick to rush to the comment box, confident that I am an ignoramus, ready to spill your guts about Helryx this, Helryx that.  Read Zeyek's post.  Just read it.  Now, back to the MOC...

This is definitely one of my favorite Bionicle MOCs, completed one year ago tomorrow.  It has a lot of "solidness," a strong, well-defined figure, and a consistent theme.  I can imagine it emerging from the protodermis pool, wet with liquid matter, drips falling off its prototype hands as if the fingers, themselves, are solidifying from those very drips.  I couldn't think of a better way to use my one chrome Hau.  No, I'm not really happy with myself for how this Proto-Toa MOC turned out, I'm just happy with the MOC itself!

LEGO Bionicle Proto-Toa, the TRUE "first Toa"

Toa Helryx.  Celebrated, and rightly so.  But the first Toa, she was not!  How readily history can be distorted in the minds of the many, when the Great Beings want it to be so.  The Great ones are not quite so pure and faultless as they would have you believe.

Like the first Makuta, the first, Proto-Toa, was created in one of the great experimental energized protodermis pools by a number of Great Beings working together -- I believe there were four.  Like the first Makuta, the first, Proto-Toa, did not... behave... as designed.

Genderless, a perfect prototypical physical specimen, the Proto-Toa was the perfect starting point, if you will, for the creation of any and all Toa to follow.  It was aligned to no specific element, but it could adapt to work with any.  It had no Toa tools, but it could learn to use any.  Its motivation was incredibly strong, seeking to adopt any cause to serve, and to work towards any purpose.  This motivation was exactly what deeply disturbed and worried several of the Great ones. 

The Proto-Toa's level of independent emotion was entirely unexpected.  What if it could not be controlled?  What if it was given a task, and it completed that task, only to then choose another for itself?  What if its choices did not agree with those of the very Great Beings who created it?  How large would this risk be with a full team of Toa?  What of multiple teams?  What if they chose to unite against the Great Beings?

Debates over these concerns consumed the entire order of the Great Beings for weeks.  Some of them believed it was time for a more independant class of new beings, while others believed the Toa needed to be purely loyal servants.  The debates grew into increasingly heated arguments, eventually splitting the Great ones into two opposing factions, until...

Hrmm.  This is where, even my information, loses clarity.  I have heard that it was caused by one of the Great Beings who feared the growing division amongst their ranks, who saw only one way to restore peace.  I have heard that it was one of those who opposed the creation of a mentally independent Toa race, filled with spite and rage.  I have heard that it was an accident.  I have even heard that it was the object of all of this in-fighting, itself, feeling solely responsible for the dissention, and just wanting it to stop, for the greater good.  How ever it happened, the Proto-Toa was returned to liquid oneness with the protodermis pool from whence it was created.

The Great Beings eventually returned to constructive discussion, and reached an agreement.  The rest, hmm, was history...

LEGO Bionicle MOC: Toa Inika Nuparu, Bionicle Heroes edition

Okay, in contrast to my Toa Inika Matoro MOC, I think this Toa Inika Nuparu MOC came out pretty well.  Again drawing all of its influence from the Bionicle Heroes game, I wanted to make this Nuparu shorter & more squat and stocky than his brethren.  This time I also did the weapons right, with his sword and awesome splash damage inflicting cannon that was perfect for the Vakhi bonus level.  I dunno, I just really like this guy, and while many of my other MOCs are marked for disassembly once I'm caught up with posting them, I think I'm going to hang onto this one!

Added 6/28/2010: Here are a couple pictures comparing the released kit with my MOC.

LEGO Bionicle MOC: Toa Inika Matoro, Bionicle Heroes edition

After playing the Bionicle Heroes game for the Xbox 360, I found myself really disturbed by the differences between the official Lego Inika sets and how things played in the game.  For this Toa Inika Matoro MOC, my main desire was to equip a weapon that looked a little long-range, to better match his in-game sniper ability, and while I was at it, I just experimented with the body a bit to add some solidness and bridge the appearance gaps with his non-Inika forms.  Then I added this whole "ice shield" thing which is completely out of left field.  Oh well, definitely not one of my better MOCs, and definitely not accurate in any way.

LEGO Bionicle MOCs: Toa Nokama & Gali (Dark Mirror)

One of today's entries from Zeyek introduces alternate versions, of alternate universe versions, of Toa Nokama and Toa Gali.  These were actually two of my earliest MOCs, done over a year ago.  They're simple, but I think they follow my intended visual theme.  I specifically say "visual theme" because at the time I made them, I only knew I wanted them to be a pair of assassains who worked together, and I wanted them to be blue, and use cloaks of invisibility (which you can see mostly retracted on their backs).  I just came up with the backstories for them today :)

See the other pictures of them and read the brief explanation of their place in the Bionicle Dark Mirror Universe in this Zeyek post.

Bionicle Dark Mirror: Toa Gali & Nokama

In the Bionicle alternate universe you refer to as "The Dark Mirror," you know of Toa Gali and Toa Nokama as teachers, in the Re-Education Center.  Indeed, this was fact.  By day, they tought.  By night, they stalked, and they killed.  A particularly close-knit team, they were -- truly elite assassains, masters of their craft. 

Nokama, short in stature, spoke few words, slowly stalking a target with her peripheral vision, never looking directly until the final moment she struck.

Gali, in contrast, was taller than most male Toa, hot-headed, impatient, and enjoyed a fight.  She would even toy with her opponent, to prolong the encounter.  While Nokama approached from water or low shadows, Gali preferred to cling to shaded nooks and corners and pounce from above.

The two had acquired personal sheild units, and the help of Karzahni, these were repurposed and connected to their Toa of Water powers.  Using the refractive powers of their medium, the shields became cloaks -- bubbles of invisibility.  How do you run, from something you do not see?!