Jim Henson and his Muppets (and other creations) are an inspiration for Lorne in the way that he can bring very lifeless felt and ping pong balls into life in an extraordinary way. So imbued with energy and feeling are the Muppet characters that they are celebrities quite in their own right. Lorne wanted to bring this sense of life and personality to the inhabitants of Oddworld.
There are other important inspirations.
- As you say, Lorne wanted Stranger’s Wrath to have the sun-withered earthy characters of spaghetti westerns (rather than the attractive, well-known actors) as well as the long drawn-out combat.
- The X-Files is a source of inspiration because of its dark atmosphere and some elements of its mythology storytelling, such as the idea that over time many of the antagonists turn out just to be answering to ever-higher authorities.
- Naturally Star Wars is a huge inspiration because of its rich universe, but also by the way George Lucas was able to incite basically a new religion, as Lorne puts it. It has a very important spiritual backbone that gives characters the heart to fight for what’s right. Or something. Never really got Star Wars myself.