What Is the Thunderbird and Why Is the Darkside Detective Centering a Case on It?

I’m Buddy, the Community Manager for Akupara Games and today, we’re releasing a new case for Darkside Detective: An Fumble in Dark!Und ich wollte noch einmal den Vorhang ziehen. Darkside DetectiveWe are giving you an inside look at the thunderbird, which is the inspiration mythologically for this new case.

“One Flew into the Cuckoo’s Nest” (this is the name of the case, the cuckoo is the thunderbird, do you get it?) takes place at Twin Lakes’ botanical garden. If you watched the trailer above, you’d be able to see that a thunderous egg and bird caw hint pretty strongly that there’s a problem that only McQueen and Dooley can sort out. The problem is the thunderbird. It’s a huge, electrified bird that threatens to sizzle and zap anyone who gets too close.

According to North American folklore, the thunderbird refers to a large avian with thunderous wings and lightning eyes. And in the same way that the mythological traits of dragons or unicorns vary from kingdom to kingdom in Europe, the different legends from different indigenous peoples afforded the thunderbird a wide variety of traits and abilities depending on that legend’s individual source. Whether the thunderbird was a force of nature, bringing storms, wind and rain; a shapeshifter, looking to blend in among the humans; or a spiritual guardian, protecting humanity from the dark creatures of the underworld depends highly on whom you’re hearing the story from. While the thunderbird shows up in folk tales from all across North America, it’s particularly associated with the Algonquian tribe of north-eastern Canada and the United States as well as a number of different cultures in the Pacific Northwest, where the thunderbird is commonly carved into tall totem poles.

Thunderbirds may be an unusual mythological creature, but they are not too far from the mainstream. Ghosts? Vampires? Zombies? When we talk about the magical world in which the Darkside Detective is set, these are the kinds of creatures you think of. True to form. Darkside DetectiveProtesting ghosts, vampires with emotional drain and gangsterzombies have been featured in both the first and second games. Creatures so common you’ll immediately recognize them (and the specific riffs on them that we do in our games for comedy.)

However, the thunderbirds are less commonly found, making them a fascinating subject for Darkside Detective cases. Other than their inclusion in North American folklore, thunderbirds have been featured in various pieces of popular culture. Recent film Fantastic Beasts: Where to Find Them One example is a Thunderbird getting released into its Arizona habitat. In the very first generation, Zapdos was the legendary bird. PokemonThunderbird was the inspiration for games. Thunderbird was the codename of the first indigenous. X-menCharacter was introduced with fans favorites Storm, Wolverine, Colossus.

Without going into too many details for the case itself, since I promised myself I wouldn’t spoil this for any of you, the thunderbird’s size and power make it perfect for the Darkside Detective games. Dooley’s and McQueen’s relationship is what drives the Darkside Detective. The metaphorical circulatory system, arteries and veins of which the blood flows are the heartbeat of Darkside Detective. This allows for the natural comedy of strange creatures appearing at mundane locations. Darkside has the perfect mix of humor and normality. A security guard reports on a huge thunderbird nesting on a roof.

If you find any of these suggestions appealing, feel free to grab the updated Darkside Detective: An Fumble in Dark case “One Flew Into the Cuckoo’s Nest” today, available now on Xbox.