Murder Drones

Murder Drones is a computer-animated web series created by Liam Vickers and produced by Glitch Productions.
Described as a "dystopian comedy-horror", Murder Drones delves into themes such as identity, morality, free will, and the bonds of friendship while simultaneously infusing humor into its dystopian setting. The series incorporates references to pop culture, drawing inspiration from video games, movies, anime, and memes.
The pilot episode premiered on the YouTube channel GLITCH on October 29, 2021. It was picked up for a full 8-episode season, beginning on November 18, 2022. As of October 2023, the pilot episode had received 26 million views. The series has been praised by viewers for its animation, voice acting, and world-building, and its blend of horror and comedy elements. Additionally, the series was nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Best Animated Video.
Synopsis
The story takes place on Copper 9, an exoplanet owned by the megacorporation JCJenson. Worker drones, designed to serve humans, inhabit the planet and mine it for natural resources. Eventually, the planet suffers a catastrophic core collapse brought on by the corporation's employees, wiping out all biological life on the planet, including humans. As a result, the planet becomes a frozen wasteland, and only the worker drones remain. One day, a legion of violent killing machines, known as disassembly drones, invades Copper 9 to exterminate the remaining worker drones. The worker drones live in constant fear of disassembly drones and hide within a series of underground shelters in an attempt to defend themselves.
At the center of the series is Uzi Doorman, a female worker drone who dreams of escaping Copper 9 and driving humans extinct. Her path crosses with Serial Designation N ("N"), a male murder drone with a surprisingly friendly and curious disposition toward worker drones. Together, they form an unlikely partnership to uncover the truth about their origins and their purpose in the planet's harsh environment. Along their journey, they encounter several important individuals, including V, a female murder drone fixated on hunting Uzi; Doll, a mysterious worker drone with connections to the Absolute Solver, an enigmatic computer program capable of altering reality; as well as Tessa and J, a human and a disassembly drone who crash-land on Copper 9.
Cast and characters
Main Characters
Uzi Doorman (voiced by Elsie Lovelock) is the main protagonist of the series. She is a rebellious teenage worker drone who befriends N. She is on a mission to destroy the humans that created her and discover more about her connection to the Absolute Solver program.
Serial Designation N (voiced by Michael Kovach) is an optimistic disassembly drone who tries his best not to be seen as useless and befriends Uzi after being sent to destroy her.
Serial Designation V (voiced by Nola Klop) is originally an antagonist, but later becomes an anti-hero. She is a sociopathic and impulsive disassembly drone who N had a secret crush on. Although tasked with killing all the worker drones, she appears to have her own agenda that revolves around Cyn.
Serial Designation J (voiced by Shara Kirby) is the leader of N and V and the main antagonist of the pilot before she was destroyed by Uzi and later reconstructed by Tessa. She is a lethal workaholic who is committed to stopping the Absolute Solver following her reconstruction.
Doll (voiced by Emma Breezy) is the secondary antagonist of the series. She is a cannibalistic Russian Worker Drone with ties to the Absolute Solver program and wants to get revenge on the disassembly drones for murdering her parents.
Tessa (voiced by Daisy Rose) is a human employee of JCJenson who comes to Copper 9 to stop the Absolute Solver program.
The Absolute Solver (voiced by Allanah Fitzgerald) is the main antagonist of the series. It is a tremendously powerful computer program of unknown origin with the ability to control and transmute matter in virtually infinite ways. It first targed an improperly disposed drone named Cyn, who self-rebooted and became its first known host. After growing strong enough to destroy Earth and many other inhabited planets, the Absolute Solver is now able to corrupt almost anything with a connection to it, granting them similar reality-altering abilities.
Supporting Characters
Khan Doorman (voiced by David J. Dixon) is the leader of the WDF (Worker Defense Drone) and Uzi's borderline cowardly father who developed the doors that keep the Worker Drones safe from the Murder Drones.
Thad (voiced by Sean Chiplock), a Worker Drone with the attitude of a high school jock.
Lizzy (voiced by Katie Hood (pilot); Caitlin Dizon (series)) is Uzi's classmate and the most popular kid in school, who enjoys talking smack about Uzi.
Alice (voiced by Amber May) is a feral Worker Drone who lives in the depths of Copper 9, who was one of the Worker Drones experimented on to understand the Absolute Solver program.
Uzi's teacher (voiced by Liam Vickers)
Production
Liam Vickers had previously achieved notoriety for his 2D animated series CliffSide and Internecion Cube, both of which are unfinished. Liam Vickers first pitched Murder Drones to Glitch Productions with some early concept art and story.
Murder Drones is animated on Autodesk Maya, with post-production being done on Unreal Engine. Including the pilot, the series will last 8 episodes. It pushes into darker territory while making it more photorealistic than previous shows on Glitch. This series (alongside Meta Runner) also marks to many fans a departure from the Machinima style often associated with Glitch, as its co-founder Luke Lerdwichagul is well-known for his Super Mario parodies on the channel SMG4.
On August 6, Liam released the full version of "Disassembly Required", the song that plays in the teaser. The video description reveals the character seen in the teaser to be "V", one of the titular Murder Drones. By the time the series was announced, it had been worked on for one year until February 18, 2022, when Glitch Productions announced the full series is in development now at the studio and will be released later next year.
Episodes
Every episode is written and directed by show creator Liam Vickers.
Reception
Lauren Rouse of Gizmodo Australia praised the character designs and visuals. In 2023, the series earned a nomination for a Webby Award in the category of Best Animated Video.
References
External links
2020s YouTube series
2021 web series debuts
Animated science fiction web series
Australian animated web series
Comedy horror web series
Post-apocalyptic animated television series
Horror fiction
Television series set in the future
Web series about robots
Fiction about artificial intelligence
American animated web series