Torlo (Fractures Alternate Universe)

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Torlo (Fractures Alternate Universe)
Toa
Group	Voya Nui Resistance Team (Formerly)
Occupation	Weaponsmith (Formerly)
Element	Shadow
Kanohi	Zatth
Tools	Shadow Spear
Status	Alive
Location	Fractures Universe: Southern Island Chain
Pronunciation	Tore-low

"Well go on then, hurry up and kill me you miserable excuse for a Visorak. I could kill ten Matoran while you’re fooling around!"

―Torlo challenging a Visorak Roporak after being defeated, Whispers in the Dark

Torlo was a Le-Matoran weaponsmith who resided on Voya Nui, in the Fractures Universe. Following a recent expedition to Metru Nui, he was transformed into a Toa of Shadow.

History

Early life

Similarly to most other Le-Matoran, Torlo came into being on Spherus Magna, where he aided in the construction of the Matoran Universe. He would later be placed within the Matoran Universe on Metru-Nui, along with a large population of other Le-Matoran.

Torlo lived with his fellow Matoran of Air in Le-Metru for an unclear number of years before he became injured following a Moto-Sled crash. Seeking healing, the Le-Matoran travelled to Karzahni in search of repairs. However, the tyrant's poor reconstruction of Torlo - and hundreds of other Matoran - left the Matoran of Air weaker and smaller than he had originally been. After Karzahni realized his poor talent, he blamed the Matoran themselves and shipped them all off to Voya-Nui, where they would be out of his sight. However, to give them a 'sporting-chance' in the harsh environment, Karzahni gave each of his "fixed" Matoran a new Kanohi and a pair of weapons to defend themselves with. Torlo's original Kanohi Pakari was taken and replaced by a powerless Kanohi Zatth. Additionally, he was given a pair of Mental Bolt Launchers.

Voya Nui

Upon arriving on the Southern Continent, Torlo began to travel around the Voya-Nui area, seeking employment as a freelancing craftsman. Due to his dislike of residential stability and his questionable morals, Torlo either found himself staying in different villages for a few nights or being evicted for speaking his mind and offending other Matoran.
Several years into his career, however, Torlo became romantically involved with a "fixed" Ce-Matoran. The two spent many years together as partners and continued to follow Torlo's wandering lifestyle.
Some time after this, the pair settled down in a small village when Torlo was offered a stable job in a village that respected his views on justice and his interest in exposing hypocrisy.

Due to the absence of Makuta Teridax in the Fractures Universe, the Brotherhood of Makuta's inevitable quest for universal domination became a less-coordinated, wild bid for power. Without Teridax's strategic mind or knowledge of the Matoran Universe's inner mechanics, the Makuta launched an open rebellion. Sensing the uprising but unable to intervene due to the inner turmoil that the Brotherhood's actions had caused, Mata Nui became intent upon returning to Spherus Magna. When the Great Spirit Robot did return to the devastated remains of Spherus Magna, however, Mata Nui's operating system developed a fault. Owing to the universal spread of the Brotherhood's invasion, the inhabitants of the Matoran Universe were unable to fulfill their duties. Thus, Mata Nui fell into a state of disrepair.

Arrival of Toa Santis

In more recent times, while on a hunting mission Torlo managed to get lost in the forrest surrounding his village and was tracked by a Visorak Roporak until he was eventually ambushed and overwhelmed by the creature. Facing his death, Torlo surrended and roared at the Visorak, commanding it to kill him more swiftly and attempting to taunt it. However, a stray firebolt launched by a wandering Toa of Fire named Santis stunned the Matoran and Visorak. After analyzing the situation, the Toa incinerated the Roporak and formed an alliance with Torlo.

The Toa then escorted the Matoran back to his village only to find the settlement was under siege by wild Rahkshi and Visorak. Santis swiftly engaged a Visorak Vohtarak in battle then proceeded to battle of Rahkshi of Plasma. Both skirmishes resulted in him using his Heat Vision and Plasma capabilities, which scared the other Rahkshi and Visorak attackers, causing them to retreat. The Toa was then credited with the honor of being the village hero, however, shortly after his victory, Santis requested to leave the village, stating that he he had no noble intentions of staying to protect the Matoran and that he wanted to travel to Metru-Nui to locate a being named "Tollubo" and make sense of his past. While he originally requested the company of Torlo, the importance of the expedition was blown dramatically out of proportion by rumor and natter amongst the villagers resulting in a much larger expedition team being formed; consisting of not only Santis and Torlo, but also Kyros, Krennato, Iolan, Goll, Turas, Fiancha, Connla and Sarnii.

