It throws a wrench into everyone's plans--we wind up with a Thirty Xanatos Pileup at the end, and only one entity's plans still go like they were originally set up: and those plans belong to the real Big Bad.
I could go on but I'd be spoiling some MAJOR $#!7 if I did.
As for the sentience and traits, it's the basest of the base. They're still mostly mooks, but with that extra little something that adds to the creep factor—frankly it's more likely that the creep-out factor would trip the heroes up than the manikins themselves.
May the gods help us if the bastards get to the ultimate-level manikins
Indeed it is the point
I could go on but I'd be spoiling some MAJOR $#!7 if I did.
As for the sentience and traits, it's the basest of the base. They're still mostly mooks, but with that extra little something that adds to the creep factor—frankly it's more likely that the creep-out factor would trip the heroes up than the manikins themselves.
May the gods help us if the bastards get to the ultimate-level manikins