The Brickster

The Brickster is an Island Xtreme Stunts minifigure that first debuted in 5731 LEGO Island in 1997 and later saw physical release in 2001. He is the primary antagonist of the LEGO Island video games LEGO Island, LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge, and Island Xtreme Stunts, as well as in the Soccer / Football game Soccer Mania.
==Description==
In 5731 LEGO Island, the Brickster's default appearance wears a white shirt with horizontal black stripes and the number 23768, a white right glove, a bright blue left glove, black pants, and a black backwards baseball cap. His face is printed with a domino mask, a black mustache, sideburns, arched eyebrows, solid grey stubble, and a wide mouth.
As detailed below in Behind the Scenes, according to an early description for the Brickster during the development of LEGO Island, "Jailbreak Joe" was a potential alias considered for his name.Bricks to Bytes - LEGO Island: Character Development Later, in LEGO Adventures! Magazine, Jailbreak Joe's minifigure appears in the comics as the Brickster. However, it is unclear if this character is intended to be Joe with a different name; if it is intended to be the Brickster with a different appearance; or even if Jailbreak Joe and the Brickster are intended to be the same character.
In LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge, the Brickster's design was updated, with all later designs following suit. His face was redesigned, with the most notable difference being his stubble now being represented as black dots. His black cap was replaced with a black beanie.
The Brickster keychain was available free with the purchase of 5774 LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge, marking his first physical appearance. It has movable parts just the same as the minifigures that come with sets, although the legs and head do not detach from the body. This same design appears in the Island Xtreme Stunts as a standard minifigure.
In 3387 Brickster and in Soccer Mania cutscenes, the Brickster's black beanie is changed to dark grey. Oddly, his in-game model in Soccer Mania retains the black beanie.
== History ==
According to the bonus material included in the LEGO Island PC box set, the Brickster was created by the Infomaniac several zillion years ago. The two were best friends until the Infomaniac decided that he wanted to create new friends to play with. Outraged, the Brickster began to steal bricks from LEGO Island and left to create his own island, now known as OGEL Island (OGEL for short), which stood for the opposite of all that LEGO stands for. It has no relation to the character Evil Ogel (although there are mentions in the LEGO Island Comic Adventures that the Brickster wished to be like Ogel).
=== LEGO Island ===
Sometime between the events of the Brickster's departure from LEGO Island and the start of the game, the Brickster was imprisoned in the LEGO Island jail. He made a call to the local pizzeria to order one of Papa Brickolini's ultra hot and spicy pizzas, posing as Nick Brick. He used the pizza to melt the lock to his jail cell and then took the nearby helicopter. The Brickster then stole the red brick on top of the Information Center and the Ambulance. He proceeded to terrorize the island by stealing the buildings and the bricks that make them up. Pepper Roni was sent out to retrieve the parts for the police helicopter, which the Brickster had hidden throughout the island. Once the helicopter was complete, Pepper captured the Brickster by shooting pizzas at him, slowing him down as he ate them, allowing him to then be caught by Nick and Laura Brick.
===LEGO Island 2===
In LEGO Island 2, after being in jail for some time, the Brickster began his long-winded plan to escape. He had many pizzas delivered to him (although he wasn't allowed anything with more than one pepper) and saved the peppers. Once he had enough peppers, he ate them all and used his "Brickster dragon breath" to melt to door of the jail and escape (again). Shortly after, he stole the Constructopedia from the Information Center and tore out its pages (destroying the buildings in LEGO Island) and scattered them across the world. He then called the Brickster bots of OGEL, his henchmen, to harass the people of LEGO Island while he escaped back to OGEL. Eventually, Pepper Roni was able to collect all the missing pages of the Constructopedia and journey to OGEL to defeat the Brickster, who had kidnapped Mama and Papa Brickolini so that he could have pizzas whenever he wished. After a short battle, the Brickster was once again defeated by pizzas thrown by Pepper, but this time was imprisoned in a small tower on OGEL.
===LEGO Racers 2===
The Brickster makes a cameo in LEGO Racers 2. In the opening cutscene when Rocket Racer picks up a paper reporting his race in LEGO Racers, a picture on the back of the paper shows the Brickster behind bars. This is a still image from the opening cutscene of LEOG Island 2.
