Toy prototype details
Name: Ni-Hil-ZorTM
Subtitle: rolling warrior
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 20 in the line.
Character details
Name: Ni-Hil-Zor
Classification: uncertain
Sex: male
Home: Cereutis
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph (temporarily)
Rank: junior-grade mercenary.
Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #3 - The last horizon
Brief bio: Ni-Hil-Zor was a descendant of a primitive and malevolent group of monstrous creatures that had originated during the ancient Cereutian wars. Eventually, due to their ungovernable nature, these creatures became a pestilence on Cereutis and frequently clashed with the Multiversal Balancers. Failing to reach an uneasy truce and to coexist peacefully, the Multiversal Balancers attempted to hunt them down. Driven from their homes by their pursuers, a number of highly adaptable clans survived and took refuge deep inside the bog caves in the dark corners of Cereutis for centuries, growing stronger and stronger. Some of these creatures were bred to be the servants of older members of the same race, and Ni-Hil-Zor was bound to Denortos' commands, serving as his backup soldier when Deptilion aimed at creating a trans-dimensional breach in the multiversal walls. After Denortos had returned from his unsuccessful mission on Tahron, Ni-Hil-Zor renewed his devotion to him and, as he became more ambitious, decided to join him in a new journey to Tahron and help him fight against the Therioms. Although physically stronger than his gaffer, he was not as clever and his own ambition to obtain greater power for himself finally backfired, leading to a disastrous failure that prevented him from achieving any goals.
Name: Ni-Hil-ZorTM
Subtitle: rolling warrior
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 20 in the line.
Character details
Name: Ni-Hil-Zor
Classification: uncertain
Sex: male
Home: Cereutis
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph (temporarily)
Rank: junior-grade mercenary.
Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #3 - The last horizon
Brief bio: Ni-Hil-Zor was a descendant of a primitive and malevolent group of monstrous creatures that had originated during the ancient Cereutian wars. Eventually, due to their ungovernable nature, these creatures became a pestilence on Cereutis and frequently clashed with the Multiversal Balancers. Failing to reach an uneasy truce and to coexist peacefully, the Multiversal Balancers attempted to hunt them down. Driven from their homes by their pursuers, a number of highly adaptable clans survived and took refuge deep inside the bog caves in the dark corners of Cereutis for centuries, growing stronger and stronger. Some of these creatures were bred to be the servants of older members of the same race, and Ni-Hil-Zor was bound to Denortos' commands, serving as his backup soldier when Deptilion aimed at creating a trans-dimensional breach in the multiversal walls. After Denortos had returned from his unsuccessful mission on Tahron, Ni-Hil-Zor renewed his devotion to him and, as he became more ambitious, decided to join him in a new journey to Tahron and help him fight against the Therioms. Although physically stronger than his gaffer, he was not as clever and his own ambition to obtain greater power for himself finally backfired, leading to a disastrous failure that prevented him from achieving any goals.
Articulation
Standard, with the addition of a hinged lower jaw and two extra fully articulated arms.
Description
Head: elongated shape, dark-red skin, a strip of spade-shaped imbricate glossy black scales running centrally from the middle of the forehead to the back of the head (developing into a spiny cranial crest), two short tentacle-like dark-red antennas, two pairs of curved dark-red spines pointing backwards where one would expect to find the ears, a pair of purple eyes (each with a horizontal slit-shaped yellow-green pupil resembling a series of four small holes, similarly to a Tokay gecko eye) topped with jagged brow ridges, two large nostrils and two rows of sharp, piranha-like whitish teeth lining the jaws. It's probably due to the new colour scheme, but his look seems to have a more devilish feel compared to Denortos. His head rests in a new large, matte black collar/cowl piece with stripes on the inside, bronze rivets on the outside and a bladed edge (the silver blades projecting all the way around resemble shuriken points), which fits around his neck and rises behind the back of his head. I know some folks might not like the added cowl, but the whole piece can be removed, if you prefer, just by popping off his head, lifting it off, and popping his head back on; this gives Ni-Hil-Zor's head a lot more range of movement, but to me he just doesn't look as good without the hood
Standard, with the addition of a hinged lower jaw and two extra fully articulated arms.
