# Duke Nukem Duke Nukem is a first-person shooter video game series and its cigar-chomping, one-liner-spouting protagonist, created by 3D Realms and first released in 1991. The character became a meme staple thanks to his exaggerated 1980s action-hero persona and quotable catchphrases like "It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum." ## Overview Duke Nukem is a first-person shooter video game series built around a blond, cigar-chomping action hero who talks almost entirely in sarcastic one-liners lifted from 1980s action movies[1]. The character is designed as a walking pastiche of Schwarzenegger and Stallone archetypes, insulting enemies mid-fight and delivering quips like "It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I'm all out of gum"[3]. While the games themselves have a devoted following, the meme footprint of Duke Nukem is mostly his voice clips. His lines get ripped out of the games and reused for shitposts, prank calls, and reaction bait, which is how a mid-90s shooter kept showing up online decades after its release[2]. ## How It Spread Duke Nukem entered wider internet slang through his catchphrases rather than the games' plots. On September 10th, 2003, Urban Dictionary user Acid^Rogue submitted the first entry defining Duke as "the only person in the universe to kick ass and chew bubblegum at the same time"[3]. A second entry for Duke Nukem Forever followed on August 14th, 2004, mostly mocking the game's endless delays[3]. The biggest single meme moment for Duke came from Ventrilo Harassment videos, which stitched his voice clips into prank calls to voice chat servers. A compilation using Duke Nukem clips, originally uploaded by YouTuber Videocompilertest and re-uploaded by OxYgEnX on July 31st, 2007, pulled over 8 million views[2]. Videocompilertest re-uploaded it again in June 2009 under the handle SuperVideoCompiler[2]. Duke Nukem 3D itself sold over 3.5 million copies and holds an 89 Metascore, keeping the character in circulation across gaming forums, DeviantArt fan art, and 4chan threads long after the series stopped shipping new titles[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Duke Nukem? Duke Nukem is a first-person shooter video game series from 3D Realms whose title character became a meme thanks to his over-the-top 1980s action-hero personality and catchphrases[1]. ### Where did Duke Nukem come from? The first Duke Nukem game was released on July 1st, 1991 for MS-DOS as a third-person platformer, with the series later becoming a first-person shooter in 1996[1]. ### What does Duke Nukem mean? Online, "Duke Nukem" is shorthand for the character himself, described on Urban Dictionary as an alien-asskicking hero who delivers sarcastic one-liners in the vein of Schwarzenegger[3]. ### How do you use Duke Nukem? People typically use Duke Nukem via his voice clips, quoting lines like "kick ass and chew bubblegum" or splicing his dialogue into prank audio like the Ventrilo Harassment compilation that hit over 8 million views[2]. ### Is Duke Nukem still popular? Duke Nukem is a classic meme carried mostly by nostalgia for Duke Nukem 3D, which sold over 3.5 million copies and holds an 89 Metascore, plus his long tail of YouTube voice-clip edits[1][2]. ## References 1. [https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/duke-nukem-3d]() 2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4a3_wazRPA]() 3. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Duke%20Nukem]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/duke-nukem]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/duke-nukem Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library