Video game mods can be divided into two distinct categories. The first is those that add new features and quality-of-life additions to the game. These include new items, visual upgrades, and maybe even more things to do. All of these are meant to enhance the game. Then there are mods that add things to the game just for laughs.
The most popular mod from the second category is probably the one that adds Thomas the Tank Engine to a game. We’ve seen Thomas being swapped for dragons in Skyrim, Mr. X in Resident Evil 2, and even Automatron’s in Fallout 4. We have one person to thank for this: Kevin “Trainwiz” Brock, the modder that started this trend. However, Trainwiz recently claimed that starting this trend came with some legal backlash.
Thomas The Tank Engine Mod Creator Says Mattel Has It In For Him
Trainwiz has once again modded in the beloved children’s cartoon train, this time to replace Cliff Racers in Morrowind (thanks, PC Gamer). However, he says he hasn’t learnt his lesson despite all the legal threats. “I am incapable of learning lessons whenever it involves corporations, because I fundamentally do not view toy company CEOs or media CEOs as people,” said Trainwiz on Bluesky.
He elaborated on the mod’s Nexus Mods page, “I sometimes feel like I need to milk a particular joke until its inevitable demise. I will do this no matter how many legal threats, actual threats, black vans with the Mattel logo on them, or severed Barbie heads are mailed to me. This is because I have issues with authority, particularly authority derived from intimidation.”
www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mo… I made a mod that replaces cliffracers with Thomas the Tank Engine. I am incapable of learning lessons whenever it involves corporations, because I fundamentally do not view toy company CEOs or media CEOs as people. #morrowind #thomasthetankengine
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— Trainwiz (@trainwiz.bsky.social) November 25, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Mattel owns the Thoma IP, and considering that it’s a lovable children’s cartoon, it probably has an issue with the tank engine spitting fire, chasing you down dark hallways, and even brutally murdering you. It seems that Trainwiz has been dealing with the repercussions for a while, saying in a 2019 interview that Mattel has been after him for a while.
Clearly, that hasn’t stopped the modder, as he has added Thomas to plenty of games since then. “I actually made this years ago but never released it, but then I realized that I don’t particularly care anymore,” he added.
- Released
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November 11, 2011
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
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Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Bethesda Softworks
