Last night, I felt the itch to make something, but I wasn’t really sure what to make. So I scrolled down BS01’s list of characters without visual depictions (rolls right off the tongue) to see who I could tackle…
…only to discover that I’d already made most of these characters since I really started using Studio about 5 or 6 years ago. So I figured I’d jot them all down in one place, since some of these either haven’t gotten documented yet or were but said documentation got lost in the ether.
Annona
Annona was one of my very first Studio creations, having been created in September 2021 and was the subject of a message board post in early 2022. She was absolutely a learning experience and there are things about her that I would never do if I were to redesign her today (eg all the black pin-axles and the 12 dark red Skrall armor pieces), but she honestly remains one of my favorite mocs I’ve ever made.
Builder of the Toa Canisters
My notes have him as being originally designed in July 2022, but beyond that I don’t have much to say about him. I was almost certainly inspired by the character’s appearance in Noah Productions’ first Bionicle Ignition fan film, as evidenced by the predominant use of orange and keetorange and the mask being the same on both versions. I’m guessing I wanted mine to be a lot more scrappy and haphazard, as Karzahni is notoriously poor at repairing Matoran. I have no idea why I introduced white.
Toa Chiara
I’ve shown the Yesterday Crew plenty in the past, but Chiara here is the most recently changed of the three. I unfortunately don’t have a date for this version of her, as I apparently never imported the changes into Studio, but I’m guessing this was some time in 2024. What happened was that, at some point since the last time I showed her off, I realized that I was a massive hypocite. Part of the reason I didn’t like seeing a whole bunch of silver Nidhikis was because it felt like some people shoehorned that color in because the Volitak was only ever produced in silver; but if you look at my old Chiara moc, I did exactly the same thing with her (and not even with the official Volitak at that). So I decided to ditch the Hordika chest for some white Inika armor and I’m currently using a white Hau as a stand-in until I get the proper mask in that color. I think it looks good for now.
Gar, Kyrehx, and Reysa
I’m combining these three into one because there’s not a whole lot to say about any of them. First created in November 2022, they’re just Mahritoran builds. Reysa is the most interesting of the three, since I had to get creative with his purple shoulders, but even then not by much. And yes, it was absolutely intentional that I gave Reysa the mask of water breathing.
Jerbraz
This moc is truly a masterpiece. I will take no constructive criticism at this time.
Kodan
Kodan debuted in January 2022 alongside the rest of the Toa Mangai. From the front, he looks great, and I wouldn’t change anything about his appearance apart from swapping out the black pin-axles for more budget-friendly alternatives, but I probably should go back and rework his shoulders and neck at some point. I built another moc irl later on whose torso was based on Kodan’s and there were some things I had to change because Studio lied to me about collisions in that area. Otherwise, no real complaints from me.
Makuta Kojol
First designed around December 2022, this guy was also subject of a message board post the next month. And there are definitely some things I like and dislike about him. The torso is wacky from what I recall but it looks great, and I love the swords. But the arms look like crap with those Pakaris on the shoulders and I have absolutely no idea what I was thinking with the legs. Definitely due for a revamp at some point.
Lariska
It hasn’t even been a month since she debuted, and the only significant thing to report is that she is now completely color-corrected.
The Makuta of Stelt
Originally debuted in early 2022, this second purist version was created in June 2024. I didn’t have any real motivation for this guy beyond making him blue and white, which I love as a color scheme. Despite always intending for this character, who I’ve named Kouzul, to be the Makuta of Stelt, it was only after a commenter on Reddit pointed it out that I realized that he bears a striking resemblance to Krekka, a native of Stelt. It absolutely works but I assure you that this resemblance was a total coincidence.
Marendar
This version was created in April 2024 in anticipation for the ill-fated DuckBricks fanon contests. Yknow, if I had a nickel for every time some major community contests were cancelled before we got to an antagonistic blue character, I’d have two nickels; which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?
