KR|Horizon Review #5: Theriom Exo-Guardians

Toy prototype details

Name: Theriom Exo-Guardians^TM

Subtitle: heroic sentries

Line: KR|Horizon

Item type: multi-pack (2-pack) - Nº 1 in the line.

Character details

Name: Theriom Exo-Guardian*

Classification: mammal (various species)

Sex: male or female

Home: Tahron

Era: 15 years after Foundation

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: heavy infantryman.
*Original ideas for the name of these characters included Robo-Guards and Exo-Guards, but these have been dropped to avoid trademark infringement.

Background

First appearance: KR|Horizon #1 - The Destructomorph legacy

Brief bio: after all the opposing armies had permanently been defeated by the Therioms, a small group of remaining Theriom Troopers stepped in as the official body guards to the newly elected Senior Minister Desion. Eventually, because of the shock induced by the unexpected re-emergence of the Destructomorph faction, Masq-Lor found himself in great need of new soldiery. Hailing even from the far reaches of Tahron, a large number of new recruits enlisted in the Theriom Armed Forces, ready to become expert marksmen and to perfect the art of capturing enemies. With skills such as superior sight and hearing, exceptional hand-to-hand combat and extensive knowledge of almost every capture weapon, these privates had a lot more to offer than just being strong, stealthy troopers and soon proved their worth to their commander-in-chief. With the help of these capable service men and women, who knew how to get the drop on their foes and seize them, and had the ability to transform from normal soldiers into magnificent arsenals of military equipment, the Therioms grew stronger and stronger in their battle against evil. Although Masq-Lor promised to aid them back to their families as soon as the Destructomorph forces would weaken enough, the brave Exo-Guardians continued to lead the heroic infantry all the way to the final battle with Nemhetra.

Articulation

Standard, excluding hinged abdomen for the female figure.

Description

The set includes two figures: a male and a female.

Heads: both figures' standard heads have human features, showing dark brown skin and dark eyes (with Aboriginal Australian traits for the male figure, who also sports a black beard, and Pacific Islander features for the female figure), and wear silver helmets with gold details, whose size and shape are adapted to the type of head. Each helmet has a mixed samurai/sci-fi vibe, and is equipped with a pair of air inlets on the top

Bodies: the figures' sculpts use the same proportions seen in other KR human male and female figures. In addition, both wear military uniforms that are grey on the front and blue on the back, and are composed of tank tops (which leave their dark brown-skinned arms exposed) and pairs of trousers. Much of their bodies is characterised by the presence of silver powered exoskeletons that allow for limb movement with increased strength and endurance. Each exoskeleton, which includes a chest harness and limb components that run from the shoulders down to the hands and from the waist down to the feet, is embellished with a number of cables, and fastens to their body at various spots, including their upper arms, forearms, thighs and calves; the chest harness bears a fan-shaped, seemingly rotating piece on the front and a bright circle on the back, which are fictionally reactor components engineered to power the exoskeleton

Wearables: both characters wear gold shoulder armours with silver details, laminar golden gauntlets, laminar golden boots with knee guards, golden belts with pincer-shaped buckles pointing downwards, and silver groin protectors, all showing some cyber-details here and there.

Theriom Exo-Guardians' stylised helmet.

Action feature

Each removable shoulder armour fits onto a figure and includes a pivoting dual-gun backpack. While the front of the armour shows some asymmetric circuitry ornaments and sculpted tubing, the back is equipped with two silver shoulder guns mounted on two adjustable armatures (so that they can be set in either a vertical rest position or a horizontal attack position) and a storage slot to hold a weapon.

In addition, their wrist and shin guards can fictionally produce high-tech manacles to restrain their foes; so, each figure comes with four golden clip-on pieces with attached silver handcuffs and leg irons.

