Sectaurs: Warriors of Symbion is a line of action figures released by Coleco in 1985. Created by Lawrence Mass, Tim Clarke, and Maureen Trotto, the Sectaurs world blended humanoids with insects and arachnids. Marvel Comics released a limited series of Sectaurs comics, and the characters were also adapted for an animated miniseries.

Development

The concept originated with puppet designer Tim Clarke, who attended a Halloween party in 1978, disliking wearing Halloween masks, Clarke instead created a hand puppet modeled after a fly, years later Clarke brought the same hand puppet into a meeting with Lawrence Mass, who loved the idea and suggested pairing it with an action figure.

Premise

"Somewhere in space, somewhere in time", a planet called Symbion is the site of a failed genetic experiment. Frightening changes take place that cannot be stopped. The result is a world where insects and arachnids grow to frightening proportions and the inhabitants have taken on their characteristics. Prince Dargon, ruler of the peaceful Shining Realm of Prosperon, and his allies are in conflict with the forces of Empress Devora, ruler of the Dark Domain of Synax, and her henchmen for possession of the Hyves, fortresses of an ancient civilization holding the key to ultimate power. Each character was "tele-bonded" with intelligent, non-anthropomorphic insect creatures called Insectoids that had a special ability, and shared each other's "pleasure and pain".

Action figures

Heroic Sectaurs of the Shining Realm

Evil Sectaurs of the Dark Domain

The Hyve

The Hyve playset was also produced, and is one of the larger playsets released in the 1980s. Accessories included a boulder-like wrecking ball, a heavy Skalibur turret gun, a ladder, and a cage. It featured a landing pad with a trap door, a collapsible bridge, and an interior detailing a "Bio-Control Laboratory". The Hyve came with two Mutant Insectoids as guardians. Narr was a glove puppet, while Vypex was a smaller finger puppet. Narr and Vypex each had a cave from which they could "ambush" figures during play. Since each was a puppet, their rear anatomies did not exist in toy form. As a result, the penciler who worked on the comic book never drew the rear portions of their bodies. The rear edge of Narr's abdomen was always obscured by the foreground, while Vypex's serpentine body never ended.

Notable Characters from the Comics and other Books

Glossary of Terminology and Locations

Peerages

! Rank || Shining Realm || Dark Domain || Notes

Television series

In 1986, Ruby-Spears produced a five-episode miniseries:

Comic

Marvel Comics published an eight-issue series from 1985 to 1986. All of the stories were written by Bill Mantlo. Mark Texeira drew the first two issues and Steve Geiger drew issues 3-8.

Kickstarter campaign

A Kickstarter campaign started in 2018 to restart the franchise.