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Marathon's Story Page
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Marathon's Story Page
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #861. And now for something completely different. Marathon.  Whether you are timing your run or waiting for extraction make it Marathon. Marathon is the sole supplier of watches to the Unified Earth Space Council (UESC) and the first watch worn on Tau Ceti.  Marathon has MaraGlo™ on its hour markers and syringe-style handset. Even the second-hand gets its one at the tip, allowing one to view the time with maximum legibility even when you are in the dark for more than 861 days.  Marathon watches combine military durability with Swiss (Sol System) engineering and craftsmanship to ensure the highest level of quality and precision. So don't expect to see them for sale in the Bungie Store. Marathon: Best in the Long Run.  |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #860. MIDA Monday. Big shirts are in.  Look and feel cool this fall in an oversized MIDA Strobe shirt in 2XL. Only US $199.00 on eBay.
This is the definitive MIDA shirt worn by true Revolutionaries. One man's Revolutionary is another man's Patriot. MIDA grafitti at the Venice Art Walls by Jon Goff on Instagram. May 25, 2024. MIDA shirts come with instructions on how to wear it as a balaclava to avoid facial recognition.  Like you do.  Photograph from Bungie's Marathon ARG Press Kit MIDA shirts can be worn inside out revealing a secret MIDA support message for all budding insurgents.
Saves on wash days too. How are you wearing your MIDA shirt this MIDA Monday?
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #859. Nicely aged poster from ODST Sam Owens (@ODST_Sam_Owens) entitled "MAKE ME GOD".  "MAKE ME GOD" by ODST Sam Owens (@ODST_Sam_Owens) on x.com. September 15, 2025 This foursome mean business. You can almost hear Glitch's knuckles crack. Void be like... hush now! Reminds me of that creepy foursome by ThatBoi back in May.  Runners by ThatBoi on the Official Marathon Discord. May 20, 2025. Would you want to play with these randos? ODST Sam Owens is also known as ODST Alt Owens (@ODST_Alt_Owens) which can be confusing. ODST Alt Owens did a series of character renders using models which may be familar to you.
 Runner by ODST Alt Owens (@ODST_Alt_Owens) on x.com. April 10, 2025 Great vibes from these images. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #858. The Marathon's Story Page is like a box of chocolates.Hot on the heels of the Glitch / John Marathon romance exposé Kry.exe (@KryDotExe) gives us Glitch checking out her John online.  Glitch with Apple phone by Kry.exe (@KryDotExe) on x.com. September 22, 2025 So Glitch is an Apple fan. She can't be all bad right? What's on her iPhone? Well Kry.exe left us a clue in the form of a reflection on Glitch's forehead. If you look closely you can just make it out. John Marathon in the buff? Well Marathon is rated Mature. There is even a Marathon Max version.  So hardcore you had to ask your Mom if you could play it! "Hey Greg."  |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #857. It's sketchy Friday. We've got sketches. The muse is fleeting... ideas can hit at any moment... like dishwashers. Alex Blashill (aka AlexB207) went on a doodle binge recently. Here are a few of his doodles.  Simulacrum by AlexB207 (@AlexB207Swag) on x.com. September 23, 2025 The famous Simulacrum cry... "Frog Blast The Vent Core". Learn more about its origin and meaning on The origin of Frog Blast The Vent Core (and some other stuff too) section.  Mjolnir Recon 54 by AlexB207 (@AlexB207Swag) on x.com. September 23, 2025 Mjolnir Recon 54 (aka John Marathon and 98 other names). Alex did something similar back in early January 2025.  Mr. Marathon by AlexB207 (@AlexB207Swag) on x.com. January 3, 2025. You see we have been watching Alex with great interest.  But I digress. Everyone's favorite underwater enemy... NOT!  F'lickta by AlexB207 (@AlexB207Swag) on x.com. September 23, 2025. Thank God for Marathon Infinity and the SMG flechette. No more punching F'lickta underwater. Last up...  Pfhor fighter and Admiral Tfear by AlexB207 (@AlexB207Swag) on x.com. September 23, 2025. Alex write: this is how i imagine pfhor fighters without their masks look but admiral tfear is just there with his regular dude faceAdmiral Tfear standing on the body of a Nebulon.  Admiral Tfear (upscaled and tweaked) by Ghostvirus on twitter.com. November 18, 2022 Seems nobody likes the Nebulons. Happy sketchy Friday. Stay sketchy. