Toy prototype details
Name: OphidokTM
Subtitle: minacious warlock and mad scientist
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure (dual figure) - Nº 16 in the line.
Character details
Name: Ophidok
Classification: mutant lepidosauromorph reptile
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Unnamed Clan
Rank: craftsman and surgeon.
Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #2 - The war of all against all: Part I – Breach
Brief bio: a sinister reptilian magic-user and bio-terrorist, Ophidok was feared for his horrific experiments he conducted across Tahron despite his apparent bumbling clumsiness. After presenting an account of his evil accomplishments to Bi-Harr, he was established as the Reptonoid's top scientist alongside his fellow technomage Khronodon. While creating many devastating machines for the evil reptilian troops, Ophidok secretly acquired some of the enchanted toadstools that grew on the slopes of Mount AtubionTM. With the miraculous fungus, he developed a type of potion that he believed would effectively increase his brainpower and magical abilities even further. Instead, after injecting himself with the highly potent serum, Ophidok transformed into a monstrous behemoth, the living personification of his evil personality, fuelled by pure physical strength rather than intellect. His metamorphosis complete, he destroyed the lab and the surrounding area in Rokang Tar, killing several soldiers and injuring Bi-Harr. After reverting to his normal appearance, Ophidok became a fugitive from the Reptonoids and Bi-Harr, who aimed at weaponizing his hulking form. Years later, he was approached by Lor-Drek, who gave him the opportunity to join the newly formed Unnamed Clan as a craftsman and a surgeon. Relentlessly dedicated to his craft, Ophidok helped build new horrible devices to threaten both the Rexodon and the Theriom armies. When he fought Khronodon, he once again made use of his power to grow to an enormous ogre-like size thanks to the potion, and with his enchanted strength he nearly defeated his opponent in battle. At the end, Khronodon outsmarted him and Ophidok was forced to surrender to his deadly fate.
Name: OphidokTM
Subtitle: minacious warlock and mad scientist
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure (dual figure) - Nº 16 in the line.
Character details
Name: Ophidok
Classification: mutant lepidosauromorph reptile
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Unnamed Clan
Rank: craftsman and surgeon.
Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #2 - The war of all against all: Part I – Breach
Brief bio: a sinister reptilian magic-user and bio-terrorist, Ophidok was feared for his horrific experiments he conducted across Tahron despite his apparent bumbling clumsiness. After presenting an account of his evil accomplishments to Bi-Harr, he was established as the Reptonoid's top scientist alongside his fellow technomage Khronodon. While creating many devastating machines for the evil reptilian troops, Ophidok secretly acquired some of the enchanted toadstools that grew on the slopes of Mount AtubionTM. With the miraculous fungus, he developed a type of potion that he believed would effectively increase his brainpower and magical abilities even further. Instead, after injecting himself with the highly potent serum, Ophidok transformed into a monstrous behemoth, the living personification of his evil personality, fuelled by pure physical strength rather than intellect. His metamorphosis complete, he destroyed the lab and the surrounding area in Rokang Tar, killing several soldiers and injuring Bi-Harr. After reverting to his normal appearance, Ophidok became a fugitive from the Reptonoids and Bi-Harr, who aimed at weaponizing his hulking form. Years later, he was approached by Lor-Drek, who gave him the opportunity to join the newly formed Unnamed Clan as a craftsman and a surgeon. Relentlessly dedicated to his craft, Ophidok helped build new horrible devices to threaten both the Rexodon and the Theriom armies. When he fought Khronodon, he once again made use of his power to grow to an enormous ogre-like size thanks to the potion, and with his enchanted strength he nearly defeated his opponent in battle. At the end, Khronodon outsmarted him and Ophidok was forced to surrender to his deadly fate.
