Toy prototype details
Name: Moh-QiTM
Subtitle: forest warrior
Line: KR|Dimness
Item type: action figure - Nº 10 in the line.
Character details
Name: Moh-Qi
Real name: MohqirosTM
Classification: human
Sex: male
Relationships: older brother of KoptrosTM
Home: Tahron
Era: 5 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Forseha (indirectly)
Rank: lone fighter.
Background
First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening
Brief bio: born on the mountains of southern Tahron, Mohqiros and his younger brother Koptros were descendants of the legendary Cereutian knight GalamarsTM, who masterminded the construction of the multiversal walls. Unlike his brother, Moh-Qi (that was his nickname) never sought to prove that he was worthy of his valiant ancestor's legacy and, instead of enlisting in the Theriom army, spent several years training in the jungles near the UcamurTM region to become an ormurid tamer. Eventually, he became an expert with the blowgun and domesticated many ormurids as a member of the Forseha tribe. During a time of turmoil due to territorial disputes in the area, Moh-Qi confronted a number of hostile jungle clans until Dakun promoted an ideology of peaceful respect and cooperation; feeling in conflict with such ideals, he left the tribe to become a reclusive lone fighter in the SasehamTM shrubland. Later, after he had initially refused Solamya's offer of an alliance, Moh-Qi single-handedly fought the volcanic monster Tolaaf to help his former fellows end the ruthless war declared by Wordron and his Dark Legion upon the brave tribesmen. Despite not being a Forseha member anymore, he returned to his old tribe whenever his fighting skills were needed.
Articulation
Description
Head: Native American features, dark brown skin with a reddish tinge, long black hair partly arranged in a ponytail and amber eyes. He sports an orange finger-woven headband with black tribal designs on it, as well as a dangle hair ornament (composed of a beaded deerskin strip and a long feather) worn on the right side of the head
Body: the exposed parts of his body (i.e., arms and chest) show dark brown skin with a reddish tinge, while the legs are covered with tight orange deerskin trousers
Wearables: a sleeveless black leather jacket, a copper-studded black leather fingerless glove on the left forearm, a black leather strap wrapped around the wrist and part of the forearm plus an orange deerskin armband on the right arm, and a pair of black leather chaps. The jacket, whose hem falls to the waist, is completely open and exposes a necklace (from which a pendant similar to a stone arrowhead hangs down in front) and an orange shoulder belt made of deerskin, which incorporates several loops for a number of darts, a sheathed knife and a satchel (I'm very impressed by the smart way all these components have been combined in a single removable piece). Each sculpted dart seems to be made of hardwood and fletched with animal fur, while the knife is removable and looks like it’s made of bone. The chaps are buckled on over the trousers with their copper-studded black leather integrated belt; each legging is worn over a black boot (or rather a combination of a furry sock and a cross-strap leather sandal), giving the appearance of a thigh-high boot, and is fringed along the outside edge.
Action feature
In the comics, before engaging in combat Moh-Qi is shown to consume a small amount of the addictive, highly potent enchanted mushroom he carries in his satchel, which, in addition to his mystical connection with the jungle environment, grants him enhanced strength and agility, as well as acute senses and reflexes. Even though this detail will probably generate complaints from various drug prevention organisations, the figure comes with an alternate battle head that displays Zartan-like black face warpaint markings around a pair of solid white glow-in-the-dark eyes.
Weapons and accessories
In addition to the alternate head, Moh-Qi includes a blowgun consisting of a long copper tube, through which the above-mentioned darts are fictionally propelled by force of his breath.
Additionally, as a reference to Moh-Qi's comic book appearance, the figure comes with a mushroom's domed cap as an accessory. It resembles a weird mash-up of different mushrooms, with the shape of a wood hedgehog, the texture of a maitake, plus the colour of a black trumpet (which is a little darker than I’d like). It’s a cute item, even if it doesn’t really have a use, but it can be stowed in the satchel thanks to the bag's moving flap.
Finally, this figure and character has a long and controversial history. When Moh-Qi first appeared in the rough draft of the first KR|Dimness comic issue, he looked more like a concept version of Koptros. It turns out that there were two different pitches for a Native American-inspired character back in 2015: one became the basis for the actual Koptros figure, while the other one never went anywhere (until now). This figure is a tribute to them both, having its main look based on the discarded concept art as well as some add-ons that can make it reminiscent of Koptros' earlier version. So, Koptros' harness with hyper-technological backpack is present and re-coloured in black with orange details. A matching rod-shaped antenna for radio communications plus a corded gun-shaped 3D scanner are also included. The two black&orange accessories can plug into two sockets on the top and the side of the backpack, and (with some effort) can be stored inside the latter. In one more nod to Moh-Qi's complex origin, PoliganToys even slipped in the idea of making him Koptros' older brother, which explains the strong resemblance between the two.
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| Koptros' stylised harness repurposed for Moh-Qi. |
Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦ I think PoliganToys is sewing up a lot of previously unexplored historical footnotes of Key Raiders. For me, Moh-Qi represents the most intriguing way of creating a new character - not only a discarded concept art has been given a new name, but it has also been given a neat backstory that helps the character integrate right into Tahron history as Koptros' older brother
Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ My figure doesn’t have any issues with loose joints and posing him in numerous ways is easy to do
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣ No, he is not just a repaint of Koptros with a new head and outfit. He has an abundance of new parts (including a pair of funky trousers) and his hair has gone from box-braided to straight with some embellishments here and there. Unfortunately, the alternate head has some black scuff-marks on the face and chin... I had hoped these would rub off, but then I realised this is the black plastic showing through (yes, this head is moulded in black)
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ I have to say that I really like the Koptros gear repaints, they make for some interesting display options and the black makes them look really badass. I had a hard time deciding between having the figure wear the jacket/satchel and carry the blowgun or running around in high-tech armour with a cool "gun". At the end I've decided that Moh-Qi looks great with his original outfit and I can't wait to swap the black Koptros armour with the one that came with the original figure
Playability: ♪♪♪ Potentially, he'd be very much a nod to die-hard KR fans, representing just how dedicated PoliganToys is to the line. I don't think Moh-Qi is a must-have figure, except for completists, but he's fun and the colours do give him a great savage look
Overall: ☺☺☺ Overall, I’m happy with this figure despite his strange origins and his being based on a rejected artwork. Personally, I think the idea of Moh-Qi is really fun and I am glad to have this mysterious character on my shelf. He’s a welcome addition to my collection.
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