Where are the factions from?

[Pallando the Blue]

I've seen talk about when most of LEGO castle was from, but I have always had my own idea about which real life kingdoms correspond to LEGo factions. Here's how it works in my head, but how do you history buffs place you kingdoms?
Crusaders seem fairly obvious to me. Aside from the axe crusaders, I think the lion crusdaers (and probably all of the other Lion factions) are English. While the KK1 heraldry isn't particularly English, for some reason the red armed characters make me think English anyway.

Black Falcons I always place as something Germanic, even if bird symbols were used by many different knigdoms (at least as far as I know).

Fright Knights...well...they aren't anything, unless the fleur de lis makes me think French. But the new crown knights make me think of France as well.

I have a heard time placing some of them, such as Classic, Wolfpack and Dragon masters, although some of the Black Knights seem to fit with Royal Knights okay (King's Archer).

My latest discovery had to do with the use of Dark Forest as archers. At least it seems historically accurate to dress your archers with cowls and close to no armor anyway, so I was considering the idea. This brought to mind two things to me at once, Welsh Longbowmen and Dark Forest's red and green color scheme. It finally hit me, these guys (at least to me) are very Welsh. Owain Glyndwr might make an appearance in my army sometime soon.

Did I miss any?

[Athos]

Lions = England (ala Richard the Lionhearted)

Black Falcons = Germanic

Fright Knights = Eastern Europe (ala Transylvania)

KK1 = Spain (for some reason)

Steve

[Vidgamer838]

Where do Jellybean Knights fit in here?

[ottoatm]

Where do Jellybean Knights fit in here?

Disneyland

I haven't ever really put much thought into this, but here is a round-about way of how I've always thought of it~

Lions = England (ala Richard the Lionhearted)

Black Falcons = Germanic

Black Knight=Eastern Europe (Central Region)

Fright Knight=Easter Europe (Northern Region), or perhaps Scandinavia... for some reason...

Forestmen = Anywhere there is a forest - Germany, England, Wales...

KK1 = Although I like this faction, I've never been able to attribute it to a location due to the cartoony lion head - although a divided spain for some reason would work for me in using the Royal Knights and KK1 Lion Knights (not sure why though!).

The new line = This reminds me more of the crusading religous knights for some reason... something along the lines of the Templars or Teutonic Knights. I know they don't have the same logos/signs, but they give a similar "feeling" to me. Or perhaps a more fantasy/paladin-like faction.

[HeartOfDarkness]

The Crusaders are undeniably English. The red and blue color scheme, the Lion Or on Azure, it can't be anything but English.

The Forestmen hold a special place in my heart as Celtic. More Ireland, less Sherwood Forest.

The Dark Foresters strike me as Welsh; resembling Forestmen but without as much flamboyancy.

The Wolfpack would be Scottish Highlanders; conquered but not destroyed, and resisting and undermining the Crusaders at every turn.

The Black Falcons are more Germanic; cold and rather intimidating. They have a huge 'Don't Mess With Me' aura, and I don't see Germanics as pushovers.

The Black Knights would be in southern Europe, encompassing Italy, Austria, the Czeck-Slovakian area, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Serbia, and even ranging into Turkey. Their colors, which are largely different while keeping a central unity, and their numbers, which are staggering, suggest a wide empire varying in culture.

The Royal Knights are Spanish, mostly because of the awesome mustaches.

The Bull Knights are in the Swiss area, hiding out in the mountians and daring adventurous fools to tresspass.

The KKI fellas would be Portuguese; their one real soldier looks a lot like the Spanish fellas without giving the impression of as mighty an empire.

The Dragon Masters are from Northeastern Europe, from Romania to Estonia, as they have the flamboyancy and wildness suggested by the Transylvanian legends.

The Fright Knights are Russian; grey, mysterious, foreboding, and often portrayed fighting the Dragon Masters.

The Vikings are Scandinavian and Danish, obviously, and the Ninjas are Oriental, even more obviously.

The new Crown Knights are French; the Crown emblem (somewhat resembling a Fleur-de-Leis) and the dark blue uniform with scale mail seem French-ish to me.

The Shadow Knights are from Belgium and the Netherlands, as they are the principal enemies of my Crown Knights and (imaginary) Black Falcons. Actually, Belgium and the Netherlands hadn't yet been taken and the Shadow Knights were too cool to be left out.

The Jelly Knights are from California, the only place they can visit without being laughed at (often).

[ottoatm]

I could easily go along with your classifications, HeartOfDarkness. I think you pegged the feeling of each faction really well to a region, and I had forgotten all about the possibility of Portugal.

The only one I have questions about is the Wolfpack... although I can see the scotland... it just seems like another place might be a better fit... although I can't for the life of me think of where.

