Is it too scary for a 9-year-old?

For most 9-year-olds, yes. It features 'vampire' robots with glowing eyes, sharp teeth, and a penchant for tearing others apart. If your child is sensitive to horror imagery or fast-paced, loud action, wait a couple of years.

Why is everyone talking about 'oil'?

In the world of Murder Drones, oil is the stand-in for blood. It allows the creators to show intense 'gore'—limbs being ripped off, characters being decapitated—without triggering standard adult-content filters. It’s still violent, just black instead of red.

Is there any 'inappropriate' romance?

There is some 'shipping' (romantic pairing) within the show and a LOT of it in the fandom. In the series itself, it's mostly awkward teen-style crushes and hand-holding, nothing explicit.

Is the show finished?

Yes, the main series concluded in 2024. This is actually a plus for parents because you can see the full arc without worrying about a sudden dark turn in a future season.

Murder Drones – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Murder Drones

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

YouTube2018

82%

WISE Score

809K

Subscribers

Robot vampires, existential angst, and a whole lot of oil splatter—it’s the indie animation darling your middle-schooler is definitely obsessed with.

Murder Drones

YouTube

2018

82%

WISE Score

809K

Subscribers

Robot vampires, existential angst, and a whole lot of oil splatter—it’s the indie animation darling your middle-schooler is definitely obsessed with.

Jump to

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809.0K

Screenwise Verdict

Murder Drones is the crown jewel of the modern indie animation scene on YouTube. It’s dark, it’s fast-paced, and it looks better than half the stuff on major streaming services. If your kid is into sci-fi, robots, or slightly macabre humor, they’ve likely already seen it or are begging to.

While the title sounds aggressive, the show is actually a fairly sophisticated character study wrapped in a 'robot vampire' aesthetic. It’s not 'safe' in a sanitized way—it’s loud and violent—but it’s creative as hell. Just be aware that once they finish the series, they’ll probably spend the next six months asking for $30 plushies from the GLITCH store.

Age Fit

This is firmly for the 11+ crowd. It's too intense and visually 'spooky' for younger kids, but it's the absolute sweet spot for middle schoolers who want something that feels a bit 'forbidden' and mature without being actually R-rated.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

It is a dark comedy centered on 'vampire' robots killing each other. While it features strong themes of friendship and finding where you belong, the tone is cynical, edgy, and intentionally chaotic.

Imaginative

The world-building is top-tier. From the 'Worker Drones' to the 'Disassembly Drones,' the character designs, lore, and sci-fi setting are incredibly creative and visually distinct.

Safe

It's literally called Murder Drones. While the 'gore' is black oil rather than red blood, the violence is frequent and visceral. Being on YouTube also means exposure to unmoderated comment sections and fan-made content that can be much darker.

Enriching

As a landmark of indie animation, it's a masterclass in what a small team can achieve. It tackles complex narrative arcs and identity crises that can spark great thinking in older kids.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Indie animation gold standard that proves you don't need a massive studio to create a visual masterpiece.
Complex characters like Uzi and N offer more depth than your average cartoon, dealing with abandonment, purpose, and rebellion.
High-octane action that is genuinely well-choreographed and exciting for fans of sci-fi and horror-comedy.
Deep lore that rewards viewers who pay attention to background details and environmental storytelling.

⚠

What to Watch For

The 'oil' gore is constant. Characters are dismembered, crushed, and impaled, but since they are robots leaking black fluid, it bypasses traditional 'blood' filters.
The humor is edgy and leans into the 'Hot Topic' aesthetic—lots of sarcasm, screaming, and casual references to genocide (of robots).
YouTube rabbit holes are a real risk; the fandom is massive and produces everything from 'shipping' videos to much darker fan animations.

Conversation Starters

"Why do you think Uzi feels like such an outcast among the other Worker Drones?"
"If you were a robot in this world, would you try to follow your programming or fight against it?"
"Does the fact that they leak oil instead of blood make the violence feel different to you?"
"What do you think the humans were thinking when they created the Disassembly Drones?"

Deep Dive

The Indie Revolution

Murder Drones represents a massive shift in how kids consume media. Created by Liam Vickers and produced by GLITCH Productions, this isn't a show that was pitched to a network executive; it was grown directly in the soil of YouTube. By the time the series wrapped in 2024, it had amassed hundreds of millions of views, proving that 'indie' no longer means 'low quality.'

Aesthetic and Tone

The show leans heavily into a specific '2010s internet' aesthetic—think Invader Zim meets Portal. It's snarky, it's fast, and it assumes the audience is smart enough to keep up with its breakneck pacing. The protagonist, Uzi, is a relatable 'angst-ridden teen' who happens to have a railgun and a thirst for vengeance against the humans who abandoned her planet.

What Parents Actually Need to Know

If you're sensitive to violence, even the robotic kind, this might be a tough watch. The 'Disassembly Drones' literally eat other robots to stay cool. There are scenes of 'robotic' horror that mimic body horror in humans. However, it rarely feels mean-spirited. It’s more of a high-energy romp that uses its 'murder' premise to explore themes of autonomy and the ethics of creation.

For a parent, the biggest 'work' here isn't monitoring the content of the show itself—which is relatively consistent in its TV-14 vibe—but managing the surrounding ecosystem. The YouTube comments, the lore-explanation videos, and the massive amount of fan art are where the real 'wild west' of the internet lives. If your kid is watching this, they are part of a global digital fandom.