KR|Emergence Review #24: Staurok (Emergence Edition)

Toy prototype details
Name: Staurok^TM (Emergence Edition), aka Metal-Prongs Staurok
Subtitle: multi-horned warrior
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure - Nº 21 in the line.

Character details
Name: Staurok
Classification: archosauromorph reptile
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Rexodon
Rank: lieutenant.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #2 - The war of all against all: Part I – Breach
Brief bio: before Bi-Harr created his reptilian army and confronted the mammalian people, a young Staurok, following his father's untimely death, became the tribal chief of his ceratopsian clan, which often conducted raids and loots in neighbouring villages. Despite supporting the Reptonoid's cause, he saw few reasons to fear the threats of the mammalian forces due to the labyrinthine corridors that surrounded and hid his hamlet from the rest of Tahron. However, one day Staurok met a young warrior named Khon-Uhr^TM trying to cross one of such pathways and challenged him to a duel, but quickly discovered the boy's agility surpassed his own speed and finally suffered a serious injury to his left eye. Eventually, after Bi-Harr's soldiers had killed two Theriom kings consecutively, the reptilian leader enlisted Staurok to track down pockets of resistance around Tahron. Over time, thanks to his dreaded crown of metal horns, Staurok proved a ruthless hunter and a fearsome foe. He remained one of Bi-Harr's most menacing lieutenants even after Lor-Drek's defection and continued to serve the Rexodons loyally, attacking their enemies again many times with his armoured battle horns and trashing whip.

Articulation
Standard, with the addition of a ball jointed extra neck piece and a hinged upper jaw.

Description
Head: similar to a Protoceratops, characterised by bumpy blueish skin with a few orange blotches, a pair of yellow eyes (one is squinting and crossed by a visible scar down the left side of his face), and a large bony neck frill at the back of his skull, which lacks well-developed horns. The hinged upper jaw allows his frontal beak to open and reveal the inside of the mouth packed with dozens of teeth. His neck extension is covered in tawny fur
Body: blueish (a blue neither light nor dark) scaly skin with orange blotches, massive Popeye-like forearms, hands terminating in huge claws, and large hoofed feet. His shoulders, forearms and calves are equipped with tawny fur (at the shoulder joints, wrists and ankles, respectively) as well as several bony protuberances covered in skin, which, where needed, project through openings in his worn items
Wearables: a dark-blue armour with golden-yellow details, two pairs of studded dark-blue bracelets (each pair is worn over a blueish-grey chain mail wrist guard that has a loop for the middle finger ending in a large serrated blueish-grey claw guard), two blueish-grey chain mail shin guards loosely wrapped in golden-yellow chains and equipped with spiked dark-blue knee guards, a dark-blue leather belt that holds a number of scale armour golden-yellow lappets as well as two golden-yellow tassets, and a blueish-grey chain mail skirt. The chest plate shows a bunch of tubes, wires and chains seemingly running to the back as well as a sort of mechanical device at its centre, while the golden-yellow back armour is adorned with a number of spikes. The belt has a large buckle bearing the Rexodon emblem, i.e., a red reptile skull, while each tasset displays a "crossed horns" insignia. His outfit is complemented by an additional piece of armour that sits on the figure's shoulders; it is formed of two layers (a blueish-grey chain mail lower layer and a worn out, golden-yellow upper layer) and is characterised by a wide keeled collar and broad shoulder guards. His legs also wear a pair of golden-yellow armoured thigh pads with a pair of leg boosters that project backwards and down from the back, and show blue-purple glowing propulsion effects.

Staurok's stylised armour (excluding shoulder guard).

