Ask Mythic Legions fans what their favorite race of figures from the line is and you will undoubtedly hear “the orcs” given as an answer by many of those fans. Consistently amongst our best selling figures in any wave where they appear, the orcs are also the most diverse race that we have released into the wave to date. From named characters to legion builders, the orcs are one of the most fearsome forces in all of Mythoss - and yet, there are heroes to be found even within these savage characters, for no race is purely and totally evil! Let's explore the orcs of Mythoss.
The First Orcs
When the Mythic Legions line was first made available for sale during our Kickstarter campaign in February of 2015, a pair of orc warriors were part of the lineup. Shown as “stretch goals” for the campaign, Urzokk and Urkku quickly shot to the top of many fans' "most wanted" lists.
Like most Kickstarter campaigns, Mythic Legions 1.0 started with a rush of pledges in the first few days, but that rush slowed before we hit our funding goal. We knew from past experience that the pledges normally ramp up again near the end of a campaign, but we did not want to wait that long. We wanted to hit our funding goal quickly so we could start opening up stretch goals for fans! Knowing that there was significant interest in the orcs, we worked with our factory to adjust tooling patterns so we were able to move the Urzokk figure into the initial offering of figures for this wave, opening him up for pledges immediately instead of as a stretch goal. This orc’s popularity helped give us the push we needed to cross that funding goal for Mythic Legions, and stretch goals began to quickly open up as our funding amount climbed higher and higher! The Urkku figure was quickly made available to fans and we even added a third orc to the mix – the Orc Legion Builder.
This trio of orc warriors were some of the most popular figures in the Mythic Legions 1.0 wave, and they remain some of the most sought after characters today! The Urkku and Orc Legion Builder make wonderful army builder figures, while Urzokk is a key character in the storyline of Mythic Legions. He is a "high ranking advisor and strategist" for the evil Gorgo Aetherblade and an important member of the orc forces that make up the Legion of Arethyr. In fact, Urzokk's backstory goes onto to state that "he is one of the very few who are truly trusted by Gorgo Aetherblade."
We would not know it at this point, but the story of the Orcs and their place in the Legion of Arethyr began to unfold here in the bio for Urzokk and his place of power alongside Gorgo Aetherblade.
Diversifying the Orc Armies
The second wave of Mythic Legions figures would also include an orc, and this character also happened to be our first Power-con debut figure – the orc weapons master, Unkann. With his orange and blue armor, this figure was clearly a nod to another well known character from a different fantasy line, but he also provided a nice contast to the other green-skinned orcs that had been released so far.
As we entered the Covenant of Shadow wave, we had already released 4 green-skinned orcs and knew we wanted to add some diversity into this warlike race. The Covenant wave included Gorthokk, the dark skinned cavern orc, or “Shadow Orc” as they are commonly known. According to the character’s bio, these orcs “are so brutal that other orcs fear their ferocity. These grotesque inbred creatures are born deep below the surface, cursed to live a life mining for metals and forging deadly weapons.”
The Gorthokk figure came with a pair of heads – the “helmeted” head that we had offered previously with most of the orcs, as well as the “unhelmeted head” which had only come with Urzokk at that point. These two heads allowed fans to add multiple Shadow Orc warriors to their collections, using the normal head as the named Gorthokk character while the helmeted head could be used to army build this terrifying sub-race of orcs.
We would later add even more diversity to the orcs with the “Fury Clan Orc” from the Soul Spiller wave. Like the Shadow Orc, this figure came with a pair of orc heads so fans could army build these red-skinned warriors. According their bio, the Fury Clan Orcs “are known as much for their intellect as they are for their savagery. These fiery red beasts are often recruited as assassins among the ranks of Arethyr’s armies. Unsettlingly precise in their methods, the ways of the Fury Clan’s warriors stand out in stark contrast to those of their green-skinned cousins. These discrepancies in style and method are so pronounced that they often lead to unwelcome infighting whenever the varied clans are stationed together.”
The Females of the Species
The Advent of Decay wave was our first big update to the Mythic Legions line, introducing new body types into our parts library. These body types included parts to make female figures, so we obviously wanted to add some female orcs into Mythoss! The “Orc Legion Builder 2” and “Queen Urkzaa” figures were both included as stretch goals in the Advent of Decay Kickstarter – and since that campaign hit its funding goal in under 24 hours, those female orcs were almost immediately available for fans to add to their pledges!
The bio story for the Queen Urkzaa figure added so much more to the depth behind the orcs and where they fit into the world of Mythic Legions.
"Orcs have long been loyal soldiers in the Legion of Arethyr, and it is their masses that make up the heart of Gorgo Aetherblade’s dark army. When Queen Urkzaa assumed her rule of the Orc Nation she immediately realized that allegiance to Arethyr was essential to her people’s survival. As the brutal Orc General Urzokk rose to power at Gorgo’s side, Urkzaa’s power has diminished, but with a growing army of Orcs dissatisfied with their attachment to Arethyr, Urkzaa is quietly assembling her own legion bent on reclaiming command of its own destiny."
