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human Matoran


SailorQuaoar

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A few Matoran designs for my Binacle re-imagining. Yes, all Matoran are children. I know some people don't like that idea but I saw the Matoran-Toa-Turaga cycle as the natural aging of the species and ran with it. Plus I had to keep the height difference between them and the Toa.

 

Because Mata Nui is a pre-industrial tropical society, pants and shoes are rare. The Onu-Matoran are the only tribe that wears something resembling "modern" clothing.

Kotu is way smaller than she should be, and the last three were random designs that I ended up applying to specific characters.

 

I tried to give each tribe their own unique style of clothing so a viewer can tell which element a Matoran is, even in grayscale.

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I'm not a big fan of the humanising process and didn't take a great liking to the Toa you did (at least I think it was you!) but I do quite like Onepu, Jaller and Hafu here. They're instantly recognisable and have at least partial set resemblance, Jaller in particular with his blonde locks :D Seems to be a bit of Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V going on with the last 3 but they're all nicely illustrated so all in all this is a really good job. Nice work ;)

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I'm not a big fan of the humanising process and didn't take a great liking to the Toa you did (at least I think it was you!) but I do quite like Onepu, Jaller and Hafu here. They're instantly recognisable and have at least partial set resemblance, Jaller in particular with his blonde locks :D Seems to be a bit of Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V going on with the last 3 but they're all nicely illustrated so all in all this is a really good job. Nice work ;)

Haha thanks man! And if you're talking about the recent humanized Toa pics, those aren't mine. Those are from D5 Petewa I think. I have a totally different art style.

 

My Toa designs are a lot more tribal, like this beautiful Tahu right here:

beefytahu_by_sailorquaoar-d8q2p12.png

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You know I almost put in a little (I assume those were yours) disclaimer but was absolutely positive there wouldn't be two separate people doing humanised Bionicle! Egg on my face I guess :D Will check out your toa when it's not so late!

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Check out my Bionicle store on Bricklink here!

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Let me know if you can help me find these last few collectibles!

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These are so cool! I've always thought of Matoran as adults, but to me these drawings look more youthful than exactly juvenile. Regardless, the designs are amazing. I love your Tahu drawing too.

( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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Me no likey.

Be a bit more specific here. Do you not like the way I drew it? Does my art need more shading? Do you not like my aesthetics or art style?

 I love your style, it's extremely tribal and low-tech, one of the defining factors of early Bionicle. 

Do you think that you could make more like these? 

Oh man am I glad you asked. Yes I have a lot of these.

toasketches2c_by_sailorquaoar-d7q2ebt.pn

gm_portraitliq_by_sailorquaoar-d8q38sl.p

galiliq_by_sailorquaoar-d8q38rs.png

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I love your portrayal of the Matoran and toa it gives them that tribal and primitive feeling the original bionicle theme had, unlike most depictions, which seem to be focused on making pale faced people wearing T-shirts and having all kinds of anachronistic items.  I especially love how half of Hafu's hair is styled in braids or cornrows, where did you get the idea for that?

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I love your portrayal of the Matoran and toa it gives them that tribal and primitive feeling the original bionicle theme had, unlike most depictions, which seem to be focused on making pale faced people wearing T-shirts and having all kinds of anachronistic items.  I especially love how half of Hafu's hair is styled in braids or cornrows, where did you get the idea for that?

A big part of what drew me to Bionicle was the Polynesian-inspired setting. It's an aesthetic that's rarely used in fantasy fiction.

 

It's such a cool setting and theme, and it boggles my mind why so many people ignore it when making human versions.

Bionicle is not a Eurocentric world, and that's important to me. So I try to reflect that in my versions of the characters.

 

As for Hafu's hair, most Po-matoran have braids or dreadlocks. I was inspired by ancient Egypt as well as Australian Aboriginals for their clothes.

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Haha, cool! Some nice designs, and you definitely give them some character. My favorites are Hafu (luv his statue of himself), Tamaru (who seems to look like he's a little out of place, which totally fits his character, IMO), and Kotu. The last three look a little too static compared to the others, although that look totally works for Kopeke. Nice job, and thanks for posting!

 

:music:

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Me no likey.

 

I think this post needs an 'unlike' button. Seems to me that you just don't like the fact he is doing something that you do as well. 

