Toy prototype details
Name: Bogthropod EnsignsTM
Subtitle: enslaved standard-bearers of evil
Line: KR|Echoes of Future
Item type: multi-pack (2-pack) - Nº 9 in the line.
Characters details
Names: unknown
Real names: Rhadiel and Herrion AmhalgaardTM
Classification: human-primivod hybrids
Sex: female and male
Relationships: lost siblings of Desion (Masq-Lor)
Home: Cereutis (originally Tahron)
Era: 25 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Bogthropod
Rank: ensigns.
Background
First appearance: KR|Echoes of Future #3 - The unforeseen fall of destiny
Character summary: two mysterious warriors who led the Bogthropod legion during its final attack on Theriom City. Silent and devastatingly powerful, they fought with brutal strength, proving to be a major challenge even for the four protectors of the Key opposing them. Their helmets bore an uncanny resemblance to those of Fai-Rha and Herrion, hinting at a connection no one could yet explain. Their identities were eventually revealed when their masks were removed, exposing the tragic truth that they were none other than Masq-Lor's lost siblings from another timeline, aged and stripped of their former selves through brainwashing and enslavement. Turned into living weapons as part of Gladorr's plan to manipulate history, the two Ensigns had become twisted shadows of the heroes they once were. Their final defeat not only triggered the horrifying end of their existence, but ultimately became the catalyst for Gladorr's dreadful resurgence.
Articulation
Standard (new scheme), with the addition of an appendage composed of 12 ball jointed segments and a terminal pair of hinged jaws for the female figure, and a pair of ball hinged appendages for the male figure.
Description
Heads: the two figures wear silver helmets identical in shape to Fai-Rha's and Herrion's helmets, but each is also equipped with a full-face blueish-grey steel mask. Over each face mask sits an additional cracked, dark-grey eye mask (or visor) with a vaguely organic appearance and a sinister design—two large skull-like eye sockets that seem almost completely black and hollow contain a pair of small, eerie white eyes (tinged faintly with light blue) gleaming from deep within, while two massive side pieces curve downward like a bighorn ram's horns and two shorter, straighter pieces protrude from the centre of the forehead resembling those of a bighorn ewe (the overall aesthetic of these eye masks gives me some MCU's Proxima Midnight as well as Masters of the Universe Revolution's Havoc Sorceress Teela vibes). Each full-face mask also features a fanged air intake covering the mouth area, along with a pair of short, curved tusks protruding from the cheeks
Bodies: covered from neck to toe in armour whose style, in my opinion, strongly evokes the Knights of the Zodiac. However, small gaps here and there reveal a full-body suit of light steel mesh beneath it, with a blueish-grey sheen and intricate circuitry woven throughout; along the flanks, two openings in the armour expose the same underlying details
Wearables: each figure wears several pieces of pearlescent white armour, accented throughout with angular, metallic light-blue trimmings and embellished with small exposed tech-mech elements. These pieces include a cuirass featuring a bright white structure at the centre of the chest piece (which may serve as a kind of power generator and bears a holographic four-pointed, light-blue throwing star symbol), two rerebraces (each fitted with an oversized, studded pauldron bearing a raised blueish-grey symbol resembling a trilobite, along with various battle dents), two laminar forearm guards equipped with small laser cannons, and two gauntlets with reinforced knuckle guards; the arm armour is complemented by matching thigh guards, laminar shin guards fitted with large, studded knee guards, and boots with reinforced instep guards. Additionally, two criss-crossed, studded pearlescent white belts share a common round buckle, which bears a blue gemstone carved with three vertical wavy lines; the belts are equipped with two medieval-style armoured tassets and Roman-style, studded light-blue central lappets hanging at the front. This doesn't reflect the original concept colour scheme, in which the male figure was supposed to wear entirely white armour and the female entirely light-blue armour. Honestly, though, I am much happier with the final decision to mix the two colours across both figures, as it gives the pair a more cohesive and visually balanced appearance.
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| Female Bogthropod Ensign's stylised armour. |
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| Male Bogthropod Ensign's stylised armour. |
Action feature
Both Ensigns are highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, aided by their respective seemingly organic, cybernetically-controlled grappling appendages attached to their armours. The female Ensign is armed with a long, mechanical tail consisting of a blueish-grey steel framework of multiple jointed sections (similar to Scorpion) that extends from between her shoulder blades and can whip in all directions; this cybernetic tail terminates in a pair of curved, dark-grey articulated forceps-like pincers resembling a male earwig’s cerci. The male ensign is equipped with a pair of large, articulated blueish-grey steel appendages sprouting from his upper back and arching over his shoulders, each terminating in a dark-grey endpiece shaped like a stag beetle’s mandible, which he uses to crush his opponents.
Weapons and accessories
Each figure comes with a blueish-grey steel standard bearing a Bogthropod banner (an oblong flag with an emblem consisting of a stylised dark-blue trilobite crossed by three horizontal wavy lines, set on a black field with a broad horizontal crimson band across the middle) that is attached along its top edge to a support bar mounted horizontally on a long staff. The staff is topped by a metal finial shaped like an insect head (an earwig head for the female Ensign and a beetle head for the male one). The finial is connected to a toothed chain whip normally concealed within the staff: when triggered, the finial deploys an arrangement of three upper spikes (like a trident) and two lateral axe blades, and can be launched outward on the chain whip, which extends from the staff and is fitted with short spikes along its sides. So, the finial on each standard can be detached and replaced with an alternate version featuring the spikes and blades deployed (vaguely resembling the warriors' horned masks), designed to appear airborne while connected to the staff by the toothed chain whip; the chain whip, which is a wavy rigid piece, can also be removed, allowing the alternate finial to attach directly to the staff.
In addition, although these abilities are only depicted fleetingly in the comics, the female Ensign can modify the shape of her pincers to resemble those of a female earwig, while the male Ensign can produce two additional pairs of curved, spiked bars from his mid and lower back (in that configuration, he reminds me of Crushman from Kinnikuman), making their attacks even more vicious. So, the two figures come with an alternate pair of needle-nose pliers-like cerci, and two pairs of additional appendages, respectively.
Finally, the package also includes two pairs of alternate helmeted heads: one pair with damaged eye/face masks and another with the masks removed, revealing Fai-Rha’s and Herrion’s aged, decrepit faces underneath.
Final thoughts
Overall: the Bogthropod Ensigns are both really good figures and they make for a powerful 2-pack. I think I like the male figure a bit more than the female, but they’re both incredibly well-made, with excellent articulation, detailed sculpts and plentiful paint applications. The extra appendages that showcase their special abilities are fantastic too! This is a great set and well worth picking up, particularly if you’re a fan of the Bogthropod faction. PoliganToys has plans to continue the line with just a few more new characters, so it looks like we’ll be able to fill out the KR|EoF roster by the end of this year
Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5
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