My personal interpretation of the Face Raiders lore specifically made for a live action mini-series concept i came up with years ago.

This also had illustrations i sketched out that accompanied the written lore to better explain it all, but those are all in a box in the basement with thousands of other drawings. I am currently resketching them all to better fit my improved artistic abilities, and i'm debating on posting them right away due to the only camera i have access to being the shitty one on my busted Kindle Fire (which i'm using to type all of this by the way, my computer is broken). May still post them i you guys REALLY wanna see them tho.

Pretty much my main ideas with all of this was to stay true to what Face Raiders truly is: a glorified tech demo to show the 3DS' capacities and nothing more. So i wrote everything like it was a huge product placement for the Nintendo 3DS, glazing it's capabilities and making it front and center for the main player design.

The designs themselves, however, resemble shitty video game movies, so all the faces are their normal heads from the game but with these really uncanny exoskeleton bodies covered with artillery and body armor, since the faces are quite literally photo cutouts with artillery and body armor bolted on to them. While the player is just a regular guy with a gun that has a 3DS dock. While this usually works AGAINST movie adaptations of video games, i feel like it works out to Face Raiders benefit! Due to the AR aspect, prominence of the 3DS as your weapon, and the concept itself of being photographed faces gone rogue.

So with that kinda long winded explanation out of the way, here is that folks read this for: my personal interpretation of Face Raiders lore designed to fit this really specific concept, but can be enjoyed as it's own thing separate from that. Enjoy.

Face Raiders stars you, the player, simply taking a photos using the 3DS' built in camera. Yet the revolutionary glasses-free 3D of the 3DS causes the face in the picture to burst out from the photo with a mind of it's own! While not particularly aggressive at first, mostly just curious, it's suddenly forced into alien tech by an unknown source, turning it hostile and causing it to flee with an evil cackle. Feeling partially responsible for causing this in the first place, you get the help of a friendly (if faulty) ai companion, who we'll call Snaps for simplicity sake, after the Surprise Snap feature, and officially become a face raider in order to bring these rogue faces back to their photos. Yet a lot of time has passed since you first brought that face into the world, and it has not only claimed it's own territory, but amassed a rather large army of faces to protect it.

Face raiders are the players, who use the power of their 3DS to both birth and rescue faces from their sudden robotic prisons. The 3DS slots into an air gun that shoots balls (inspired by the air turrets that shoot foam balls from RécréOFUN) and allows one to see the faces that are normally hidden in plain sight like a sniper scope. They have a shield on their back to prevent any backstabs and to explain why turning away from them makes you invulnerable to any of their attacks also have a holographic visor to hammer in the 3D aspect of the 3DS and also to explain why they can still see the faces without looking into the 3DS itself. I always thought the UI looked like one of those cool futuristic visors so i went with it. They don't have any gear, except in the Final Stage, where they wear a spacesuit made from the scrap remains of previously defeated faces because that's dope as hell and also you can't breathe in space. The ammunition itself is designed to be non-fatal for originals, because it would be counterproductive to kill the face you're trying to rescue. The air gun is, however, also able to shoot unconventional ammunition. If you were to ever find frozen B-Bombs through the rubble, you can cause some serious trauma to any face you chuck it at.

Despite everything seemingly wanting you very very dead, you do have some allies in your pursuit of face raiding.

Snaps is your (faulty) ai companion, based off of the Face Raiders home menu icon and stage select, and they do their best to make sure you know everything you can before, during, and after the heat of the battle, usually by pointing out where faces appear, and giving tips when it can. Due to their faulty nature, they do not know how to defeat everything right away, and learns alongside you, while they often forget if they told you the things they DO know. Which is why the same text always shows up when you do something like hit a butterfly, or why you get tips AFTER you get your own face rammed in. They also like to take pictures, usually not at the MOST appropriate times, but an ai's gotta have their passions.

In the battlefield, found stationed all around the level, butterfly nurses have camouflaged with their surroundings inside face territory to prevent physical altercation with any and all patrolling hostile faces. They are unable to fight faces on their own, but will make their presence known when you're near them, and will make sure to heal you the best they can so you can keep pushing. Butterflies share a genus with faces, and despite how different they seem at first, their similarities aren't too far behind.

You may find a strange machine unlike the rest floating to and from your Nintendo 3DS Camera. This P.P.F.O. (Parakeet Piloted Faced Object) is neither a friend, nor foe, these photo-fanatic avian vehicles have taken an interest in the face phenomenon, and through the photos taken from your Nintendo 3DS Camera, they've managed to somewhat artificially recreate sentient faces, how exactly is unknown. Yet they are unable to recreate the armor needed to keep faces safe. So through distress signals, they impersonate hostile faces, sometimes in larger groups, in order to get someone to rescue and provide the faces a safer home. You happen to be one of these recipients.

