Video game modes can be divided into two different categories. The first are those that add new features and quality of life to the game. This includes new items, visual upgrades, and maybe more. All these are to promote the game. Then there are mods that add things to the game just for laughs.
The most popular mod of the second category is probably the one that adds the Thomas the Tank engine to the game. We have Thomas for the dragon in Skyrim, Mr. We've also seen X in Resident Evil 2, and Automatron in Fallout 4. We have one person to thank for this: Kevin “trainwiz” Brock, the modder who started the trend. However, Trainwiz recently claimed that there was some legal backlash when it started the trend.
Thomas the Tank Engine mod creator says Mattel has it for him
Trainwiz has once again modded the cute children's cartoon train, this time to replace the cliff racers in Morrowind (thanks, PC Gamer). However, he says that despite all the legal threats, he has not learned his lesson. “I'm incapable of learning lessons when corporations are involved, because I fundamentally don't see toy company CEOs or media CEOs as people,” Trenwiesz told Bluesky.
As he elaborated on the mod's Nexus Mods page, “I sometimes feel like I have to milk a particular joke to its inevitable death. No matter how many legal threats, actual threats, black vans with Mattel logos, or severed Barbie heads are mailed to me, I'll do it. It's because I specifically have issues with authority.”
www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mo… I made a mod that replaces Cliffracers with Thomas the Tank Engine. I'm incapable of learning lessons when corporations are involved, because I fundamentally don't see toy company CEOs or media CEOs as people. #tomorrow #thomasthetankengine
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— Trainwiz (@trainwiz.bsky.social) November 25, 2025 at 2:22 am
Mattel owns the Thoma IP, and considering it's an adorable children's cartoon, it probably has tank engines setting fire, chasing you down dark hallways, and brutally murdering you. It appears that Trainwiz has been dealing with the fallout for some time, saying in a 2019 interview that Mattel has been after him for some time.
Apparently, that hasn't stopped the modder, as he's added Thomas to several games since then. “I actually made it years ago but never released it, but then I realized I didn't really care anymore,” he added.
- issued
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November 11, 2011
- ESRB
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M for Mature 17+ due to blood and gore, intense violence, sexual content, use of alcohol
- developer(s)
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Bethesda Game Studio
- publisher(s)
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Bethesda Softworks
