[MOC] Two and a Half Dead Characters

[Nuju Metru]

2¹/₂ Dead Characters.

Howdy, y'all!

I don't think I've ever posted creations in this forum... but when the MOCing bug bites, it bites hard. Sometimes there's nothing more fun than pulling out the old BIONICLE bin. Certain Brickfair acquisitions of mine - some useful new elements I bought, custom-painted parts, and prototypes from years past - only spurred on my desire to create. I can take this opportunity to point out that the custom-painted elements seen below (I Sharpied the Piraka spine myself) were done by BZPower member MrCod.

On to business. I've made three MOCs, all of which are based on past and present BZPower Role Playing Game (BZPRPG) characters of mine. You can see them below:

^{From left to right: Grokk, Uhuraz, and Heuani. Characters are built to scale with one another.}

These three are characters near and dear to my heart. The BZPRPG, being a text-based role playing game, is wholly driven by the interaction of characters, and these three have been some of my favorites to interact as over my years in the game. I hope you'll permit me to indulge myself a little as we go, and tell you a bit about each of the characters as they crop up.

We can start with Heuani. (NOTE: The linked names of characters from here on out lead to their respective Flickr Galleries, where higher resolution versions of all the images below can be found.)

^{Heuani, Toa of Shadow. Sword is a prototype element; mask was custom painted.}

In the 2012 arc of the BZPRPG, the world of the game was very similar to Mata Nui in the BIONICLE canon in 2001. Similar, not identical; instead of triumphing over Makuta as they did in canon, the Toa Mata failed, because one of their number betrayed them at the crucial moment. That Toa, once he submitted himself to serving Makuta, was warped into the hateful persona of Heuani.

He also died at the end of the 2012 arc.

Heuani was a dark and seductive presence. He was defined by his statuesque, lusty beauty, his honeyed words, and the dangerous shadow powers that Makuta endowed him with. He was armed with a crystal flamberge and a Kanohi Felnas, both of which he used to devastating effect against dozens of his enemies and captures. He was at once alluring and repulsive. BZPower member Vezok's Friend made a stunning artwork based on my descriptions of Heuani, capturing his enigmatic nature and appearance admirably. His artwork was my basic reference for my MOC of Heuani.

There was no suitable piece for either a humanoid Felnas - Heuani's face had to be more attractive than Gorast's head! - or for the crystal flamberge, so I am very happy that I was able to have Heuani's mask specially painted to resemble VF's art. Heuani's sword here, while neither transparent, double-sided, nor ripple-bladed as it was in the game, was one of the coolest pieces I had, so I thought it'd have to do.

Building challenges: getting the shoulders right, beefing up the thighs, torso stability.

^{As good as he was at working for Makuta, Heuani's true calling was always to become a supermodel.}

Next up is Grokk.

^{Grokk, Skakdi of Gravity. Gold tooth was custom painted, spine was Sharpied. Included with Grokk is his Fusa Flipper, a wind-up toy.}

Grokk is the only character I've had for my whole time in the BZPRPG (2009-2013). He's the only character in this topic that hasn't died yet.

If there's one distinctive thing about Grokk, it's his narrative voice. He is written in 1st person, which isn't altogether unique in the game; however, Grokk's blend of bad puns, incessant self-promotion, fourth wall breakage, and stray thoughts is generally distinguishable when it appears. Grokk is prone to whimsy, loves casual crime, and takes immense pride in his mouthful of "pearlies." Grokk's childish behavior, however, is belied by a conspicuous absence of moral relativity or empathy. He carries a Zamor pistol, and he's an excellent shot.

The reference for Grokk is several drawings I've done of him. He's the smallest and the simplest of the MOCs in this topic; I wanted him to be stable and playable. The little gizmo at Grokk's feet is a Fusa Flipper, which is a small wind-up toy that Grokk stole for his enjoyment during the current arc of the game.

Building challenges: retaining torso flexibility, incorporating more brown, making a vaguely kangaroo-shaped contraption at the right scale.

