Growing up, one of my favorite LEGO themes was BIONICLE, a story of mythological proportions populated by heroes and villains who were equal parts mechanized and alive, and in possession of fantastical powers. The very first characters of the franchise (indeed, the characters that drew me into BIONICLE in the first place) were the 2001 Toa, six elemental heroes.
Tahu, Kopaka, Lewa, Pohatu, Gali and Onua are icons in their own right. So—in the interest of breaking new ground—when I decided to recreate these legendary characters, I opted to eschew BIONICLE’s traditional building scheme in favor of “standard” LEGO system parts. I think that my approach has resulted in some pretty cool-looking figurines!
Read on to learn more about the design of these 6-7” (17-18cm) figurines.
Tahu, Toa of Fire
Heroic, brash, and brave, Tahu is the leader of the Toa.
Tahu was the first BIONICLE set I ever got, and also the first of Toa I tackled in redesign, so it seems fitting to begin this blog post by discussing him! As I’ve done on my other Toa, I’ve opted to replicate the primary and secondary colors from 2001’s original version; the character just didn’t feel quite like Tahu without that fiery bright red and orange color scheme. However, since I wanted to differentiate my creations from their official LEGO product counterparts, I also chose to work a tertiary color into each Toa’s armor scheme. For Tahu, it’s earth orange, seen on his kneecaps, upper arms, and calves.
The hardest part of this character to get right, by far, was his mask. I’d built the body to a scale and level of detail I was happy with (and at a scale I knew I could accomplish sixfold), but building a head that fit this body and captured the essence of the Kanohi Hau was a real challenge. It was once I decided to lean into a more canine/elongated shape, rather than a vertical one, that I managed to settle on something I liked. Originally, I used cloth elements from a Ninjago set as the skirt, but as these were hard to come by and I had eliminated cloth parts from others on the team by then, I decided to trade them out for shorter, brick-built alternatives.
Lewa, Toa of Air
Lewa, mischievous and bright, is the joker of the team.
While all six Toa are built around the same basic framework, I did my best to subtly adjust each to have a slightly different body, since I wanted the team to be built from diverse, rather than monogamous, silhouettes. I’m particularly pleased with the proportions on Lewa, who has bulky shins, feet, and knees but one of the skinniest upper bodies. I think the bottom-heaviness gives him an air of stability and agility.
Challenges on this build included the mask (the sharp lines of which were tricky to figure out at scale) and the axe. It took me a long time to figure out how to make a blade I was happy with; no metallic parts gave me the sense of “edge” I wanted. Once I settled on the premise of an energy blade, though, all I had to do was find those trans-green claws and the rest built itself.
Kopaka, Toa of Ice
Calm, cool, collected, and methodical, Kopaka is the model of analytic genius.
Kopaka was one of my favorite BIONICLE characters, and I’m really happy with how my interpretation of him turned out. The mask turned out to be one my best and easiest redesigns, and I like the subtlety a touch of pale blue gives to his otherwise grey-scale color scheme. Initially, I used a pair of brown minifigure capes as shoulder coverage, but when I decided to phase out cloth elements across all characters, I replaced them with some rough furs, which turned out to be more thematically appropriate anyway.
Kopaka is the only Toa whose tool is different in my version than in his original iteration. While 2001’s Kopaka wielded a sword, I’ve armed my Kopaka with a spear, instead. This isn’t without precedence: the 2002 Kopaka Nuva carried a staff, and 2014’s Kopaka bore a spear, too. I opted to follow in this direction mostly to differentiate Kopaka more from Tahu, who still has bears a sword. (The shield has been a constant across all versions of Kopaka.)
Pohatu, Toa of Stone
Pohatu runs like the wind, and loves to showboat his rockeysack skills!
Of the six Toa I’ve redesigned here, I think Pohatu is the most similar to his original self. Even the boulder I’ve equipped him with is built from the same exact pieces used on the 2001 set! I even gave Pohatu his signature “upside-down torso” by widening his hips, armoring his pelvis robustly, and putting that dark bley 24-tooth gear—which you’ll find on each of my Toa, included to pay homage to the first Toa sets’ gear-driven functionality—at his sacrum rather than between his shoulder blades.
I’ve included dark tan as Pohatu’s tertiary color, which was the obvious choice given that it’s midway between his primary color (brown) and secondary one (tan). I think Pohatu’s mask came out particularly well for the scale, and the regional vegetation he wears at his waist is one of my favorites.
Gali, Toa of Water
Wise, strong, and resourceful, Gali is the glue that holds the team together.
I like how Gali turned out. I used the same wider-hipped body design that I used on Pohatu to lend her a more feminine physique. The accessories Gali wears are probably my favorite ones on any of the Toa. I stole the skirt design from the chainmail worn by my Sauron figurine, and the bag Gali wears is the same as Kopaka’s satchel, just strung on a vine instead. I adapted Gali’s foot design to something a little flatter and sleeker than that of the other Toa based on the restriction of 1x1 curved corner tiles not coming in blue.
The Kaukau mask was difficult to get at this scale, and I’m still not entirely happy with it. I am much more pleased with Gali’s hooks; those chains weren’t on the 2001 version of the character, but I think they give these weapons more feasibility in combat and “cool factor”. You may notice that Gali’s regional plant is actually a clam!
Onua, Toa of Earth
Onua is stoic and powerful, slow to anger and forceful in his loyalty.
Onua was the last Toa I finished, and for understandable reason: he has the most unusual body design of the Toa. His hunchback, broad shoulders, and extra-long arms required breaking especially far from the mold I’d developed with his comrades. His arms needed extra reinforcement at the elbow, and his neck needed to get extended in a different way. Of course, another visible difference here is Onua’s claws, classic from his first iteration, which change his silhouette dramatically.
This character’s palate being another grey-scale one, I chose to add verve to Onua’s original color scheme by throwing hints of dark green into the mix. Another color choice I made with this character was turning all the black “joint” elements seen on the other Toa to light grey, so that they’d still stand out against Onua’s primary armor shade.
I repurposed this lamp from the Boneheads of Voodoo Island designs I made a few years ago, and put some subterranean fungi on Onua’s belt too. Originally, I’d had roots growing out of his arms; they looked great, but felt too far off the mark of the aesthetic of the rest of the team.
Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions or comments about these models, feel free to leave them in the comments below.