Metamorphosis: Highlights From Bio-Cup 2026 Round 2
/Moving past the Magic & Mysticism of Round 1, Bio-Cup 2026 has entered unexplored territory. It’s time for a change, and fittingly, Round 2’s theme is Metamorphosis.
Builders were challenged to explore transformation in all its forms, whether through growth, decay, adaptation, rebirth, or something stranger entirely. The results range from creatures caught mid-transformation to nature reclaiming machines and some truly cursed examples of NPU.
With the competition’s new format keeping everyone in the running, let’s take a look at some of my favorite metamorphic creations from Round 2!
Fatherhood Changes a (Frog)Man
The greater LEGO community has all kinds of monthly building activities, ranging from 100-stud spaceships and goofy advent calendars to an entire month dedicated to none other than the humble frog. Frogust just so happens to be Simon’s favorite, but let’s be honest, everyone loves those little guys.
Magmafrost13 brilliantly built a Frogther who’s got a tadpole in tow, giving Metamorphosis a fun double meaning: the little one will eventually transform into a frog, while becoming a father brings some pretty big changes of its own. The lil guy looks quite cozy, complete with both a sunshade and their very own mobile pond!
I really enjoy the goofy parts usage all over the pram, specifically all the Vidiyo BeatBox straps. They’re such an odd element due to the lack of stud connections and rubber material, so it’s always a treat to see them used in an unconventional manner. The frog’s head uses recolored Rau and Huna Bionicle masks, adding some organic shaping to an otherwise Technic-heavy part of the build. Ribbit ribbit.
wmd
I love me some wacky monsters, and this is certainly one of those. We can all agree war is bad, and this gun-covered creature looks like a particularly nasty evolution of it: a living weapon ready to unload!
The Maestro once again knocks it out of the park, hiding all sorts of goodness throughout the build. Remember those wacky rubber band holders from the late ’90s through the mid-2010s? As it turns out, they have an awesome ribbed texture that’s difficult to replicate with other elements. Similarly, the original brick separator has a textured grip that adds even more to the greebly goodness.
For the deepest cut, the side of the skull includes a rubber Technic bushing that only appeared in a handful of remote-control vehicles. Bet you’ve never seen one of those before, eh? Together, all those strange textures make the creature feel less like a machine assembled from recognizable LEGO parts and more like something that has mutated into a weapon.
// DIS-integration [STATUS: 32% complete]
Who doesn’t like a creepy robot? White is a notoriously difficult color to work into any sort of CCBS build, with a surprisingly limited parts catalog and older white elements often yellowing with age. Add a bunch of other colors into the mix, though, and you can get something pretty rad.
Byldan apparently loves all manner of tubes and hoses and jammed a ton into his entry. The exposed cables and partially formed body immediately made me think of both Westworld androids and the cyborgs from Ghost in the Shell. It feels like we’ve caught this thing somewhere in the middle of becoming whatever it’s supposed to be.
Under the eyes, a pair of printed arms from the Vampire Knight CMF add some extra detailing to the otherwise fairly monotone face. A rotated Tohunga head on the back of the skull creates a nicely rounded cranium, while even Spinjitzu bases find a use attaching all those cables to a presumably massive supercomputer somewhere off-screen. At only 32% complete, I’m not sure I want to know what happens when it reaches 100%.
Oh no! I’m turning into NPU!!
Apparently Toa Tahu doesn’t wanna turn into a bunch of wacky parts! Who knew?
Nikolai Mollmann crafted this mid-transformation, with a relatively standard Bionicle creation slowly turning into an amalgamation of traditionally undesirable elements. His calf and forearm have turned into brick separators? OH THE HORROR!!!
Elsewhere, a crane grabby becomes a hip alongside a pair of Jack Stone vehicle grilles. It’s just the right amount of cursed NPU I’d expect from a MOC with a name like this. Rather than simply showing us the result of a metamorphosis, Nikolai captures the horrifying moment when a perfectly respectable Bionicle build realizes what it’s becoming.
Teneral
Spiders can be awfully spooky little guys, instilling fear in a good chunk of the population. Have you also accidentally run into an eight-legged freak hiding among your LEGO storage? Super fun, right?
“Teneral” is the term for a freshly molted arthropod, when its new exoskeleton is still soft and hardening. Just Torp chose to capture a spooky spider right in the middle of that vulnerable transformation, making this a particularly literal take on Metamorphosis.
While I usually find them rather clunky, a bunch of wacky bar plate elements make for some great creepy-crawly limbs here. Add fiber optic cables to the end of each leg, and suddenly the whole thing feels fragile and dainty, exactly what you’d expect from a creature that hasn’t quite finished becoming its new self.
Second Life
In case you’re unfamiliar, a whale fall occurs when a whale carcass sinks to the seafloor and becomes the foundation for an entirely new ecosystem. As the whale decomposes, scavengers, worms, microbes, and other organisms move in, turning death and decay into a surprising source of new life.
Creature creator legend VelociJACKtor took that idea and pushed it a bit further, transforming the carcass into something that almost looks like a zombie whale. I love all the plant elements mixed with dino tails to emulate strips of decaying whale tissue, leaving just enough of the skeleton exposed underneath.
All the tube worms are a great final touch, jammed into the back of the Crystal King’s headpiece as the carcass becomes home to something new. It’s gross, but sick in the good way! And for a theme about metamorphosis, turning death itself into new life is hard to beat.
Nature’s Reclamation
The natural and artificial worlds don’t typically blend well together, but Lord Donkey found a good middle ground. Even the little birdy seems to approve!
When I imagine a tree, I typically think of a trunk in brown, grayish green, or some mottled mix of both. So a parasitic white trunk spilling out of the torso of a robot certainly grabs your attention! Brown vines, claws, and whips form roots that reach through the chassis, making it feel like the tree isn’t simply growing around the machine but actively taking it over.
The head is another highlight, pairing up old RoboRider elements to create a surprisingly expressive face. Nature reclaiming something mechanical is a classic transformation, but turning the machine itself into the soil for new growth makes this one especially effective.
Phytoagalma
Quickly becoming one of my favorite builders, Care Creations is certainly no stranger to NPU.
He’s been on a spree lately with those weird Sports Field brick/tile/baseplate things, some truly demented specialized elements from LEGO Sports. Line a few of them up and you get these interesting rectangular forms, complete with divots that add texture and provide even more places to connect things. Who knew old soccer fields had so much potential?
The result is some sort of plant/cube/dragon thing that looks like it’s still deciding what it wants to become. The rigid geometric body slowly gives way to leaves, limbs, and an almost creature-like form, making the whole thing feel caught somewhere between plant, object, and animal. It’s whimsically nonsensical, and I’m absolutely in love with it.
On to Round 3!
If Round 2 proved anything, it’s that Metamorphosis can take some wonderfully strange forms. From tadpoles and molting spiders to decaying whales and robots being reclaimed by nature, builders found plenty of creative ways to explore change and transformation.
Bio-Cup 2026 is officially more than halfway through! Round 3 challenged builders with the theme Sleight of Hand, and we’ll be taking a look at some of those standout entries shortly. The competition is getting closer to the finish line, but there are still plenty of surprises left to come!
What kind of transformation would you build for a theme like Metamorphosis? Let us know in the comments below!
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