Lai

This article is about the comic character. You may be seeking the article about the former comic author and semi-noob who uses this name on BZPower.
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Lai, formerly a Le-Matoran, is a Toa of Shadow dwelling on the Northern Continent, occasionally known by the nickname "Darkside Toa" or "Dark Toa". He is referred to as Dlakii's younger brother, though it is unknown how this relationship works, if at all.
==In The Unknown Turaga Saga==
===As a Matoran===
Like Dlakii and Hev, Lai originally lived on Destral. At the time, he was far smaller than most Matoran, as the result of a prototypical Brotherhood of Makuta experiment. Normally, Hev would carry him around in a backpack, with his head sticking out. 
At least 1000 years later, Lai (still in his weakened form, but with a mental age of about 25 human years) was given command of the Port Spirit Gukko Force. His job was to defend the Northern Continent from various threats. 
300 years after that, Lai heard of an attack on Dlakii's home and, upon hearing rumours that Dlakii had been forced to flee, chose to pursue and "rescue" Dlakii. The two were reunited in the forests north of Port Spirit, but were quickly interrupted by a fake Lehvak sent by Teridax. Lai was caught by a blast of light from Dlakii (which was intended for the Lehvak), but emerged in a rebuilt form, seemingly merged with the Lehvak. 
After that, Lai continued to travel with Dlakii, and the two were later joined by others, namely Dreiken, Thekoo, and iKKF. As Dlakii's miniature army grew, Teridax's forces grew too with the advent of his powerful yet disposable Shadow Rahkshi, to the extent that he eventually challenged Dlakii's army to a fight to the death in a coliseum of his creation; the fight resulted in the loss of much of Teridax's power.
Enraged by his losses, Teridax ordered his four most trusted agents - Lyrrahk, Morkuva, Muntauce and Noir - to seek out and destroy Dlakii. Muntauce was the first to do so, arriving in Port Spirit at the same time as Dlakii's army. The two armies clashed, but with the support of Port Spirit's local guard and pirates, Muntauce was killed and his army was decimated; in the process, Dreiken's powers were somewhat enhanced.
After striking a deal with the Pirate Captain, Dlakii's army set sail for Mata Nui aboard the Crackpot, apparently making use of a passageway discovered recently. Once on the surface of the world, Lyrrahk and Morkuva took the opportunity to launch a strike on them with their fleet, the latter of the two forced to teleport out on Teridax's orders. When iKKF successfully destroyed Lyrrahk with newfound strength granted to him by Dlakii, the Rahkshi army disbanded and was easily finished off.
Upon their arrival on the now-deserted Mata Nui (with the addition of DudeNuva), Thekoo encountered Proto D who, once brought to Dlakii, related the story of Dracos Nui's downfall and how he had ended up on Mata Nui. Shortly afterwards, Thekoo brought news that yet more Shadow Rahkshi, seemingly led by Morkuva, were pouring into a mine shaft he and Dreiken were working on. Again, Dlakii led his team into the mineshaft, and again, the army was destroyed, with Thekoo killing Morkuva. As Morkuva died slowly, Teridax absorbed his dwindling life and brought the tunnel down on Dlakii's army; they barely escaped. Later, in Po-Wahi, Beliwa teleported in, bringing news of his recovery of a "key" required at Kini-Nui. Beliwa joined Dlakii's team, who then departed for Ko-Wahi in order to restock. 
Some time after arriving on Mata Nui, Lai was transformed into a Toa. 
===As a Toa===
Shortly after becoming a Toa, Lai accompanied Dlakii on his march into Mangaia, effectively participating in the final confrontation with Teridax.
====The Land of Dragons====
Ten years later, Lai was assisting iKKF as a teacher at his dojo. They received word from Dlakii about a horrific attack on Kaku Nui. The two elected to again accompany Dlakii on a potentially fatal mission to Dracos Nui.
The original five members of Dlakii's band, with the addition of Proto D, traveled to Dracos Nui after hijacking the Pirate Captain's ship, the HMBS Crackpot. The ship, however, was destroyed in a storm, and they were forced to make the rest of the way by holding onto those of their party who could fly. Upon arriving on Kaku Nui, they were greeted by Hev (now working as a mercenary) and Turaga Doomed, who subsequently sent them on their way to Dracos Nui. The next leg of the journey was made by flying on the back of Proto D in his dragon form. Again, they were caught in a storm, and were dumped on the shore of Dracos Nui.
