LEGO confirms the identity of Gringotts’ mysterious Death Eater… sort of

The LEGO Group has confirmed the identity of 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors’ Edition mysterious Death Eater minifigure… sort of.

Included among the 13-strong minifigure line-up in the latest flagship Wizarding World set is a seemingly anonymous Death Eater, which includes a double-sided head to increase its army-building potential. Or so it appeared at first: according to the graphic designer responsible for creating that double-sided print, the intention was actually to give fans the option to display the Death Eater as one of two named characters.

In the newly-released designer video for 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors’ Edition, LEGO Graphic Designer Peter Kjaergaard explains that the two different masks are supposed to represent a couple of Voldemort’s best-known followers. “We’ve got a Death Eater with a two-sided face, so you can decide whether or not it should be the Death Eater Lucius Malfoy or the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange,” he says.

Those are curious choices for this specific minifigure, not least because Gringotts does already include a separate Bellatrix Lestrange – the first to boast a printed dress piece since the LEGO Harry Potter theme returned in 2018 – but it is, of course, only Hermione in disguise (the reverse of her head reveals her true identity). More puzzling is that the two mask prints don’t really match up with either character.

Comparing the minifigure head prints to replica Death Eater masks for both Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy, it’s easy to see certain similarities (particularly for Bellatrix), but neither seems to be a perfect match for those characters’ sinister face coverings. Instead, they feel like generic approximations of the art style used for the Death Eaters’ masks in the movies.

That obviously leaves the door open to the aforementioned army building, and also for Wizarding World fans to display the Death Eater minifigure as whoever they choose. Narrowing it down to two particular characters who don’t necessarily match the exact design of the minifigure (however good it is, and it is very good) seems strangely restrictive.

It feels more likely that Peter’s just name-dropping well-known Death Eaters as suggestions for the anonymous minifigure, rather than outright stating it’s supposed to be either Lucius Malfoy or Bellatrix Lestrange. Either way, the double-sided head was at last always intended to deliver two different Death Eaters using a single piece, which will be very useful as soon as it’s more easily accessible.

76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors’ Edition is available now, with up to two gifts-with-purchase depending on availability. 30651 Quidditch Practice is still available worldwide, but 40598 Gringotts Vault has sold out in many regions. Check out our review of the 4,803-piece LEGO Harry Potter set here.

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