Action feature
In the comics, Staurok has the ability to propel himself forwards with his powerful legs and to knock opponents or obstacles down with the giant horns sticking out of his super-hard helmet. To achieve this, a winch-like mechanism on his breast plate makes two chains wind round a rotating drum and hoists the set of spikes on his back, which then expands and swings over his head, covering the face almost completely (there are slits for the eyes and mouth). Such feature can be reproduced simply by detaching the spiked back armour (which reveals another back plate underneath with some cool hydraulics and wiring details, a sort of rail and a socket that can be disguised as a hook thanks to an included plug-in piece) and clipping an additional imposing golden-yellow helmet adorned with massive horns onto the figure's head. The helmet displays several battle dents and marks, numerous rivets and of course a rack of nine battle horns, two of which are fictionally electrified (and come with two translucent blue-purple lightning bolt attachments) and two look like missile launchers. Both his head and neck extension are on ball joints, which, apart from adding to the feel that Staurok is hunched over, gives him an extended range - he can look in all directions and, in particular, he can bend his head forward in order to crush his opponents with a head-butting action.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from his multi-pronged helmet, shoulder armour and a few extra pieces, Staurok comes with a golden-yellow trashing whip. This weapon combines a chain whip (consisting of nine metal rods, which are joined end-to-end by rings) and a flying claw (featuring a metal three-legged spider-like claw on the end of the chain). The whip has a dark-blue handle at one end, while the claw at the other end can fictionally close and open when the chain is pulled or released, and has a metal dart at its centre. Aside from being used for slashing, piercing or ensnaring a foe and throwing them off balance, the weapon also has the ability to store up large amounts of energy and then burst out in an electrocuting action, knocking down a trapped opponent. So, the figure includes a flexible translucent blue-purple electric effect that can wrap around the whip.

Final thoughts
Overall: did I have high hopes for Staurok? I don't know, he was never really a major character for me, though I had hoped that this figure would do him justice. And to an extent, it does. The sculptural details are there, everything is in the right colour and he comes with his weapon, but… each detail comes off as “okay” rather than the level of awesomeness I have gotten in other KR prototypes this year. His outfit is weird, the paint has a few problems here and there, and he doesn't include any bonus accessory. But nothing is really that terrible, just not super-super special. This makes Staurok kind of mediocre, though necessary for a full KR|Emergence collection
Rating: ☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Emergence Review #23: Cah-Mal (Emergence Edition)

Toy prototype details
Name: Cah-Mal^TM (Emergence Edition), aka Stealth-Suit Cah-Mal
Subtitle: camouflage-expert warrior
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure - Nº 20 in the line.

Character details
Name: Cah-Mal
Classification: lepidosauromorph reptile
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Unnamed Clan
Rank: petty officer.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #3 - The war of all against all: Part II – Rise
Brief bio: evolved from an ancient species of lizard-like warriors, Cah-Mal was recruited by Bi-Harr after displaying his exceptional acrobatic skills as well as the ability to stun his foes with his long quick lashing tongue and tail. Like many other reptilian soldiers, he eventually became a member of the Unnamed Clan after Lor-Drek's defection. Lacking the camouflage powers that allowed the individuals of his species to change their overall colouration and blend into the surrounding environment, Cah-Mal was given a hi-tech battle-suit by Ophidok, which enabled him to become invisible by bending light around himself, so that he could cast no shadow and produce no reflection. During the Cereutian invasion, despite his loyalty to Lor-Drek he was brainwashed by Noctylius into allying with Denortos. Defeated by the Therioms, Cah-Mal was then abandoned in the former Spektrosaur stronghold, where he patiently awaited for the next master to serve.

Articulation
Standard, with the addition of a ball jointed extra neck piece, hinged fingers and toes, and a tail, which is composed of 12 ball jointed pieces and can work as an auxiliary limb.

Description
Head: a chameleon's head-shaped helmet made of thick metal protects his entire head. The helmet is metallic black with tech-looking orange copper details (including a T-shaped bridge connecting the eyes area to the snout, three jagged sawtooth crests along the top and the sides, as well as three large horns, one protruding from his snout and two from his brow), while two dark-blue eye-lenses bulge out of the sides of it. Both his head and armoured neck extension are on ball joints, which definitively gives him a hunched over look and an extended range without hindering the movements at all. Actually, one may debate whether this is a cybernetic helmet or a freaky robotic head. It’s very obvious from the detail of the sculpt that the black portion of his head is definitely supposed to be a mask over his face as opposed to his actual face. Looking at it closely, this really does seem to be what they were going for, since the exposed bumpy, wrinkled purple-coloured underside of his head seemingly fits into the mask versus being a part of it

