Tag Archives: Mythology

Beware the gaze of BrickHeadz Medusa

In Greek mythology, Medusa is a slithering monster with a stone-cold gaze. The tables have now turned for the Greek gorgon, with Koen Zwanenburg having transformed her into a static LEGO BrickHeadz character. Though often portrayed as a hideous monster, Koen’s version is adorable. The sculpting of the body is particularly nice, with the tail from Jabba the Hutt being used to great effect. Her hair is comprised of several snake head elements, which look practically made for the character. It would be great to see other mythological creatures receive a BrickHeadz treatment this nice!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Baba Yaga’s black woods

Baba Yaga is the enigmatic mistress of eastern-European folklore, haunting the forests and bestowing spells of good or ill on those bold enough to seek her out, or foolish enough to stumble upon her. Finding Baba Yaga’s home takes a striking amount of bad luck, though, as her home runs about on chicken legs. In Bricksom Parsom‘s LEGO scene, however, a small girl has done just that by wandering into a section of woods gone sour.

The twisted trees and blackened plants are excellently wrought from a variety of elements, on the most interesting being the Nexo Knights mechanical spiders used as grey flowers and a flail as another. The rickety cottage also looks great, with a mix of round tiles for a sickly, bubbled roof.

Nature always wears the colour of the spirit

Earth, Fire, Water, Plants — all these elements combine in rockmonster2000‘s Nature Guardian figure. The tribal mask-style face is excellent — bound to intimidate any who dare trespass on this Elemental’s territory. The body is a combination of Technic and regular LEGO parts, something that isn’t easy to do well. I particularly like the drips from the watery arm and that trailing frond of greenery from the foot. They add visual interest and some real character, breaking up what might otherwise have been a little predictable.

Making a pig of himself

Zhu Bajie is one of the Monkey God’s fellow travellers in the classic tale Journey To The West. Western TV viewers might know him better as ‘Pigsy’ from the late-70s adaptation. However, familiarity with the source material isn’t required to appreciate this amazing LEGO version of the porcine hero by Kingmarshy. Wonderfully sculpted from a mix of Technic, Bionicle, and regular system bricks, this is a masterpiece of character building. The face is excellent, as is the headdress, but it’s the lines of the robe, with its white trim gaping around the bulging stomach, which really caught my eye. It’s also nice to see this sort of character engaged in a peaceful activity like feasting rather than set up in a more martial pose. The accompanying furniture is perfect — helping create the period feel, but not distracting attention from the main character himself.

Battle for the sky between Fujin and Raijin!

The Japanese Shinto-Buddhist gods of wind and storms have an eternal rivalry for control of the skies. Fūjin is the god of wind, and carries an enormous bag of air to blow, while Raijin beats drums to make thunder and lightning. LEGO 7 has captured the look of these well-known deities perfectly in LEGO, complete with bolts of lightning emanating from the cloud that Raijin is floating on. Although Fūjin is typically depicted with red hair, the white hair that both characters share ties them together wonderfully, while both gods sport distinct armor around their waists in silver and gold. This pair of fearsome spirits would fit in perfectly guarding the Kaminarimon “Thunder Gate” at Senso-ji in Tokyo.

The conflict of Horus and Set

Talented character builder Leonid An taps into the primal iconography of ancient Egypt in his LEGO depiction of the gods Set and Horus. Set, the dark god of storms, disorder and violence is suitably built from black elements, utilising a row of ball joints to covey a muscular body; modified bricks added to the side of his face neatly imply the tapering of a jackal-like snout.

Horus, the sky god, meanwhile displays a leaner torso made from bowed bricks, and a craftily sculpted falcon head, formed from a variety of unexpected parts.

Built together, the two bring to life the epic myth told in the famous Chester Beatty Papyrus; of the contest between Set and Horus to determine the rightful king of Egypt.

