OK, it went like this: my best childhood friend introduced me to Lord of the Rings which my brother never really got into. He read it but I think he never finished it. Likes the movies, of course. Over LotR I discovered the legendary Games Workshop miniature games, the actual tabletop games. I introduced those to my brother and building and painting miniatures appealed to him more than to me. He's always been into building rather than just drawing. He bought many miniatures and learned to paint them very professionally, winning the Golden Demon trophy twice. (That being an official price Games Workshop gives out yearly. It's their second-highest price after the Slayer Sword.)
Through Games Workshop games he and I fell in with a crowd of nerds but unlike me he got into the whole fantasy gaming aspect more deeply than I did.
I find pen & paper role-playing systems and their campaign worlds interesting but I rarely play. I think my brother doesn't play as often anymore now, either, because all his former nerd friends study all over Germany.