Lariska, the Turquoise Ninja (DuckBricks Fanon Contest Entry)

UPDATE: Mostly the same, just changed illumination to mehanic in Studio.

Hi. This is the moc of Lariska I’m planning to enter into the Canon Contest. I’ve seen people are already sharing their interpretations of this character and so I decided to do the same.

There are very few teal pieces and the only Bionicle sets with them are the turquoise Tarakava and tohunga Kongu. This moc is 100% buildable without painting or 3D models, and only requires one Tarakava. The daggers had to be an essential part of this moc. Lariska has 6 of them. The design is the same as the back daggers of Hydraxon because, according to the lore, they were a payment from the Order of Mata Nui.

I wanted the silhouette to look feminine and slender, not because it is a female moc, but because the character is clearly inspired in some comic book’s most famous femme fatales like Catwoman or Black Widow, besides “Legacy of Evil” makes very clear, through Hakann, that Lariska does care a lot about her appearance, enough to not wear a Kanohi just because of it.

The head was the most difficult part to make. Greg made very clear that Lariska is not a Vortixx, so I didn’t use a Vahki head. Also, I wanted a face that looks like something that can wear a Kanohi, and familiar enough for a Toa. The moc also has hip articulation, the ribbed hoses have the function to look like the body can move organically from hip to chest instead of in a single ball joint. With the mechanic arm I decided to only use technic pieces, and all articulation is entirely based on hinge and pin friction, unlike ball joints and bars from the organic arm.

Regarding height, she is quite taller than a Toa. Of course some will find that as a con since Greg said that she was Toa sized. However, most Dark Hunters are titan sized and Lariska is said to be the most feared and lethal Dark Hunter only behind The Shadowed One himself, and it wouldn’t be believable for a Toa-sized character with no powers beyond her training acquired agility and precision with weapons to kick the butts of dudes the size of Eliminator or Conjurer, not to mention Minion and Spinner. Thus I wanted a MOC that scales well next to other Dark Hunters. For size reference, she stands at 34.5 units tall, which is a bit shorter than Sidorak and one head shorter than Brutaka and Roodaka.

UPDATE: I found this more recent post where Greg says Lariska’s height relative to a Toa is unknown. He forgot? Maybe. Do I care? Not at all.

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i wasn’t expecting it to be good with the capitalization on the title, but i really like it

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I think Lariska contest will be so hard for voters…
because at least now, there are 3 MOCs and all great! :cry: :cry: :heart_eyes: :heart_eyes:

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This is really cool; I especially like the feet, and the custom head is pretty neat.

I also love the detail of having her daggers be the same as Hydraxon’s.

She looks good next to the other Dark Hunters, but could we possibly get a comparison with a Toa?

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Nice use of the limited selection of turquoise pieces. :sunglasses:

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I don’t have the pieces to make my moc but this is the closest I could get.

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Really nice. I love the overall design, especially the feet and the amount of daggers. I’m not completly sure about the head and I don’t see how it’s build (images in others angles would help).

I have to say, I do find her too tall. You don’t need to be big for being fearsome (just ask Mazeka).

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While the feet do look great, they severely limit the ankle pivot, which could be quite an important joint for many poses.

In fact, the second picture on this post would greatly benefit from a pivot, allowing the foot to rest on the ground for improved stability. Similarly, the penultimate picture could look a lot more natural if a pivot was present. It’s an essential joint for a character like this, and restricting the ankle movement to simply forwards and back is very limiting.

Aside from that, there’s not much else bad about it, although I do agree that she is far too tall, considering she is canonically “Toa-sized”.

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I do love the feet

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Wow, this is fantastic.I especially like the torso and your take on the mechanical arm. And I really appreciate the slender silhouette to fit with Lariska’s character. Great work!

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Yeah. People seem to really like the feet. I’m trying to find a way to allow some articulation in the feet but I can’t think of a way that doesn’t affect their stability. Also, I opted for Piraka arms as lower legs instead of the more common Rahkshi or Piraka legs because they allowed more knee articulation, I wouldn’t be able to do the crane and landing pose without it.

Can you share these dark hunters’ files?

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Quite good! Like everyone else, I love how you’ve managed to use the Tohunga feet and make it look good. I also love the mechanical arm. It sticks out as being different from the rest of the “natural” body, which is exactly what I’m looking for in that regard, and I like the rationale of it being friction hinges rather than ball joints. The hose on it is a nice touch as well. I do have to agree that it’s a bit too tall for my liking, which might affect my voting come contest time, but aside for that it’s a fabulous MOC. Lariska is shaping up to be a good contest!

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Oh, this is really cool.

I tried to use Kongu’s foot at first, but it didn’t work out as well as I thought.
But you did it wonderful!

I have no doubt that Lariska Contest will show a wide variety of MOCs.

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Thanks, I love your Lariska by the way.

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while there are some things I think other versions of the character did better. overall this one is really good and does fit Lariska very nicely. the feet are and front of the torso are particularly captivating. both hard and angular yet nimble and agile. very fitting for a ruthless assassin of her level of skill. the thighs and upper back also look pretty nice with the ability to store weapons so well. and while simple the robotic arm works very well. but I will say with the black across the figure it took me a moment to see that one arm was different from the other. maybe more silver or lighter colors. make it contrast more with the rest of the figure.
regardless when I did notice it I was charmed by the simplicity and intentionally crude elegance to it. a clearly poor imitation of the right hand and the flexible tube across the elbow is a nice touch to show that it is clearly the inferior limb to Lariska’s True arm.

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Extraodinary use of those feet pieces!

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Really like the foot design; clever integration of the McToran piece.

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Great lariska moc. I especially like how you managed to incorporate those technic panels into the thighs without them sticking out.

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Hi. So sad the Canon Contest was cancelled. I’m sharing the studio file with you as well as the instructions in pdf for anyone interested.

Here is also a size comparison with Roodaka and a standard Inika build Toa Nidhiki

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