Modder who first put Thomas the Tank Engine into Skyrim flips the bird at the lawyers, does it again in Morrowind: “I fundamentally do not view toy company CEOs or media CEOs as people”

by

It started as a joke, but it was only a matter of time: if a game allows modifications, someone will eventually add Thomas the Tank Engine to it. The person who first added a frightening version of Thomas to Skyrim has caused trouble with Mattel, the company that owns Thomas the Tank Engine, and their latest mod for Morrowind seems like a deliberate challenge to the company’s lawyers.

Modder Kevin Brock, known as Trainwiz, recently shared his latest creation for Morrowind: a mod that swaps out the cliff racers with Thomas the Tank Engine. He announced it on Bluesky, and jokingly explained his tendency to create such mods stems from a personal refusal to see corporate executives as actual people. (PC Gamer first reported on this.)

So, it turns out Brock is the one who originally brought Thomas the Tank Engine into Skyrim! He actually told The Face back in 2019 that he got into a lot of trouble for it. Apparently, Mattel wasn’t too happy – he joked they probably wanted him gone! That’s why you can’t find the Fallout 4 mod anywhere easily. The issue wasn’t even about violence, surprisingly. He said they got a letter from a law firm in Macedonia claiming he damaged the Thomas brand just by showing him exploding!

Even after all his hard work, he’s still dedicated to creating mods for the Tank Engine. He previously put in a lot of effort for Starfield, and now he’s doing the same for Morrowind – the game that really established the style of Bethesda Game Studios.

I created a mod for Morrowind that swaps out the creatures called Cliff Racers with Thomas the Tank Engine. I seem to have a recurring issue with not being able to learn from experiences involving large companies – I just don’t see the heads of toy or media companies as people. #morrowind #thomasthetankengine

— @trainwiz.bsky.social (@trainwiz.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-11-25T22:56:05.358Z

Brock explains on the Nexus Mods page for his latest project that he sometimes pushes a joke too far, even knowing it’s a bad idea. He says he’ll continue doing this regardless of any warnings, legal challenges, or even unsettling threats he receives – like packages containing severed Barbie heads or mysterious black vans with the Mattel logo. He admits this is due to a long-standing problem with authority, stemming from his childhood habit of standing up to bullies.

This mod is actually scarier than the one for Skyrim. In Skyrim, the terrifying train only showed up during boss battles, and those fights, while common, weren’t as relentless as the cliff racers in Morrowind. Those creatures constantly chase you throughout the entire game, and this mod turns Thomas the Train into one of them, meaning you’ll be hunted by endless trains wherever you go.

As Brock points out, the mod actually makes things even stranger. There are two versions: one simply replaces existing creatures, and another that doubles their numbers – for every one you defeat, two more appear. If Morrowind wasn’t already a bit unsettling, it definitely is now, but Brock’s calm demeanor helps keep things from feeling too scary.

I created this a long time ago but never shared it, and honestly, I’ve just lost interest. This is the kind of hero we all really need and deserve.

Read More

2025-11-26 02:11