 

I love the ethnicities you've chosen for the Toa Quaoar, they're very well suited. Did you think about giving Kopaka and Gali some sort of eyewear to represent the scope and scuba mask? They feel kind of integral to each Toa imo and I bet you could probably come up with some decent low-tech stuff.

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Check out my Bionicle store on Bricklink here!

> > > Bionic Bricks < < <

 

Let me know if you can help me find these last few collectibles!

Masks%20footer4_zpspqs4myrt.png

Also looking for WILD KRAATA and a VMKK Yo!!!

 

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Me no likey.

 

I think this post needs an 'unlike' button. Seems to me that you just don't like the fact he is doing something that you do as well. 

 

I love the ethnicities you've chosen for the Toa Quaoar, they're very well suited. Did you think about giving Kopaka and Gali some sort of eyewear to represent the scope and scuba mask? They feel kind of integral to each Toa imo and I bet you could probably come up with some decent low-tech stuff.

 

D5, please express what you dislike about the artist's work, simply saying something sucks is not helpful at all and makes you look bad.

 

I personally feel that the face paint on Toa Kopaka & Gali is enough to evoke their eyewear and a scope and scuba mask would detract from the Polynesian feel the artist was going for. 

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I am not a fan of humanizing Matoran Universe characters (I already see Agori (Tall and Short) as being colorful, augmented Byzantine(-Arabic) humans and hobbits, so no problem there). Now, with that out of the way I can say that I like your depictions, as they show off being tribal and dark skinned like a pacific islander, rather then being black or white and all-American. Now while its your choice of making the matoran children, I personally always saw them as being like adult hobbits, but hey, again this is your art. :P  Not sure if I like Matoro's depiction, but I laughed at Hafu, great job capturing his egotism. :lol:    My biggest complaint would have to be the colorful hair: dislike it in anime, dislike it IRL (unless it's female and it's is only like a stripe of hair; I'm picky leave me alone) and I am not too fond of it here. disgust.gif

 

I love your depictions of Tahu, Pohatua and Onua; Gali is my favorite depiction here, great job on that (aside form the hair bit as described earlier). Kopaka seems too European, maybe a light shade of brown would have done it here; again, the hair...    While I like Onua, why is Onua black when he is part of a sub-race that is based underground and wouldn't get much sunlight, wouldn't he be pale like Onepu (you could give the Onu-Matoran a lot of black tattoo's if you want)? Continuing the Onu-Matoran, I was not a fan of their modern look at first, but I remembered that the dwarves in Tolkien's Mythopoeia were some of the most advanced people in the world at that time, with their (albeit primitive) industrialization that stems from their very way of life and where they live, under the surface. Not a fan of Lewa's depiction, sorry. :confused: Colored hair, long ponytail and hair-style in general... but i love the facial decorations that reflect his kanohi -- likewise with all of them, i love this concept.

 

Anyway, thanks for impressing someone who is usually strongly against the humanization of Toa.    salute.gif

Edited by bonesiii
Please do not bypass the word filter. -bones
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Me no likey.

 

I think this post needs an 'unlike' button. Seems to me that you just don't like the fact he is doing something that you do as well. 

No, I just don't really like the characters' hair,

 

 

Though Onua looks great, it fits him, as does Pohatu, Lewa is a bit, meh, IMO. Tahu looks good, though Kopaka and Gali are...alright, I dunno, there's something off-putting about them.

 

And I guess to rephrase, it's not really that I don't like them as much as I've seen better, and by that I don't mean my own, I know mine suck.

 

You definitely captured the characters' personalities and should continue doing this, I guess I'm just heartsore over my own.

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- -

 

I personally feel that the face paint on Toa Kopaka & Gali is enough to evoke their eyewear and a scope and scuba mask would detract from the Polynesian feel the artist was going for. 

 

I did think this when I was composing my response and I know exactly what you mean. The face painting is evocative of their original masks but remember the whole point of masks was to provide functions. Kopaka should have some sort of scope for far-sight at the very least as x-ray may be a bit much to match this style! Gali similarly needs diving equipment, a simple scuba mask and swim bladder would be perfect and do nothing but compliment the characters IMPO. Of course it's quite likely the artist was thinking more along your lines and less along mine and I certainly wouldn't try to 'correct' anything. I'd certainly like to see it myself though :)

 

 

- -

 

I love your depictions of Tahu, Pohatua and Onua; Gali is my favorite depiction here, great job on that (aside form the hair bit as described earlier). Kopaka seems too European, maybe a light shade of brown would have done it here; again, the hair...    - -

 

This is like the opposite of all race based debates online huh?! :D I don't think it hurts to take races from anywhere on earth. Sticking to a certain Earth locale for choosing races is all well and good but I think this is more about making the characters human than making Bionicle work on Earth so there's no reason we couldn't see representations of westerners and easterners in neighbouring tribes or differing creeds and colours living side by side. My point I guess is that there's no harm in having Kopaka be a simple Caucasian male just because it's seen as an ethnic majority. 