Body: Cah-Mal's Foundation version used to look very organic, but now he's 100% mechanical - again, whether it's a hardsuit or his actual body is up for debate. The bio clearly says that he's a lizard guy in an exoframe, but this character is such a blank slate that you can consider him mostly robotic, with just a real brain and some other organs and muscles. It's up to you. The level of detail is above what I've seen in most other prototypes in this line. Cah-Mal's got lots of orange (mostly) and black metal plates on him, and it's not any of that generic laminar-style stuff, the plates actually form the outlines of his anatomy. The surface of his suit also shows evidence of wear such as pits and scratches, while the little gaps here and there reveal a lightweight and stretchable purple fabric lining beneath the armour. He also displays an amazing curled mechanical prehensile tail attached to the base of his crested back armour

Wearables: three irregular green glowing reactor-like elements on his chest armour form a motif that is much more reminiscent of the Spektrosaur's flame insignia rather than the Unnamed Clan emblem, but I might be wrong. In any case, these are sculpted well and really pop against the metallic paint. His hands and feet are now covered by orange copper gauntlets and boots, each featuring five digits that are divided in two groups of two and three long, thick claws respectively, giving each extremity a pincers-like appearance. His gloves and boots have the same ridged look as the old prototype's wrist and shin guards, but it's just been done better here. He also wears an orange copper belt (which is inspired by the original figure's jockstrap, as is the silver buckle with the strange fanged reptile's skull insignia, mirrored on his left shoulder) and a metallic black crotch shell.

Cah-Mal's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Cah-Mal possesses powered armour that gives him a broad range of abilities and an array of weapons. The helmet has highly sensitive microphones within its ear portions, allowing Cah-Mal to hear noises and frequencies an opponent wouldn't be able to hear, while the goggles are made of anti-glare material and can detect heat sources, granting him thermal vision. It also has a built-in radio-like system to communicate with others at a distance as well as to intercept, tamper with, or silence the enemy's radio signals.

The suit's bulletproof and near-indestructible composition enhances Cah-Mal's durability significantly, making him able to withstand explosions and gunfire, as well as strikes from physically stronger opponents. However, due to the lightweight properties of the metal, the suit doesn't inhibit his spectacular acrobatic skills in the slightest. In the figure, the only elements related to his gymnastic mastery are his articulated pincers-like hands and feet, and prehensile tail.

Another prominent feature of this suit is its ability to redistribute stored energy, greatly enhancing its offensive capabilities. The armour can absorb energy from any incoming external sources such as attacks from enemies, which can be kept in reserve for later release; the suit gives off a purple glow from its accumulated energy, which Cah-Mal can use either by releasing it all at once, or to charge his strikes during combat, further augmenting the force behind them. In the figure, a colour change feature can be achieved using something warm - simply by rubbing him with a cloth that has been wet with tepid water, his armour will develop purple glowing outlines and circuit traces. In addition, the suit is outfitted to harness a powerful force field that enables Cah-Mal to bend light and turn himself invisible.
His gauntlets and boots are also characterised by a number of abilities, all well represented by beautifully sculpted details in the figure. The gauntlets contain a wrist-mounted blowtorch-like tool on the right arm and a wrist-mounted grappling line on the left one, which anchors and tethers Cah-Mal to any surface he has fired at. Moreover, he wears sound absorbing boots, enabling his footsteps to be completely masked and making it easy for him to be stealthy. The boots also have small jet attachments that can rotate in any direction and can be used to propel him through the air at great speed, though they do not allow for sustained flight but only for long leaps. Four sets of deployable steel claws embedded in the tips of the gauntlets' fingers and the boots' toes serve as his primary weapon during hand-to-hand combat. These claws are exceptionally strong and razor-sharp, and are able to cut through almost anything.
Finally, the comics show that the helmet can retract the lenses and the mouth portion, revealing Cah-Mal's eyes and snout, and allowing him to rapidly project his long sticky tongue from his mouth. Thus, the figure comes with an alternative head, which displays a partially exposed bumpy, wrinkled purple face with black dotted striping on either side, large green eyes with beady black pupils (which are articulated and can move separately from each other, fictionally to achieve an extremely wide visual field and detect enemies on the opposite sides), the slightly open mouth armed with two rows of small sharp teeth and the club-tipped tongue out (whose colour fades from green to orange-pink), as well as a small maroon crest on the underside of his chin.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the alternate head, Cah-Mal comes with a very nice looking weapon - a lizard-faced crossbow that can fit tightly on either wrist thanks to the included clip. This weapon is never shown in the comics and looks more suitable for Cah-Mal's Foundation version. It has an ebony main frame ornamented with copper inlays, whose front part bears a taxidermied fanged, orange-skinned reptile's head. A pair of strange branched dark brown wings (or fins? antlers?) attached to the lizard's temples form the limbs of the weapon. It doesn't fire anything, but it does have a sculpted bony bolt loaded, protruding from the creature's mouth.

