KR|Emergence Review #18: Traark (Emergence Edition)

Toy prototype details
Name: Traark^TM (Emergence Edition), aka Merman Traark
Subtitle: swimming warrior
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure - Nº 15 in the line.

Character details
Name: Traark
Classification: sauropterygian reptile
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Rexodon
Rank: major.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #1 - The cradle of evil
Brief bio: a vicious aquatic reptile warrior, Traark was dedicated to his service lurking beneath the surface of the ocean around Tahron, but later made his home in the inland bodies of water near Rokang Tar, to join the rise of the reptilian forces against the Therioms. For his disloyalty, Traark was confronted by his former commander, but Bi-Harr forced the newly enlisted soldier to behead him. Although he possessed the power to inflict thunderous tail strikes and lethal bites, as well as the frightening ability to regrow his sharp teeth after projecting them like knives in battle, Traark sought to learn the art of weapons craft and eagerly studied the advanced technology behind the Reptonoid's military machines. Thanks to his new-found knowledge and to his empathic rapport with many forms of aquatic life, Traark eventually built his own battalion of tech-enhanced swampland reptiles and set them loose on his mammalian enemies, delighting in the bloodbath they engendered. Proving a deadly servant worthy of rising through the ranks of the Rexodon army, Traark was promoted to major and became one of Bi-Harr's most devoted soldiers, willing to die for his master's honour, a distinction that the evil reptilian general prized most highly.

Articulation
Standard down to the waist, plus a hinged lower jaw and a ball jointed extra neck piece; his lower body has been replaced by a "fishtail" piece with articulation in three parts.

Description

Head: similar to a marine reptile, perhaps a mix of an Elasmosaurus and a Nothosaurus, characterised by black skin with few yellow stripes, three parallel cranial crests (the two on the sides are smaller, while the one in the middle is slightly larger), blue eyes, and two pairs of short spikes emerging from the sides of the lower jaw. The sculpt of the jaws is fantastic, with large bladed teeth visible along the edges as well as a very cool Helicoprion-like tooth-whorl sitting in the middle of the lower jaw. Both his head and wrinkled neck extension are on ball joints, which not only gives him a slightly longer neck and a hunched over look, but also an extended range without hindering the movements at all
Body: wrinkled black skin with yellow stripes, webbed hands with long serrated claws. His biceps bare flattened, wing-like appendages that look a bit like the pectoral fins of a flying fish, while his lower body comes in the form of an ichthyosaur-like tail equipped with hind limbs fully transformed into flippers and three points of articulation (a hinged crotch, swivel-hinged "knees" and a swivel-hinged symmetric tail fin that is normally displayed vertically). Finally, Traark carries a shelled parasite on his back; this (detachable) greenish-grey creature looks remarkably similar to a Placochelys and is characterised by a flat turtle-like carapace covered with knobbly dark-grey plates, a triangular beaked head, two pairs of paddle-shaped limbs that have individual clawed toes, and a short tail

Wearables: a silver armour with purple details (including two laminar spaulders), two laminar silver bracelets, a V-shaped silver belt with engraved details that look like a pair of evil eyes, and a fishtail-shaped, laminar/scale-armoured purple loincloth. While the armour blends in with a studded silver collar (which is actually part of the neck extension), the wrist guards show several barnacles and seashells stuck to their surfaces

Traark's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Traark possesses the ability to swim at super-fast speeds as well as to make powerful, self-propelled leaps out of the water and to glide for considerable distances above the surface using his long wing-like arm fins. So, the figure comes with a water-looking, articulated posing stand with a sort of clamp for his tail, which allows Traark to be displayed in a few different swimming or gliding poses.

