Hey, Greg, possibly controversial question here (and one that may have been directly answered by you before, apologies if so).
So, we know Nidhiki wore a Volitak. We did get a Volitak in plastic on Nuparu Mahri, but we know that his wasn’t in the “standard” form (we don’t really know how different from a standard Volitak it might have looked - modified Kanohi in Bionicle sometimes look completely different from their standard forms).
The shape of the mask Iruini wears was designed (by the set/element designers) to be Nidhiki’s mask, having many features resembling Nidhiki’s mutated face. While we have always known this mask as the Kualsi (since Iruini’s mask is a Kualsi), the Hagah’s masks have been confirmed to not necessarily have the shape of their actual power (e.g. Norik’s Kiril-shaped Pehkui). We also don’t specifically know who Iruini’s mask was honoring.
Given this, is it possible that Iruini’s Kualsi is actually in the shape of a Volitak? This would mean that Nidhiki’s original mask had the shape of the mask that was designed for him, and would give us a specific official design for the Volitak (rather than only the modified underwater one from Nuparu). (Also, small thing, but it would mean that Nidhiki’s mask exists officially in green - the color you said his Volitak was - from Defilak).
I’ve thought about this for a long time, but only bring it up now because of the upcoming MOC contest to determine Nidhiki’s official appearance. I wanted to go ahead and pose this question before the shape of Nidhiki’s mask is set in stone by the contest.
Is the Kualsi that Iruini wore as a toa in the shape as a mask of stealth (there are just so many people who want to believe that’s what Nidhiki’s mask looked like)? 7) Not to my knowledge, no
Is it possible that the Mask of Stealth’s appearance is that of Iruini’s Kualsi, due to that Iruini’s Kualsi isn’t its true shape? After all, the Kualsi’s shape fits perfectly with Nidhiki’s head. 10) Pretty sure it is not. Remember, Nidhiki’s head shape is after his transformation, his head did not look like that before
Does Nuparu Mahri’s Kanohi look exactly like Nidhiki’s or was there some difference to them? 2) Not exactly, because Nuparu’s has tubes attached, etc.
*Note, these aren’t definitive answers.
One other thing I’d like to note: Even if Nidhiki does end up wearing Nuparu’s Volitak, that doesn’t have to mean it is story-accurate. Mazeka is already wearing it and his is supposedly unmodified. Additionally, Jovan (combination model) and Tobduk (contest model, like this would be) wear organic masks in their models despite not wearing organic masks in the story. (This can also be applied to Chiara and Varian, who wear a Volitak and a Calix respectively.)
I guess it is appropriate to use either of the 3 masks, Volotak, Golden Kualsi and Green Kualsi, depending on the vision the MOC author has and the colour and armour style.
For all I know, the entire Toa mangai might have worn golden armour, or not, Lhikan might have had yellow/gold, because yellow is a secondaty colour as can be seen in Matoran Jaller, so th rest can have regular colour style as well, maybe with some funky colours, like orange, purple, teal, sand lue etc, as could be seen in 2001/2003 Matoran.
I don’t think mr. G will actually make any statements about the characters we are supposed to MOC right now. He’ll probably make canon whatever version of the mask wins, be it set Volitak, or Kualsi.
Based on Greg’s comments, I’ve just considered the standard Volitak to be the shape of Nuparu’s just without the asymmetrical breather extension thing.
I definitely think the Volitak should have been the shape of Iruini’s Kualsi, but I feel that ship sailed with Nuparu Mahri. I just picture Nidhiki with a standard green Volitak.
That being said, it’s possible for masks to have different shapes, like Lhikan’s Great Hau vs Tahu’s Great Hau.
Official Greg Discussion | Page 153
1)Is the Kualsi that Toa Iruini wears the same shape as normal Kualsi? Or is it like Toa Norik’s, honoring a different mask? Yes, it is in honor of a fellow Kualsi wearer.
The shape of the mask can be reformed, but it’s up to the individal mocist to deceide which mask will be used, or, Great beings forbid, painted nuparu’s Volitak, though at least the breathing apparatus can’t be sawn off. I am torn, there is one etry per person and on one side Kualsi is the intended design, but volitak + scythe gives him a look of a skull/death, which might be fitting.