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #856. As we fast approach Marathon Infinity month the artist known only as 'pigeonpartytime' gives us this nice rendition of the infamous exit terminal on Ne Cede Malis.  Ne Cede Malis (Terminal 3) by pigeonpartytime on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. September 3, 2025. Perhaps you should have gone back and taken the other exit. Oh wait... there is no going back. "What's done cannot be undone." (Act 5, Scene 1. Macbeth. Shakespeare). The use of butterflies in the above image is inspired and reminds us of the Butterfly Effect. An example of the Butterfly Effect.  Very good idea by Gopherofdoomies on r/marathon. April 30, 2021 In Marathon Infinity parlance... wrefkddud. Time to fix stuff.  Play Marathon Infinity and find out what happens next.  It's not for everyone. I leave the last word to pigeonpartytime': sorry for reposting i keep finding mistakes in it and it will drive me to the point of insanityMarathon Infinity will do that to you. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #855. When I last posted artwork by AlexZhir (@SANYNOCHKA) I got a boatload of emails about how the Marathon Marine would NEVER fall for a woman like that! WAIT! WHAT?... I hear you cry. AlexZhir hails from Russia and is a self-declared Destiny 2 enjoyer. Alex is also a Marathon fan, declaring... "I've played classic Marathon and I enjoyed it!"  Well Alex is back with another romantic Marathon piece.  Happy days by AlexZhir (@SANYNOCHKA) on x.com. September 22, 2025. No doubt some of you will be muttering... "I didn't go through Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap for THIS!" Which reminds me of a funny life lesson I read recently from Argent. on Bluesky, namely: Wearing my novelty "I beat the 'Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap' elevating block puzzle and all I got was blown up before I reached the next save terminal on the following map" T-shirt.  Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap by Argent. (@mxargent.bsky.social) on Bluesky. September 22, 2025. We've all bought that T-shirt. Always go back and save. But I digress. Here's that earlier piece by AlexZhir that stirred the emotions.  Don't forget for what you're fighting for... by AlexZhir (@SANYNOCHKA) on x.com. June 14, 2025. I originally posted it back on June 18, 2025. Yes, I can hear it now... Not My Marathon. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #854. Continuing our theme of celebrating Marathon-inspired art from around the world we give you... B Town Emplyoyee Dormitory by Maggie Woo, a concept artist from Shanghai, China.  B Town Emplyoyee Dormitory by Maggie Woo on Artstation. June 2025. Maggie Woo writes: The staff dormitory of the mining town, I hope you like itOne wonders what the colonists were mining and if they uncovered the Jjaro tech. Some things are better left buried. Maggie also gives us a night scene.  B Town Emplyoyee Dormitory by Maggie Woo on Artstation. June 2025. The colonists safely tucked up in their dorms. Just as well because there is danger on the edge of B Town. But I digress. Today is... Happy Marathon 2025 Release Day... in another timeline.  |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #853. Happy Marathon Collage Day! On this day 31 years ago Bungie released a collage of seven screenshots to advertise their new game Marathon.  These were the very first screenshots released for the game after it had been totally rewritten and a new artist (Reginald Dujour) had been brought on board. Here are the separate screenshots. Each screenshot has its own unique story told and retold over the years. Perhaps it is time for a retelling. Time for one more story. Carnage Palace: The Lost Level.  For the Marathon Scrapbook, Jason Jones (Bungie Software) revealed the following about the above screenshot. ...that was the first map we ever built, and the map that most of the initial testing of the rasterizer and the monster code was done on (there's an early screen shot from it, of a player holding the rocket launcher watching a door open in front of him; this was when we still had doors which cast shadows/light as they moved). anyway, after mars wants/needs women was built we never played carnage palace again until one day nobody had a copy any more.Wiped out. Phhht! Just like that. The player holding the rocket launcher can also be seen in the Marathon Collage.  Yes folks, this is a 'twofer'. A two for the price of one story. This screenshot would also be used to advertise Marathon.  