Final thoughts
Overall: Cah-Mal doesn’t blow me away like some of this line's other recent offerings, but he’s certainly a solid effort and a worthy addition to my growing clutch of evil reptile men. He’s a unique looking figure, and I love all the new sculpting and design choices he carries. Excellent articulation, paint and accessories just combine with the sculpting to make this one of the most fun prototypes I've received this year. I put him up there with Lor-Drek as a cool update of a Foundation design, and a toy that does the original character justice by taking a departure from its previous version, and then making it look good
Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5

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-hinge 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 yellow 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

KR|Emergence Review #21: Strictya

Toy prototype details
Name: Strictya^TM
Subtitle: constricting amazon
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure - Nº 18 in the line.

Character details
Name: Strictya
Classification: lepidosauromorph reptile
Sex: female
Relationships: mother of Strictriss
Home: Tahron

Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Unnamed Clan
Rank: chief officer.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #3 - The war of all against all: Part II – Rise
Brief bio: once the member of a peaceful clan of anthropomorphic snakes that revered and worshipped a mammalian god, Strictya had a fascination with the legend of an ancient race of mystical ophidian demons. Outcast by her tribal chiefs for her sacrilege, she broke into the archives of Rokang Tar, where she learnt that centuries earlier her village was attacked by a nine-headed snake warlord and his shape-shifting minions. However, the village was saved by a valiant human warrior, who helped seal off the gate to the creature's realm and later became the clan's divinity. In a ruse to free her reptilian idols, Strictya pretended to join forces with Bi-Harr and, with the help of Sphenorat's dark magic, she acquired the staff of Mnepha, the key to summoning the mystic creatures to Tahron. She agreed to serve their fearsome master in exchange for the ability to shape-shift, but when the reptilian demon started the process to transform her and to give her the power she desired, Sphenorat, angered by her betrayal, interrupted the spell and locked the demons away again. After asking for forgiveness, a now disfigured, seven-headed Strictya pledged fealty to the Reptonoids and, thanks to her powerful serpentine appendages that could entangle and crush her foes in a lethal embrace, became a member of Bi-Harr's elite snake soldiers. Despite the interruption of the spell, she still possessed some of the skin-changing powers she had craved, powers that allowed her legs to grow into another pair of long hideous serpents with evil biting jaws. Eventually, Strictya became fascinated with Lor-Drek's audacity and decided to defect to the Unnamed Clan, where she became chief officer soon after the new army had been formed. At the same time as she stormed the mammalian enemies' territories with overwhelming terror, she fell in love with a fellow soldier and gave birth to a three-headed son who she named Strictriss. Devastated by her lover's death at the hands of the Rexodon forces, her own powers and mental health became more and more unstable, and Sphenorat finally sealed her within the same gate that held the demons she had venerated. Years later, an adult Strictriss loyally served Lor-Drek during the rise of the Spektrosaur faction, taking the same military position as his mother thanks to his ferocity in battle.

Articulation
Standard, excluding hinged abdomen, plus a hinged upper jaw, a ball jointed extra neck piece, and two additional swivel-hinged appendages ending with ball jointed heads.

