Murphy

A bug-hunter extraordinaire, exploring deep inside a crazy computer.

“Anything that can go wrong – will go wrong.”

Murphy is the protagonist of Supaplex. In game’s lore he is an active instance of a runtime debugger program called SpeedFix. As a debugger Murphy is tasked with software bug elimination, program optimization, data extraction and cleanup. He accomplishes these tasks by achieving objectives in self-contained program units (levels). His most common objective is to collect enough infotrons and find his way to the exit.

Murphy visually resembles a red sphere with eyes and a mouth. Debugger programs usually use a red circle to indicate a program breakpoint, which might be the origin of Murphy’s design.

Dummy Murphy

Some levels contain multiple Murphies. In such cases, the top-leftmost Murphy is designated as the player-controlled character, while the remaining Murphies function as dummy Murphies. These dummy characters do not respond to player input and remain stationary throughout the level. However if any one of these dummy Murphies are destroyed – the main Murphy will explode.

Dummy Murphies are intentionally placed by level designers as static objectives that must be protected. At specific moments during gameplay, hazards such as falling zonks, roaming entities (including snik-snaks), or triggered explosions may enter their area.

To prevent this, players must anticipate upcoming threats and construct suitable protective structures around the dummy Murphies. This can be achieved by carefully positioning zonks to act as shields, building defensive barriers using yellow disks, or rearranging terrain to create enclosed safe zones. Such mechanics introduce additional layers of strategy, timing, and spatial reasoning, often requiring precise planning and controlled execution.

The use of dummy Murphies allows for complex puzzle scenarios involving indirect protection, delayed hazards, and multi-stage problem-solving, significantly expanding the tactical depth of level design.