Associated SpawnCrystal
Name: Matter Prism
Shape: triangular bipyramid (slightly elongated)
Colour: red
Corresponding element: fire
Powers and capabilities: altering stamina and endurance
Creator: Multiversal Balancer RamedrasTM
History: after the impact of a meteor had devastated the Earth environment, mainly through a lingering impact winter that triggered an ecological collapse and a subsequent mass extinction event, Ramedras transmuted the Matter Prism into an enchanted spark and sent it to the land which became known as Tahron, aiming at creating a mass transformation process that would restore the original potential of the entire planet's biological evolution. The spark landed on Mount Atubion, transforming the large steep hill into an active volcano, whose erupted ashes and weathered rocky slopes produced some of the most fertile soil on Tahron. Being extremely rich in nutrients, the volcanic soil allowed a fungus-like bacterial colony to generate a mass of fine, branching filaments that grew into an enormous sentient network of nerve-like threads capable of transferring vital faculties to other living beings at risk of extinction. The fungus eventually started to produce poisonous fruiting bodies, whose healing and magical properties soon played a role in various tribal medicine traditions all around the volcanic region. Having the ability to manipulate the essence of a user, and control life and death to a certain extent, the mushroom's traditional use as a sacrament in rituals aimed at mental and physical healing was practised by a number of wizards, shamans and warriors in Tahron's history, including Ki-Shudan, Dakun and Moh-Qi. During the Reptonoid hegemony, Bi-Harr tasked Ophidok to find the mystical mushroom, as there was little record of its existence compared to the other relics that were connected to the legendary SpawnCrystals. Ophidok managed to steal a map belonging to Ki-Shudan and leading to Mount Atubion, on the slopes of which the miraculous fungus flourished. However, the mad scientist chose to destroy the map and not to tell Bi-Harr, and instead reached the location by himself, where he encountered and fought the Lava Sentinels, creatures forged by the Multiversal Balancers to guard the volcano and the magical spark that powered it. Having succeeded in acquiring some of the enchanted toadstools, Ophidok extracted an indigo-coloured potion from them, which allowed him to transform into a large monster with enhanced fighting skills. After the Reptonoid army had split into two factions, the evil warlock was recruited by Lor-Drek, and hid a flask containing the last remaining potion in a cold store deep inside Artelon, to prevent the Rexodons from retrieving the powerful preparation. During the final battle with his former fellow technomage Khronodon, Ophidok used the potent serum to overcome his rival, but the Rexodon occultist successfully extracted the essence of the Matter Prism from his opponent's body and produced the red shards.
Articulation
Name: Matter Prism
Shape: triangular bipyramid (slightly elongated)
Colour: red
Corresponding element: fire
Powers and capabilities: altering stamina and endurance
Creator: Multiversal Balancer RamedrasTM
History: after the impact of a meteor had devastated the Earth environment, mainly through a lingering impact winter that triggered an ecological collapse and a subsequent mass extinction event, Ramedras transmuted the Matter Prism into an enchanted spark and sent it to the land which became known as Tahron, aiming at creating a mass transformation process that would restore the original potential of the entire planet's biological evolution. The spark landed on Mount Atubion, transforming the large steep hill into an active volcano, whose erupted ashes and weathered rocky slopes produced some of the most fertile soil on Tahron. Being extremely rich in nutrients, the volcanic soil allowed a fungus-like bacterial colony to generate a mass of fine, branching filaments that grew into an enormous sentient network of nerve-like threads capable of transferring vital faculties to other living beings at risk of extinction. The fungus eventually started to produce poisonous fruiting bodies, whose healing and magical properties soon played a role in various tribal medicine traditions all around the volcanic region. Having the ability to manipulate the essence of a user, and control life and death to a certain extent, the mushroom's traditional use as a sacrament in rituals aimed at mental and physical healing was practised by a number of wizards, shamans and warriors in Tahron's history, including Ki-Shudan, Dakun and Moh-Qi. During the Reptonoid hegemony, Bi-Harr tasked Ophidok to find the mystical mushroom, as there was little record of its existence compared to the other relics that were connected to the legendary SpawnCrystals. Ophidok managed to steal a map belonging to Ki-Shudan and leading to Mount Atubion, on the slopes of which the miraculous fungus flourished. However, the mad scientist chose to destroy the map and not to tell Bi-Harr, and instead reached the location by himself, where he encountered and fought the Lava Sentinels, creatures forged by the Multiversal Balancers to guard the volcano and the magical spark that powered it. Having succeeded in acquiring some of the enchanted toadstools, Ophidok extracted an indigo-coloured potion from them, which allowed him to transform into a large monster with enhanced fighting skills. After the Reptonoid army had split into two factions, the evil warlock was recruited by Lor-Drek, and hid a flask containing the last remaining potion in a cold store deep inside Artelon, to prevent the Rexodons from retrieving the powerful preparation. During the final battle with his former fellow technomage Khronodon, Ophidok used the potent serum to overcome his rival, but the Rexodon occultist successfully extracted the essence of the Matter Prism from his opponent's body and produced the red shards.