Description
Head: the main, central head is similar to a Boa constrictor, characterised by an arrow shape, blueish scaly skin with yellowish striping on either side, and a mouth showing two rows of sharp, curved teeth of about the same size (no fangs). She wears a golden mask, which covers her snout completely and displays two sculpted fangs, solid orange glowing eyes and a pair of short goat-like dark-grey backward-projecting horns whose ends are shaped like rattlesnakes' tails. Both her head and muscular, darkly marked neck extension are on ball joints, which not only gives her a slightly longer neck and a hunched over look, but also an extended range without hindering the movements at all
Body: blueish skin patterned with yellowish "saddles" (i.e., irregular diamond-shaped markings with orange-brown centres), massive gripping hands and 2-toed feet with dark-grey claws, a short, thin tail emerging from under her skirt; the torso and the outer sides of her limbs look scaly, while the inner sides have a segmented appearance. The three-headed upper body featured by Strictriss way back when was a much simpler design, while Strictya's awesome multi-serpent torso is certainly more menacing looking as it features a triplet of long snakes that seem to project from the back of each shoulder in an "ε" pattern. The two largest snakes resemble anacondas and are by default coiled around Strictya's arms; each displays the eyes set high on the head, a snub nose as well as an open mouth with a forked tongue sculpted on the inside, and wears a golden headband embellished with two coiled snake tail-like "ear" pads, two bull-like dark-grey horns whose ends are shaped like viper heads, and an elaborate crescent-shaped golden central ornament. The four remaining smaller snakes extend above the shoulders and below the armpits, and resemble pythons with flat, triangular heads and exposed tongues (the upper ones and the lower ones have their mouths closed and open, respectively). All these snakes have pairs of orange eyes with slit-shaped dark vertical pupils as well as wire-skeletons, so they are able to be posed. The detail is absolutely fantastic, and the integration of the bendable feature into these appendages makes this lady totally intimidating

Wearables: a lamellar chest armour (which looks a bit like an armoured sports bra), two studded light-green leather bracelets (each with a slithering snake pattern between the golden studs), two light-green leather calf protectors (reinforced with golden rivets), a light-green leather belt with laminar, spiked golden tassets, and a scale armour golden skirt. The chest armour is made from small rectangular plates of light-green leather laced into horizontal rows and is reinforced with riveted golden edges; it also resembles a snake face and is decorated with orange glowing eyes and white downward-pointing fangs in addition to a pair of slithering snake patterns on the "straps" and a shield-shaped central ornament. Her belt has white fangs pointing up to match the armour's design, but also sports additional orange glowing eyes and white downward-pointing fangs as well as a lamellar light-green leather loincloth (resembling a forked tongue) held by the large shield-shaped golden buckle (which displays the Unnamed Clan emblem, i.e., a light-green snake emerging from an upright, spirally coiled conic dark-green shell). Each calf protector looks like a snake face too, with orange glowing eyes, four small fangs and a gaping mouth that partially exposes a segmented golden shin guard.

Strictya's stylised armour.

Action feature
In the comics, Strictya's big feature is her long serpentine projecting parts that can be used to attack and grapple her enemies. All the figure's six snake appendages are bendable and poseable, but quite sturdy. The package advertises that she can hold up to three figures, if you use the longer snakes that are normally coiled around her arms; these have hard plastic joints at their bases and necks, with bendable bodies that really give you some great options when posing this figure.
Additionally, when the hinged upper jaw of her main head is tilted back, an included long forked pink snap-in tongue can be inserted in her mouth.
Finally, since in the comics Strictya is shown at times with her lower body transformed into two massive snake bodies (giving her a nine-headed appearance) accompanied by a much larger tail, the figure comes with an alternate lower section that replaces the regular legs and attaches to the upper body by a peg at the waist. This looks awesome and wonderfully threatening, and feels very sturdy. The three serpentine parts (which remind me a bit of the monster Sabera from Steel Jeeg) are not at all bendable, but they look very dynamic on display. The long, crested tail has a swivelling end, while the two snake "legs" have orange-brown spikes and serpentine ball jointed heads, which apparently are just something that comes along with her stretching/growing power. Each extra face is similar to a Boa constrictor's head with the two toe claws above the eyes rising up to give it a horned appearance, and is topped by a ripped light-green leather headgear derived from the calf protector/shin guard, which resembles a mix of a cobra hood and a nemes with an elaborate leaf-shaped golden vertical ornament. Since this lower body piece includes a different, simpler version of the standard belt, the shield ornament on her chest can be swapped for the regular leg's belt buckle to have the Unnamed Clan emblem on her breastplate.

Weapons and accessories
Aside from the tongue and lower body pieces, Strictya comes with a three-section staff, i.e., a flail weapon that is composed of three greenish wooden staffs connected by golden (real) metal chains. This weapon has a longer central bamboo staff and a shorter flail head on each end. Each striking end consists of a studded rod equipped with various nasty golden attachments, and looks like two snakes winding around each other, with one of them showing its head and the other showing its tail. One striking end bears a hooded cobra head (with a double-bitted axe as the hood) and a spider-tailed viper tail (bordered by long curved spikes), while the other end displays a viper head (with a wavy forked blade as the tongue) and a rattlesnake tail (with a flanged mace as the rattle). While the bamboo shaft can be held by Strictya's hands, the two flail heads can be clasped by the slightly pliable mouths of her "arm" snakes.

