The Volulans are a mysterious race which invaded Earth after misinterpreting a satellite's time capsule for a declaration of war, taking on the appearance of classic 1980's video game characters.
Biology[]
The true form of the Volulans are unknown, but it is known that their bodies are comprised of cubes of intelligent light energy, which can hover and remain active even if detached from the rest of an alien's body. While they appear to have mass, following most laws of physics, and can physically touch objects, their cubes go haywire if objects of regular matter attempts to pierce them, causing them to levitate and rapidly bounce around. However, physical force is still capable of making smaller Volulans shatter or flatten, although this does not truly harm them, and they quickly come back together. Additionally, Volulans are capable of destroying regular matter, including living tissue, by converting them into similar energy cubes upon a successful strike to the target's body, and they appear capable of reverting these cubes to what they were originally. While the fact that regular matter cannot pierce their bodies and physical force does not do permanent damage makes the Volulans impervious to bullets and other conventional weaponry, supercharged light particles are capable of destroying them, making them explode into tiny, non-living light cubes that fade away. Volulans can also rearrange the cubes in their bodies into a variety of forms, such as humanoids, animals, robots, and insects. While usually appearing "pixelated" due to being made up of cubes, they are also capable of "smoothing out" their appearances to not be as blocky, even capable of creating a perfectly Human-like appearance. Strangely, despite their inorganic energy-like nature, Volulans are capable of producing offspring with Humans. Due to their shapeshifting abilities, Volulans can take on many forms of locomotion, from walking to hovering and flying, and can be many different sizes, from the size of a dog to heights comparable to multi-story buildings. In addition, Volulans can replicate a number of abilities, such as those pertaining to specific video game characters.
Culture and society[]
Volulan society is usually one of peace and harmony, but they are very quick to carry out preemptive strikes against perceived threats. They know very little of Earth's culture, and presumably have no equivalent to common video games, at least any with violence, as they assumed that footage of 1980s video games and other relics of the decade were a declaration of war. If another power declares war against Volulans, Volulans are known to abide by any and all rules supposedly presented by the other power, such as following the patterns and mechanics of video games, only using what assets are permitted by the rules, and even changing their appearances and the design of their vehicles to fit into the rules, displaying fairly polite manners during broadcasts to enemy powers. However, if the enemy power were to break the established rules they presented, the Volulans will immediately turn to deploying their entire forces in a direct assault. Additionally, while the Volulans are sapient, many are known to take on seemingly non-sapient or animalistic behaviors to fit in with the appearance they take, especially when said appearance is of an animal or machine.
Technology[]
Volulan technology is highly advanced, with military spacecraft capable of crossing the Milky Way resembling Boss Galaga. These spaceships are equipped with weaponry capable of rendering matter into light cubes, and they are also capable of generating constructs of light cubes, such as the mushroom-like obstacles of Centipede. Volulans are also able to beam members of other lifeforms to their ships by converting their bodies into energy cubes and then reforming them within the ship. Additionally, they are able to reconstruct dissolved body parts of individuals who were harmed by Volulan attacks.
History[]
Volulan society thrived for some time before 2015, when they encountered a satellite launched from Earth, which carried a time capsule holding videocassettes of various aspects of Earth's culture until 1982, the most prominent being an arcade championship game and other examples of classic video games. The Volulans misinterpreted the images of the video games as a declaration of war, and set off to attack Earth, adopting strategies and appearances based off of the various game characters. They prepared to face Earth with a "three life" system, based off of the games: a series of battles against Earth forces, each modeled after a different video game, where the loser would lose one life and have a member of their respective species turned over to the winner as a prize. If Earth loses all three lives, they would be subjugated, while if the Volulans lose three lives, they would withdraw. Arriving on Earth, the Volulans began by attacking the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, taking the form of Galaga, easily overwhelming the unprepared Human soldiers and abducting a survivor as their prize. Shortly afterwards, Volulans interrupted Earth's television broadcasts, using manipulated footage of classic 1980s TV characters to tell the Humans that they had accepted "the declaration of war" and relay the rules of the challenge, along with the fact that Earth has lost one life. The Volulans then launch their next attack on the Taj Mahal, in the form of Vaus from Arkanoid, destroying the monument and abducting a male bystander as their prize, rendering Earth to only having one life.
