Presenting Darth Nihl of the Nagai: Former Fist, and later Hand of Darth Krayt; slayer of Jedi Council Head Kol Skywalker, and; with the demise of Darth Krayt, current head of the One Sith Order. Of course none of that is canon now that JJ Abrams and Disney have imposed their vision on the Star Wars Universe. One of these ideas, that was revealed in the latest Star Wars Episode VII trailer, is the new ability of a Storm trooper to stand toe-to-toe with a lightsaber wielding Finn. Honestly, given that the Star Wars empire is filled with material and equipment configurations that can stand up to lightsabers? It’s about time.
Darth Nihl here has a similar, but slightly different challenge to deal with in his timeline. The Imperial Knights of the Fel Empire employ gauntlets made from Cortosis – a fibrous material that caused lightsaber blades to malfunction. So any Sith or Jedi who would challenge a Fel Imperial Knight normally found themselves at a distinct disadvantage.
What makes Darth Nihl so badass is that he has no such disadvantage. This guy comes to battle not only wearing war-paint (I keep waiting for him to do a Haka), he comes with a Yorrik Coral hammer! So even if the blade emitter failed, it would simply be hammer time for Darth Nihl.
Darth Nihl comes in a Hasbro Star Wars Legacy Collection Comic Pack that includes Deliah Blue - the Zeltron love interest of Cade Skywalker and chief mechanic of the Mynock. The blister pack reads "A powerful Sith Warrior and a savvy ship's mechanic are caught up in the attack on Princess Marasiah Fel. Darth Nihl battles Cade Skywalker, the son of a Jedi that Nihl killed in the Massacre at Ossus. Deliah Blue repairs the Mynock so that its crew, the Jedi and the gravely wounded princess can flee the attacking Sith."
PROS:
FIRST: That lightsaber! While he’s never been – to my knowledge – shown to use his long-handled lightsaber as a hammer, the possibility and implications are there. Frankly death by lightsaber may be more merciful. It also neatly clips to his back.
SECOND: His visage! Darth Nihl looks like the wraith of a Native American Indian coming back for the souls of the White Man. He’s intimidating, carries a big stick, and you can feel the contempt radiating from him.
THIRD: Darth Nihl’s articulation is decent. It can be improved, but he was definitely a joy to pose.
ARTICULATION:
Head is mounted on a ball joint on a neck hinge, his pony-tail tends to limit this though – they clash a lot with his shoulder pads.
Upper torso is mounted on a waist swivel.
Ball jointed shoulders with bicep swivel – again with range a bit limited by his shoulder pauldrons.
Single direction elbows.
360° swivel wrists forearms – no wrist articulation
Swivel hip joints
Ball joint mounted, single-direction knees
Boot/ankle swivel
CONS:
FIRST: Too much of Darth Nihl’s flexibility is lost to his hair and his shoulder pauldrons, and he cannot kneel – not that he would. Other than that? Well perhaps that he might not exist anymore thanks to Star Wars Episode VII – it would be a waste of a perfectly good character if he disappeared.
BUYER/COLLECTORS RECOMMENDATION: Darth Nihl is a great character that was spawned from a wonderful comicbook series. If you can get him, get him. His story cannot be done - which is probably why the Hasbro Star Wars Legacy Collection Comic Book 2-pack featuring Darth Nihl and Deliah Blue sells for a whopping $249.95 USD. No, mine is not for sale. It’s available from 3rd parties on Amazon HERE.