The Scythe-Meister

Zarles Kreiger just isn't the man he was once. There he was. Kreiger, remade. The Scythe-Meister. There was almost nothing left of the man she'd known. Agonistes' handiwork has transformed the humble assassin into something that would haunt the nightmares, and the streets, of Primordium, for many years to come. He approached her. She wondered if this was her last moment; if he intended to kill her as efficiently as he'd dispatched all the rest. But no. He simply leaned down and whispered in her ear: "...you cannot imagine..." Kreiger was once just a man, an assassin working for a gangster in the old city of Primordium. A messy killer, he liked to use scythes, to disembowel his victim - he would do anything for his master, and in return, the gangster kept him free from trouble. All until he met Lucidique, the daughter of a Senator, who Kreiger had just murdered when they met - her, standing before him naked, armed with table knives. Her reaction of revenge changed after a few moments of talking, and they formed a bond; Lucidique took him out to the desert, when she fooled him into being transformed by Agonistes, feeling the worst pain imaginable to become the new assassin known only as the Scythe-Meister. The Scythe-Meister stands approx 7" tall, not quite as detailed as Agonistes, but still impressive to behold. Still with the general form of a man, he doesn't appear as deformed as the others, aside from his head, of which the entire back has been split open, rows of flesh holding it open and forever bleeding onto a circular metal apparatus, with chains extending from his open wound connected to another metal apparatus which holds various surgical tools and his enormous scythe, the weapon of choice for such a terrifying assassin. The Scythe-Meister is adorned with leather clothing like that of Agonistes, with many belts and chains connecting to a bloodied metal hook and a smaller scythe. From the front, we can see two long strips of flesh cut from Scythe-Meister's chest, to seemingly remove his nipples (for reasons I don't even want to think about). His face is held in pain with leather straps, one almost covering his eyes - if you tilt him to look at his open eyeballs, you can see the glorious look of absolute agony on his face - it's terribly nasty. The paint is excellent on Scythe-Meister, possibly the best of the line - with great detailing all over, a nice wash over the leather and various blood splatters on the blades and hooks. The Scythe-Meister is seemingly more articulated that Agonistes, in that he can move a little more and can kind-of be played with. He has joints at the arms, wrists, elbows and legs - the arm articulation perfect for him to attack and use his scythes. He has two of these weapons in particular - the smaller scythe hanging from his midsection from a chain, and a larger (more fun) scythe which fits onto the mechanical instruments on his back. This one is a great accessory - it's a two-handed, double-bladed metal scythe, with a mechanical handle that moves the blades together. You can only imagine the disfigurement that the assassin could do with this, and he holds it perfectly. The detail is simple but impressive - in the story, the Scythe-Meister washes the blades after each kill, and thus there's no blood on the end of the blades - but there is on the handle, where we presume the Scythe-Meister would hold them in his bloodied hands. Very nice! A final accessory is the "detachable" mechanical piece on his back, which doesn't really detach due to the chains extending from the wound in the back of his head (which are bloodied really well, incidentally). Though it can be taken out of his back and hung on its own, it looks fine on his back. And as with the other figures, he comes with various hooks on chains. Overall, the Scythe-Meister is another fine character from this line, aided by the great story behind him, if not for which he would just be another tortured monster thing. Although he's not a favourite of mine, I can see lots of appeal in him - especially that great scythe of his, which is one of my favourite accessories from my entire action figure collection. Eat this, Mickey Mouse! Just a question - what exactly is the other headpiece on the Scythe-Meister's back mechanical apparatus used for? Overall Rating: B Shocka's Placing in the Line: 5th Agonistes | The Scythe-Meister | Lucidique | Talisac | Venal Anatomica | Mongroid What IS that other headpiece used for? Why the nipples? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.

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