Postal (franchise)
| Postal | |
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| File:Postal3.jpg Promotional art work of Postal III, depicting some of the main characters. From left to right: Krotchy, Larry the Crab, Randy Jones, The Postal Dude, Champ, and Jennifer Walcott. | |
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| Platform(s) | Windows, Linux, Mac OS X |
| First release | Postal November 14, 1997 |
| Latest release | Postal Redux May 20, 2016 |
Postal is a computer game franchise developed by Running With Scissors known for its excessive violence and controversial content. Each game is set in a different genre, Postal is isometric, Postal 2 is a first-person shooter and various spin-off titles were in genres such as third-person shooter and top-down shooter. A film adaptation simply titled Postal was also produced by German director Uwe Boll.
Games
Main series
- Postal (1997)
- Postal: Special Delivery (1998) - an official expansion adding 4 additional levels and improved Netcode for the multiplayer
- Postal 2 (2003)
- Postal 2: Share the Pain (2003) - an official expansion/patch which adds PvP multiplayer and two new areas to the single player.
- Postal 2: Apocalypse Weekend (2005) - an official expansion continuing after ending of the base game.
- Postal 2: Paradise Lost (2015) - DLC for the Steam version of Postal 2. It tells of the Dude's adventures after Apocalypse Weekend, and retcons Postal III, referring to it as a "horrible vision of a future gone wrong."
- Postal Redux (2016)
Spin-offs
- Postal 2: Corkscrew Rules! (2005) - an official Russian spin-off and expansion to Postal 2, developed by Avalon Style Entertainment and published by Akella. The plot concerns a man named Shtoper who wakes up in an asylum to find that his penis has somehow been amputated and goes on a mission to find it.
- Postal Babes (2009) - a mobile video game spin-off developed and published by HeroCraft. It tells the story of two "Postal Babes" who must rescue hostages from their local university which has been taken over.
- Postal Mobile (2009) - a mobile video game developed by Ministry of Fun and published by GlobalFun. It tells the story of the Postal Dude who has to fight his way through a town filled with corrupt police officers and street thugs in order to retrieve his stolen car.
- Postal III (2011) - Originally a sequel to Postal 2, that was later classed as a spin-off due to its unfinished quality and the breakdown between Running With Scissors and Akella. Developed by TrashMasters Studios, it tells the story of the Postal Dude's adventures in a town named Catharsis.
Film
A film adaptation of the Postal series was directed and co-written by Uwe Boll. Though the film shares the title of the first Postal video game, it is more heavily drawn from the sequel, Postal 2. New characters are introduced in the film, such as Faith (Jackie Tohn), a young barista who joins the Postal Dude in his adventure, and former U.S. president George W. Bush (Brent Mendenhall).
Book
A book based on the first Postal game in the series, named after the game's expansion pack, Postal: Special Delivery, was written by Alisa Bogodarova and published on October 29, 2015 by Publish Green in the form of a Amazon Kindle eBook. The book retells the game's story and the various events leading up to it, and introduces several new characters including the Postal Dude's high school friends and teachers as well as original fantasy characters.
Characters
Introduced in Postal
- The Postal Dude: the main character of the series, whom the player controls. He was voiced by Rick Hunter in Postal 2 and Corey Cruise in Postal III. He was also portrayed by Zack Ward in the Postal film.
Introduced in Postal 2
- The Bitch: Postal Dude's nagging wife, identified as "Postal Dude's bitch" in the credits of Postal 2 and referred to as "the bitch" or his "hateful wife" by the Postal Dude. She is an unseen character, and she is only heard from outside the trailer. She gives Postal Dude most of the errands he has to complete during the week. After Postal Dude completes all the errands of Friday, he has a discussion with his wife, which ends with a gunshot. Apocalypse Weekend reveals it was Postal Dude who shot himself to avoid listening to his wife. By that time, she has left him. She was voiced by Victoria Bell in Postal 2.[1] In the film, the Bitch is shown to be a morbidly obese woman who cheats on the Dude with everyone in town.
- Champ: Postal Dude's pet Pit bull. So far, Champ has not played a large role in the series, except for saving Postal Dude from a group of dogs that were about to attack him in a dog pound in Apocalypse Weekend. He is one of the survivors of the destruction of Paradise, as he is seen with Postal Dude in his car when the town explodes. Champ appears in Postal III.
- Vince Desi: based on the real Vince Desiderio, CEO of Running With Scissors. Postal Dude moves to Paradise because he got a job in RWS, but he is fired by Vince on Monday. Vince reappears in Paradise Lost, hiring Postal Dude again to destroy a rival company of RWS.
- Habib: the Middle Eastern shopkeeper of Lucky Ganesh, the grocery store in which Postal Dude has to buy milk. He is somehow connected with the terrorists. He was voiced by Timothy Kuder in Postal 2.[1]
- Gary Coleman: the former child actor who goes to Paradise Mall to sign autographs of his book. For unspecified reasons, the police arrives and tries to arrest Gary. He is seen in one of the cells in the Police Station on Friday, and in various areas of Lower Paradise in Apocalypse Weekend. Gary Coleman-esque creatures appear in Postal Dude's hallucinations after he shot himself in the head.
