#rahkshi? what are rahkshi?

[shoddygunpla]

listening to her favourite songs

[sleepyseals]

[Image Description: A digital painting of a Lego Bionicle Rahkshi facing left and stooped over as if tracking its prey along the ground. The background is black with a bright green vertical shape to contrast the character in front. The Rahkshi is holding its spear in its right limb, propping its body up with it as it holds its face close to the ground. It is rendered as a black metallic material with red eyes. Its hunched shape and angular spines stand out harshly against the green background. End Image Description.]

I got a rahkshi recently and wanted to draw it so here's this - kind of an experiment with studying a real life object and how to pose it into a interesting composition and then replicating the lighting I got tired of rendering this partway through however :P

[tiredspacedragon]

Once again thinking about the sheer number of possible Kaita, but not Toa this time. No this time I'm thinking about Rahkshi Kaita, and how with 42 different varieties of Rahkshi, assuming I've done my math right, there are 11,480 combinations of three Rahkshi of different types. Eleven thousand, four hundred, and eighty.

Oh and since Rahkshi Kaita are named for the Kraata that controls the fusion, that somewhat suggests that there could potentially be three variants of each formation, one for each controller Kraata. Hard to say if that would affect the Kaita's appearance though, so that might not actually bump up the total.

What would bump up the total number though, is the exponential increase brought about by factoring in Rahkshi from alternate universes where the Makuta had different Kraata powers, such as the Melding universe where they had the powers of Telekinesis, Courage, and Peace, and thus different Rahkshi with those powers. Just those three get the total up over 14,000 possibilities, and who knows what else is out there?

This doesn't really have any bearing on anything, especially since Rahkshi Kaita do not appear to be unique individuals like the Toa Kaita, and most of course were never formed, but the absurd numbers here still blow me away. Why were there 42 types of Rahkshi??

[nightlycreationstation]

Can’t take @duke-daemon anywhere I swear

Been dragging some of my friends into the Bionicle fandom, figured I would share a doodle from the time me and the aforementioned Duke watched Mask of Light. More of these are to come, when I actually finish cleaning them up

Wish Duke luck, we’re off to a wonderful start :3

[toa-arania]

I think this roughly sums up the day I'm having

[musurvivalistguide]

So because I'm still working on refreshing my memory on things in the Bionicle fandom, looking through the reference books is quite the treasure trove of little nuggets.

In Bionicle World, a book written to seem like Helryx is writing it based on information collected by OoMN agents, I happened to notice something in the Metru Nui chapter.

Now, according to the wiki, it's not unheard of for the characters in Bionicle to use family terms such as brother and sister. But for a species that can't reproduce, I find it interesting that this term pops up--from Helryx nonetheless!--as though they know what parents or mothers or fathers are.

This makes me wonder if--since she's the first Toa that was made--she might have learned about these terms from the Great Beings? After all, even when there's fighting going on all around them while the planet is getting ready to shatter, I'd find it hard to imagine that she hadn't noticed any Agori or Glatorian children running around or hiding (protective Toa instincts activating and the Great Beings having to stop her from rushing off to save them? 😂). Perhaps even one of the Great Beings we've heard nothing about had a kid of their own and had to do what they could to keep them safe from the fight by bringing them along!

I certainly have memories of when I'd go to work with my parents, so it's not hard to imagine this happening. But if Helryx understands this concept and the family terms are in their programming...would everyone else in the Matoran Universe have any comparison to understand what paternal means, or would they attribute it similarly to how Turaga (specifically the Mata Nui Turaga since we know them best) would treat and protect their villagers?

Would Toa develop a similar role/pattern of behavior as their Turaga, and it's like the Matoran have two sets of parental figures? Or would it be a clash of "Toa, can I do this?" "Ask the Turaga." "Turaga, can I-" "No." ?

And would Makuta refer to themselves as the mother/father of the krataa they create from their bodies, or would they refer to themselves as their creator? Considering that Teridax literally calls his krataa/rahkshi his "sons", it feels like a term he'd just throw around even though he literally commanded a horde of them to die to Sentrakh in Time Trap. >.>

I dunno, it's late, and my brain is getting tired 😂 Would love to hear a second opinion or two, though!

[origsmocs]

Forgotten mocs #4: poisoned Tahu. Loyal hound of the master of shadow.

