Toy prototype details
Name: TraarkTM (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Standard down to the waist, plus a hinged lower jaw and a ball jointed extra neck piece; his lower body has been replaced by a "fishtail" piece with articulation in three parts.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
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
Name: TraarkTM (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
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
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| 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.
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
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