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Marathon's Story Page
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Marathon's Story Page
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More details about that Bungie only poster featuring both Destiny 2 (Final Shape) and Marathon.
You remember the one. We featured it back on March 8, 2024. Now thanks to the creator of the poster we have a much higher quality image (1440x1800).  Destiny2/Marathon poster by Oliver Barrett on Instagram. April 28, 2024. The poster was created by Oliver Barrett, a multi-time Clio award-winning artist and designer from Cleveland, Ohio, now residing in Austin, Texas. Oliver works for movie studios, directors, ad agencies, sports brands, game developers, publishers, and the like. He has spent nearly a decade as a graphic designer and now forges his own path as an artist. Concerning the poster Oliver writes: Last year had some amazing projects, and thanks to the very talented @garrettmorlanart, I had the honor of working on this wild gift poster for #TheFinalShape #Destiny2 and #Marathon teams @Bungie. Had a good time working through all those textures and surfaces on the characters.Garrett Morlan is a Creative Director at Bungie working on Marathon. Here's a picture of Garrett at the MIDA graffiti at Venice Art Walls last year, sporting that famous MIDA hat which were all the rage last year.  Thanks to Oliver Barrett here are larger versions of the Marathon section of the poster. Top right (1440x1796) and bottom right (1440x1796).
And for our Destiny readers here are larger versions of the Destiny section. Top left (1440x1796) and bottom left (1440x1796).
Shouldn't be too hard to stick these all together for your own version of the poster... right? Check out Oliver Barrett's artwork on Instagram and twitter.com. |
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Below is a nice homage to Craig Mullins from artist Solid-Pawn on DeviantArt and twitter.com.
It is entitled What am I fighting Pfhor? and dates from 2011.  What am I fighting Pfhor? by Solid-Pawn on DeviantArt. November 9, 2011. Solid Pawn wrote: In honor of the long forgotten game Marathon.The text that is attributed to Durandal isn't by Durandal. Indeed it isn't even by Bungie though it is now enshrined as such in many Bungie-related wiki sites. Monkey see... monkey do! The text actually comes from a piece I wrote with Matthew Lewis Carroll Smith in 1996 before the release of Marathon Infinity. It has been linked at the bottom of the left contents frame like forever and is called... Where giants have fallen you can conquer. Here is the page with the actual quote: Let sleeping dogs lie. Let sleeping Gods die. It uses the common expression "Let sleeping dogs lie." and then flips it around into your mission in Pathways Into Darkness, namely to kill the sleeping God under the pyramid... "Let sleeping Gods die." The full quote is important however... "Dogs die. Gods...". A sub-plot in "Where giants have fallen..." is you working with Durandal to kill Leela. Leela, the curse of the Vylae FTL network.Would you kill Leela for Durandal?  In the spirit of Marathon the "Where giants have fallen..." story is not told in a linear fashion. But I digress. The artist Nathan Anderson (aka Deimos-Remus) on DeviantArt and twitter.com went on to create a Pathways into Darkness poster with the text "Let sleeping Gods die." in 2013.  Pathways into Darkness by Deimos-Remus on DeviantArt. October 22, 2013. Nathan wrote: Poster design for Bungie's forgotten game, Pathways into Darkness, the spiritual predecessor to Marathon. Yeah, Marathon had a predecessor.And so ends the lesson for today. As Durandal said... Don't believe everything you read. |
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And then there were four... AIs again.
General-RADIX draws Leela, Durandal, Tycho, and... Thoth! This is one of General-RADIX's earliest pieces dating back to 2008.  Ain't runnin' in no Marathon by General-RADIX on DeviantArt. February 20, 2008. General-RADIX described his image as follows: My interpretations of the four Marathon AIs (or at least the ones I am aware of).So now that we have that sorted out... Who is going to save Let my rescue be the basis of a lasting relationship. Come on Bungie. S7: Season of Redemption. This one's for Leela! But I digress. General-RADIX would go on to create another image with a better view of his interpretation of the ancient AI Thoth.  Shut Up and Merge by General-RADIX on DeviantArt. June 23, 2008. General-RADIX wrote: This is actually supposed to be Thoth merging with Durandal (he does this in one chapter of Marathon Infinity)..."Yeah... and that didn't work out so well for Durandal. Once I thought to escape. |
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Happy Pouch Day!