Shortly after arriving, the band was attacked by a patrol of Shadow Dragons. After a grueling battle, they were forced back into a millennium-old Matoran warehouse which contained an isolated supply of Hordika venon. The Shadow Dragons foced their way into the house, accidentally knocking everyone except Proto D into the vat.
====Toa Hordika====
The following day, everyone (except Proto D) woke on the beach of Dracos Nui, finding themselves transformed into Toa Hordika (or, in Dlakii's case, a Rahaga). Fleeing aimlessly across the island, Proto D rejoined them, at which point Dreiken entered a Hordika-fueled rage, one loud enough to attract the Shadow Dragons. Another battle ensued, the end result of which was Lai accidentally using his Rhotuka spinners to unleash a Zivon from the Zone of Darkness. At the time, this Zivon radiated a corroding aura, the result of which was the corruption of the land; late in the fight, it was pointed out by iKKF that the land was disintegrating. Upon the urging of everyone else, Lai resealed the Zivon, though not before it had consumed all the Shadow Dragons in sight and blated Dlakii into the nearby Dracogem Mine.
As soon as Dreiken acknowleged Dlakii's absence, they launched a search for him until they finally realised they knew exactly where he was. Making good use of his Claw Pitons, Lai lowered the team into the mine, leaping in after them. He and Dreiken led the way through the mine, meeting Dlakii and Harkha at the end. After a good deal of discussion, Harkha used his mask and elemental power to remove the Hordika venom and restore everyone to their original forms, albeit with subtle differences to each.
====Doomed Unmasking====
After that, the group split up. Lai led Dreiken and Thekoo back to Kaku Nui, upon realising that Doomed was a traitor. Upon arriving at the island's palace, Lai charged Doomed in the name of Harkha. In retaliation, Doomed shapeshifed into a Toa-like form, revealing that he was truly a Makuta tasked to oversee Kaku-Nui. Doomed charged forward and engaged Lai in a sword fight. The battle led down to a lava chamber in the bowels of the palace, and Doomed successfully overwhelmed Lai, knocked the Ivaldi out of his hands, and pinned him to the wall. Before Doomed could finish Lai off, Hev arrived (having been seen following Lai earlier) and decapitated Doomed, ending his threat permanently.
====The Eye of the Storm====
The band, now with Hev, returned to the surface and, after getting through a mob of briefly angry Matoran, took a ship (made by Dreiken out of ice) back to Dracos Nui, joining Dlakii, iKKF, Proto D and Harkha for the final fight against the Lord of the Shadow Dragons. He appeared to them outside Mount Hatau, consisting of insubstantial vapour, and revealed that he needed the energy of deceased Shadow Dragons to regain his true form (which was stripped from him by Dlakii, Harkha and Enira some thousand and ten years previously). He absorbed the remnants of the many Shadow Dragons killed by Dlakii's company, returning to full power.
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For a more indepth background, see Lai at The Unknown Turaga Wiki.
==In The Newsroom==
Being Dlakii's everpresent younger brother, Lai has something of a starring role in The Newsroom. His job has never been truly specified, but he is known for going out of his way to cause trouble for Dlakii. Since DudeNuva's hiring as the co-author, he has been used by Tamaru to perform deeds that Tamaru wants done but won't do himself.
On one occasion, when Dlakii sent Tahuri, Lewajohnson and Kotahn to Karda Nui, Lai stocked a Tunnel Transporter for them; unknown to anyone else, Lai planted an explosive in the cargo hold, thinking it to be a prank. He detonated it as the Tunnel Transporter entered Karda Nui, sending the group plunging into the Swamp of Secrets.
==Other appearances==
For several reasons, Lai has appeared in very few other comic series. He was nearly a character in the movie for Secret Agents, Revenge of the Probe, but as the movie was cancelled, that never happened. His other cancelled appearance was in the comic version of Sons of Shadow, though as that was considered Unknown Turaga Saga canon at the time, it doesn't really count.
==Trivia==
*Lai appears to have many parallels to Dark709. Both were Hau-wearing Le-Matoran, transformed into a darkness-based new form, and aren't particularly nice people. However, these parallels have never been intentional.
*The name "Lai" is a direct pun on both the fact that Lai is a liar and that he is immensely lazy.
*In the finale of The Unknown Turaga II: Land of Dragons, Lai was voiced by his basis and namesake, Lai: Toa of Shadows. As a minor joke, and in an effort to differentiate his voice from that of Dreiken (who was also voiced by Lai), the character's voice took on a minor (and deliberately poorly done) British accent.
Category:Comic Characters
Category:The Newsroom