The Toa Hagah and Pouks (Canon Contest #3: Honor Guard)

Willess12 · May 31, 2021, 2:35am

So, after the feedback I got on my initial MoCs, I’m finally ready to submit the Toa Hagah

First up is ~~Thunderthighs~~ Pouks

I give consent for my mask to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (Yes)
I give consent for my metallic color choice to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (Yes)
I give consent for my spear tip to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (Yes)

While I like the choices made here, I do care about having a balance of colors and no two Hagah having the same mask. And everybody and their brother is gonna use a Rode on one of the Hagah.

Height comparison (I don’t have Whenua assembled so I built Matau like Whenua instead)
Whenua is 22 studs tall
Pouks is 26 studs tall
Iruini is 26 studs tall

Breakdown(His leg armor just got knocked off when I was dissasembling him)

Next up is Kualus

I give consent for my mask to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (YES PLEASE DO)
I give consent for my metallic color choice to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (Yes)
I give consent for my spear tip to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (Yes)

I only used the Organic Sanok because it comes in gunmetal, but it’s a really ugly mask IMO.
(I don’t want to enforce it [and I’m not sure if I could anyway], but I would like if someone drew him with the inorganic Sanok, I like the design but lack the piece)

Couldn’t find my white spinner, so I gave him a glow-in-the-dark one, because it looks cool

Height comparison
Whenua is 22 studs tall
Kualus is 26 studs tall(counting the weird shape of the Inika head)
Iruini is 26 studs tall

Breakdown

Nothin to see here, standard Metru build

Next up is Bomonga:
As many people have suggested, since Norik (the leader) has a black torso, and Bomonga is the deputy, it would make sense for him to have red.

I give consent for my mask to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (Yes)
I give consent for my metallic color choice to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (Yes)
I give consent for my spear tip to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (Yes)

Height comparison
Whenua is 22 studs tall
Bomonga is 23 studs tall
Iruini is 26 studs tall

Breakdown
Did some clefer finagling to get that Nuva chest on there in the right spot

Finally, we have Gaaki

I give consent for my mask to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (Yes)
I give consent for my metallic color choice to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (No)
I give consent for my spear tip to be altered in the final group art if the artist chooses: (No)

I mean, come on, that spear is too perfect, it looks like a wave design, like it was made for Gaaki.

Getting her to stand on one foot in the wind was a headache.

Height comparison:
Whenua is 22 studs tall
Gaaki is 25 studs tall
Iruini is 26 studs tall

Breakdown: I attached the Nuva chest differently here, and the arms are also different
(I hope this pic is clear enough to suffice, if not lemme know and I’ll retake it)

And finally, a shot with all five Hagah, and Iruini
I only had one silver shield so Norik got a gold one

Senit · May 31, 2021, 7:17am

I like these a lot. And i know that you want Bomonga to have a secondary color but with the Kaukau he looks to much like a Toa version of this version of Nuhrii

Rukah · May 31, 2021, 2:29pm

My favorites are Gaaki and Pouks.
Bomonga really does look like a Toa version of Nuhrii, as @Senit said.

Kanohi_Cantri · May 31, 2021, 2:59pm

I also agree with the Bomonga coloring- the red is a little too stand-out-ish and makes him look more like a Toa of fire or shadow. But good luck anyways.

Willess12 · May 31, 2021, 3:48pm

Okay, now that you mention it… Perhaps I’ll allow the mask to be changeable, then.
(Which is a thing I can do because I haven’t actually submitted it yet)

Hmm… I don’t see Fire, since he’s more black with a red secondary (plus the metallic). I can see shadow, perhaps. Personally, I think he looks kinda Lava-y, like someone you’d find under a volcano, which works for a Toa of Earth IMO.
Does it help if the black legs and dark red arms are switched?

Senit · May 31, 2021, 3:53pm

Hm. I would say that helps even with the Nuhrii look. Because now the Arms are less similar in color

Zepia · May 31, 2021, 8:27pm

Can’t really see these as the canon Hagah tbh. Kualus looks like a white Hewkii Inika, Gaaki like a psionic Lhikan, and Bomonga’s color scheme reminds me more of a 2008 Makuta than anything.

Hazash · May 31, 2021, 10:10pm

It also has a monkey on the hilt

Willess12 · June 1, 2021, 1:14am

And Norik is a silver Dume, Iruini a gold Nidhiki…

Besides, the masks can be changed, and in fact I’d encourage it if these mocs won – I only used those masks because they were the only FDG and gunmetal masks I had that looked decent.