“I… have no destiny!”

So this moc more or less came from a misconception I had about a thing in Mask of Light.

I thought that after getting poisoned by the rahkshi Tahu was being corrupted from inside out, and the staff of anger was some sort of trigger to make him evil, and not just a temporary thing. So I guess this is my idea of what would happen if they never healed him of the poison and he completely turned to Teridax’s side.

[whiteheartlight]

Matau: so you're saying Tahu was poisoned and attacked his siblings?

Vakama: yes, it's been very hard on him

Matau: so an actual Rahkshi of rage used its power on him?

Vakama: yes, that's what I said

Matau: and he went after his brothers and sister involuntarily, including Lewa

Vakama: yes?

Matau: but notice how, even then, he didn't throw anybody off the side of the Col -

Vakama: ALRIGHT MATAU

[enteroctopusdarkysilis]

✨Bionicle crab !✨

It was, originally, meant to be just another arthropod. However, someone reblogged my previous rahi, along with this comment :

Well, guess what ? Yes, absolutely. I’m glad I saw it because it gave me the inspiration for this monstrosity (and it made me laugh more than I would admit, too). Thanks.

I must recognise that if I compare my rahis, there is a clear pipeline. I don’t think it can go much further in this direction.

Anyways, details/closeups/weird illegal technic I just found out, below the cut !

Front (smol Visorak for scale) :

Because it’s really big. It’s also a good excuse to show off my really fancy and glittery Kanohi. No clue where it comes from but it’s beautiful !

I’m really happy with how mean this things looks, overall. It’s most definitely the bad guy for Toas to fight. It has a really good scale to work with my larger customer Toas [here], but it could also act as a really large rahi for my smaller space-based Toas [here]. Why a large crab stealing Kanohis in space, you may ask ? No idea. I’d have to actually think out a lore for that.

I started the conception with the frame (which does make sense, in theory), then the legs, and finally the shell. This was only partially smart, because that meant I did not account for the shell's mass when building the legs. Essentially, this poor thing can't stand on it's own, so I'm using two technic bars underneath to keep it up right (which are hidden in editing, of course).

Top/Hind (shell) :

I think the shell was pretty decent. I tried to use as little pieces as possible to keep it light, but it's still a lot. Among these pieces can be found one Visorak claw and three Mantax feet, which have a nice texture for organic feet. There is also another foot at the front which comes from an Inika set which I can't seem to find. I'm also using some of these large technic panels, which cover a lot of surface without being too much of a pain to set up (still quite a lot, since they're connected to the feet at at an angle, feet which which are also connected to the frame at an odd angle...) Speaking of Mantax, I alsu used the black-pearl shells, because these, too, have a really organic vibe, and it gave a small touch of pearl which was missing on the body.

I tried to keep the back relatively slick, to avoid something similar to an abdomen since it's not a spider. Still I had to extend it a little bit using the rounded cubical cover, to hide some socket joints, but it's okay-ish.

Neath :

Truly a mess, I must admit. As I started with each side separately, I tried to somehow connect them with the large grey technic frame (in the middle). On either sides, I have a whole bunch of axle connectors, both standard and angled, which allow for the thing to appear rounder than it could have been. The two leg sockets peices at the front are used for the eyes, and the pieces abov (barley visible) is a classic Bionicle shoulders piece clipped backward as a base for the pincers arms.

Pincer :

Or mandatory unusual feet usage. These really works well as any kind of claw or armor, in my opinion. The black arm pieces used here (Hordika leg piece) were particularly good for the job as they technic pin holes in there allowed me to add ad additional socket practically at the same level at the original one (even if I would rather have used black technic bars instead of the light grey ones, but i couldn't find any in my supplies... It's likely the Space station's fault.

Legs :

Or equally mandatory foot out of not foot pieces. Here is a cursed homebrew way to make legs : one Bohrok head part (bricklink call these shoulders ?) to display the piston-like element and serve as structure, linked with Toa Metru legs (which slots above nicely. And then comes the magic trick, for the Rahkshi shells (silveragain, because I have many of these) have a small attachment point toward the end, that is meant to hold the back blades in place; but it also perfectly fits right on the small ledge in the middle of the leg piece ! Granted, it's not a very secure connection, but these two pieces don't need anything else but that to hold. I actually loved this one so much, you can notice two additional Rahkshi shells held similarly on the tope of the crab's shell.