Marathon Ad in Home Computer Warehouse magazine 1994. An attempt was made to rebuild this lost level and "Carnage Palace Deeee-Luxe" in the released game was the result. Jason Jones wrote: i built this level in the spirit of the original, but it turned out to be too cramped (the original was huge) and somehow just never caught on the same way).Here's the level Carnage Palace Deeee-Luxe viewed in Pfhorte 1.0d11 back in 1995 (platforms and doors in red/yellow).  Happy Marathon Collage Day! Always keep back-ups. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #852. The Furries are back!  BEWARE THE GHOST COMMANDER by Kry.exe on Artstation. September 19, 2025. Kry.exe, who hails from Buenos Aires in Argentina, gives us the foxy one with trusty WASTE-M5 in a piece entitled Beware the Ghost Commander. Furries be like... "Look, man. I only need to know one thing: where they are." Where are the Furries in Marathon?  Furries keep reminding us that with ten million furries in North America alone, if one tenth of one tenth buy Marathon that's like 10,000 copies sold. Right? Marathon Devs tell us it is more like 1000. I don't know who to believe. Hmmm...  Wait... does the pink cat count?  KAAL1 by Oniixide on the Official Marathon Discord. April 26, 2025. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #851. And now for something completely different. Blaap! Glitch (aka Ms. Smarty Pants) gets her comeuppance.  Blaap! by Jack Strider on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. September 18, 2025. Why? Well this is what happens when you fall behind on your 13 trillion dollar shell repayments. Sekiguchi send in the Debt Collector! Inspired by Michio (Miha) Hashimoto's Marathon Comic.  Nice to see Jack Strider make this homage to Miha's artwork. Glitch be like...  Glitch by BAMBUCHA on the Official Marathon Discord. April 28, 2025. You can take my body but you will never take my soul! Sekiguchi Genetics be like... ...your soul belongs to us. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #850. Happy Birthday to the Marathon's Story page. Yes folks, the Story page is 30 years old today! It went sentient on September 19, 1995. Now in the 25th year of the 3rd millennium not even the Wayback Machine can fully map the Story page. You need a planetary sized network of computers in order to do that.  It is also Marathon Announcement Day... AGAIN... AGAIN. (circumstances are cyclical) Confused? Well Bungie actually announced Marathon back on July 25, 1994. And then again back June 6, 1994.  Marathon press release posted by Joseph Ziegler on x.com. September 10, 2024. Three annoucements depending on what timeline you were in. One day we may find ourselves in the timeline where the CyberMaxx VR Headset actually works with Marathon.  But I digress. It's also sketchy Friday. We've got sketches! Bored in class? Well Xavier was so he sketched.  Mjolnir Recon 54 by Xavier on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. September 4, 2025. Xavier writes: Not especially happy with it, but i did do it during class. Tried to channel some JPstealthcamel power.Up next... Something old, something new.  A little between old and new by NSClark (@NSClark98) on x.com. July 5, 2023. Xavier (@NSClark98) writes: Marathon sketch, a little between old and new..Staying on the John Marathon theme.  At least he timed it by paz (@pucaslaz) on x.com. August 15, 2025. Mjolnir Recon 42.195 by paz (@pucaslaz). Happy sketchy Friday. Stay sketchy. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #849. Oddly, this is familiar to you, as if it were from an old dream, but you can't exactly remember... Jack Strider (@striderau.bsky.social) gives us that old, familiar feeling but with a new look.  That Old, Familiar Feeling by Jack Strider (@striderau.bsky.social) on Bluesky. September 17, 2025. The alt text reads: Fanart of Bungie's Marathon reboot - the figure standing in the foreground is a revised appearance for the classic trilogy's playable protagonist 'Recon 54', a Mark IV MJOLNIR Cyborg. This is also normally where I would write up lots of descriptive imagery, such as the shade of white on his helmet, or the cool blue fabric bands around his biceps - but there are many secrets in this image that must be found.How many can you find? And yes that QR code works. Try it. Jack also gives us close-ups of his kit-bash.
Jack writes: Inspired by @rythaze.bsky.social's depiction of the MJOLNIR cyborgs in the new artstyle, as well as the color scheme of the original sprites / Craig Mullins artwork for the Marathon Trilogy's CS release. Uses Locus, Blackbird, Void and Lukas' parts.We featured rythaze's UESC Runner (Mjolnir cyborg) doing his best Lh'owon chapter screen impression back on April 10, 2025. Here it is again.  UESC Runner by rythaze (@Rythayze) on x.com. April 5, 2025 And yes that QR code works. Try it. He also did two alternate versions... like you do.