Well, if it takes a monkey hilt to get that wave pattern for a Gaaki spear using an official lego piece, that’s a trade I’m happy to make. (besides, it isn’t super noticeable)

Zepia · June 1, 2021, 2:46am

A tad disingenuous to draw the Dume/Nidhiki comparison. Yes, we all know they were the intended recipients of the Hagah sets we got, but they still had interesting color combinations and armor choices to distinguish them from their 2004 designs while still appearing familiar enough (example being Rahaga Iruini’s rhotuka being gold, making his Toa form’s armor feel less out of left field).

Conversely, your interpretation of Kualus is a white metru body with Hewkii Inika’s mask, thigh armor, and feet. It’s much more jarringly apparent/blatant than the connection one may draw when looking at Norik and Dume side by side. I’m not a fan of encouraging artists to change your mask either, as it displays a lack of faith in design elements you consciously chose. If the organic Sanok was truly the only mask you had that adhered to the armor color restriction, perhaps gunmetal wasn’t an ideal metallic color choice to begin with?

I have similar issues with your Gaaki, but I need not retread points for another paragraph. I stand by my opinion that I can’t see these as the canon Hagah.

Willess12 · June 1, 2021, 4:12am

The thing is, I was going to allow Mask changes on them anyway*. I want to allow Artists that freedom to design the mask, to see the designs that people come up with, or get masks in colors they might not come in physically.

*I was going to restrict Bomonga’s originally, but then I realized this would be a bit disingenuous of me, for the reasons I’m about to state, to then say “Oh but I like this mask so this is different.”

This is partly because, as I said, I don’t care for two Hagah sharing the same mask. I have a feeling a bunch of entries will use a Rode, a Sanok, Lhikan’s Hau, because they’re among the few metallic masks (The Kaukau is a different story, as I’ve only seen one entry use it, in gold, and I haven’t seen anyone use it in trans black to go with gunmetal).

The second reason is, I like the system of “mocists design moc, artists design/choose mask” If my entries were to win, I’d rather not restrict the artist “You must draw the mask I chose”. I want to see what they come up with – variant masks like Lhikan’s, inorganic Inika masks, new designs, or just masks in colors they’ve never come in. I design the moc, they design/choose the mask shape, we’re both winners – as opposed to “I design the Moc, they just make it look cool”.

I chose masks that matched their metallic colors only because it looks better in the entry photos, and the part of me that cares about little details like that would be bothered if, say, Kualus had a white mask and the other three had metallic, even if it doesn’t matter because the art will change it anyway. But no matter what mask I had given Kualus, I would have allowed it to be changed.

“But what about the spear tip? You restricted Gaaki’s?”

The spear tips are a bit of a different matter. From my Point of View, the spear tip is a much less minor detail than the mask (and I really don’t care if two Toa have the same spear tip, it wouldn’t be as bothersome as two sharing the same mask). I still do want to see what artists can come up with, unless I have a perfect idea of my own. For Gaaki, I found the perfect spear tip that I think fits a “tidal Spear” all too well. For the other three, I didn’t have anything that I felt was worth restricting. (I do kinda like Pouks’ spear tip, but it doesn’t really evoke “avalanche spear” in my opinion")

That’s certainly fair. I don’t think that it’s that bad of a similarity when those are the only details that match, the rest of his build being drastically different, but if you think they’re too similar… that’s fine, too.

As for Gaaki, I think the similarity is less jarring, since she uses the same thigh armor and feet as the other Hagah and every Metru build set. The only factor that really draws a Lhikan comparison is the mask, and that’s just because the mask is so iconic to Lhikan – give that same mask to Iruini, for example, and he becomes a green Lhikan. I think with a different mask, the comparison to Lhikan is a lot less potent.

That’s a good point, I may not really have said that well. My main point was that characters share design similarities all the time, so I don’t think Hewkii Inika and Kualus sharing feet and thigh armor is too big an issue – even the mask wouldn’t be so bad, in my onion. They still differ in many ways – most notably the weapons. If two Toa have the same mask and weapons, then it starts to toe the line of being too similar for me, especially if their armor is similar to boot.

Same thing with Gaaki. If my Gaaki were to be declared Canon as-is, mask and all, I would be fine with that – heck, she’s most likely honoring Lhikan. But she has different weapons and a different enough build to be distinct.

Again, though, that’s just my thoughts on the matters. And hey, I appreciate the feedback!