The following day, the group embarked on their trek East to find a crossing point over the Tren Krom River.

Later that day though, when the group arrived at a river bank across from a small settlement, Santis' Kanohi Danju detected a disturbing future event and alerted him by activating its clairvoyance capabilities. Santis foresaw a large, eel-like Rahi bursting through of a wooden boat and attacking Turas. By exclaiming a warning he was able to save the Po-Matoran's life and later witnessed the brutal murder of the Rahi at the hands of the desperate Matoran villagers. Torlo was one of the questors who refused to battle the creature and witnessed Kyros planting a spear in the creature's throat, which ultimately killed it.

However, shortly after the conflict with the Rahi, the group was ambushed by a wandering group of Rahkshi and Visorak in a woodland area. Heroically throwing himself forwards, Santis tackled all of the aggressors, fending them off in order to buy time for the Matoran to escape into the forest. Although the Toa survived, he accidentally created a Nova Blast, which he directed towards the sky. Seeing the blazing inferno in the sky, the fleeing Matoran wrongly thought that he had been killed.

Seeking shelter, the group retreated to a treeline, where they prepared to make their final stand. However, Torlo found himself being contacted by the telepathic voice of Makuta Karabak. The Makuta informed him that he was at a crossroads in his destiny and that, depending on what he did next, he would either make the correct decision to become a mighty Toa of Air who would defeat the Brotherhood of Makuta, or he would get himself killed by taking the wrong action. When questioned by Torlo, however, Karabak refused to reveal more and ordered him to seek shelter instead of fighting. Persuaded, Torlo ordered a tactical retreat to better ground. However, on the way, Fiancha was crippled by a burst of energy, preventing him from walking. Heroically, Torlo picked up his fallen comrade and carried him to safety. Under Torlo's lead, the group then made their stand in the ring only to find that a mystical force field protected them from the Rahkshi while they were inside, keeping their attackers away from them. Reluctantly, the group was forced to spend the night in the circle.

The following day, the group planned on making a break for the trees and leaving Fiancha, who had been severely wounded while fleeing, behind to die as he could not run in his injured state. Kyros suggested using him as bait to distract their attackers though the others strongly objected to this heartless idea. Fortunately, Toa Santis was able to survive and fend off the remaining Visorak and Rahkshi while the Matoran escaped and regrouped with him later. However, prior to his retreat, Torlo remarked the presence of a shadowy Onu-Matoran standing amongst the Visorak and Rahkshi and correctly guessed that it was the form of Makua Karabak, overseeing him in disguise.

The group then continued their journey until they reached an abandoned De-Matoran village, which they believed to have been overrun by Rahkshi. Splintering off into small groups, Torlo accompanied Connla into two different dwellings. In both instances, the occupants were deceased, though they were able to uncover an inactive Krana.

When the Matoran regrouped after their village-wide search was complete, they stumbled across a panicked De-Matoran survivor named Romak. As the Matoran frantically tried to explain the circumstances of the attack, the travelers were able to deduce that a small group of Bohrok had attacked the village and murdered the local De-Matoran. After Krennato clarified the threat posed by the Bohrok, the team vowed to storm the hive to protect their homeland, persuading Romak to allow them passage. As the entrance could only be opened by placing a Kanohi Rode on a small face-shaped notch in the cliff edge, Turas was forced to offer his own Kanohi to replace the Rode that was shattered in the village raid. Romak swiftly intervened to deliver Turas a Mask of Sensory Aptitude as a replacement.

Using the Kanohi Rode, Romak opened the barrier only to be ambushed by four Bohrok. A Lehvak then proceeded to spray Romak with a blast of acid, which killed him. Additionally, Toa Santis was knocked unconscious in the explosion, leaving the Matoran to fend for themselves.

Swiftly, Torlo was attacked by one of the Bohrok and forced to beat a hasty retreat, along with Krennato. The two Matoran took cover and rallied blows with a number of Krana-possessed locals. He then drew their fire and led the Matoran into a nearby hut, timing his run in time with the arrival of a Bohrok Nuhvok. Upon entering, the Nuhvok launched a wave of energy that shattered the various Kanohi and metal racks that adorned the chamber, thereby damaging itself and incapacitating the Krana-possessed Matoran. Fortunately, Torlo was able to survive unharmed.

By the time the Bohrok were finally defeated, both Torlo and Toa Santis had returned to consciousness.

Torlo armed with his Mental Bolt Launchers.

Later than night, the Toa of Fire pulled Torlo aside and voiced his doubts over the integrity of the group, believing there to be a traitor within their expeditionary team. He then revealed that, after some experimentation with the Bohrok, he had decided to kill the Krana-possessed Matoran.