The green variant reminds me of his iconic Mjolnir Recon 54 artwork entitled Flowers in Heaven.
One of my favorites. Reminds me of Jack Reacher (the real one). |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #848. Happy Marathon Infinity Gold Master Day. On this day 29 years ago Marathon Infinity went Gold Master. Tuncer Deniz (Bungie Software) announced on the Infinity beta testing mailing list on September 17, 1996. At 4:30 PM CST, Marathon Infinity went GM. The CD is off to manufacturing.The actual Marathon Infinity scenario "Blood Tides of Lh'owon" had gone Gold Master a week earlier in Brooklyn, NY and shipped off to Bungie HQ in Chicago.  Marathon Infinity Gold Master CD burned in Brooklyn. Picture courtesy of Randy Reddig (aka ydnar), Double Aught Software. People often forget (or don't want to remember) that the Marathon Infinity game was created by Double Aught Software (headed up by former Bungie employee Greg Kirkpatrick).  Double Aught were located on the top floor of 173 Union Street, Brooklyn.   You will recognize a distinctive flair for decor that just screams Brooklyn, namely brownstone. This was actually Greg Kirkpatrick's apartment but was big enough to double as an office during Marathon Infinity's development. You can see their address on their official website (doubleaught.com). Long gone now but preserved for posterity on the Story page. It's what we do. Double Aught's local subway station was none other than...  Watch out for the sanitation workers though. Always bin your gum when you're done.  Happy Marathon Infinity Gold Master Day. Not to be confused with Marathon Gold. Get the chicken. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #847. The Nar.  The Nar by BrokedotBall (formely known as Zack) on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. September 14, 2025. According the Marathon Scrapbook, that last bastion of veracity, the Nar were due to make an appearance in Marathon 2: Durandal. Rob McLees worked night and day to create this alien race and give them an extensive backstory.  Robert McLees. Marathon Scrapbook (page 18). Bungie even gave him free beer to make him work harder. Yes folks, in the 90s Bungie knew how to get things done... quick. As fate would have it the Nar and their coal-powered interstellar battlewagons never made it into the game. Rob was fit to kill.  But the Nar legacy lives on. References to the Nar are littered throughout the trilogy. So many in fact that the Story page ran the Narsh Test back in January 2002. Test your Marathon knowledge with the Narsh Test. How many references to the Nar are there in the Marathon series?Maybe a couple? No more than seven? Come on! The Nar are a fan favorite with their 'sack-o-loot' and trusty 'curmudgeoning cudgel'.  The Nar sketch by Phobos Romulus (Neal D. Anderson) on DeviantArt. December 16, 2008 For the Marathon Scrapbook Rob McLees related the full Nar backstory.  But as fate would have it the original 700 page Marathon Scrapbook was too big to fit inside the Trilogy box and Matt Soell (editor-at-large) had to take drastic action to make it fit.  The slimed down version fitted a treat. Smells like rubber, tastes like paper.  The full Nar backstory was thought lost forever. Now where did I put it again? Hmmm... |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #846. Just over a week ago Joseph Cross (Marathon's Art Director) posted concept art from the early visual development phase of Marathon.
