When LEGO moved the Castle theme from Europe to Japan in 1998 with sets like Flying Ninja Fortress (one of my top 5 all time favorite sets!), the theme brought with it a slew of new minifig elements, like katanas, golden antlers, and samurai armor. In the years since, Ninjago has tapped Asian history and pop culture for even more accessories from Edo era and beyond.  This week we bring you a roundup of custom samurai-inspired figs showcasing parts old and new.

Michał Dziadosz gets us started with Master Hirotaka…

Once a general feared on the battlefield, Hirotaka now walks the path of the lone swordsman, bound not by loyalty to lords, but to his own code. His golden katana, earned through a lifetime of victory, gleams like the setting sun before a storm. Behind him follows the whisper of silk a reminder of the life he left behind, and the woman who still watches from the shadows

Michał’s fig was a collaboration with Expansion Bricks, who presents the kensei, literally “sword saint,” an honorary title for master swordsmen and followers of bushido. Note the fig’s wide stance, a technique borrowed from 2p_figs for giving a minifig a more imposing presence.

Bricktorious shares a ronin who bears more than a passing likeness to another ancient order of warriors bound by a code of honor.

Constructing Joy creates an evocative scene of a samurai wading through a pond dotted with cherry blossoms. The builder died the water blue in an experiment. I love seeing builders exploring ways to add to immersion beyond the brick.

Elden Bricks focuses mostly on fantasy warriors in European armor, but here she offers a lovely take on a Japanese-inspired warrior. It’s only fitting as Elden Ring, from which she gets her handle, is full of katana-wielding pseudo-samurai.

Haon.brx often supplements minifigs with some props and staging. This scene of a samurai seeking out his exiled sensei is especially effective. It’s also a great example of the “ground-based” style written about by our friend Sydarian.

Speaking of, during a busy summer of building, Syrdarian created this peaceful vignette of a samurai stopping for a snack.

Garret (2p_figs) also plays with a ground-based tableau in this scene of a ninja taking enjoying a bowl of noodles. The upside down scarf as ramen is truly brilliant NPU.

Now we move onto cyber-samurai, starting with a collab with Ronin Bricks. The brick-built bots allow more detailed weaponry than your typical minifig scale.

Ronin’s partner in building was the prolific collaborator zakar.ion who offers up another pair of robotic ronin. It’s always impressive to see Zak emulating the style of his collaborators while maintaining a distinctive look all his own.

brickbot_studio recently took a stab at cyber ronin and assembled this colorful trio. Did you read brickbot’s latest review for Willly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory?

TheNovaStandard specializes in both historic and Star Wars customs. Aside from the perfect mix of parts, his photography and posing is always impressive.

lego_darkforge also produces striking photographs of figs. Here he plays with a new black-and-white setup for this cybernetic ronin.

We have a few magical samurai-inspired characters to share as well. Linus (minfigurebuilds) creates an original character from the armor of the Blizzard Warrior from Lloyds Journey, a hidden gem Ninjago set that I’m kicking myself for not picking up back in the day.

shulika_27 creates amazing demons and warriors with rich backstories and killer logos. The Inescapable Dark clan are one group you don’t want to mess with.

Perhaps The Call of the Owl could take them on?

This shot of the Wrathful Sword might be my favorite minifig staging of all.

Let’s wrap up with a few pop-culture inspired builds. Lately, BadFigs has been making custom figs for much of One Pieces’s sprawling cast. This is Fujitora, an Admiral in the Marines modeled on Zatoichi, the blind swordsman, only purple.

One of my favorite custom minifig traditions is recreating very specific characters who have official minifigs without using those official minfig parts. brc.bricks recreates for familiar ninjas  featuring a great mix of alternative turtle faces. Donatello’s getup is amazing.

I should have included Psycho Figs in last week’s superhero roundup, but he fits in perfectly this week too with an incredible Silver Samurai from the X-Men.

Finally, I’ll bend the rules on “minifig” a bit to let in this epic constraction-style samurai from Joe Swansus.

We’re also spreading the word about the Samurai Showdown minifig contest that runs from today until September 25th, hosted by our friends and #LegoSamuraiSaturday @expansionbricks and @_bricktorious_ . Maybe these epic figs will offer some inspiration!

To participate in the LEGO Samurai Showdown, head over to Instagram for the full contest details.