Finally, thanks to the articulated lower jaw, this evil creature's menacing mouth can swing open and snap shut to inflict lethal bites to his foes. In addition, similarly to his Foundation counterpart, Traark has the bizarre ability to shoot a hail of sharp teeth out of his mouth. The figure includes the same cluster of eight "flying" fangs that came with the old version. Each tooth has a cool shark-like triangular, saw-edged shape and is held up by a slender clear curl of "air"; these air streams converge toward a pin that plugs into the open mouth tightly. The effect suggests that those teeth thrown by Traark are immediately replaced by a new set that has grown from the tooth-whorl inside his mouth.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the posing stand and throwing fangs attachment, Traark comes with a badass double-barrelled torpedo launcher. This metallic purple shotgun has an over-and-under configuration, i.e., the two barrels are arranged vertically, and the muzzle of each barrel looks like a little shark head with the tip of the silver warhead protruding from the open mouth.

Furthermore, the package includes one of Traark's telepathically-controlled creatures. This powerful monster resembles a mosasaur and is characterised by a bumpy dark-red skin and a body shape similar to that of a monitor lizard, although it is more elongated and streamlined for swimming; its paddles are formed by webbing between its long clawed fingers and toes, while its tail is broad and has small, crescent-shaped shark-like flukes on the end. The creature features minimal articulation (neck and tail only) and even wears a tech-mech copper covering, which encloses its body for protection in battle (leaving the head, limbs and tail free) and has a dorsal crest running the length of the back plate.

Final thoughts
Overall: so yeah, Traark wins big for me here. I love everything about the concept of the character and his two different forms over the years. While it all started with the Foundation legged version, which will carry a soft spot with me forever, I would consider this Emergence merman figure the perfect take on him for me. This is a fun figure, and while some of the variants in this line don’t appeal to me on the same level as their Foundation counterparts, I am very happy overall with Traark
Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Emergence Review #17: Ir-Ash (Emergence Edition)

Toy prototype details
Name: Ir-Ash^TM (Emergence Edition), aka Apprentice-Warlord Ir-Ash
Subtitle: sinister-looking mentee
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure - Nº 14 in the line.

Character details
Name: Ir-Ash

Classification: primivod mammal
Sex: male

Relationships: Demo-Rha’s lover
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Unnamed Clan (formerly belonging to the Theriom faction)
Rank: service warrior.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #1 - The cradle of evil
Brief bio: King Li-Khon^TM's and Queen Par-Sya^TM's firstborn son and heir to the throne of Tahron, Ir-Ash undertook an unremarkable military career and became enraged by his father's decision to transform the kingdom into a democratic republic. Inflamed with hatred against his brother Tir-Hing, who had first proposed to allow the people of Tahron to choose their ruler, he was subsequently banished from the Amhalgaard^TM family. Possessed by a choleric and vengeful nature, Ir-Ash became an outcast and revenged his debarment by kidnapping his brother's children. He travelled Tahron seeking alliance with his former enemies and was almost killed by Loghar after being rejected by the Rexodon army. Demo-Rha, who had fled Theriom City together with Ir-Ash, saved his life by magically infusing him with the latent strength, endurance and cleverness of the young Herrion. Eventually being welcomed by Lor-Drek's Unnamed Clan, Ir-Ash learnt of ancient fighting techniques and came to realise that to ever take vengeance upon the Therioms, he would have to seize power for himself. Several years later, his life was once again saved by evil magic when Sphenorat merged him with the bloodthirsty, zombie-like creature Shaurus^TM, thus transforming him into a monstrous form. After setting up his headquarters in a decommissioned military shipyard previously built by the Therioms, Ir-Ash, now known as Deptilion, gathered an army of fellow outcasts and led them into battle against both his brother's and the reptilian forces, swearing to establish his rule and endeavouring to dominate Tahron.

Articulation
Standard.