Description
Head: elongated shape, dark-red skin, a strip of spade-shaped imbricate glossy black scales running centrally from the middle of the forehead to the back of the head (developing into a spiny cranial crest), two short tentacle-like dark-red antennas, two pairs of curved dark-red spines pointing backwards where one would expect to find the ears, a pair of purple eyes (each with a horizontal slit-shaped yellow-green pupil resembling a series of four small holes, similarly to a Tokay gecko eye) topped with jagged brow ridges, two large nostrils and two rows of sharp, piranha-like whitish teeth lining the jaws. It's probably due to the new colour scheme, but his look seems to have a more devilish feel compared to Denortos. His head rests in a new large, matte black collar/cowl piece with stripes on the inside, bronze rivets on the outside and a bladed edge (the silver blades projecting all the way around resemble shuriken points), which fits around his neck and rises behind the back of his head. I know some folks might not like the added cowl, but the whole piece can be removed, if you prefer, just by popping off his head, lifting it off, and popping his head back on; this gives Ni-Hil-Zor's head a lot more range of movement, but to me he just doesn't look as good without the hood
Body: his dark-red skin is stretched over a series of bony plates with spine-like tubercles, which are arranged in rings throughout his body, giving a general segmented, armoured appearance. His six limbs (four arms and two legs) sport claw extremities and large strips of spade-shaped imbricate glossy black scales running down the sides (a similar stripe also extends from the nape of the neck, divides along the shoulder blades and continues along the back to the loin). I'm glad that the skin on his limbs is visible in the figure, unlike the comic book version which wears a black garment wholly covering his arms and legs. Finally, he has a short pointy tail emerging from his trunks and protected by a leaf-shaped, spiny-edged dark-red tail shield
Wearables: a bronze armour ornamented with glossy black studs, four bronze bracelets, two bronze calf protectors, a bronze belt (displaying a 4-point silver compass rose on the buckle) and a striped matte black crotch piece. The cuirass shows a scale armour texture and a large silver Cereutian symbol (resembling a four-pointed throwing star with what looks like a trilobite embossed in the middle) on the front. The upper arms are protected by large shoulder armours lined with matte black leather, while the feet carry two matte black instep guards.
Wearables: a bronze armour ornamented with glossy black studs, four bronze bracelets, two bronze calf protectors, a bronze belt (displaying a 4-point silver compass rose on the buckle) and a striped matte black crotch piece. The cuirass shows a scale armour texture and a large silver Cereutian symbol (resembling a four-pointed throwing star with what looks like a trilobite embossed in the middle) on the front. The upper arms are protected by large shoulder armours lined with matte black leather, while the feet carry two matte black instep guards.
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| Ni-Hil-Zor's stylised armour; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents a Cereutian symbol. |
Action feature / Weapons and accessories
In the comics, apart from having extremely accurate senses owing to his antennas, Ni-Hil-Zor is shown to possess the ability to inflict ferocious bites on his enemies. The feature is wonderfully rendered thanks to the spring-loaded lower jaw, which can swing open and then suddenly snap shut like a bear trap.
In the comics, apart from having extremely accurate senses owing to his antennas, Ni-Hil-Zor is shown to possess the ability to inflict ferocious bites on his enemies. The feature is wonderfully rendered thanks to the spring-loaded lower jaw, which can swing open and then suddenly snap shut like a bear trap.
