Murder Drones

Australian-American independent animated web series

Elsie Lovelock
Michael Kovach
Nola Klop
Shara Kirby
Sean Chiplock
David J. Dixon
Allanah Fitzgerald
Emma Breezy
Caitlin Dizon
Daisy Rose
Darcy Maguire

ComposerAJ DiSpiritoCountry of origin

Australia
United States

Original languageEnglishNo. of episodes8ProductionExecutive producersKevin Lerdwichagul
Luke LerdwichagulProducerKevin LerdwichagulEditors

Luke Lerdwichagul
Abhignya Cavale

Running time17–26 minutesProduction companyGlitch ProductionsBudgetUpwards of $300,000Original releaseNetworkYouTubeReleaseOctober 29, 2021 (2021-10-29) –
August 23, 2024 (2024-08-23)

Murder Drones is an Australian-American black horror comedy^[1] independent animated web series created by Liam Vickers and produced by Glitch Productions.^[2]

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. The series has been praised by viewers for its animation, voice acting, music, action scenes, worldbuilding, and its blend of horror and comedy elements. Additionally, the series was nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Best Animated Video. The series ended on August 23, 2024 with the release of the eighth episode.^{[‡ 1]}

Synopsis

The series takes place in 3071 on Copper 9, an exoplanet owned by the megacorporation JC Jenson. Worker Drones, autonomous robots designed to serve humans, inhabit the planet and mine it for natural resources.^[3] Eventually, the planet suffers a catastrophic core collapse brought on by the corporation's employees, wiping out nearly all biological life on the planet, including humans.^{[‡ 2]} As a result, the planet becomes a frozen wasteland, and only the Worker Drones remain. One day, three violent killing machines known as Disassembly Drones—nicknamed "Murder Drones"—invade Copper 9 to exterminate the remaining Worker Drones. The Worker Drones live in constant fear of the Murder Drones and hide behind a series of doors in an attempt to protect themselves.^[4]

The protagonist of the series is Uzi Doorman, an angsty teenage Worker Drone who plans to defeat the murderous drones and save her kind. In the process, she forms an unlikely partnership with two of the Murder Drones—N, a male drone with a friendly and curious disposition toward Worker Drones; and V, a sadist who is purposely elusive about her history with N—and works with them to uncover the truth about their origins and purpose in the planet's harsh environment.^[5]

Cast

Uzi Doorman (voiced by Elsie Lovelock): A rebellious teenage Worker Drone who seeks to end her oppressed lifestyle. Throughout the series, Uzi struggles with being possessed by the Absolute Solver, which she learns to use to manipulate reality.^[5]
Serial Designation "N" (voiced by Michael Kovach): A friendly and eager Disassembly Drone who befriends Uzi and provides her with emotional support throughout her possession.^[5]
Serial Designation "V" (voiced by Nola Klop): A sadistic Disassembly Drone and N's teammate who secretly harbors protective feelings towards him.^[5]
Serial Designation "J" (voiced by Shara Kirby): The domineering leader of N and V's Disassembly Drone squad.^[5]
Khan Doorman (voiced by David J. Dixon): Uzi's neglectful father, architect of the hydraulic doors protecting the Worker Drone colony, and leader of the colony's defense force.
Thad (voiced by Sean Chiplock): Uzi's friendly jock schoolmate.
Lizzy (voiced by Katie Hood in "Pilot" and Caitlin Dizon from "Heartbeat" onward): Uzi's popular classmate who bullies her and befriends V.
Doll (voiced by Emma Breezy): Uzi's Russian-speaking classmate who harbors a vendetta against V for murdering her parents. Like Uzi, Doll can manipulate the Absolute Solver, and has much more control over it than Uzi does.^[5]
Cyn (voiced by Allanah Fitzgerald): A Worker Drone who serves the Disassembly Drones' system administrator and the host of an evil, reality-altering computer program called the Absolute Solver (also voiced by Fitzgerald).^[5]
Tessa Elliot (voiced by Daisy Rose): A human girl who salvages N, V, J, and Cyn before the former three's remodeling into Disassembly Drones. An adult version of Tessa appears on Copper 9 as a JC Jenson technician, but is later revealed to have been killed as a child by Cyn, who impersonates Tessa while wearing her skin.^[5]
Nori Doorman (voiced by Darcy Maguire): Uzi's mother and one of the Absolute Solver's hosts. Initially stated to have been killed by a Disassembly Drone, she is later revealed to have sent her consciousness to her own mutated core to survive.

