Fledgling Orc
This MOC was built for the Jordan's (dan.ko) Orctober contest! As the name implies, the contest brief was to build an orc.
I will admit, I may have had this build started prior to the contest announcement... but it was a very tiny tablescrap at the time. Essentially, I had only the jaw assembly created as I was inspired by, well, the minifigure orc jaw (2576pb01) from the CMF series 24. By using the two of those to create the mouth, I thought it gave an interesting, non-Lego appearance. However, after creating that assembly, I placed it in the tablescrap box, as olive green is a pretty difficult color for character building. Luckily this contest was just the spark I needed to revisit this tablescrap and turn it into a complete build.
With the scale of the MOC essentially decided by the tablescrap jaw, I decided to run with it and create a tiny orc. I thought it would be a funny idea to make a child orc that was trying to be mean. To obtain that cute yet angry look, I wanted large, solid color eyes. My first thought was to use ball joints as the eyes; however, these were a bit too big. Furthermore, I typically like to have a bit of an outline around the eye to make it pop, especially if it's the focal point. So instead, I took a deep dive into the minifigure headgear catalog on Bricklink, and found a hidden gem: the Queen's tiara (3305pb01). Shout out to whoever photographed it on Bricklink, it was the perfect picture for me to invision the perfect eye for my little orc.
Continuing with the cute but angry look, I went with big, long arms with a tiny torso, sort of like Tinkatuff and Tinkaton from Pokémon. The orc also carries a club; I had debated going with a more realistic skull club using Ninjago skulls, but the classic smiling skeleton minifigure heads were too funny and iconic to not use. Lastly, the base compliments the orc's short, child-like character by giving him something to stand on to appear tall and 'grown-up'.