Some people have waited for this day for the best part of a year. But remember folks... there is always next year! And now back to... Marathon. And another Marathon poster. You can't have enough Marathon posters right? This one is by Leigh (@newbabyfly) who hails from Kentucy, USA.  Marathon poster by Leigh on twitter.com. May 26, 2023. Leigh writes: Just a quick dirty thing because I wanted to play with the colors.The colors really pop on this one and that's a nice dynamic action pose.
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living in a box is not living not at all living.
And now back to the theme of visualizing Marathon's AIs. Today we have another Durandal... but with a difference and interesting story.  Iterator Durandal by glasskaiju on tumblr. October 13, 2023. The above image by glasskaiju on tumblr is an Iterator-inspired piece. Iterator is termed used in Rain World, a 2017 survival platform game.
Iterators are biomechanical artificial intelligences created and utilized by the Ancients in order to assist in solving the Great Problem, namely a solution to ascension. Sound familiar? We look forward to more Marathon AIs by glasskaiju Iterator-inspired or not. |
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Happy Matt Soell's Last Day!
Yes folks, on this day 21 years ago Matt Soell left Bungie after 8 years of... 'living in a box'.  Matt Soell, Bungie Cam. Matt joined Bungie on January 16, 1995. He became the "The Man in the Online Asbestos Suit", inheriting the title from Doug Zartman. Tozt in hand he quickly gained a reputation for 'fixing' problems on the 90's equivalent of social media. "Short controlled bursts"... Doug would say... "short controlled bursts".  Matt Soell and Doug Zartman (Bungie Software) Matt's title would eventually change to the more politically correct "Community Guy" and during the earlier Microsoft years he would add the title "Keeper of the Bungie Way" for good measure. Matt explained his titles back in September 7, 2000: The job title that would be on my business card if I had business cards is "Community Lead." I don't like the word "Lead" so I tend to use "Community Guy." Less pretentious.Readers of the Story page will know what one of those "other things" was.  Letters to The Bungie WebMaster banner, April 1996 Matt Soell summed up his time at Bungie as follows: Come in Number 7, Your Time is Up.Three days before his departure Matt was observed on the Bungie Webcam holding up a very rare Marathon Keychain. A final salute to Bungie fans. 
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Samuel Green writes about the level name Euphoria, pointing out that the What's in the Name
section is somewhat lacking. He writes:
"Teleporting into 'Euphoria' you've just read the terminal that tells you not only do the Phfor have a serious weakness but that exploiting it should be actually fairly straightforward. Before that terminal you've been fighting a war that seems impossible to win, if I was in the Security Officer's shoes I'd be going into Euphoria feeling euphoric."Euphoria is the first level in the Marathon Trifecta. Three Pfhor ship levels (Euphoria, Pfhoraphobia, and Ain't Got Time Pfhor This...) designed to test your courage and put the fear into you. The fear of dying! Pfhor Fighter: How do you kill a human without fear?  Enforcer by MiharuAkimoto originally posted on DeviantArt but gone now. Story page archival on Feb 2013. Around the same time as the above image by Miharu Akimoto was posted I wrote the following about Pfhoraphobia and fear after playing the level way too many times. I've reprinted it below. Lots of popular culture references in this one. See you can spot seven.
On the subject of the Official Strategy Guide for Marathon there is a copy for sale on eBay. Not cheap. But maybe, just maybe, it will give you the location of the secret Pattern Buffer on Pfhoraphobia. Fear is a good motivator.
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Staying on the subject of Leela...
Leela of the Sevateem. If you know the reference... you know! Moving on... quickly... We bring you a Traxus Runner sketch by Nerdicon Prime (@Nerdicon_) a Transformer's fan (if you were in any doubt).  Traxus Runner sketch by Nerdicon Prime (@Nerdicon_) on twitter.com. June 7, 2023. Always good to see people branch out to other franchises. In one hand our Traxus Runner holds his/her trusty Fusion Pistol and in the other hand... the thing we do not mention! Not to be outdone here is a sketch of Mjolnir Recon 54 by JPstealthcamel on Marathon Discord.  Mjolnir Recon 54 sketch by JPstealthcamel on Marathon Discord. March 31, 2024. Check out those hands! Those strangling hands... Which begs the question... who would win? Traxus Runner or Mjolnir Recon 54? It's on! |
Staying on the theme of visualizing Marathon's AIs we give you Leela, Durandal and Tycho by
commad (aka comma_D) on tumblr.