Joseph Cross wrote: One of my favorite pieces of key art from early visual development phase by the great and powerful Daniel Chavez on the Marathon concept team.This comcept art originally appeared in Bungie's "Somewhere In The Heavens" ViDoc on May 24, 2023. A day or so after Joseph Cross posted Daniel's concept art Daniel himself posted a full version of his concept art.  Marathon 2023 concept art by Daniel Chavez (@daniol) on Cara. September 9, 2025. Daniel Chavez writes: Marathon art that's recently been shared by my boss :)This piece of concept art was created with Photoshop. One wonders if Bungie are exploring their earlier 'grittier' concept art for inspiration. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #845. Happy Volker Von Müller day. Yes folks, on this day 776 years from now Volker Von Müller will correct Marathon's historical dates for Durandal. His journal entry dated 2801.9.14.06.01 will record: Durandal seems to be missing some of the chronology of events that occurred before the launch of the Marathon. When the Marathon was attacked, Leela began to scramble and rewrite all of the historical information for mankind. Of course, she was damaged, and her efforts were cut off by the compilers and by Durandal. The result is that some but not all of the Marathon's data was muddled. Leela's effort at confusion failed to trick the Pfhor, but it has confused Durandal, and that is funny.Just a funny story or something more? Well if you have ever tried to make chronological sense of the dates in the first game then you'll know that Bungie messed up.  HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM by Spaceface Mcgee on Marathon Discord. December 31, 2019. No surprise really. Jason wrote: Marathon is finished. We've slept <10 hours over the last four days. We all put our hearts into this, not to mention the 14 hour days for months on end, so we hope you like it.You see Bungie were a very small team in 1994 and they worked their butts off to create a truly inspirational game. Bungie's motto should really be Sic Parvis Magna . To their credit when Bungie were made aware of their date inconsistencies they quickly went about correcting them. Now this being Bungie they didn't just give the corrected dates they provided a backstory to explain why they were messed up in the first place and why they were now being corrected. This backstory was the Journal entries of Volker Von Müller (aka The Lost Network Packets). Canon text which was intended to be included in Marathon 2: Durandal.  Sadly it didn't make the cut. Matt Soell <matt@bungie.com> explained why: The Von Muller bits were reworked and eventually dropped from the full game in large part because they only served as background info rather than moving the current story forward. We tried a number of ideas for connecting the first game with the second and providing a clearer historical backdrop, but none of them worked out as well as we'd hoped.So the only place you are going to read this along with the corrected Marathon timeline is on the Marathon's Story page.  Happy Volker Von Müller day. I leave the last word to Volker Von Müller. If anyone reads this, I'm dead. The aliens cut us off, and we all fought to the end. I saw three of my best friends killed by some kind of flying slug. There is a way out of here that goes to the PWS Holo-Fun Park, but I don't have the power in my suit to propel me there.  Mjolnir Recon 54 by Garrett Post on ArtStation. April 2020. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #844. "Watch the skies. Everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!" Mjolnir Recon 54 is watching.  Somewhere in the Heavens by Goblin Zac (@goblin-zac) on tumblr. September 11, 2025. The above poster-quality piece is by Goblin Zac (@goblin-zac) on tumblr. We've featured Goblin Zac's Marathon artwork on the Story page before (see October 19, 2024 and June 13, 2024) Goblin Zac also did a nice comparison pic of the B.O.Bs from Marathon and Marathon 2: Durandal.  B.O.Bs by Goblin Zac (@goblin-zac) on tumblr. April 5, 2025. Give a B.O.B. a gun and he thinks he's Han Solo.  Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Star Wars, 1977. But I digress. The opening quote "Keep watching the skies!" is from Howard Hawk's 1951 film "The Thing from Another World". An old school sci-fi classic. The alien ship under the ice discovery scene is memorable.  Discovery scene from "The Thing from Another World", 1951. John Carpenter's 1982 remake, simply entitled "The Thing", has become a cult classic. Yet the film received overwhelming negative reviews on its release and was criticised for its graphic special effects and the pessimistic approach to first contact. In the 1980s people wanted hope and probably explains the ending of Blade Runner (1982). It is interesting to note that Empire magazine recently listed "The Thing" as No. 11 in the top 50 greatest sci-fi movies of all time. One wonders what people want in the 2020s. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #843. It's sketchy Friday. We've got sketches. First up... Since we brought up White Rabbit yesterday here's a sketch by corrupt entitled "Boring class work".  Boring class work by corrupt on the Official Marathon Discord. April 26, 2025. On the subject of being bored... Xavier writes: I already draw cat men when i get bored at work so i threw in a. Security meowfacer? Meowlnir recon 54? Anyway enjoy what having no eraser looks like.  Meowlnir Recon 54 by Xavier on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. September 2, 2025. Meowlnir Recon 54 has a certain ring to it. Xavier did a "spot the difference game" with Meowlnir Recon 54.
