The Legend of Vakama Megathread [Worldbuilding][Pitch][Art][Writing]

It’s been a little while since I submitted anything to the Brickonicle boards. I had been going back and forth with @Kardax to write a pitch for what might’ve happened during the Kanohi Era, drawing influcence from some of the worldbuilding pitches from @Bokarda, as well as story beats touched upon in both the Brickonicle Series Bible and from the podcasting sessions by the TTV crew. What resulted was a very in-depth pitch that also provides a chance to shed some light on some of the beginnings for the Mask of Power, and possibly open up a chance to explore what Arthaka was like in the distant past. The writing is a bit long, and so I’ve posted the actual pitch in a Google Docs file, listed below

To paint a few pictures, I will also share some rough concepts I’ve drawn up of certain story elements: First, some rough concepts of the Toa Team at the time, consisting of

Lhikan/Tahu

• A Mangaian king who abdicated his throne when it was discovered he was the chosen avatar of Tahu, Toa of Fire
• A natural born leader
• Charismatic, would often favor the use of brains before brawn
• Self-sacrificing, putting the needs of the world above his personal or spiritual needs
• Wears the Kanohi Hau that was given to him as a gift by King Vakama and wields two fire greatswords
• Tries to bring out the best in his teammates and help them reach their full potential

Orde/Gali

• A surly, but brave Nahoan Fisherman
• Didn’t care one way or the other whether he was a Toa or a fisherman, work is work to him.
• A rare male avatar of Gali
• Is sometimes judgmental of others, particularly Zaria/Pohatu for his mercenary past
• Wears the Kanohi Calix and wields a Fisherman’s Pike
• Is as stubborn as he is determined, and would sooner be dragged into his own grave kicking and screaming
• Naturally, he gets on pretty well with Chiara, but does tease her from time to time
• Unlike other avatars for Gali who tend to be peacemakers, Orde can often be rather caustic and ironically has a dry sense of humor. He does hold some respect for the other Toa, even if he has an odd way of showing it sometimes

Jovan/Onua
• A former Tiro Military strategist and field commander
• Favors unorthodox methods, but often prove to be quite effective
• Seldom speaks, but by no means reserved, rather he says only what needs to be said
• Friends with Lesovikk/Lewa
• While he is a warrior, he values knowledge above all
• Is a music lover, especially of Kanaean folk music
• Is a good friend of Lesovikk, thanks to their mutual love of music.
• Frequently cites lessons of older Tiroan generals. At least one of whom could’ve been a past Onua
• Wears a Kanohi Kadin as a reflection of his unorthodox tactics and wields a large mace

Chiara/Kopaka

• The youngest daughter of an Ihuan lord
• Wanted more out of life than just being married off to some suitor and rearing children like her sisters
• As Ihuan women in those days were forbidden to fight, she asked Lhikan to teach her and the two are often sparring partners
• Wields two tiger-headed hook swords(compare with Jet from Avatar: The Last Airbender ) that are good for combat and scaling some surfaces
• Wears a Kanohi Volitak that reflects her desires to have been a wallflower
• Is sympathetic to Zaria wanting more out of life than what he was given
• Is persistent…when she wants something, she won’t stop until she gets it. Some wonder if Chiara was actually a Mangaian born in an Ihuan’s body

Zaria/Pohatu

• A former Motari mercenary, who chose the line of work because he needed to support his wife and daughter…adds a humanizing factor to some of the Motara gang members
• Doesn’t feel like he can measure up to being a Toa, and sometimes wondered if it should’ve been someone else
• Nonetheless, Zaria will do what needs to be done and hopes he can atone for his past transgressions
• Appreciates the company of the other Toa
• Carries two twin sledgehammers
• Is reserved, and almost perpetually stone-faced. This is uncharacteristic of past Pohatus who were more often than not outgoing
• Wears a Kanohi Matatu reflecting his desire to never directly harm someone physically(through telekinetic punches or kicks). As a gang member, he’d draw the line at using this mask power to seriously hurt someone(i.e. twisting limbs or even snapping clients in two)

Lesovikk/Lewa

• A spiritual Kanaean who once was an acolyte of the Temple of Uxar
• A music lover, who aside from his spiritual pursuits, was known for among other things, playing the flute and would often play Kanaean folk music around the fire for the other Toa
• Once made Jovan a percussive instrument as a gift so he could join in during music nights after training sessions
• Posesses a vast knowledge of wilderness survival, having gone on many retreats as an acolyte
• During a past retreat, he was hiking up a mountain when a wild Ash Bear attacked him. In the scuffle the two were knocked off the cliff by an avalanche. Lesovikk spent many days trying to heal the wounded animal and bring it food despite its tendency to lash out at him. Eventually, he earned the Ash Bear’s trust and helped it back to the location they first met, finding out it was merely trying to protect it’s cubs.
• Tries to see the good in almost everyone, Rahi and Matoran alike.
• In his spare time, he enjoys meditating

The Tome of Ekimu or “How Many Easter Eggs Can I Cram Onto a Book Cover?”

