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Castle

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Castle
Years:

1978-present

Subthemes:

Classic Castle
Black Falcons
Lion Knights
Black Knights
Forestmen
Crusaders
Wolfpack
Dragon Knights
Royal Knights
Dark Forest
Fright Knights
Ninja
Knight's Kingdom
Knight's Kingdom II
Castle (2007)


Castle is one of LEGO's core themes and was introduced in 1978. Orginally centered around medieval life, involving knights and castles, it also incorporated popular fantasy elements as it saw many changes over the years and is still running today. The theme is the second longest-lived in the LEGO universe (after Town).

Contents

[edit] History

The first Lego castle model ever was 0 Weetabix Castle, a promotional set from Weetabix, that was available in 1970.

[edit] Initial sets (1978 - 1983)

The Castle theme was started in 1978 when also the minifigures were introduced. The initial release comprised only one set, 375 Castle. The following year brought two other sets, 383 Knight's Tournament and 677 Knight's Procession. At first those sets were only available in Europe but were finally also released in the US in 1981. Until 1984, Castle consisted of only these three sets and two others which were promotionals from Samsonite. Many typical Castle pieces were already present, such as the halberds, the first swords, the lances, the triangular shields and the helmet with neck protector. The knights had unique helmets that consisted of the visorless Space helmets of that era and movable visor-pieces that were only available in this three early Castle sets. The featured horses were not the later ubiquitous horse-figures, instead they were built of normal bricks. The knights of this era did not use a consistent coat of arms, but rather had many different crests.

The Guarded Inn is one of most famous older Castle sets and one of the few halfway civilian buildings.

[edit] Factions (1984 - 1997)

In 1984 the Castle theme was totally renewed. Two new factions, the Crusaders and the Black Falcons, as well as a sheer flood of new pieces were introduced. Among the new pieces were the wall panels, spears, two new helmets (the helmets with chin-guard and the face-grill helmets for the knights) and feather plumes. 1984 also saw the introduction of the horse-figures, which were also featured heavily in Castle. From now on, every established faction would feature a unique coat of arms on their shields, flags or even the minifigures themselves. During the 1980s, Castle wasn't just about castles and knights but also featured some civilian minifigures, such as a peasant or a blacksmith, and also civilian buildings, like 6067 Guarded Inn. A direction that would later be lost when the theme focussed more on the military apects of the middle ages. The Guarded Inn also included the second female Castle-minifigure which did not yet feature a dress but instead a normal leg assembly. A similar minifig appeared in the set 6060 Knight's Challenge.

A new faction was added in 1987, the Forestmen, which did not dwell in castles but rather in hideouts built into hollow trees and rocks. This was also the first time when black-colored corner wall panels were seen. Other black wall panels, which already appeared in 1985 were brought into wider use when the Black Knights, that featured the first mainly black-colored castle, were introduced in 1988. 1990 brought some new pieces: a new elegant helmet with movable visor and an extra armour piece for knights. Another new addition was the glow in the dark ghost. This year also saw the first castle built on a raised baseplate, a piece first used a year before in Pirates sets. That castle, 6081 King's Mountain Fortress, also featured the first female minifig with a skirt, which was formed by a 2x2x2 sloped brick. This made the princess one plate taller than the men, but her tall pointed medieval headdress helped to obscure the height difference.

After the discontinuation of the Forestmen theme, which included outlaws that could just as well be the good guys, since they largely resemble Robin Hood and his merry men, Lego added a new unambiguously evil faction in 1992, the Wolfpack, which was basically a band of robbers. This was also the first year in which Castle-minifigures were equipped with the new diversified printed head pieces, that were first introduced in 1989 for the debut of the new Pirates line and added more personality to the characters than the simple smiley faces.

A diorama from 1993 showcases several sets from Dragon Masters, Wolfpack and Black Knights.

While the Black Knights used dragons merely as crests and ornaments, a new faction introduced in 1993, Dragon Masters, would move Castle more into the realms of fantasy and mythology by adding actual dragons and wizards to the complement of subjects covered by this theme. Thus setting a direction that would still be followed by future Castle themes. The wizard Majisto was also one of the first minigures that were given a name. Dragon Masters also brought some new interesting pieces, a new helmet and a large halberd, as well as several new faces.

For the time being the fantasy elements were not further developed. In 1995, the all new Royal Knights theme introduced the first distinct king minifigure that wore an actual crown. Another notable addition was the skeleton. 1996 saw a short-lived revival of Forestmen when Dark Forest was released.

Fantasy was back in 1997, when Fright Knights brought along witches and dragons, as well as some eerie looking villain with a bat as his symbol of choice. This theme did not only venture into more fantastic directions, it also featured some rather crazy looking flying machines.