Next up... We've featured Victor Ullmann's artwork on the Story page a few times now (see February 18, 2025 and June 14, 2025) but this is the first time we've featured a sketch by him.  Glitch by Victor Ullmann on the Alright Runners Discord. September 5, 2025. Victor is a Level Artist at Ubisoft Montr&eacite;al. Perhaps he was bored at work? Last up... Beaubub (@SBHcomic) gives us Postalthon. A series of comic panels featuring Postal 2 Dude and Mjolnir Recon Number 54. Here's the first panel in which Mjolnir Recon 54 finds himself in another dead end.  Mjolnir Recon Number 54 by Beaubub (@SBHcomic) on x.com. August 27, 2025. Check out the link for the full story. Happy sketchy Friday. Stay sketchy. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #842. Got Pink? melon (@meloneslada) does and he modelled it.  Marathon Pink Helmet by melon (@meloneslada) on x.com. September 9, 2025. The pink helmet Runner dates back to May 24, 2023. His demise at the hands of Traxus contractors White Rabbit and the two brothers is still haunting.  We learnt about White Rabbit (WR) and the two brothers as we eavesdropped on the Traxus chat during the Marathon ARG 2023.   They know how to kit-out, gear up and loadout. Oorah! Later on in the ARG 2023 we found out their code names (White Rabbit, Brill and 'Patch) as we hacked our way into the UESC and found evidence files. It currently looks like all this has been wiped out. Phhht! Just like that. UESC Runners are no longer a thing, replaced by UESC Droids (Roger Roger) and White Rabbit has apparently morphed into Thief. But I digress. Melon has also been modelling everyone's favorite Glitch.
Let's see what happens next. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #841. Have gun - will travel to distance worlds and break stuff. Rigel (@prime_bingus) gives us his reinterpretation of the MA-75B Battle Rifle (with integral 40mm Grenade Launcher) from Marathon 2: Durandal.  MA–75B Battle Rifle by Rigel (@prime_bingus) on x.com. April 18, 2025. The blue really pops in this image. He also did a grey/green version (but the blue just nails it).  MA–75B Battle Rifle by Rigel (@prime_bingus) on x.com. April 18, 2025. The MA-75B Battle Rifle and its predecessor the M.75 Assault Rifle with Grenade Launcher (in the first game) is pretty much the go-to weapon in the Marathon Trilogy.  Bigger Guns Nearby (modified) by Juzo-kun on DeviantArt. December 27, 2004 No other weapon has the versatility and functionality. Its ammunition (shells and grenades) are readily available on most levels. Apply the weapon correctly and you get Air Pfhor, Hang Time and the ability to climb walls (say hello to Gheritt White). Oh and you sometimes need a grenade to trigger switches from a distance. Ok it doesn't work in a vacuum and at long range its .75 caliber shells are highly inaccurate. That's when you turn to grenades. At short range its 600 rounds per minute and prodigious recoil spread the bullets fast and wide. Devastating is the word you are looking for.  ET Phone Home for a Body Bag rejected Marathon ad due to over emphasis on gore. Of the two versions the original M.75 Assault Rifle has that macho appeal.  Bigger Guns Nearby by Nathan Anderson (Deimos-Remus) on DeviantArt. October 5, 2010. Indeed firing the original M.75 Assault Rifle was described as... "akin to wrestling a greased pig". Can't get more macho than that. Right? So the next time you are on the UESC Marathon and you hear "sooey... sooey". RUN! Mjolnir Recon 54 is calling your name. 
Claustrophobia by Neal D Anderson (aka Phobos-Romulus) on DeviantArt. August 21, 2009.
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #840. Continuing our theme of celebrating Marathon-inspired art from around the world we give you... Bio-Research Lab by Rishabh Vishwamitra, a student at Staffordshire University in the United Kingdom studying Concept Art for Film and Games.  Bio-Research Lab by Rishabh Vishwamitra on Artstation. July 2025. A head shot catches Glitch unawares as she downloads high value data for Gaius of NuCaloric. 
As we all know here on the Story page... Data! Data! Data! Never theorize before you have data. Invariably, you end up twisting facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. Another image from Rishabh Vishwamitra giving a sense of scale in his Marathon-inspired Bio-Research Lab.  Bio-Research Lab by Rishabh Vishwamitra on Artstation. July 2025. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #839. Jack Strider had a problem. He wrote: I didn't realise I'd done red and blue, I need to do a character in green and I can't decide who.  Who will be Green? by Jack Strider on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. September 4, 2025. The good folks on the Unofficial Marathon Discord came to the rescue, created a poll and voted for...  Sph't Happens by Jack Strider (@striderau.bsky.social) on Bluesky. September 7, 2025. The alt text reads: Fanart of Marathon (2026?) - runner character 'Glitch' pilfers through the contents of another runners 'corpse-bag', finding an item of interest. In the background, a Sph't Compiler rises from the depths, no longer curious but hostile. Yes folks, Marathon encourages Crypto-Necro-Kelpto-mania. OK it's a duffle bag! Just roll with it. But Glitch is about to get her comeuppance. Here is a work in progress image  Sph't Happens (WIP) by Jack Strider on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. September 6, 2025. This image had a problem that was quickly spotted and rectified in the final version. Can you spot it? I think you have to be an OG Marathon fan to spot it. And so Jack Strider completes his RGB art collection. Here's the line up.