===Island Xtreme Stunts===
In Island Xtreme Stunts, the Brickster promised to reform in order to be let out of jail. He helped Pepper film the action scenes for the movie, taking the place of the bad guy. After Pepper filmed the parachuting scene, the Brickster revealed that his involvement in the film was merely a cover for his evil plan: using Brickster-Bots to build a tower from which he could deconstruct the world. He kidnapped the Infomaniac, went to the top of the mountain, and began dropping objects around the island. After avoiding the obstacles and racing to the top of the mountain, Pepper had to face off against The Brickster. 
The Brickster has five "hit points" and three different attacks. First, the Brickster would jump and smash the ground, sending out a shockwave to try and push Pepper off the ledge, but it made him vulnerable to being thrown off the edge with pizzas. After falling off once, the Brickster would start running at high speeds toward the center. After three falls, the Brickster trades his running attack for summoning Brickster-Bots to push Pepper off the edge. 
Once defeated, the Brickster's tower was deconstructed, and he was arrested again. He was given yet another chance to be free if reformed, but he refused. He then escaped again to view the movie in the theater, but can be found in the jail again afterwards.
===Soccer Mania===
The Brickster, like in the LEGO Island series, is the main antagonist in Soccer Mania. After the player's team had won the first few matches, the team was to be awarded with a trophy, but the Brickster appeared and stole the trophy, then disappeared. The player's team then had to hunt down the Brickster while playing football matches along the way. Eventually they discovered that he had escaped in a Spaceship and as a result had to win more matches in order to unlock a spaceship. The player discovered the Brickster again on Mars, and had to play against the Martian team and the Brickster-Bot team. The Brickster then assembled a football team of his own to play against the player. Once The Brickster's team was defeated, The Brickster was "safely" locked in the Spaceship hold, after it set off again from Mars. The Brickster is seen clutching a key at the end.
===LEGO Adventures===
In LEGO Adventures! Magazine Issue 3, the Brickster was robbing a bank vault when his robbery was revealed by clumsy construction workers who accidentally knocked a hole in the wall of a bank. He rushed away on a motorcycle, only to be caught in a makeshift trap by another group of construction workers.
In LEGO Adventures! Magazine Issue 8, the Brickster, after robbing a bank, was met outside by Highway Patrolman Bill. The Brickster ran away, throwing away part of the money he had stolen to stall Bill. Bill called Firefighter Jack, and the firefighters raced to the Brickster's location. They squirted him with a fire hose, stunning him until Bill arrived.
In LEGO Adventures! Magazine Issue 11, the Brickster attempted to a steal a backhoe from Builder Pete. After being foiled, he stole another construction vehicle, this time evading Highway Patrolman Bill and "escaping" into an alley. The alley turned out to be a maze, and the Brickster, trapped, was captured by Bill and Pete.
In LEGO Adventures! Magazine Issue 15, the Brickster hid in a barrel to escape the city. However, when the barrel fell off a forklift it was sent rolling and the Brickster cried out, alerting Highway Patrolman Bill to his presence.
== LEGO Description ==
== Behind the Scenes ==
The earliest mention of what became the Brickster can be found in a 1995 notebook of LEGO Island series creator Wes Jenkins', that mentions a character known as "Trickster."Bricks to Bytes - LEGO Island: Notebook Several core aspects of the character's in LEGO Island were already being considered at this point, including the Brickster escaping jail and stealing parts. Following this, several other names were considered for him including Click the Mouse,Bricks to Bytes - LEGO Island: LEGO SFX Script D. Brickster,Bricks to Bytes - LEGO Island: Overview and Summaries Shifty,Bricks to Bytes - LEGO Island: Character Development Crash, and Click. Jailbreak Joe, the name of a preexisting character from the Town theme, was also considered as a potential alias.
According to an early July 9th, 1996Bricks to Bytes - LEGO Island: The Backstory version of the backstory, the Brickster and the Infomaniac split up after the latter suggested he wanted to make a new friend for them. Afterwards, the Infomaniac built a dog called Squat to protect his bricks, which would lead to it taking the Brickster's left claw. The Brickster would then steal around half of the Infomaniac's bricks, which he would then use to make Fright Knights. After several a zillion years worth of battles with the Infomaniac, he then set his eyes towards the Phanta Sea, intending to find his own island, and the Fright Knights became Pirates. Eventually, after struggling to find land and being humiliated by the Bobs, the Brickster decided to make his own island that became known as Skull Island (an early version of what would become OGEL). He would then continue to build more people, including Captain Click, most of which would mutiny over time.