Faces themselves are a relatively new species, born from a photograph, they, themselves, are incredibly weak, lacking any skeleton at all, let alone an actual skull! One bad fall and their brains could get permanently damaged, or worse, usually its worse. However, strange alien tech has found their way on to these usually docile creatures, giving them not only a pseudo-cranium, but proper mobility! Yet these modifications are far from simply being altruistic. Strangely, these pieces of tech have a connection to a greater hivemind of sorts, suspected to be through the red crystals that primarily function to keep the armor together. The exact mastermind is unknown, yet it's generally believed to not be a face and likely not of this world to begin with.

The faces born from the photos are known as originals, these faces have a unique ability to reproduce asexually through their mouth, these copies of themselves are used as sentinels in order to protect their territory, and even use artillery to do so. These copies heavily depend on their shells to live, and are INCREDIBLY weak. They will die immediately if their vitals are struck (the easiest way being the mouth) or by crashing from a high enough altitude, shock from the impact will usually do them in. It is almost impossible to save one, and on the rare chance a copy DOES survive the initial hit, they will usually pass away after a while regardless due to being separated from their armor. Copies, however, will gladly die in the name of protecting their territory from intruders, either through distraction or direct violence, yet won't look a gift horse in the mouth if they see the chance to get out with their lives.

Usually, copies have a simple round shell to act as a skull for them, and a propeller to aid in movement, with a hidden firearm tucked away down their throat. Yet copies are INCREDIBLY varied depending on their purpose. Yet each offshoot can only be birthed by a specific armored original, and will stick to their original whenever possible...at least for as long as the original reigns.

Kissy faces are the closest offshoot of the basic model, yet are designed as melee combatants with a distinct lack of firearms. Mostly meant to take unsuspecting opponents off-guard, yet the color coding was probably a bad idea in the long run.

X-Spikes are living meat shield, and can stomach obscene amounts of blunt force trauma due to their heavy-duty suits, yet are too encumbered to properly fight back as a result. Another side effect is their tendency to lose control when they are hit, usually to the detriment of whatever poor sucker decided to duck for cover.

Switch faces are conjoined faces specifically created as a mix between a basic model and a kissy face, as they can easily switch between ranged and melee depending on the situation, and even have double the visibility from front and back. However, direct blunt trauma can cause an involuntary switch to occur, resulting in a woefully unprepared face suddenly getting thrusted into the fray.

Divers are the only known faces that can withstand water pressure and underwater exploration, and are specifically designed as scouts for new territories. They can take a hit, but don't go flying when they do, instead bouncing out of the way to prevent further harm. Yet unlike X-Spikes, their armor isn't unbreakable because they don't need to be. Divers come in many different variants due to varying terrain and hazards. Yet Standard Divers are the only variety that also serves as war scouts. These are also created occasionally with originals, and utilize mitosis to make copies due to their unique aquatic abilities.

Panel faces are incredibly unique faces that have their armor built under their skin, making them decently sturdy compared to the basic model. They are used as spies to ambush intruders by surprise, some are ranged, and some are melee. Interestingly, these are the only known variety of face to have had a birth defect recorded: three panel faces ended up conjoined into one armor, causing an elongated & rectangular appearance. There hasn't been note of anything like this happening before or since.

Puzzle faces are a strange offshoot that aren't born, but seem to be artificially created by a third party. It's a singular face cut into four parts and is constantly turning, yet it's unsure how well they function, if they can even function properly that is.

Beetle faces are designed as terriformers, being able to consume a large amount of debris until it deems the work sufficient. These aren't actually meant for war at all, but some of them have ended up unexpectedly catching rides on disguised Panel faces while they rest. A happy accident we'll say, they make for surprisingly dangerous foes.

Flip faces are made to be body guards for important units, pretty much meaning the original and nothing else. They're purpose is to defend exposed weak spots using magnetic frequencies emitted from their electromagnetic glove at the back of their armor. Flip faces will usually stick together, but if they are turned upside down, their electromagnetism will transfer to the rest of their body. While this is harmless on it's own, and in fact actually enjoyable for the face, too many of them together will make their magnetic frequencies practically moot at best, or electrocute them to death at worst.

Paddle faces are entirely artificial, their faces artificially copied and clamped ill fitting disks, resulting in half of their brain being missing, likely the cause of their complete lack of self preservation. It is not known where they're coming from or who's making them, but they are very expendable.

Tennis Rackets are another artificially created face, yet this type has a lot more care put into their construction, being handmade out of presumed deceased copies that still lingered. They have the unique ability to turn weaponry against their target, but it can be to their own detriment if done excessively.

When an original falls, their copies usually fall with them. Yet rarely, surviving copies live beyond their original's reign, and even modify themselves with illegal weaponry, essentially acting like rogues in other armies. These usually sport a golden glitter, and can even live, if just for a little while, being hit in their vitals and without their shells.

