#hagah

         Thus, they needed to have the same colors and elements… But because we’re not constrained by set depictions and marketing for YaBr, this means new elements! Besides, it’s not like the Rahaga were able to use their elemental abilities during the 2005 arc anyhow… And Bionicle has messed with the elements and/or colors of set waves, with the green Lehvak having acid, none of the Rahkshi being elemental, and the replacement of Brown with new colors! So the same happens with the Rahaga/Toa Hagah.

         So to start;

Iruini- Jungle

Gaaki- Lightning

Bomonga- Gravity

Pouks- Magnetism

Kualus- Sound

         Norik is missing, and that’s because there’s only five additional elements from the main six, which messes with each Rahaga being a new element entirely- There just aren’t enough! And while I could just repeat one of the new elements with Norik, this actually gets me towards the idea of either retaining a removed element, or adding a new one entirely- Which would mean two sets of six, which is a nice number to round things out! I’ll cover this suggested twelfth element in another post of its own…

         For now, let me explain the choice of new elements for the Toa Hagah;

         Iruini is simple. He (or she, I’m changing up genders to further diversify the cast because there are no gender restrictions to elements in YaBr) is green in the source material, specifically a dark green that also fits the color scheme of Bo-Toa. Plus, Iruini specializes in climbers, which fits a Jungle elemental… And Jungle and Air are intertwined, which matches with Iruini being Matau’s mentor.

         Gaaki is Lightning because in the source material, Lightning was the only other Female element, and was also Blue like Water! Although funnily enough, I’m doing away with the gender restrictions and probably turning the color for Lightning into Yellow… But it’s a fun meta nod to the source material. Plus, Gaaki’s Rhotuka as a Rahaga might still allow her to shock aquatic animals, being extra-effective in her environment, with her shocks meant to only subdue and not kill.

         Bomonga is Gravity, because one of Gravity’s colors is Black. This is of course changed so that Gravity is mainly Purple now, because I like the idea of streamlining YaBr’s take on the elements so that, for the most part, each Element has its own color, with certain exceptions such as Jungle due to the fact that you can’t really think of anything else. Plus, the colors aren’t going to be a strict rule for me, either.

         But, back to Bomonga- He’s Gravity because again, the original colors. But also because Gravity deals a lot with weight and heaviness, a topic befitting a Toa of Earth, how ‘Earth’ is a planet with its own gravitational pull… And also the dude can turn gigantic, so it makes him an even more overwhelming force, like he has a center of gravity of his own, fittingly; And I imagine this applies to Bomonga’s overall presence and personality, if we’re going by elemental motifs factoring into character traits.

         Pouks is Magnetism, in part because I think Stone and Metal can sort of go together if you squint, not to mention process of elimination with the others… And it’s a fun callback to my other project Bionicle RaE, which melded Stone and Metal into one. Technically Magnetism isn’t Metal, but as I said it’s the closest we’ll ever get to a Metal Toa. Plus, I wanted to do character motifs, and I think that Toa of Magnetism could have different personality options to reflect their power…

         Some have a magnetic personality, are just drawn towards others and vice-versa, really likable… But others are the opposite and actively repel and reject people. Considering Pouks is the mentor for Onewa, who himself is the most abrasive of the Toa Metru by far… I think it’s fitting, to have Pouks explain his own situation as someone who used to ‘repel’ others, and in present-day may now be the reverse; But it’s possible he’s still both, being really close to a select group, while wary of all others, being an extreme black-or-white in that he either really likes or really hates you, etc.

         There could be conflicting polarities, a paradox going into his personality… But ultimately, whatever flaws he still has, Pouks is nevertheless grown and self-aware enough to call out Onewa over the Hordika’s issues, and compare them to his own. Basically making Pouks the Yondu to Onewa’s Rocket Raccoon, with a whole scene where Pouks explains that he knows everything about Onewa, that he’s right, because he IS Onewa, or once was, a little bitter youth.

         And then Kualus is Sound, because process of elimination, I think she (yes, another gender change because again, Bonkle really needs to balance its gender ratio) fits the element better than Norik… And likewise, I remember that particular scene where Kualus rescues an Ice Bat, which echolocate. Not only that, but Kualus talks a lot about communication and speaking, with involves noise… And she herself can mimic the calls of birds, being able to hear and recognize them- Which fits as a Sound elemental, and someone who passes this skill on to Nuju.

         As for Norik… Again, I’ll cover him with my other post about my potential twelfth element for YaBr. But for now, I also want to clarify colors for the Rahaga and their elements as a whole by extension… In the end, colors for a Toa –and their secondary ones- aren’t a hard and fast rule, I have a Ko-Toa OC who is predominantly light-blue for example. It’s more of a guideline based on the idea that the color doesn’t clash too much from the concept of their element, especially if their appearance still points towards it, because I like the idea of YaBr Toa having more colorful, elemental appearances akin to the Glatorian, who ironically had no powers themselves.

         So to go over the general (but not strict) coloration for the other elements;

Lightning- Yellow

Jungle- Green, with secondary colors like dark blue or red being common

Gravity- Purple

Magnetism- Dark Gray or silver, and almost always have opposing red and blue accents

Sound- Light Gray

         I might also consider Orange for Vo-Toa and/or Fa-Toa… As well as my twelfth element, perhaps. It feels sensible to go through the most basic colors when filling out the list of Matoran Elements and their corresponding traits. Of course, Orange might be a color for Stone if Pohatu Phantoka is any indication…

         But then again, I am considering changing the designs of the Adaptive Armor to better match the original Toa Nuva, so maybe Pohatu won’t be orange? Maybe it’ll still be an option, just as Yellow is for Hewkii, because color overlap is always possible and as I said, it’s not a hard, set-fast rule. There is also Pink to consider, which might be another overlap color… Again, colors aren’t strict for Toa, especially not for combinations and additional hues- I’m legit considering a Ko-Toa OC who’s basically Santa Claus and thus has red as a major color.