Fairy Elf from Mu Origin 2

Fairy Elf from Mu

Happy Christmas everybody. We’ve seen a few figures from massively-multiplayer online RPGs, primarily from the Lineage series, but today we’ll be looking at a figure from the Mu series. Mu Online was originally released in 2001, making it one of the first MMOs to be released after EverQuest, the defining game of the genre. Some years later, Webzen released the mobile games Mu Origin and Mu Origin 2. I’m not actually certain which game this character comes from; Japanese stores say Mu Online, American stores say Mu Origin, and the box simply says Mu. I’m inclined to think that she comes from Mu Origin 2 as her design matches some of the concept art, but being that I know virtually nothing of this series apart from having bought a few Mu comic books about fifteen years ago, it’s hard to tell for certain.

Speaking of MMOs, I’ve been playing World of Warcraft as my primary game for the last eight years but I think I’m close to throwing in the towel; Shadowlands isn’t really appealing to me and I’m not enthused by Blizzard’s current game design philosophies. These days, I’m mostly playing Epic Seven and I’m enjoying it quite a bit more than Warcraft.

Fairy Elf figure

A few notes before we begin: this figure was riotously expensive when it went up for preorder, being around thirty thousand yen or thereabouts. That is a ton of money for a figure of this size, though we’ve since seen other figures being listed for prices that would have been both unthinkable and untenable just a few years ago. Such a price tag could be justified if the manufacturer had a pedigree that merited such or if the figure were of unusual size or decoration, but this figure comes from Vertex, a maker that, in my eyes, seems wildly inconsistent in terms of quality. As for size, the Fairy Elf herself isn’t particularly large; she’s listed as 1/7 scale but her more realistic body build makes her appear similar in proportion to a 1/8 scale figure. This figure is about 36 centimeters in height from the base to the uppermost tip of her wing, and though the figure itself is not overly large, her wings and jumping or floating pose do cause her to require a significant amount of shelf space to display.

Fairy Elf figure

The Fairy Elf’s look is decidedly atypical, being that it does not show much influence from anime styling. I think she looks quite pretty, but her wide-spaced eyes, mannequin-like features and the absence of any discernible emotion gives her a somewhat alien look.

Fairy Elf figure

While her face lacks some detail, her outfit more than compensates. She’s not wearing a lot of clothing but what she does wear is elaborate and stylized, with her armor featuring a surfeit of gold trim and filigree work.

Fairy Elf figure

Her outfit essentially comprises an open babydoll, black string panties, and thigh-high boots. It’s a very attractive ensemble that reveals quite a bit of skin, providing a sexy (some might say crass) contrast to its ornate elegance.

Fairy Elf figure

Oddly enough, she comes with two left hands, one holding this bow and one simply clenched into a fist. I’m only showing the one with the weapon; her pose would look a little strange without it. The bow is just as complex as her armor, though no bowstring is provided as far as I can tell. The arrow is a loose part that does not seem to have any specific attachment points to the figure; I’ve simply tried to balance it between her right hand and the bow handle as best as I could.

Fairy Elf figure

Speaking of her pose, the Fairy Elf is depicted in mid-leap, twisting backwards to aim at some target off to her side. It’s a very dynamic pose that adds a great deal of visual interest to the design of this figure.

Fairy Elf figure

However, as sexy as her outfit is and as striking as her pose might be, her wings are just as captivating, and it’s a bit of a shame that it’s less likely they’ll be noticed because most of their complexity is behind the figure. Turn the figure around and one can see that her wings are made of multiple tendril-like projections framed by a kind of curved golden lattice. There’s a remarkable level of detail here and it’s gratifying that Vertex did not skimp on this element.

Fairy Elf figure

The wings are substantial and so a pylon is provided to hold up her left leg. The peg in her right foot is metal but it is not as long as one might expect, and hopefully this figure will not suffer from sagging or leaning issues in the future.

One aspect of the figure that is a little less impressive is the base, which is a rather large white disc with a simple Mu logo printed on it. I don’t normally pay much attention to bases but I do think a black base would have provided a better contrast to the Fairy Elf’s color scheme.

Fairy Elf figure

As large and heavy as her wings are, they were also pretty difficult to fit them into the Fairy Elf’s back. They slot into specifically-shaped sockets, but I did not find them to fit particularly well, and the fact that her hair partially obstructs the sockets didn’t help.

Fairy Elf figure

I’m not certain that this figure was worth its eye-watering price tag but I’m happy to have it nonetheless. I’ve been fond of character designs from Korean role-playing games ever since I saw Hyung-tae Kim’s artwork for the War of Genesis and currently there aren’t that many such figures out there (I’m really hoping that Smilegate realizes that the world would appreciate a mass-produced Luna figure). The Fairy Elf’s design is particularly attractive and it’s great to see that Vertex is capable of making a figure of this quality.

Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
Fairy Elf figure
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10 Responses to Fairy Elf from Mu Origin 2

  1. wieselhead says:

    Merry Christmas,
    What a beautiful Elf figure this is, I am totally in love with her face it is nice that the eyes have two highlight points and the mouth is very well made overall. The “bikini armor” looks stunning and nice that it is that skin revealing without coming off as cheap fanservice.
    I don’t have the highest opinion about Vertex, but I bought a figure from them around 2016, so that must not mean much. This figure though looks fantastic …I’m curious about her aftermarket price… maybe I can have her XD

    • Tier says:

      Happy Christmas and New Year! Yeah, I still dunno how I feel about Vertex; I know I have a few more of their figures around here somewhere and I probably should review them. Maybe I’ll see if I can find that Mitsumi Gijou figure. Unfortunately, the Fairy Elf was discounted at Amiami for like 16,000 yen just a couple of weeks ago but she sold out really quickly.

  2. ProbablyNotMyRealName says:

    She reminds me of Namie Amuro. I can’t put my finger on exactly what gives it that vibe, it’s more of a vibe than pure resemblance, but that’s the vibe.

    Also, three SFW figure reviews in a row? Are you OK? While I like this figure, I’m rooting for the streak to end!

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I feel like the digital sculptor went for an Asian pop-star sort of look, which seems to be what a lot of Korean character designers go for, too. It’s a very pretty look so I don’t mind at all.

      Yeah, there’s a bunch of SFW reviews and probably more to come. I photographed a few figures all at once when I shot this figure and I was thinking of shooting SkyTube’s Yuki until I saw all the detachable parts, and I noped right out of that. There have been a few times where I was all ready to photograph a figure, and then it took me an hour to figure out how to disassemble and reassemble a figure and I really did not feel like taking any photos after all that.

  3. DP says:

    Those wings are pretty nifty! Almost a flower petal look.

    Since she’s a fairy, perhaps she’s actually 1-1 scale (:

    • Tier says:

      They really did a nice job with the wings. It’s a little weird that they provided so few photographs when the figure went up for review; I was very hesitant to order this figure because of the exorbitant price and the lack of photos, but she really looks good and some better publicity pictures might’ve helped sell the figure.

  4. saka says:

    Would’ve love to see some ass shots!

    • Tier says:

      The few shots up there are about the best I could do; it was actually really difficult to get a clear view of her ass. The wings and the trailing tails of her outfit obscure most of her body. The back side of her panties are actually pretty conservative compared to the front.

  5. Philip says:

    You familiar with any of the Seven Knights figures? Also a Korean game.

    • Tier says:

      Actually, it’s funny that you mention that; I have a couple of Seven Knights figures of Eileene and Shane (I think those are those names). I’m not really familiar with the game but the figures do look pretty nice. I’ve planning to do reviews of figures from other gacha games so I think I will be photographing both of them very soon.

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