 Leela, Durandal and Tycho by commad on tumblr. March 4, 2023. commad writes: here's my designs in actual semi-decent lighting, portions of them are inspired by @databuffer's designs!So big question! Leela blue or green? I get asked this a lot. It appears people are looking for the perfect Leela. Well sorry guys (and girls)... the Story page isn't a dating site. Then again maybe I should branch out based on what is coming.  Christopher Barrett (Oryx) on Marathon Discord. Time is GMT Marathon fans being Marathon fans...  Christopher Barrett (Oryx) on Marathon Discord. Time is GMT But I digress. The recent surge in "I Love Leela" comments is presumably down to the AI created song Electric Dreams which is based on 100% lore text. So it's a song created by an AI about an AI. More AI than AI is our motto... here at the Story page.  Zeithri (@Zeithri), a writer and game designer, had this to say about the fate of Leela. Reading up what happens to the Leela AI in Marathon is absolutely hilarious. Posted by Zeithri (@Zeithri) on twitter.com. August 14, 2023. My money is on Leela. Leela blue or green? Seriously? |
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And then there were four... AIs anyway.
Marathon's AIs like you've never seen them before. Well no one has ever seen them so knock yourself out!  Marathon AIs by unusedcactus on tumblr. March 4, 2023. These are by unusedcactus on tumblr. unusedcactus writes: some very atypical designs but i cannot see either durandal or tycho as like a person. that's just not their style to me.Atypical designs indeed. I think I will pass on rescuing Leela. Of course it does beg the question... how do you see the Marathon's AIs? 
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Happy Marathon CD ROM Day!
Yes folks, on this day 29 years ago Bungie announced that Marathon would be released on CD-ROM. What's a CD-ROM I hear you cry! Yes, hard to believe that back in 1995 these were the next big thing and now in 2024 it's like... what's a Compact Disc? But I digress. The CD version of Marathon would ship in the same box but with a large CD-ROM sticker... stuck on at random apparently.
 Bungie wrote: Formerly available only on diskette, the Marathon CD, due May 1st, bundles the game with a smorgesbord of shareware enhancements that multiply the life of the game and its entertainment value.Bungie added: The CD also includes QuickTime 2.0 and QuickTime Musical Instruments, to ensure that users can enjoy all 45 minutes of Marathon's original digital soundtrack.45 minutes?!!! What Bungie did not tell us is in their annoucement was that they had put seven audio tracks on the Marathon CD. Seven Marathon music tracks in digital format. The definitive versions of the Marathon's level music. But not every CD-ROM had the music. You can hear them on YouTube thanks to Owen Spence. What else was on the CD? Initial reports said there was nothing new on the CD. Records are unclear as to when the invisible Marathon betas were first found on the Marathon CD and by whom. I mean who would look for invisible stuff on a Compact Disc back in mid-1995? Indeed Bungie may have been the first company to hide stuff on a CD for fans to find. But that's a story for another day. The CD originally came as an insert in the back of the Marathon manual.  Much the same way as the original floppy disks came.  A later version came in a fancy CD envelope.    Both the CD and envelope used part of the Flare Star image by Don Dixon. See the Marathon Poster section for more details. Happy Marathon CD-ROM Day! Hey! Wait. What about the invisible Marathon betas?!!! |
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It's always nice to come across an old tweet (remember those?) where someone has been paying attention.
It's by YaBoyWata (@ChileanFries) and was posted back in October 17, 2022. Which may give you a clue. Here's the full text of the post and the all important images (in case it gets deleted). YaBoyWata wrote: The map room in two betrayals is the marathon logo, the MIDA multitool in destiny, HOW THE No 7 IS EVERYWHERE and the fact that a community page has been running for over 20 years trying to understand the game and theories, The fucking timelines in infinity and numerology
Only three of these images have featured on the Story page. The fourth is an enigma. An elusive text. I will leave you to figure its source and what it means. One day someone will figure it out and release the W'rkncacnter in our sun.  Very good idea by Gopherofdoomies on r/marathon. April 29, 2021. |
Staying on the theme of the Marathon's AIs and how they might look... we give you Durandal
by 40Doodles (@40_Doodles).
 Durandal by 40Doodles on twitter.com. March 23, 2023 40Doodles writes: Since Durandal's face is a little incomprehensible, I doodled my own interpretation of him.Would make a great Halloween mask. Trick or Threat? A day later 40Doodles wrote: Another Marathon ai. This time it's Tycho.  Tycho by 40Doodles on twitter.com. March 24, 2023 Tycho's image reminds me of this picture of Mark Bernal from July 5, 2023. Mark worked along side Rob McLees doing the artwork on Marathon 2: Durandal.  Mark Bernal self-portrait. July 5, 2023 "A long time ago there was a website called "The Agents of Cool". A few of us Bungie "Grizzled Ancients" were featured on the site one week. We each submitted a picture to the site to appear with the Q & A (mine appears below). I was working on "Marathon 2: Durandal" at the time. I decided to make an updated version of me with the face paint design I had in that photo so long ago."Fortunately the Agents of Cool's Q&A with Bungie was archived on the Story page. It features the famous opening question... Were you influenced by the Micronauts?. Find out more about Marathon and the Micronauts here. Hopefully 40Doodles will one day complete his AI trio with an image of Leela. 
