Vahki
"Vahki were rarely, if ever, surprised by anything. After years of tracking down and subduing Rahi of all sorts, the order enforcement squads were experienced at handling almost any situation. Add to that foiling the ingenious attempts of some Matoran to try and take unscheduled vacations from work, and Vahki could safely be said to have seen it all."
— Narrator, Legends of Metru Nui
| Vahki | |
| |
| Robot | |
| Manufacturer | Onu-Matoran Po-Matoran |
| Function | Enforce order on Metru Nui |
| Powered by | Metru Nui power Clockwork |
| Powers | Flight |
| Tools | Stun Staffs Kanoka Launchers |
| Status | Destroyed |
| Location | Metru Nui (formerly) |
| Pronunciation | VAH-kee |
The Vahki were mechanical order-enforcers utilized on Metru Nui before the Great Cataclysm. They came in six basic models—each assigned their own respective Metru—and patrolled in squads of six to eight members. Two additional, specialized models handled larger tasks such as crowd control.
History
After the failure of the Kralhi, the Matoran Nuparu was again commissioned to construct robotic defenders, and constructed the eight different Vahki models. One Vahki model was assigned to each Metru, and two were kept as special reserves, for emergencies. At the time of the Toa Metru, there were 5,000 active Vahki.[1] Special hives were constructed to power the machines. The Vahki were tasked with enforcing order in Metru Nui, and kept the Matoran at their jobs. The Vahki maintained order in the city, ensuring that the Matoran worked, and that larger threats, such as the Kanohi Dragon, did not endanger the city.
When Makuta Teridax began impersonating Turaga Dume, he ordered the Vahki to ignore the Dark Hunters he had brought in, and had them hunt down the Toa Metru instead. The Vahki attempted to subdue and capture the Toa Metru, believing them to be disturbing the peace. However, the Toa were able to evade the Vahki and collect the Great Disks that they needed. After they presented the Great Disks to the fake Dume, he had them denounced as traitors, and set the Vahki on them. Three of the Toa were captured, and three escaped to find Toa Lhikan. At a crucial stage in his plan, Teridax used the Vahki to kidnap all the Matoran and put them in Matoran Spheres.
When Teridax absorbed all the power from the Coliseum's power generator, it caused an energy feedback that ran through the entire city. A large number of Vahki were hooked up to recharging cradles in the hives when this happened, and the feedback destroyed some of them. Those that were not destroyed had the noticeable change of a uniform pattern of scorch marks on their cranium shells where the cradle power cables had been hooked up. The feedback also affected their speech centers, causing it to slow down, so that they could be heard and understood. They also could reassemble themselves after being destroyed, but were no longer capable of flight. In addition, the power level of their staffs was boosted to extremely high levels, so that they caused physical damage instead of just affecting their victims mentally. Also, the Vahki became convinced that the only way to completely enforce order in Metru Nui was to destroy every living creature in the city.[2]
Vakama found Vahki components in Mangaia, and realized that Teridax had been attempting to modify them. He then used the Vahki pieces to repair the Lhikan.
When the Visorak army overran Metru Nui, they destroyed all the remaining Vahki in the city.[3] The Matoran did not construct any new Vahki upon their return to Metru Nui, and since they have migrated to Spherus Magna, Vahki will likely never be reconstructed.
Alternate Universes
Toa Empire Alternate Universe
In this alternate universe, Vahki were continued to be used in Metru Nui under the oppressive dictatorship of the Toa Empire. When Toa Takanuva of the prime reality journeyed here, he defeated several Vahki guards to gain access to the Onu-Metru Archives.
Abilities and Traits
Each Vahki had multiple abilities and tools. They could teleport Kanoka disks from storehouses in their hubs[4] and launch them from their built-in Kanoka Launchers. Their type-specific Stun Staffs could be fired at a target to render it more or less helpless. Vahki could also transform into two different modes: A two-legged mode, in which the Vahki stood upright, and a four-legged mode, where the Vahki used their tools as forelegs. Vahki used the four-legged mode for flight when necessary.[5][6][7][3][8][9][10][11] Vahki were generally poor swimmers, the only type designed to withstand time underwater being Bordakh.
Vahki could not speak normal Matoran. Instead, they communicated with ultrasonic signals. These signals, which were actually Matoran at a high speed and pitch, could only be understood by other Vahki.[12] A room in Dume's chamber at the Coliseum could translate the signals, however.[13] After the Great Cataclysm sent a power surge through the Vahki Hives, the signals slowed down to be comprehensible.[12]
The parts of a Vahki were forged in Ta-Metru, then transferred to Po-Metru for assembly.[14] There, there were two different construction areas: one for fitting larger parts together, the other for installing the Vahki's clockwork mechanisms into their skull casings.
Vahki Units
Basic Vahki
The six basic types of Vahki were:
Elite Vahki
These two elite Vahki types were used for special circumstances, which require more skill than a normal Vahki.
Set Information
The Vahki were released as sets in late 2004. Each Vahki set contained thirty-four pieces including its two staffs and a Kanoka disk that corresponded with the Metru of that Vahki. By pivoting the head, arms, and legs, one could convert the Vahki from two-legged mode to four-legged mode and vice-versa. When in two-legged mode a gear on the back could be turned to make the Vahki swing its staffs back and forth. Later, limited Edition Vahki sets sold at Target came packaged with a gold Kanohi Vahi and the Disk of Time. The Kranua and Kraahu were combiners of the sets, the former being made from the Nuurakh, Vorzakh, Rorzakh sets, and the latter being constructed from the Bordakh, Keerakh, and Zadakh sets.
Quotes
"I asked a Vahki something once. I spent the next month scrubbing molten protodermis feeder tubes... with my mask."
— Vakama, Disks of Danger
"Vahki don't knock. They smash doors down. And they keep smashing them down until they find the one you're hiding behind."
— Nuju, Mystery of Metru Nui
"Nothing ruins a vacation faster than a blast from a stun staff."
— Narrator, Metru Nui Ministry of Tourism
Trivia
- The Vahki are Greg Farshtey's least favorite characters.[15]
- In the Matoran language, the word Vahki means "law."
- In BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui, the movie design for the Vahki appears to be based on their prototypes along with their earliest visual appearance in the comic BIONICLE 16: Toa Metru!, using the silhouette of the on-screen design. Several changes were made to the head and legs of the finalized movie model as compared to the original concept art, to bring the movie design slightly closer to that of the finalized sets. In the movie, all Vahki shares the same Stun Staffs, the design of which was ultimately only used for the Vorzakh, with the other Vahki receiving newly-designed Staffs.
- The back of the guidebook BIONICLE: Dark Hunters feature the Vahki due to a printing error by Scholastic. Farshtey has stated that it's possible that some Vahki were captured by the Dark Hunters during the Toa-Dark Hunter War and reprogrammed, explaining the Vahki on the back cover.[16]
- In early concept art, Vahki are called "Vuranak".
Appearances
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|---|---|---|---|
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References
See also
| Vahki | |
| Standard | Nuurakh | Bordakh | Vorzakh | Rorzakh | Zadakh | Keerakh |
| Specialized | Kranua | Kraahu |
| Prototype | Kralhi |
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