^{Towards the end of his photo shoot, Grokk discovered that he could, in fact, take pictures of himself: "#selfies #lol"}

Lastly, there's Uhuraz.

^{Uhuraz, Makuta. Bleeding head is a prototype element; cape comes from a Darth Vader figurine.}

Makuta Uhuraz the Merciless was a character I played before the reboot of the BZPRPG. Uhuraz was one of my first characters; he was a fairly basic "big bad," but he was a load of fun to write. He ended himself at the close of the 2010 arc shortly after realizing his dreams and rediscovering his conscience.

True to the first in his bloated list of titles, Uhuraz was merciless. He was a savage hunter, prone to fits of destructive rage; armed with titanic brute strength and a heavy flail, his wrath often resulted in broken bodies. For all his power in the temporal world, though, Uhuraz's true power lay in his mind. Uhuraz was a masterful manipulator of the mental plane, especially when it came to attacking other consciousnesses. Uhuraz, supremely confident in his might-means-right world view, wanted to become a god.

The head Uhuraz is holding belonged to his former mentor and enemy, Master. Master was also a practiced wielder of psychic energies; when they dueled one another, Uhuraz gained the edge over Master by deciding that the pain in his head was arbitrary. Because Master wore a Kanohi Crast, and I wanted to use that gorgeous prototype somewhere, it bleeds symbolically in Uhuraz's claws as ¹/₂ of another dead character.

This is maybe the fifth update of my Uhuraz MOC, which has been at a few Brickfairs, but hasn't seen the light of the internet since it was much older and inferior.

Building challenges: attaching the fingers to the ball joints, restructuring the leg armor.

^{Let it be noted that "The Incredibles" had it right: several times during the shoot, Uhuraz's cape succumbed to my fan and pulled him the ground.}

Thanks everyone for looking! If you made it all the way down here, I'm surprised by your patience, and flattered by your interest. Comments and critiques of all sorts are appreciated.

[MakutaNocturn]

These MOCs... are magnificent. Simple but still creative, original and inspirating. After all that Hero Factory procrastination there are nice Bionicle MOCs. Sweeet :3 Can you show us more your MOCs?

Edited August 19, 2013 by MakutaNocturn

[Dorek]

Some very cool creations, and the prototype pieces definitely help set them all off. Personally, I think a lot of the custom painting was unnecessary; it might just be the photography, but a black Hau Nuva would have worked just fine for Heuani, and Grokk's face scar/tattoo could have been done without, though I love the idea of the gold Piraka tooth.

The construction is great on all of them, and it's nice to see some Hero Factory parts in there as well; I'd love to see what else you could do with the cladding system.

[eurotrash]

You've got some excellent creations here.... personally I like the mods you've done to them, but you also got a great eye for the image composition - these pictures look fantastic!

[jimmynick]

I don't pretend to know anything about Bionicle / Hero Factory building, but I like these figures! They all look very strong and solid.

I like the brown colour scheme on Grokk, as well as his hip-mounted ball launcher.

I think Uhuraz is very impressive - there are lots of things to like about it, especially the cool silver-and-dark-blue colour scheme. The bleeding skull in his hand is cool as well. When you say his cape is from a Darth Vader figurine, do you mean the Darth Vader Technic set that came out years and years ago?

[Leewan]

Great photography ! My favorite is Uhuraz. I really like the legs, and the body armor. But I don't think these parts are necessary, they don't really fit the general MOC's aesthetics, IMO. :/

I don't know if it was your goal, but Heuani looks "feminine", to me, with the posing, and the shapes, especially for the limbs. Speaking of which, I really like the tubing on the thighs, that's a very neat technique. The painted Hau fits the character very well, since it's matte, it helps to give the impression of a dark character. A normal shiny Hau would lessen this impression.

Also, Grokk is my least favorite. It's a nice Skakdi, and I really like the legs and his Zamor holder, bit it seems very fragile and empty to me, especially compared to the other ones. The body looks a bit hollow to me.

