When I first made EVIL TAHU , I didn’t really want to invest a lot of money into the project. I figured I’d stick to buying two of each set so I could build all of the official standard and combiner models, and I didn’t really want to get more than two extra TOA sets to build EVIL TAHU. Ironically, since then I’ve accumulated over $4000 worth of BIONICLE sets (including over 100 original TOA and over 200 BOHROK VA), I’ve built over 100 MOCs, and quite a few of those MOCs cost well over $100 to build. About a year ago, I started receiving requests for me to build a NUVA version of EVIL TAHU. I considered the idea, but I decided that if I was going to do so, it would involve going in a different direction than anyone would expect.

Rather than simply strap TOA NUVA armor and weapons, and a KANOHI NUVA on the original EVIL TAHU, I decided to build him like he should have been built two years ago. Like he would have been built if I’d been willing to spend another $45 on him. He uses essentially the same design, but I replaced all of the ONUA limbs for the much cooler black versions found in the NUI-RAMA and NUI-JAGA sets, which included reverting to the original TAHU design involving only one weapon arm and three “legs”. Since the ball joint wasn’t needed for the left hand, I stuck it into his chest decoration, borrowing an idea from the old TOA KAITA. I also got rid of the large gear on the back, as I’m not very fond of the look anymore. For a while I considered the possibility of swapping out the light-grey gears and bushing with black ones from the SPYBOTICS® sets, but I eventually decided to stick to parts that were available when I built the original EVIL TAHU.

I still have the original EVIL TAHU intact, and while I like the look of EVIL TAHU NUVA better, EVIL TAHU has two years of history behind him and is quite likely the best known BIONICLE® MOC ever made. In short, EVIL TAHU NUVA may show up again in the future, but EVIL TAHU is still the official mascot of MaskofDestiny.com.