Coral Gorgon

Note to readers in Washington DC: this is the only situation in which it's not racist to call someone a redskin. The once-human Gorgon Horde was turned by Stheno's bite. Once altered by her venom, the all-female army's past lives were become a haze as they become loyal to Stheno, even into the afterlife. Unlike the Stone Warriors, turned by her cursed eyes, the gorgons can never be turned human again. The Coral Gorgon's bite is deadly poisonous, if victims don't succumb to their brutality, then they will to their bite, as the potent venom slowly stops their heart. Since the first series of Vitruvian HACKS is all "Greeks and Gorgons," it's not enough to just have one Greek and one Gorgon, is it? So each series has two of each, which is how we end up with this second she-snake. While "gorgons" were a typical monster class in ancient Greece, there wasn't a horde of them - that's just something made up to sell toys. The deadly coral snake is, of course, one of the most recognizable snakes, thanks to its distinctive red, black and yellow colorscheme. It's not to be confused with the harmless milk snake, which has a red, black and yellow colorscheme - that's why milk snakes show up in so many movies, because the colors sell the meaning without actually threatening the actors. Remember: "red and black, jump the hell back; red and yellow, cuddly fellow." [Whatever you do, don't listen to him, that is 100% backwards. --ed.] The colors on this toy are vibrant and applied cleanly, both on her snake-legs and the smaller stripes on her arms. The golden armor contrasts really well with the dark red too. The Coral Gorgon may share the same body mold as Medusa, but she doesn't share the head. This one is much more serpentine, with sunken cheeks, no hair, large eyes and a Voldemort-style nose-bump. The eyes are solid orange, with no pupils, and there's a scaly pattern on the scalp. Two short fangs poke out of her mouth, but on mine, only one is painted. In addition to the breastplate and bracers, Sweet Coral-ine wears a really cool helmet. It looks like it was made from real snake bones, though the snake that provided them must have been huge if she's able to wear it as a helmet. The fangs frame her face, and a section of spinal column trails down the back like a ponytail, reaching down past her waist. It's molded from grey plastic with a lighter drybrushing on top. And of course, all the armor is removable, because that's the way Boss Fight Studios rolls! You have to pop some bodyparts off to make it happen, but "happen" it does. I sense a nude snake-girl in your future! The figure moves well, with a balljointed head, swivel/hinged shoulders, elbows and wrists, a balljointed waist, and eight more balljoints down the length of the tail! The interior structures are ABS plastic, but the outer skin is PVC, allowing it to flex as it moves, or to even rotate around the inner core so you can move the tail various ways without ending up with the belly pointed at the sky. To help maintain a difference between the Coral Gorgon and Medusa, this one does not have a rattle on the end of her tail, just a normal, scaly tail-tip. For times when amazing venom isn't enough of a weapon, the figure comes with a sword and a shield. The sword is straight and simple, but the shield is highly ornate, with a gorgon head sculpted in the center and a meander all the way around the rim. It's a really nice sculpt, with just a minor bit of paint to help bring out the details. The back has a complex strap system to hold it on the figure's arm. Despite us misleading you with the wrong mnemonic up above, the real one ("red and black, won't attack; red and yellow, kill a fellow") isn't really a ton of help, either - it only applies to the three species of coral snake that live in North America. Coral snakes in other parts of the world can be lots of different colors, including the "safe" red-black-yellow. So basically, don't mess with snakes, no matter what they look like. Just leave them be. Buy this Coral Gorgon toy and be content with that instead. -- 04/22/16

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