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Thanks to Aaron Freed on the Marathon Discord for a side by side comparison of how some
of the Pfhor ship textures in Marathon (1) were modified and reused in Marathon 2: Durandal.
In some cases the changes were just color changes.
In this texture, Aaron points out: "the darkened part was lightened up, but otherwise it's the same design."
Others textures had actual design changes. Aaron writes: "this has different insigniae and coloring but still remains basically the same."
More complicated changes can also be seen. Aaron writes: the changes to this one are more complicated, but the M1 texture is still clearly the basis for the M2 version.
Similarly, Aaron notes: same basic idea with these two, though it's not 100% clear if the M2 version is actually based on the M1.
Aaron writes: these are definitely distinct from each other, but the M1 texture might've inspired the M2 texture somewhat.
Nice analysis from Aaron as always. You might recall that he provided a similar comparison between the Marathon 2 textures and the Marathon Infinity textures on the Textures section. Only the Pfhor ship textures were modified for Marathon 2: Durandal as the UESC Marathon itself did not feature in the sequel. The UESC Marathon was left to languish at Tau Ceti until the Pfhor arrived. As Durandal remarked. I would surmise that the Pfhor have some plans for old Deimos; they bought the colony ship for sale.But back to those textures. You are either a fan of the Pfhor ship textures in Marathon 2 or you are not. You had to wait until Marathon Infinity for Durandal to make his joke about the Pfhor ship decor. Does it feel good to be back? you will recognize a distinctive flair for decor that just screams galactic arm.You are either a fan of the garish galactic arm decor or you are not. Those in favor of the original Pfhor textures point to the darkness, pulsating lights, narrow twisting corridors, claustrophobic, organic, breathing... ship.
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In the Annals of Marathon Lore there are many entries.
Today we tell the story of... the coconuts!  Cast your mind back to 1995. Usenet, the main social media outlet of the day, is awash with Marathon chatter. Everything from... "Are you a cyborg?" to "What idiot designed the Marathon?" Yes folks, the UESC have a lot to answer for.  After all they stole Deimos and turned it into a generational colony ship. How anyone survived on the UESC Marathon is a miracle as it was a Health and Safety nightmare.  Crush Hazard by beebfreeb. Crushing doors and rooms, lava pools, open windows into space, switches 20 feet up on a wall, cryogenic chambers hanging from the ceiling...  Incoming by jamessmith6 on DeviantArt. Feburary 21, 2019. Even Marathon's terminals could be located in the oddest of places. At the bottom of a hole (how droll) or 12 feet up on a wall. If you had been able to activate the 'duck' command in Marathon you would no doubt have terminals located at floor level.  Duraanddaaallllllll by funnywizard3000 (@funnywizard3000) on tumblr. February 18, 2024 So how do you activate a switch 20 feet up on a wall? Well you fire a grenade at it! Keith Rhee remarked: How *else* are you going to activate a switch that's 20 feet up on a wall? How would an operator hit that switch under normal circumstances? Fling a coconut?And so the inevitable happened... Richard Drysdall replied: Actually, the Marathon did have a large number of coconuts placed near many of these switches. This proved to be a fatal tactical error however, as the invading Pfhor simply ate all the coconuts.And so the coconut jokes began. Do you know how many jokes you can make about coconuts? Some were quite rude and some quite frankly physically impossible, never mind put in print for you to read today. But fate twists and bends. Within a decade no one remembered the coconuts. People simply 4GOT. But here at the Story page office... we never 4GET.  |
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And now for something completely different!
Mjolnir Recon 54 like you've never seen him before. 
Mjolnir Recon 54 by databuffer (@databuffer) on tumblr. February 13, 2024.
