Duke Nukem (character)

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Duke Nukem

Duke Nukem in Duke Nukem Forever
Game series Duke Nukem series
First game Duke Nukem (computer game) (1991)
Created by Todd Replogle, George Broussard, Allen Blum and Scott Miller
Voiced by Jon St. John

Duke Nukem is an action hero created by computer game developers Todd Replogle, George Broussard, Allen Blum and Scott Miller of 3D Realms/Apogee Software. Since Duke Nukem 3D, Nukem has been voiced by voice actor Jon St. John.

Contents

[edit] History

Duke Nukem first appeared as the title character of the Apogee platform game Duke Nukem, which was published in 1991. This game was written for the IBM PC compatible, and featured 320×200, 16-color EGA graphics with vertical and horizontal scrolling. The original game consisted of three episodes, the first of which was distributed as shareware. A sequel, entitled Duke Nukem II, was published by Apogee in 1993. This sequel took advantage of 256-color VGA graphics, MIDI music, and digitized sound. Only 16 colors were actually used on-screen at once; however, three different 16-color palettes were used.

The first Duke Nukem game was titled Duke Nukem, but Apogee learned that this name might have already been trademarked, so they changed it to Duke Nukum for the 2.0 revision. The name was later discovered not to be trademarked, so the spelling Duke Nukem was restored for Duke Nukem II and all successive Duke games. The trademark in question was the Duke Nukem character in Captain Planet and the Planeteers.

The character is best known from the first-person shooter game Duke Nukem 3D, developed by Apogee's 3D Realms division and released in 1996. Duke Nukem 3D was one of the most controversial games at the time due to its strong language, sexual content/nudity and gratuitous violence.

Duke Nukem also received a short-lived toy line from now-defunct toy company ReSaurus. Primarily centered around Duke Nukem 3D, the line featured three versions of Duke (with a fourth "internet only" Duke that came with a CD-ROM and freezethrower accessory), the Pigcop, Octabrain, and Battlelord. The toys were relatively popular but were prone to breakage (Duke's legs were held on by a thin plastic rod which was easy to snap and the Octabrain had numerous fragile points). More toys were planned to coincide with the release of Duke Nukem Forever, but the game's delay halted these toys, and ReSaurus eventually went out of business completely.

Plans for a live action Duke Nukem movie produced by Threshold Entertainment were announced back in 2001, but the film never made it to production.

[edit] Character

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Though initially a disgruntled TV viewer who took offense to Dr. Proton interrupting the soap operas, Duke's personality in all his games since Duke Nukem 3D has been that of a hyper-masculine, egotistical, machismo-filled womanizer, and his missions generally involved killing aliens that had invaded Earth to enslave its women. Duke Nukem's character is a pastiche of a number of Hollywood-action heroes, such as those played by Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone, as well as Kurt Russell's character from Big Trouble In Little China, Roddy Piper's character from They Live, and Ash Williams from the Evil Dead series. Sam Stone, the main character of Serious Sam is an homage to Duke Nukem.[citation needed]

Like the characters often played by Schwarzenegger and Stallone, Duke is a confident, aggressive, and frequently politically incorrect muscle-man, who, although not technically superhuman, nonetheless manages to achieve incredible physical feats of violence and conquest through sheer machismo and expertise with automatic weapons. Like the characters played by Bruce Campbell, Nukem is also a smart-mouth (although Duke's humor is somewhat less sarcastic and more straightforwardly aggressive, a few of Duke Nukem 3D's phrases are taken directly from the Campbell film Army of Darkness), and his sneering visage is often found speaking one-liners while slaughtering his enemies. He is also apparently extremely sexually adept and irresistible to women, and circumstances generally find him surrounded by many buxom women (though certain signs in the games seem to indicate a girlfriend - current or ex - named Lani, a possible reference to sound engineer and voice actress Lani Minella). There is also an inside joke that circulated on the internet that compares Duke's looks to that of former NFL player Howie Long.

Other than a wide array of automatic firearms, explosives, and energy weapons, Duke is best known for his trademark jet pack, which gives him the ability to fly short distances in quick bursts. He is also known for his golden Desert Eagle pistol and sunglasses, which completely obscure his eyes and which he has not been seen without (even at night) since Duke Nukem 3D, and his blond, military-style hair, which is existent since the first game.

[edit] Original design

Duke Nukem was originally invented and named by Todd Replogle for the video game he was designing (the original Duke Nukem). After hearing the character's name, Scott Miller suggested the game should have the same name (it had a name along the lines of Metal Future at the time). Miller helped design the character around his thoughts about the name. Duke Nukem was later dramatically redrawn by Jim Norwood and George Broussard.[1] Duke Nukem does not feature any voices, but Duke Nukem II features an intro with one line spoken by Joe Siegler, and a death scream by Todd Replogle.[2] Later games in the series all feature Jon St. John as the voice of Duke Nukem.

[edit] Duke Nukem games

As of 2006, there have been three "main" Duke Nukem games, and a number of other games in which the character starred.

A long-promised sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, Duke Nukem Forever, has been in development since 1997. The official company line is that it will be released "When it's done." According to a December 2007 interview with 3D Realms co-owner George Broussard, the game's development has been restarted at least three times in that span. The most recent information on the project is a teaser trailer released December 19, 2007.[3]

[edit] Other Duke Nukem games

[edit] Canceled games

Duke Nukem Forever or Duke Nukem 4 (not to be mistaken with the upcoming FPS), was announced early 1997 to be a semi-3D platform game. For unknown reasons development stopped, and the name would be reused for the FPS.[4]

Duke Nukem: Endangered Species was announced in January 2001. It was to be a hunting game where the player could hunt everything from dinosaurs to snakes[5], using an improved version of the engine used in the Carnivores series. The game was canceled in December of that year.[6] The company that had been developing the game, Ukraine-based Action Forms, went on to develop its own game Vivisector: Beast Inside (originally titled Vivisector: Creatures of Doctor Moreau) instead.

[edit] Duke Nukem in other games

Duke Nukem has made cameo appearances in a few other Apogee games. He appeared in Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure (1992) and Death Rally (1996). Additionally, there was a Duke Nukem table in the 1998 pinball title Balls of Steel from Apogee's Pinball Wizards division—the title Balls of Steel is a reference to a pinball machine seen in Duke Nukem 3D. Duke Nukem is on the default high score lists of Crystal Caves, Death Rally, Paganitzu, Realms of Chaos and Stargunner. There was also a mutilated half-dead body of Duke at a secret place in Blood.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Thread on 3DR forums about character design
  2. ^ Post on 3DR forums about Duke Nukem's voice
  3. ^ 3D Realms Site: Duke Nukem Forever. 3D Realms. Retrieved September 25, 2007
  4. ^ Duke 4 FAQ - Planet Duke
  5. ^ "Duke Nukem: Endangered Species Hunter Features Revealed". 3D Realms. February 16, 2001
  6. ^ IGN Staff. "Endangered Species Extinct". IGN.com. December 18, 2001.

[edit] External links

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