Other than that, the rest is great (California... why didn't I think of that!? )

[HeartOfDarkness]

Hehe, thanks. I actually found it very hard to classify the Wolfpack into a country, so I just chose Scotland as being a hotspot of resistance towards the Crusaders. Maye they're just mercenaries roving central Europe.

Wait. I've got it.

Iceland!

[Aliencat]

I have to say, I agree completely with HeartOfDarkness, but I have a little correction. Belgium didn't exist in the middle ages, in fact it didn't exist until 1830.
Other than that yeah the feeling of each faction is very well captured and I completely agree!

[HeartOfDarkness]

Actually, I was reffering to the area that the respective countries encompass, not the countries themselves. I've been to Belgium and the Netherlands, and I'm sure you'll agree that they bear little to no resemblance towards the kind of country that Vladek would inhabit. Thanks very much!

[bkwrm79]

Black Falcon - Saxons
Forestmen - Saxons (Robin Hood)
Lion (Rampant) - Normans
Lion (Crowned) - branched off from the original Lion faction.
Black Monarch - Germany
Dragon Masters - mysterious far-off place, originally recruited by Black Monarch before the Wizards revolted and became an independent force
Wolfpack - depends

Albion was originally inhabited by the Saxons, who were conquered by the Normans. The Forestmen never gave up their resistance.

Eventually the Normans were divided by a civil war between two factions of the royal family (the emblem of the Crowned Lion was adopted to symbolize the claim to the throne) and a German noble took advantage of the strife to invade.

Because the Saxons refused to help Black Monarch, preferring to fight both of the stronger factions, the war went on (on and off) for over a century before Black Monarch brought in Wizards with tame dragons and completed the conquest of Albion.

His despotic rule was ended when Majisto revolted, creating the Dragon Masters as an independent faction. Now Albion has an 'elective' monarchy (elected by the nobility, as with medieval Poland) with the Saxon, Norman and Germanic royalty all eligible to succeed whenever a king dies.

That's when my dark ages intervene, but history will continue. No idea yet where the Crown Knights will turn out to be from.

[Asterios]

the Black Falcons are the Teutonic knights guarding the crusade routes and such.

[ottoatm]

the Black Falcons are the Teutonic knights guarding the crusade routes and such.

Neat idea - although I tend to look at them more as German (Saxon), I can see this usage as well (I know teutonic Knights were German - I mean using them as crusader guards )

[The Wolfpack Boss]

I'd agree that the Wolfpack are Scottish. Although ... I see them as more a criminal empire than a band of rebels ...

But point of fact is, in my imagination, they come from the same region as Danju and his Wolf Knights in their garish purple armor. Which is described as the Alendan Highlands, and when I hear "highlands", I think Scotland.

But anyway, everyone up there loves wolves.

On the disagreement front, I always thought of the Falcons as Italian. Something about their lighter armor and vibe made me think Italy (also, watching Kingdom of Heaven and hearing Liam Neeson refer to La Postre de Falcon - a superior sword-fighting stance).

Master swordsmen and expert sailors, all around. Plus that would've matched up with them being with French and English knights on the crusades.

My Germanic faction is the Black Knights. Grim. Cold. Ruthless. Desirable traits in a feudal knight! Although, unlike the real Germany, in my imaginary Lego universe, their kingdom is in shambles and they wander around ronin-like, serving as professional mercenaries.

As for the rest of the Jellybeans ... the Hawks are from Corsica, the Bears are from Denmark, the monkeys ... I have no idea ... and the Scorpions are from the other side of the Mediterranean, in the dunes of the Sahara. Maybe Morocco or something, close to Spain. A band of evil Spanish rebels with cast iron armor or something ...

[The Wolfpack Boss]

I've organized my hair-brained Lego locales ...

Locations are based on ... well, what they were intended to be (Forestmen from Sherwood Forest ... etc), and are based on what year they came out, sort of ... like ... you'll find Crusaders and Black Falcons don't live far from each other ... Black Knights aren't that far from them ... classic stuff is very western, Jelly Beans are scattered "across the lands". Yellow Castle factions are the most condensed of all. New Crown Knights are German, because Dwarves (in the modern sense) are Germanic ... but they're between the Germans and the Scandinavians too ...

And also, the closer you get to the Byzantine, the more you find that style of armor (Dragon Masters, Fright Knights). Fright Knights are in Transylvania ... it really all works out pretty good, in my mind.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/Zandar315/LEGMAP.jpg


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[ottoatm]

Interesting - I can see the new Castle faction as something like Germans, although I can't see the BF as being part of Italy, or the Crusaders as part of France. The others are not too shabbily placed!

Where did you get the map background for this? It's perfect for our exercise here~