Articulation
Ophidok's articulation scheme differs from the standard one significantly and is the following:
- neck (ball jointed)
- shoulder (ball hinged, x2)
- elbow (ball hinged, x2)
- wrist (swivel + hinged -for left wrist front-to-back movement and right wrist side-to-side movement-, x2)
- mid-torso (ball jointed -underneath the lab coat-)
- hip (hinged, x2)
- knee (swivel, x2)
- ankle (double hinged -for both front-to-back and rocking movements-, x2)
Description
- neck (ball jointed)
- shoulder (ball hinged, x2)
- elbow (ball hinged, x2)
- wrist (swivel + hinged -for left wrist front-to-back movement and right wrist side-to-side movement-, x2)
- mid-torso (ball jointed -underneath the lab coat-)
- hip (hinged, x2)
- knee (swivel, x2)
- ankle (double hinged -for both front-to-back and rocking movements-, x2)
Description
Head: similar to a Coelophysis (although he's supposed to be an anthropomorphic snake and not a dinosaur), characterised by light-orange skin, a narrow, elongated scaly snout, a pair of large, forward-facing solid blue eyes, and very distinct moustache-like greenish markings above the slightly open mouth (which reveals two visible worn out whitish fangs and a long forked tongue). He wears a white lab safety cap on the back of his head, which seemingly covers a greenish furry hood
Body: shorter than most characters (only 12 cm, almost 5"), bulky, hunched over and mostly covered by a lab coat. While each hand has four digits, his legs end in three-toed scaly light-orange feet, each displaying an additional raised toe on the back, large dark-grey claws and a greenish furry instep. A long, thin pointy tail (whose end is kinda shaped like a snake's head) emerges from under his coat
Body: shorter than most characters (only 12 cm, almost 5"), bulky, hunched over and mostly covered by a lab coat. While each hand has four digits, his legs end in three-toed scaly light-orange feet, each displaying an additional raised toe on the back, large dark-grey claws and a greenish furry instep. A long, thin pointy tail (whose end is kinda shaped like a snake's head) emerges from under his coat
Wearables: a knee-length, loose-fitting white lab coat with buttons down the front (seemingly unfastened in the lower part, to allow for leg movement) and three deep pockets (the top left pocket bears an Unnamed Clan embroidered badge and stores a little silver tool), two purple disposable gloves, and two metallic purple shin guards.
Action feature
In the comics, Ophidok uses vials of potion mounted to a shoulder armour of his own devising, to increase his powers and to transform into a large, hulking rage-fuelled brute. In this form, he exhibits great levels of endurance, stamina and aggression as well as outstanding physical strength and combat abilities. So, included with the minacious warlock and mad scientist is an additional metallic purple harness with two shoulder-mounted vials of indigo-coloured potion as well as his post-transformation alter ego - a huge monstrous creature. This figure is nearly 23 cm (around 9") tall, which is in the same scale as Mor-Rak's, Al-Mih-Tek's and Khronodon's enhanced forms, and has as much articulation as the standard figure. His head, which sits on a muscular neck, is similar to a Carnotaurus and is characterised by a moderately short and broad scaly snout, dark-orange skin, large pointy ears (wearing silver earrings, and pointing outward and downward), solid yellow-green eyes, jaws lined with long, slender whitish teeth, and a prominent pair of goat-like dark-grey horns protruding obliquely above the eyes. He also possesses a thick greenish mane that is spread out to display an elaborate ruff of elongated blueish feathers, which usually lie folded back against his neck and, similarly to a frilled lizard and a red-fan parrot, greatly increase his face's apparent size when erected. I like that the shape of this frill somehow reminds me of both a cobra hood and the wing-like pectoral fins of a ray, and I also like that the horns are articulated with a swivel in the middle, so you can have them go in various directions. His skin shows a mosaic of large, non-overlapping dark-orange scales, while the hunch of his back is covered in bony bumps and his chest sports a mandala-like tattoo. Similarly to a Kentrosaurus, he has a double row of pointed bony plates running down his back (thanks to the use of a neck-extension/hunchback/spine-ridge/tail piece), which gradually develops into a series of elongated spikes on the articulated tail (featuring two swivels at about one-third and two-thirds of its length). The longest spikes are on the tail end, but there is also a long spike on each shoulder, several spines projecting from the sides of the frill, three curved spikes emerging from the breastbone, a pair of curved elbow spikes, and two pairs of sharp spiny fins extending from the back of the forearms and of the lower legs. His limbs end with four-digit hands and feet bearing massive sharp dark-grey claws and talons (three of which point forward and one goes backward in each bird-like foot). Each knee is bent to accommodate the foot portion with the heel section high up, while each foot has a lighter colour, imbricate scales, and a greenish furry instep. Apart from a few shreds of the white lab coat here and there (mainly around the shoulders, the left arm and the waist), he wears a metallic purple collar (derived from the shoulder armour), a silver armband on the right arm and a silver knee guard on the left leg, two narrow spiked metallic purple bracelets, two metallic purple anklets (derived from the shin guards), a purple leather belt with a snake skull-shaped silver buckle and a silver sheath, and a diagonal-cut purple fabric skirt complete with an asymmetric purple furry flap folded over the top as well as an ornamented silver hem. All the metallic purple elements have glitter added to the paint, while all the silver elements show a white colour with a grey tinge that mimics a tarnished appearance.
Weapons and accessories
Apart from the shoulder armour and his enhanced form, Ophidok comes with three red shards symbolising the essence of the Matter Prism, as well as a pair of items that are also related to the SpawnCrystals: a flask containing the indigo-coloured potion extracted from the enchanted fungus, and the box-shaped, silver-coloured (with a dark sheen) piece of Cereutian technology created by Galamars. While the former gives Ophidok the power to transform, the latter was used by him to build Lor-Drek's artificial wings and powered suit.
Apart from the shoulder armour and his enhanced form, Ophidok comes with three red shards symbolising the essence of the Matter Prism, as well as a pair of items that are also related to the SpawnCrystals: a flask containing the indigo-coloured potion extracted from the enchanted fungus, and the box-shaped, silver-coloured (with a dark sheen) piece of Cereutian technology created by Galamars. While the former gives Ophidok the power to transform, the latter was used by him to build Lor-Drek's artificial wings and powered suit.
Moreover, the basic figure is loaded with an assortment of vac-metallised chrome surgical instruments such as a large scalpel, a pair of forceps, a cranial drill, an endoscope (whose slender, tubular part is made from black pliable rubber) and a surgical stapler. Not only are all the instruments a nice addition for this set, some of them (like the drill) are unique enough that they could also be used as mechanical tools.
Ophidok's enhanced form comes with two accessories as well: a double urumi in both its retracted and extended forms. The retracted version is just a snake-shaped tarnished silver (i.e., white with a grey tinge) hilt that fits in the belt sheath, while the extended version has two seemingly flexible, whip-like shiny steel sword blades (with barbed tips) projecting from the two ends of the hilt. There were rumours of the inclusion of either a white soft goods cape derived from the lab coat or a pair of dragon wings created by the transformation process, but neither item was added to the box contents.
Finally, a new head/portrait for Par-Sya is included. It is supposed to represent the older, ill looking version of the queen of Tahron that appears in the Emergence comics. Indeed, she has more detail and lines that have been integrated with an awesome paint job, while the expression of the face is one that’s full of sadness and sorrow. What I especially like about this extra head is that the sculpted golden tiara is different from the original one and features a three-leaved pattern similar to a fleur-de-lis (⚜, the emblem of her family), which is formed of two leaves extending from between her eyes out (like two eyebrows) and one elaborate vertical leaf. The head is accompanied by a purple&gold urn used for storing Par-Sya's ashes and placed on a limestone base with an ornamented funerary stele, which is an artefact shown in the Foundation comic books.
Final thoughts
Overall: when it comes to this set, I can’t find anything to complain about. The sculpt, articulation and design of both figures are all first-rate and the enhanced form has potential appeal even for non-KR fans. Ophidok is a perfect example of what I love about Key Raiders. He’s an immense new character from the Emergence series that’s been effortlessly folded into the KR canon. I didn’t even know I wanted him until they unveiled his prototype. I love that PoliganToys has the freedom to give us these opportunities, and I hope it continues long into the future
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5
Final thoughts
Overall: when it comes to this set, I can’t find anything to complain about. The sculpt, articulation and design of both figures are all first-rate and the enhanced form has potential appeal even for non-KR fans. Ophidok is a perfect example of what I love about Key Raiders. He’s an immense new character from the Emergence series that’s been effortlessly folded into the KR canon. I didn’t even know I wanted him until they unveiled his prototype. I love that PoliganToys has the freedom to give us these opportunities, and I hope it continues long into the future
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5
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