Characters / Duke Nukem

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The main character of the franchise. Duke is a legendary American hero and worldwide cultural icon who has repeatedly saved Earth from armies of hostile robots, alien invaders, and mutant pig cops.

The Duke shows examples of...

• Anarchy Is Chaos: Duke considers anarchists as bad as racists, homophobes and Nazi sympathizers, possibly due to the misconception that all Anarchists are Bomb-Throwing Anarchists.
• Berserk Button: Women being attacked is perhaps the one thing that makes Duke truly angry, as evidenced by this quote in Forever:
  Duke: Not my babes! NOT in my town! You alien motherfuckers are gonna pay for this!
• Bond One-Liner: A master of these.
• Casual Kink: When Duke walks in on a S&M session in progress in Episode 4, he wistfully notes that it is "my kind of party", and laments that he is currently too busy to find the time to participate.
• Characterisation Click Moment: While the second game established Duke getting a big head after his victory in the first game, 3D firmly established the character as an egotistical womanizer with a penchant for referencing popular culture, with the personality in that game being his main one going forward for all later entries.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Crude though he may be, Duke does care for his babes and does not take kindly to them being hurt. In the DLC to Forever he also refers to an arcade game called PimpSlap (the gameplay is never shown, but its implied to purely involve slapping women) as "a piece of crap".
• Cigar Chomper: Cover art and official illustrations usually depict him with a cigar in his mouth.
• Cool Shades: Never seen without his pitch-black aviators, as a Shout-Out to They Live!.
• Deadpan Snarker: Quite capable of being this, especially when annoyed.
• Drugs Are Bad: Duke doesn't think too highly of drug addicts, despite using steroids, cigars and alcohol himself.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: His name was spelled Duke Nukum in the first two games, due to a coincidentally-named Captain Planet villain making the legality of that pretty dodgy. All later games spell it "Nukem," and updated re-releases of the first two follow in turn.
• Everyone Has Standards: Despite being a Politically Incorrect Hero who loves guns and babes and has a massive ego, Duke Nukem Does The Internet has him regard Nazis, homophobes, and racists, among other unscrupulous groups, as why he considers Usenet as a digital Wretched Hive.
• Experienced Protagonist: At the start of the first Duke Nukem game, Duke is already the CIA's secret weapon.
• Guest Fighter:
  • Appears in both Death Rally as a driver^note Notably, he has A LOT of armor in his Deliverator, and he's the only racer with exclusive voice lines: "Let's Rock" when picked up, and "Hail to the King, Baby!" when winning a race and the iOS version of Death Rally (2011)^note Duke's monster truck The Mighty Foot also makes an appearance, however, when the game was ported to Android and PC, all the Duke Nukem references were excised and the Foot was renamed as the Bravestar as a race boss, also with own lines.
  • Appears in the Full Clip edition of Bulletstorm as a playable character.
• The Hedonist: Left to his own devices, Duke will do nothing but indulge in his three favorite things: alcohol, cigars and women.
• Heroic Build: He's 6"4" and built like a truck.
• Heroic Comedic Sociopath: He truly relishes in killing aliens and other bad guys.
• Hypocrite: In "Duke Nukem Does the Internet", he expresses disdain towards drug addicts, despite being an unabashed Cigar Chomper and steroids being one of his power-ups.
• Idiot Hero: While he may be more brawns than brains, he packs enough strength and firepower to dismantle evil space alien invaders without needing much tactical genius up his sleeve. On the other hand, he shows an ability to expertly wield any weapon in seconds, and in the comic book he demonstrates a photographic memory when he memorizes the blueprints to an incredibly sophisticated time machine. So it varies.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As vain and perverted as he is, Duke is still a sincerely heroic guy who puts his life on the line to keep others safe (especially women).
• Mr. Vice Guy: He's comedically flawed, but still more or less heroic in his actions.
• Old Flame: Various games suggest he once dated a women named Lani, to the point where ''3D" implies he has her name tattooed on one of his ass cheeks. This is most likely a reference to Lani Minella, the game's voice director and VA for the female characters in... well, nearly every Duke game in existence.
• One-Man Army: He's defeated scores of monsters and robots on his own.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Played for Laughs and Subverted. He's a hyper-masculine womanizing tough guy who hates aliens. But also:
  • Duke shows a genuine hatred of racists, homophobes and Nazi sympathizers in "Duke Nukem Does the Internet", but he also hates anarchists and drug addicts.
  • In "Duke Nukem: Glorious Bastard", he comforts a dying African-American soldier by telling him that in the future, Martin Luther King will take steps towards setting things straight for his people, also describing King as "kickass".
• Pop-Cultured Badass: He makes movie references like there's no tomorrow.
• Really Gets Around: The ladies love Duke, and he loves them just as well.
• Real Men Wear Pink: While he's an incredibly macho guy who slaughters enemies by the score, he's also a fan of Oprah Winfrey and he literally wore a pink shirt in his first appearance (changed to red in the Evercade re-release).
• Red Hot Masculinity: He oozes Testosterone Poisoning and wears a red tank top.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: He wears a tank top most of the time, allowing him to show off his muscular arms.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: Pump-action shotguns are among his most well-known weapons of choice.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: Duke + pipebombs = dead bad guys. Throwing a remotely triggered bomb and detonating it is a skill Duke has mastered.