In order to connect the legs individually to the frame, I am using Vahki legs for the exterior limbs, and Pihraka arms for the central ones (these arms have the particular property of having the restrictive sockets on either sides, which makes it good to keep the leg's shape.

The middle sections are made using two simple axle-socket pieces connected by old plates, usually found in technic sets predating the Bionicle them.

…And obviously, I had to make another makeshift studio (I actually really like this one). Have a look at all these terribly assembled elements !

[mimicry-works]

...I bet at least one Agori looked at a Kraata crawl out of one of those felled laser Rahkshi and thought, "I wonder what that tastes like".

[shoddygunpla]

WELCOME TO ONU-KORO!

[crystaltoa]

One kraata is used to create the rahkshi casing while another is used to pilot it. What does that make the Rahkshi?

I would have picked the first were it not for the fact that Krahka could impersonate a Rahkshi without a Kraata. Then again, we don’t actually know if she can imitate non-living or even technically dead things.

(“sentient” is used here to mean “has some kind of mind, not necessarily sapient”- the implication being that the rahkshi case is itself a creature, but with no mind and unable to function without the kraata)

[girlballs]

girl who is into bionicle and regularly mentions having "the dream" but instead of seeing bionicles stocked new on shelves again she's getting spitroasted and sucked off by rahkshi, and she just assumes that's what everyone else means when they mention "the dream"

[rrbobani]

A quickie design for the day: Nokama hordika and Gaaki (they/them)

I had fun drawing both of them, I used an orca's design as insp for Nokama here, tho some bonkle mutuals helped out in getting ideas churning for the others and Nokama here.

This is my first time thinking about Rahaga too, and I haven't even jotted down what I think a Rahkshi would look like humanized, buuuuuut tbh it'd probably just be their movie versions but more fleshy and all. And Gaaki being they/them was just a creative liberty uwu Enjoy~

[downtofragglerock]

Alright here's another

A Makuta who served as the falconer of the Brotherhood, creating numerous birds of prey for both combat and messaging capabilities. Slain during the Brotherhood-Dark Hunter war.

A Makuta who grew overly attached to the primal element of fire, to the point of embedding it into everything they did, from fire-attuned rahi to fire-based experiments. This eventually evolved into serial arson which got them exiled by the brotherhood. Unlike say, Spiriah's banishment, this Makuta was still considered a member of the Brotherhood, as their results were quite useful to their goals. they were sent to the bottom of a pit in the middle of nowhere that, due to gas ruptures in the environment domes, was constantly on fire. This suited the Makuta, and they resumed their usual tasks, creating infernal rahi that occasionally escaped to wreak havoc on neighboring lands. No one has heard word from them in a while, but they may still be down there.

During the Brotherhood's halcyon days, when all that concerned them was the creation and development of new rahi to inhabit the young universe, this Makuta became enamored with metamorphosis and transformation, how rahi could shift their form into something completely different in their natural life cycle. They poured all their research and development into this phenomenon, creating species that changed their shape in such wonderful ways. They even began to body this philosophy physically, becoming fluid in form, a decision only aided by the Brotherhood's evolution. They would eventually pass the threshold and create rahi capable of willful and fluid shapeshifting, their magnum opus being a species the Onu-Matoran of Metru Nui would later rather generically dub the "Archives Beast". Eventually, when the Brotherhood gave into their darker natures, the need for a proper conquering legion arose. Rahkshi, due to the costly nature of their creation, wouldn't cut it, despite their effectiveness. Hagah teams were also out, thanks to the limited number of Toa and their far more rigid moral compasses. So it was decided that this legion would be a species of rahi, and several members of the Brotherhood attempted to be the one to create such a force, this Makuta included. The species they created was truly ingenious, not only capable of perfectly mimicking the shape of other rahi and beings, but their abilities as well, and could even take on hybrid forms, mishmashing the features and abilities needed for any situation. They seemed to be perfect, and test runs indicated so, but then a problem arose. When this species shifted into other forms, they also acquired those beings' intelligence, which lead them to rather suddenly gain true sapience. This presented a problem for the Brotherhood, after all, it's quite troublesome if your mindless attack legion start questioning orders, and getting rid of them would also be a query, given their strength. Then an enterprising Makuta by the name of Chirox presented a twofold solution: His creation, the Visorak, would be used for the legions, and in one of their first test runs, they'd wipe out their competition. Teridax approved of this, and the Visorak were sent to exterminate their rival species. Said species creator was horrified by this, viewing the sudden sapience of their creations as a true mark of mastery, and tried to stop this. They failed, and the Brotherhood had them killed, and the Visorak laid waste the shifters, the mutagenic venom reacting to the shapeshifting in quite fatal ways. What survivors that do exist are scant and mostly rumors, the only truly known one later taking the name "Krahka". Though in private, members of the Dark Hunters who both know of this species and the operative Triglax strongly suspect a connection.