The details outlined here reinforce the importance of the orcs to the Legion of Arethyr, yet they also explain that not all orcs are happy with their current allegiance to this evil faction. We discover that, behind the scenes, Queen Urkzaa is plotting a revolt of some kind, focused on the long term survival of her race.
As the Advent of Decay campaign’s funding amount continued to climb, we started to release more and more stretch goals, including extra heads that were added to existing figures from the wave. One of these additions introduced yet another orc sub-race into the line, as we included a “half-orc” head with the female Barbarian Warrior figure. The half-orc would become the third distinct orc sub-race seen in the Mythic Legions line.
Everyone Loves Green-Skinned Orcs
While the various orc sub-race figures have been popular sellers for us, it seems like everyone's favorite color for orcs remains the classic green version. As such, we’ve offered this skin color a few other times during the line’s history. These included the “Orc Legion Builder 3” figure, which is often called the “Coliseum Orc” since he came from the Coliseum wave, as well as the Vorthogg figure from the Arethyr wave. This later figure included our first new male orc head sculpt since the initial 1.0 wave of the line, as well as bare hands and feet and some of the brand new armor pieces that were first introduced in the Arethyr wave. The bio for Vorthogg would also further the story of rebellion introduced with Queen Urzkaa. That bio reads:
"A powerful and grizzled warlord charged with training the Legion of Arethyr's warriors, Vorthogg is responsible for forging some of the Legion's greatest fighters. Vorthogg's knowledge of, and experience in, battle runs so deep that he was singularly responsible for the meteroric rise of Urzokk, who rose from the ranks of the nameless to Gorgo Aetherblade's right hand. Although he serves the Legions, Vorthogg's true allegiance lies with Queen Urkzaa and the separatists."
So Vorthogg has ties to Urzokk as the one who trained this evil orc general, yet his true sympathies and loyality lie with Queen Urzkaa and the rebellion she is planning. There will clearly be much more to this story that will unfold!
One last pair of green-skinned orcs (a male and a female) that are worth mentioning are the pair of "Deluxe Builders" which were offered as part of the campaigns for the "Mythic Legions Tactics: War of the Aetherblade" campaigns. These large builders packs, which are still in production and have yet to ship to fans, will include multiple head options in each set, along with numberous body, armor, and weapons options to really allow fans to diversify and build out their orcish armies! A wonderful image of these two orc sets is shown below.
Orcs in Disguise
While the aforementioned figures listed in this article are all “official” orc figures in Mythic Legions, there are a few other releases to be aware of if you like the orcs – namely the Cowaross and Purrrplor figures from the Soul Spiller and Wasteland waves respectively (these also made their debut at Power-con in 2018 and 2019).
Both of these “Jaguallian” warriors were offered with secondary orc heads. Cowaross came with a helmeted orc head with a brighter green skin color than the normal green-skinned orcs have, while Purrrplor came with an unhelmeted orc head in a new purple skin color! Additionally, each of these figures included the large “neck” attachment initially found on the Asterionn minotaur figure, allowing you to create orcs with big, bulky shoulders if you want to add even more variety to the look of your orcish warriors!
A Mossy Orc Sub-race
The Mythic Legions: All Stars 4 wave introduced a brand new orcish sub-race into the line, and the first heroic orc in Mythic Legions - the lichen orc known as Bryophytus. According to the bio for this character, lichen orcs have "the power to absorb and redirect the power of the plant life around" them.
One can assume that this sub-race of orcs is a rather rare one, certainly far less populus than the vicious green-skinned orcs who have been seen across various waves of the line so far. Bryophytus, for instance, makes his home in a remote section of Xylonia called "the Swale." This is an area that is teeming with "enignmatic creatures rarely seen by the outside world." This statement further reinforces the idea that lichen orcs like Bryophytus are indeed a rarity in the Realm of Mythoss.
A Brutish Orc Hero
The Mythic Legions: Poxxus wave would introduce another heroic orc to the line, along with a brand new figure size know as "brute-scale." Standing somewhere between our 1.0 and ogre figures, this new scale would kick off with the orc shaman, Tharnog.
While the new scale of Tharnog is exciting, his backstory is even more so, detailing that he was, indeed, a member of the evil Legion of Arethyr along with the rest of the green orcs we have seen. Tharnog has since renounced his evil ways to join the heroes of the Convocation of Bassylia, directly opposed to the horrors in the Circle of Poxxus. Tharnog's backstory ties in directly to other orcs we have seen, namely Queen Urkza and perhaps even Vorthogg. According to that story:
"In his younger days, his mystical skills were brandished as part of Queen Urkzaa’s quiet resistance against the Orcs’ servitude to The Legions of Arethyr. Inspired by Urkzaa’s honorable intentions, Tharnog relocated himself and offered to wield his gifts for a righteous fight alongside Herra Serpenspire and The Convocation of Bassylia."
So this story builds on the drama we have seen unfolding across various waves, showing that there is, indeed, a story to be told when it comes to the orcs of Mythoss. We have not seen the last of this story, or of this popular race in Mythic Legions.
First published on 05.01.20
Published on 01.11.22