The Balrog is a difficult creature to create with LEGO as it’s a being of fire, smoke and shadow. And none of those elements lend themselves to the perfectly engineered plastic brick. Luckily  Aaron Newman was up to the task and has created not only an impressive rendition of the Balrog, but a striking LEGO creature in its own right.

While I almost always suggest checking out the builder’s photostream for more angles, it’s even more important here so you can see more of the beast. We previously featured another Balrog, and while it did do the fire and flames better than this one, it’s visually more noisey and complex.