[matau-the-228th]

But nothing happened.

I did my best to limp over to Takua, kneeling down to meet his face.

“It won’t work, Takua. There’s… there’s no such thing as Destiny. But it's okay. I’ll slow them down and you get… somewhere safe. That is my duty- as the Historian.” I said, trying to make sure he heard me- truly heard me- and took what I was saying to heart. So that he didn't blame himself, no matter what happened.

 “...And as your friend.”

He stopped, looking down for a brief moment, then back up, surveying the Rahkshi skulking beyond the barrier with fresh eyes. He rose from his kneeling position, and for the briefest of moments, I thought- I hoped- he would run before they found us.

But he turned to sit down in front of the barrier, flipping the Mask of Light around to face him, and folded his legs like we did at the meeting-fire. And with a soft, gentle voice, he began to tell a story.

“...In the time before time, the Great Spirit Mata Nui descended from the heavens, carrying us, the ones who inhabit this world.” “We were separate, weak, and without purpose. So the Great Spirit gifted us with the virtues he and his brothers embodied; Unity, Duty, Destiny.” “Now Unified, the people of this world became whole, forming communities and friendships.” “With Duty we became strong, growing better in the crafts and skills we needed for the day-to-day.” “With Destiny, we had purpose and potential.” “But even with these gifts, dangers and disasters still befell us.” “And so Mata Nui gave us another gift: The Six Spirit Toa, who guarded us for many years, until a few Matoran rose up to aid them in saving others." "Seeing that despite their small stature, the Matoran could do great things, Mata Nui blessed the Matoran and  instructed the Toa to give a piece of their power to the six that aided them. And then a wondrous thing happened- the Matoran gifted the power of the Spirit Toa became Toa themselves!” “But the new and old Toa did not have a long time to celebrate this miracle. With their duty fulfilled, and a new generation of Toa set to protect the people of this world, the Spirit Toa were called back to Mata Nui, returning to the heavens and bidding farewell to their friends on this world, promising to return if they were needed again.” “In time, these new Toa went their separate ways to protect other lands, and inspired other Matoran, each of whom themselves were given a part of this power and became Toa, and in turn inspired more Matoran, sharing this power with more and more with each passing generation.” “Many Toa died in the line of duty, and others couldn’t pass the spark along, as the power had grown weak, or perhaps spread too thin over the generations.” “Only one Toa yet remained where I came from- a Toa of Fire. He was… brave. Straight-laced, and stern at times, but he was friendly, and he protected all of us in Karda Nui for a long, long time.” “But Mata Nui died, suddenly and violently, and that Toa was one of the only ones able to attempt to try and bring the Great Spirit back to life.”

“I’m… I’m not sure what happened next, but Mata Nui, my friend, and his Toa Team all died- but they saved the rest of the world, they made it so that, even with the Great Spirit dead, the rest of the world could live on.” 

“But Karda Nui would not. My homeland, too, had to die for the rest of the world to survive.”

“I was pushed into an evacuation pod, which forced me into hibernation before I could do… anything. As it put me deeper and deeper into sleep, I wondered… I dreamt… what I could have done to save my friends, if I could have saved the Toa who gave his life for us.”

“Even if it goes against some great plan, or it isn’t some ordained Destiny… all I want is the chance to help others, like my friends, and the Toa before them. Grant me the power to be who I want to be.”

Takua placed the mask once again on his face, gentler this time.

And the Avohkii shattered in a bright flash, like lightning called down from the heavens, engulfing Takua in the blinding aura.

[x]