Duke's commander in the Earth Defence Force.

• Ascended Extra: Has minor roles in 3D and Advance before becoming a major character in Duke Nukem Forever.
• Big Good: As the EDF's commander, he's this by default.
• Four-Star Badass: Naturally. He even accompanies Duke in a few firefights in The Doctor Who Cloned Me, kicking ass in full dress uniform.
• Mission Control: For Duke Nukem Advance, Forever, and Critical Mass.

A high-ranking EDF soldier and an old friend of Duke's.

• Disney Death: He apparently bleeds out during the final levels of DNF. He shows up in The Doctor Who Cloned Me alive and well.
• Remember the New Guy?: He and Duke apparently go way back, though he's never brought up before Forever.
• Unexplained Recovery: Not even he knows how he survived his apparent death.

• Damsel in Distress: They'll even scream for Duke's help in Manhattan Project.
• Ms. Fanservice: They're all attractive, usually curvy women for our hero to rescue and get in the pants of.

A pair of women that are seen giving a blowjob to the Duke at the beginning of Forever.

• Ms. Fanservice: Like all of Duke's babes, their characters practically begin and end with "hot piece of ass for Duke to bang."
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: They're blatantly based on the Olsen twins, down to sharing a similar surname.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Both get captured by the aliens shortly after the story's opening events and, later, die in a very gruesome manner.

A mad scientist who was the Big Bad of the first game and made a return in the DLC for Duke Nukem Forever^note evidence exists to show that he was meant to be the final boss of Forever, at least from the late 1990s Quake Engine builds to the 2003 Unreal engine build, but for whatever reason, he was downgraded to his spot in the DLC of the finished game.

• Big Bad: Of Duke Nukem I, The Doctor Who Cloned Me, and Critical Mass.
• Cyborg: Much of his body has been replaced by cybernetics, with only part of his face being the remaining obvious organic part of him left.
• Evil Cripple: Moves around in a hover chair due to a radiation accident costing him the use of his lower body; the 2011 game trades this in for a quadrupedal spider mech.
• Mad Scientist: Specializing in killer robots.
• Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: We can assume his degree was in engineering, what with all the robots.
• Robot Master: Again, he has an army of TechBots at his beck and call.
• Unexplained Recovery: Seemingly killed off for good during The Doctor Who Cloned Me, but shows up just fine in Critical Mass. Then again, he is a cyborg...
• Unfortunate Names: He changed his name early in his career because Blunderwitz isn't exactly a flattering name for a scientist.

• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The ruler of the aliens and the most powerful one among them.
• Cyber Cyclops: A cyborg alien with one big glaring red eye.
• Macross Missile Massacre: It's main attack in 3D is a rapid fire missile launcher similar to the Overlord's, but more inaccurate and chaotic.

The main antagonist of Manhattan Project, a mad scientist who specializes in both robotics and biology who's covered Manhattan in his mutagenic GLOPP.

• The Artifact: The development versions of Manhattan Project had Dr. Proton as the Big Bad. Morphix sharing more than a resemblance to him is a harbinger from that era.
• Big Bad: All of his actions drive the plot of Manhattan Project.
• Humongous Mecha: What he pilots to fight Duke in the final battle of Manhattan Project. Hilariously, it's modelled after Duke.
• Identical Stranger: He's very similar to Dr. Proton, but not quite.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Has a whole legion of Fembots and mechs at his disposal, but also created a plasma that mutates people into monsters.
• Take Over the City: He wants to rule Manhattan Isle, and then presumably move on to the world at large.
• Unexplained Recovery: Like Proton, somehow shows up alive and well in Critical Mass.

Assault Captain (Red), Assault Trooper (Green)

• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When shot with the Shotgun, they'll cling to the last of their life before falling down.
• Jet Pack: They all come equipped with one, allowing them to attack from the air. It's quite satisfying to shoot one out of the sky and watch them splatter from a high fall.
• The Goomba: Too frail and slow to actually pose a threat to the Duke. Even the regular pistol works on them.
• Not So Above It All: Some aliens can be found using toilets to shit during their downtime.
• Teleport Spam: Assault Captains can teleport at will. Sometimes they can teleport just after taking a shotgun blast and die when they reappear.