Production

Liam Vickers had previously achieved attention for his 2D animated series CliffSide and Internecion Cube, both currently unfinished.^[6] He first pitched Murder Drones to Glitch Productions with some early concept art and story, before becoming the series' writer and director.^{[‡ 3]}

Murder Drones is animated on Autodesk Maya, with post-production being done on Unreal Engine. ^[7] Including the pilot, the series lasted 8 episodes. It pushes into darker territory while making it more photorealistic than previous shows on Glitch.^[1] 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, 2021, Liam released the full version of "Disassembly Required", the song that plays in the teaser.^{[‡ 4]} 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 that the full series was in development now at the studio and would be released later in 2022.^[8]^[9]^{[non-primary source needed]} The show ended with the final episode released on August 23, 2024.^{[‡ 1]}

Episodes

Every episode is directed by series creator Liam Vickers.

No.	Title	Storyboard by	Original air date
1	"Pilot"	Liam Vickers	October 29, 2021 (2021-10-29)
The human population of the planet Copper 9 is wiped out by a planetary core collapse, leaving behind their robotic workforce, the Worker Drones. The workers are massacred by a trio of Disassembly Drones from Earth—designated N, V, and J—ostensibly sent by the interstellar corporation JC Jenson in response to the workers' newfound independence, while the survivors retreat into a bunker fortified by the worker Khan Doorman. Uzi, Khan's rebellious daughter, leaves the bunker to salvage parts for a railgun to use against the Disassembly Drones. She tests her weapon on N, who regenerates with short-term amnesia and malfunctioning optic sensors. Mistaking Uzi for a new teammate, N tries to befriend her until J restores his memory and vision. N infiltrates the bunker and attacks Uzi, but falters after Khan shuts them out to protect the other survivors. J installs a virus on N for questioning their directive, but Uzi repairs him, and together they destroy J and capture V. Heartbroken by Khan's betrayal, Uzi banishes herself with N and V and declares vengeance against the humans of Earth.
2	"Heartbeat"	Liam Vickers, Matthew Peckham, and Jarrad Rumble	November 18, 2022 (2022-11-18)
J's biomechanical core emerges from her remains and produces an eldritch worm monster that kills several Worker Drones. Uzi and N are informed of the incident by Uzi's classmate Thad while trying to repair the Disassembly Drones' space pod. Returning to the bunker to investigate, they learn about a supposed reboot program called the Absolute Solver, symbolized by an insignia that has begun appearing in place of Uzi's eye; Uzi concludes that J is using the Solver to repair herself with the drones' assimilated matter. They are soon attacked by the worm-like Solver, which proclaims J and the other drones to be its puppets. The Solver unnerves Uzi with disturbing, lifelike holograms, including one of itself killing Khan. N rescues Uzi as her damaged railgun explodes, causing the Solver to vanish. Frightened and confused by the Disassembly Drones' true nature, Uzi shuns N and returns to Khan. Meanwhile, Uzi's classmate Doll telekinetically crushes a robotic cockroach while glancing at a photograph of V, with the Solver symbol appearing over Doll's eye.
3	"The Promening"	Liam Vickers, Robin French, and Cameron Qayoom-Taylor	February 17, 2023 (2023-02-17)
Uzi is approached by Doll and her friend Lizzy to receive a makeover for the upcoming school prom. However, Uzi escapes upon discovering that Doll is targeting her in a recent string of disappearances at school, while Lizzy is conspiring to let V into the bunker. Meanwhile, N refuses to participate in V's plan to slaughter the prom-goers for their own sustenance, leading V to go alone. Uzi and N reconcile upon meeting outside, and head to the prom to stop V. Against the trio's expectations, V is crowned prom queen as part of a trap devised by Doll, whose parents were murdered by V. Uzi and N rescue V, overcoming Doll's reality-bending Solver powers before V shoots Doll. Doll later regenerates and attacks the group again, but flees when Uzi manifests her own Solver powers against her. Meanwhile, the human JC Jenson technician Tessa and a living J arrive on Copper 9 to perform "maintenance work".
4	"Cabin Fever"	Matthew Peckham and Cameron Qayoom-Taylor	April 7, 2023 (2023-04-07)
Uzi travels to the abandoned Camp 98.7 to investigate a set of collars with significance to her mother, Nori. Uzi's class is forced to come along as part of a field trip, with N and V acting as supervisors. Uzi eventually finds the "keybug", a golden robot cockroach designed to activate an elevator in the Cabin Fever Labs. When she returns to the campsite, a startled classmate fires at Uzi with an arrow, which her Solver powers turn into a living organic mass. Uzi flees into one of the cabins, where she grows fleshy wings and a tail similar to those of the Disassembly Drones. Against V's wishes, N searches for Uzi and finds an instructional video cassette titled "Zombie Drones". Overcome with a craving for the drones' oil, Uzi kills several of her classmates and battles a hostile V before N intervenes, calming Uzi and returning her to normal. Uzi, N, and V leave with the other survivors, bringing the keybug and video cassette with them.
