Mermel

"I have never been happy in my life."

- Mermel lamenting his existence

Mermel is a disgraced Toa of Air convicted to the Pit.

Biography
Mermel was originally a Matoran who lived a desolate, backwater island in the depths of the Southern Islands that was of such little importance to the rest of the universe, not even the Barraki warlord Carapar conquered it. Mermel himself belonged to the one Matroan village on the island, where he claims he was a Protodermis farmer, though many believe he was actually a flax maker.

Around the time of the Makuta's Convocation on Destral, Mermel was transformed into Toa under what many consider to be dubious circumstances. The exact story has never been known or shared. High on the power and respect that his new form afforded him, Mermel left his land in search of fame and fortune. Upon reaching what the northern section of the universe, Mermel was gravelly injured by a Dark Hunter named Faceless after docking on Odina, having assumed it was a Matoran colony.

Having heard stories of the legendary builder Karzahni, and sought his land in the hopes that he could rebuild him. Upon finding the mythic realm, Karzahni welcomed Mermel in with open arms, having never had the chance to work on a Toa. Unsurprisingly, given Karzahni's appalling reputation as a craftsman, Mermel's body was redesigned into a weaker, patchwork mess. Appalled by what the despotic ruler had done, Mermel fled Karzahni to the island of Stelt, where he laid low in an attempt to come to terms with his appearance, as well as his madness.

Within months, Mermel snapped and promptly went on a frenzied destructive rampage on the Northern Continent. Very soon, he caught the notice of the Order of Mata Nui when he murdered four Matoran village by using his elemental powers to suck all the air out of the towns and making their populations suffocate to death. He was quickly defeated by Botar and imprisoned in the Pit.

Mermel remained trapped in the Pit for roughly a century until the Great Cataclysm struck, resulting in in the Pit's outer dome being split, flooding the jail and allowing Mermel and the other prisoners of the Pit to escape into the surrounding ocean. There, he was exposed to the mutagenic waters of the Pit, which transformed Mermel into a water breather and mutated his form somewhat. Unlike the Matoran of Mahri Nui, Mermel's exposure did not undo Karzahni repairs.

Initially, Mermel was eager to stay out of the way of the emerging undersea empires of the Barraki, but eventually found himself in the service of Carapar's army, where he served as a lieutenant. Mermel served Carapar loyally for several hundred years, though was eventually cast out of the Barraki's armies at the insistence of Takadox, who had become irritated with Mermel's objections over his hypnotic hold over Carapar. The final decision ultimately came down to Pridak, who allowed Mermel to leave the Barraki's undersea legions on the condition that he would stay out of their way for the rest of his life.

Mermel would go on to do exactly that, retreating to a small, worthless region of the Black Sea on the edge of Carapar's kingdom. There he would remain for centuries until he was tracked down by the revived Hydraxon and returned to his cell in the Pit, being among the first to be recaptured.

Following the death of Makuta Teridax, Mermel emerged from the Matoran Universe onto the planet of Spherus Magna. There, he was regained the ability to breathe again thanks to Mata Nui's use of the Ignika, though this did not undo Karzahni's repairs and most of his physical mutations.

Abilities and Traits
Mermel has always been an arrogant, self-satisfied and intolerably smug individual, despite having next to no talent to justify his attitude. He always took great pride in his physical appearance and the ruination of his looks promptly warped into a violent, psychotic madman with little regard for life.

Due to his stay with Karzahni, Mermel was rebuilt into a weaker, mismatching hodgepodge of body which has been universally described as shambolic. This appearance is believed to be single-handedly responsible for Mermel's breakdown. As a result of his mutation, Mermel's mask gained one pronounced mohawk-like fin.

As a Toa of Air, Mermel can create, control, and absorb air. This allows him to create windstorms and cyclones, and manipulate air pressure. After entering the Pit, he became a water breather. He was granted the ability to breathe air by Mata Nui with the use of the Ignika, and has become amphibious

Mask and Tools
Mermel wears the Mask of Charisma, partly to compensate for his own lack of it. His usage of it has produced negligible effects during his lifetime.

In combat, he relies on his claws. During his service with the Barraki, he was given a Squid Launcher. Inexplicably, he still carries this with him on the surface world of Spherus Magna. Supposedly, he hopes to find a breed of flying, air-breathing squid for the launcher.

Trivia

 * The artwork of Mermel was created by when he was commissioned by  to create an artistic rendering of Chicken Bond's infamous meme MOC, mohawk man. Determined to put the artwork to good use, Chicken Bond created the character of Mermel both as joke.