Additionally, the figure includes an alternative copperhead-style portrait, which is an exact replica of her regular head, except that it wears a copper mask with a pair of yellow glowing eyes.
Finally, there's a baby carrier that supports an infant version of Strictriss. The carrier is basically a basket made from interwoven strips of greenish cane, which is attached to a shoulder guard composed of two cobra hood-like golden spaulders and a light-green leather choker, and can be carried by Strictya on her back. Baby Strictriss is a mini bust figure permanently attached to the basket; he has swivel arms and three swivel heads, and is painted in olive-green with dark blotches.

Final thoughts
Overall: there's really no arguing that this is a fantastic looking prototype and a necessary part of the Emergence era line up. I definitely think Strictya is a very fun figure and an excellent toy. She's a crazy, bright-blue snake woman, she's got an incredible weapon, and those crazy extra snake heads and bendable parts that can capture multiple figures. That's a lot of play value for one toy! Definitely a solid addition to the 2021 series of KR prototypes
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Emergence Review #20: Torp-Tor (Emergence Edition)

Toy prototype details
Name: Torp-Tor^TM (Emergence Edition), aka Sky-Blitz Torp-Tor
Subtitle: air-combat warrior
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure - Nº 17 in the line.

Character details
Name: Torp-Tor
Classification: archosauromorph reptile
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Rexodon
Rank: flying officer.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #2 - The war of all against all: Part I – Breach
Brief bio: once the evil leader of a dynasty of gliding reptiles who lived high on the western cliffs, Torp-Tor engaged with his people in a long war against the Therioms for conquering Tahron. After a series of defeats, he was convinced by Bi-Harr to put aside his desire for supremacy and join the Rexodon army, in order to work together as allies. Both a tough warrior and a skilled engineer, he often left his technical duties to fight in the airspace above the battlefield. Torp-Tor's massive wings and powerful jet engines gave him the ability to move through the air at an incredible speed, which he utilised to reach his mammalian enemies and then attack them with his destructive weaponry.

Articulation
Standard, with the addition of a ball jointed extra neck piece, a hinged upper jaw and two hinged wings.

Description

Head: similar to a pterosaur, perhaps a mix of a Pteranodon and a Pterodactylus, characterised by yellowish skin, a cranial crest (which compared to the Foundation version is more vertical and has a broad forward projection) and solid blue eyes. The jaws form a long, slender beak with a full complement of large sharp teeth visible along the edges. Thanks to the articulated upper jaw, Torp-Tor's mouth can open and show the tongue sculpted on the inside. Both his head and extra neck piece are on ball joints, which not only give him an extended neck (longer than in his Foundation counterpart), but also make it possible for him to look in all directions
Body: yellowish scaly skin with purple blotches, hands with long serrated black claws, digitigrade legs (each knee is bent to accommodate the foot portion with the heel section high up). His biceps and thighs are equipped with small, sturdy skin appendages that look a bit like wings and might work as stabilisers. On the back, a pair of large wings projects through the sides of the armour; these wings are formed by membranes of yellowish skin with purple blotches and are sustained by two long brown bones (each with three protruding claw-like steel, seemingly articulated digits in the middle). Also, he has a short, thin pointy yellowish rubbery tail that is permanently glued to the figure’s rear

Wearables: a dark-blue leather harness with a metallic light-blue buckle, two laminar, spiked metallic dark-blue bracelets (long enough to reach to just below the elbows), two spiked metallic light-blue thigh/knee guards, two metallic dark-blue boots, and a two-tone (dark and light) metallic blue belt/loincloth piece. The harness is complemented by an additional shoulder guard formed of two scale armour spiked metallic dark-blue pauldrons connected by a light-blue collar (which is jagged on the front and high-standing on the back; the pauldrons are attached via rubber “hinges” to the collar, so they retain a little movement in the shoulders). The massive boots are equipped with large, serrated steel talons that are seemingly articulated, and with calf-mounted booster rockets.

Torp-Tor's stylised harness (excluding shoulder guard).

