KR Review #47: Aktahnor

I'm gonna come clean right now – Aktahnor^TM isn't my favourite KR character. I have a thing for reptilian guys, so I wasn’t looking forward to this figure as much as some of the others.

But I knew that if this 37^th action figure prototype from PoliganToys had turned out to be well executed, then I could change my mind. Well, I am happy to say that he is pretty close to perfection and I really believe he is one of the best Spektrosaur fellows we've gotten yet.

Details

Name: Aktahnor

Subtitle: aquatic warrior

Classification: osteichthyan

Sex: hermaphrodite (but he appears as male)

Home: Semhadar^TM

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

Rank: commander.

Background

Aktahnor makes his only appearance in the seventh KR comic issue The siege of Erlokat, where he is presented as a one-time midshipman of the Semhadrian navy. Like all the inhabitants of the island city-state of Semhadar, Aktahnor is best known for having the ability to breathe both deep underwater and on the surface world. He was expelled by his own people from the island after his disastrous attempt to lead a battle against a rival marine tribe that almost culminated in the destruction of the Semhadrian fleet. He then chose to answer the evil call to arms of Lor-Drek, after the reptilian army had divided into two factions. Thanks to his allegiance with the Spektrosaurs, Aktahnor now ranks as a commander, a position that he would unlikely reach while serving in the armies of Semhadar.

Articulation

Standard, with the addition of a tail, which is composed of 12 ball jointed pieces and can work as an auxiliary limb.

Description

Head: similar to a seahorse, characterised by blue-green skin, a long snout, two large fins located on either side and resembling ears, and large spherical pink eyes with small dark pupils. He also sports three orange spines (on his nose, between his eyes and on his head) and a number of yellowish barbels (two on either side of the mouth, two extending from the nostrils and four very short located on the chin). The round mouth is equipped with a number of small whitish teeth surrounding a cavity, similarly to a lamprey

Body: his blue-green skin is stretched over a series of bony plates with spiny appendages, which are arranged in rings throughout his body, giving a general segmented, armoured appearance. He also displays webbed hands and feet with black claws, a jagged dorsal fin projecting from a slit in the armour and a spectacular curled prehensile tail emerging from under the loincloth (he has no caudal fin though). Two interesting surprises about Aktahnor's body are found under the removable armour. First, the torso is the standard scaly one seen on many reptilian figures, but features two shinier lines running down each side, from the armpits to the waist; this is probably a reference to the lateral line sensory organ usually present in aquatic vertebrates, which enables Aktahnor to sense minute vibrations and electric fields produced by nearby enemies shrouded in mist. Second, he carries an extra neck piece that fits right on top of the body (it is glued on, but it might be possible to pry it off if one had will to do so) and shows a bony operculum on each side, behind which I guess the gills are hidden

Wearables: a yellow armour with light-green details, two yellow gloves (which leave the claws and palms exposed, showing a nicely detailed scaly skin texture), two yellow calf protectors (with instep guards), a yellow belt and a ray fin-shaped light-green loincloth. The armour, the gloves and the shin guards are equipped with spiky ray fin-shaped ornaments, which cover the shoulders and protrude from the forearms and the calves respectively. Additionally, the armour displays a triangular light-blue aquamarine gemstone at the centre.

Aktahnor's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics Aktahnor has the ability to spray tiny water droplets out of his mouth, to create a thick mist that shrouds his enemies and restricts their visibility. So, the figure comes with a translucent milky-white spraying effect that plugs into the end of his tubular snout. This attachment is actually the fourth repaint of the same effect we've already seen with Nibeon (in blue), Steel-Monster Deptilion (in green) and Blomok (in orange), and, to be honest, I'm starting feeling a bit tired about it.

Weapons and accessories

Besides the mist attachment, Aktahnor comes with his peculiar trident-speargun. The gun looks like a placoderm fossil, consisting of many greenish interconnected armoured plates. The part that once covered the fish's thorax fits around Aktahnor's right forearm (there is an included handle for him to grip, so that it doesn’t slide around); the head/mouth portion works as a barrel and holds the shaft of the extremely well designed golden trident (with converging barbed prongs and a starfish motif at the base of the central prong), which is a separate piece and can detach from the weapon, but there is no spring-loaded mechanism unfortunately. Additionally, the speargun can be stowed by connecting it to Aktahnor's dorsal fin via a slit at the base of the weapon.

Overall, although Aktahnor isn’t a favourite, I really do find him to be one of the nicest figure in the Spektrosaur lineup so far. When he arrived with his sculpt, his colours and his weapon, something got me. Everything just went together to make this a great "front of the shelf" addition for me... and I wasn't expecting that!