Moreover, in the comics the brave Guardians are equipped with powered suits designed to enhance the capabilities of their exoskeletons, which allow them to stalk evil goons on the battlefield, engage in close range battle with rivals and even carry out low altitude reconnaissance patrols to defend the Theriom's territory. The package includes one of such power armours, which fits over either figure and is composed of a torso protective canopy (including a clear face shield with sculpted embellishments such as breathing hoses departing from an air tank on the chest, and crosshair sighting), two mechanical arms (choke-full with tech-mech details like circuits, pistons, cogs, chains and ammo tubes that run from the lower back) and two mechanical stilts (which are outfitted with dampers and mounted on two foot-shaped bases). This Exosquad-like powered body armour is painted in gold, silver, flat grey and blue, displays some bullet holes here and there, and almost has as much articulation as the standard KR figure, even though most of the points of articulation have a rather limited range of movement. To place a figure in the pilot position inside the hardsuit, it's necessary to open all the hinged pieces (i.e., the protective canopy on the front, the two upper leg panels and the two lower leg panels), secure the figure's feet into the stirrups, snap the waist into the clip, attach the hands to the joysticks on the mechanical arms, close all the hinged leg panels and lower the canopy. The exoframe features multiple weapons that are mounted to the arms, chest and legs, as well as a flip over blaster/jet-pack. Two hand-clamps are attached to the mechanical arms; each clamp can extend and fictionally grab an opponent, hoist them overhead and twirl them around by means of four green gripping jaws arranged in an oblong X shape (the clamp can really turn with a twist of a knob at the elbow). These "heat-seeking" clamps can also pop out to mimic their ability to be propelled. Additionally, two flip-out laser cannons can be drawn from underneath the forearms. Pressing down on a button at the front of the chest plate triggers an X-shaped blue semi-rigid net piece; alternatively, instead of the net piece, one of the two clamps can connect to the chest armour and be launched. The stilts have a pair of sponsons standing out from the sides, which are armed with telescoping poles that carry guns on the top, as well as two cannons that flip-out from hidden holsters (in the comics, these are non-lethal weapons that range from smoke/stun grenade launchers to water cannons to area denial devices). Finally, the blaster/jet-pack flips over the head and shoulders by sliding it up and then swinging it down, and is equipped with a pivoting scanner, a turning radar dish and a pair of folding wings. To wrap the enemies, a trigger-activated spring action launches the two-headed bola weapon from the twin turbo jet ports of the jet-pack - it's necessary to hook the bola string around the front target sight, load the two red balls in the turbo jet ports, pull out and lock a plunger on the back, and fire by tilting a lever to the side.

Theriom Exo-Guardians' stylised shoulder armour. Size and shape vary according to the body structure of the characters.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the removable shoulder armours, clip-on parts and exosuit, the Guardians are also equipped with one triple-barrelled (in an over/middle/under configuration) black rifle that can be stowed on the back of either armour, and one shield, whose bubbly-textured silver background forms the surround for a seven-pointed gold star with the two bottom points elongated. The cover of the oblong-hexagonal shield slides apart to some degree in order to reveal a glow-in-the-dark surface, which mimics its ability to produce a blinding flash of light for temporarily disorienting an enemy's senses.

Additionally, we get a golden removable belt, which can fit either figure and bears brown ammunition all around. The buckle of the belt is shaped like a seven-pointed star, to match the motif that adorns the shield.

Finally, the figures come with two alternative full-masked helmeted heads: the male Guardian's one resembles a hybrid between a motorcycle helmet (for the mouth guard) and a football helmet (for the face guard), while the female Guardian's one has a T-shaped opening for the eyes and mouth (the latter is concealed by an extra mouth mask/microphone underneath) and a pair of translucent yellow goggles perched on the forehead. In either case, the eyes don't seem to match the standard heads and are probably associated with non-human characters.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦ These characters easily stand out both on the shelf and in the series. And they do it for all the good reasons, like the giant powered suits they wear in battle, which is the quintessence of their speciality - taking a grip of the enemy!

Articulation: ♥♥ I have to be honest… for such an amazing power armour, I really expected the articulation to be a little higher, or even more on par with the KR's standard. A bit disappointing in an otherwise solid set

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣♣ Although these characters do have an updated look, they resemble the Theriom Troopers figures I originally reviewed back in 2015 more closely than the Knights and Soldiers of the series created after Foundation. An all-around good sculpt for a good set of figures. The exosuit on the front and back is magnificently detailed and painted without any visible errors

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Aside from the amazing exoframe, the accessories in general are just kind of there. Nothing enormously exciting, but proper and appropriate for the figures

Playability: ♪♪♪ Like with one of the original Troopers, what I can’t figure out is why there is no spring action in the big hand-clamps. When I found out the clamps are manually extended, a little piece of me felt very disappointed. Well, it’s great for taking pictures and posing, but boring otherwise

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ This is a multi-pack that I like and appreciate not only because of its superb army building potential, but also because it’s just a great modern take on the Theriom comrades-in-arms with an awesome large scale accessory. Yes, the figures aren’t as complicated or over-the-top as other characters in the KR world, but PoliganToys did a terrific job on them.