Some time after this, Torlo went for a stroll in search of Sarnii, who had wandered off alone for solitude. Feeling that he owed her a discussion but unsure exactly how to express himself, the Le-Matoran began small-talk, only to be cut short by the female's abrasive attitude. A short argument swiftly followed in which Torlo accepted Sarnii as an object of both desire and sin in his eyes. Thus, he rejected her and was provoked into physically assaulting her, cracking her heartlight in the process.

The following morning, the group descended deep into the Bohrok Hive. However, three different tunnel systems presented themselves. Thus, the Matoran resolved to split up into three different groups. Torlo, Iolan, Connla and Sarnii were paired together and made their way down the final tunnel.

After several hours of travelling, the Matoran began to notice a visible change in the surface of the cavern that they were travelling down. A short while later, the Matoran were ambushed by Bohrok Lehvak and Iolan revealed himself to be a traitor. At this point a Nuhvok Kal appeared on the scene and ordered the Matoran to drop their weapons. Although grudgingly, Torlo complied and witnessed the destruction of his Mental Bolt Launchers. He, along with Sarnii and Connla, was taken captive and forced to march deep into the center of the Bohrok Hive. It was at this point that Torlo publicly uncovered Iolan's traitorous actions throughout the course of their expedition.

The Matoran were then brought to the Pahrak Kal and Kohrok Kal and later to Bohrok X, the apparent Commander of the Bohrok, who proceeded to scan the captives, categorizing them by their physical capabilities. It was at this point that signs of a tracking device being wedged into Torlo's armor was revealed. Additionally, upon further analysis, the fact that Torlo had been a high-ranking member of the Matoran Military Command during the war came to light and the Le-Matoran was incarcerated and subjected to interrogation. Additionally, as a punishment for Torlo's violent rebellion against capture, the Pahrak Kal murdered Connla.

Separated from the group, Torlo was taken for an advanced interrogation and was subjected to a mental scan by Bohrok X, confirming that he was in fact the Major whom the previous scans had shown him to be. Aware that the Le-Matoran had access to military secrets, Bohrok X attempted to reveal his plot to seize the Universe Core to him. However, with the access codes available to Torlo, the Supreme Bohrok threatened the Matoran into divulging his military secrets through torture and later through threatening to kill Iolan and Sarnii. Torlo proved resistant to all threats until two female Matoran - neither of whom he had met before - were threatened. In order to prevent their execution, the Zatth-wearer was forced to intervene and revealed that there was a military stronghold in the Mainland Swamp of the Southern Continent and agreed to navigate the way to the building in question.

However, whilst exiting the Bohrok Hive through a series of metal walkways, Torlo was continuously harassed by the Bohrok until he realized that the Pahrak Kal responsible for Connla's death was one of the guards. Determined to avenge his fallen friend, the Le-Matoran managed to overpower the Bohrok Kal by dodging its blows pushing it off the metal walkway, causing it to fall a considerable height and eventually shatter. Immediately after this rebellious act, Bohrok X attempted to immobilize the Matoran of Air in order to prevent further damage being caused to his legion. However, to the horror of both Sarnii and Iolan, Torlo then jumped off the railing after the plummeting Pahrak Kal in order to escape the clutches of the Bohrok. The fall would undeniably have killed him.

Transformation

Fortunately, Torlo was teleported away from the Bohrok Hive in mid-air by Makuta Karabak. Having failed to fulfill the prophecy that had been predicted, the Le-Matoran found himself on the Southern Island Chain, where he drifted into unconsciousness then awake to a series of illusions. He spent some time in this state though, when he discovered that the world around him was fictitious, he was brought back into reality and into Karabak's presence.

The Makuta then revealed to the Le-Matoran that he had failed to prevent the prophecy in spite of his earlier warning of future events. It was then revealed that Karabak had teleported all of the Krana-possessed Matoran slaves away from the Hive prior to its explosion. Additionally, after leaving an apocalyptic message about future events that would transpire because of Torlo's failure to act, the Makuta set in motion the pre-established chain of events. Thus, Torlo was abruptly transformed into a Toa through touching a burnt and blistered Kanohi Calix, which had been imparted with Toa Power.

Before the Zatth-wearer could react to this abrupt change, however, Karabak proceeded to infect him with a Shadow Leech. Confused, defeated and tainted, Torlo was then taken under the Makuta's wing and was put on a strict path of spiritual rebirth in order to combat the corruption and return to his original heroic state.

