It has been explained that Takanuva looks like Toa Nuva (while not being one), because at the moment of his transformation his most fresh memory of how Toa look was the Toa Nuva.
Does this translate to other Toa as well?
Is the appearance of Toa Metru as it is because they remember Toa Lhikan when he gave them the stones just moments earlier?
If yes, would it mean that the “metru build” might not be native to Metru Nui? Because for all we know, it was never explicitely said that Lhikan is from Metru Nui. Only that Toa Dume played a role in his transformation. Would that mean that Lhikan transformed to the appearance Toa Dume had?
What about Norik and Iruini, were they also having memory of Toa Dume, or maybe Varian or other member of the team helped to transform Norik? Maybe that team was Dume’s team?
Another question, Krakua, he was transformed by OoMN, Helryx is a member of, would it mean that Helryx has a more or less “similar” appearance to Krakua, a rather “custom” build from etchnic pieces? That would sound plausible, as she was the first Toa, a prototype blueprint for all other Toa.
Or perhaps the Toa appearance/build is already programmed inside matoran desined to be one and Takua and Matoran that became Toa Inika had forgotten it as a result of being in stasis in the spheres?
The bottom line is, did Toa Cordak, Mangai and Hagah all have similar appearance/build to each other within the team, or were they vastly different because they all came from different locations?
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Well now this is a really interesting topic. Helryx was the first toa created, right? So does that mean that all toa in the next generation were similar to her, and so on? If that’s the case, I wonder why there would be different Toa builds. I mean I understand that the Mata were a special case, but I wonder if there were slight mutations of the Toa body type, like a long game of Toa Build Telephone that eventually became the Metru type.
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Than mostly answers my question.
It is mentioned that Dume had a role in Lhikan’s transformation, so he might have a “metru” build.
As for Helryx, I can imagine, that no Toa ever saw her prior to the great war, as she was operating in OoMN from the shadows.
And Dume (if he had a metru build), Iruini and Norik must have had a common “ancestor” to imprint them with the look of a Toa.
I forgot to ask if the rest of Toa Hahag might have metru build, or different, as they coem from different places and were transformed in different points in time.
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Prototypes usually look different from what follows. The Mata were among the first Toa created.
Does that mean that Helryx’s body is similar to a body of a Toa Mata?
Or she could have looked somewhat different, since as the first Toa, she was an even earlier prototype than the Mata were.
Source: Chat with Greg Farshtey | Page 353
A variant of a Mata build would make sense. A totally custom build would also make sense. Rollout on YouTube posted a video about his version of Helryx, and in it he makes an interesting argument for an Inika build.
Here is a description of Helryx from Swamp of Secrets:
She was not Makuta, but she was indescribably ancient and disturbingly frail in appearance. Her mask and armor were pitted and scarred from a thousand battles. She looked like a Toa, but her armor and mask design didn’t resemble anything Takanuva had ever seen before.
I think this was right before Takanuva went dimension hopping, so at that point he was familiar with the Mata/Nuva and the Mahri. If Helryx has one of those builds, it’s with enough of a twist that Takanuva didn’t recognize it. If it’s another kind of build then the armor still threw him off.
From what we know, you can definitely use your creativity with this design. So long as Helryx looks frail and weathered and she has armor Takanuva wouldn’t recognize, I think you’re good to go! (Personally I’m not sure I have the chops to make an Inika build look frail, so if I enter I’ll probably go a different route. But maybe others would find it an interesting challenge!)
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A custom build in like Krakua and Kiina is probably the way to go.
And those combos are really great, like i would totally vote for them, more or less that’s one of the 3 versions of Nidhiki I would have done.
Excellent job on digging those quotes up Wolk!
Something else to add to the discussion: it’s worth considering that some Matoran may not have ever actually seen a Toa before becoming one. Think back to how the Matoran on Voya Nui were duped by the Piraka into believing they were Toa. So for Matoran like that, their specific design would be a result of their imaginations only (either that or there might be some weird Toa out there who, without their masks, would actually kind of look like Skakdi?). This would add another element to the design “lineages” of Metru-build Toa, for example.
Also I think it’s worth emphasising that a new Toa’s design is not determined by the Toa design that is most recent in their memory, but what their general idea of what a Toa should look like is. This adds an interesting implication to Takanuva’s form, in that he must have considered the Toa Nuva to be “truer” forms of what a Toa should be, in his ignorance of just how strange and special Toa Nuva compared to regular Toa.
Regarding a Helryx MoC, personally I’d want to go with a custom build, maybe incorporating elements from other standard builds. Obviously she shouldn’t have distinctly Mahri/Mata/Nuva elements, but other than that go nuts. Also considering she was in the story after 2008, I think she should be in the same size category as Inika builds.
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That theory made waaaaaay more sense than I could have possibly expected it to.
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