Editor's note: What's a Dudebro? Check out part one and part two of Andrew's Dudebro saga, then read on to learn more about the project from the game's head writer.... -Demian

Dudebro has gone from meme to NeoGAF game-in-development. In this exclusive four-part series, we'll explore gaming communities, independent development, and the state of our modern video games. The third installment (that'd be this one) takes a look at the humor and mythology behind Dudebro: My Shit is Fucked Up So I Got to Shoot/Slice You II: It's Straight Up Dawg Time.

Dudebro's volunteer development team is hard at work creating the best game possible. That said, the cutting satire and NeoGAFian humor that spawned the game definitely plays a big role. Nayan Ramachandran, the project's head writer, gave his take on the very violent and very funny world of Dudebro, and how the game's narrative is an integral aspect of development.

As Ramachandran says, "I think the most interesting part of Dudebro, to be completely honest, is that it lampoons the culture as well as gaming-related memes more than it lampoons games themselves. There's definitely a very 'meta' element to how Dudebro comments on what it does."

Ramachandran outlines some of Dudebros' main characters and themes, and the influences behind them, below:

John Dudebro
"A pretty hirsute gentleman...and while that started as a simple joke regarding the protagonist of EA's upcoming Medal of Honor, Dudebro himself embodies so much more than the stereotypical macho man character. It definitely all starts there, at the root of what we think is stagnant, weird, and wrong with gaming today, but what he has become as the game has evolved is the poster child for 'over the top.' I've always wanted to experiment with the idea of a story that is ridiculous, stupid, and totally over the top, but never really lets on that it knows what it is. I think Dudebro is a great example of that. We're trying to bring this across in a really deadpan fashion to some extent.

Obviously, there is a level of acknowledgment among team members concerning what the game is, but there's an amazing line that we are always walking, between incredibly awesome and badass, and downright stupid. The more you work with the material in question, the more you realize they're one and the same, and we're trying our damnedest to blur that line."

Habemus Chicken
"His inception is a funny one. During the life of the Imagine Babyz thread, I needed a name of a Dudebro sidekick to write a very simple and wholly satirical scene that mirrored Modern Warfare 2 (which I had been playing quite a bit of at the time). The first name that popped into my head was Chicken; I envisioned him as a dumpy, short, vaguely cockney fellow that looked much like Bobby Hill from King of the Hill. I'm glad Andrea Nicolò [NeoGAF user Jocchan] had other ideas for him, because he ended up taking the character and basing him upon an overly tanned german club teen with a hairdo reminiscent of a rooster's crest. To be completely honest, Nicolò saved us from having a totally uninteresting and shitty character. After that, I ended up writing Chicken slightly differently. Instead of eating up everything Dudebro said, he became the faithful sidekick that Dudebro constantly makes fun of. There are lots of instances where Chicken is vocal about the nonsensical nature of Dudebro's insults."

SkullPro Soldiers and SkullPro Inuits
"A lot of people ask me where SkullPro came from. To be honest, Chapter IV, which deals with the origin of the SkullPro terrorist organization, and Dudebro's past in Japan, has a lot to do with my time in Japan. Prior to starting Dudebro, I lived in Japan for three years, and I wanted to include some part of that in the game as an homage to my time there. The chapter has ended up being a vehicle to parody 'engrish' dialogue, and it's also become a great chance for me to flex my atrophied Japanese muscle. Those who play Chapter IV and can read a fair amount of Japanese will probably be pretty surprised how accurate it actually is. It's more of an easter egg than anything else."

The Dude Squad
"The Dude Squad [consists of] defected ex-Dudebro partners. It's a reference to the Metal Gear series, and how Foxhound really did more harm than good in that universe. I'm a huge Metal Gear fan, so it was a great chance to put that reference into the game. The bosses themselves, such as Brolar Bear and Brob Butterbean, are meant to be homages to old bosses we've loved, but also as slights against elements of gaming. We've even got a burly post-op character (the only talking female in the game!) that appears as a boss. We thought, if we're going to go for the super-macho tone, why not bring the macho to the women as well?"

The Big Bad
"While the game starts as a hunt for Pesquali (the nationality non-specific arms dealer) with interruptions by SkullPro, there is a malevolent force in the background pulling strings. Not to mention that we've got the evil Commander Limpwrist, and the entire Dude Squad. I don't want to spoil who the big bad guy is, but players will find out fairly soon after starting the game. There's a very funny back story behind all of that which also references my time in Japan."

The Weapons (such as Brain Seeker, Chubby Whale, Chud Thumper)
"The weaponry was meant to be a reference to the overly hardcore and esoteric names that video game weapons received in the '90s. The Turok series was a great reference for me to come up with the names for the weapons, as they were stupid and inane enough from the start. We wanted a stable of real weapons to familiarize players, but there are a couple very funny weapons in the game that exemplify the game's 'over the top' tenet, including one that shoots flaming swords."

Brolo and Bromance Modes
"The Brolo/Bromance idea was born in the Imagine Babyz thread. During the point where the game was nothing more than a joke, Nicolò, Miguel Alonso [NeoGAF user Mik2121], and I, along with others, were purely in the business of one-upping each other in the humor department. We wanted to continually make images and write dialogue that got quotes and laughter. I ended up making one of the first 'main menus' for the game, where I listed a campaign mode. Within that, I listed the options of solo play or co-op. Brolo and Bromance just made so much sense, I couldn't disregard them. As it looks now, the HUD artists are keeping the names, so that should be interesting to see."