Marendar, the salvation / "ver.Bu" MOC

Hi, long time no see you!
I made a new ver.Bu MOC!


“No one advocated letting Toa, Matoran, etc. run free on Spherus Magna. They weren’t independent beings with a right to life and liberty, after all. They were tools to be used to keep the Mata Nui robot functioning… weren’t they?”
-Narrator, The Yesterday Quest

【Marendar -“ver.Bu”】

【Data】
kanohi : none
Tool : Armblade, Force blaster zero, Toa Power antenna
Power : “Elemental energy”
Note : The Toa Eliminator which created by Great beings


【Concept】

Summary

Marendar was one of the most interesting and difficult to design among the BIONICLE characters whose names only exist.

It is a “Toa killer” created by GB and is mentioned as “having” EP, despite being resistant to Elemental power.

It is also mentioned that it detects Toa Power exactly like the Sentinel from X-Men, according to Greg, adapts to their EP, resists, and kills them with “special weapon”.
Thus, my task to do was to fully describe these characteristics in appearance.


↑ Size

【Special type of the Force Blaster】

Summary

The blaster on his shoulder is a special version of the Force blaster also seen on ThornatusV9.
Greg said to a fan’s question, “Before The Shattering, Spherus Magna also had more advanced heavy weapons that were filled with elemental energy. But in the long time, that EP was depleted”.
(Source:Official Greg Dialogue | Page 197)

From this description, I matched it with the fact that the Toa can use any weapon as a “wand” to manipulate elementals, giving it this blaster, with meaning like a legacy of an gone age.
(Gred said Marendar has an Elemental power)

【Marendar’s Elemental Power type】

Summary

Again, Marendar is both resistant to Elemental powers, but it has its own EP.
Despite being able to kill any Toa - at least, GBs blieved so.

If so, what type is the EP it has?
Fire? Water? Ice? Gravity?Or something else?

My conclusion is this : Pure Elemental Energy.
Pure energy that has not yet been converted into either fire or water.

Toa manipulates Elemental by “consuming” Elemental energy.
And Mask of Elemental energy is exist, which gives the energy, to any Toa, just like a battery.

So, I gave it “pure” Elemental energy, for resolve those strange facts.

When battle with a fire Toa, it adapts to fire.
It adapts to water, Air, Ice, or any elemental…

That is why I made his colors gray and silver, and yellow eye.

【The Armblade】

Summary

It’s main weapon, the arm blade, is not a laser but a sword with substance.

The striking emblem, cited in the Rock Tribe symbol, that originally map of the maze of GB’s strongholds, inspired me for blade’s design.

Atakus also has a special prorotype sword dedicated to it, so a relationship can be inferred.

【Toa Power Antenna】

Summary

Marendar can detect Toa Power.
The blade antenna on his shoulder is for it, and if you look closely, you’ll see that it looks very familiar : Yes, Kini-Nui spire.

I designed it this way, assuming that if it is a sensor made by GB, there is some technical relevance.

【Body design】

Summary

The overall concept of the body draws inspiration from several elements, including Mata Nui, Teridax, and Baterra.

The largest is Mata Nui, but chest’s side pipes are a Teridax motif, and spikes on each section and linear secondary eyes near the “eyes” indicate a connection to baterra.

(Also, It has head armor that mimics a Glatorian helmet instead of a Kanohi, since it is a Toa killer that prioritizes the safety of Agori and Glatorian)

【Action!】

Summary

“They think they have found a new world. How could they know nothing waits here for them… but death?”
— Angonce


Thank you! :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :revolving_hearts: :revolving_hearts: :revolving_hearts: :revolving_hearts: :revolving_hearts:

28 Likes

You’ve always been a powerhouse in the community when it comes to portraying characters in our lore, and you have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to the moment you finally join the Marendar party.

Now that you have, you delivered it like a prophet of Mata Nui, and I’ve never been happier and prouder to see you execute that vision so elegantly!

Your intricate concepts were applied so well with your shaping, on top of what looks like a rather sturdy build. If you do release an .IO of this, may I have permission to play around with it for a cool Photoshop edit?

Either way, welcome to the party, Bukkeyyy!! :beers::triumph: and to the Cyclops Gang

7 Likes

Awesome! I love the armblades and shoulder blaster. And while I’m usually not the biggest thing of primarily silver builds, it 100% fits here and looks great.

4 Likes

This is cool. Great job :+1:

4 Likes

Seeing the influences in the moc is really hard ngl, but the overall design goes pretty hard on its own. Don’t know how I feel about the cyclops look, but it’s definitely consistent with the rest of the design, so that’s a plus.

Good work!

6 Likes

Thank you @Synnova32 !
The initial design was more “monstrous” and sketches are still available, but I am embarrassed to show them because they were still in the unpolished stage.

I would be lying if I said I was not influenced by your Marendar MOC. Thanks for the inspiring creative spark.

Thank you @Bioman !
I am honored to have received praise from someone who is not a fan of silver builds.
My intense memory of Tahu repairing his own body on the beach at Mata Nui with his gray and yellow eyes is one of the inspirations for this MOC.

Thank you @Droconis !

Thank you @Ghid !
Not that I had any misgivings about making Marendar a monoeye,
“MASK” or “FACE” is an important element in Matoran culture(there are many face-shape statue, or city gate), while GB did not recognize Toa as an independent race, so I decided to make Marendar’s face I have chosen “Faceless Face", as “Toa denialer”.

9 Likes

For starters, I really like the general appearance of this build. There’s no crazy weapons or anything, just a solid, powerhouse-looking character. It fits my own imagining of Marendar as a “Toa 2.0”.

Beyond that, though, I hugely appreciate all the small details, like the modified Force Blaster and Atakus-like swords. The Kini-Nui spire is a particularly interesting choice. I never would have thought of something like that, but it definitely makes sense and the accuracy of the shaping is really impressive with so few parts.

9 Likes

Easily the best rendition of the character I’ve seen by far. It leaves behind the terminator monster approach every other rendition I’ve seen goes for and takes a more neutral approach, comes off more humanoid like a Glatorian/its creators. While faceless and unnerving it doesn’t appear outright terrifying, which it shouldn’t given that its supposed to protect the Agori. Absolutely stunning moc with great parts usage and a great concept with excellent execution. This is now canon in my eyes unless somebody somehow manages to outdo you!

5 Likes

About that…

The Great Beings gave it that title, not the Agori; it’s like the difference between giving your gun a name and hailing someone your hero. It ‘exists solely to destroy Toa, should they pose a threat to Spherus Magna’, not just the Agori.

I don’t think Marendar should look like anything in particular. That’s the magic of this ‘unnamed’ character when it comes to interpretations-- any and all visions are on the table! Golem, Mech, Angel, Android, or even just a shiny humanoid like the Silver Surfer ¯_(ツ)_/¯

4 Likes

Y’know that’s a very fair point, I always worked under the assumption that Marendar was built to protect the Agori solely, but it never does specify that does it? It’s an amazing interpretation off the character regardless and so is yours!

4 Likes

I very much love yours too! Cheers to throwing our hats in the Battlebot ring :beers:

Am just glad we have another player in the game over here to celebrate with :ok_hand:

3 Likes

Same! Though I might ditch my current Marendar and start from scratch, something about him doesn’t sit right with me… I’m almost planning on finally making a physical representation of bioniclechickens take on Marendar, just gotta figure out some of the connections and get to work.

3 Likes