Toa form teams because of their virtues, but Dark Hunters do so for other reasons. Toa profess the need of Unity, the Dark Hunters scream accountability. One ready to betray the other should the opportunity arise, one ready to keep their king’s will.
Rarely is a Dark Hunter alone. Rare is a duo coming together prior to their “joining” of the Dark Hunters. But rarer still does such a duo want to work together. These two hunters are unusual indeed.
“Native”:
Profile:
Code name: “Native”
Real Name: Unknown
Species: Irnseptaod (Rain Forest variant)
Gender: Male
Kanohi: Unable to use one.
Weapons and Abilities: “Native” has all the traits of the Rain Forest variant of the Irnseptaod, being incredible swimmer and highly acrobatic. He can breathe in water and land, able to withstand great underwater pressures, and leap to treetops in a single hop. Immune to the effects of Energized Protodermis and other mutation substances. Though only as strong as a Toa, “Native” has been trained in the arts of stealth. His movements are incredibly quiet and hides where others are unlikely to look. Being able to see in all directions certainly helps with this, able to see others coming and react appropriately.
As for weapons, “Native” has his Protosteel staff-sword. The head of the staff can redirect and intensify light around it, able to fire powerful beams of elemental Light to punch holes through targets. Being made of Protosteel, the sword half can cut through almost anything, including Makuta armor. His other weapon is a Zamor Launcher with an extended ammo casing, something he picked up from the Dark Hunter armory. He fills his Zamor Spheres with a special poison that will eat away at the organic parts of the being first, then turning into an acid to melt away all the armor. It is fairly slow acting, taking up to an hour to complete its task. He tends to keep extra poison on his chain-whip to coat both the whip and sword. The chain wrapped around his body is another one of his weapons, a Protosteel chain-whip. Though is typically use more for non-combative purposes.
Personality: Like “Primitive,” “Native” is very quiet and has almost never been seen or heard to speak.
Background: “Native,” along with “Primitive” and the rest of the Irnseptaod, lived on one of the Southern Islands. He and “Primitive,” considered the best fighters on their island, were gifted to “The Shadowed One” as part of a protection deal. “The Shadowed One” was going to separate the two, but they respectfully requested that they stay together. Since the two kept bringing in good results, “The Shadowed One” allowed them to remain a team. However, he ensures that they never find out what is happening back on their home island, constantly keeping them busy.
“Primitive”:
Profile:
Code name: “Primitive”
Real Name: Unknown
Species: Irnseptaod (Mountain variant)
Gender: Male
Kanohi: Unable to use one.
Weapons and Abilities: “Primitive” has all the abilities of his Mountain variant race, able to withstand great pressures and can hold his breathe for hours at a time. Immune to Energized Protodermis and mutating substances; his eyes can see in all directions at once, making stabbing him in the back a near impossibility. He is very strong for his race, able to break a Toa in two with a charging strike. He is even capable of tosses oncoming boulders with a flick of his horns.
His horns can magnify and intensify light in the surrounding area. Though a bit different from his weapon, he can charge it into a more powerful beam by gathering it into a ball in-between his horns. His weapon, a Protosteel staff lance-axe, can also redirect and intensify light into elemental Light beams to burn through targets. Being made of Protosteel, it can pierce and cut through just about anything. His Protosteel shield, similarly, protects him from just about any physical attack that comes his way.
Personality: Very quiet, never has been seen by the other Hunters to be able to speak except for a few. He likes to fight bull-like Rahi for fun, usually the victor of such battles.
Background: “Primitive,” along with “Native” and the rest of the Irnseptaod, lived on one of the Southern Islands. He and “Primitive,” considered the best fighters on their island, were gifted to “The Shadowed One” as part of a protection deal. “The Shadowed One” was going to separate the two, but they respectfully requested that they stay together. Since the two kept bringing in good results, “The Shadowed One” allowed them to remain a team. However, he ensures that they never find out what is happening back on their home island, constantly keeping them busy.
Designer’s Notes:
Alright, so I’ve been debating doing these two for quite some time. For unlike “Disarm,” who was a dated MOC I built; “Bitter Cold,” whom someone else had original built via request; or others like “Toll,” “Birdkeeper,” etc. who are members of/based on the designs of other canon Dark Hunters, these two were originally created by my younger brother. Being the inquisitor that I am, I got him to tell me their story and added them as guest appearances along with my other Dark Hunters. And in my vast expanse of characters creation (~220-280 Bionicle characters alone), I eventually created a couple other members in this species he made for “Native” & “Primitive.”
So I faced the a similar mental dilemma as I did with “Bitter Cold,” “Toll,” etc. For while I did help here and there in their original story, mostly filling in gaps or giving corrections on his Bionicle Lore, they weren’t mine. But at this point, I made several other characters of their race, so I wasn’t too keen on dropping them either. As you can tell from the listings, I decided to keep them on board, but I did not know whether I would just use the original models or rebuild them unto my own.
And until earlier this week, I thought perhaps they would be one of the last to be done as a result. However, I thought of a design I that could work well with them, so here we are. The profiles for both, as with many of my Dark Hunters, have since been rewritten due to their dated descriptions and writing styles.