Before the release of LEGO Island Mindscape, the developer of the game, was planning several additional LEGO titles that potentially would have featured the Brickster. They include LEGO Adventurers,Bricks to Bytes - LEGO Adventures: Inhouse Preliminary Design LEGO Sea Challenge,Bricks to Bytes - LEGO Sea Challenge: Preliminary Design Document and LEGO Space: UFO Invaders.https://archive.org/details/lego-space-ufo-invaders/page/n1/mode/2up The least fleshed out title, LEGO Space: UFO Invaders, makes the mere mention of Durak, the main villain of the game, potentially being the Brickster. In LEGO Adventurers, the Brickster was only included in a cameo role. LEGO Sea Challenge, the most fleshed out title, featured the Brickster in the role of upsetting several underwater ecosystems. He was also planned to have a henchman called Blockhead later in the development of this title.
During the extent of his involvement in the development of LEGO Island 2, the Brickster's role was, for the most part, kept the same as the final game. However, David Lander, who voiced the Brickster in LEGO Island, was contacted and open to reprising his role for the game but didn't due to unknown factors.https://archive.org/details/david-lander-email/mode/1up
At the start of the development of LEGO Island 3, when the game focused around an early version of Orient Expedition, the Brickster was to of escaped jail and discovered LEGO Island's engine room.https://archive.org/details/lego-island-3-design-document After various events on LEGO Island, he would have started to follow Bologna Roni's footsteps on the Silk Road to find a key to the engine room that'd allow him to steer LEGO Island. Eventually, this version of the game was scrapped, and what became Island Xtreme Stunts was pitched, with the general plot featuring the Brickster in the largely the same role as the final game throughout the rest of the development.
==Gallery of Variants==
===Video Game Variants===
==Appearances==
*3387 Brickster
*6732 Brickster's Trike
*6735 Air Chase
*6737 Wake Rider
*6739 Truck & Stunt Trikes
*6740 Xtreme Tower
=== Online Game Appearances ===
* LEGO Island Comic Adventures
* Pepper's Skateboard Challenge
* Scavenger Hunt
===Video Game Appearances===
*5731 LEGO Island
*5730 LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge
*5774 LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge
*5775 LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge
*5777 LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge
*5778 LEGO Racers 2 
*5779 LEGO Racers 2 
*14556 Island Xtreme Stunts
*14557 Island Xtreme Stunts
*14558 Island Xtreme Stunts
*5784 Soccer Mania
*5785 Soccer Mania
*5786 Soccer Mania
==Notes==
*The Brickster is voiced by David Lander in LEGO Island, Jack Roberts in LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge,https://archive.org/details/li-2-cast-list and John Guerrasio in Island Xtreme Stunts. Guerrasio also voiced the Director and Papa Brickolini in Island Xtreme StuntsIsland Xtreme Stunts cdc\COMMENT\RESULTS.TXT file (via IXS voice actors on Rock Raiders United) as well as Vinnie Pappalardo in LEGO City Undercover.
*The Brickster's name is an obvious pun on "the trickster".
==Gallery==
Brickster LI1.png|The Brickster in LEGO Island
Brickster2.png|The Brickster in LEGO Island
Beneath the LEGO Phanta Sea Storyboards.png|Storyboards for LEGO Sea Challenge containing the Brickster
LICharacterDesigns.png|Several designs for the main characters of LEGO Island, including the Brickster
Brickster-appearence.png|Development art for the Brickster in the first LEGO Island game
Magazine ComesToLife.jpg|An ad with an early design for the Brickster
Lego-island-2---brickster-sprite-sheet 6150392953 o.jpg|Early development sprites for the Brickster in the Game Boy Advance version of LEGO Island 2.
BRICKSTER.png|The Brickster in a newspaper in LEGO Racers 2
LI3CharacterBibleBrickster.png|The Brickster's LEGO Island 3 Character Bible Entry
Brickster.png|The Brickster sticker from My LEGO Network
==References==
Category:LEGO Island Minifigures
Category:Minifigures introduced in 1997
Category:Minifigures first introduced in Video Games
Category:Criminal Minifigures