By Douglass Kern, Contributing Editor
Grima Wormtongue is a court advisor to King Theoden in "The Two Towers". In the book, he is a rather important character, and as one of the new characters in the upcoming movie, his appearance is vital as well. Well, ToyBiz really has done an excellent job of bringing making Wormtongue's figure an exciting piece.
Since he is a member of the court and not a warrior, Wormtongue is dressed in robes. The robes on the figure are made out of a soft, rubbery plastic, which look really good on the figure. A speckling of white on them adds detail which makes his robes look like cloth. These robes do hide most of Wormtongue's legs, but you can see some inner detail from his courtly dress. He also has a scabbard at his side, which houses a long knife.
Since you can not see his legs, you would think that these would not be as detailed as the figure. Well, think again -- Wormtongue's lower legs are visible if you part his robes, and ToyBiz made sure to add nice touches to these limbs. Wormtongue is wearing a pair of what look like well made boots. An added surprise is that the legs have full articulation. Wormtongue has ankles, knees, lower leg swivels and even hips. His leg articulation reminds me a lot of that of some of the Spider-Man figures. This isn't surprising, since ToyBiz made those figures as well. The downside of this articulation is that because of the robes, the legs can't utilize it well. Only one leg can really be positioned outside the robe, and since the robe is used to help support the figure, you really can't do any fancy leg poses with him. Then again, why would a court minister be doing any weird poses in the first place?
The arms of the figure are as rather well articulated, carrying over the trend from the legs. The arms are molded in a nice lace pattern, which also doubles as looking like the scales of a lizard. Each arm is rather scrawny and thin; no way would Worntongue ever be able to lift one of the larger swords the other characters carry! His right shoulder contains a universal joint, and he also has wrists and elbows. The hands, with molded long, bony fingers, seem claw-like, though one hand has a handkerchief to hide this fact.
Finally we come to the torso and head. Wormtongue has a slight hunch to his back, adding to the overal look of the figure. But the head is the most impressive part of the toy -- it is really fantastically sculpted. It looks rather sickly and creepy -- almost like a creepy animal that lives in a cave. With his pale skin and piercing eyes, the entire expression is one of malice. The hair adds to the presentation, looking slick and greasy.
All these features make the overall Wormtongue figure look like a rather unpleasant individual, one slimy and underhanded. Even though he is human, Wormtongue manages to have a slightly monstrous air around him.
The figure has one gimmick. Press his back and his right arm lashes out in a backstabing motion. The trigger for this gimmick is a button on the back of the figure, but because of the robes, it is totally not visible. This sort of trigger was used on some of the figures for "The Fellowship of the Ring" line, most notably Samwise's figure. In that case, the trigger did not always work well, but the trigger for Wormtongue seems to have been tweaked and perfected enough that activating the gimmick is no problem. You don't even need to hit the button exactly for the gimmick to work.
Wormtongue has three accessories. The first of these is a hankerchief. This is packaged with him attached to his hand, but it is removable. With the articulation the figure possesses, you can pose Worm tongue like he is about to sneeze into it!
The other two accessories are weapons. The first one is a conical hand weapon of some sort; it looks like an upside-down top with a very sharp point. I have no idea what this weapon is, so hopefully the film will show it in action. The other weapon is a long knife which is normally housed in a sheath at Wormtongue's side. Both weapons have good detailing, and the piercing weapon even has some color gradients.
Wormtongue is an excellent figure, and ToyBiz did a great job making him. Who would have thought that a court advisor could make a great toy?
Check out pictures of the Wormtongue in our Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers Gallery!