“Why are there not more warriors like Shaju? He reflects all assaults upon himself with equivalent force upon his aggressor, and cares not for his own pride or the disagreements of his comrades. He has even stood for Zerkah before the Burning Order, as a swift river that is not shaken during a wildfire.
Shaju was born into a poorer Ga-Matoran family, and became man of the house at an early age after the death of his father. The Baranld household got by, but their simple existence was soon changed as Shaju became a Toa. Shaju further gentled his position by becoming a knight in the service of House Kihanu, raising the status of his family and ensuring their needs were taken care of by the noble house.
Shaju is silent but wise, rarely if ever speaking unless spoken to, but possessing great insight when he does. The popular belief is that Zerkah is the only person Shaju speaks to, but this has been discredited by his fellow Vihagu.
As Zerkah’s right-hand man, Shaju has stood for his lord before the Burning Order, a formation that is almost exclusively Toa and Matoran of fire. My references from that order say that Shaju’s silent and humble demeanor provides a refreshing change from the brashness and ego of “fire-spitters”. Knighthood may not be the highest position that Shaju reaches…”
“Shaju wears a suit of armor based upon that of the Teraxian knights of old, with several modifications. The entire armor set is connected by a fibers that allow for the transfer of elemental energy into the tank on his back, where it is translated into water energy for his own use. This water energy can be transferred into weapons through his hands, into the saw-shield on his left arm, or the projector on his chest, capable of projecting either a circular shield to neutralize elemental assaults or a geyser of water.”
While all of the Vihagu have made considerable improvements since their debut, this is none more evident than Shaju. The “Silent Warrior” has gone from being a partspam, weak and disorganized even by the Vihagu’s standards, to (in my opinion) the best MOC of the team. For his updates, I wanted to take the power armor element already implied by his previous version and push it up a notch.
His updates include:
*Giving him a proper helmet/visor in place of the Tarix mask, which due to the shoulder design was forced considerably above his shoulders. (This was done in November of last year.)
*Adding a tanker to his back, which ties into his absorption powers.
*Reworking the tubes connected to his thighs, which were prone to falling out of place.
*Giving him a new set of shins; using the Breakout shells to match the textures on his thighs and arms.
*Reworking the head of the halberd from the previous version to include the proper axe/spike combination of European halberds, while referencing the axe/dagger combination of Chinese “halberds”.
*Adding some greebles to round out the thighs.
Shaju didn’t get as much time devoted to filling in gaps as others, so there are still a few places on him that need to be filled in in future. I’d also like to give the clips on his shoulder plates some better use, perhaps by placing some artillery on them.
Comments and critiques appreciated.