Toy prototype details
Name: Yla-NhaTM
Subtitle: charming shieldmaiden
Line: KR|Dimness
Item type: action figure - Nº 3 in the line.
Character details
Name: Yla-Nha
Classification: human
Sex: female
Home: Tahron
Era: 5 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Forseha (indirectly)
Rank: leading amazon.
Background
First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening
Brief bio: daughter of the KmutukTM tribe’s chieftain, Yla-Nha was a sharp-witted fighter and champion athlete who rose quickly in the strata of her clan. She trained in the art of war under several masters, learning vital close combat techniques, especially with the aid of edged weapons. When young, she was very impulsive, sometimes putting herself in serious danger, but fortunately her excellent skills always saved her. Yla-Nha became a celebrated figure in her tribe, until she was deceived by the treacherous clan's spiritual leader, who, in order to become chief, secretly tricked and manipulated her into murdering her parents. During the territorial disputes in the area near the Ucamur region, the Kmutuk clan fought against the Forseha tribe and Yla-Nha, rejected by her people, asked the rivals for succour. Once she discovered the truth, she sought revenge and assisted the Forseha people in defeating the evil Kmutuk chief, freeing her tribe from his despotism. Yla-Nha’s resourcefulness impressed Dakun, who enlisted her help whenever the Forseha tribe found itself in the middle of turmoil.
Articulation
Standard, excluding hinged abdomen.
Description
Head: Nordic features, white skin, long blond dreadlocks decorated with copper beads, and purple eyes
Body: the exposed parts of her body (i.e., left upper arm, right forearm, right leg and stomach) show white skin. The right arm and the left leg are protected by a pauldron (equipped with an ornamented besagew) and a thigh armour respectively, both metallic purple with copper details
Wearables: a basque-like metallic purple armour with copper details (including a pair of ornamented bra cups and a spaulder curved upward on the left shoulder), a large metallic purple wrist/elbow guard and a copper armband on the left arm, a narrow metallic purple bracelet on the right arm, two brown leather boots (each with metallic purple toecap and chain mail sides, and the top widening sideways), a metallic purple tasset belt (with two horn-shaped copper ornaments hanging down in front) and a short orange skirt. A metallic purple choker fits closely round her neck, while the armour seemingly has a vertical opening on the front side, all the way down, which is fastened with two buckled brown leather straps and a copper button.
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| Yla-Nha's stylised armour. |
Action feature / Weapons and accessories
In the comics, Yla-Nha wields a six-piece set of blades (she is shown to skilfully handle up to four of them at the same time), which come in a variety of shapes (mostly machete-like, with copper blades and the hilts wrapped in brown leather) and sizes, and are thus suited to a wide array of combat situations.
Furthermore, the blades can be assembled to form a single large sword, which in its various states of combination serves as her primary weapon. The concept is very similar to Final Fantasy's Fusion Sword. As detailed in the diagram below, the six-blade assembly consists of:
- One fascine knife (1) with a distinctively large handguard (which the other swords lock onto) and a wide, straight length of blade that tapers to an equally long but thinner length ending in a point. This is the main blade that forms the base of the six-piece sword and is the only one among the six that is double-edged
- One panga machete (2) with a grooved blade that broadens on the backside and has a sharpened upper inclined portion. This weapon is actually hollow, meaning that it's essentially a thick sheet of metal folded in a V-shape when looked from above (the edge of the blade being the bottom point of the "V"), with the lower third of its length wrapping around a double-hilt. This blade locks onto either edge of the main blade, snugly covering most of its length and serving as the front edge of the assembled sword
- Two identical tsakat/saw combos (3 and 4), each with a long saw-toothed, billhook-like blade. These two weapons attach to both sides of the main blade's free edge, with the two pointed curves projecting towards opposite directions, and form the back of the assembled sword
- Two identical double-daggers (5 and 6), each with a cane knife blade accompanied by another short, highly curved blade (like that of a kukri or a kopis) attached near the hilt at an angle. These weapons have a mechanism between the hilts and the blades that allows them to partially fold up like a switchblade. It is in this folded form that the two daggers lock onto the two sides of the assembled sword, with their most angled blades projecting towards opposite directions. These knives fictionally possess some sort of locking mechanism designed to hold the other blades in place and to cover their hilts, and their addition completes the assembled sword's asymmetrical, spiky silhouette.
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| Yla-Nha's stylised assembled sword; the left half represents the front edge, while the right half represents the back. |
The figure comes with all these weapons in both their separate and assembled configurations (seven pieces in total). The blades in their disassembled state can be stored in a number of loops that Yla-Nha carries on her armour: two in a criss-cross pattern on the back (for the fascine knife and the panga machete) and two on the sides of the tasset belt (for the two tsakat/saw combos). Although the fact that there are only four loops seems strange, considering that there are six weapons, it could imply that Yla-Nha would never be in a situation where all six blades need separate carrying. So, it is possible that each tsakat/saw combo and each double-dagger might be fictionally combined in one piece in order to fit into the same slot.
Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦♦ Yla-Nha looks a lot like a female version of Foundation Masq-Lor, much more barbaric and bad-ass than other formidable amazons we have seen in other series of the KR universe
Articulation: ♥♥ The hair and the skirt are cast in a stiffer plastic than it would be ideal and, as a result, they hinder movement a bit. It’s not the worst I've seen, but it could have been better
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ Everything about the looks of Yla-Nha is top notch, from the top of her head all the way to the soles of her boots. I really like the metallic purple and copper-orange details of her outfit. Her skin is a little bit glossy, though in normal light I don’t find it too unacceptable
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ The figure comes with a set of really nice weapons. The assembled sword is a beautifully detailed piece of work with a great design, I love it! Too bad, however, they replaced the leather scabbards seen in the comics with simple loops
Playability: ♪♪♪♪ I was hotly anticipating this prototype when PoliganToys announced it, but my excitement was reduced a bit by the news of the scabbards removal. I’m glad to say that such a change is not as ruinous to my enjoyment of this figure as I thought it would be
Overall: ☺☺☺☺ Yla-Nha looks great alongside the more barbaric characters like Solamya and Dakun, while still fitting in with the rest of the KR line. I’m more than happy to add her to the shelf!
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