Gaudily-dressed walking eggs that can be randomly encountered in Sega's 1991 Shining in The Darkness Genesis/Megadrive roleplaying video game, which was developed by Climax Entertainment/Sonic! Software Planning. More recently, said title has also been made available as a download for the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console and as a selection on the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection compilation. Shining in The Darkness is notable for being the first game released in the ongoing Shining RPG franchise, although, in terms of gameplay, it's a first-person dungeon crawler, not a tactical warfare simulation like the more popular Shining Force installments of said series. The monsters Clodhopper, Deathgrin, and Mazerunner all share the same base game sprite, although they do have different color schemes and attributes.

The exact origin of these strange creatures is unknown, but scholars believe that such a ridiculous-looking organism could only have arisen as a direct result of some arrogant wizard playing god (the most popular hypothesis involves a hungry sorcerer by the name of Gongge and his disastrous attempt to create enchanted eggs that could hard-boil themselves.) Regardless of how they came into existance, Clodhoppers, Deathgrins, and Mazerunners can be found wandering, in great numbers, throughout the corridors of the mysterious Labyrinth in the Kingdom of Thornwood. While their comical appearance and jovial grins might lead the inexperienced adventurer to consider them harmless, or, even worse, friendly, these strutting eggs are malicious and dangerous combatants. During battle, these monsters exhibit an uncanny ability to find any weak points their adversaries may have, often crippling, or even killing, a foe with a single well-placed kick to an unprotected vital area.

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Materials:
Newsprint, tissue paper, wire twist ties, white glue, acrylic paint, sand, plastic (transparent base only), and super glue.

Dimensions:
4.3 cm/1.7 in. x 5.0 cm/2.0 in. (widest point x highest point)
(4.0 cm/1.6 in. tall without the hat.)

Time:
Two days; August 5 and 7, 2011.