I always like to add some cool variety to my legion of KR troops and knights have been big wants of mine for a long time. So, I'm glad to welcome the Theriom KnightsTM!
There are several similarities between this first multi-pack prototype of the KR|Origin series (although most of the previous prototypes were technically multi-packs) and the regular Theriom Troopers. So, if you have missed their review, I'd suggest to take a look.
Details
Name: Theriom Knights
Subtitle: heroic sentries
Classification: various mammals
Sex: male and female
Home: Tahron
Era: 520 years before Masq-Lor's time (now renamed Foundation)
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: horsemen.
Background
First appearance: KR|Origin #1 - An arduous venture
Brief bio: across the kingdom of Tahron, the mightiest warriors were enlisted by King Khon-UhrTM to fight for the causes of the Therioms as masters of capture weapons and cavalry tactics. Together with their steeds, the Theriom Knights wore powered suits of armour, which enhanced their strength and let them skilfully handle their powerful armaments. Trained in ancient battle techniques, these life-long military men and women had a strong sense of honour and fought courageously for justice and freedom against the Reptonoids.
Articulation
Standard, excluding hinged abdomen for the female figure.
Description
Heads: both figures' standard heads have human features, showing cream white skin and dark eyes, and wear silver helmets with gold details, whose size and shape are adapted to the type of head. Each helmet has a mixed medieval/sci-fi vibe, and is equipped with a plume at the top (comb-shaped and dark-green for the male character, similar to a ponytail and dark-blue for the female) and what looks like a laser sighting device at the right side (I wish this were pivoting)
Bodies: the figures' sculpts use the same proportions seen in other KR human male and female figures; in addition, both wear a whole-body protective clothing of brown leather, which is also visible in the form of gloves and boots on the hands and feet
Wearables: both characters wear gold armours with silver details, golden wrist guards with knuckle protectors, golden knee/shin guards and silver groin protectors. Each armour has a nicely shaped piece of plate protecting the throat, which also seems to be a microphone, and carries a translucent red cape that allows us too see a bright circle at the centre of the back (fictionally a reactor engineered to power the suit of armour). The wrist guards and shin guards are clip-on removable pieces that, apart from displaying a silver Theriom emblem each, show some electro-mechanical details, which give the knights an interesting retro-tech character. Additionally, the heroic sentries are equipped with laminar grey arm and thigh armours, each decorated with a diagonal blue stripe, that are also removable.
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| Theriom Knight's stylised armour with a generic breastplate. Size and shape vary according to the body structure of the characters. |
Action feature
Like with the regular Theriom Troopers, the main feature of the Theriom Knights is their expertise in the use of capture weapons. That's why I'm going to describe their weapons in this section. Unlike the grabber, bolas launcher and net gun that were associated with specific Troopers, the weapons packaged with the Knights are interchangeable, meaning that they may be used by either character. First up is a set of twin silver pistols, one of which can shoot a blue laser net, while the other can hurl a pair of red laser bolas. The design of the pistols is really cool, rendering an antique look that matches the medieval theme very well. They come with two translucent plug-in shooting effects, which are shaped like the above-mentioned energy net and bolas. We also get a golden removable belt, which can fit either figure and bears two brown leather holsters at the sides for stowing the pistols. The buckle of the belt is a seven-pointed star with the two bottom points elongated, which is a nice variation of the Theriom symbol.
The second (or, rather, third) weapon is a silver lance, which is a perfect addition. A lance is a very characteristic weapon for a knight and I love that it is large enough to be convincing. Also, its pointed head can be disconnected and replaced with a silver tool that is slightly reminiscent of Grabtrak's grabber. This is fictionally produced by the lance head itself and, despite lacking any articulation, can clamp an opponent by means of a laser beam that runs from one jaw to the other. The laser effect is recreated with a curved, stick-shaped translucent green piece that snaps securely between the ends of the two jaws.
Weapons and accessories
Apart form their capture weapons, the Theriom Knights come with a plethora of accessories. Each helmet is equipped with a set of clip-on pieces, namely two interchangeable silver visors and a golden mouth guard. While the mouth shields for the two figures are very similar, the visors are pretty unique in their respective designs: the male Knight's ones have either two eye-holes or pairs of horizontal slits, whereas the female Knight's ones are either solid silver (almost like a mirror) or with an array of vertical slits.
The helmets are also removable and allow the heads to be replaced with two alternative types for each figure: Asian/olive brown-skinned and ape-looking/dark brown-furred for the male, African/black-skinned and feline-looking/light brown-furred for the female. The top of each head looks kind of odd, due to the shape that has been given to accommodate the helmet. However, to display the Knights unhelmeted, each figure comes with an extra piece that incorporates black hair and a steel cap that is fictionally worn underneath the helmet. These pieces work best with the human heads, but they can be used with the animal ones too, they will just look funny.
The armours also have swappable parts and work in a similar fashion to Combat Masq-Lor's covering. Each front armour is actually a shell that can accommodate two interchangeable breastplates: one plain (undamaged for the female and with some subtle battle marks for the male) and one decorated with the Theriom emblem in relief at its centre (in silver for the male and made of a translucent red gemstone for the female). The plates, which probably indicate different ranks, snap in tightly from the inside of the armour, which must be removed in order to change them.
The last "accessory" is a pretty great way to finish out - a half steed/half war machine that can carry a Theriom Knight! Despite this mount looks very similar to a horse, it's actually a tarmotherid, a fictional ungulate like Merados. Indeed, this steed shares several components with Merados, but also appears enhanced by a powered exoskeleton composed of a technological barding (i.e., chanfron, criniere, peytral, saddle, flanchards, croupiere, tail guard and hoof protectors) and a set of robotic devices that allow for limb movement with increased strength and endurance. The sculpt is fantastic, showing some great curves and lines, and the techno embellishments, such as circuits, pistons and cogs, look really nice and sharp. The detail I especially like is the saddle, which bears a pair of badass stirrups, and a handlebar that replaces the reins and has a sculpted&painted dash board. The articulation is pretty cool too: it has ball joints between all five neck pieces that compose the criniere (giving the head and neck a great range of movement), a ball joint at the tail, and hinges at the shoulders/hips (it can hold a rearing-up pose without assistance), at the knees/hocks and at the fetlocks. The paint is also very nicely executed, showing a mostly reddish-brown coat (except for the cannons and the tail that are white) where visible, and lots of gold, which shines well when hit by the light, with silver details. The cyber chanfron (with glowing eye-holes) can be removed to reveal the reddish-brown head with a silver stripe down the middle of the face. The peytral is equipped with a circular bright reactor combined with a purple&gold Theriom escutcheon on the chest area and a pair of twin forward-facing silver pivoting laser guns at the sides, while the croupiere has a rear-mounted silver rotating laser turret.
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| Theriom Knight's stylised helmet with a generic visor. The grey triangle at the top indicates the presence of a plume. |
Overall, I personally dig the idea of tech-knights from Tahron's past, so I’m really pleased with this multi-pack. At any rate, both the figures are done well and I think their accessories are a hit. I really hope we can get an additional mount at some point in the future, so that both of them can ride to victory.
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