We featured Jack's Red Locus on September 5, 2025 and Blue Blackbird way... way... back on May 25, 2025. Indeed back in May, Jack wrote: not sure if I'll ever end up posting this anywhere else, but I figure if this is my last marathon artwork for a while I may as well post it hereGood to see that Jack is back! |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #838. And then there were three. Sir Double D (aka Dobledas) gives us this haunting image of four friends on Tau Ceti IV. Happier times.  Greetings from Tau Ceti IV by Dobledas (@sirdoubled.bsky.social) on Bluesky. September 3, 2025. Looks like Void drew the short straw and ended up having to play with a bunch of randos. As he lay dying, shot in the back, he pulled the photograph out and remembered his three friends... happier times. Hopefully Marathon will come with some guidance for parents about letting their kids play online with randos. You see we all know what happens when you play with randos. Hello little boi, want to play a game? Runners by ThatBoi on the Official Marathon Discord. May 20, 2025. To paraphrase Alfred Pennyworth: Some players aren't looking for anything logical, like loot or fame. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some players just want to watch you burn. Don't have any friends? Afraid to play Marathon with randos? Well Marathoners Anonymous is here to help you. We have a seat here for you... beside Hamish.  Marathoners Anonymous group therapy tru7h circle.  7777 by UmbratheCyborg on Marathon Discord. June 11, 2024. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #837. Happy TBWSAF Day! Yes folks, on this day 29 years ago Bungie released Marathon 2: Durandal for Windows 95.  When Bungie announced that Marathon 2: Durandal was going to be ported to Windows 95 the company that could do no wrong became Public Enemy No. 1. The online firestorm was epic. Mac users can be quite eloquent at times. Since Bungie kept a 'List' it wasn't hard to come up with the worst offender and enshrine it as a Box Acronym. So was born TBWSAF. The acronym TBWSAF did not appear on the botton of the Marathon 2: Durandal for Windows 95 box. TBWSAF was reserved for another box. A special Macintosh box released 5 weeks later.  Perhaps there was some perverse reverse logic to it. The origin of the TBWSAF acronym can be found in the Letters to the Bungie Webmaster.  The 3rd round of Letters to the Bungie Webmaster on May 14, 1996 contained the following letter. You [EXPLETIVE DELETED] [EXPLETIVE DELETED]s have gone and done it now. You said you wouldn't create Marathon for PC. [EXPLETIVE DELETED] liars! What have I to hold above the PC gamer's heads now, huh you [EXPLETIVE DELETED]s?!?!Perhaps the Kwisatz Haderach. But I digress. Marathon Infinity was the last Macintosh exclusive game Bungie ever release (apart from reissues). Happy TBWSAF Day! |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #836. Blood Tides of Tau Ceti.  Bob's Big Comeback by Jack Strider (@striderau.bsky.social) on Bluesky. September 3, 2025. Great colors in this piece by Jack Strider (@striderau.bsky.social) entitled Bob's Big Comeback. Our boy Locus with a Marathon BoB (albeit a Marathon 2 BoB from Lh'owon with the ocular implant courtesy of Durandal). Just roll with it. The alt text on this piece reads: Fanart of Marathon (2026?), very vibrantly red lighting and environment, featuring Locus and a BoB. Locus is heavily armed and ready for a fight, and BoB's got a brand new gun. The Marathon looms overhead, as does one of Tau Ceti IV's many moons. A human skeleton lays crumpled against a log, water lapping at the bones.You might have missed the human skeleton. No doubt poor Yorick! Apart from skeleton there are a number of small details and homages in the artwork. Here's a super-sized version (7.8 MBs) for all you curious at heart. Jack also worked on an alternate version.  Bob's Big Comeback (alternate) by Jack Strider on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. September 3, 2025. Jack writes: I honestly had such a hard time picking which way the lighting went, at first it looked a lot more like that one piece they did of the three runners in the water, this was the halfway point before I moved everything around again hahahThe gun Locus holds is a datamined asset from the Marathon Alpha modeled by Jack.  Locus gun model by Jack Strider on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. September 3, 2025. Hmmm....  You can see the gun in the Marathon Reveal marketing artwork posted back in April 2025.  