Tag Archives: Characters

We love builds with character! Creating characters from LEGO elements, whether traditional System bricks or using elements from Bionicle and Constraction themes, is an amazing way to showcase your building skills. Brining out emotion and personality in bricks is an art!

A Viking? That’s a switch

Making human-featured builds out of LEGO is a challenging task, but Jonas Kramm knows just how to go about it. The trick, as is often the case, is NPU or “Nice Part Usage.” For example, the nose is made from a baby dinosaur. And the fingers from minifigure arms. And the pupils from tiny hammers. And let’s not forget that glorious yellow tresses and beard, resplendent with 2 bananas and over a dozen 9V Train track switch elements. Even the display stand is finely decorated with a twisting branch pattern made from animal horns and claws. Every part of this creation is alive with great details and clever tricks.

The train switch is the seed part in the latest round of Iron Builder and is leading to some great builds. But don’t think Jonas needs any specific goad to create great builds. I mean, just check out the other great builds we’ve featured.

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A deep dive into NPU

NPU, or “Nice Part Usage” is often a hallmark of the LEGO creations we feature here at the Brothers Brick. The Sludge Diver by djokson is a prime specimen. A specimen of what, exactly, remains up for debate. It seems likely those eyestalks are partially composed of dinosaur tails, but the bulk of the diver remains hidden behind that fascinating bit of protective gear. Combining Duplo tubes, rubber tires, and even the packaging from the 8050 Bionicle Kraata booster pack, this explorer is ready for whatever life throws at them.

The best bit of this build for me is the DOTS bracelet used for the helmet gasket. If you agree, check out other innovative uses of those bracelets in our DOTS archives.

What’s this? What’s this?

You may have noticed that there’s been a lot of Christmas set news lately. But personally, I think we should be focusing more on Halloween. Luckily, delayice finds the middle ground with these great LEGO character builds from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Both Jack Skellington and his pet ghost-dog Zero are very recognizable. They’re also very cute, with big round tile eyes that are reminiscent of POP figures. I like how both Zero’s ears and Jack’s eyebrows (eye sockets?) sit at unconventional angles, making this build feel less static. The gravestone behind Jack is a nice touch, too, expanding this into a micro-scene, rather than just a character build.

If you’re like me and want to fend off the incoming elf hordes for a few more minutes, why not peruse our Nightmare Before Christmas archives? I promise nothing there is that scary.

The other famous blonde elf with a bow.

I can almost hear the collective eye-roll of Nintendo fans everywhere when they read this title. While there can be no argument about who came first, Legolas is not the only blonde elf archer with a big fan base. This model by Brixter Productions shows Link, the daring hero of The Legend of Zelda video game franchise first released in 1986, stands ready to defend the Princess Zelda.

This version of Link is from 2017 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and he’s fully armed and ready for anything. The tunic is very well-crafted with a minimum of parts, and his wind-blown hair is a nice touch.

Bow before the mighty Lich King

Sometimes I look at something and think “Wow, that’s a really cool sculpture!” only to realize it’s actually made of LEGO. That was exactly my thought process when I saw Marcin Otreba’s Lich King Arthas from World of Warcraft. What I was first drawn to, oddly, was the base, and no way did I realize it was built out of my favourite plastic bricks.

The way the wedge plates are stacked and the cascading effect of the trans medium blue textured wedges make it hard to believe that’s not actually carved out of ice and snow. Then you zoom and realize this thing is an absolute tutorial on parts usage. So many amazing combinations of sword or blade elements really displaying how even specialized LEGO pieces can be combined in unique and spectacular ways. There so many different textures too, my favourite being the claw pieces simulate the white fur on the boots, and the chains creating the mail on his abdomen. The skull on his shoulder ain’t too shabby either. Be sure to zoom in to notice all fantastic parts usages.

The Bricks are Busted!

Builder Paul has struck cartoon character gold again, this time with his LEGO builds of teenage characters Candace Flynn and Vanessa Doofenshmirtz from Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb. Both characters are known for their attempts at “busting” their family members for their crazy antics.

Using a variety of bricks, slopes, and tiles in varying sizes Paul did an excellent job at fashioning these brick-built characters accurately via the SNOT (studs not on top) technique. The most difficult component for these characters to render correctly in bricks would be Vanessa’s more curvy frame as well as the round faces of these particular characters in comparison to the more angular faces of some other characters in the show such as Dr. Doofenshmirtz. I think the tooth shaft in pink which Paul utilizes in order to render Vanessa’s lips is an example of some pretty creative parts usage. What can I say? Paul has done it again, and I as well as many other fans are definitely hoping to see some more brick-built versions of other characters from this beloved television show.