The discontinuation of Fright Knights also marked the end of the basic concept of the Castle theme from 1984 onwards, where the different subthemes also represented several factions that coexisted in a consistent environment and would often appear together in one set. The themes of the following years were self contained subthemes with different factions on their own that did not not have any connection to the ones of another subtheme.

[edit] Subthemes (1998 - 2006)

What followed in 1998 was a rather unique interlude. With the introduction of Ninja, the Castle theme left its European setting and visited medieval Japan by featuring samurai and ninjas. Many new pieces were introduced as well, such as japanese swords, samurai armours and samurai helmets. Ninja did also include cannons and muskets, thus it's apparently set in the 16th century.

In 2000, Castle went back to a more conventional setting with the release of the new Knights' Kingdom theme, which involved two factions that were apparently at odds with each other, King Leo and his knights on one side and Cedric the bull with his evil minions on the other. The minifigures were elaboratedly designed and featured new torso pieces, faces, helmets and armour pieces. The buildings however had a rather simplified design. Which was also seen in other themes of that era, e.g. in Town Jr., a process later called "Juniorization". This theme was the first Castle theme to feature two female minifigs, Queen Leonora and Princess Storm. Knights' Kingdom was discontinued in the following year and there would be no new Castle sets until 2004.

Knights' Kingdom II from 2004 was a radical departure from any previous Castle themes. It featured colorful knights (in red, green and light blue) that were all named characters and pretty much resembled super hero teams like the Power Rangers. The normal sets were also accompanied by the release of canned action figure versions of these new characters in a style similar to Bionicle. Knights' Kingdom II was all in all more action oriented and also introduced some new helmets, swords and shields.

In 2005, Lego released its new Vikings line which was more realistic then the contemporary Knights' Knigdom II theme, but it nevertheless featured also some mythological aspects by adding dragons and other creatures from nordic lore. A new piece was the seperate axe blade that had to be attached to a brown stick to form a complete battle axe.

[edit] Castle 2007

The Castle theme was relaunched in 2007 (see Castle (2007 Theme)) and abandoned some of the aspects featured in Knights' Kingdom II but also reprised some earlier established fantasy elements such as dragons or sorcerers and added some new ones, which were originally known from the Lord of the Rings novels or Warcraft computer games, such as Orcs or Dwarves. Another difference is the fact that it does not involve humans fighting each other. The humans are represented by one unified kingdom that has to fight against groups of non-human monsters. In 2009 the biggest entirely civilian Castle set ever has been released, 10193 Medieval Market Village, which also included the first cow-figures.

[edit] Backstory

First Castle sets (1978-1983)

This were the early years of Castle. The Old Kingdom was united under one banner, and the King was prospering. Knights of this time participated in Jousts and tournaments to win the favors of ladies, and the thought of war was far off. If any fighting was done in this time, it was just a few minor disagreements between knights. Sometime after the death of the King, the Black Falcon faction invaded and set the remnants of the Old Kingdom into the forests and then waged war with the few pockets of survivors.

Factions of the 1980s and early 1990s (Crusaders, Black Falcons, Forestmen, Black Knights, Wolfpack) (1984 - 1992)

The Crusaders were governed by the King. This faction was the remnants of the old kingdom and protectors of justice. They often found themselves in open conflicts with the Black Falcons and the Forestmen.

The Black Falcons were the faction under the ruling of Lord Black Falcon. They were engaged in a costly war with the Crusaders and the Forestmen. Once the Black Knights became the dominant evil presence, the Black Falcons, Forestmen and the Crusaders came into an alliance.

A diorama from 1988 features a Forestman lurking on the tree tops while the Black Knights are holding a joust.

When the Old Kingdom collapsed, there were those that found they had no place in the new regimes, so they left to go into the Forest. They constructed hideaways and secret fortresses within the trees to protect themselves and made raids on the Crusaders and the Black Falcons. When the alliance against the Black Knights came into being, many of the Forestmen moved out of the Forest, although many remained behind to become two other factions, the Wolfpack and the Dark Forest.

