Duke Nukem

Overview

Statue of Duke Nukem seen in Garmid

Hail to the King, baby!

—One of Duke's many quotes

The living legend himself, (presumably) late Duke Nukem, was considered by many to be the symbol of the EDF and Earth's greatest hero. According to rumors, he stopped several schemes of Dr. Proton, a horrific plan of Dr. Mech Morphix, and single-handedly kicked several Cycloid invasions in the ass, sending them packing. Many claim he was a man of incredible cunning, endurance, a comedic wit and a deep appreciation of women. With a reputation for badassery only eclipsed by his ego, Duke was an an unstoppable force and one-man army, improvising weapons on the fly, laying traps and ambushes and even taking immense alien weapons head-on without fear or compromise.

Duke's arsenal was as legendary as he was. From his trusty pistol to the waste-laying devastator to the prolific freezethrower, there wasn't a weapon he couldn't wield. Add to that an incredible master of jetpack flight, swimming and boundless stamina and it's hard not to see a hero among men.

However... whilst vacationing on a distant resort in a distant solar system, all contact with Duke was lost. Although announced KIA to the public, the EDF and the EAF never found his body and maintained hope that he would return one day. Whether he is alive or dead is not known; opinions are divided on what happened to the immortal hero. Some say he really did die saving the humanity from a terrible threat; others believe he simply cut off all contact just to get some damn R&R.

Duke presumable death sends a shock throughout the Earth, and especially the EDF. As the EDF now lost its best agent, there were worries the world might not be able to handle another threat. After all, Duke bolstered morale significantly, and his ability to move fast, strike hard and recover from any downturn of events made him inhumanly effective at warding off threats to humanity. In addition, his death likely encouraged the Cycloids to mount another offensive, given their biggest obstacle has been removed.

By the time the game begins, this inspired a certain individual to form the AMC Squad, in hopes of having a new array of great heroes on standby, should the need arise. And thus, the AMC Squad must carry on his legacy.

Trivia

• AMC TC versions 1 and 2 readme files and in-game conversations mentioned quite a few Duke's past adventures, including operation "Pray your Prayers", a conspiracy to frame him for murder, the God of War mission, the Chimera mission, the infamous "Brave new world" incident, and the Imperium wars.
• According to the developers' Discord chat, Duke is not really dead. He is in the other dimension (maybe in the Realms of Titan).

More information

• Duke Nukem on Wikipedia
• Duke Nukem on Duke Nukem wiki