5	"Home"	Liam Vickers and Neda Lay	June 9, 2023 (2023-06-09)
N relives his repressed memories as a Worker Drone servant at Tessa's mansion alongside V, J, and a malfunctioning "zombie" drone named Cyn. After ignoring several cryptic messages instructing him to enter the mansion's basement, N establishes contact with Uzi, who has hacked into the comatose N and V's minds to keep their memories from being erased by Cyn, who is the Solver's host and the Disassembly Drones' administrator. With Tessa and J's help, Uzi and N evade a monstrously mutated V and unlock the basement, where they discover evidence of Cyn remodeling N and the other servants into Disassembly Drones. Uzi's hacking is interrupted when Doll intrudes to take the keybug, which Uzi begrudgingly gives her to save N and V. While the past Cyn takes control of the other drones and massacres the humans in the mansion, the present Cyn attempts to use V to lobotomize N in Uzi's absence, but N returns V to her senses before Uzi overrides Cyn's administration. Sometime later, Doll brings the keybug to Tessa and J at the frozen Camp 98.7 lake, where Uzi, N, and V find them.
6	"Dead End"	Neda Lay	August 18, 2023 (2023-08-18)
Tessa and J ally with Uzi's group, revealing Cyn as the one who sent the Disassembly Drones to Copper 9. Doll immediately takes the keybug back and enters the nearby Cabin Fever Labs alone, leading the group to give chase while J stays behind to guard Tessa's ship. The group is quickly captured by Alice and Beau, two cannibalistic Worker Drone lab subjects who have used the facility's Velociraptor-like Sentinels to kill the other subjects and intruding Disassembly Drones. During their escape, Tessa privately reveals to N that Cyn's actions have already destroyed Earth, and urges him to save the universe over Uzi, who risks being possessed by Cyn the more she uses her Solver. After the Sentinels kill Alice and Beau, Doll traps the group in the elevator hallway with more Sentinels and descends further down, damaging the elevator in the process. When the others are cornered inside the elevator, V remains outside and severs its cables to save them while the Sentinels surround her.
7	"Mass Destruction"	Neda Lay and AD Taeza	March 29, 2024 (2024-03-29)
Uzi, N, and Tessa are separated underground when Uzi's Solver triggers a cave-in. N encounters Nori's sentient core, who owns a patch on a crucifix-shaped USB drive used for "exorcising" the Solver from its hosts. Doll is mortally wounded by Cyn while demanding the patch from Tessa to cure herself. Tessa follows the dying Doll to a cathedral where she finds and attacks Uzi. N decapitates Tessa and gives the drive to Uzi, but Cyn possesses Uzi and destroys the drive. Uzi regains control when N provokes her and Nori into bickering by confessing that he and Uzi "hang out", although Uzi accidentally kicks Nori down a pit into Copper 9's core in the process. Tessa reattaches her head and reveals herself as Cyn, having been disguised with the real Tessa's corpse. Cyn eats Doll's core and drags Uzi and N into the pit with her. Aboveground, J is confronted by Khan, Thad and Lizzy after destroying the Disassembly Drones' landing pods under "Tessa's" orders, dropping her spaceship key into the pit. Before falling, Uzi throws N to safety with the key. Uzi later awakens in outer space, where she sees the planet's core exposed on the planet's surface.
8	"Absolute End"	Neda Lay, AD Taeza, Robin French and Liam Vickers	August 23, 2024 (2024-08-23)
Having merged with Copper 9, Cyn begins absorbing the broken pieces of the planet into her. Uzi reunites with Nori, who explains the Solver can be stopped if Cyn's heart is destroyed. N rescues Uzi in Cyn's spaceship, which Cyn destroys; Uzi and N affirm their relationship as they fall back towards the planet. J attacks Khan, Thad and Lizzy, but V arrives on a tamed Sentinel and interrupts J, who reveals her own allegiance to Cyn. Uzi and N try to defeat Cyn but are easily overpowered and forced to hide, whilst V fights J but is also eventually beaten. Cyn nearly kills N and V but they're saved by Uzi, and the trio battle Cyn and J together, with N and V knocking J into a chasm. Uzi eventually rips out Cyn's core, but fails to destroy it and is forced to swallow it when Cyn attempts the same, causing Cyn's body to melt. In the aftermath, N and V find that Uzi has partially taken on the Solver's yellow eye color and abilities while still retaining her sense of self, though her newfound abilities scare her classmates. Mid-credits scenes show the drones resuming their normal lives on Copper 9 and holding a funeral for Doll while a still alive J tries repairing her spaceship. In a post-credits scene, Uzi is pestered by the harmless Solver, whose consciousness now inhabits Uzi's tail.