Abilities and Traits

Being a Le-Matoran, Torlo would have controlled the Element of Air. However, being a Matoran, he did not have access this ability yet.
Torlo was known to have fierce loyalty towards his friends and was known for his love of exposing hypocrisy, making him a respected member of his village's society.
In addition to this, Torlo was also known to be an expert craftsman, making both his word, and his weapons renowned throughout the village.

Upon becoming a Toa, Torlo was imbued with the ability to use both a Kanohi and his Elemental Powers. Originally, he would have been able to create, control and absorb air. However, he was never given the chance to use this power as he was swiftly infected with a Shadow Leech thereafter.

Currently, being a Toa of Shadow, Torlo is able to create, absorb and manipulate Shadows. Additionally, he can transport himself through darkness and can cloak himself easily.

Mask and Tools

"A burst of blue energy surged from one of Torlo’s weapons, striking the Rahkshi square in the head. The creature grunted as the Le-Matoran’s Mental Bolt Launcher’s effects kicked in. Almost instantly the Rahkshi’s mind went into overload. Its memory became a scramble of images and shapes flashing across the creature’s fractured mind. Soon enough, the Panrahk fell into a vegetative trance and toppled backwards, its Kraata crippled beyond recovery."

―The effects of Torlo's Mental Bolt Launchers, Falling in the Black

Originally, Torlo wore a powerless Kanohi Pakari, which was fitted with telescopic lenses. However, upon arriving in Karzahni's realm, this mask was replaced by a powerless Zatth. Upon becoming a Toa, this Powerless Mask became a Great Zatth and he gained the ability to summon most types of Rahi to a specific location.

Whilst on Metru Nui, Torlo wielded a Kanoka Disk Launcher and usually utilized a level five poison removal Kanoka - with a code of 145 - due to the number of poisonous reptiles lurking in chutes in Le-Metru.

Upon arriving in Karzahni, Torlo was given a pair of Mental Bolt Launchers to defend himself with. These weapons had the capacity to fire bursts of blue energy that could overload a target's mind, leaving them in a vegetative state. Unfortunately, they were destroyed during his imprisonment at the Bohrok Hive.

As a Toa, Torlo did not carry any distinctive weapons. However, it is likely that he adopted a Toa Tool at some point.

Forms

Picture	Form
	Torlo's first known form, adopted whilst in residence on Voya Nui.
	Torlo's form upon transformation into a Toa of Shadows.

Quotes

"Isn't it bad enough that we have to fight Rahkshi every night, without battling amongst ourselves too?"

―Torlo settling an argument between Goll and Kyros, Falling in the Black

"You have a lot of sense, Santis... I hope you can leave some of it behind here before you go."

―Torlo to Santis, criticizing the leadership in his village, Falling in the Black.

"Me? You want me to put my life on the line without knowing the reason why?"
"Yes."
"Fair enough."

―Torlo accepting Toa Santis' proposal and joining his expedition team, Falling in the Black.

"If the Rahkshi were smart enough to be manipulating Santis into luring us – which is preposterous – he’d [Santis] have slaughtered us all already, you first probably."

―Torlo arguing with Krennato, Falling in the Black.

"He hadn’t prayed in years, not since the first days of the war. The Le-Matoran had lost all faith in this Mata Nui character from Matoran folk legend. How could this creation of fools be both benevolent, omnipotent and omniscient? What kind of all-powerful, all-seeing, all-forgiving meddler could sit back and watch as his Universe was torn apart by war? To him, Mata Nui didn’t exist – and if he did then he was one hell of a cruel, childish, irresponsible jerk."

―Torlo's opinion of Mata Nui and Matoran mythology, Falling in the Black.

Trivia

• Large elements of Torlo's personality are based around John Proctor, the main protagonist of The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
• Right up until the final chapters of Falling in the Black, BobTheDoctor27 and Abc8920 had planned on killing the character off. However, it was later decided that having the character survive the experience would be a useful tool for a possible appearance in future. BobTheDoctor27 later confirmed that the reasoning behind Torlo's transformation into a Toa was to lay the foundation for him to become a member of the Warbound in Judgment Day.
• Torlo was initially created in 2006, by BobTheDoctor27. However, he was not given a place in a story as BobTheDoctor27 did not begin writing BIONICLE fan fiction until mid 2008, by which point Torlo had been scrapped. He has since been rebuilt, modified, and given one of the leading roles in Falling in the Black.
• Torlo is currently in possession of the Pahrak Kal's Krana Kal and wears it as a trophy.

Appearances

• Whispers in the Dark - First Appearance
• Falling in the Black

See also

• One of Torlo's early prototypes