Loki’s eternal punishment – trapped in a LEGO hell

It makes a nice change to see a Norse god depicted in LEGO and for it not to be a version taken from the Marvel pantheon. However, Loki himself might not agree, as Pacurar Andrei‘s latest vignette shows the trickster god trapped in his eternal punishment — chained in the entrails of his own sons, with his faithful wife Sigyn shielding him from dripping snake venom. The legends had it that when Sigyn was forced to take periods of rest from holding the bowl, the venom would strike Loki’s face, causing him to shake and struggle, causing earthquakes. Nice. As for the model, the rockwork on display is very smartly-done (and reddish brown makes a pleasant change from the usual grey), and the colour gradient on the lava is lovely. All-in-all it’s a sweet little scene depicting an anything-but-sweet story.

Raise a horn of mead to Sigurd and Gudrún in Völsung Hall

In Norse mythology, Sigurd is a hero who slays the dragon Fáfnir (himself originally a dwarf affected by a curse). The legend was popularized in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and more recently by a posthumously published epic poem by J.R.R. Tolkien titled The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (published in 2009). Ben Cossy and Eli Brinsmead collaborated on an equally epic and legendary LEGO creation inspired by these myths, winning an award at the recent Brickvention 2018 in Melbourne, Australia.

The two builders live on opposite sides of Australia, and collaborated remotely over the course of more than three and a half months, with the two sections coming together for the first time at the event.

See more photos of this amazing Norse LEGO creation

Hercules’ fourth labour is anything but boaring

In Greek mythology, Hercules was sentenced to serving King Eurystheus for twelve years after killing his family in a fit of god-induced madness. Part of his punishment required Hercules to perform twelve seemingly impossible tasks, and Bob DeQuatre has created the fourth task in LEGO bricks. His snowy creation sets the scene with the large, aggressively dark Erymanthian Boar standing on high and a rather more diminutive looking Hercules facing up to his opponent. The composition is well thought out with the temple subtly built away from the main action on the left. I love the landscaping with rocks, snow and a stream frozen into an icy cascade on the right.

Taking a closer look at the boar also reveals some nice sculpturing to achieve his muscular form. I appreciate the thought that has gone into creating a realistic landscape, notice the ground underneath the tree is devoid of snow thanks to the leafy umbrella of protection above.

The hasty and the tardy meet at the ferry

Charon was the Ferryman of the Dead, transporting the recently deceased across the waters to Hades in his skiff. Charon’s fee was a single coin which was placed in the mouth of a corpse upon burial, those unable to pay the fee and were left to wander the earthly side to haunt the world as ghosts. Brick Spirou has captured the eerie presence of Charon and his skiff in LEGO form with a brick-built Charon, his face obscured by a long black coat with hood. I love the lantern hanging on the back of the boat, the builder used a light brick and some trans-orange plates to perfect the look.

Just make sure you bring the exact change needed for your fare, no credit cards accepted!

Zeus, God of thunder and the sky

Perennial TBB favorite Moko has given us a great blessing: Greek god Zeus in BIONICLE. Somehow I suspect the real Zeus would be jealous as this model is more fabulous than he is. There are a lot of things to comment on here, so let’s dive in.

The shields are perfectly sized and shaped to give Zeus the buff body that everyone, human or otherwise, seems to favor. The use of the gold mask as the shoulder gives great shaping – and check out those biceps! Appropriately, he is haloed by blades, adding to his intimidating stance. I particularly love his hair. That’s not a color you see often, if at all, and it makes this model stand out.

An American myth: Paul Bunyan

I’m sure it was quite the sight to see Paul Bunyan and his companion, Babe the Blue Ox. Pete Strege has captured these two larger-than-life folk heroes on a pedestal. Like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Paul Bunyan was made famous when he was used in a marketing campaign (for the Red River Lumber Company, in case you’re curious).

Check out the details here: the serrated edge of the saw blade, and Babe’s fantastic sculpting. Paul’s beard definitely caught my eye, and just check out the muscles he’s got going on!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!