Central character Cole Train from the Gears of War series has sparked a lawsuit over the character’s apparent likeness to former football player and wrestler, Lenwood Hamilton.

The news that comes from TMZ states that Hamilton had recently been exposed to Gears of War by a friend of his son. Having seen the character Augustus Cole “Cole Train,” he noted various similarities including that both sport derby hats, wristbands, and have a prominent gold tooth.

Hamilton has since hired a forensic voice examiner to compare Hamilton and Cole’s voices, finding the results to be “indistinguishable,” which seems to imply far more to Hamilton in light of his former co-wrestler, Lester Speight’s, involvement as voice actor for Cole. Hamilton claims that he and Speight had discussed the creation of a videogame character very much like Cole Train back in their wrestling days.

With all of that said, Hamilton has filed lawsuits against Lester Speight and Epic/Microsoft (it remains unclear if both companies are involved in the suit) for sales and profits from the entire Gears of War series. Gears of War was originally released in 2006.

My Opinion:

Could Hamilton have a case here? Certainly. These days, people will sue over anything because they can probably win over anything. Regardless of whether this is a legitimate case of stolen intellectual property, I feel confident that Mr. Hamilton will see some money even if he doesn’t see his day in court.

Jordan Loeffler is Editor in Chief for MONG who drives a 2006 Pontiac Vibe with Minnesota license plates even though he lives in Portland, OR. She’s seafoam green, and she drives like a wave. You can also follow him on IGN and on Twitter.