KR|Emergence Review #22: Nibeon (Emergence Edition)

Toy prototype details
Name: Nibeon^TM (Emergence Edition), aka Short-Tusked Nibeon
Subtitle: proboscidean warrior
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure - Nº 19 in the line.

Character details
Name: Nibeon
Classification: proboscidean mammal
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Rexodon (formerly belonging to the Independent Warriors group)
Rank: captain.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #3 - The war of all against all: Part II – Rise
Brief bio: originally one of the bravest Independent Warriors led by Bellius^TM, Nibeon was lured by Bi-Harr with promises of renown and fortune, and eventually brainwashed to become an evil soldier of the Rexodon military. His skills as a tactician were quickly recognised by the reptilian general, and his genius use of technology in combat helped him rise rapidly to the rank of captain. Armed with a custom-made cybernetic face mask of his own design, he was endowed with both amazing sight powers and a pair of menacing laser scourges projecting from his tusks, which he could use for attacking his foes and breaking through solid barriers. Although Nibeon was feared by the Therioms for his abilities to fight back with his enormous trunk and energy tusks while defending the Rexodon headquarters from outside threats, he eventually suffered a severe injury to his eyes after a battle against the brave Koptros.

Articulation
Standard, with the addition of a trunk, which is a solid piece with a swivel joint at its base.

Description
Head: similar to a mammoth, characterised by a fine covering of grey-brown hair, a long, properly ridged muscular trunk decorated with two cyber looking silver rings, two little beady eyes resting under heavy brows, and two very short tusks ending in turbine-shaped orange copper nozzles. His ears are relatively small compared to those of an elephant (although they're slightly longer and pointier than those of his Foundation counterpart) and are adorned with lots of jewellery - from simple studs and rings near the tips to fairly big gauges at the bottom of the lobes. He also wears a permanently attached orange technological skull cap as well as an external steel removable mask, which covers his face entirely (roofing the trunk and the tusks partially) and features three curved, pointed orange copper horns (one on the forehead, and two on the sides supporting two large laminar steel ear "shields") and evil looking glossy blue goggles. There are a LOT of details on this mask, including three orange stripes in the ear screens, double rows of rivets down the middle of the face, and a few yellow glowing indicator lights

Body: he exhibits the bulkier sculpt that has previously been used for other figures such as Grabtrak and his limbs are equipped with a "woolly" coat of long grey-brown hair as well as massive hands and feet. Each arm bears a cyber looking silver armband that is similar to the rings on his trunk

Wearables: an orange harness with silver details (including a pair of huge disc-shaped studded shoulder armours, whose design resembles the turbine looking nozzles on his tusks and, like the mask, are a bit reminiscent of Kinnikuman Akuma Shogun's outfit), two laminar orange copper wrist guards with knuckle protectors (the left one is accompanied by a fingerless orange glove), two cyber looking, armoured orange boots (each with the typical broad, circular shape of an elephant foot as well as a diamond-shaped studded silver knee guard), an orange belt made of square copper plates laced together (with a buckle bearing the Rexodon emblem, i.e., a red reptile skull, and a loop on the side for stowing his weapon), and tech looking, laminar silver plate armour covering his groin, hips and tailbone. While the front part of the harness looks like a stylised representation of an elephant's head (but I might be wrong), the boots appear to be reinforced with electronics and pistons to help support and move his massive frame. He also carries a techno-backpack, which shows some cool machinery and electronics details such as a cylinder and pressure gauge, a side-compartment with an integrated turbine-shaped device, a small computer, and a pair of orange pliable tubes that emerge from a riveted hatch on the top and can be plugged into the removable mask, supposedly for transmitting power to and control his tusks (more on this later).

Nibeon's stylised harness.

Action feature
In the comics, Nibeon normally walks around with his short bony tusks, but when he wears his mask and gets battle-ready, the two teeth elongate by producing curved, pointed laser structures from their nozzles. So, since his entire gimmick is based around these laser tusks, the figure fittingly comes with two pairs of those projections, which are cast in a beautiful frosty, semi-translucent blue plastic and are interchangeable. This means that you can place one pair in front (into the sockets on his tusks after removing the two small nozzles) and store the pair not in use in back (they plug into two ports at the base of the backpack), and you get to have an option as to how you want him portrayed. The shorter laser tusks are accurate to the Emergence comic books, while the (much) longer ones are more along the lines of the Foundation toy (those tusks were entirely made of ivory and had some kind of rotating gimmick that allowed him to trap a foe in them). These laser tusks are made very well: there’s no danger of breaking off their pegs, they're easy to plug in and out, and they can also rotate while plugged in for additional posing options.

Weapons and accessories
In addition to the removable mask and the tusks' laser attachments, Nibeon includes a double-headed mace, whose fairly long handle is made of greyish wood and has two large white, pearlescent tusks nailed to the top. It fits securely in Nibeon's right hand and does feature an orange paint app on a leather strip that is wrapped around the handle for a more comfortable grip. The upper end of each tusk carries a steel mace head equipped with an appropriately formed orange copper extra part mounted to it. One mace head is essentially a studded sphere with a short spike on the top, and bears a copper axe blade with the cutting edge parallel to the weapon's handle. The other mace head is a type of war hammer that has a long, slightly downward-curved copper spike on the reverse of the hammer head. Many parts of this weapon are intricately carved with runic patterns, and a short side handle at a right angle to the main shaft allows the accessory to be stored into Nibeon's belt.
Additionally, the figure comes with a pair of golden hinged shears that is fictionally a hydraulically powered apparatus designed to rapidly cut through metal. In the Emergence comics, this weapon is used by Magda-Lyn to fight against the robotic Rexodon Troopers during the attack on Theriom City, and works best when held by her Enmity body combined with an included new head that is identical to her Foundation portrait without the ivory tiara and the golden earrings.

Comic
Together with the action figure we get the third and final comic issue The war of all against all: Part II – Rise. The Therioms are celebrating Tahron's transition from a monarchy to a republican form of government after a referendum. During the celebrations, a huge army of Rexodon Troopers invades Theriom City. Khronodon and Nibeon kidnap Koptros, and Xonedar immediately organises a rescue operation in Rokang Tar, where the evil robotic troopers are produced in masses. Although the other Therioms defend the official residence courageously, nothing seems to be able to damage the troopers, even powerful weapons can't destroy them. However, Koptros uncovers their weak spot - they explode when they are exposed to intense microwave radiation. This was also the reason why Bi-Harr wanted to abduct him - with his vast technical knowledge, he's the only person who can make the troopers invincible. Despite being forced to work for his kidnappers, Koptros succeeds in secretly warning his allies. Now that they know how to defeat the troopers, the good guys at Theriom City and at Rokang Tar wreak havoc amongst the enemy forces. Still, new robots are continuously produced, faster than they can be beaten, and the only chance is to destroy their source, a mission that is successfully accomplished by Xonedar. Meanwhile, an Unnamed Clan squad led by Sphenorat and Ophidok also arrive at the battlefield, and attempt to free their companions, who were previously captured by Bi-Harr's minions. Fai-Rha encounters her father Tir-Hing, but a mind-projection of the Deity interrupts the fight and convinces the young girl to leave the reptilian forces and side with the mammalian people. While Ir-Ash and Demo-Rha deal with Shaurus, Khronodon gets the chance to present all his mystical powers before he's knocked out by Ophidok. At the end of the battle, all the warriors use the confusion to their advantage for rescuing their fellow soldiers and fleeing Rokang Tar.

Overall, after the Rexodons have already failed to beat the Therioms several times, Bi-Harr tries something new here - a pure mass assault. That's quite innovative for the surgical strike-driven world of Tahron. The pictures in which you can see the robotic troopers coming out of the factory are best - very gloomy.

Final thoughts
Overall: while I was anticipating Nibeon, I wasn’t sure how much he’d actually impress me upon arrival. After having him for a few days and writing this review, I can say that he turned out very well and I’m definitely happy to have him on my shelf proudly with my other KR|Emergence characters. The attention to detail in his sculpt, the colours used and applied, and his humongous size really made this a fantastic and certainly unique figure. Unavoidably, those huge disks on his shoulders do inhibit his motion there, but I don’t think there’s any way getting around that specific design element
Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5