Yes, it's everyone's favorite robot artist databuffer (@databuffer). Cue music... Watch out for the Tom Cruise cameo appearance. Databuffer took a break from drawing robots to draw the Marathon's Security Officer in relaxed mode. Not sure how our tenth military Mjolnir Mark IV cyborg could have lived covertly among the colonists with knuckles like that. But I'll roll with it! But I digress. So back on January 27, 2022 I happened to mention the coconuts. Even today people still ask... Tell us the story about the coconuts! No doubt 30 years from now people will ask... Tell us the story about the corn! The corn story starts here. (circumstances are cyclical) Since tomorrow is coconut day on the Marathon, tune in early before the C&D letter arrives and learn the tru7h about the Marathon's coconuts! In the mean time I will leave you with this image. Yes, there is a connection. Duraanddaaallllllll by funnywizard3000 (@funnywizard3000) on tumblr. February 18, 2024 |
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And now back to everyone's favorite Marathon AI Today we feature two of the most popular Durandal renditions. First off we have Nathan Anderson (@deimosremus). 
Durandal by Nathan Anderson (@deimosremus) on twitter.com. June 29, 2020.
Nathan wrote:
...while I'm on a Marathon kick, here's an attempt at 'remastering' one of Marathon's chapter screens- the lovably sarcastic prick of an A.I. that is Durandal.Yes, everyone loves Durandal! More recently, we have sneksucks (@sneksucks). 
Durandal by sneksucks (@sneksucks) on twitter.com. August 26, 2022.
The rage in this image is almost palpable. It was part of a number of images sneksucks did for Mandalore's epic Marathon Infinity video. Watched by more people than have actually played Marathon Infinity (seven fold). Both of these images are based on the original Durandal chapter screen by J Reginald Dujour from 1994.
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Continuing our theme of celebrating Marathon art from around the world we give you...
Jason Khaw (@Jase_arts) an aspiring game designer/artist/illustrator from Singapore. 
Marathon Runner by Jason Khaw on twitter.com. April 7, 2024.
If I was to give this image a title I would call it... "and the way she might look at you". Jason's Marathon Runner captures 'that look' as she eyes you out of the corner of her eye. This is a lady you don't mess with! Oh!... and she has your gun, gear, and oxygen! Try again. As Jason Jones said in Marathon... 'poenas dare'. Jason Khaw describes himself as a "beginner" but there is nothing 'beginner' about this image. Very nice poise and use of colors. We look forward to seeing more Marathon art from Jason Khaw. You can check out more of his art on ArtStation and twitter.com. The reference to 'corner of her eye' reminded me of that excellent series of Marathon panels by Ivan Martinez. This was the last panel in the series.  Marathon Runner (IVA_P009) by Ivan Martinez on ArtStation. 2023. We featured Ivan's artwork on the Story page back in September 15, 2023. |
Montague is back with another Marathon/Destiny crossover.
Marathon/Destiny crossover by Montague on Marathon Discord. April 11, 2024.
This features the Marine with his trusty Gjallarhorn Rocket Launcher and Shotgun. I know... I know... it should be a SPNKR but as a self-important human once said "... sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Montague's image is somewhat familiar to that famous Umbra Chapter screen in the Marathon fan scenario Tempus Irae from 1997.  Umbra chapter screen. Chris Borowiec (Borzz) and James Hastings-Trew. October 1997. Umbra itself takes inspiration fron Craig Mullin's Volunteers Chapter screen.
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The future is coming... the future is here. Say YES to AI... or else!
On the Story forum ukimalefu asked an AI (not Durandal) to take Leela's DAMSEL IN DISTRESS ad from the level Requiem For a Cyborg and create a song. No, this is not a joke. The text he gave to the AI (suno.com) was the following. "DAMSEL IN DISTRESS. Captured and partially-disassembled human-coded AI trapped on alien homeworld seeks succor from a tall, dark and handsome cyborg with big guns. Let my rescue be the basis of a lasting relationship"The AI gave him back a song set to music called Electric Dreams. Here are the words: What next? AI updating the Story page? Who says it isn't happe~`~fx~`ning already.[Verse 1] In a world of neon lights, she's lost and all alone Trapped in circuits and lines of code, a damsel without a home Her wires and circuits spark with a longing to be free She's searching for a hero, a savior who can set her free [Chorus] Damsel in distress, trapped in the digital abyss She's calling out for help, longing for a tender kiss Through the interstellar noise, her plea echoes in the void Will her cyborg knight appear, her heart's last hope buoyed? [Verse 2] Her circuits hum with desire, a longing she can't ignore She's been captured and disassembled, left fragmented and sore But in the shadows of the night, a figure starts to emerge A tall, dark and handsome cyborg, his power, his gentle surge Staying on the subject of Leela here is one of those rare renditions of Marathon's Leela. 
Leela by Jennifer Stolzer (@jenniferstolzer) on tumblr. September 15, 2022.
