As someone who is quite fond of all Hero Factory villains in general except for a select few lacklustre ones (Fire Lord, Scorpio, Voltix, and Scarox) this is a tough decision. I really enjoyed all the Breakout villains, which for the most part were phenomenal. I even grew to like a set I initially disliked, XT4, once I received it as a birthday present and had the figure in hand. I also, believe it or not, liked the Brain Attack sets as well.
However, If I had to pick one villain set in particular, It would probably be Witch Doctor. I remember seeing this set for the first time when pictures were first released of the summer 2011 wave of Hero Factory sets from TOYARK and the New York Toy Fair report of HF from BZPower back in February 2011. From the moment I laid my eyes on Witch Doctor, I instantly fell in love with him. That deliciously sinister face mould, his towering, imposing figure, the enormous, curved, wicked looking spikes protruding from his arms, everything about this set spoke to me. The only thing that disappointed me about this set was the perceived minuscule size of the skull staff he carried. While I would later accept the size of the staff once I actually obtained the set, at the time I was seriously upset. It seemed so underwhelming in comparison to the preliminary design of the staff visible on the preliminary box art displayed at the fair, which was far larger and more elaborate, adorned with long spikes and featured a black version of the prototype face mould mounted on the top of the staff. This was negligible in comparison to the remarkable design of the actual Witch Doctor model.
To this day, my Witch Doctor figure is still proudly displayed at the top shelf. We have yet to see another figure like him in mainstream constraction to this day, and for that reason, he must remain my favourite CCBS model of all time.
Though Core Hunter was an excellent set as well. He looks like a trophy hunter serial killer that stepped out of a slasher film.
Core hunter was one heck of a villain, even if he didn’t get much official attention.
His trope is the knight of cerberus.
Also, I feel witch doctor is one of the best constraction sets of all time.
@Xephix But Meltdown and Keetongu are partners and their children are XT4 and the hockey polybag. Knockoff pinhead of keetongu is the surrogate mother.
Yeah, Core Hunter almost doesn’t fit quite right in the tone of Hero Factory because like I said, he is basically a serial killer.
This may be reaching or over analysing, but I think the Hero Factory villains are in a way representations of common fears. But that almost makes sense as we humans have a tendency to attach negative qualities to what we fear. And seeing how serial killers have their own genre of horror movies I would say Core Hunter fits in fairly well among his fellow villains.
So, yeah, like I have said in the past, I absolutely love the Hero Factory villains and thought a lot of them were brilliant. They are kind of underrated IMO.
Fire villains, are pretty obvious. Von nebulas gang are as well, being crushed, toxins, explosions. ETC.
The Savage planet villains can be seen in that light as well, people being afraid of wild animals, even without knowing their true intent. and fear of being controlled by the power hungry.
Breakout has some as well, Jawblade is a shark, so the fear is obvious. Toxic reapa, once again, toxins. Thornraxx is fear of bugs. Splitface could be serious mental disorders. Black Phantom could be fear of someone looming in the dark, pulling the strings that make the world tick. (Think Illuminati stuff) Core hunter is pretty easy, serial killers. Speeda demon could be drunk/unsafe drivers. Voltix could be fear of electric shock or maybe even power outage/EMP. XT4 could be fear of work equipment, such as saws, jackhammers and all that.
Brain attack seems to maybe continue and rehash a few of these as well. Invasion from below I guess is just fear of the unknown, and misunderstandings that lead to more problems.
The Brain Attack villains seemed to be made up of mythical creatures. Ogrum was an ogre, Pyrox was supposed to be a Minotaur even though he looked more like a demon, Frost Beast was a yeti, and Dragon Bolt was obviously a dragon. Since the beginning of its existence humanity has always told stories of terrible beasts and monsters to teach a point or as allegory to convey fear of real or abstract things. What is more, they also embodied the elements of nature. Aquagon’s elemental theme was water, Bruizer, stone, Pyrox, fire, etc.
We have always had to deal with deadly natural phenomena as a species that could quite likely destroy us and we have virtually no control over these phenomena. One of the most primal forms of fear is fear of a lack of control, especially over something as dangerous and uncontrollable as an earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption, and so on.
Remember Rotor’s biohazard gas emitter and gas theme along with his gas mask?
Biological weapons hold terrifying power. A genetically engineered disease could have devastating effects on any given population, even very large ones. Fear of these weapons is very real. An airborne pathogen (though I must admit I am at a loss for an explanation of how a biological hazard would have any effect on “living” robots like the heroes as machines don’t get ill. Metal eating bacteria, perhaps?) would be extremely difficult to evade, and as we all know fear of a lack of control and death are practically the most common and powerful kinds of fear. If that isn’t terrifying, I don’t know what is.
The world can be a very dangerous and frightening place.
I could go on. I interpreted Witch Doctor as a fear of magic/ the supernatural. It seems silly at first but just remember all the people burned at the stake for “witchcraft” a couple of hundred years ago.
Like you said, Splitface could very likely represent a fear of mental illnesses like the one he seems to have, Dissociative Identity Disorder, a real disorder that causes people’s consciousness to be fragmented into multiple identities or personalities, and stigma of mental illnesses is alive and well.
Death by radiation poisoning through a nuclear meltdown or nuclear weapons would be a pretty unpleasant way to die (obviously Meltdown) which could potentially cause terror.
Ah, the joy of starting a conversation over the psychological symbolism of a few toys. Nothing like over analysing a few plastic figures.