[Nuju Metru]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, I really appreciate it!

Some very cool creations, and the prototype pieces definitely help set them all off. Personally, I think a lot of the custom painting was unnecessary; it might just be the photography, but a black Hau Nuva would have worked just fine for Heuani, and Grokk's face scar/tattoo could have been done without, though I love the idea of the gold Piraka tooth.

The construction is great on all of them, and it's nice to see some Hero Factory parts in there as well; I'd love to see what else you could do with the cladding system.

The custom painting/sharpieing isn't so much for aesthetic necessity as it is for character accuracy. Grokk's gold tooth and his tattoo are signature features of his face, so it was important to me to add them, both to signify the MOC as Grokk and as not-Avak. The painted Hau isn't much different than a plain black one, you're right, but as Heuani is supposed to be wearing a more unique mask than the Hau Nuva, I liked the idea of giving him something different on that front too.

As for the cladding system, my supply of Hero Factory parts isn't too large, but I've been playing around with them a while. I'd really like to make a dragon.

I don't pretend to know anything about Bionicle / Hero Factory building, but I like these figures! They all look very strong and solid.

I like the brown colour scheme on Grokk, as well as his hip-mounted ball launcher.

I think Uhuraz is very impressive - there are lots of things to like about it, especially the cool silver-and-dark-blue colour scheme. The bleeding skull in his hand is cool as well. When you say his cape is from a Darth Vader figurine, do you mean the Darth Vader Technic set that came out years and years ago?

Thanks! The cape isn't the LEGO one, no. It's from a 12" Darth Vader statuette I had lying around. It detachable on Vader with a velcro-ended chain; when that broke, I decided it'd be a nice part to MOC with. It's held onto the top of Uhuraz's back by that big blue flap you can see in the back view photo, which folds over the top of the cape and holds it there by friction.

Great photography ! My favorite is Uhuraz. I really like the legs, and the body armor. But I don't think these parts are necessary, they don't really fit the general MOC's aesthetics, IMO. :/

I don't know if it was your goal, but Heuani looks "feminine", to me, with the posing, and the shapes, especially for the limbs. Speaking of which, I really like the tubing on the thighs, that's a very neat technique. The painted Hau fits the character very well, since it's matte, it helps to give the impression of a dark character. A normal shiny Hau would lessen this impression.

Also, Grokk is my least favorite. It's a nice Skakdi, and I really like the legs and his Zamor holder, bit it seems very fragile and empty to me, especially compared to the other ones. The body looks a bit hollow to me.

I'd agree that the circular plates aren't too necessary... to be honest, I slapped them on there mostly because the armor that worked presented a perfect 2x2 region which would be easy to affix something stud-bottomed to, and it seemed like too nice an opportunity to disregard.

I'm actually very happy you said that about Heuani! I meant to give something of a feminine air to him. He's intended to be very graceful, smooth-armored, and attractive; some studies have shown that the most attractive people aren't hypermasculine or hyperfeminine, and I wanted to use that here. The posing (especially in his hips) was intended to add to the impression.

Grokk's body isn't perfectly satisfactory to me, either. I wanted him to retain mobility in his abdominal joint, but also use those Toa Inika thigh armor pieces (part of my short supply of reddish-brown). I'll probably end up tweaking it a little in the future.

[Csacsa234]

These characters are awesome! It's good to see so great Bionicle MOC's, all of them ahs really great design!

[Rook]

In general I'm not a fan of Bionicle. But your Uhuraz fig with the bleeding skull in his hand is fantastic!

[Infernum]

I love Grokk! The color scheme and pet are great! I love when people make Skakdi MOCs! I love Uhuraz too!

[The Mugbearer]

This is priceless. Great models, neat designs... it's so perfect I can't find anything to complain about! <3

[Kalmahiczek]

Finely crafted MOCs. They look very good.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Kalmahiczek

[burlogh]

*speechless*