• Pig Man: Exactly what their name implies: the LAPD mutated into evil, porcine soldiers for the invading aliens.
• Police Pig: Again, exactly what their name implies.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: Wield their shotguns with lethal proficiency. Fortunately, they may occasionally drop one, allowing Duke to turn it back on them.
• The Bus Came Back: They appear as early-game mooks in Manhattan Project.

• Airborne Mook: They fly around quickly, taking potshots at Duke.
• Threatening Shark: The RP Vs themselves have shark teeth and eyes on the front.

• Adaptational Name Change: Zig-Zagged in Zero Hour, some sources call them Octabrains, while the Official Strategy Guide calles them "Parapsyches"
• Aquatic Mook: They're sometimes found underwater.
• Flying Seafood Special: Essentially screaming, psychic octopi with More Teeth than the Osmond Family that float through the air.
• Weaksauce Weakness: The RPG and Devastator will always kill them in one hit.

• Action Bomb: They fly up to Duke and explode, the also explode upon death.
• Aquatic Mook: Total Meltdown gives them underwater reskins in the form of Aqua Drones.
• No-Sell: They're immune to the Shrinker, and they can dodge rockets from the RPG.

• More Dakka: They use a Chaingun in order to attack the Duke.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Noticeably reptilian and inarguably vile.
• Road Apples: Every now and then, one of them might squat and drop a deuce between attacks, possibly as a sign of contempt. It's possible for Duke to then step in it ("Shit happens!").
• Super Spit: They sometimes spit acid as an attack.

• Airborne Mook: Is always seen piloting a hovercraft, even on closed spaces.
• Elite Mook: Stronger and sturdier than the other Assault Aliens.
• Fat Bastard: All their time spent sitting around commanding troopers from their hovercrafts has seen these aggressive, malicious alien jerks bloat into obesity.

• Blob Monster: They're called "Slimers" for a reason.
• One-Hit-Point Wonder: They die in one hit from any weapon, including the Shrinker, which otherwise deals no damage
• Personal Space Invader: They attack by latching onto Duke's face and, to quote the manual, "sucking [his] brains out through [his] nose".
• Set a Mook to Kill a Mook: They can be tricked into swallowing bigger aliens whole, regardless of HP.

• Adaptational Early Appearance: Since The Birth wasn't included in 64 Protector Drones appear in the normal set of levels starting in Lunar Apocalypse.
• Adaptational Name Change: They're called "Alien Beasts" in 64 according to the Official Strategy Guide.
• Lightning Bruiser: They are fast and hard to kill, requiring four shotgun shots or two RPG rockets to take down and their melee slashes can knock off a third of Duke's health.
• Shrink Ray: They can fire Shrinker beams that can shrink Duke so that they can stomp on him. They are also immune to the Shrinker.
• Xenomorph Xerox: Are more than a little similar to Xenomorphs, aside from being brown and shrinking things.

• Attack Its Weak Point: Pressing the "use" key on the nuke symbol on their backsides will cause them to self destruct.
• Boss in Mook Clothing: They're essentially Battlelord Sentries in all but name and appearance.

• Attack Its Weak Point: Battlelord Sentries can be shrunken by the Shrinker when hit in their legs.
• Degraded Boss: Battlelord Sentries, which have half as much health and first appear in Lunar Apocalypse.
• Gatling Good: Uses a Chaingun as its main attack once the Duke is in range.
• Land Mine Goes "Click!": It can throw mines around him in order to keep the Duke at bay or in range.
• Large and in Charge: Some of the biggest aliens Duke will encounter, and with some of the highest authority among the invaders.

• Degraded Boss: Overlord Sentries, which are exclusive to Duke Nukem 64 and Alien World Order and, like Battlelord Sentries, have half as much health.
• Macross Missile Massacre: They attack with rapid fire missile launchers.

• Mook Maker: She constantly spawns Octabrains and Protector Drones.
• Queen Mook: To the Protector Drones, and Octabrains, apparently.
• Shock and Awe: She attacks by electrifying the water her arena is submerged in, which somehow doesn't harm her or her spawn.
• Underwater Boss Battle: She's fought in an underwater cavern.

• Playing with Fire: They use Incinerators to burn the Duke alive. Should the Incinerator projectiles miss, they become lava pools when they touch the ground.
• Sizeshifter: They can shrink themselves and grow back to their normal size at will.
• Suicide Attack: They explode shortly after dying.

• Boss in Mook Clothing: Appear in Alien World Order after the Cycloid Emperor goes down at the end of Shrapnel City. There are very few on them, and most are encountered on the higher difficulties.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Just like the one fought in Episode 3, their main attack is a chaotic spray of rockets.

• Artificial Stupidity: It favors using its flamethrower over its Incinerator, even if it can't reach Duke.
• Mook Maker: It occasionally spawns Firefly Troopers.
• King Mook: To Firefly Troopers.
• Palette Swap: A red Cycloid Emperor with yellow blood.