Some minifigure concepts of Vakama by @Kardax. The first mask is based on a regular Huna, which was his when Vakama was just Kama the Apprentice. The second version with the Vitruvian Man symbol is a version he would’ve obtained after he became an advisor to King Lhikan


Concepts for Prince Nuhrii and the Cult of The Dragon King. I wanted Nuhrii’s mask to foreshadow his transformation into the Kanohi Dragon. The “Darth Maul” looking mask was inspired by the Dragon King Nuo masks of China, keeping with the G1 Kanohi Dragon’s Eastern aesthetics. One of these masks was used as the influence for the “Blue Spirit” mask used by Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender. The second is my initial sketch of the dragon mask, drawing influence from fan takes on the Mask of Ultimate Power in G2, @Ragdoll’s Vako from his Epochal Fragment animatic, and my initial vision of the dragon: A mass of Kanohi masks fused together ala Envy’s “Unleashed” Form in Fullmetal Alcemist

Screencaps from @Ragdoll 's animation for comparison

First 3 Concepts by A2B2C2, 4th by @Kardax



Vultraz, the Rogue Mask Maker by A2B2C2 (This is him before he acquires his renegade Kanohi
<img src=“/uploads/db5640/original/3X/5/e/5e170e9d02b76ddb798f3f18fb0acc3beb7d0d42.jpeg” width=“426” height=“500”>

Roodaka, a mysterious Tiroan enchantress who knows several forbidden magicks, but what is her connection to the Tome of Ekimu and why does she want it?

Finally the first of some more detailed concepts of the Kanohi Crisis Toa Team, starting with
Glyde from Rockman A Klingon Zaria a.k.a. the avatar of Pohatu at the time. The others should follow soon

Lhikan, aka Toa Tahu in all his glory! Wanted to try and give him a more kingly look by shaping the mouthpiece to look like a beard and added a nose. Inspired by his look in Legends of Metru Nui with a little bit of Obi-Wan thrown in

Want to know what I love about white armor? Less coloring! :joy: Anyway, this is Chiara, who is the avatar of Kopaka

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Nice! This is kind of what I was aiming for with my “History of Artahka” stories, but they were more stories than anything of importance. I haven’t read it yet, but it looks good. LESOVIKK!!!

https://board.ttvchannel.com/uploads/db5640/original/3X/b/6/b67d5e82e4b51c19f525432a62be78236dc18800.jpeg

https://board.ttvchannel.com/uploads/db5640/original/3X/c/7/c7db68a8cd13352eee64d4b32ed6dc429fb577d1.jpeg

Darth Maul confirmed!

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That’s the this with this pitch, it’s not confirmed if this is actually the truth, it’s become almost a myth. We know Vakama, Ackar and Nuhrii are buried since they have tombs but we don’t know how they died, those carvings have faded over time.

That’s what we were going for, this semi-unconfirmed possible story of Dragons, powerful masks and great heroes, was it real? Who truly knows?

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Some more concept art…this first picture is of Orde/Gali.

And a quick sketch of Jovan /Onua…I decided to go for an asymmetrical look and bring back the “spiked Mohawk” look the Kanohi Kadin had going on in G1

Still trying to get a handle on what I think the actual Kanohi Dragon should look like, so I decided to experiment with some silhouettes

The Symbol of Nuhrii’s cult: “The Emblem of the Rising Dragon”. I noticed @Kardax had drawn the symbol on Nuhrii’s antidermis mask to look like a dragon spreading it’s wings, so working backwards from his design, I drew an enlarged version.

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I am working on a moc for the Kanohi Dragon and let me tell you this, it’s f*****g massive, it will probably rival my Ultimate Upgrade mocs in terms of piece count.

For scale comparison, One of the 3 claws on it’s foot is the Mahri-Toran blades.
I’m attributing the size to perhaps Nuhrii’s force became quite large near his transformation, maybe 500 + all with weapons and armor, this should give enough mass for the dragon, alternatively maybe they constructed siege weaponry such as cannons or disk launchers from antidermis that was also caught in the transformation.

Either way, this will be fun.

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Oooh. I like the sound of this.

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It’s big, and painful to pose, so it’ll probably not be posed.

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Crack. I only just remembered - Vakama is in the present day! He’s in the episode 1 and 2 scripts!

No need to worry. I bet there were many Vakamas in history. Children are often named after famous people, why not a famous ruler of Mangai?

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Fair point. Guess we’d have to wait and see.

I know! I’ll just rename him Wakama like what they call him in the Japanese dubs of the Mirimax films :stuck_out_tongue:

In all seriousness though, I wasn’t aware of the specifics of the episode 1 and 2 scripts. My main frame of reference writing this pitch has been the series bible thus far, and a few of the more recent podcasts. In Brainstorm 18, I believe Jon was the one who said they still weren’t sure where they could fit Vakama as a character. Though if what you say is true, then maybe they just forgot?

In all fairness, I haven’t seen the podcast where the episode 2 script was featured , but I remember in the episode 1 brainstorm there was a debate about Takua being a little kid that Narmoto met after the Vako fight and now that character is a ruler of Takarda instead.

EDIT: Some new concept art of Dume and Roodaka I drew up late last night as well as my initial sketch of Dume. Hoping to use these for another side pitch I’ve been toying around with

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well I like your story except I wanted to use the vorox and zesk for somthing else

As of yet, the jury is still out on the canonicity of this story, so you’re more than welcome to write your own ideas on the Vorox and Zesk.

I really like this!

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ok like the Roodaka sketch you did