It’s the my first review of the New Year, and I’m thrilled that it also happens to be Mythic Legions Wednesday! Because what could be better than ringing in 2019 by opening up a brand new figure from this amazing line? This week I’m going a bit random and I just picked the first figure in my stack that I laid hands on and it turned out to be Faunus! This dude is not only billed as a powerful Elemental Warrior, he’s also the Commander of the Silverhorn Sentries and Defender of Castle Silverhorn. Not too shabby for a tree!

And what an interesting looking guy this is. He’s an armored Ent… with hooves! Sure, why not? While Faunus is fresh off the recent Advent of Decay Kickstarter, all his parts (well, at least from the neck down) come from the initial Kickstarter. He actually shares arms, legs, and hooves with the Silverhorn Sentry, while his tabard-wearing torso comes from Sir Gideon. He also borrows his armor belt, hip armor, and gorget from other first generation knights. So, if you’ve been with the line from the beginning, this ensemble isn’t exactly strikingly fresh, but thanks to a particularly sumptuous new paint job, it looks absolutely gorgeous. The bulk of the armor is decked out in a snappy emerald green with some tasteful gold trim. There are also copper plates on his upper legs and his shoulders. Finally, you get a little metallic silver for the chain-mail that’s exposed near his joints. The sculpted tabard is a deep blood-orange.

The head sculpt is all new and it’s the first time we’re seeing someone of Flaurus’ breed. His skin has a wood-grain finish with branches that flow up and out of his head like antlers. He has an almost catlike structure to his lower face and two piercing green eyes that stare out from under a heavy brow. The portrait is finalized by sprigs of greenery, which jut out from each side of his head like veggie-ears. Faunus sports a noble expression with a hint of determination that clearly conveys the message, “Don’t bring your evil here.” Actually, that quote may already be taken. But you get the point.

One of the most interesting things about this figure is that he has two distinct looks, and that’s because of his rather unique cape design. The orange cloth garment is colored to match the tabard. It’s also smaller than most of the other capes we’ve seen in the line and attaches to the figure differently. Instead of having holes that require the shoulder armor to keep it in place, this one simply has a neck hole. It makes for a unique look, but it also means that you can’t use it with both the shoulders attached. Or at least not very well.

You can, however, put one shoulder on and have the cape off to the side, sort of like a shoulder sash, and I like the way this looks a lot. I’m particularly fond of this option for when he’s just carrying his staff and dagger and looking like a kick-ass forest-dwelling battle mage.

The staff makes use of the rod that we’ve seen a few times before, painted gold, and with a brand new top piece. This new piece is sculpted to look like a gnarled piece of wood with a green orb on the end. I don’t pretend to understand the nuances that has a tree-person topping his staff with a piece of another tree, but I’m sure it’s all kosher. The staff is doubt used to cast all sorts of elemental spells, or perhaps just to command the trees to rise up and defend Silverhorn Castle.

The dagger is the same one we first saw with Lucretia the Vampire. It’s small with a curved blade and it includes a sheath that clips onto the belt. The sheath has the same eye emblem on it and this time is painted orange and gold, whereas the dagger itself has a gold blade and a copper hilt. I get more of a ceremonial vibe off of this weapon because of its’ demure design, but as a last resort, it could probably be used quite effectively.

Faunus’ other look is to just forget the cape and go with both pauldrons, which works really well when outfitting him with his sword and shield. If the cloaked version was more Mystic Faunus, then this is full-on Warrior Faunus. He looks great with the shoulders added and they continue the emerald and gold coloring that makes for such a beautiful deco.

His sword and shield are both familiar. The sword is the same two-hander we’ve seen again and again. This time it has a gold painted hilt and the sword is painted with a bright silver luster. It’s a good thing that I love this sword design as much as I do, or else I’d be getting pretty sick of seeing it by now. Whether it’s a good idea for a guy with a head shaped like that to be swinging a sword around is another question entirely. The shield, on the other hand is a bit more uncommon, although it’s been included with some of the gladiator-type figures. It’s round and painted copper, with an ornate emerald colored inner ring and a simple gold boss right in the center. Mine has a few minor scratches on the face, no doubt blows deflected by Faunus in the heat of desperate battle. Or maybe just some QC issues at the factory in China. Either way, it’s nothing bad enough to detract from the beauty of the accessory. What does detract is that the peg on the inside of the shield snapped off in the handle and so I’m forced to use a bit of tacking putty to have him hold it. I’ve had precious few noteworthy QC issues with my Mythic Legions figures, but when I do, it’s only fair to point them out.

And there ya have it… Another Wednesday, another great figure from Mythic Legions. I’m pretty sure I mentioned last time how much I dig some of these unique looking creatures that offer a little more variety to the Skeletons, Orcs, Dwarves, and Elves. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, but getting these more unique races makes this universe all the more diverse and interesting to me. And I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing some more of Faunus’ ilk in future releases. I’d really like to see one with a helmet that’s left open at the top for the branches to extend out of. I think they could do some cool new stuff with this design. Either way, I now wish I had picked up one more Silverhorn Sentry to go with him.