KR Review #67: Herrion

After a long time, we have finally been given the opportunity to discover more about Herrion^TM, Masq-Lor's and Fai-Rha's brother.

With the addition of the 10^th comic issue to Mal-Ah-Kros' prototype, some details about Herrion's story have been revealed and, after enjoying two variants based on him (Loghar-possessed Herrion and Alterok), it's now time to meet this dude "in person"!

This 52^nd action figure prototype from PoliganToys is a very fun specimen. Yes, most of the figure's components are reuses/repaints of Masq-Lor's and Apprentice Minister Masq-Lor's parts, but it's really cool to get a character in plastic that has been on the fringe of the KR mythos for more than a year.

Details

Name: Herrion

Subtitle: bright-eyed warrior

Classification: human-primivod hybrid (but he looks completely human)

Sex: male

Relationships: son of Tir-Hing, non-identical twin brother of Desion (Masq-Lor), older brother of Rhadiel (Fai-Rha)

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: service warrior; trainee.

Background

Herrion first appears at the end of the 10^th KR comic issue Evanescing act, but his presence becomes significant from the 11^th issue Herrion's ordeal onward. During his childhood, Herrion was abducted, together with his twin brother and younger sister, by his uncle Ir-Ash and sent through a mystic vortex created by Demo-Rha into the body of the future Destructomorph leader. Many years later, Masq-Lor succeeded in separating his brother from the defeated Deptilion, to whom Herrion had given much of his vital force unbeknown to everybody. Once rescued from his long-lasting segregation, he received the third prodigious helmet from Elykta, in order to channel the same ancient power that Masq-Lor and Fai-Rha had been using to acquire incredible abilities. However, at first, due to a remainder of Deptilion's wickedness left in his inner-self, something went wrong and instead he transformed into an evil monstrosity, Alterok. Upon his definitive healing, Herrion swore in gratitude to defend the free people of Tahron alongside his siblings forever.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: like his siblings, Herrion wears a silver magic helmet, which in certain circumstances produces a bobcat-like half mask (or visor) and gives him incredible physical and mental powers, changing his appearance slightly. Herrion's default head wears the helmet in its inactive form, i.e., without visor. His face is very similar to his brother's one and has the same green eyes and daring expression, but the skin colour seems lighter. I'll get more into the details when I describe the alternative unhelmeted head

Body: the arms are exposed and show cream white skin, while the legs are covered with black trousers

Wearables: a black vest with golden edges and armholes (this piece includes a burgundy ascot tie), two golden bracelets, two golden boots, a golden belt and a black crotch piece.

Herrion's stylised helmet with frontal crests.

Action feature

Since this figure encompasses both the institutional and the fighting appearances of Herrion, we get a great deal of add-ons, to upgrade his outfit accordingly.

Let's start with his apprentice advisor mode. First, there is an unhelmeted head that, at a first glance, might look identical to the one seen with Apprentice Minister Masq-Lor. However, this head is actually characterised by fairly lighter complexion and hair, respectively cream white and dark-brown. The thick hair also shows a slightly different style, but apart from that, the two brothers share the same green eyes and "at ease" look. The default vest can be complemented with an extra piece composed of a short black skirt with golden hem, a burgundy belt with a golden buckle that resembles the Theriom symbol (i.e., a seven-pointed star with the two side points elongated), a burgundy shoulder sash and a short burgundy cape. All those components have been combined in a single removable piece, which is a repainted replica of AMM's add-on.

For his combat mode, the figure comes with an alternative helmeted head that displays the lynx visor activated, fierce glow-in-the-dark eyes (from which, in the comics, he can radiate powerful light beams, at either a very high or very low temperature) and metal cat ears. Like with his siblings, when the helmet is activated, various accessories become different: the bracelets, boots and belt become more showy, and the vest transforms into a golden armour with black leather details. These fictional improvements are rendered by means of clip-on bracelet, boot and belt pieces, while the armour can be worn easily after removing the vest. Additionally, a pair of long brownish claws can be attached to each enhanced-bracelet, to simulate the retractile claws seen in the comics. Finally, similarly to Masq-Lor, the skin of the torso and the arms develops jaguar rosettes when using warm water or a hairdryer over it.

Herrion's stylised armour.

Weapons and accessories

Aside from the two alternative heads, formal outfit, armour, clip-on pieces and claws, Herrion comes with a few more accessories. First up are two battleaxes, or better, one axe in two versions: normal, with a black haft and a broad silver blade (whose cutting edge is parallel to the handle), and enhanced, with a longer haft, a bronze grip and a double-bladed silver&gold head. Each axe's handle can be inserted in a loop on the back of either the vest or the armour. Additionally, the figure includes a round metallic-black shield decorated with a number of golden bolts, which can be clipped on Herrion's either wrist (obviously when the clip-on wrist guard is not attached).

Finally, we also get a long burgundy cape, which is meant to be worn by Alterok. The mantle's surface sports a cool dark symbol that represents a stylised stencil-like depiction of Alterok's head. I particularly enjoy this addition, it’s a nice touch.

Overall, the figure had to grow on me a little bit. There were things I liked immediately, such as his combat gear, and things I wasn’t sure about, like his repurposed formal outfit. But, after having fun with him, I came to the conclusion that he is a cool figure. He’s another solid piece in a line that, in my opinion, hasn’t missed yet. My biggest issue with him is that he's got too many display options and I don't know which one I should choose for my shelf. Most likely, he’ll end up as a front-line feline warrior.