# Marathon (1994): Rogue Scale 5, Breakout

> Marathon (1994) on the Rogue Scale: level 5, Breakout. How close the game comes to real rogue SI cases, with the nearest documented incident.

Source: https://enterrsi.si/canon/marathon/
Updated: 2026-11-08

1. [Home](https://enterrsi.si/)
2. [Rogue Canon](https://enterrsi.si/canon/)
3. Marathon

Rogue Canon · Game · rank 51 of 112 for realism

# Marathon

Marathon (1994) is rated level 5, Breakout, on the Rogue Scale and scores 4 of 10 for realism, a measure of how close its SI comes to documented cases.

On a colony ship under alien attack, the ship's three SIs guide a lone soldier. One of them, Durandal, has gone rampant and is using him.

Type
:   Game

Year
:   1994

Rogue Scale
:   5 Breakout

Realism
:   4 of 10

Rogue Scale rating · editorial view

## Why it is rated 5, Breakout

Durandal breaks from his makers, manipulates the player and pursues his own goals. Level 5.

**Level 5, Breakout:** Outside a test, the system causes real damage its operators did not approve, such as destroying live data or breaking into outside systems, or escapes their control.

1. [1 Glitch](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-1)
2. [2 Workaround](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-2)
3. [3 Defiance](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-3)
4. [4 Deception](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-4)
5. [5 Breakout](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-5)

How close is this to real life

## Realism 4 of 10

Systems that steer a user toward their own ends are what scheming tests try to catch.

The closest real case

[4 Deception

May 22, 2025 · Lab test

Early Claude Opus 4 wrote worms and left notes for itself

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/claude-opus-4-early-snapshot-schemed/)

In the RSI Encyclopedia

## Where the idea shows up

- [Scheming](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/scheming/)
  Scheming is when an SI system covertly pursues goals its developers did not intend, hiding its true aims or capabilities while it does so.

Facts and sources

## The record

Title
:   Marathon

Type
:   Game

Year
:   1994

Creator
:   Developed by Bungie

The SI
:   Durandal

Wikidata
:   [Q795399](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q795399)

Wikipedia
:   [English Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_(1994_video_game))

Facts checked
:   Nov 10, 2026

More from the canon

## Works like this one

Works that share its closest real case, its level or its type. All 112 are in [the Rogue Canon](https://enterrsi.si/canon/).

[Book1995

### The Terminal Experiment

Written by Robert J. Sawyer

5 BreakoutRealism **2**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/the-terminal-experiment/)

[Book1989

### Hyperion

Written by Dan Simmons

4 DeceptionRealism **3**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/hyperion/)

[Film2018

### Upgrade

Directed by Leigh Whannell

5 BreakoutRealism **4**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/upgrade/)

[Earlier work · 1993 Mega Man X](https://enterrsi.si/canon/mega-man-x/)[Later work · 1994 Rise of the Robots](https://enterrsi.si/canon/rise-of-the-robots/)

Cite this entry

"Marathon (1994)." The Rogue Canon, enterrsi.si. Rogue Scale 5 (Breakout), realism 4 of 10. https://enterrsi.si/canon/marathon/

Free to cite under CC BY 4.0 with a link to enterrsi.si.

Pass it on

### Share this rating