Hi everyone! I thought, today, it might be interesting to talk about where the inspiration for Champion of Earth came from. As I mentioned in the Kickstarter video, it primarily came from the old Sci-Fi movie “Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1959). In this movie, aliens enact “Plan 9”, which is to raise undead and form an army to invade Earth. They are heroically stopped by a small group of people including an airline pilot (because they are the real heroes!)
It’s widely considered to be the worst Sci-Fi movie ever made. In fact, I will never forget how it was introduced to me:
“so bad, you can tell the flying saucers are just plates thrown in the air and filmed quickly.”
Now, to me, it’s one of those things that’s “so bad, it’s good”. It’s very clearly a product of the times and, if you are able to pay attention to the plot around the ridiculous goings-on, actually has a “Day The Earth Stood Still” vibe to it, which is quite fun.
In general, this movie got me thinking. If Aliens can raise the dead to make an army, it was a “what could possibly go wrong?” kind of situation, which I knew from Era: Lyres can make a really fun, light-hearted game.
In a flash, I envisioned a few warriors using hilariously silly pieces of equipment to fight off an invasion of combined “little green men” aliens and undead of all shapes and sizes.
So I thought to myself about how to make that a little more challenging, and added the kind of creatures that you see in those old horror movies as well: Krakens, Werewolves, Giant Squids and the rest.
And Champion of Earth was born!
I’ll see you next time with some thoughts about the artwork in general!
– Ed
