Bota Nui is basically my equivalent of Nova Orbis; I’ve been working on it on and off for the last year and half or so, and I’m planning on posting the first material in the next few weeks. Before that, though, I’m planning on getting some character art done, and rather than giving each picture its own topic, I figured it’d be better to group them all together. I’ll update the topic title and this post every time I finish one of the pictures.
##The Toa
Oduna, Toa of Earth
http://orig08.deviantart.net/4325/f/2017/032/3/9/bota_nui__toa_oduna_by_scorpion_strike-daxiffv.png
Coming from a position of power and wealth as a Matoran, Oduna’s self-assured, confident, and sees herself as the team’s natural leader. Unfortunately her behavior often comes off as abrasive and arrogant to others in the process. She’s a force to be reckoned with, though; triple-stranded from head to toe, she boasts tremendous strength and will not hesitate to use it in a brutal, close-quarters fighting style. Gem-encrusted brass knuckles allow her do deliver devastating blows while leaving her large hands free to grapple and wrestle foes into submission if need be. Carbide claw-tips at the end of her fingers help her to dig through the toughest ground, though application of elemental powers is obviously faster still and Oduna has no reservations about deploying that power at generous measure. Though she wears a Kanohi Rau (with reinforced forehead structure, customary for Onu-Matoran), she’s not really the negotiating type; she mainly wears the mask for the many gems its design could incorporate.
Garta, Toa of Water
Garta’s the team’s actual leader, more due to his actions and demonstrated abilities as a Matoran than any will on his part command others. A staunch proponent of the “if you want something done right, do it yourself” approach, he finds it quite difficult to trust others to do their jobs without constant monitoring or interference and would prefer to, when possible, strike out on his own instead. Quiet and distant in demeanor, he venerates the truth above anyone’s feelings about it and often comes off as crude because of it. However, one would be wrong to assume that his blunt personality is the product of a dull mind; possessing great intellect by any standard, Garta’s ability to quickly analyze situations and formulate strategies for dealing with them make him a more natural leader than he’d readily admit to. This shows through in his battle style as well; lightly armored and armed with a short spear and shield, he relies extensively on mobility, careful positioning and the exploitation of any vulnerability displayed or mistake made by an opponent to get the upper hand. He wears a somewhat streamlined Kanohi Komau, a mask whose abilities underline his at times “intellectually domineering” personality even if he’s not that keen on using them.
Scorzen, Toa of Sonics
Though all of Bota Nui’s new Toa had their fears, doubts, and questions about the role they’d apparently been ‘chosen’ to perform, none were as apprehensive about the affair as Scorzen. Originally a De-Matoran shunned by the others in his tribe due to his passion for music, he made a living doing odd jobs in Gal Rui. Though he worked hard at these jobs, it barely paid the bills and Scorzen was never able to shake the feeling that his exile from his tribe and the reason for said exile meant he was somehow inferior, failed, defective. Why would a failed Matoran be chosen to become a Toa? That’s the question that’s plagued the new Toa of Sonics’ mind ever since the transformation, and due to it he’s by far the most hesitant of the team to exercise his powers in any capacity; it’s simply more than he ever bargained for and he fears the consequences of losing control of it or using it improperly. However, nervous disposition and lack of confidence aside, Scorzen’s much more capable than he gives himself credit for. His mask, the Kanohi Crast, is for the moment free of the stigma associated with it in the old world and versatile in its abilities. Being a Toa of Sonics has provided him with keen senses, through which he is often the first to alert the team of danger. His transformation into a Toa also transformed his favored instrument, a horn-like contraption called a sonitone, into a weapon capable of firing devastating sonic blasts over significant distances; just as well as Scorzen’s not exactly eager to get closer and into the fray. In spite of his doubts and often grim outlook, he takes being a Toa seriously and his quiet, introverted nature and utter devotion to whatever task is at hand have at least earned him Garta’s respect, even if he doesn’t feel deserving of it.
Tykal, Toa of Iron
Scorzen’s friend and former roommate (hutmate?), Tykal was an aspiring inventor, albeit one whose inventions had never really caught on. Still, it was more interesting to him than his day-job of making and doing maintenance on tools used by Bo-Matoran farmers. Honest and hard-working, he’s got a more difficult past than he’s willing to tell others about, though in effect his body does it for him: he spent his early years in the mines where he was subjected part-time to an early version of the protodermic cycling scheme that was introduced in full shortly after he left. Though the effects that this had on his body were nowhere near as pronounced as they are on Po-, Fe- and some Ba-Matoran coming of age today, Tykal was still rather small in stature compared to most Matoran and now compared to the other Toa. He packs a lot of strength and armor onto his frame, though, and his elemental power lets him ■■■■■ his armor about to some extent to make it all the more effective. It also makes him the only one able to use his particular choice of weapon: two iron ingots on a stick, which in combat he shapes into whatever tool he believes will be most useful for the engagement. Though not antisocial by nature, his background of working in the mines has left him with some very entrenched views of certain tribes that make it very difficult for him to work with one other Toa in particular. After years of being dismissed as an oddball or crackpot, he’s also overly eager to prove himself a worthy Toa, which at times can make him ignore danger or even relish the possibility of it rather more than is healthy.
Ilani, (sort of) Toa of Light(ning)
To the Matoran of Bota Nui, Ilani’s something of an enigma. A solitary hunter on the plains of Su-Wahi, the only part of the ‘civilized’ world that she regularly interacts with is Su-Nuva, which is little more than an outback trading post. Yet she’s also got a taste for rather fine clothing as a symbol of wealth and status, kept in impeccable condition in spite of her rough-and-tumble lifestyle. And that’s only the start; physically, there’s always been something off in appearance about the Vo-Matoran turned Toa of Lightning; an unusually large mouth and toothy grin, a significantly stronger physique than that of a normally lithe Vo-Matoran, and some swear that they’ve seen her armor change color… Ilani has done much to keep her true identity a secret; she never was a Vo-Matoran and now isn’t a Toa of Lightning either, and in the eyes of many probably wouldn’t even be a Matoran or Toa at all if they knew the truth. Ilani’s design is, in fact, half-Skakdi, and her element is Light. The Skakdi and Matoran were never really on friendly terms back on Spherus Magna, and there’s no other Av-Matoran at all on Bota Nui; past experience had already caused Ilani to mark herself as an outcast, and post-transport she’s taken care to avoid unnecessary contact with the rest of the Matoran as much as possible. This made her the only one of the ‘chosen’ Matoran on Bota Nui who actively didn’t want to become a Toa at all, who wanted to avoid the spotlight as much as possible, but at the same time she was pretty much the only Matoran available who had any combat training and experience in handling a weapon; much as she hates it, this team needs her, and to that end she was effectively blackmailed into to becoming a Toa. Though her skill and ferocity make her a very dangerous and very valuable fighter, she’s not sure how much longer she can keep her identity a secret, especially when her elemental powers, which she has been careful not to use too much, don’t really resemble Lightning at all to anyone in the know about the Lightning. Instead, she’s relying on her swords (now effectively lightsabers, though she’s passed them off as ‘lightning blades’ for now) and a wide assortment of throwing knives whose effectiveness is greatly enhanced by her Kanohi Sanok. Through it all, she’s keeping up a confident, stoic facade occasionally punctuated by sarcastic commentary and grudgingly trains the other Toa in the art of combat; the way she sees it, the stronger the team, the faster they’ll solve the crisis at hand. When that day comes, she’ll at last be free to leave Matoran society behind again…
