Destroy All Humans!
A parody of Cold War alien invasion films.
Destroy All Humans! is an open world action-adventure video game franchise designed as a parody of Cold War-era alien invasion films. The series follows the Furon alien Cryptosporidium, known as Crypto, who harvests human brain stems to save his race from extinction. The franchise includes three main games released between 2005 and 2008—Destroy All Humans! (2005), Destroy All Humans! 2 (2006), and Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed (2008)—with a fourth main game, Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon, released later in 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Remakes of the first two games were released in 2020 and 2022.
- First release
- 2005
- Latest main release
- 2008 (original); 2022 (remake)
- Genre
- Open world action-adventure
- Developer
- Black Forest Games (remakes)
- Publisher
- THQ (original); THQ Nordic (remakes)
- Protagonists voiced by
- J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horvitz
- Composer
- Garry Schyman
Lore & Background
The series begins in 1959 with Cryptosporidium 137 arriving on Earth to investigate the disappearance of his predecessor clone and harvest Furon DNA from human brain stems. He battles the Majestic agency and eventually takes over the United States by posing as the president. In Destroy All Humans! 2, set in 1969, Crypto 138 seeks revenge after the KGB destroys the mothership and his mission officer Orthopox-13, later discovering the Blisk, an ancient Martian enemy of the Furons.
Reader's Guide
The franchise is significant for its satirical take on 1950s and 1960s alien invasion tropes, blending humor with open-world destruction. The original games were released on PlayStation 2, Xbox, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. After THQ's bankruptcy in 2012, THQ Nordic acquired the rights and commissioned remakes by Black Forest Games, released in 2020 and 2022. The series also includes a mobile game and a standalone multiplayer spin-off, Clone Carnage, released in 2022. Its legacy lies in its cult following and successful revival through remakes.
Did You Know?
- The musical score for the series is performed by composer Garry Schyman.
- Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed was released for the Wii, PlayStation 2, and Xbox 360.
- A standalone multiplayer spin-off, Destroy All Humans! Clone Carnage, was released on May 31, 2022.
- The PlayStation 2 version of the first game was released as a PS2 Classic on PlayStation 4 in 2016; Destroy All Humans! 2 followed as a PS2 Classic on PS4 in 2020.
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