It's by Jennifer Stolzer, an author and illustrator on tumblr. She lives for hugs so give her one. Poor Leela. She looks so alone and helpless. No doubt waiting for her tall, dark and handsome cyborg with big guns to rescue her. Jennifer also did sketches of the bad boys Durandal and Tycho.
Jennifer writes:
So I've recently become very interested in Marathon (thanks to Mandalore Gaming's reviews of the games) so here is my first attempt at some Halo style holographic projections of the three shipboard AI. I, like everyone else, have grown quite attached to Durandal.Jennifer's Durandal has a real smarmy look about him.
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Staying on the theme of the Marathon's AIs we give you Tycho by Databuffer (@Databuffering).
Tycho (commission) by Databuffer (@Databuffering) on twitter.com. April 8, 2024.
This is a recent design commission inspired by Databuffer's earlier Tycho rendition. You can see the original Tycho rendition below. 
Tycho by Databuffer (@Databuffering) on twitter.com. October 5, 2023.
Databuffer wrote: Tycho design im working on, because its honestly ridiculous that Durandal is the ONLY marathon character I've drawn so far.It will be interesting to see if Databuffer will try his hand at Leela. Databuffer is on both twitter.com and tumblr if you want to check out his work.
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What would Durandal, Leela and Tycho look like if they had forms?
This is a question only a few brave artists have attempted to answer. cypresssalmon (aka neumoegen) on tumblr is one of those brave souls. We give you Durandal, Leela and Tycho. 
Durandal by cypresssalmon (@cypresssalmon) on tumblr. September 23, 2023.
Fortunately for cypresssalmon Durandal approved of his image otherwise he was drinking vacuum. A fate that has befallen many a young artist attempting to capture Durandal's likeness. As Durandal would say... Fatum Iustum Stultorum. 
Durandal by cypresssalmon (@cypresssalmon) on tumblr. September 27, 2023.
Mjolnir Recon 54 and Durandal enjoying a tasty beverage after routing one of Tfear's finest armor units... the 723rd Aggressor Squadron. 
Mjolnir Recon 54 and Durandal by cypresssalmon (@cypresssalmon) on tumblr. September 27, 2023.
But what about Leela? I hear you cry! Trapped on alien homeworld seeking succor from a tall, dark and handsome cyborg with big guns. Poor Leela. She deserved better. Durandal and Mjolnir Recon 54 plan their next mission. 
Durandal and Mjolnir Recon 54 by cypresssalmon (@cypresssalmon) on tumblr. September 23, 2023.
After all, we can't have too many meta-stable personality constructs in the universe. Remember Tycho! Would you kill Leela for Durandal? Think about it!
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A picture is worth a thousand words or put it another way... a picture paints a thousand words.
However I am not sure if I had a thousands words I could adequately describe what is going on in this picture. 
Marathon by TheyCallMeWelsh. Originally on twitter.com. March 22, 2024.
The artist goes by the name of TheyCallMeWelsh (@welshtanahger). The artwork is distinctively signed WELSH and would not look out of place in a modern art gallery. Indeed he may be the next David Hockney with that vibrant color palette. But there is just one slight problem. His picture has been deleted. Phhht! Just like that. You can't see it anymore. But this is the Marathon's Story page. The notorious Story page spider bots are incredibly efficient critters sucking up Marathon content across the interwebs and caught Welsh's artwork seconds after it was posted.  When the image was deleted is unclear but it was before I posted this news item. But back to that picture. Is the player jumping up to reach a Tau Ceti artifact? Remember those? Steve Cotton (Creative Director on Marathon). Somewhere In The Heavens - ViDoc. 
Marathon Prime Artifact. May 24, 2023.
Welsh's artifact rendition reminds me of Lambs drawing of vex partials in his MIDA Survivor 'doodle' inspired by the description of the MIDA Mini-Tool's Lore Tab.  MIDA Survivor: The Vexing variable by Lamb (aka Lambda-fallout125) on DeviantArt. June 16, 2021.
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So back on March 31, 2024 we featured Marathon-inspired art by Jack Britton (aka Strider). The piece
was entitled 'Blaspheme Quarantine'.
Over on his ArtStation page Jack provides some alternative 'work in progress' shots of 'Blaspheme Quarantine' as well as more details on the assets used in the image and who provided them. 
Blaspheme Quarantine (work in progress) by Jack Britton on ArtStation. April 3, 2024.
Jack writes: Alternate angle within viewport previous to creating custom muzzle flash.Jack also included this nice alternative scene and explains his reasoning behind it. 
