The Space Invaders (or just Invaders) are the central antagonists that appear throughout the Space Invaders series. There appearance and origin change throughout the games, but have become more standardized in recent installments. There are 3 primary types of invaders that recur throughout the franchise, which all have characteristics of aquatic animals and are pixelated: the Squid (Small Invader), the Crab (Medium Invader), and the Octopus (Large Invader). They are often accompanied by UFOs that sometimes provide powerups or just a bonus score.
Nature[]
Origin[]
The origin of the Invaders varies from game to game. However, recent installments such as Arkanoid vs Space Invaders, Space Invaders: Hidden Heroes, and Space Invaders: World Defense (as well as some promotional materials) agree that they originate from another dimension. Earlier installments suggest that they simply come from another planet, but this standpoint has become less common.
Space Invaders: World Defense represents the Invader Dimension as a series of multicolored, wireframe environments. There's much variation in the color of the terrain, some locations featuring lightning, others abstracted suns or moons, clouds, or snow. It also calls this world "the digital realm, a parallel universe to Planet Earth."[1]
Biology[]
Modern games portray the Invaders as being pixelated or voxelated beings. It's unclear if they're mechanical, organic, or something else entirely, but at the very least they seem to be based on different laws of physics from ours. Earlier games such as Majestic Twelve and Space Invaders Fukkatsu no Hi depict them as being mechanical. Space Invaders '91 represents them as organic. Games such as this and Return of the Invaders incorporate numerous other small machines and species into the Invader army, be they bugs, cell-like organisms, or entirely abstract beings. These continuities might suggest that the Invader empire enslaves numerous species to fill its ranks.
Society[]
Whether or not the Invaders are intelligent is unclear. Lunar Rescue, which is debatably not even part of the series, shows a large, Octopus-like Invader commanding them in an alien language. Arkanoid vs Space Invaders implies that they're capable of complex strategizing (such as using a data packet as a lure to show Relay Station Eve's location) and most games display them as being capable of creating complex technology and machinery. What is clear is that their organization is deeply militaristic and expansionist.
Story[]
As with every other aspect of the Invaders, their role in the story changes from game to game. What is consistent is that the Invaders always attack humanity in pursuit of conquest.
The infinite nature of Space Invaders necessitates a loss from the player, implying the destruction of humanity. The same can be said for Part II and Return of the Invaders, however their titles suggest that they're sequels to the original. Many, many games also position themselves as sequels to the original, implying that humanity survived the attack without the Earth being destroyed. Some of these end with the Invaders being entirely stopped. Majestic Twelve, sometimes subtitled "Space Invaders Part IV" has one of these endings, and implies a continuity consisting of Space Invaders, Part II, Return of the Invaders, and itself.
Some games take a more metatextual approach and consider the original Space Invaders to be a game within their own universes. This is the case for the Amiga version of Super Space Invaders, where the original arcade machine is collected by aliens who bring its invaders to life. This is implied to be the case in Space Raiders by Justin's jacket. That game further distances itself from other installments with an entirely unique aesthetic and origin of the Invaders.
Arkanoid vs Space Invaders[]
Arkanoid vs Space Invaders has the most developed continuity of any game in the series. The opening states that the Invaders have conquered numerous civilizations and destroyed most of humanity. Whether or not Earth still exists in a habitable shape is ambiguous, as the planet is never even mentioned. However, the original Arkanoid, as indicated by its manual[2], describes Earth as having been destroyed in an alien attack, and the eponymous ship as housing humans in stasis while the crew locates a new planet. While AvSI suggests that the Arkanoid is primarily military, this still may link the original Space Invaders, the original Arkanoid, and AvSI together. This timeline also allows any games that don't end in the Invaders being wiped out to fit between the original game and Arkanoid.
During the events of AvSI, the player and Nadia Vivie destroy a major Invader base and their gateway into the human dimension, leaving many Invaders stranded. Humanity is largely safe, but the remaining Invaders regroup and launch an attack on another galaxy.
Gameplay[]
The strategy of the Invaders is the same in nearly every single game: arriving in a formation, they move horizontally until they hit the edge of the screen, triggering them to move down and repeat in the other direction. Sometimes, their formations will be split and they won't have to reach the edge of the screen before moving down. Other times they'll spin around in a circle or move directly downwards. The Invaders will continue their march until they reach the bottom of the screen, instantly killing the player.
As the Invaders march, they fire projectiles upon the player. These vary from game to game. Some can be destroyed, others cant, others split into two projectiles, and others are bombs.
Variation[]
Some early games, notably Space Invaders X and the Game Boy Color version feature completely unique invaders with unique properties. Some can deflect bullets, others can dodge them if not hit accurately. Many games feature invaders that split in half. Later games introduce variation by modifying the primary 3 invaders. Space Invaders Evolution (Java) gives each invader shape a unique projectile type, while giving them different movement and bullet speeds based on their color. Space Invaders Extreme and its sequel use color to denote what powerups will be granted when 4 same-colored invaders are destroyed in a row. They also create variation by placing some invaders inside of small crafts that let them break formation, bounce when hit, deflect bullets, or carry other properties. Some Invaders in Extreme, its sequel, and World Defense will explode upon death and destroy any surrounding invaders. Arkanoid vs Space Invaders uses color to denote what kind of projectile an invader will launch.
Bosses[]
First introduced in Majestic Twelve, (arguably in the bonus sections of Return of the Invaders,) bosses are a staple of the Space Invaders franchise. They take various forms and are almost always either mechanical, large pixelated invaders, or both. A common type of boss is the Composite Invader, a giant Invader made of clearly defined pixels, usually with each pixel needing to be destroyed to kill the boss. Revolution, Extreme 1 and 2, Evolution (Java), and Gigamax all feature this boss type. Bosses in Majestic Twelve, GBC, X, Evolution (Java), Hidden Heroes, and arguably Infinity Gene are largely mechanical. Some games feature larger versions of the regular invaders or UFOs as bosses. Uniquely, AvSI features bosses that appear like giant invaders, but are revealed to be mechanical crafts in their second phases.
Trivia[]
- The Invaders where originally meant to be soldiers. But where replaced, probably to avoid any controversial problems.
- The Octopus was based off of the cephalopodic Martians from war of the Worlds, and so all other invaders are based off of marine life.