KR|Origin Review #5: Tah-Ron

The KR|Origin series continues to deliver this month with two variants of a much-needed "furry" character - Tah-Ron^TM!

This fifth dual-action figure prototype of the Origin lineup represents a lot of important things when it comes to the KR mythos. According to his details and bio, Tah-Ron is the ancestor of Tir-Hing and Masq-Lor, the first king of Tahron (before this land is named after him) and the neutral deity preceding Kai-Xi.

Details

Name: Tah-Ron

Subtitle: sage arbiter

Classification: spirit (formerly primivod mammal)

Sex: male

Relationships: ancestor of the Amhalgaard family

Home: the land eventually named Tahron

Era: 520 years before Masq-Lor's time (now renamed Foundation)

Affiliation: neutral (formerly belonging to the Theriom faction)

Rank: divinity (formerly first king of the Therioms and, by extension, of the land they strive to protect).

Background

First appearance: KR|Origin #1 - An arduous venture

Brief bio: after being forced out of his home in the Northern Forest by the Reptonoids, the Kimarhan tribesman named Tah-Ron joined up with the Therioms, a newly formed mammalian defensive alliance, and thanks to his charisma was soon proclaimed as their king. King Tah-Ron fought the reptilian forces led by Bi-Harr for many years during his reign and, while still relatively young, was ultimately killed in front of his son's eyes during a bloody battle. After his death, Tah-Ron raised to an ageless divine form and, through this act, he was able to watch over his descendants and advising his heirs. Eventually, his motherland and theatre of the war between Therioms and Reptonoids became known as Tahron in his honour.

Articulation

Standard.

In the comics, Tah-Ron is mostly featured in his divine form, while his royal look is only shown in a flashback. Despite the two figures represent the same character, they render the two alternative forms and appear relatively different. Since these figures will be released individually, I'm going to describe them separately.

King Tah-Ron

Description

Head: predominantly ursine (even if he's a primivod, a fictional anthropomorphic marsupial), characterised by a thick whitish fur (with two braids at the sides of the head and two in his "beard") that surrounds a light brown-skinned face. The bare face includes a pair of subtly pointy ears, fierce blue eyes with jagged eyebrows, a large dark nose and a slightly open mouth that exposes a number of sharp whitish teeth. He wears a silver crown decorated with eight curved ivory-coloured horns all the way around

Body: thick whitish fur, claw hands and feet

Wearables: a chest harness composed of a metallic light-blue breast plate with silver details and four silver&leather straps, two metallic light-blue bracelets (the right one is narrow and spiked, while the left one is a large studded wrist guard and has four small metal claws projecting forward), two removable armbands around the biceps (each with a curved ivory-coloured spike sticking out of a metallic light-blue plate), two metallic light-blue knee/calf protectors (each with a curved ivory-coloured spike sticking out of the knee guard), a studded metallic light-blue belt with a diamond-shaped buckle (retooled from Steel-Monster Loghar) and a scale armour loincloth consisting of several overlapping silver plates laced together (reused from Bi-Harr). Additionally, he wears a light-blue cape, characterised by tattered edges and a substantial furry collar that is fixed to the breast plate via a peg. The large collar is flocked with a black-striped white (synthetic) fur and bulges on the back similarly to a mane, giving the figure a hunched over look; it also has two curved ivory-coloured spikes that project forward from near the shoulders and are pierced in order to hold two big silver chains, from which a shiny silver Theriom symbol (i.e., a seven-pointed star with the two side points elongated) hangs at the centre.

Tah-Ron's stylised harness; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents a socket, to which the furry collar connects.

Action feature

Apart from his fangs and claws that make him a powerful adversary for the Reptonoid, King Tah-Ron has no action feature, although in the comics it is mentioned that he has the ability to control animals.

Weapons and accessories

King Tah-Ron comes with a silver double-purpose staff. One end of the pole is four-pronged and holds a translucent light-blue hemisphere, while the other end bears a pointed tip. So, depending on its orientation, the staff works either as a royal sceptre or a spear.

In addition, the figure includes an alternative head that allows us to transform Tah-Ron into Li-Khon^TM, Tir-Hing's father, as he was shown in the regular series. This head is predominantly ursine (even though he's a primivod too) and is characterised by a thick whitish fur that, unlike with Tah-Ron, covers most of the face, including the subtly pointy ears. It also displays a dark-brown bony cranial crest, a pair of blue eyes with purplish under-eye bags, a large dark nose, and a slightly open mouth that has a purplish upper lip and exposes a number of sharp yellowish teeth. Compared to Tah-Ron's one, Li-Khon's head definitely shows an older look and a less combative attitude. To complete the conversion, it's necessary to remove Tah-Ron's head, cape (by disconnecting the front of the collar from the breast plate) and armbands. After replacing the head, it's enough to attach an additional golden Theriom emblem to the breast plate. To be honest, I don't think the overall look of the figure resembles Li-Khon's appearance faithfully, but it's always good to have two figures in one, so I'm ok with it.

Spirit of Tah-Ron (aka The Deity)

I’m not going to get into the specifics of this figure, since it's just the King version with a few differences that I'm going to list below:

- The whole figure has been cast in a cool glow-in-the-dark green and given a nice dark-green wash (most heavily on his eyes, teeth, claws, clawed wrist guard and Theriom emblem) to simulate weathering

- His cape, harness and armbands are not removable

- The furry collar is unflocked

- The only accessory is his sceptre, which is also cast in GITD green

- A number of pretty rare and pricey deluxe variations of this figure will come in a fancy packaging that will transform into a cardboard playset (likely resembling the multiversal walls site, complete with opening portals) and will feature light&sound effects.

Overall, Tah-Ron is a really good figure that captures the Origin vibe fairly well. Both the King and the Spirit versions make for essential additions to the line, and I am particularly fond of the former - he looks very cool in full colour. In any case, this is going to be one of my favourite prototypes so far this year. Honestly, whether it’s getting a whole GITD figure or just coming with an awesome Li-Khon's head as an accessory, this guy is worth it.