KR|Origin Review #18: Sembryon

We have a robust KR lineup for this year and the latest entrant is Sembryon^TM, the legislator of the Theriom’s Royal Council of Thinkers.

This 15^th action figure prototype of the Origin series is the first to be reviewed for September... Rabidriss was supposed to be reviewed in August, but I was late. The figure comes with an awesome bio, which really helps in this case – it’s not like you can really learn much about this character from the comics.

Originally, Sembryon was meant to be the commander-in-chief of the Theriom Knights, sort of like the Tir-Hing of the Origin series. However, this didn’t pan out and Zhongat kinda took his place.

Details

Name: Sembryon

Subtitle: former ruler

Classification: human

Sex: male

Relationships: in the KR comic issue Hunt for the energy stone, it is mentioned that Sih-Len^TM, Mor-Rak's mother, is (or at least used to be) the princess of the feudal territory of O-Kin; since Sembryon is the former monarch of the same territory, it is likely that he's an ancestor of Mor-Rak's

Home: Tahron

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

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: legislator (formerly Lord Sembryon, ruler of the small Kingdom of O-Kin).

Background

First appearance: KR|Origin #2 - Battle for Tahron: Part I – The journey begins

Brief bio: among the many small realms that in the long run joined up with the Therioms and formed the Kingdom of Tahron, none was as honoured as O-Kin, a sovereign territory in a mountainous region of strategic importance dominated by golden eagles. As the ruler of this territory, Lord Sembryon took particular interest in the conflict between Therioms and Reptonoids, and supported the cause of King Khon-Uhr to stop the spreading influence of Bi-Harr and his army. Driven by diplomacy rather than combativeness, he struck a peace deal with Bi-Harr in which the Reptonoids would be provided with food and services when demanded, an act that later condemned his domain. The reptilian leader, warned by his counsellors Loghar and Sphenorat that Sembryon would likely betray him, threatened the people of O-Kin and demanded the ruler's abdication. Although Sembryon courageously guarded the realm's walls and defended his subjects, Bi-Harr succeeded in taking control of the territory. In the aftermath of the fall of O-Kin, Sembryon was stripped of his authority and was forced to leave the ruins of the land he had failed to protect, eventually becoming an important member of the Theriom’s Royal Council of Thinkers.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: Scandinavian features, white skin, ruffled blond hair and beard, green eyes and daring expression. He wears a metallic dark-blue removable helmet characterised by a studded crest running from front to rear, a frontal golden decoration resembling a stylised pair of wings, a projecting bar covering the nose, two substantial cheek-pieces and a flange projecting from the lower parts of the skull and cheek-pieces to protect the back and sides of the neck; it also bears a pair of bison horns sticking out the sides, projecting forwards and pointing down. The folks at PoliganToys brought more detail to this helmet than I expected - there are little dents and scratches around the edges, while the horns, whose colour fades from black to white to light-brown, have a cracked and timeworn appearance

Body: entirely covered with a suit of silver chain mail, except for the hands which show white skin

Wearables: a black armour with dark-blue details (including a stylised bison skull towards the bottom), two metallic black bracelets with knuckle protectors, black&dark-blue spaulders, rerebraces and thigh guards, two segmented (i.e., made of overlapping metal plates) black boots (the right one displays a sheath with a small silver dagger, which is not removable), a black belt (whose elongated buckle stretches downwards) and dark-blue trunks. The bracelets, boot tops, belt buckle and the left part of the breast plate display variously sized golden emblems identical to the one on the helmet. Interestingly, the belt, trunks, thigh guards and an additional chest plate on the right part of the armour show some sculpted cyber details. This design, combining medieval and techno features, is very nice looking to me.

Sembryon's stylised armour; the triangle at the side of the chest piece represents the golden-wings symbol.

Action feature

In the comics, Sembryon is portrayed as both a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and a wise lawmaker. So, PoliganToys gives us the possibility to display the figure in two different configurations: a combat look and an institutional look. The former has been described above, while the latter is simply obtained by removing the helmet and adding a shoulder guard that has an attached cape. The shoulder guard is dark-blue with black details and attaches to the armour via two pegs; it is composed of two pauldrons joined to a high standing fabric collar (stabilised by two bison horns) on the back and to two golden clasps (connected with a black string) on the front. The orange cape has a dropped look in the back, and is bordered with dark-orange fur and edged with a zigzag line at the bottom.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the helmet and the shoulder guard plus cape, the figure comes with a very exciting accessory, which is a sceptre that can double as a ball-and-chain flail. The dark-blue sceptre, which obviously matches the institutional look better, fictionally transforms into a vicious morning star when the ball at the top detaches from the haft, revealing a chain and producing a number of spikes. In the toy, it is possible to disconnect the smooth metallic dark-blue sphere from the top of the staff and replace it with an alternative chained ball covered in steel spikes.

Overall, Sembryon is a strong addition to the Origin sect and to the KR universe as a whole. What I especially like of the figure are those armour pieces where meticulous sculpting has been given to even the most minute technical detail. That helps break the medieval overtones that characterise this series, which continues to offer important and interesting characters to the KR mythos. There is still a lot left in KR|Origin, as Sembryon clearly shows, so I want to see the line continue and move forward under the skilled hands of PoliganToys. Key Raiders has been present in my life long enough now that, I'm not ashamed to say it, reviewing these prototypes is a happy part of my lifestyle.