It’s time for my second weekly Team Update! Hopefully before I come full circle I’ll switch to video format for these updates.
This week, we have the Skakdi that were too Skakdi for the Skakdi! These guys were so much fun to play with after 2005’s canister snooze fest… I mean, the visorak were kinda cool, but…
That’s right, the gang is on the loose, and there’s nothing you can do. Feel free to scoff, spit, and/or fart in their general direction, however. As will usually be the case, there are a number of missing or placeholder parts, so if you see something that conflicts with the color palette, like little blue pins, keep that in mind. You’ll realize, once I have all my builds posted, that these guys’ builds are the closest to the original sets. That’s because, after G1 was said and done, I feel like they really had such a unique look to them. Like would they really be The Piraka without those forearms? More like fore-alarms! And those leg pieces are so meaty! Plus, I know it’s kind of a cheap move compared to my other builds, but the chest piece definitely brings out those shoulders in a parts-cheap way, so I have more to use on other characters simultaneously.
Personally, after reading the Legends series, I feel it’s obvious that Vezok is the main character among the Piraka. He has by far the most… of a story behind him, and is the only one present in a few scenes. One of my favorite scenes is where Dalu, still thinking he’s a toa, consults him for guidance on anger management, of all things. But by this time, Vezok’s intellectual side was ripped from his being, supposedly leaving him an animalistic shell empty of all but rage. Oddly, enough, however, Dalu finds him meditating, as if he had decided to sit down there a while ago. Why would he do that? I don’t think he was tricking the matoran, because that sounds too clever. Perhaps, with his analytical mind out of the way of his focus, he finds it easier to simply be with nature and the universe without judgement, which makes for an incredibly interesting villain, in my book.
Here, Hakann shines up her prized — expensively modified — lava launcher. I suppose this is one of my first times mentioning it, but a number of characters have been gender swapped in the feminine direction in my Matoran Universe, as there was hardly a number of feminine characters to begin with. I mean, who’s to say what a realistic gender balance would be in an asexual universe, but there’s hardly an explanation given, so I’m gonna assume it’s not important to the story.
Zaktan has legs, believe me, though I’m still waiting on a second green forearm. I was just too lazy to put em on for the update. I don’t think any of us can imagine how hard it is to keep trillions of independently embodied fragments of yourself united physically, let alone any other way, especially with such a toxic personality. For this reason, and since we know that his protodites can just float around, I just imagine that you hardly ever see Zaktan’s full figure, which is how I used to like playing with these guys back in the day. Idk about you guys, but I used to split them at the hips and imagine they all had these spooky spirit forms that floated around causing havoc.
Reidak’s ready to pounce. I didn’t modify his weapons, because I figure such a straightforward brute wouldn’t bother. The guy doesn’t even use his thermal or infrared vision, that’s how much he hates delaying for a maximum advantage. His build needs more bulk. Too bad, there are so precious few pieces molded in that nice “black” color.
Yes, count ‘em. That’s two ice picks for the Prince of Snark(Pretty sure Matau is the King). I can’t decide when he got the second one, but I like the idea that he forced Balta to make him one after they infiltrated.
Aaaaand it’s Avak!
I realize that the universe was dying and everything at the time, but I feel like not enough of a big deal was made about the Antidermis in this entire story from this point on. I mean, Brutaka was apparently biologically obsessed with it, but all he wanted to do was drink it or bathe in it or whatever. C’mon! Instant slave juice! And it works on toa! How come we haven’t heard about the— surely — countless wars fought to control or extinguish this stuff? I mean, Great Spirit, we haven’t even heard how the Piraka managed to get a giant vat of the stuff onto the island, outside of the whole universe, when they only flew over in canisters. ANTIDERMIS, man! It’s anti-matter! It’s dark energy, right at home in a science fantasy story! WHAT IS IT??? Let’s shed some light, Greg!!!
Needles to say, Antidermis is slated to become a strong tool for communicating the themes and ideas of the story in my stop-motion project, which you can read a bit more about in my first post a couple weeks ago!
So, that does it for now, folks. I have Vezon built, but for now, we’ll say he wasn’t really ever part of “the team” and leave it a surprise. I promise, he’ll appear when we come back around to these guys, which should mean we’ll have a nice rotation for all of them via the magic of videography!
Until next time,
~Sanso