Though if you’re curious as to what the original versions looked like, you can see them below. They were built around the same time as the original “Disarm” and, unlike me, my brother keeps his creations together for eternity. So direct comparisons are possible this time around.
Original Versions and Comparisons:
Race: Irnseptaod
Species Description and History:
The Irnseptoad are a race of biomechanical, reptilian-esc insectoids (or insect-like reptilianoids, still debated which), created by Mata Nui some time ago and placed on one of the Southern Islands. So described as their bodies have more reptilian elements, such as claws, webbed toes, scale-like skin under in exposed areas, etc., but their heads are much more insect-like. Some compare it to the Metru Mantis, a long angular look and strange oblong eyes coming out the sides. Though unlike that mantis Rahi, most also possess a pair of horns.
Common to all Irnseptaods is that they’re usually about the same height as Toa and possess similar levels of physical strength. None are able to wear or use Kanohi and they are strangely immune to the affects of Energized Protodermis, for it can neither change or destroy them. Perhaps for similar reasons, other substances, like mutagen, and physically alternating powers do not work on them. Their eyes are able to see in all directions at once and have a film coating to protect them from dust and debris. Although capable of speaking Matoran, they rarely do. Instead, they speak Irnseptaodese, which sounds like a series of hisses and insect clicks.
Though that is were commonalities end as they are actually two races, but due to their similarities, they are placed together as one. It has yet to be determine if they were created separately this like, or if a change in environment lead to one group differing from the other. Regardless, the Irnseptaod split into two groups, Mountain and Rain Forest.
The Mountain variant, per their namesake, live in the peaks of their island’s mountains. Their lungs are very strong, able to withstand great pressure and resistant to filling up with liquids. They are very poor swimmers and will sink quickly, but due to their powerful lungs are able to walk across ocean floor beds for hours before needing to resurface. Of the two, they are the physically stronger ones, having great durability and steadfastness. Their horns are also much larger, more wild, which can gather light into a ball between the horns and launch it as an intense beam of elemental Light.
The Rain Forest brethren live, as you guessed, in a more rain forest environment. Though it is filled with a network of deep pools and underwater caverns. Leaving these ones incredibly acrobatic and excellent swimmers. Unlike their Mountain brothers, they have gills and lungs, able to be in water or on land indefinitely. Their horns are much smaller and cannot magnify light naturally as with the Mountaineers, but their horns can move back to make for smoother dives and swims.
Regardless of their differences, the two get along very well and lived in peace. For the most part, neither race particularly liked violence, but always prepared for such a day when they would need to fight. Both have a fear and hatred for darkness, creating weapons to magnify and intensify the light around them. It appears to function similarly to that of the Midak Skyblasters, but unlike those blasters, their staff weaponry doesn’t absorb light, just empowers and redirects it. Outside of this achievement however, their technology was severely lacking in comparison to other races.
But their unique qualities attracted the attention of the Order of Mata Nui. Seeing potential, they attempted to turn the Irnseptaod into a race of Makuta-killers, arming them with Protosteel weapons and armor. It is unknown why, but eventually the Order abandoned this effort and moved onto trying their hand with other races to do the same. The Irnseptaod however were left changed, not physically, but technologically. Their island was unusually rich in Energized Protodermis and having learned their new gifts were created from the substance, eventually found a way to manufacture Protosteel themselves.
Some time much later, a group of Dark Hunters traveling through the Southern Islands happened upon the Irnseptaod’s island home. They did not explore the island much when it, and they in turn, were attacked by a small navy of pirates. The Dark Hunters fended them off, making it seem like they save their island out of the goodness of their hearts. When the Irnseptaod came and gifted them with Protosteel gear as thanks, it did not take long until this was reported back to “The Shadowed One.” And with such a potential resource to be gain, how could one resist?
A deal was struck between the leaders of the Irnseptaod and “The Shadowed One.” In return for protection, they would make whatever Protosteel equipment the Dark Hunters requested. And two ensure the Dark Hunters kept their bargain, they sent two of their greatest fighters with them. Of course, the deal was never kept as intended. “The Shadowed One” eventually enslaved the entire island and kept his two new hunters constantly busy, making it seem as though everything was fine.
Dark Hunter Project Status:
“Absent” - Built
“All-Star” - Built
“Annalist” - Built
“Bitter Cold” - Built
“Birdkeeper” - Built
“Bothrok–Koaal” - Built
“Chroma Key”
“Default”
“Depleted”
“Disarm” - Built
“Doodler”
“Escort”
“Ersatz” - Built
“Firewall”
“Hatred” - Built
“Herald” - Built
“Hints”
“Ignominious” - Built
“Lawbreaker”
“Mask Maker” - Built
“Name Rater” - Built
“Native” & “Primitive” - Built
“NPC” - Built
“Recharge”
“Revamp”
“Silhouette” - Built (outdated description in link)
“Special”
“The Mechanic” - Built
“Toll” - Built
“Victim”
“Wishing Well” - Built