A centipede Volulan attacks a soldier
A Volulan light cube from one of the attacks was secured by the US government, allowing the military to develop light particle cannons that could actually harm the Volulans. After the US military was trained and equipped with the new weapons, helped by video game enthusiasts Sam Brenner and Ludlow Lamonsoff, the Volulans launched an assault on Hyde Park, London, taking the form of creatures from Centipede, even generating mushroom-like obstacles in the sky. British and US soldiers were already waiting for them in the park, and managed to damage some with their new weapons, but could not follow the proper patterns of Centipede that the Volulans were using, resulting in many casualties. However, Brenner and Ludlow intervene, grabbing the light cannons and using their knowledge of the game's patterns to quickly destroy many Volulans, although one centipede managed to escape, tearing its way through the city while chased by Brenner. The alien briefly stopped in the apartment of an elderly woman who was exercising, deciding to mimic her movements before it was shot at by Brenner, prompting it to jump off the balcony to the street below, where it nearly landed on a child before being destroyed by Brenner. The Volulans then broadcasted another message using 1980s TV characters, congratulating Earth on its victory and sending one of their members to London as a trophy, who took the form of the Duck Hunt dog, materializing in the damaged apartment of the exercising elderly woman and happily playing with her.
The Volulans then planned to attack New York City, deploying an especially large soldier modeled after Pac-Man. To fit in with the game's rules, the Humans modified cars colored like the game's ghosts to hold light particle field generators, sending a team of drivers led by Brenner, consisting of Lamonsoff, former arcade champion Eddie Plant, who won the championship game against Brenner that the Volulans saw, and Toru Iwatani, the creator of the Pac-Man game. The group, now designated as the Arcaders, met the Pac-Man Volulan in the street as it ate its way through other cars, although Iwatani could only see the alien as his own creation, refusing to believe that a character made to spread joy could have been twisted into a killer monster. Against the judgement of the others, Iwatani exited his car and attempted to reason with the alien, only for the Volulan to bite his hand when he attempted to touch it, dissolving Iwatani's lower arm before Pac-Man fled down the street to start the challenge, chased by the remaining Arcaders. Pac-Man continued to destroy vehicles in its way, always faster than the cars due to the game character always being faster than the ghosts, forcing the Arcaders to resort to outmaneuvering it. Eventually, the Humans managed to corner the alien, and Eddie rammed it with his car, destroying it. However, as Pac-Man has three lives in the game, another Pac-Man Volulan was deployed four streets away. Additionally, in order to reach the Volulan, Eddie somehow moved his car at extremely high speeds, although this was first unnoticed by the other Volulans.
The Pac-Man Volulan about to bite down on Brenner's car
When the Arcaders reached the second Pac-Man, they found they already had it cornered, but the other Volulans had generated a Power Pellet-like object next to Pac-Man, which it promptly ate, sending out a shockwave that painted the cars blue and disabled their light particle forcefields, giving the Volulan 10 seconds where he could eat their cars. The Volulan first went for Lamonsoff, eating his car, although the Human managed to bail out and attempted to run from the alien on the street. However, the Volulan didn't realize that its 10 seconds were up, and just as it was about to eat Lamonsoff, Eddie used his superspeed tactic again to ram the alien in the side with his forcefield restored, destroying it. The last Pac-Man was then deployed right where the last was destroyed, chased by Eddie and Brenner, but managed to turn right before Eddie could ram it, making Eddie crash into the East River. Now chased by Brenner alone, the Volulan went right for a Power Pellet, managing to consume it and render Brenner vulnerable. However, Brenner goaded the Volulan into chasing him, counting down the seconds as he drove in reverse to a parking lot, timing it just right to have the effect wear off just when the Volulan's jaws clamped down on his car, meaning the Volulan bit right into the forcefield, destroying it. In recognition of the Human victory, the Volulans were down to one life as well, and sent a Volulan modeled after Q*Bert to the city, where he was found by Lamonsoff and brought to the other Arcaders.
Volulans invading Washington DC
Shortly after the battle with Pac-Man, Q*Bert began to bond with the Humans, especially with Matty Patten, the son of a US military officer and new Arcader named Violet van Patten, although the violent modern video games Matty played frightened Q*Bert. To calm him down, Brenner fed him cheese puffs and had him play with Matty on a trampoline, although Q*Bert fell off the trampoline and was smashed to pieces from the fall, but reformed and excitedly asked to jump again. Later, Q*Bert, wearing a suit, joined the Humans in a celebratory party, as the other Volulans figured out that Eddie had somehow cheated during the Pac-Man battle, presumably by overclocking the engine in his car to gain speeds much higher than that of the Pac-Man Volulan. The Volulans broadcasted this to the population of Earth, declaring that the challenge, and Earth, are forfeit as a result of the cheating, taking Matty hostage and preparing for an invasion that followed no game rules. Meanwhile, Q*Bert remained with the Humans, figuring out that the "declaration of war" was just game footage. When questioned by the Arcaders, Q*Bert told them how Volula used to be a happy place, and that the Volulan leaders do not recognize the truth of the footage, also adding that the aliens were fashioning their army aboard their mothership. As Q*Bert said, the Volulans promptly sent their mothership over Washington, DC, where it deployed an army of Volulans with the appearances of various video game characters, indiscriminately attacking civilians and infrastructure. The Arcaders, now minus Eddie and joined by Q*Bert, rushed to meet the invasion force, as Q*Bert told them that the only way to access the mothership was from under it. One Volulan, modeled after the frog from Frogger, nearly jumped on the Arcaders, but was caught in mid-air by a crane operated by Will Cooper, childhood friend of Brenner, where the alien seemingly reverted to animalistic instincts and ate another passing Volulan modeled after a Galaga.
