The Protagonist - Bren McGuire
The Man in the Power Suit
The Turrican series centres on Bren McGuire, a lone soldier equipped with the experimental Universal Soldier combat suit - known simply as the "Turrican suit." The suit represents the pinnacle of human military technology: a powered exoskeleton equipped with an adaptive weapon system capable of multi-directional fire, a spread-shot configuration, a laser beam, and the legendary "wheel mode" - a transformation into a rolling energy sphere that can survive otherwise lethal impacts and damage enemies simply through contact.
Bren's character is presented with minimal narrative elaboration across the original games - in the tradition of the era's action games, the emphasis is entirely on the experience of inhabiting the suit rather than exploring Bren's psychology. What the games communicate through design rather than text is that Bren is a survivor: a single human consciousness operating at the centre of an increasingly overwhelming mechanical and alien threat, persisting through superior equipment, relentless skill, and the stubborn refusal to yield to impossible odds.
The Turrican suit's most distinctive capability - the wheel transformation - allows Bren to become temporarily invulnerable to most damage, converting kinetic energy into a defensive force. This mechanic was entirely original at the time of the first game's release in 1990 and remained a defining characteristic of the series throughout its run.
◈ MORGUL ◈
The entity known as MORGUL is the overarching antagonist of the Turrican series - an ancient, malevolent intelligence of uncertain origin that seeks the destruction or domination of all life. MORGUL represents a force beyond conventional comprehension: neither purely mechanical nor purely biological, but a corrupting influence that warps and mutates everything it touches. The Tower of Morgul - named in Turrican I's soundtrack - is both a physical location and a metaphysical symbol of the evil Bren must ultimately confront.
The Worlds of Turrican
World descriptions
World 1 - Alien Plains
Vast open landscapes populated by mechanical sentinels and organic alien life. The entry point of Turrican I - a rolling vista that establishes the series' non-linear design philosophy.
World 2 - The Dungeon Network
Underground cavern systems laced with hazards and secret passages. The density of hidden areas here rewards patient exploration and rewards those who venture off the critical path.
World 3 - Sky City / The Ruins
Elevated platforms and decaying architectural remnants suggest a civilisation that preceded MORGUL's corruption. Turrican II's third world introduces the series' most dramatic vertical sequences.
World 4 - The Wall (Turrican II)
The legendary vertical shooter level - Turrican II's fourth world transitions into a pure shoot-'em-up sequence of extraordinary intensity, accompanied by Hülsbeck's most celebrated composition.
World 5 - The Final Stronghold
MORGUL's innermost fortress. The final world of each game is a concentrated gauntlet of the series' most dangerous enemies, culminating in the confrontation with the ultimate boss.
The Desert Rocks (Turrican II)
An arid wasteland that opens Turrican II's second world - the setting for Hülsbeck's celebrated "The Desert Rocks" composition, later performed by the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra.
Enemies & Factions
The Forces of MORGUL
MORGUL's forces span organic mutations, ancient mechanical constructs, and corrupted biological entities. The enemy design philosophy across the Turrican series emphasises visual variety and behavioural unpredictability - no two enemy encounters are the same, and the most dangerous foes combine mechanical precision with organic unpredictability.
- Mechanical Sentinels Autonomous guardian robots - the most common frontline forces across all Turrican games. Range from simple patrol drones to heavily-armoured units with multiple attack patterns. Their presence in the earliest stages establishes the series' mechanical aesthetic.
- Organic Mutants Creatures warped by MORGUL's influence - insects enlarged to monstrous scale, biological organisms that have been mechanically augmented, and creatures that appear to be some hybrid of both. Particularly prevalent in the underground dungeon levels of both Turrican games.
- Boss Entities Each world culminates in a boss encounter - uniquely designed, multi-phase adversaries that require specific strategies to defeat. From the multi-segmented mechanical worms of Turrican I to the enormous, cinematic boss encounters of Super Turrican 2, boss design is a consistent highlight.
- Environmental Hazards Not all threats are entities - MORGUL's domains are filled with laser grids, crushing platforms, bottomless chasms, and automated turrets that make navigation as dangerous as combat.
- The Final Boss - MORGUL's Avatar The ultimate adversary encountered at each game's conclusion - a manifestation of MORGUL's concentrated power. Each game presents this final confrontation differently, but the sense of confronting something genuinely vast and alien remains consistent throughout the series.
Story Synopses
Game Narratives
Turrican (1990): Bren McGuire descends into a world threatened by the entity MORGUL, traversing five worlds of increasing danger to reach MORGUL's stronghold and eliminate the threat to civilisation. The minimal narrative - delivered through the instruction manual and the game's title screen - frames an experience defined by its systemic depth rather than explicit storytelling.
Turrican II: The Final Fight (1991): The subtitle "The Final Fight" positions this as the definitive confrontation with the forces of MORGUL. Hülsbeck's closing theme "Freedom" - heard after the final boss is defeated - provides the emotional resolution that the game's visual narrative withholds, communicating through music what the pixel art cannot: the feeling of a world finally freed.
Turrican 3: Payment Day (1993): A darker, more explicitly narrative entry. Turrican 3's subtitle - Payment Day - introduces a sense of reckoning and consequence absent from the earlier games. The atmosphere is bleaker, the tone more cinematic, and the overall aesthetic reflects the maturation of the series' storytelling ambition, if not its explicit narrative delivery.