Duke Nukem

Duke Nukem is the sole protagonist of the Duke Nukem franchise. He was created by George Broussard, Todd Replogle, Scott Miller, and Allen Blum of 3D Realms/ Apogee Software. Since the debut of Duke Nukem 3D, Duke’s iconic voice was fueled by voice actor Jon St. John. Originally a disgruntled TV viewer who took offense to Dr. Proton interrupting his shows, Duke’s personality in all his games since Duke Nukem 3D has been that of a hyper-masculine, egotistical, 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. 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. Nukem is also a smart-mouth and his sneering visage is often found speaking cheesy one-liners while slaughtering his enemies.

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 a pair of eye-obscuring sunglasses he has worn since since Duke Nukem 3D. He also has blond hair cut in a short, military-style crewcut; a style maintained since his first appearance.

History

In 1991, Duke Nukem first appeared in the self-titled Duke Nukem, an Apogee platform game. It consisted of three episodes, the first of which was distributed as shareware. Two years later, Duke Nukem II was published, and took advantage of 25-color VGA graphics, MIDI music, and digitized sound.

The character’s popularity grew with the release of Duke Nukem 3D, released in 1996, which exchanged the previous games’ side-scrolling action for first-person shooting. At the time, Duke Nukem 3D was highly controversial due to it’s high amount of violence, and strong language. The game established the Duke Nukem persona as a parody of masculinity.

In 2011, Duke Nukem appeared in the long-delayed Duke Nukem Forever. In promoting the game, Gearbox Software referenced the lengthy development cycle of fourteen years by revealing information on where Duke has “been” over the years. Images of these exploits have been posted on the official Duke Nukem Forever website as well as within the game itself. These images indicate that Duke led an eventful life over those years, having done everything from winning the World Series of Poker to traveling into space.

In the present of Duke Nukem Forever, Duke is considered a hero and a celebrity, adored by fans everywhere. He also owns a variety of businesses including a chain of Duke Burger fast food restaurants. At the start of the game, Duke is preparing for an appearance on a talk show when Earth comes under attack by aliens that are set on kidnapping women from Earth.

Source: Giant Bomb