Cooper, who was serving as President of the United States just before the invasion, managed to secure light cannons for the Arcaders, allowing them to start destroying Volulans, with Violet repeatedly blasting a relatively docile Volulan modeled after a Smurf. Lamonsoff went off alone to free a school bus from a group of Volulans modeled after ninjas, managing to kill them all, but then, a Volulan modeled after Lady Lisa, protagonist of Dojo Quest, confronted Lamonsoff, smoothing out her appearance to look perfectly Human. Lamonsoff, who had a crush on the character since he was a child, dropped his gun while telling her about how much he wanted her to be real, but Lady Lisa wordlessly drew her swords and began attacking Lamonsoff, who refused to fight her, telling her how much he loved her and that even if she killed him, he would die happy. Intrigued by his words, and even willingness to die if it was by her hand, Lady Lisa dropped her swords and pulled Lamonsoff up for a kiss, before the two were interrupted by Eddie, who wished to make amends for his cheats by saving the planet. Lady Lisa decided to join the Humans, taking up her swords again and helping Lamonsoff and Eddie fight the other Volulans. Meanwhile, Brenner, Cooper, Violet, and Q*Bert made it under the mothership, where a Volulan addressed them in the form of Max Headroom, telling them that their leader wished to combat them personally, willing to give them one last challenge for the fate of Earth. The messenger told the Humans that if they could best the Volulan leader, Earth would be saved. The Arcaders, minus Eddie and Lamonsoff, were then teleported up to the mothership, where they found the Volulan leader had modeled the interior after the last game footage in the time capsule: Donkey Kong, with the leader taking on the form of the titular Donkey Kong, with the abducted Humans in place of Pauline atop the platforms.
The Volulan leader in the form of Donkey Kong
As Eddie, Lamonsoff, and Lady Lisa fended off the Volulan forces on the ground, being pushed back by the overwhelming numbers, the Arcaders aboard the mothership started making their way up the platform as the Volulan leader began throwing barrels down at them. A barrel ran over Q*Bert, flattening him, with the Humans presuming him dead as they reached the second-to-last platform, with Brenner lamenting the fact that the Volulan leader was not following the Donkey Kong patterns, making it harder for him to progress. The Volulan leader continued throwing barrels at the Arcaders as Matty told Brenner that Eddie had cheated in the championship game, restoring Brenner's confidence. Brenner managed to grab a light particle hammer from a platform, using it to smash through several barrels before dropping it to get to the highest platform, where the Volulan leader nearly hit him with a barrel. Then, Q*Bert popped back to normal, prompting Violet to go down to help him, managing to toss him back up to the higher levels, but Violet then got trapped by fireball-shaped Volulans while the Volulan leader kept throwing barrels at her. Brenner charged at the Volulan leader, slid under him, and grabbed another hammer, allowing him to smash his way through fireballs and barrels until he reached Violet, pulling her up before making it back to the end of the platform. Staring down the Volulan leader, Brenner threw the hammer right at the leader, breaking clean through a barrel and striking the alien in the chest, destroying him.
With the Volulan leader's destruction, all Volulans still on Earth, minus Q*Bert and the Duck Hunt dog, froze in place and exploded, including Lady Lisa, whose particles returned to the mothership as the Arcaders, captives, and Q*Bert were returned to the surface, in the backyard of the White House, joined by Lamonsoff and Eddie. While Lamonsoff complained that Lady Lisa was gone while Q*Bert remained due to being a trophy, Q*Bert suddenly began convulsing before transforming into Lady Lisa, possibly infused with the particles of the original Lady Lisa by the mothership, as it is possible the other Volulans recognized her sudden wish to stay with Lamonsoff. Whatever the case, Lady Lisa and Lamonsoff began kissing, much to Brenner's confusion, as he pointed out that Lady Lisa was made from Q*Bert. The Volulan mothership then departed, but not before restoring Iwatani's dissolved arm. Additionally, some time later, Lamonsoff and Lady Lisa got married, and the two somehow produced children, who were all comprised of light cubes and all bore Q*Bert's appearance.
Appearances[]
- Pixels (2015)
Notes[]
- They are similar in nature to the Nintendians, but mostly because of the fact they resemble classic video game characters.
- Despite the time capsule supposedly being launched in 1982, the time of the arcade championship game, the Volulans have knowledge of video games and other icons from years after 1982.
- The name 'Volulan' is never said in the film but it is rather derived from the name of their homeworld, Volula.
- When Ludlow is said he was scouring 4chan for messages from the Volulans, this is a reference to a 4chan thread in which a being who called himself "Myziam" was making contact with the users.