I’ve been wanting to make Marendar a Bioformer for quite some time, as evidenced from my Mark II post from September 2022 (I have no idea where Mark I went). I guess that makes this Mark III. The robot mode is this very strange character with a rabbit-like head and large blades for hands. It doesn’t look very intimidating in this mode, but I don’t think a being whose name means “salvation” in the Agori language should. I think it should look somewhat friendly those it wants to protect.
The jet mode is super basic and admittedly pretty abstract, and the transformation from one mode to the other is rather simple, but for what I consider to be my first real success at a bioformer, I think I did a pretty good job.
Toa Naho
Naho was featured in that same post from earlier that I spotlighted in Kodan, and in fact was created a few weeks before him. Unlike Kodan, she actually has undergone a significant change between then and now. In this case, I removed the Nuva chestplates on her shoulders in favor of actual Nuva shoulderpads. I have no idea what I was thinking then, but they look so much more natural now.
Toa Orde
Like Chiara, Orde has also changed significantly since the last time I showed him off, this current version being first created in February 2023. The mask on his irl model is a noble Ruru for the moment, but I would still like to change it to the Makooti mask at some point. I’ve also changed the arms from using Metru chestplates to Bohrok shields simply because those are more reasonable to obtain in that color and I changed the thighs’ construction so that they are much more proportional to the rest of his body. Honestly, looking at them now, this is something I’d like to change again; I’d like to make the legs more Mata-like but am not sure how to do that without losing the gold in the lower legs.
Makuta Tridax
Nothing has really changed about the Shadow Shanghai since he debuted in October 2022. Maybe I’d change the wings so they’d be more cost-effective, but other than that, I’m still really proud of my take on this character.
Triglax
I made this version of Triglax in November of 2022, based off of the description I gave him in A Promise Kept, a fanfic I wrote the previous month. Also prominently featured in that story was his alter ego “Toa Grey,” first featured in the canon fic No One Gets Left Behind, so of course I had to make him too. Both forms were the subject of a message board post in November.
Toa Tuyet
My take on Tuyet was first created in July 2021. Not only was she the first of the Toa Mangai I had created (of course, she is also featured in the post Kodan and Naho were part of), but she was one of my first Studio mocs ever. This was to be my entry in Tuyet’s canon contest and was given a properly-formatted forum post to match. Ultimately that never happened and I never entered her in the Duckbricks fanon contests. I kinda regret it honestly; almost none of the entries had shark heads and Tuyet just doesn’t feel like Tuyet without them.
Toa Varian
After being shelved following the abrupt discontinuation of the canon contests, at some point I did eventually pick this moc back up again and completed it around July 2023. I remember very little of the design process, however; and despite writing an entire fic where she is rescued by Norik I have very little attachment to his moc.
Toa Zaria
Zaria is a weird one in terms of canon compliancy. I first designed this moc in January of 2022, and he has not changed since. After Eljay got communication from Greg on what the tools of the Yesterday Crew actually are, I changed all three of them accordingly. But while Chiara and Orde are respectively currently wielding their spear and mace on my shelf, Zaria isn’t wielding his canon-accurate staff, but the sword and shield from his first design. I don’t quite remember why I never ordered the parts for the staff, but I have a justification for why he had the sword and shield but no longer does: The sword was what he used to kill the Makuta, and out of guilt, he abandoned the weapon in favor of a simple staff that he can metalbend into any shape at will.
Who’s next?
I would love to tackle the Great Beings next, but I’m very particular about how I want to depict them. I absolutely do not want to make them look just like Glatorian, or Toa, or Makuta. I don’t want them to be just guys. I’ve been thinking about leaning into body horror–the idea being that their mutilated bodies are worthy sacrifices for their near-omnipotent level of intelligence–but I haven’t liked anything I’ve tried in that direction thus far. TSO’s Recorder also seems like he’d be fun to do. I did buy Irnakk ages ago so I could make GSB but I never got around to making him. And I have absolutely no idea where I’d even begin with Tren Krom…