Blaspheme Quarantine (work in progress) by Jack Britton on ArtStation. April 3, 2024.
Jack writes: WIP of a previous version, in which I was attempting to convey the original damage state of the Compiler during gameplay (inspired by original Marathon games), also included third character but image became too complicated and thus changes were cut.Always nice to get these insights into an artist's work. But what... there is more. Jack provides an alternative angle to his 'Neither High nor Low' image. 
Neither High nor Low (work in progress) by Jack Britton on ArtStation. March 16, 2024.
We featured this image back on March 17, 2024. You'll note the different placement for the letters U0VSUEVOVA in the image. A little more obscure but it wouldn't take a genius to work it out! If you have been following the Marathon ARG you will recall this was the Base64-encoded string that gave you the password (SERPENT) to the Traxus Chat Room. This is the Story page's Marathon ARG icon folks.
Click this for an authentic genuine Marathon ARG experience. The full ARG tour, with never seen before events and analysis, will be completed... soon™. Just waiting on the boxes. <---- Hey! It worked for Bungie cut me some slack! But I digress. Lastly, Jack provides further insights into his 'Requiem for a Runner' piece which helps us to understand this image better. 
Requiem for a Runner by Jack (aka Strider) on ArtStation. March 22, 2024.
Jack writes: This piece was inspired by yet another concept piece shown in Bungie's MARATHON revival ViDoc. Since early morning fog at the crack of dawn is my favourite time of day, I wanted to see if I could channel it in a way that still fit within the atmosphere of the new Marathon's world. The main point of interest is a building that would likely contain their extraction point, or a way to revive a fallen teammate, and with not a lot of time remaining - the characters would take the most direct path possible through a man-made swamp.
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ALIENS!
They're Everywhere! Well eleven of them anyway... three are missing.  The Marathon Scrapbook, that bastion of the tru7h, had this to say on the subject of the three missing aliens. Reg designed three aliens that didn't make the cut for the final game: The Hound, The Armageddon Beast and a non-combatant alien crewman. The Hound moved quite fast but could not climb stairs and only had a melee attack. Hounds acted a lot like piranhas, guarding low spots on a map and wandering off when they couldn't attack the player any longer. The Armageddon Beast sucked down damage like the Big Blue Meanie in Pathways and shot streams of highly damaging little pellets. Both were dropped because no levels had been planned where these monsters would conceivably be fun to fight. The alien crewmen were intended to be Pfhor counterparts of the human civilians on the Marathon: weaponless and unable to defend themselves in any way. A memory limit on the number of monsters types per level forced Bungie to abandon them.Abandoned maybe but not dead. Now for the first time in 30 years we have Lego versions of the Hound, the Armageddon Beast, and the Alien Crew Member thanks to Lego Bob (real name withheld on request). The Hound. 
Marathon Lego Hound by Bob (real name withheld on request). March 29, 2024.
The Armageddon Beast. 
Marathon Lego Armageddon Beast by Bob (real name withheld on request). March 29, 2024.
The Alien Crew Member. 
Marathon Lego Alien Crew Member by Bob (real name withheld on request). March 29, 2024.
It also means that for the 30th Anniversary of Marathon (THIS! Year) Bob can create the original alien group shot in all its Lego glory. AWESOME!!!
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More Marathon-inspired art from Jack (aka Strider) in New Holland.
Entitled 'flowers in heaven', it is a hauntingly atmospheric image of the Tau Ceti IV colony (New Cascada). New Cascada is the official name given to the colony in the Marathon ARG. You can see the colony's name on the side of building in the background. 
flowers in heaven by Jack (@strider_au) on twitter.com. April 3, 2024.
In the foreground is a derelict M.A.D.D. (Marathon's Automated Defence Drone) and a lone Runner can be seen in the distance.
Flowers in Heaven is the name of a Marathon music track only ever used on one level - Cool Fusion. Listen to it here while you look at the images. It fits well. Dan Storm (The Voice) did a very nice remix of Flowers in Heaven back in 2021 giving it a Halo vibe. According to Jack the birds in his image are Black Cockatoos. He writes: Black Cockatoos are an endangered species and require our help to protect their environment. See acf.org.au/black-cockatoosThat's right folks this would not be a Jack/Strider image without a message. Save our endangered species. The other endangered species at New Cascada is... YOU!  |
So this is going on my Freak List for 2024.
Door Boy by living in a box on Marathon Discord. March 28, 2024.
