The Xarkon Fox Scout Walker
LEGO by: Justin R. "Saber-Scorpion" Stebbins
Model Name: XW-A04-M "Manegarm"
Weight Range: Very Heavy
Speed: Slow
Armaments: 1 plasma cannon, 2 medium ballistic cannons, 2 heavy rotary blazer machine guns, 1 long-shot rail gun, 1 large missile rack (supports two missile types), 1 Firestorm cannon
Capacity: 1 Pilot
Other: Shield Generator for head and legs, WarCom command interface, 2 "Fox Ear" Detector Dishes, 4 "Starlifter" Jump Boosters

NOTE: Images with blue outlines are thumbnails; click to enlarge.

I built this walker over Christmas of 2004. It was when LEGO had just released the new joint pieces that I used in the Manegarm's arms, which were ideal for mechs. One LEGO set I got that Christmas was the Titan XP, a model of a huge robot that came with lots of the new joint pieces. I didn't like the robot's design, however - it was too humanoid and anime-styled. So I began the creation of the Manegarm.

I have been working on a design for Mars's personal walker for some time now. My first idea was to make it a solid black Wolf walker called the Holocaust. This was actually its name in the first few drafts of my stories. After I decided to use all Norse mythological names for Xarkon, I changed it to the Manegarm. These sketches here were drawn the Christmas that I finally decided to convert Mars's walker to LEGO form for the first time. I didn't want to go in with no idea of what the final product would look like.

High Commander Lucas Mars designed the Manegarm to be his specific walker and his alone. Only one was ever produced, and the designs are kept top-secret so that they can never be duplicated. From his seat in the Manegarm, Mars leads his army into battle.

The "Fox Ear Detector Dishes" on either side of the Manegarm's head were specifically designed to go with the walker's WarCom command interface. Together, they help Mars keep track of all of his units on the battlefield, while at the same time giving him ample information about his enemies. It's things like this that earn Mars his reputation as "the god of war."

Hidden in the opening mouth is the powerful Firestorm Cannon . On either side of the Firestorm are the rotary machine guns. On one arm is mounted the plasma cannon; on the other arm are a pair of ballistic cannons. You can see where the shell of the cannon is ejected from the side if you look in some of the other pictures.

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

The thrusters on Manegarm's back are extremely powerful. When they are fired along with the ones under Manegarm's legs, the walker can actually fly. It is by no means agile, but it is possible.

The tower-like projections on the Manegarm's back are the missile rack and the rail gun. The reason I mounted the weapons like this was to try to accentuate the walker's angry, hunch-backed look, as well as to make its silhouette look very vaguely the Crown of Xarkon. I'm not sure if I succeeded in the latter goal, but I think I did pretty good on the former.

The Manegarm's Longshot rail gun can launch powerful bombardment warheads into enemy territory from a very long range. It is probably the most destructive weapon on the entire walker, and it could even be loaded with nuclear warheads, if Mars would allow it.

The legs were by FAR the hardest part. I went through at least three different leg designs before I found one that actually worked. First I tried just using the same Titan XP type joints as on the arms, but they wouldn't hold it up at all. After that, I tried the good old clicky joints, but they weren't much better. I even tried tossing in Bionicle ball-and-socket joints, but they were even worse. Finally I came up with this simple TECHNIC design. The legs aren't pose-able, but they are mobile, for what that's worth.

High Commander Mars in his throne as the god of war. The Manegarm took me months to build, and over half of that time was spent on the legs. It was the first LEGO creation I ever used "bley" on. "Bley," short for "bluish-grey," is the nickname for the new standard LEGO grey that the company start using after 2003 (I think).

If you enlarge ONE photo in this gallery, enlarge this one. It's desktop-sized, but it's one of the best photos here, because it makes the Manegarm look menacing and evil, and Mars is lit up red in the cockpit.

As you can see, the Manegarm's neck is quite flexible, as are its arms. This allows for the walker to defend itself on all sides without support. Of course, as commander, the Manegarm almost always has support anyway, but...

Rejected names: the Holocaust, the Werewolf, the Fenrir, the Ornlu, and of course, the Big Bad Wolf... When designing the walker, I knew I wanted it to be named after a Wolf, because it was supposed to be about the same size as the standard Xarkon Wolf walker. To stick with the Norse mythology naming system I'd been using, I narrowed down my choices to Fenrir, Fenris, Hati, Skoll, Moongarm, and Manegarm. These are all names of wolves in Norse mythology.

Finally I decided on Manegarm, because it sounded the most menacing. According to Norse mythology, Manegarm is a giant wolf who chases the moon every night, howling at it and trying to catch it. Strangely enough, another wolf named Hati also chases the moon every night. I never was able to determine if they were the same wolf or not, but I did read that Manegarm is supposed to catch the moon upon the coming of Ragnarok (the end of the world) and tear it from the sky and devour it. I never read anywhere that Hati caught the moon.

"I see a bad moon rising... I see trouble on the way... I see earthquakes and lighting... I see bad times today..."
"Hope you got your things together... Hope you are quite prepared to die... Looks like we're in for nasty weather..."

Mars is not afraid to stand out on the battlefield, even if it means being targeted by his enemies. Indeed, it actually has the opposite effect. Such is the renown of his own piloting skills and the power of his walker that few are brave enough to challenge him.

Rumors say that Mars actually is able to climb up the Manegarm's leg to reach the cockpit for quick entry when an entry ladder is not nearby.

Here's a sketch I drew after finishing the model.

"Cry havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War!"