- Krotchy: a toy mascot resembling a giant scrotum, based on the "Bad Touch Krotchy" dolls. After Postal Dude steals a Krotchy doll from the Toyz 'n tha Hood store, he has to fight Krotchy himself to get out of the place. Krotchy appears in Postal III, now running a healthy-conscious fast food franchise named "Krotchy's Tossed Salad". He was voiced by Marcus Davis in Postal 2.[1]
- Uncle Dave: Postal Dude's uncle and leader of a religious cult, loosely based on David Koresh. One of the errands on Friday is to give Uncle Dave a birthday present. Uncle Dave and his cult have been sieged in their compound by the ATF. After Postal Dude gives him his birthday present, the ATF enters the compound and fights Dave, the Dude and the cult. However, Uncle Dave survives the attack and appears in Postal III, now as a close advisor of Mayor Chomo and owning a "God/Dave" themed park, as well as an "Apocalypse repopulation bunker".
- Phraud Hogslop: the CEO of "Bullfish Interactive", a rival company of RWS. He serves as a boss in Apocalypse Weekend, when Postal Dude enters the company to retrieve a gold disc.
- Mike J: the final boss in Apocalypse Weekend, he is a giant demon-like creature with the face of the real Mike Jaret, product manager of Running With Scissors. Mike J introduces himself as "Kosher Mad Cow Zombie, God of Hellfire", and is the leader of the zombies.
- Corkscrew (Russian: Shtopor, Штопор): the main character (who looks very much like the Postal Dude) in the spin-off Postal 2: Corkscrew Rules!.
Introduced in Postal III
- Mayor Raul Chomo: portrayed by Ron Jeremy, he is the mayor of the fictional town of Catharsis.
- Randy Jones: the leader of the "Hell's A-Holes" Segway "Biker" Gang.
- Jennifer Walcott: the leader of the Postal Babes in Postal III.
- Lt. Deutschbagge: a violent cop that enforces his "own brand of law".[2] Portrayed by celebrity author Mark Bego.
- "Al": the leader of the Ecozealots. Portrayed by Phil Murphy.
- Osama bin Laden: the former terrorist leader now in semi-retirement, residing in Catharsis and running a soup kitchen franchise called "Talibannigans". Portrayed by Mike Jaret.
- Uwe Boll: the director of the Postal film. Portrayed by Joe Cerniglia.
- Hugo Chávez: the final boss in Postal III. Portrayed by Fernando Rivas.
Groups and organizations
- Police: featured in all three instalments of the series so far. They are in charge of the security of citizens.
- SWAT: featured in all three instalments of the series so far. They attend a convention in Paradise on Thursday and Friday.
- The Marching Band: a group of musicians featured in the first two instalments. They are harmless and do not attack Postal Dude.
- Running With Scissors: based on the real Running With Scissors Postal Dude gets a job in RWS in Postal 2, but he is fired by Vince at the beginning of the game. Staff members of RWS are seen all over Paradise, usually acting as allies of Postal Dude.
- RWS Protestors: also known as "Parents for Decency", they are a group of individuals protesting against Running With Scissors and violent video games in Postal 2. They break into the RWS headquarters in an attempt to violently slaughter its employees after Postal Dude is fired by Vince Desi.
- Book Protestors: a group of individuals protesting against literacy in Postal 2. They set fire to the library after Postal Dude returns a book.
- Rednecks: a group of individuals that knock Postal Dude down when he goes to urinate on his father's tomb in Postal 2. They take him to a brewery, and are about to rape him when Postal Dude awakens. They later attack him in the forest after he gets a Christmas tree, and in Apocalypse Weekend they attack him in the dog pound.
- Butchers: the workers of the Meat World butchery. When Postal Dude enters the butchery to get some steaks, he discovers a group of butchers triturating humans in a grinder.
- Carriers: the workers of the Parcel Center, they attack Postal Dude after a package for him explodes and kills a carrier.
- Bank robbers: a group of criminals assaulting banks in Postal 2.
- Al-Qaeda: an entire army of Talibans all physically resembling Osama bin Laden, while females are seen wearing typical Niqābs and miniskirts. They break into the church after Postal Dude confess his sins. In Apocalypse Weekend, Postal Dude must enter a terrorist training camp to retrieve a nuclear bomb, battling a large group of Talibans in the process.
- National Guard: they are called to aid in the search of a "spree killer" in Postal 2 on Thursday. In Apocalypse Weekend, they arrive to the terrorist training camp to arrest the terrorists, detaining Postal Dude in the process and taking him to a military base. To escape the base, Postal Dude must face a large group of soldiers.
- ATF: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that confronts Uncle Dave and his religious cult at the compound in Postal 2. They are also seen running a weapon store in the Paradise Mall named "ATF 'r Us".
- Religious Cult: a group of religious zealots, followers of Uncle Dave. They battle the ATF after being sieged by the bureau in their compound. They are loosely based on the Branch Davidians.
- Vegetarians: a group of individuals going by the acronym "L.A.M.E.", protesting against the consumption of meat. They attack Postal Dude after he kills a group of diseased cows in Apocalypse Weekend.
- Zombies: appearing in Apocalypse Weekend, the "Mad Cow-Infected Tourette Zombies" are seen attacking various parts of Paradise, including a Chinese restaurant and Vince Desi's house.
- Bullfish Interactive: a rival company of the fictional version of RWS. Postal Dude must confront Bullfish Interactive staff when he enters their office complex to retrieve a gold disc.
- Postal Babes: a group of attractive women supporting Postal Dude and RWS. They are the protagonists of the mobile game of the same name.
- Hockey Moms: a group of mothers that clash against Mayor Chomo's porn store in Postal III.[3] They are also seen violently interrupting one of Jennifer Walcott's events.[4]
- Ecozealots: a group of individuals fighting Al Qaeda in Postal III.[5]
- Venezuelan Army: the armed forces of Venezuela that arrive to "liberate" Catharsis in Postal III.