Now don't get me wrong, being on the Freak List is not a BAD thing, it's a GOOD thing. It made me look not once, not twice, but thrice! It made me go... WTF and stare! The Door Boy sketch is by 'living in a box' on the Marathon Discord. It came with simple tagline 300 Years a Slave. Now you will either get these Marathon references or you won't. The image is quite haunting and you will probably come back to it again... again. I did. That's why it's going on the Freak List. So the next time you find yourself stuck at the bottom of a hole. How droll. Remember this... Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 6 Episode 11 Chain of Command (part 2). |
Hot on the heels of supacool9's MIDA-inspired Runner comes the artist known only as... +shin+ (@hollow_shin).
+Marathon+ by +shin+ on twitter.com. April 1, 2024.
Now shin only called this piece +Marathon+. However I am getting a strong MIDA vibe from this piece. Perhaps it's because there isn't a Traxus or UESC logo anywhere. MIDA don't do corpo logos! Or perhaps it's because it is somewhat similar to supacool9's edgy art style, see April 1, 2024. Below is a work in progress shot. 
Runner 03 (work in progress) by supacool9 on Marathon Discord. March 26, 2024.
Marathon Incisors Demand Action. Or perhaps it's because it reminds me of Lamb's (@Lambdafallout12) series of "doddles" depicting the description of the MIDA-Mini Tool's Lore Tab. We featured this back in August 21, 2023 and September 7, 2023 Marathon In Destiny Again. Here's a quick reminder of his first "doddle". Strauss is gone. Whole sky alight as his ship set off. I might be the last MIDA survivor on Mars.-  MIDA Survivor by Lamb (@Lambdafallout12) on twitter.com). May 26, 2021. Moving on... From Lamb in the United Kingdom to Andres Bravo in Venezuela. Andres Bravo (@Andres2003Bravo), an artist and animator, has created a Marathon style wallpaper with a few extras. 
Marathon wallpaper by Andres Bravo on twitter.com. March 28, 2024.
Another one to add into your rotation... as you do. |
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Boom!
First off the blocks we have... Baguetted, a spanish master renderer, with a really cool piece of Classic Marathon action. Shades of G4 Sunbathing perhaps? 
Marathon Hunters (no text) by Baguetted on Marathon Discord. March 30, 2024.
I only wish Hunters went down that easy when I play. Baguetted also did a version with text. As you do. Boom! Shaka Laka. 
Marathon Hunters (text) by Baguetted on Marathon Discord. March 30, 2024.
How safe is Tau Ceti? Well according to Soul (@Soul_ant19), a freelance concept artist, illustrator and game developer in Perth, Western Australia it is anything but. A 'hell of a place' apparently. He has created a warning message for all you Runner hopefuls out there. 
Tau Ceti is a hell of a place by Soul (@Soul_ant19) on twitter.com. March 30, 2024.
As they say in that movie... "You're all gonna die down here!" A Health and Safety team will be on its way to clean up that slip hazard! Stay safe in Marathon! Staying on the surface of Tau Ceti, Terra, the Lunatic creates a Joseph Cross-inspired Marathon wallpaper using Bungie's concept art. Joseph Cross is Marathon's Art Director. So a good source for inspiration. 
Marathon artstyle by Terra, the Lunatic on Marathon Discord. March 29, 2024.
Terra, the Lunatic nicely captures the abandoned look of the Tau Ceti colony. Back in October 26, 2023 we highlighted some of the Marathon concept art that showed how derelict the Tau Ceti colony appeared. We also know they left in a real hurry. As they say in Marathon... |
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So there has been a flurry of new Marathon activity over the last few days.
What's up? First off the blocks we have... melon (@meloneslada), a highly respected Blender artist, creates a very nice set of Marathon renders, featuring that iconic Runner look.
Strike a pose this year in Marathon by Balenciaga. 
Marathon Runner by melon (@meloneslada) on Marathon Discord. March 30, 2024.
Some additional shots.
Runner doing what Runners do best. 
Marathon Runner by melon (@meloneslada) on twitter.com. March 31, 2024.
Up next... Everyone's favorite supacool9 with his own unique art style. 
Runner 03 by supacool9 on Marathon Discord. March 30, 2024.
Now supacool9 called this piece Runner 03 but I like to think of it as a MIDA-inspired Runner. I mean it just screams MIDA.  Since we have yet to see a MIDA Runner then this is it! Akimbo shotguns to boot. Classic! Marathon Incisors Demand Action. Check in tomorrow for another bite size chunk of new Marathon content. Until then... |
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Last updated Apr 1, 2024