Additionally, he is incredibly skilled in six-limbed hand-to-hand combat, often wielding four weapons at a time to keep his opponents off-balance. Among such weapons, the figure comes with a large, round black shield that features several bronze details such as a studded rim, a cross pattern (similar to a 4-point compass rose) on the face and a mean looking pointed central protrusion, and attaches securely at the figure's left wrist (... either one) via a peg. Adorned with a collection of rivets, the bronze trim that runs around and across the shield balances the black finish on the disc, which is fictionally made of anthracite, but –judging by the woodgrain pattern– was originally intended to be made of wood. In the comics, Ni-Hil-Zor has the ability to enhance his fighting skills by connecting his torso to the above-mentioned shield as well as to a second one, enclosing his whole body into a wheel-shaped shell made of the two mechanically expanded shields, and rolling into battle like a bowling ball towards the enemy. The wheel gathers energy as it rolls, and then unleashes all of it in a powerful blast on impact. To mimic the first phase of this transformation in the figure, the emblem on the chest plate can be detached and then replaced with the included shield, while an identical shield is permanently attached to the back plate (I'm not sure how I feel about this). In addition, an expanded, wheel-like double-sided version of the two shields is included as an extra accessory together with a small clear stand. This piece has the same sculpt and paintwork as the original shields, apart from the larger size and from an 8-point compass rose bronze pattern on both faces. Amazingly, this wheel is hinged on one side and can open to reveal a low relief, comic book accurate version of Ni-Hil-Zor in a Vitruvian Man-like pose sculpted inside, showing a slightly smaller size compared to the standard figure, a threatening grin on his flattened out face, and a loose black garment covering his limbs. The opening wheel is on a very sturdy hinge, shuts tightly thanks to an equally sturdy clasp, and contains slots and pegs to hold Ni-Hil-Zor's detached emblem (which could also be used as a shuriken) and two included jitte (each with a black hilt, a pointed and edged bronze blade, and a short "stag beetle mandible"-shaped silver tip attached to the handle). The inside of this piece does hold more than you would expect, and features some sculpted circuitry as well as a Cereutian petrifaction-beam gun, giving it a nice high-tech look.
Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦ I have fond memories of the original Denortos prototype. While I reviewed that one back in 2016, a new version of the character showed up in 2017, and it was a great way to get some exciting updates along with a few great accessories. But I had to wait until 2020 to see more characters of his same species such as his brother Spelekos (in August) and a badass close associate (now). I've always loved action figures that could expand a mythos in some way, and these guys delivered
Articulation: ♥♥♥ The articulation for the four arms works really well, while the cowl limits the range of motion on the head a little, but probably not much more than it would to a person in real life
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣ Even though in the comics Ni-Hil-Zor is slightly smaller than his chief, this figure seems to be pretty much a repainted version of Origin Denortos, with a new added cowl, a new armour and an additional pair of arms (which means a new torso). All of the features on the head and on the limbs are the same, although with the new colour scheme some of the details of the sculpting are not as sharp as they should be. The feet have been corrected to be more accurate to the comic book, which is a nice touch. There's some great work around the edges of the cowl, which I'm glad is separate from his head, and the paintwork is more than adequate
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Apart from the shield and the wheel, which are both great pieces, the additional swords are quite nice in terms of both sculpting and paintwork. I'm really happy they included more weapons, it'd have been such a waist to have all those hands empty
Playability: ♪♪♪♪ Playing with such an articulated figure that has the extra feature of the opening wheel as well as the extra accessories is definitely fun
Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦ I have fond memories of the original Denortos prototype. While I reviewed that one back in 2016, a new version of the character showed up in 2017, and it was a great way to get some exciting updates along with a few great accessories. But I had to wait until 2020 to see more characters of his same species such as his brother Spelekos (in August) and a badass close associate (now). I've always loved action figures that could expand a mythos in some way, and these guys delivered
Articulation: ♥♥♥ The articulation for the four arms works really well, while the cowl limits the range of motion on the head a little, but probably not much more than it would to a person in real life
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣ Even though in the comics Ni-Hil-Zor is slightly smaller than his chief, this figure seems to be pretty much a repainted version of Origin Denortos, with a new added cowl, a new armour and an additional pair of arms (which means a new torso). All of the features on the head and on the limbs are the same, although with the new colour scheme some of the details of the sculpting are not as sharp as they should be. The feet have been corrected to be more accurate to the comic book, which is a nice touch. There's some great work around the edges of the cowl, which I'm glad is separate from his head, and the paintwork is more than adequate
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Apart from the shield and the wheel, which are both great pieces, the additional swords are quite nice in terms of both sculpting and paintwork. I'm really happy they included more weapons, it'd have been such a waist to have all those hands empty
Playability: ♪♪♪♪ Playing with such an articulated figure that has the extra feature of the opening wheel as well as the extra accessories is definitely fun
Overall: ☺☺☺☺ As a Denortos fan since the Foundation line, I'm always happy to see nods to him in what PoliganToys is doing here. I was really excited about the idea of a sidekick, and I find the execution to be very satisfactory, with an impressive sculpt, adjusted size, great paint, and some added accessories. I love the opening wheel and how neatly everything is sculpted inside. Spelekos and the new version of Denortos really brought something new to the Cereutian table in the Horizon line, and this guy is just a very welcome addition to the roster.
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