Duke Nukem (character)

Duke Nukem is a fictional character and protagonist of the Duke Nukem video game series. The character first appeared in the 1991 video game Duke Nukem, developed by Apogee Software. He has since appeared in multiple sequels and spin-offs, as well appearing in various games not in the series. Most recently, he starred in Duke Nukem Forever, released by Gearbox Software, which now owns the intellectual property rights to the series and the character.

The character was created by Todd Replogle, Allen Blum III, George Broussard, and Scott Miller of Apogee Software. He was redesigned as an action-hero by George Broussard and Allen Blum for the 1996 game Duke Nukem 3D.

While working on a title originally called "Metal Future", Apogee Software founder Scott Miller expressed his disdain for the title, feeling it should be named after a protagonist instead, taking inspiration from American comic books. He suggested the name Duke "because it's a strong-sounding name", while lead programmer Todd Replogle proposed Nukem. While the character's sprites were designed by Apogee's development team, Miller took them over to George Broussard's home and had him "take a crack at making Duke more appealing", creating a look for his face they were all satisfied with.

The character's name caused some legal troubles for Apogee, first from Duke University, and later from the Turner Broadcasting System. In the case of the former, the University claimed their trademark was violated; however Apogee's lawyer countered that there were no conflicting video games, and the two were unlikely to be confused for one another. Apogee agreed to use the character's full name in all advertising for the game, which satisfied the University's legal team. In the case of Turner Broadcasting on the other hand, their cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers featured a character also called "Duke Nukem", which caused Apogee to temporarily change the game title and character's name to "Duke Nukum". However, Turner had not filed for a trademark on their character's name, and their lawyer noted they were not competing in the same market as a video game. The name was changed back, and Turner's legal team did not pursue.

While working on Duke Nukem 3D, towards the end of the game's development the team became familiar with another game that had just been released by LucasArts, Full Throttle. Broussard and programmer Jim Dosé felt that that game's protagonist "sounded like what we imagined Duke would sound like. Gruff, gravelly and low-pitched." They recorded some of the character's opening monologue and sent it to a voice director, while Broussard started writing lines for the character to say at key spots in the game. The voice director, Lani Minella, proposed the role to her client Jon St. John. During the audition, she told him "I want you to think of Dirty Harry when he goes 'Do you feel lucky, do you punk?” After he performed the line verbatim, Broussard suggested St. John approach the voice as "a much bigger guy, much bigger than, say, Clint Eastwood.” St. Jon lowered the pitch of his voice, and Broussard was impressed, hiring him to voice the character.

Duke Nukem was initially created in 1987 by chief programmer Todd Replogle of Apogee Software (now 3D Realms) as the protagonist for the video game he was designing titled Metal Future, which was set in the then-near future of "one decade later from now" in 1997. After hearing the character's name, producer and founder of Apogee, Scott Miller, suggested the game should have the same name, and he helped design the character. Artwork was produced by George Broussard, Allen H. Blum III, and Jim Norwood. Duke was not voiced, but spoke through on-screen text.

In the sequel, Duke Nukem II, which was released in 1993, the same mostly-silent incarnation of the character was used, although he was now an American hero. Duke Nukem II features an intro with one line, spoken by Joe Siegler ("I'm back"), and a death scream by character co-creator Todd Replogle.

For Duke Nukem 3D, the character of Duke Nukem was substantially redesigned by George Broussard and Allen Blum into a macho, wise-cracking character. Duke Nukem 3D was one of the most controversial games at the time due to its strong violence, cultural stereotypes, strong language, and sexual content. Duke Nukem 3D, as well as the dozen or so subsequent Duke Nukem games, feature Jon St. John as the voice of Duke Nukem. Duke Nukem 3D was the first game in which the character has a significant speaking role.