Thomas the Tank Engine and the Power of PC Modding
Thomas the Tank Engine has quietly become one of the biggest in jokes in PC gaming. Over the years, modders have turned the friendly blue train into a kind of chaotic mascot, dropping him into some of the most serious and atmospheric games on PC. Dragons, monsters, and horror villains have all been replaced by Thomas in a long running tradition that mixes meme culture with the creativity of the PC modding scene.
It all really kicked off back in 2013 with a Skyrim mod that swapped every dragon in the game for Thomas the Tank Engine, complete with the original show sound effects. Watching a gigantic smiling train swoop down and blast fire instead of a terrifying dragon pretty much guaranteed Thomas a permanent spot in gaming meme history.
That original Skyrim mod was made by developer and modder Trainwiz, who has kept this particular joke alive for more than a decade. Now he is back with a new project that brings Thomas to another legendary Bethesda RPG: The Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind.
Morrowind's Cliff Racers Become Flying Thomases
Morrowind players know the pain of cliff racers. These flying creatures endlessly harass you across the volcanic island of Vvardenfell, chasing you down and attacking in swarms. They are infamous in the community as one of the most annoying enemies in the entire Elder Scrolls series.
Trainwiz clearly understands that reputation, because his new Morrowind mod replaces every cliff racer with Thomas the Tank Engine. Instead of screeching creatures swooping out of the ashlands, you now get flocks of smiling, airborne Thomases gliding towards you. The result is equal parts cursed and hilarious.
The mod even comes in two versions. One simply replaces all cliff racers with Thomas models. The other goes further and integrates an existing mod that makes two spawn for every one you kill. In other words, every time you deal with a threat, the sky just fills with more Thomases. For players who enjoy leaning into chaos on their modded playthroughs, this is probably the version to choose.
Visually, it is as absurd as it sounds. Screenshots show multiple Thomases cruising through Morrowind's alien skybox, crowding around the player where flapping cliff racers used to be. Seeing a childrenâs TV character invading one of the most atmospheric and strange classic RPGs is pure modding energy.
Modding Culture, Legal Threats, and the Thomas Meme
Behind the joke there is an ongoing tug of war between community creativity and corporate control. Thomas the Tank Engine is owned by toy giant Mattel, which reportedly does not have much sense of humor about these mods. Trainwiz half jokes in his bio that Mattel is out to kill him, and comments on how he does not view toy company or media executives as people in the same sense fans think about characters and games. It is his way of saying he refuses to be intimidated out of making silly mods.
On the modâs page he admits he actually made this Morrowind Thomas mod years ago but held off releasing it. Now he has decided he no longer cares about potential legal pressure and has finally pushed it live. Judging by his tongue in cheek feature list that includes entries like Satanism and The death of god alongside Cliff racers replaced with Thomas the Tank Engine, the whole project is designed to poke fun at the serious tone of legal threats and corporate control.
This Morrowind release joins a huge list of games that have been blessed or cursed with Thomas mods over the years. Thanks to various modders, Thomas has:
- Rained fire on enemies in Fallout 4
- Roared through Monster Hunter World
- Stalked players as Mr X in the Resident Evil 2 remake
- Replaced Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village
- Stood in for the giant snake in Sekiro
- Appeared as a Norse god like figure in Valheim
- Cameoed in Kingdom Hearts 3 through mods
At this point Thomas is less a character and more a running gag across PC gaming. Any time a serious or terrifying enemy exists in a popular game, you can almost expect someone to eventually replace it with Thomas. It is part of the broader tradition where PC players push their hardware and games in weird directions: graphics mods, performance enhancements, total conversions, and of course, pure comedy swaps like this one.
The legal side hangs in the background. The more Mattel or other companies try to clamp down on harmless, noncommercial mods, the more they risk what people sometimes call the Streisand effect. That is when attempts to silence something only spread it further. Trying to erase a silly Thomas mod from the internet would probably just make more people hunt it down, share it, and create their own versions for other games.
Whether you are a long time Elder Scrolls fan revisiting Morrowind on a modern PC or just someone who enjoys seeing old games twisted into something new, this mod is a perfect example of what makes PC gaming special. With a few downloads you can turn a classic RPG into something completely different, all powered by community creativity and a sense of fun.
And if you thought cliff racers were annoying before, wait until you have an entire sky full of smiling trains chasing you across Vvardenfell.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/hero-modder-trainwiz-who-started-the-thomas-the-tank-engine-meme-with-skyrim-thumbs-his-nose-at-legal-threats-and-black-vans-with-the-mattel-logo-by-modding-thomas-into-morrowind-i-have-issues-with-authority/