Reception

Lauren Rouse of Gizmodo Australia praised the character designs and visuals.^[1] In 2023 and 2024, the series earned a nomination for a Webby Award in the category of Best Animated Video and won it in the same category in the 2024 edition.^[10]

Awards and nominations


Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2023	Webby Award	Animation (Series & Channels) Video	Murder Drones	Nominated	^[11]
2023	One Voice Awards UK 2023	Animation - Best Character Performance - Female	Elsie Lovelock - "Uzi - Murder Drones"	Won	^[12]
2024	Webby Award	Animation (Series & Channels) Video	Murder Drones (Episode 6 – "Dead End")	Won	^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Rouse, Lauren (25 October 2021). "This Aussie Animation Studio Has Made a New Horror Comedy About Murder Drones". Gizmodo Australia. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
^ Asarch, Steven (26 January 2022). "The trippiest gamer on YouTube reveals the one line he'll never cross". Inverse. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
^ Tilley, Ava (15 September 2023). "Murder Drones was an indie series that was worth the watch". The Central Trend. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^ Schmidt, Ben (4 November 2021). "Review: Murder Drones "Pilot"". Bubbleblabber. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Cento, Salvatore (16 June 2023). "Murder Drones: How This Post-Apocalyptic Series Revolutionized YouTube". MovieWeb. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
^ "Liam Vickers Animation - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
^ DjBasAA (2023-04-03). "Episode 1 and 2 are …". r/MurderDrones. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
^ "Murder Drones". Glitch Productions. Archived from the original on 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
^ Schwarz, John (9 October 2021). "Glitch Productions Reveals Murder Drones Complete With New Teaser". Bubbleblabber. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
^ "2023 Webby Awards Video Winners". The Webby Awards. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
^ "2023 Webby Awards Video Winners". The Webby Awards. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
^ "The One Voice Awards 2023 UK Winners Are". One Voice Conference. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
^ "2024 Webby Awards Video Winners". The Webby Awards. Retrieved 2023-09-08.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

^ ^a ^b GLITCH (2024-08-23). MURDER DRONES - Episode 8: Absolute End. Retrieved 2024-08-24 – via YouTube.
^ MURDER DRONES - Episode 4: Cabin Fever. Retrieved 2024-03-31 – via YouTube.
^ @glitch_prod (April 23, 2022). "During the show's inception When @LiamVAnimation first pitched Murder Drones to us this was the oriiiiginal concept art for Murder and Worker Drones. The idea was to give the worker drones no mouths for quicker animation but that was changed for 𝓢𝓽𝔂𝓵𝓮 Also look at beta V 🥺" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-10-18 – via Twitter.
^ Vickers, Liam (August 6, 2021). "Murder Drones - OST - Disassembly Required". YouTube. Retrieved 8 January 2024.