Time for V5 of Arcan, my Self-MOC. V3 found here and V4 here. I swear I have MOCs other than him and Ahkmou.
Arcan hoists his Radion Sword above his head to rally his teammates
Arcan holding one of his Warpicks with the haft at its full length.
Most of the work on this iteration was focused on the legs. I got more of the longer CCBS shells when I realised that they’d fit over his thighs. They fit more tightly and don’t move about or require spacers to not wobble about.
Back view, showing more of the construction of his legs.
Also I removed two more of the grey pieces, two of the “smooth-bore” bushings for pins, replacing them with black ones.
I then acquired the Roborider heads and custom-build new shins instead of using the stock Inika shins with Metru feet on them, which looks more fitting with the smooth armour on his prosthetics.
Story-wise, the beats are mostly the same. Arcan was a former Toa Hagah who was experimented on by his Makuta, Reytez. She was keen to make her Toa servants stronger and more “entertaining”. In particular, Arcan was given a pair of boosters that mimicked the effects of a Pakari and Kakama, but had a heavy drain on his stamina the longer they were used. This was inspired primarily by the armour abilities from Red vs. Blue, in full honesty.
The grey bushings inside his chest represent the boosters.
Eventually, he realised that Reytez was basically a cult leader, and also responsible for creating most of the monsters he and his comrades were defending the region form, solely for her own entertainment, so he fled her service, only to be horrifically injured due to being hit with the effects of a Kanohi Felnas while attempting to suppress a Nova Blast.
He was then found by an organisation called The Reprisal, formed of other people like him as a resistance against Reytez. They rebuilt his body with fully artificial parts and helped him regain his powers and health, after which he would eventually become a field leader for their Toa team.
Arcan immediately after his rebuild, before the return of his powers.
These prosthetics include an artificial lung and voicebox, along with hands that are capable of spinning at high speeds, but lack dexterity, forcing him to rely on magnetic plates in his palms to hold onto his weapons, as his claws aren’t good at fine motor skills. This was actually inspired by a medical condition of my own.
Initially, however, he refused his new calling. Believing himself to be unworthy of the role after what he’d done, he fled and began a self-destructive and brief stint as a mercenary. This brought him into conflict with the Dark Hunters, as well as a group of Skakdi slavers that he’d clashed with before becoming a Toa Hagah.
Arcan during his post-rebuild depressive stint.
However, he was soon sought out by agents of Reytez, and though he fought as hard as he could against them, he was ultimately defeated, and bailed out by the Reprisal again.
During this part of his life, Arcan exclusively wielded a pair of Warpicks that could also function as a glaive, considering himself unworthy of his Toa tool.
After this, he would engage in a hand-to-hand brawl with Reprisal member and mentor Sciptis, a Toa of Earth who had similar but more primitive prosthetics, challenging him to tap into his powers once more.
Arcan liked using his fists as much as his weapons. The Strength and Speed implants that Reytez had given him played a heavy role in his brawling style.
Ultimately, this effort succeeded. Backed into a corner and fighting to avoid being crushed beneath a hand made of earth, Arcan’s powers reactivated and melted the hand, revitalising him and allowing him to fight through the rest of the night.
The restoration of his powers returned the colour to his mask. His legs might’ve turned grey as well, like the 2003 comics, had they actually been biological. And also if I had the parts in silver or grey.
Afterwards, he regained his signature wings, and with the help of the Reprisal’s resident medic, Calyst, and his brother, Asren, Arcan was able to become a full member of the organisation.
Asren lived in the same village as Arcan when they were both Matoran, and Arcan chose Asren to succeed him as Toa of the area when he left to become a Hagah. However, Asren was actually a displaced Av-Matoran, left there during the Time Slip, and his transformation into a Toa was quite the revelation for them both.
Arcan still struggled with worthiness to be a Toa, and it would take some time for him to start willingly using his Radion Sword again.
Ultimately a Psionic-induced vision/attack in which he clashed with his previous, uninjured form allowed him to put his demons to rest and regain his self-confidence.
Arcan V0 is a separate MOC and doesn’t use the same build and design as his counterpart. This was intentional, to try and convey how drastic his rebuild was.
The Radion Sword is the other new part of the build. V1 and 2 both had swords, and while it was removed for V4 and 5, I brought it back for this one, basically because I felt like it. It’s now his primary weapon again.
He still has the Warpicks, which he defaults to when he requires a little more brute strength. I added Keetorange Technic balls to them as well.
As before, they retain the ability to combine into a Glaive, which he wields like he did his spear as a Hagah. The spear was broken during his escape, and this weapon replaced it.
His Rhotuka shield was stolen from him during the battle where he was injured, but he eventually recovered it. His unique Rhotuka power was sensory overload during his previous incarnations but I’m not quite sure if that’s fitting for him now, so I might change it in the future.
With his shield restored, he was able to adopt his Hagah fighting style again, which he uses to protect his comrades from the heaviest hits, as the shield is multi-layered and extremely durable.
While he normally prefers to keep his off-hand free when using the Radion Sword, he still uses the shield when the situation calls for it.
And of course, he still just likes punching things.
I consider folding his arms to be an essential feature. Fortunately he’s still able to do that after I shortened the upper arms.
He still retains full articulation in his arms. Shrugging was also very important, as grumpiness and confusion are my two primary moods.
Obligatory Nickon art pose recreation.
Arcan’s height in comparison to an Inika Clone. He’s tall in part due to the needs of his build, and in part because I am also tall.
The Reprisal’s Toa Team. From left to right: Jaze, Toa of Ice, Resona, Toa of Sonics, Metara, Shadow-Toa of Psionics, Arcan, Toa of Plasma, Therix, Toa of Gravity, and Asren, Toa of Light.
All five incarnations thus far together, not counting the separate “V0”.
Colour scheme is based on the same logic as before: He’s yellow-orange and black because those are the colours of Nuclear warning signs, and the blue colour of his eyes and the other transparent pieces are blue because that’s the colour of the light emitted by the Demon Core when it went supercritical. As Plasma is basically star power, and stars are giant nuclear reactors, and Arcan’s backstory includes an incident where his power went out of control and caused a massive explosion that destroyed his then-home, I leaned hard into the Nuclear theming. And with the V0 build, I can at least confirm that he used to have the canon colour scheme.
V4.5 with V0, an older image for the sake of including another shot of V0.
Arcan confronts his longtime rival and personal nemesis, Vordrax.
