C.O.R.P.S.E. Relic Hunter
Name: Arthur Dyer
Birthdate: September 29, 1953
Birthplace: Arkham, MA

Dyer is the son of the geologist William Dyer, a former professor at Miskatonic University. William Dyer was one of two survivors of a disastrous scientific expedition to Antarctica, and his claims of having discovered a massive, ancient ruined city that had once been inhabited by a race creatures that arrived on Earth billions of years ago and were responsible for the creation of all life on the planet were dismissed as the ravings of a madman, driven insane by his ordeal. William was institutionalized for most of Arthur's childhood, but he visited frequently and came to believe his father's claims. Upon his death, Arthur discovered a notebook containing many of his father's observations and notes from the expedition, along with his subsequent warnings that there should be no further inquiry into the ruined city in Antarctica for fear that the horrors which lay inside would be released. Consumed by curiosity to understand the events that destroyed his father's life, Arthur began an exhaustive search for further information about the location of the city, information that William had refused to disclose. His research met with failure until he abandoned the more traditional sources of information for an investigation into the occult: he found hints and clues hidden in works that the scientific community regarded as myth and fiction. Eventually, he became known as one of the world's foremost authorities on occult literature and gained a reputation for being able to locate long-forgotten sites and objects. He also gained his nickname, Ahab, for his unwillingness to abandon his quest to find the ancient city in Antarctica despite the warnings of everyone who had even the slightest knowledge of what it was and what lay within. When Cobra approached him to assist their C.O.R.P.S.E. project in locating a variety of occult objects, Dyer saw it as an opportunity to further his own research on someone else's dime. Having no particular ideological allegiance to Cobra, Dyer works alongside them but considers himself a contractor rather than a member of the organization, and has every intention of moving on once their assistance has outlived its usefulness.

Dyer has an encyclopedic knowledge of occult literature and history and has a wide range of contacts among that community. His entire adult life has been spent as something of an adventurer, so he possesses survival skills and some experience with weapons and hand-to-hand combat. Still, his real value is as a guide: his ability to track down relics and sites of occult power is unparalleled. His single-mindedness regarding his goal of locating the ancient city in Antarctica has proven to be a significant drawback: he can be irrational and reckless when faced with an opportunity to gain information.

This guy was a lot of fun to make. One of the first ideas I had for the project was a relic-hunter character (I actually had two different concepts, one of which is stalled while I track down a replacement part for one that broke while working on it), and I had an idea for the overall design of this figure almost immediately. Construction was pretty easy: I had removed the beard from the Dooku figure years ago and was waiting for an opportunity to use it. The rest of the figure fell together very quickly, and I was lucky that parts were available that fit my initial design almost perfectly. Conceptually, it was also an easy one: I knew I wanted to do something with the main character from At the Mountains of Madness, and I also wanted to make this guy an older fellow. One thing Lovecraft's stories rarely address is whether the advice not to search for whatever unspeakable horror they contain is followed; this figure gave me a chance to answer that question. For some reason, the photos make his upper lip look really prominent, but it's much less noticeable and weird-looking in person.