In the rich and sprawling world of the Wilderness, the Chicken Police are two hardboiled cops and the stuff of legends. The duo of Sonny Featherland and Marty MacChicken, who have unraveled many a fabled case during their long association with the Clawville Police Department's predatory division, is known across the continent. Not without good reason, either!
What started out as a mockery of a name – because let's face it, the name 'Chicken Police' just isn't very flattering – slowly took a life of its own. The Chicken Police wasn't just known throughout Clawville's underground. Nay, it became a household name, a beacon of hope, the very image of justice itself. Everyone knew The Chicken Police, and everyone with bad intentions knew to fear them. 'Chicken Police' is a concept. It's not just about the duo. It's about the story of Clawville as a whole.
Though, many would forget about the two roosters that make up the duo. They're only human after all... or poultry, I guess? So, let's properly introduce you to the two, their roles in our story and how we, the creators, came up with their characters.
The swan song of a living legend
At first glance, Sonny Featherland is your typical tired, grumpy, "I'm too old for this shit" type of detective. You know, the usual stuff. As you get to know him better though, you soon start to realize there's a lot more to him than meets the eye. Having spent over 20 years in the predatory division, he knows what's going on in Clawville. He knows notorious criminals by name and can tell if someone is lying or not just by looking at them.
That's not all. He has a knack for taking on the most complicated and messy cases, the ones most detectives shy away from. This is often at his own behest and without the boss' knowledge. A real troublemaker you could say, so he needed a partner who was just as much into causing a mess. Doesn't matter if he thought differently at life, the world or even the law. This is where Marty comes him, Sonny's partner-against-crime.
Hot-headed, gold-hearted
Marty MacChicken was but a rookie when he was assigned to work alongside Sonny, who was already a veteran copper by then. Sonny didn't think the kid would last a week, but a brutal case – later appropiately dubbed 'The Bloody New Year's Eve' – brought them together for life.
Marty grew up with Sonny, though Sonny doesn't believe he really grew up at all. Fierce and feisty, Marty loves guns, trouble, cars, women and guns. His mouth is always a step ahead of his brain, but deep down, he's a golden-hearted rooster who would jump into fire for his partner and loved ones.
An epic for the ages & a city ablaze
Together, Sonny and Marty earned the nickname Chicken Police, which made them famous. They solved cases one after another, and even got their best-selling series of novels about their adventures. Their latest case brought down the biggest criminal gang in the city of Clawville, and indeed in the entire Colonial Empire, seemingly bringing peace to the capital. Unfortunately, life doesn't work like in crime novels or noir movies, as Sonny and Marty have actually just started a fire where there were only embers.
Sonny & Marty during their last big case: Chicken Police - Paint it RED!
Now, their partnership will truly be put to the test as they must not only save the city, but the entire world order, lest it all crumble and collapse. All Sonny ever wanted was retirement, peace and a trip around the world. It seems the city won't let him go and Clawville's criminal gangs are out for revenge.
The chicken or the egg
The tale of Sonny and Marty has not been the only eventful journey; creating our heroes and the story of The Wilderness has been quite the adventure as well!
The duo started off as characters from a comic book script, only roughly encompassing the now fleshed-out personality they have taken on. An old rooster and a young chick (well, according to Sonny) with their battle-worn magnum and a brand new, shiny 12-gauge respectively. This soon turned into the script for a short animated film, as well as a short story that became "Bloody new Year's Eve" and appeared in print here in Hungary.
The dynamic duo as early pixel-art adventure characters
The Chicken Police - one of the first mockups with the black and white theme and photoreal characters
We even had a novel in the works before our writer Bánk came up with the idea to turn Chicken Police into a video game. This idea made so much sense to us that we simply had to follow through on it. We continued working this out, and from there on the story truly took off with the creation of the two protagonists and their unique relationship. It quickly became apparent that Sonny was going to be more than just a sharp-tongued, snarky, self-pitying cock, and Marty evolved beyond the typical hot-headed, hotshot, brawn-over-brain character.
Our heroes throughout the years - early drawn mockup, Chicken Police - Paint it Red (2020),
then Chicken Police - Into the HIVE! (2023-)
Writing history
When it comes to creating characters, background and motivation are incredibly important. Everyone either wants something or is driven by something, even if they don't realize it themselves. This affects every aspect of your life, your character, your choices. So our first step was to work this out for Sonny and Marty. Who are they? What drives them? Where did they come from and where do they go?
Sonny started life in a loving family, the very picture of a good upbringing. Unfortunately, he lost his parents early on and ended up in an orphanage. Life there left him bitter but also taught him the value and importance of various things in life. Later, he came back to help out at an orphanage, which is where he met his wife, Molly. However, their marriage was short-lived, as Sonny's harsh past and fanatical pursuit of justice led to a breakup and his eventual loneliness.
The parents of Sonny Featherland
There's something Sonny is looking for. He doesn't quite know what, but there's a void in his soul that he's always trying to fill. He's grumpy, snappy, depressed, but at the same time afraid to show his emotions and... move on. Move on from his old life, his old self. Move on from the demons of his past, and the city of Clawville.
Marty however, is different. With the dream of fame, women and guns left to gather dust, Marty settled down and faces a new challenge in a new life. Will he be able to live a normal life, start a family, become a father? The thought alone scares him to death, but it's something he also considers the greatest adventure of his life.
Little Marty MacChicken and his mum
His story is not an easy one either. Marty was raised by a loving mother, but they were alone and poor. He learned early on what deprivation was and tried to compensate for it in his later years by pursuing every kind of pleasure he could wish for. With Sonny as an anchor and Laura as his wife-to-be, he realized there was more to life than fleeting pleasures and glory, if he's willing to accept it.
That's all we have for this devblog! We hope you enjoyed it, and maybe even learned something from it. We'll be back with more devblogs like this, so until then: be good, play more and say yes to life!
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