Faunus

Mr. Tumnus is back, and this time he's out for blood! As the commander of the Silverhorn Sentries, Faunus is an integral component in the defenses of Castle Silverhorn. A powerful elemental warrior able to harness primal forest magic, he has the ability to manipulate the tree-born structure of the castle exterior for added defense. Ancient and wise, Faunus serves not only as a protector of Castle Silverhorn, but as one of Queen Artemyss' most trusted advisors. It's interesting that this bio doesn't mention Faunus's faction. It's going to be Xylona's Flock, obviously, but this may be the first of the dozens of Mythic Legions figures we've reviewed to have a bio printed on the packaging (the generic "Legion Builder" figures don't get one) that doesn't specifically drop the character into one of the predetermined slots. Why are you so secretive, Faunus? What are you trying to hide? Faunus is a faun in the same way that the faun from Pan's Labyrinth is a faun: in the vaguest sense, and mostly made of trees. He has a face that's sort of animalistic, with a nose that's almost wide enough to be a snout, and for some reason ears that appear to be pointy green fish fins? The main draw are the horns, naturally, which look like antlers grown from wood. It's not just the bark texture of his skin, but also the fact that wherever one of the spines has been broken or otherwise removed, you can see growth rings. Mythic Legions is all about maximizing value by reusing a set library of pieces, and below the neck, Faunus's pieces are almost entirely the same as Otho's: all the same armor, the same tabard, everything. Paint means the two figures look nothing alike, however, since Faunus is done in warm earthtones: orange cloth, with bronze and green armor. The colors are brighter than Lord Aydon's were, but they're still close enough that he looks like he belongs to the same team. To drive home the point that he's not human, he has hooves instead of feet. Funyuns comes with what appears to be the same kind of skirt that Artemyss wore, but the hole is a lot larger than it would need to be to fit over the waist peg. you know what it is sized to fit around? The base of the neck. This isn't a skirt, it's a little demi-cape! The hole is teardrop shaped, too, suggesting which direction it's meant to go - if you follow that hint, you'll end up with the cape draped over a single shoulder, which creates a cool and unique look. The color of the softgoods doesn't quite match the figure's paint, but it's close. In addition to the cape, Faunus shares the short pauldrons that came with Otho. He has a big plain sword, plus the fancier of the basic shields, and when the Kickstarter reached $660k, he also got a small curved dagger and sheath. Every wizard needs a staff, and Faunus's is topped by a chunk of twisted wood - the perfect thing for someone who can apparently control plantlife. The staff is molded in black and then painted gold, but the paint is so thick and gloppy that you have to scrape it off before you can attach the tip. It's been too long since the Four Horsemen did a line of true anthropomorphic animals, and Faunus reminds us how cool that would be. Even if he's not just a deer... goat... thing, he looks awesome and his partially wooden appearance is some fine visual storytelling. -- 08/31/19

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