Hey all! I’ve been cooking for the next DuckBricks Fanon Contest, and I’m proud to present my version of Toa Nidhiki!
I’ve seen several different Nids that maintain the regular Metru build or something close to that, so my goal with this MOC was to make him appear completely different compared to the Metru build in order to stand out amongst the crowd. I originally started with a bulkier build and used Nuva chest armor where the Bohrok shields are, but I couldn’t make it work with the rest of the torso. The shoulders ended up being too broad, and the proportions looked weird once I added in the legs.
The mask is what guided the rest of the build, I decided to go with Galva’s noble Volitak instead of the usual picks for Nid’s kanohi. The wiring across the cheeks really grabbed my attention, and inspired me to go with a greebly and more robotic build instead of a sleeker humanoid design. I added the Roborider arms for the chest, and that’s where the design really clicked!
For this MOC, I also decided to that I wanted it to appear like an actual LEGO set, and have it stand next to the 2004 wave nicely. That called for a much lower piece count compared to my previous MOCs, including as many pre-2004 pieces as possible, and the repetition of pieces to achieve the “official LEGO look”. For that, I used the Mata foot, which ended up working nicely as part of the torso and as a forearm. Plus, it helped create a chunky sillhoute, as well as a holster for where Nid’s air scythe can be stored.
Since the community can’t seem to agree on what shade of green “emerald” refers to, I decided to include every shade of green available! I tried different color schemes: this one, a primarily dark green one, and a primarily lime one, but the Mata green color scheme ended up growing on me a lot. Plus, we already have one 2004 Toa that’s primarily dark green, so I wanted my Nidhiki to appear clearly different from the former.
Regarding his Air Scythe, I thought it’d be fun to go with dual scythes instead of the usual one, similar to how Death uses two in the video game “Darksiders II”. According to the books, the scythe can also produce an “air blast”, which I was keen on incorporating into the build. Thus, I thought it’d be cool if the two scythes could combine into a double-bladed scythe, which Nid would then twirl rapidly in order to blow away his enemies. It’s a double-win, since that play feature is similar in concept to the dual modes of the 2004 Toa tools, which helps acheive the goal of making it appear like an official set.
And that’s about it regarding the design language. You can purchase Galva’s Noble Volitak here, and check out instructions on my Instagram, where I’ve also posted some paint recommendations for the custom pieces uses (very few in total, just the mask, Bohrok shields, Roborider arms, chestplate, and four liftarms in the neck area).
If you’ve made it this far into the post, thank you so much! I love studying design language and creating my own, it’s one of my biggest passions in life. I put a lot of thinking behind them, and I hope to inspire people to unleash their own creativity.
Thanks for reading, and good luck to everyone participating in the contest!