Description

Head: predominantly ursine (even if he's a primivod, a fictional anthropomorphic marsupial), characterised by burnt, reddened skin, three yellowish bony sagittal crests protruding from his scalp, a subtly pointy ear on the right side, a pair of bloodshot blue eyes with reddish pupils, and a large nose. While there is some thick middle brown sculpted fur on the head and chin on the right side, in some spots, especially on the left half of his face, the flesh is worn-out and the charred skull underneath is visible (it definitely gives off a Mimashi from Steel Jeeg or Two-Face vibe). Displaying his brow furrowed and his mouth wide open in a dastardly grin (exposing his four massive, sharp yellowish fangs) gives his face an overall menacing expression

Body: burnt, reddened skin (which is wrapped in ecru bandages here and there), hands and feet with long dark-grey claws. In some spots, especially on the left side of his body, the flesh is worn-out and the seared, blackened bones underneath are visible

Wearables: a golden-yellow armour with red details (including a triangular gemstone at the centre of the breast plate and two gold-studded leather-fringe shoulder pads), two studded black leather wrist bands on the left arm, a black leather fingerless (except for the thumb) glove and an ornamented golden-yellow wrist guard on the right arm, two black cross-strap leather toeless socks with dual-layered, ornamented golden-yellow greaves (including a pair of knee guards), a studded golden-yellow tasset belt (whose buckle is shaped like the Unnamed Clan insignia, i.e., a snake emerging from an upright, spirally coiled conic shell), and a Roman-style skirt made of golden-studded red leather lappets. All the two-tone golden yellow items in his outfit have a heavily tarnished, worn out quality and some of them look like they used to show embossed (on the knee guards) or engraved (on the wrist guard) Theriom emblems that have eventually been scraped away. His armour is embellished with motifs, such as an embossed star design around the neck and a set of eight small red leather straps holding the gem at the centre of the breast plate, that are reminiscent of the Theriom and the Destructomorph emblems, respectively.

Ir-Ash's stylised armour.

Action feature

To recreate the scene of the Emergence comics in which Ir-Ash finds his flesh consumed by fire after being attacked by Loghar, the package comes with a number of pieces for modifying the Enmity version of this character. There is an alternate portrait, which depicts his flaming head, as well as a burning version of his armour and eight flame attachments for his limbs (one for each upper arm, forearm, thigh and lower leg). The portrait is definitely one of the coolest headsculpts ever in a KR line and I'm just absolutely loving it; the mouth is wide open as if full of anguish, the flames are translucent, and the visible reddened right eye is terrifying! This is probably how I'm going to display the old figure most of the time.

Weapons and accessories

In the Emergence comics, Ir-Ash is depicted as a skilful flail-fighter. So, apart from his many flaming pieces, the figure comes with a one-handed flail consisting of three striking heads attached to a wooden haft by three short flexible ropes (or maybe straps). This weapon has a red leather strip wrapped around the handle for a more comfortable grip, and features variously shaped steel anti-personnel projections embedded in the three cylindrical wooden striking ends (namely eight knife-edged flanges, six flanges combined with a pointed tip at the top of the head, and a number of spiked studs, respectively), making it capable of penetrating the enemies' armours with no problem.

Furthermore, Ir-Ash includes a hood and a tattered cloak, both seemingly made of a coarse dark brown fabric. The hood is a new piece that sits over the head naturally, while the cloak is reused from Horizon Denortos, but it's pretty much perfect as it fits him well.
Lastly, the package comes with two nice little bonuses: a lifepod-like silver and black crib that holds a (non-removable) toddler version of Desion, and an extra Deptilion head based on the art of the very first KR comic issue The hidden halberd. My go-to Deptilion head is still the one from the original prototype, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love this one - apart from wearing a deep purple helmet, its distinctive features (longer crooked teeth, larger eyes, complete lack of symmetry in the horn department and lots of shading, especially thanks to a darker wash on his exposed bones than the standard figure) really make for one of the creepiest depictions of Deptilion around. It’s that cool.

Final thoughts
Overall: Ir-Ash turned out to be a great figure thanks to his delightfully creepy look and incredible set of accessories, especially those alternate flaming and Deptilion heads. This is one of the more exciting prototypes of the year as I have wanted a burning/burnt version of Ir-Ash for some time. It's nice to see some unique, strong entries like this in the series and while the KR|Emergence toyline is mostly focused on variants of secondary characters, Ir-Ash gives me hope that there's still a lot of freshness left in it

Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5