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Check out my Bionicle store on Bricklink here!

> > > Bionic Bricks < < <

 

Let me know if you can help me find these last few collectibles!

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Also looking for WILD KRAATA and a VMKK Yo!!!

 

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Thanks to everyone on your wonderful feedback! I'm gonna reply to a bunch of posts here.

 

Multiple people have mentioned that I gave the Toa and Matoran anime hair colors, and this is true. The reason for this is that it represents their elemental power (or potential power for Matoran). Only Matoran Universe residents have anime hair colors. Glatorian and Agori have natural ones.

 

As for Kopaka being pale and Onua being dark, again it represents their elemental power. Most Ko-Matoran are light brown and most Onu-Matoran are pale, so Kopaka and Onua are the outliers. Also Kopaka isn't white, he's a very pale Asian.

 

For the face paint representing their masks, the Toa still have actual physical masks, they're just not usually visible. If they need to summon a kanohi, it materializes from their facial tattoo. Also Toa and Matoran's masks can still be ripped off if something or someone grabs their face area.

 

And speaking of Glatorian, I drew up some designs for the main characters of TLR. For those of you who don't like the half-shaved head w/ponytail look, I'm sorry. I gave it to nearly all the air/jungle characters. Their weapons look the same as the sets, with the exception of Mata Nui's sword which is now a kopesh. I wanted to give Ackar a darker red but I stuck to his set's colors. Mata Nui is pretty much a young Michael Dorn.

glatoriandesignsv2_by_sailorquaoar-d8q5m

Edited by SailorQuaoar
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Wow! I really like all of these.

 

My favorite of the Matoran would have to be Hafu, although Matoro is just so adorable.

 

I like the Toa's designs as well, especially Onua, Pohatu, and Tahu. Not a huge fan of Lewa, though--I'm not sure what it is, but he just doesn't really look like Lewa.

 

Ackar's design is great! I like how you can really tell that he's quite a bit older than the others, and his shoulder spikes are really well-done. I'm not sure how I feel about the sideburn things on his helmet, though.

 

Keep up the great work!

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Thanks to everyone on your wonderful feedback! I'm gonna reply to a bunch of posts here.

 

Multiple people have mentioned that I gave the Toa and Matoran anime hair colors, and this is true. The reason for this is that it represents their elemental power (or potential power for Matoran). Only Matoran Universe residents have anime hair colors. Glatorian and Agori have natural ones.

 

As for Kopaka being pale and Onua being dark, again it represents their elemental power. Most Ko-Matoran are light brown and most Onu-Matoran are pale, so Kopaka and Onua are the outliers. Also Kopaka isn't white, he's a very pale Asian.

 

For the face paint representing their masks, the Toa still have actual physical masks, they're just not usually visible. If they need to summon a kanohi, it materializes from their facial tattoo. Also Toa and Matoran's masks can still be ripped off if something or someone grabs their face area.

 

And speaking of Glatorian, I drew up some designs for the main characters of TLR. For those of you who don't like the half-shaved head w/ponytail look, I'm sorry. I gave it to nearly all the air/jungle characters. Their weapons look the same as the sets, with the exception of Mata Nui's sword which is now a kopesh. I wanted to give Ackar a darker red but I stuck to his set's colors. Mata Nui is pretty much a young Michael Dorn.

glatoriandesignsv2_by_sailorquaoar-d8q5m

I like these ones,

Ackar especially, he does have the look of an ackar.

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A thought on if and when you do Tarix:  I've always thought of him looking older, and constantly on some breathing machine.  My headcanon is that he took some injury during a war that forced him to use a respirator-facemask-thing, hence the tube sticking out of his helmet.

 

Nice job so far!

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So do you take requests? I don't know why but for some reason I'd just love to see what you do with my BZPRPG characters. Especially Doseki since he is my main and a Nui-Jaga tamer. Ever think of doing any Rahi to suit the style?