TBB Cover Photo for September 2020: Fit for the Gods

This month’s cover photo, from Aaron Newman, features the Gods of Olympus. From Hades to Zeus, Aaron has recreated these Greek Mythological Gods in LEGO, while capturing the essence of what makes each of these mythological characters unique. Hit up Aaron’s blog post to learn more about his approach to each minifig.

And if you’re looking for even more Greek minifigs, Aaron has also recreated some of the most well-known Mortals and Monsters from the pantheon of Greek myth. I’m a big fan of Icarus, who looks to have just flown too close to the sun, but honestly, these all look great.

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Super Mario has a huge headache he’s not telling us about

The LEGO Nintendo/ Mario craze has started thanks to the recent releases to plunder our wallets dry. Full disclosure, the person writing this article has never (ever) had the chance to play Super Mario during his younger years, but surely knows of how famous he is thanks to popular culture permeating all forms of media. First things first, this is a superb representation of Mario mid-flight by Lee Chi Wing (city son) that I’m familiar with, especially with the level of flexibility engineered into a brick-built character.

Click to see Mario in action

These Gauls are crazy!

European readers will recognise these busts of two big-nosed cartoon characters named Asterix and Obelix. These Gaulish warriors are from a French comic series with the same name, following their fantastic adventures and fight against the Roman Empire. They sometimes get temporary superhuman strength by drinking a magic potion brewed by their village druid. George Panteleon built the perfect portraits of the titular heroes, each instantly recognisable by their characteristics. Asterix is the small but strong warrior with his signature winged helmet. Obelix is his sidekick, overweight with permanent superhuman strength because he fell into the cauldron of magic potion as a baby. Obelix’s double chin and broad shoulders set him apart from Asterix, all with the clever usage of rounded bricks. Smaller quarter-dome bricks give the shape of the noses, cheeks, and helmets of these cute but fierce characters.

See more of George Panteleon‘s wonderful builds, including his impressive Joker bust.

Rock, papercuts, scissors, wait...

The players of the game that settles it all can get a little carried away sometimes. In this cute LEGO vignette by Pedro Sequeira some of our favorite players; rock, paper, and scissors are brought to life in three dimensions and we can see the consequences of such rough play!

Each player – rock, paper, and scissors are made up of some pretty standard small elements such as slopes, tiles, and small bricks. The faces on the objects and their expressions are what make this scene both adorable and hilarious. The rock and paper characters feature woodoo balls with eye prints, while printed round 1×1 tiles with mischievous squinting eyes decorate the face of scissors. A stream of tears on poor cut-up paper’s face is cleverly rendered with a couple translucent clear dragon’s fire elements. I enjoy the lines on the paper created with grey plates to give it that loose-leaf paper aesthetic. Maybe rock can talk some sense into scissors while poor paper heals its wounds from battle. Sequeira does mention that this brick-built vignette is based off of an illustration which can be viewed here.

Sheena: queen of the jungle or maybe the zoo

LEGO figure builder Letranger Absurde is at it again and this time he’s built Sheena: Queen of the Jungle. Where else but the jungle or possibly the zoo can a bald eagle and a zebra live in the same ecosystem? The builder tells us this idea has been a work in progress since 1874. If you’re like me and believe everything you read on the internet this means he had knowledge of Sheena sixty-three years before she made her comic book debut in 1937. No wonder Letranger is so talented! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to respond to an email from a super-polite Nigerian prince who has a lucrative business proposition in exchange for just a little account information. He seems to be a nice fellah. In the meantime, check out Letranger’s impressive archives, especially the Stone Age Huntress we recently featured.

Modern Stone Age bad-ass huntress

In ancient times, humans domesticated dogs to help them hunt, and they became our best friends. But what if we’d chosen cats instead, as this LEGO huntress, depicted by Letranger Absurde has? While the one-piece sabretooth tigers are considered big cats to minifigures, to this brick-built character, they’re positively darling little killing machines.

The huntress herself is no slouch either – this Paleolithic predator is built to survive. I mean, just look at those palisade brick abs! Hopefully it was warm back then, because those bucket handles and ingots don’t look like that warm of an outfit. Maybe she’s just a Stone Age cat lady? She even has tangled hair, expertly crafted out of LEGO chain, to match the stereotype.