Locus posted by Joseph Cross (@josephacross) on x.com. April 13, 2025. Locus is an OG Marathon fan favorite. Locus be like... 'Tis but a scratch. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #835. find yourselfJack Strider writes on the Unofficial Marathon Discord: I managed to find this (from the public alpha no nda breaking here) the design hasn't shifted since the initial reveal more-so that the cinematic short just did a different interpretation of what the ship looks like. funnily enough the moon is actually new/different compared to the initial reveal trailer (which aligns with the idea that the moon shape too was just for promo purposes)  UESC Marathon (Alpha) posted by Jack Strider on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. September 3, 2025. Jack makes an interesting point that Demios (the UESC Marathon) in the above image looks more like a... POTATO! Are we finding ourselves starting back? The original concept art for the UESC Marathon 2023 was created by Tom Hicks, a freelance concept artist from the United Kingdom. He posted some of his concept art on Artstation shortly after the Marathon Announcement on May 24, 2023. Within 24 hours it was removed. Phhht! Just like that. "Too late!" I hear you cry. "The Story page would have snagged it all. It's what they do!" Tom had a freelance four week contract with Bungie during September - October 2022. His job was to develop inspirational and explorative pieces for Marathon working closely with Bungie's art director. He created multiple Marathon ship designs before the final one was chosen.  UESC Marathon final concept art by Tom Hicks Tom wrote at the time: Here are the concepts and development for the ship I designed for the new Marathon game by Bungie! I'm assuming it's safe to show these since the trailer got released recently and it's only really for the design of the ship that was shown! I'm very pleased it got time in the teaser trailer. Whether or not it makes it to the final game who knows but I'm so happy it got into the trailer!It was Paul Chadeisson (working with Antibody) who took Tom's final concept to create the iconic 'Marathon motif' image you see in the Marathon Announcement trailer from May 24, 2023.  Here's another shot from the Announcement trailer.  It is interesting to note that Tom Hicks worked up two different shapes for his Marathon ship design.
A design very similar to the one on the right ended up being used in the recent Marathon Reveal Cinematic Short (Directed by Alberto Mielgo). Before...  UESC Marathon (Marathon Reveal Cinematic Short screenshot). April 12, 2025. ...and after.  UESC Marathon (Marathon Reveal Cinematic Short still). April 12, 2025. The same rectangular design appears in the Marathon Alpha release video (by Raoul Marks and Pat Clair at Antibody). So what shape is the Marathon? To misquote Ira Gershwin and George Gershwin... I say potato and you say tomato |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #834. Ladies! Introducing the Pocket Pulse+.  Pulse Pistol by JSart on Artstation. August 31, 2025. The Pocket Pulse+ (aka Pulse Pistol) is by JSart, a 3D artist who has worked on games such as Doom: The Dark Ages, Deadzone and Madden. JS writes: The concept this was based on reminded me of Marathon, which has a really cool art style and I am eager to see how that game turns out. That also inspired me to stamp on some text and shapes for the fun of it.The Pocket Pulse+ packs a punch. Charge it up, and let it off the chain.  Pulse Pistol by JSart on Artstation. August 31, 2025. The Pocket Pulse+ is only used by certain Tau Ceti personnel as a basic self-defence and hold-out weapon unleashed in desperate situations. This End Towards Enemy.  Pulse Pistol by JSart on Artstation. August 31, 2025. The Pocket Pulse+. Don't leave home without one. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #833. This is what 13 trillion bucks can really buy you.  Glitch by MasterDCJ (@Master_DCJ) on x.com. April 15, 2025. All done in the best possible taste. We featured Thief art by MasterDCJ (@Master_DCJ) back on June 16, 2025. But then again maybe 13 trillion bucks won't buy you very much in 2893.  Glitch by maximum-hell on tumblr. April 20, 2025. By then we will all be using Space Cash apparently. Oh and we won't be going to Tau Ceti. |
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This Day in Marathon.
Day #832. A new month. But what happened last month? Well here's a snapshot of what we featured. What did you miss?
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Last updated September 2, 2025