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"A stranger will always be a stranger unless you give them a chance."

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 |premierball.png| <- My Pokémon | BZPRPG Characters: Po-Matoran Doseki & Nui-Jaga Scorpio; Ga-Matoran Orca 
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So do you take requests? I don't know why but for some reason I'd just love to see what you do with my BZPRPG characters. Especially Doseki since he is my main and a Nui-Jaga tamer. Ever think of doing any Rahi to suit the style?

I'm not good at drawing creatures and animals, but all the Rahi will be organic. And the bohrok too. I tried drawing one here, but it looks too cute.

organic_bohrok_by_sailorquaoar-d6i6tb1.p

If you want a design of your character, I'll see what I can do. Do you have an specific ideas for what clothes/accessories he would wear?

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Yeah you are right, your Bohrok looks too cute to be threatening.

 

As for my character I don't really know since this is suppose to be your interpretation of the Bionicle. He is a Po-Matoran though a Toa version would not be unwelcome. A Warrior and a crafter of tools/weapons.

"A stranger will always be a stranger unless you give them a chance."

:m_p: :r: :m_o: :w: :l:    :n: :i: :g: :h: :t: :w: :m_o: :l: :f:

 |premierball.png| <- My Pokémon | BZPRPG Characters: Po-Matoran Doseki & Nui-Jaga Scorpio; Ga-Matoran Orca 
Matoran und Panzer: Doseki & Glitch | Marvel RP PC | Mata Nui Monopoly: Come... Own a piece of the legend!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Another small update! This time it's Gorast. I wanted the Makuta species to look not quite human. They are bald, have red eyes with black sclera, and usually have odd-colored skin.

This is not her mutated form by the way; that still looks like a mosquito. Of course since Makuta are shapeshifters, it's less "mutation" and more "locking them into one form". The Mistika Makuta were eventually driven mad by their loss of shapeshifting.

tumblr_nnyqc1Zqjd1rp62tgo1_1280.png

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Ok, that's creepy... I don't think I like her she scares me. Like an evil poisonous Fairy.

"A stranger will always be a stranger unless you give them a chance."

:m_p: :r: :m_o: :w: :l:    :n: :i: :g: :h: :t: :w: :m_o: :l: :f:

 |premierball.png| <- My Pokémon | BZPRPG Characters: Po-Matoran Doseki & Nui-Jaga Scorpio; Ga-Matoran Orca 
Matoran und Panzer: Doseki & Glitch | Marvel RP PC | Mata Nui Monopoly: Come... Own a piece of the legend!

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Hey an update Al right!

Yeah I have no idea who these guys are. They must be part of the "lost years" of my Bionicle youth. :dead:

 

Is the Ice guy the one that turns into a snake in that 2-minute recap video?

"A stranger will always be a stranger unless you give them a chance."

:m_p: :r: :m_o: :w: :l:    :n: :i: :g: :h: :t: :w: :m_o: :l: :f:

 |premierball.png| <- My Pokémon | BZPRPG Characters: Po-Matoran Doseki & Nui-Jaga Scorpio; Ga-Matoran Orca 
Matoran und Panzer: Doseki & Glitch | Marvel RP PC | Mata Nui Monopoly: Come... Own a piece of the legend!

Onua.png

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I may have made these designs too simple, but I also don't like adding needless detail either.

I think they look great! You got the character designs down, which is all that really matters (at least to me) in the end. I'm also not the type who likes a lot of needless detail, even though sometimes I don't mind detail, either. I wouldn't say the designs are too simple; you pretty much nailed it. 

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vakama_head_by_sailorquaoar-d8tjgoc.png

onewa_head_by_sailorquaoar-d8tjfmd.png

I was never able to come up with good Toa Metru designs, so you just get Vakama and Onewa busts here.

 

I wanted Vakama to look younger than Tahu. Physically, he is less bulky, a bit shorter, and overall a lot less macho than Tahu. I imagined Ta-Metru as being Chinese-inspired.

Onewa is a sarcastic jerk, so I tried to reflect that in his face. Po-Metru is ancient Egypt-inspired. (Ancient Spherus Magna is too, but there's a reason for that)

 

Nokama is ancient Greek-looking, Matau a Mayan warrior, Nuju is Nepalese/Mongolian, Whenua maybe Turkish (still not sure). But again, don't expect full-body designs of those guys anytime soon.

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