As mentioned in Part 1, I had previously made MOCs of characters that were ultimately intended to receive canon contests later down the line were it not for Greg Farshtey’s upcoming departure from Lego. The characters in this post are exclusively from the 2nd list of characters that was published in the wake of the news. This time, I’m going to go from least interesting to most interesting.
Kodan the Chronicler
So I’ve already shown off Kodan and (spoiler alert) Naho in my Mangai post so I won’t spend too much time on either, instead talking about some design choices that may not be obvious at first glance. For starters, other than the mask, Kodan here is completely purist (tho I would recommend swapping the black pin-axles for blue ones irl). Also, I made his limbs Bohrok limbs rather than Metrutoran limbs for two reasons: 1) I preferred the color added by the Bohrok limbs, and 2) since my Toa Mangai were all scaled up from Metru-size to roughly Inika-size, I thought it made sense if Matoran were scaled up as well.
The head is connected in a very unorthodox way to the body, involving an upper limb socket piece for the shoulders. This strange design was the best I could come up with to give a Metrutoran good head articulation (I was not familiar with Tammy Calamity’s mod at the time of creating this model) and it has the added side effect of being able to connect a flag to Kodan’s back. I just thought that was neat.
Toa Naho
Last time, I talked about what kind of character I considered Naho to be. Now let’s go over her build. Like her brother and sister Mangai, she is a modified Metru/Hagah build, and is likely the closest in height to those sets. She was the fourth of the team I’d designed, so since Tuyet had silver armor, Nidhiki black, and Lhikan gold, I figured that Naho should have grey armor. I’m not sure how I came to use Nuva chestplates as shoulderpads but the Kalmah foot chestplate totally came from Pouks.
Since Tuyet has Mata blue parts, I gave Naho sand blue parts (which, thankfully, were not as difficult to acquire irl as Nidhiki). Not entirely sure what other choice I had, but it worked out so I’m not complaining. As I’d mentioned in the Mangai post, I gave Naho a hammer as a reference to Lewa Krom, a fan who infamously asked Greg Farshtey to canonize it as her weapon out of the blue. I would’ve given her a Huna for the same reason, but it would’ve felt weird since my Tuyet MOC currently wears one as a stand-in for the Mask of Intangibility. It’s a good thing it worked out like that, since the Akaku actually came in sand blue, but neither it nor the Huna came in dark blue.
Makuta Tridax
Now this is a blast from the past. Dated August 2021, this and the next MOC are among the first I’d ever made in Studio. Tridax in particular really shows his age; he uses some techniques I’d never use anymore–namely those feet, the waistcape, and the numerous dark red Skrall armor–and it feels like I used more CCBS than I do now (I’m still more comfortable with CCBS than G1 irl, but I like to think I’m getting better with G1 in Studio now).
I still think this is a good figure though; some parts of him still shine today–for example: his torso, which was later reused as the basis for Zaria’s torso. Would I do things differently if I’d attempted designing Tridax today? Absolutely. But I think what I did here works. Before we wrap up here: I normally hate the way the noble Matatu looks on figures–I think it’s one of the ugliest (if not the ugliest) Mata-style masks–but surprisingly, even to me, I absolutely love the way it looks on Tridax. I can’t explain why, but it just works.
Makuta Kojol
Best one for last. Like Tridax, Kojol was designed last August. Unlike Tridax, I think this figure is fantastic. Other than the feet (which I was never able to verify if they work irl or not) and the calves (which make posing awkward sometimes), everything about this character works for me. The torso is based on a design I found on Reddit (can’t find atm, will link once found again) that incorporates a Hordika torso with a 2015 gearbox. Figuring out how to attach the head in a way that made sense proved to be a challenge, but I found a way and the result is worth it.
Without question, my favorite part of this model is his weapons. Designed after the whipswords of Mòrag Ladair and her Blade, Brighid, Kojol’s swords have the ability to change their shape in accordance to their wielder’s will. They can be straight like blades, curved like hooks, or dangling freely like whips; one minute they could be firm enough to stab and draw blood, the next they could loop around a target’s neck to strangle. It’s not hard to imagine how he could’ve stolen the Avohkii from Artakha so quickly.
One last headcanon note...
Kojol stole the Avohkii from Artakha. The being who would later become the Dark Hunter “Seeker” was assigned to protect the Avohkii and, following his failure to do so, spent most of his life hunting the Rahaga to get it back. In the interest of mending two pieces of canon together, my headcanon is that “Seeker,” then known as Chtonadair (ki-TAWN-ah-dair) was formerly the personal servant of Kojol. Alongside regaining the favor of the Brotherhood of Makuta, his primary motivation for reclaiming the Avohkii is to avenge his master.
And that’s it. Of the remaining characters in list 2, Kabrua and Johmak are the only ones that are remotely interesting to me, particularly the former. The rest of the list is just a bunch of Matoran and Lein, possibly the single least relevant named character in all of Bionicle G1. I’m kind of surprised that the Makuta of Stelt never made either list since he was the last one with an identity but no known appearance; and since I’ve got no better way of ending this post, let’s show him off.
Kouzul, The Makuta of Stelt
Unlike most of my Studio mocs to date, I didn’t put that much effort into making this guy purist–my main goal was simply to make him blue and white–but I like him enough that I’ll probably go back and make him purist after the fact and give him his own dedicated post or something. Before anyone says anything, despite making the Makuta of Stelt blue and white, I didn’t actually intend to make him look like Krekka (I’m good but not that good). I didn’t actually realize this until it was pointed out to me after first revealing this guy to some friends. This must be what we in the business call “a happy accident.”