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BACKGROUND '']] 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. Although the graphics were stunning for 1993, only 16 colors were actually used on-screen at once; however, three different 16-color palettes were used in the game. He also never takes off his sunglasses. 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, and is preferred even when referring to the original. It is believed that the trademark in question was that of '' Captain Planet '''s Duke Nukem character. The character is now 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 gratuitous violence, sexual content, strong language and racy content. 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 were announced in 2001, and casting rumors revolved around Bruce Campbell , star of the '' Evil Dead '' and '' Army Of Darkness '' movies that spawned many Duke Nukem lines, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, ''The Scorpion King'' and WWF/WWE, but the film has yet to make it to production. CHARACTER Though initially a disgruntled TV viewer who took offense to Dr. Proton interrupting the Soap Opera s, 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 based off of a number of Hollywood-action heroes such as Arnold Schwarzenegger , Sylvester Stallone , Bruce Campbell , Bruce Willis and most of all, the hero from John Carpenter's movie '' They Live ''. In turn, the main character of '' Serious Sam '' is supposedly a parody of Duke Nukem. Like the characters often played by Schwarzenegger and Stallone, Duke Nukem 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, Duke Nukem is also a smart-mouth (although Duke's humor is somewhat less sarcastic and more straightforwardly aggressive), and his sneering visage is often found speaking One-liner s 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- curent or ex- named Lara). Duke is rumored to be in the area of 29 to 33 years of age. Other than a wide array of automatic firearms, explosives, and energy weapons, Duke is most well known for his trademark Jetpack , which gives him the ability to fly short distances in quick bursts. CATCHPHRASES Some of Duke's Catchphrase s:
DUKE NUKEM GAMES As Of 2005 , there have been five "main" Duke Nukem games, and a number of other games in which the character starred.''Zero Hour'' is a remake for the Nintendo 64 of the Playstation 1 release ''Time to Kill''. ''Time to Kill'' and ''Zero Hour'' where made to satisfy fans from the long wait of the up coming title, ''Duke Nukem Forever''
A long-promised sequel to ''Duke Nukem 3D'', '' Duke Nukem Forever '', is still in production after nine years of development, becoming in the process a quintessential example of Vaporware and given nicknames such as ''Duke Nukem Whenever'' and ''Duke Nukem Will Be In Development Forever'' by fans and videogames magazines. The official company line is that ''Forever'' will be released "When it is done". Over the years 3DRealms executives have asserted the game remains in development. Most recently, in February 2006 , executive producer George Broussard quoted that DNF is "in full production," though the game "will be out when pigs fly" {Link without Title} . Other Duke Nukem 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 also referenced several times in Croteam's '' Serious Sam II '' in an insulting manner due to the numerous delays of ''Duke Nukem Forever''. EXTERNAL LINKS
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