[Fetoria, False Toa of Iron]
A destroyed Baterra rebuilt and heavily modified by Vilik, a Fe-Matoran and Nynrah Ghost, Fetoria is the definition of “contrast”. Despite being once a killing machine, Vilik’s restoration caused "her" to gain a bubby and airheaded personality, as well as the false belief she was a Toa. Believing the protection of Matoran is her Duty, she would begin to travel around Spherus Magna with her creator in tow, trying to uphold her ideals. However, in times of considerable stress or danger, her original programming will occasionally resurface, causing her to become a robotic killer once more.
Having been heavily armored by Vilik, Fetoria trades the stealth and speed of other Baterra for overwhelming offensive and defensive capabilities. Armed with a Protosteel-tipped Rocket Lance, she is able to shred through both the earth and the armor of most beings, making her a formidable foe. Her lance is coded directly to her and she can summon it at will, causing it to rocket its way to where she is. Though lacking any actual command over Iron, Fetoria is of the misimpression that her ability to shapeshift is a result of being a “Fe-Toa”. Her most common usage of her ability is to configure into an armored monocycle, ideal for transporting Vilik across all ranges of terrain. She is also known to form into a living bunker over Matoran in times of danger, taking hits of the “little ones” she adores.
Baterra is a Baterra who infiltrated Mata Nui's Universe while Mata Nui was still under construction and eventually became infected with true sapience due to Velika's meddling.
Baterra maintains a strong vendetta against the weapons manufacturers of Xia, considering the Xians' creations to be especially vile and twisted instruments of madness and destruction.
Baterra gained the attention of the Order of Mata Nui by sabotaging multiple weapons shipments intended for the Brotherhood of Makuta, the Order offering them aid and intelligence to help cripple the Brotherhood's supply of new weaponry.
Baterra also occasionally helps train new Order recruits in paying attention to your surroundings, using their shapeshifting to sneak up on the newbies and then pouncing if they aren't spotted.
MOC Details:
I modified the upper torso I used for Toa Orde & reused the same hips design as I ultimately made for Toa Krakua. Upper arms are detailed here. For the upper legs, I stuck the Nui-Jaga stingers (part 32310) onto a pinhole-axle hole connector (part 6536) and attached both the stinger assembly and the Inika thigh plate with a 3L pin.
The mask was printed and painted by the fantastic Buryu's Forge! That was the only custom part used on this MOC.
Just realized Greg was probably paying homage to John Carpenter’s The Thing with the frozen setting of Fall and Rise of the Skrall. A secluded outpost, isolated and with few resources because of the frost... An unknowable killer that they gradually learn more about, especially with clever tests and tricks. It has the ability to disguise and impersonate, you can’t trust anyone. The outpost goes down in flames. The horror and mystery of a monster out in the blizzard, the dog coming from the base like the Baterra disguised as Agori with supplies. The Agori speculating on ghosts released from the ground by the Shattering, while we know the Thing was buried until the Norwegians unearthed it.
Headcanon that the software update that made the residents of the GSR sapient is delivered via a highly contagious computer virus. Velika couldn’t risk hacking the GSR systems to deliver the virus as it could have been traced back to him, and the systems have significant firewalls (or else Teridax would have hacked them directly and saved himself a few thousand years of work).
Instead Velika created a virus to deliver the code granting free thought, emotions, and overall sapience. He then installed it within himself, though as a Great Being in a Matoran body he was immune, and began spreading it throughout the local Matoran worker population. The virus probably spread by contact and/or by standing in proximity to beings with ranged mental abilities.
The virus itself is still present in all the GSR beings but dormant in those already infected. However, any complex AI based on Great Being programming can catch the virus if they come in to proximity to any GSR resident.
The Baterra are run off by a Toa team after attacking New Atero. Within a few days the infection they picked up during the attack fully rewrites their coding and they return to the city to apologize for their previous behavior.
[Gold Iron Fetoria]
Following Vilik's transformation into a Toa, Fetoria became counted as one of his Toa Tools. Because of this, he is able to channel a Nova Blast into her, causing her to go Super Saiyan Gold Iron! While in this form, Fetoria shrinks and looses some of her heavy plating, trading her usual defensive capabilities for speed and raw offense.
Quick question: Would the Baterra recognize elemental powers as a weapon? Because if not, then...
We know that in the cancelled Valley of the Maze film, Kiina and Ackar‘s elemental powers would begin to develop, beyond their control even; To the point where Ackar leaves behind molten footsteps, for example. This would imply that their elemental powers are no longer confined to their weapons, but possibly a part of themselves that they can use, without said weapons. Likewise, Mata Nui has begun to regain some old powers of his, such as control over gravity; And I presume he would’ve imbued Buckethead, Oris, Tera, and Likus with their own elemental powers too.
If the Baterra don’t recognize elemental powers as a threat -so long as the user doesn’t have any weapons on them- then perhaps this is not just a telling weakness that explains their purpose; This might’ve been intended as a narrative device to force the heroes to discard their weapons and hone their elemental powers instead!
Perhaps the Baterra would’ve proven too difficult for our protagonists, who realize the key to victory is to use their elemental powers only, thereby incentivizing and encouraging their development. 2010 would’ve placed a lot of emphasis on the elements, hence the Element Lords being the main antagonists; Likewise, if Baterra don’t recognize powers as weapons, then this would add to how the Element Lords made it into the Maze when few others could.
