Salaak (Fractures Alternate Universe)

Salaak was an Order of Mata-Nui Operative in the Fractures Universe. He served as a guardian of the Kanohi Avohkii and is the current Commander in Chief of the Metru-Nui Land Army.

Early Life
Like all other members of his species, Salaak came into being on Spherus Magna, where he was placed on an unknown island with the rest of his kind. and was given a somewhat significant position in his island's social system as the owner of a particularly large tavern on the Steltian coast.

Life on Stelt
However, Gribrak quickly became a rival of a powerful street gang. As his tavern was situated in a notably seedy area of Stelt, the business was prone to being threatened by a gang of Skakdi. Gribrak lost thousands of widgets to raids where Skakdi would march into the establishment with loaded weapons and demand money under threat of damaging the property.

Fortunately, a wandering Toa named Tourik was present in the tavern on one such raid and witnessed two Skakdi bankrupting Gribrak. Recognizing the unjust nature of the situation, the Toa shadowed the two thugs out into the street and critically wounded both of them. However, as he was in a good mood, he then returned the stolen money to Gribrak and convinced the two defeated Skakdi that he was a member of a rival Skakdi gang. A week later, the two Skakdi gangs engaged each other in a shoot-out, resulting in both sides being completely wiped out due to the actions of Tourik.

Inspired, Gribrak decided to train to become a Dark Hunter, mistaking the Toa for a rogue agent of the organization.

Life as a Dark Hunter
Seeing no future for himself on Stelt, Gribrak travelled to Odina and asked The Shadowed One for a place in the organization. The Shadowed One accepted him on the condition that he passed an entrance Arena Match against a Dark Hunter. Having trained in swordplay prior to his entry, Gribrak was able to overpower a Dark Hunter named "Terminator" and was given a place in the organization. Upon being integrated into the Dark Hunters, Gribrak was given the codename "Vertigo", which he would later abandon.

Missions
While in the Dark Hunters, Gribrak performed a number of assignments on behalf of the organization. At one point, he was tasked with torturing a Skakdi Warlord into revealing information regarding a supply of stolen weapons that he had hidden. Once Gribrak was able to locate the stolen goods they were ransomed back to the Matoran of Metru-Nui for three-times their original price.

Additionally, Gribrak was known to have been stationed on Nynrah for an unclear period of time.

Toa/Dark Hunter War
3,002 years ago, when the Toa/Dark Hunter War took place, Gribrak was dispatched to Metru-Nui to fight the army of Toa that was present in the city. The extent of his actions in the war remain largely unclear but it is known that he refused to fight the Toa and, instead, took up a high ranking position as one of the Dark Hunters' training instructors, managing to dodge having to actually take part in the war. By the time the war ended, however, Gribrak had lost faith in his cause. When The Shadowed One settled an armistice with Turaga Tuyet to stop the fighting and unite the two warring factions in their battle against the Brotherhood of Makuta, Gribrak eagerly allied himself with the Toa.

Brotherhood Invasion
After several painstaking treaties, the majority of the Dark Hunters agreed to an alliance with the Matoran to fight the Brotherhood, which had begun to invade the Matoran Universe by that point.

However, due to the fact that Makuta Teridax never existed in the Fractures Universe, the Brotherhood did not form their Grand Plan and, instead of waiting for events to fall into place around the Great Cataclysm, accelerated their invasion of the Matoran Universe. Although the Matoran Universe was still able to safely land on Spherus Magna, the Order of Mata Nui's forces pushed the Brotherhood's armies further south and out of the Matoran Universe in an event known as the Final Push. Gribrak played a role of some importance during this event, fighting alongside a number of different Toa. After several years as a Field Commander, he became a worthy tactician, being able to anticipate the movements of Rahkshi in particular, often finding himself able to predict when such attacks would take place given the nature of their pack leaders.

Post War
Following the end of the war and the supposed defeat of the Brotherhood, Gribrak returned to Stelt with Toa Tourik, the Toa of Plantlife who had protected his business on Stelt many years ago. As the two met once again during the war they befriended each other. Exhilarated by the fact they had both survived the war, they began to visit some of Stelt's seedier areas, engaging in tavern bets, gambling, and becoming involved with cheap women.