Action feature

In the Emergence comics, Torp-Tor is a jet-powered air soldier, who can perform different tasks in combat, such as air-to-air fights and airstrikes. His turbine-powered wings are just leathery structures suited to a gliding style of flight rather than active. For that reason, Torp-Tor wears a rocket pack (equipped with two massive turbojet engines) on his back. Two joystick-looking devices can be held in his hands and fictionally used to control the jet pack, to which they are connected by means of two cables. The wings (which are somewhat flexible and, in case, removable) are articulated on hinges at the sides of the jet pack and can move back and forth, allowing the figure to simulate a kind of wing-flapping action.
Torp-Tor is armed with an impressive assortment of weapons. Two metal mounts located on the underside towards the tips of the wings bear two pairs of fictionally launchable (in reality just detachable) javelin-like steel weapons in an side-by-side configuration. Also, by pressing a fin on the bottom part of his jet pack, a spring-loaded mechanism opens a hinged cover on the top part, revealing two stacked toothed discs with slightly different designs (one has straight teeth and the other has curved teeth); in fact, one of the two discs is a trigger that, when pressed, fires the second buzz saw blade.

Aside from the different weaponry and the addition of the metal claws, one new design aspect I like a lot compared to the Foundation version are the two pivoting impellers built into the centre of the surface of each wing and connected by a (sculpted) wire to the jet pack. While Torp-Tor is shown flapping his wings in the comics, it is hard to imagine how simple flapping would be enough to give such a heavily armed and armoured soldier adequate lift. It makes more sense that he has an extra method of lift, which these fans offer.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the already mentioned javelins and bladed disc, Torp-Tor comes with a small selection of accessories. First up is a rhomboid shield cast with a cool pterosaur design on the front, which is reminiscent of the emblem on his Foundation chest armour. The shield is designed to fit over Torp-Tor's left bracer, since his hands are busy holding the joysticks to control the jet pack, and is painted in metallic light-blue, except for the pterosaur motif that is silver and whose beak, wings and tail project from the shield's vertices in the form of four steel blades. These blades are fictionally launchable missiles, while in reality only the "tail" can be detached.

Interestingly, the figure comes with an alternative jetpack. Why two rocket packs? Who knows! Probably just to give people another display option. The default jetpack, described in the action feature section, has a more detailed sculpt and paint job, while the extra one is much simpler in design. The latter features a single turbojet engine (very similar to a rocket-assisted bomb of the Foundation figure's), two small side-by-side hinged tailfins and a pivoting laser cannon attached to the side, which gives Torp-Tor additional support in the fight against his enemies. Either piece, which simply plugs into a square socket on the figure's back via a peg and stays on fairly well, is fully compatible with the detachable wings.

Additionally, we get two propulsion-blast effects, which work for either version of the jet engines, and a flight stand. The latter is a replica of the original Foundation accessory and is mostly made of clear plastic, but has an excellently sculpted and painted base with a stone-and-steel appearance and lots of incomprehensible symbols on it; it clips around Torp-Tor's waist and allows for various flight poses, also thanks to its single point of articulation and the figure's extended range of head movement (he can look forward when displayed horizontally).
Finally, the package includes a new head sculpt, a metallic light-blue wrench, and a boot accessory for Foundation Sei-Lha. The head is very similar to her original portrait, but its long windswept hair partly arranged in a high ponytail and messy bangs plus the addition of a metallic light-blue headband definitely help the figure look younger and closer to her Emergence appearance. The footwear accessory is basically a set of leather pockets that clips to the side of either boot, giving the figure a slightly more evident combat-ready look.

Final thoughts
Overall: Torp-Tor gets an A+ from me. OK, being a guy who is a fan of prehistoric flying reptiles and of the aesthetic of this line, then the odds were of course that I'd love him. Nevertheless, this is an objectively very well done figure that looks great with the rest of the Rexodon crew. The old prototype wasn't a bad toy, I liked him but found him a bit dull. This version has really been spruced up by having new cool sculpted details as well as some extra paint applications, and coming loaded up nicely with some goodies - he's got two jetpacks, a shooting shield and a new Sei-Lha head. Not a bad haul, really. Such improvements are always very welcome
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Emergence Review #19: Ophidok

Toy prototype details
Name: Ophidok^TM
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 Atubion^TM. 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 Ramedras^TM
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

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

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.

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

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