Not only are their powers grand enough to take on the Baterra, but they possibly didn’t even register as a threat to begin with! After all, the Baterra were designed only to disarm powerless armies whose only threat came from the weapons they carried, instead of six select individuals. So the Element Lords get by just fine, while our Glatorian protagonists have to abandon their weapons to proceed.
This is a major character moment, not just for their Skrall companion, but for everyone; Weapons and combat are such a central part of the Glatorian lifestyle! But discarding these in favor of accessing just the raw power of the elements could be a neat thematic moment, as the protagonists become more attuned to nature, preparing them for the later arc on Bota Magna.
The Glatorian-Agori society is so dependent on weapons, so being able to let that go would be a nice moment of development to display the unity of the tribes and how Mata Nui has helped them move on from conflict, in contrast to the Element Lords who can’t stop fighting one another even at the end. It’d also make the lords into elemental rivals for our protagonists, who have to go through a training montage and get acquainted with their elements in the properly-themed locations, like the rock falls for Buckethead the Skrall.
Once they realize how vulnerable they are without weapons, then they’d better rely on their powers and learn to make the most of them; Especially when their battles with the Element Lords will ultimately boil down to who uses their elements better! The Baterra necessitate the protagonists fight fire with fire -sometimes literally for Ackar and the Fire Lord- and beat their seemingly superior enemies at their own game. And it changes the conflict from the typical melee combat into something more fantastical, as Mata Nui thematically arises from mortal limitations to godly power, hence his returning abilities.
Having to rely solely on elemental powers could also bring up a bit of a moral here, as the Glatorian learn to use their powers for good and creation like the Great Beings whose work is around them; In contrast to the Element Lords, who use their powers for control and domination. After all, what really IS the difference between tool and weapon, besides how one uses each? The Glatorian leave behind their weapons but also learn responsibility with these new powers, something their society had been lacking, especially when it came to the Energized Protodermis. The Great Beings actually manage to teach a lesson with the Baterra, finally.
And since these powers are described as a bit out of control in the beginning, again; There’s that lesson of control and restraint, of temperance with their power that the protagonists need to learn. If all they have is their powers, then they’d better learn to control them lest they hurt one another in using them, and become no different than the Element Lords at the climax of the film.
For all we know, maybe the Baterra DO register elements as weapons, which means not only the heroes leaving behind their weapons, but also controlling their powers so as to not alert the machines; Thus they only use them as needed, because with great power comes great responsibility. And the protagonists can summon and dispel their elements at will, making weapons more of a liability anyway if they have to constantly retrieve them when the Baterra are gone.
There could be a thematic lesson of restraint for our protagonists, something the Element Lords lack, and would be very important for a god learning to be better like Mata Nui. It’s definitely a lesson he’d take to heart unlike Makuta, while the Glatorian learn to master their elements and not just embrace them, but also not be controlled by them either; VS the Element Lords who are overwhelmed and consumed by their own power.
Thus you could have Ackar rejecting his Lord’s temptations to give into Fire and be as all-consuming and destructive as it; Ackar instead uses Fire as a tool (weapon VS tool morality), since Fire is linked with the civilization and technological progress the Great Beings embody. The Lords by comparison are nature primal and untamed to their detriment. Don’t forsake nature like the Great Beings, but don’t be consumed by it like the Element Lords; Balance is key here.
Really, one could go with an interesting angle here; Since the Element Lords were Glatorian granted power by the Great Beings, what if our protagonists see the similarities? The fate could be raised that if they, too, gave into their elemental powers... The protagonists would also become those elements as they’re overtaken by them, turning into Element Lords.
Thus the Lords are a dark echo and cautionary tale of what our Glatorian could become if they’re not careful, with Makuta acting as Mata Nui’s evil counterpart; Mata Nui wants to be a more participating god but not tyrannical, which sets up how he gives up power in the end once he uses it to make things right. Our heroes thus learn from the past’s mistakes, breaking the cycle of destruction and untamed nature by choosing control and restraint, achieving a nuanced harmony and mastery over their powers that the Lords lack.
And this talk of responsibility with power; It does make me wonder if there’s a Unity Duty Destiny moral going with this speculated trio of Magna arcs. I mean, not only is the Spherus Magna setting the visual basis for the three virtues, but also... We’ve got Unity in 2009, Mata Nui uniting the tribes past their common differences towards a greater goal.
Then there’s Duty, the heroes learning to use their powers responsibly and for good, while against the Element Lords who have forsaken their duties as leaders for power; Something that Mata Nui would likely be inspired to reflect over when he draws parallels between the lords, his neglect for his people, and Makuta’s callous tyranny, as Greg confirmed Teridax is the kind of person to slaughter his subjects on a whim.
And Destiny I presume is Bota Magna; As I speculated, Bota Magna is where Mata Nui would meet the Great Beings who made his destiny, and learn what it is; Reuniting Spherus Magna. Not to mention the potential inclusion of energized protodermis to stabilize his power source, with EP’s whole schtick being whether people are destined to transform or die.
On a final note, I also have to wonder how this Baterra plot point would’ve affected the sets; Would the Glatorian sets of 2010 still have weapons? Or would emphasis be placed on pieces that represent their elemental powers, possibly being made of them; Ideally, these elemental weapons would only be summoned when the Baterra aren’t around, dismissed otherwise. Having fully-elemental weapons and pieces would be cool, and great for creating environments and effects as well!