However, in more recent times, Tourik was contacted with a threat from Toa Tollubo, a Toa of Light surviving in Metru-Nui, pressuring him to travel to the City of Legends to help protect them from a group of rebels known as the Cult of Darkness. Reluctantly, the travelling pair accepted the demand and journeyed to Metru-Nui.

Metru-Nui
Upon arriving on Metru-Nui, Gribrak was willingly hailed as one of the island's Toa Metru and was given a welcoming ceremony with Toa Tourik. Despite the fact that he was not a member of the correct species, Gribrak was indoctrinated into Toa Tollubo's Toa Metru Taskforce and was given the honorary title of Toa. He swiftly took up residence in the Coliseum and became heavily involved in training the Metru-Nui Land Army and Law Enforcement divisions.

Gribrak was also present in a tactical meeting with his fellow Toa and witnessed Turaga Matoro's collapse. Following the Turaga's subsequent death, Tourik and Gribrak traveled to Onu-Metru in order make contact with Tollubo once again, who had gone off on a depression-fueled strop and abandoned his team. Adopting a more sympathetic approach than his more down-to-earth associate, Gribrak tried to convince his fellow Toa that he was better off with the Toa Metru. Following Tourik's departure from the tavern, Gribrak decided to stay behind to observe the Toa of Light and witnessed the beginnings of a bar fight. As Tollubo was inebriated at the time, Gribrak accepted the challenge and fought a gang of local Vortixx on the drunken Toa's behalf, defeating them and escaping the bar with an inert Toa Tollubo.

Impressed by the act when he returned to consciousness in the Coliseum, the Toa of Light listened to the Steltian as he spoke of the advantages to taking his role seriously and chose to return to the Toa.

Several months later, after Tollubo had cleaned up his act and taken the advice of Tourik and Gribrak, the Cult of Darkness launched a third attack upon Metru-Nui, attempting to fly a stolen Airship into the Coliseum. When the active Toa Metru and their allies were assembled in a mission briefing, Turaga Vilnius suggested the use of the Gorast Tactical Missile Defense System. As this prospect involved blowing the Airship up above civilian housing, it caused considerable controversy with Toa Orkahm insisting that the missiles should not be used while Toa Tollubo contradicted him, siding with Vilnius and insisting that they had to crush the anarchists before their attack with brutal force. Torn between the two opposites, Gribrak and the other Toa eventually sided with Tollubo, enabling Vilnius to send the missile launch codes and fire a Gorast Missile at the Airship.

However, the missile did not arrive in time and lagged too far behind the Airship. Regrouping on the pavement outside the Coliseum, Gribrak and the other Toa witnessed the destruction of the Airship at the hands of an Av-Matoran named Glonor and realized that Orkahm had correctly anticipated that their actions would only cause trouble. Fortunately, Toa Danza was able to use his Dimensional Horn to transport the missile to the heart of Mount Valamai prior to its detonation, averting the unnecessary crisis that Tollubo had caused.

Gribrak remains on active patrol duty and serves as a figurehead for the Steltian species amongst the Metru-Nui population.

Abilities and Traits
Being a Steltian, Gribrak did not have access to Elemental Powers or the ability to use a Kanohi. However, he did have a considerable amount of strength and was well trained in most forms of physical hand-to-hand combat.

In addition to this, Gribrak was also known to have a particular set of morals, preferring not to harm the likes of Matoran or Turaga with fiery determination.

Primarily, Gribrak carried a pair of Protosteel Cleavers, which were capable of carving through most metals in the Matoran Universe. In more recent times, however, he has adopted a Plasma Lance, a Toa Hagah tool belonging to a deceased Toa Hagah of Plasma. The weapon itself had the ability to release a concentrated beam of Plasma. It can also remove all of the heat from an object instantly or superheat it to the point of melting.

Trivia

 * Whilst in the Dark Hunters, Gribrak operated under the codename of "Vertigo."
 * The name Gribrak was one of the first names that BobTheDoctor27 created for a creation and was originally going to be the name of a Kadin-wearing Toa of Air, one of his earliest creations. However, after this character was scrapped the name was passed down between his creations as it never seemed to truly fit any of them.
 * In spite of not being a Toa, Gribrak is considered an active member of the Toa Metru.
 * During the spiraling depression of Toa Tollubo, the Toa of Light often referred to Gribrak as "Gribby."

Appearances

 * Zero Hour - First Appearance