The Black Knights arrived in 1992 and forced the Forestmen, Crusaders, and Black Falcons into an alliance. With their massive armies the Black Knights swept across the land, destroying everything in their path. With the main forces of the land locked into a war, the arrival of the Black Knights also allowed for the Wolfpack to emerge. The Wolfpack was a feared group of individuals that were once part of the Forestmen. They were lawless renegades that seemed to have no souls, but instead thrived off of robbing and looting. The remnants of this group formed the Dark Forest

Dragon Masters and Royal Knights are seemingly at odds with each other.
Factions of the 1990s and rise of the fantasy themes (Dragon Masters, Royal Knights, Fright Knights) (1993 - 1995)

A bold new faction was introduced to the Lego Castle line in 1993: The Dragon Masters! An eerie level of fantasy first made its presence known in medieval times, for the Dragon Master army was led by a wizard named Majisto, who commanded a small regiment of knights and guards, whose shields bore a re-colored (green) variant of the Black Knights' crest. More importantly, Majisto commanded fire-breathing dragons!

After two years of Dragon Master oppression, the status quo of Lego System Castle was irrevocably shaken, with the introduction of the decidedly "good guy" Royal Knights. Brightly-attired knights with a shield crest featuring a crowned lion's head, they were led by The Royal King, who introduced a first ever chrome longsword and more importantly, chrome golden crown, after more than 15 years of Castles without kings.

In 1997, Lego delved even deeper into the realm of supernatural fantasy with the introduction of the Fright Knights line. A giant bat emblem was the crest for Basil the Bat Lord and his forces of fright. Basil rode Draco, a black dragon steed with fire-colored wings, while his wicked partner Willa the Witch flew on a broomstick borrowed from the Fabuland line. Together, they subjected Lego Castle to a reign of terror. It is very likely NOT a coincidence that all of the 1997 Fright Knight Sets have stock numbers that end with the number 7. Superstitious much?

[edit] List of themes and factions

[edit] Castle factions (1984 -1998)

The Crusaders were the stronger one of the first two factions of Castle. Their crest featured a crowned lion and their main colors were red, blue and yellow.
The Black Falcons were one of the first two Castle factions but always had fewer sets than the Crusaders. Their symbol was a falcon and their colors black and blue.
This faction was the first band of outlaws in Lego Castle. Mainly dressed in green and brown, they did not dwell in proper castles but in hideout in the forest. Their crest was a brown staghead on green background.
The Black Knights used mainly dark colored buildings in contrast to the preceeding factions that all used grey castles. Their crest consisted of a blue dragon.
The Wolfpack was a band of robbers dressed in black and brown attire. Their symbol was a wolfhead.
These faction consisted of some exotic looking knights led by the sorcerer Majisto and used dragons as their main symbol, just as the Black Knights, but contrary to them, were the first ones to have some actual dragons in their inventory.
The Royal Knights were a rather small faction centered on their king and his big castle and didn't feature any noteworthy war materials. Their crest consisted of a crowned lionhead.
A short-lived extension of the mid-'80s Forestmen line, 1996's Dark Forest sets went so far as to recycle the Forestmen's Stag Shield crest. The Sets featured a diverse band of tree-dwelling rogues and robbers, led by a leather-vested scoundrel imaginatively named Rob N. Hood, according to Lego Mania Magazine.
The Fright Knights were a faction that featured some of the most nonsensical vehicles ever. Centered on an evil lord and a witch, the actual soldiers were a rather colorful bunch. Their symbol was a bat.

[edit] Castle subthemes (1998 - 2006)

The Lego Ninja collection relocated the Castle theme to medieval Japan, where graceful Oriental architecture provided the backdrop for an eternal struggle between two factions of daring and masterful martial artists. The Shogun Gai-Dan and his ally Ito, the gray ninja, defended a trove of mystical rubies from the Bandit Chief Kendo and his band of robbers, who, alongside the black ninja Bonsai, will stop at nothing to possess the ancient treasure.
Knights' Kingdom centered on a plotline of the evil Cedric the Bull trying to overthrow King Leo and take over the Kingdom. Knights' Kingdom centered on a conflict involving the Lions, led by King Leo, and the Bulls, led by outlaw Cedric The Bull. The main castle was 6098 King Leo's Castle, while the Bulls did not have a castle.  However, the Bulls have their own castle in Lego Island 2:  Revenge of the Brickster.  
Knights' Kinddom II did not have much in common with its predecessor. It revolved around a struggle between a group of good knights on one side and an evil knight on the other. The conflict takes place in the fictional kingdom of Morcia.

[edit] New Castle factions (2007 onwards)

See Castle (2007)

The new Castle theme from 2007 does not have human factions fighting each other but one human kingdom, represented by the Crown Knights that struggles agains several groups of fantasy creatures such as the Troll Warriors or the Skeleton Warriors. 2008 also introduced Dwarves into the Castle theme.

[edit] Sets

This list includes all Castle related sets that were not released as part of a subtheme or belonged to any factions. Sets from 2007 onwards are listed in Castle (2007 Theme).

First Castle sets
Other sets
Accessories

[edit] See also

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