Merall (Page of the Month Archive)

Merall was a female Toa of Stone and a member of the Farside Toa in the Remains Alternate Universe.

Early Life
Similarly to most other Toa of Stone, Merall began her life on Spherus Magna as a Po-Matoran, where she aided in the construction of the Matoran Universe. Surprisingly for a Po-Matoran, however, she was created as a female. This odd occurrence was a result of the Great Beings desiring to experiment with the genders of the Matoran species, mismatching a number of Matoran from their elements. However, the genders were eventually finalized and, as such, Merall was one of the few female Po-Matoran to have been created.

During this period of her life, Merall developed a fighter's spirit and frequently sought out conflict with wandering animals, which threatened the Matoran workers.

She would later be placed within the Matoran Universe in the Southern Island Chains, along with a small population of other female Po-Matoran.

Southern Island Chains
After several years of living in the volcanic, inhospitable climate of the Southern Matoran Universe, Merall became hardened by her barbarous lifestyle. She began to train her body intensely, having acquired a high level of combat ability in addition to her own natural strength.

Upon reached peak physical condition by Matoran standards, she embarked on a quest to destroy a Nui Rama hive that had developed near to her local settlement. Eager to prove her superior endurance and agility, Merall charged into the nest headstrong, wielding a metal spear. Alone and overpowered, the female Po-Matoran was swiftly incapacitated by the Rahi. She only narrowly escaped death when an Onu-Matoran named Chaeus followed her into the hive, leading a pack of Ussal Crabs, Fusa and Mahi to fend off the Nui Rama. The Matoran of Earth was able to drag Merall out of the hive after setting it on fire, though her Kanohi received heave damage and was completely cracked.

When she was returned to her village, Merall was forced to replace her original Mask of Conjuring with a Kanohi Hau, which was the only Mask available to her at the time. The female Matoran then thanked Chaeus for teaching her a lesson in tactical approach towards a situation.

League of Six Kingdoms
Over the next few centuries, the two Matoran became distant from each other due to Chaeus' more scholarly interests opposing Merall's blunt, physical nature. However, the two Matoran were drawn together once again by a Ko-Matoran named Brorag, who traveled to their settlement and requested their assistance in an expedition to the central belt of the Matoran Universe, warning the locals of Barraki Carapar's expanding dominion and the League of the Six Kingdoms. Merall and Chaeus volunteered to travel with him, though Merall had the intention of fighting against Carapar's army.

The three Matoran journeyed north on a small, motorized boat belonging to Brorag, searching for the island of Artahka, where Chaeus and Brorag hoped to find safety. It was not until a navigational error, which caused Merall to be thrown overboard, that the Po-Matoran took up a decisive role as the group's leader.

Fortunately, the combined forces of the Brotherhood of Makuta and the Toa put an end to the Barraki threat, allowing Merall and her allies to land in the Southern Continent, along the eastern border.

Although the exact circumstances of her transformation into a Toa remain unclear, it is known that Merall became acquainted with Theran, Dorvan and Range in this settlement, all three of whom would later serve in her Toa Team.

Uprising
After many years spent training herself to reach an even more precise physical condition as a Toa of Stone, Merall and her team found themselves at a field near the Farside Village on Balfe Nui. However, due to reasons currently unknown, none of the Toa had any memory of their previous adventures, though they were aware of each other. In order to grow accustomed to their surroundings, Theran - the team's leader - suggested that they split up into three teams to find inhabitants of that place who might know what happened. Accordingly, Merall was paired with Dorvan.

Although the actions of Merall and Dorvan remain unclear during this period, it is known that the two Toa encountered Brorag and witnessed Nuva, the commander of the Forgotten Warriors, ordering his minions around. They followed the stranger silently until he arrived at a giant gate.

Nuva vanished through the gate and the three Toa were left alone. Later, Range and Theran met up with them, telling that they found Chaeus' corpse, which was turned into one of the Undead.

Merall then followed the others up to Nuva's headquarters, where they encountered a number of Undead Warriors. Although they kept their distance, the brash actions of Vorred revealed their presence to Nuva and his minions. Thus, Merall was forced to engage the Undead Warriors, one of which badly injured Jacobi, one of their Matoran allies. She was able to swiftly murder her attacker by cutting her opponent's skull with her axe.

However, the Toa were unable to prevent the activation of a Protosteel-Worm, a mechanical worm-like android designed to hunt and kill enemies of Nuva. The Toa were forced to flee from their new attacker, but were picked off and impaled by its Protosteel talons one by one. Merall was amongst the Toa who were killed in such a manner. Fortunately, her death, along with the killings of Range, Theran and Brorag were short-lived due to Xafri's sacrifice. The female Toa used the Kanohi Tilira to manipulate the elemental life energy in surrounding area, taking the spiritual forces of herself, Dorvan and Snipe to resurrect Merall and her team. Thus, the Toa of Stone was revived.

