We found this sweet art on Instagram, originally posted to Deviant Art by Tysho.
American readers of Mortal Engines will know him as Grike, but not for long as Stephen Lang will be playing him under his original name, Shrike, in Christian Rivers' film adaptation of the Philip Reeve novel.
The Shrike is a pivotal figure in the Mortal Engines universe. As a Stalker—a resurrected corpse fused with Old-Tech machinery and built for war—he is a terrifying, relentless force of nature. But beneath that rusted, unyielding metal exterior lies the fragmented, tragic soul of Kit Solent, a man whose faded human memories drive his complex, deeply misguided fatherly bond with Hester Shaw. He doesn't just hunt her for the sake of a kill; he hunts her to "save" her from human suffering by turning her into a machine like him. It's this heartbreaking duality that drives some of the most intense and emotional moments in the story!
One of the absolute best things about the Mortal Engines fandom is the joy of seeing how different illustrators interpret Philip Reeve's vivid descriptions. Capturing the horrific, zombie-cyborg menace of a Stalker while still conveying that underlying sorrow is no easy feat, but fan artists constantly breathe incredible new life into the Traction Era.
As Obi-Wan Kenobi might say, he's more machine now than man....
Here's another brilliant impression from Jacob Soulnado. We love how this sketch style highlights the jagged, scavenged nature of his mechanical parts, perfectly capturing his terrifying presence:
