My entry to the Artakha canonization contest. Dangerously close to the deadline.
Instead of building something technically impressive, which I don’t have the skill or the parts for, my goal with this MOC was to create a character design first and foremost. In my mind Artakha, while wise and benevolent, is still a little bit reclusive and crazy. He’s the king of a “lost civilization”, a minor deity in retirement, and a supplier of miracle devices that only he truly understands the inner workings of - this calls for a little bit of detached ancient outlandishness.
Hence the lanky build, the absent-minded face and the shamanistic flair with his gear-adorned skirt-loincloth thingie. His armour is also supposed to look like a blacksmith’s apron with mechanical innards behind it. The silver Mahri tube serves as straps and the hanging end flares down into a skirt. However, the design really came from the face - it not only fit the “recluse king” character, but also matched my love for giant powerful creatures having something pitiable about them (Shadow of the Colossus, Gogol’s Viy, almost all of Lovecraft’s creatures, even Bionicle’s own Kahdok and Gahdok).
I also tried to make him distinct both from the other (early) contestants and from his brother. Karzahni is a ball with chains, so Artakha is a tower with gears.
You… imbeciles. You ignorant stone apes… is this how you try to save existence?
A lot of Bionicle powers have very specific limitations and “catches”, and this is especially true for the Legendary Kanohi. The Vahi is a remote control of the spacetime continuum plugged directly into a 3-dimensional being’s brain. Ignika curses its wearers and generates boring, but lethal DnD campaigns for everyone else. Even Avhokii (not a legendary mask, I know) has a weird, easy to misconstrue guiding prophecy. Out of the Legendary Masks, The Mask of Creation’s ability is the least dramatic, so the “catch” I’ve come up with is appropriately tame - the mask blinds the wearer when in use. All they can see are the item’s “blueprints”, and the crafting itself has to be guided by the remaining senses. This ensures that only a true master of the crafts can use the mask without mutiliating their hands in the process. The green CCBS shells behind the crown are supposed to represent the intense glow the mask gives off when it’s active.
As the Matoran Universe’s demi-god of Creation, Artakha has a terribly flat color scheme. This is me justifying not having any sand green parts via headcanon. The headcanon being that his dulled coloration came from spending too much time in the forge - the teal was reduced to sand green, while every other color was grayed out into indistinction. He’s also really, really old, so that might have something to do with it. His age and initial deific position inside the Mata-Nui robot are an additional reason for the shamanistic elements - sure, he makes battle jets and transforming suits, but he’s also the representative of a fundamental value in Matoran culture, a culture that’s even at GregF’s sci-fi fanficiest was driven by oral tradition, communal spirit and grounded savvy creativity. Basically he’s a Turaga that’s just real big.
The hammer
breakdown and back + side photos
Thanks!