Shortly after this, Toa Solunus led the Patriots, a group of elite Toa dedicated to defeating Nuva, to the Farside Village, where they came across the aftermath of the battle. Merall, Range, Theran and Brorag were amongst the surviving residents of the settlement and all agreed to join the Patriots in order to combat Nuva.

Patriots
Some time after the bolstering of their ranks, the Patriots held a tactical meeting at their base of operations, which Merall attended.

Merall and her team later embarked on a mission with Toa Andron and Toa Pirai to locate Toa Gresikk, a potential ally to their cause who was willing to join them in their battle against Nuva. However, after locating the mysterious Toa, it soon became obvious that they were in a hostile territory and the group was swiftly ambushed by three advanced Undead soldiers. As Gresikk was injured during the conflict and the Toa were stunned by the Undead Warriors' ability to speak, Andron was captured and knocked unconscious. During the battle, Merall was known to have killed her second Forgotten Warrior. Fearing that his team would be overpowered by their enemies, Theran ordered a tactical retreat, leaving Andron in the hands of the Undead. Thus, Merall was forced to flee.

The Toa then returned to their campsite and reported their findings as well as the loss of Andron. However, the group was ambushed by another group of Forgotten Warriors. After a brief skirmish, which caught the Patriots off-guard, Merall managed to finish off one of the more threatening Forgotten Warriors, aiding significantly in the battle's outcome.

Despite the fact that the location of their base had been compromised, Solunus dispatched the Farside Toa off on another rescue mission, this time to the site of small village, which had been overrun with Forgotten Warriors. Upon arriving in the destroyed settlement, Merall remarked that the local Matoran had been brutally murdered.

Shortly after the group split up to scope out the settlement, Brorag discovered two survivors nestled at the bottom of a cliff, a Matoran named Glonor and a female Toa of Fire named Khyae. Glonor explained to the Toa he had saved the Toa of Fire and that they were the sole survivors of the attack. However, he then revealed that he had been suffered a considerable deal of pain and feared that he had contracted the infection that spread the Undead curse. Not wanting to risk bringing an infected Matoran back with him, Theran then impaled Glonor on his spear and left him to bleed to death. This barbaric action shocked his teammates and caused Kyhae to lash out at him. Merall verbally challenged Theran, though she was cut short when he walked away, leaving his teammates to comfort the female Toa of Fire.

However, it soon became apparent that Theran and Range had encountered a Forgotten Warrior while Merall and Brorag were climbing back up from the bottom of the cliff with Kyhae. As Range was unconscious, Merall assumed leadership and helped carry the Toa of Water back to their camp site.

In spite of the loss of Theran, Merall, Brorag and a number of other warriors were assembled into a Patriots Taskforce and, together, they were sent off on another mission. This time, Merall was able to split the group up and paired herself with Brorag in order to discuss Theran's recent change in attitude with her teammate. While she no longer felt that the Toa of Fire deserved to be her leader, Brorag tried to convince her that Theran was worthy of their respect.

The debate was interrupted when the Toa of Ice stepped on a Kanohi Rode and the pair of Toa realized that they had stumbled across a burial ground. After scoping the remains out, Merall summoned the others and reported that they had found the body of a large titan, who they assumed to have been a Great Being.

Abilities and Traits
Merall has, like other Toa of Stone, the ability to control stone. Together with Range, Brorag and Chaeus they were the four members of their team who had elemental powers.

Mask and Tools
Merall wears the Kanohi Kaukau Nuva, great mask of water breathing. She formerly wielded two twin axes, but lost one of them when she was chased by the Protosteel-Worm.

Abilities and Traits
Similarly to all other Po-Matoran, Merall would have possessed a minuscule degree of control over the Element of Stone, though she could not access Elemental Powers or utilize a Great Kanohi. Additionally, she was considerably stronger than most other types of Matoran and adopted a physical, blunt approach to problems.

Upon becoming a Toa she was able to create, absorb and manipulate Stone. Additionally, she was granted the ability to use her Kanohi Kaukau Nuva.

Trivia

 * To date, Merall has killed a total of three Undead Warriors, which is the largest total for any single character in both the Uprising and the Patriots saga.

Appearances

 * Uprising: Prologue - First appearance
 * Night of the Long Knives
 * Uprising: Chapter 3
 * Uprising: Chapter 5
 * Uprising: Chapter 6
 * Patriots: Chapter 1
 * Patriots: Chapter 2
 * Patriots: Chapter 4
 * Patriots: Chapter 5
 * Patriots: Chapter 7
 * Patriots: Chapter 8
 * Patriots: Chapter 9
 * Patriots: Chapter 10
 * Patriots: Chapter 11
 * Patriots: Epilogue