First in a series of 1/6th A.B.C. Warriors figures, ThreeA presents Mongrol and the Mess. Standing at 30cm high and with a shoulder width of 35cm. Mongrol is fully articulated and read to SMUSH!
ABC Warriors is a long-running 2000 AD comic strip written by Pat Mills, which first appeared in prog 119 in 1979 and continues to run today. Art for the opening episodes was by Kevin O'Neill, Mike McMahon, Brett Ewins, and Brendan McCarthy - who between them designed the original seven members of the team. Since then they have been illustrated primarily, though not exclusively, by Bryan Talbot, Simon Bisley, SMS, Kevin Walker, Henry Flint and Clint Langley.
The A.B.C. Warriors are a team of war robots designed to withstand 'Atomic', 'Bacterial' and 'Chemical' warfare. They were built to take part in the long-running Volgan War, which Pat Mills had described in several previous 2000 AD strips, including Invasion! and Ro-Busters. Each robot has a distinctive personality - often one programmed by its human creators - but each is more or less able to act with free will.
measurements: 12 inches tall and 14 inches wide
Mongrol
The immensely strong Mongrol was originally commander of an ABC paratrooper platoon, and the only survivor (save Zippo) of the disastrous drop into Volgan territory at Vilnus - so disastrous it was nicknamed Zarnhem after Arnhem. Only his head remained undamaged and remained on the battlefield. A scavenger named Lara, daughter of executed robot manufacturers, salvaged his head and built him a new body with other robot parts as an act of defiance against the Volgans. She was caught and executed, and Mongrol was tortured by electricity for information - this inadvertently activated his body and he broke free of his captors.
The torture and Lara's death reduced him to near animal-like behaviour ("Mongrol smush!"), and he was regarded as a threat by both sides. He was recruited when Hammerstein earned his respect by beating him in hand to hand combat. Mongrol's belief that he would go to heaven and meet his beloved Lara once more became the driving force of the metal ape. After being told by Deadlock that only good robots go to heaven, he became determined to live a hero's life and see his beloved again.
After the Mars mission, he found work with P.T. Bar-Num's 'Death Circus' on the free robot planet Mekka. He played the part of The Gawk, a giant metal monster that would be defeated by the heroic Spar-Tekus in every show. So long had he been playing that role, even he sometimes forgot who he really was. He was found by Nemesis the Warlock and brought back into the ranks of The ABC Warriors to help save the Gothic Empire from a Terminator invasion. He was then dispatched with the other Warriors into the Time Wastes of Termight to repair the damage done to it. During their journey, Blackblood broke the news to Mongrol that robots simply go to the smelter rather than heaven, so he would never see Lara again. As a result, Mongrol turned to his 'father' - a screwdriver.
After saving Terra from destruction, Mongrol followed the others to the planet Hekate, to collect the seven heads needed for the ritual that would spread Khaos throughout the Terran Empire. Mongrol was freed of the power of speech, but as compensation was bestowed with the instant reactions and speed of a natural born beast. After completing their mission on Hekate, Mongrol left for the Temple of the Night Maras with Morrigun, and became nothing more than her mindless (and overly protective) pet. Both he and his 'mistress' joined The ABC Warriors again to take on the Terran super weapon Hellbringer.
On the return to Mars, Mongrol's body was destroyed, forcing him to relocate his positronic brain into his new body. As a result, he regained his original intelligence and taste for cigars. He is still suffering from deep-seated issues over Lara, and when her memory was mocked by the Shadow Warrior Warmonger, Mongrol ripped him to pieces.
Following Blackblood's recounting of his Volgan War experiences and the revelation that he tried to kill Lara, Mongrol went berserk and stated that, at the end of that mission, either Blackblood leaves the Warriors or he will. However, Blackblood had already set things up so Mek-Quake would free Volkhan from Broadband Asylum, and he would go on to abandon the ABC Warriors mid-battle and rejoin Volkhan's army, gleefully slaughtering civilians once more and trying to kill the ABC Warriors. He is currently at large, an enemy of the Warriors once more.
Steelhorn / The Mess
An elite droid built from indestructible alloys, Steelhorn was proclaimed as a hero to the West and seen as one by Volgan civilians whom he liberated, even possessing a secret underground base. Due to his Vortex Hammer weapon, the Volgans viewed him as a war criminal, and so Volkhan and Blackblood infected him with a computer virus that caused him to start massacring civilians and fellow Warriors. Zippo eventually stopped Steelhorn and the virus was deleted, and the massacres were covered up by the military - but he was left traumatised and disillusioned by what he'd done.
Steelhorn eventually ended the Volgan War by killing the Volgan Marshall Following the war, he went to a demob camp to be reprogrammed for civilian life, believing he would become a fireman and save lives, only to find himself falling into a fusion furnace - which were being used to kill the ABC Warriors now victory was over. With his dying breaths, Steelhorn cursed humans for their treachery.
He survived the furnace but his body was reduced to a bubbling mess. Consumed with hatred, the Mess slaughtered the human responsible before escaping. Hammerstein, realising it was actually Steelhorn, saved the Mess and had him poured into a vacuum flask that would be carried by Mongrol. The metal ape was the only one who could understand what the Mess was trying to say. The Mess would be taken on the Mars mission.
On Mars, the Warriors encountered a giant robot called George, one of the original Garganteks - giant robots who had originally helped terraform Mars for human colonization. Because of his size, each of George's limb was controlled by a separate brain, with a master brain supposedly in charge. The Mess ended up inside George, using its liquid state to connect George's brains and turn him into a fearsome fighting machine. When the Mars mission was complete, George and the Mess remained behind.
Centuries later, continued terraforming awoke Medusa, the planetary consciousness, and caused her to try to wipe out humanity. She destroyed George for the crime of terraforming her and discovered the Mess as a result; finding it shared her hatred of humans, she rebuilt it into a new incarnation of Steelhorn. He now possessed certain psychic powers allowing him to control Martian wildlife. He became Medusa's voice, organising the attacks on the human settlements and personally leading the slaughter at Viking City, which saw almost the entire population massacred by a Martian born virus. The ABC Warriors fought the new Steelhorn and eventually struck a deal with him and Medusa, agreeing to peaceful coexistence if human President Cobb was transformed into a Martian.
Steelhorn re-joined the ranks of The ABC Warriors in place of the deceased Morrigun, in a bid to increase the peace on Mars after civil war broke out. Travelling with them to New Sidona to fend off Confederacy soldiers, Steelhorn was taken out by the rival Shadow Warriors, melted to a sludge once more. Due to occult activities by Deadlock, he was reborn again in a diamond form and brought about the ABC Warriors' victory.
He has two horns, one which when played incites wildlife to rebel. He has not said what the other will do, but it is to be played in the event of a Confederate victory and the consequences would presumably be devastating.
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