Originals, unlike copies, can easily live without their shells, and can take a lot more hits due to their sturdier build and usually better armor, yet they will prefer to avoid conflict unless plush comes to shove. While the particular shells of originals differ from face to face, the main base stays consistent. The armor is easy to get into, each suit of armor has expandable padding in the case that the armor were to ever be destroyed to protect the exposed face from further harm, and a small red crystal is embedded in the face's forehead, allowing for the armor to stay in one piece. Yet it's also heavily suspected that it allows the faces to communicate with...something telepathically, especially since armor is usually built to allow the gem to be exposed for whatever reason. Their sex and age is dependent on what the 3DS' face recognition software identifies the person in the photo as. If it's unknown, then they simply don't have one. This, however, means nothing to faces, as they only have one life stage, mature, and reproduce asexually.

Rescued faces are very docile, and at most taunt others. And despite being returned to their picture of origin, they still have a mind of their own. It's even safe to put them into repurposed basic shells for enrichment (which is why you see little cutscenes of the faces you defeated just hanging out). And when you decide to select a face from your collection instead of taking a new photo? It's more akin to taking your dog on a walk, but instead of a walk, you're putting them in wolf body armor and shooting them with a Nerf gun. The red crystals are lab grown, and only serve to keep the armor together. Even if you fail, the face will still return to your face collection. This is just another form of enrichment one can give their rescued faces.

Originals each have their own unique shell, each with specific abilities, which gets passed down to their copies. Their crystal's frequencies can be picked up by your ai companion, which allows them to warn you whenever one is said to appear. Usually, they will only appear if their sentinels have been dispatched excessively in order to protect their territory. They know the risk, so it's a bigger deal than you'd think when one shows up.

Samurai is a melee face with an impenetrable visor (except if you use explosives, then again they are explosives) designed for high speeds, which is carried on to Kissy faces and X-Spikes, one of the few original to display all the traits of their offshoots. Unlike most faces, they are unable to phase through terrain due to their heavy-duty armor, but can easily crash through the terrain instead, so it's not a big deal. Despite their bulky exterior, they are by far the FASTEST faces you'll ever come across. Able to move at speeds that make most people queasy. But the faults of X-Spikes can be used to your advantage due to their tendency to ram into anything after getting hit.

The Twins, despite their appearance, is one face split into two. One half is the original, and the other half is a copy. They are able to interlock with each other, allowing them to go ranged or melee if the situation allows it, and even alter their appearance. These are carried on to Switch faces, yet one of their disguises does carry on to Divers due to the use of eyewear. They are the fastest attackers out of any face, able to pummel you with a barrage of shots, or ram you with collateral damage by ramming into the walls. Yet if they are properly hit, they tend to get too discombobulated to actually attack back.

Sunny is a face incapable of violence on their own, but through freshly born Flip faces are able to not only defend themself, but hide their uniquely exposed crystal through electromagnetism. Similar to The Twins, they are able to alter their appearance, but uniquely by scrambling their own face in the image of their summoned entourage, which uniquely have protection of their own, likely due to their importance in keeping Sunny safe. Yet the same faults of Flip faces can be used against it's own original.

Disco Ball is a very interesting face. Essentially entombed in a warcasket, unable to properly emote, their face is entirely hidden, using the crystals embedded into their armor to communicate with other faces and even tear walls right from around you, running on it's own internal clockwork to even preserve the passage of time. It's said that it's shell was created in the likeness of the creators of the very tech they wear, yet this theory has yet to be proven. Their method of defense is unlike any other face, using lasers against their own armor to stun everything in it's vicinity. No. Exceptions. Nothing can withstand a shot. Yet it's own weaponry and communicators can be turned against them, like i said, there's no exceptions. When it's own internal have been fried, the warcasket starts to crumble under it's own weight. Despite the face looking calm, it's genuinely freaking out! Not only has it's armor failed them, but they are experiencing a very real sensory overload from suddenly being able to perceive again after so long. Essentially panic fighting by chucking it's own armor at you. Until eventually...

Disco is essentially an embodiment of unadulterated freedom. Someone who has been suppressed for so long finally able to EXPRESS themselves. Despite how dangerous it is for faces keep fighting after their armor is down, Disco is far from a regular downing. After a quick pause to calm itself, they use the device meant to keep them safe as a WEAPON. Using it's ability to deflect tension and blunt force trauma throughout itself offensively. They do not care for their own safety, they only want to let all that repressed energy OUT. It's a miracle they even survived the second combustion of their armor. But i doubt they would even mind perishing if it meant dying happy.

Extra Stage is more what i would consider animated credits than an actual continuation of the story, due to its purpose as a stagerush. I don't think i could explain how one face is somehow able to be 4 bosses at once and also all be originals, and i personally think that's fair. But, generally, excluding the designs themselves, this is pretty much my whole interpretation of the lore of Face Raiders. I've been meaning to tell this for a while, but never had the time until now. Hope you folks like it, and remember: this is MY personal interpretation, it's as cannon as the faces' names: which are not cannon in the slightest, but just placeholders due to lack of proper cannon. Thank you for reading! :D