[TheMuseumCurator]

Would this be something fans would ever want to see again? Him picking up the shades in that recently fully revealed Duke Begins trailer was a nice touch. As a kid? I never really even considered it. He just didn't wear sunglasses in Duke Nukem II because he didn't have any on hand. The guy was relying on a secret grenade embedded in a false tooth to escape! He didn't have time to be styling.

We have to assume his famous Ray-bans were somehow in the Rigelatin escape pod before another set of alien bastards/scum/maggots shot down his ride, Especially given the additional intro sequence in Duke 64. I think it's a trademark, but it could be used like bag head Jason in a reboot. A way to hearken back to an earlier design before they fully became the character we know.

[ck3D]

I think it either should or shouldn't be canon that Duke got his sunglasses from a shop in Red Light District called 50 Shades of Richard Gray.

[OpenMaw]

Assuming even a snowball's chance in Hell of a new Duke game....No. In just about every circle i've talked to that goes back to the original game to try and reimagine it for the 21st Century, or to do an early story with Duke... He still has the glasses, because they're part of the framing of his face. They're part of his character's silhouette. Their absence in Duke 1 and 2 becomes something of a "mistake" or "retcon" of sorts. He always had the glasses. He always should have the glasses. Even if we see him in the middle of rough Earth-shaking sex, the glasses stay gorilla glued to his face.

[Never Forgotten]

OpenMaw, on 07 September 2021 - 01:10 PM, said:

Assuming even a snowball's chance in Hell of a new Duke game....No. In just about every circle i've talked to that goes back to the original game to try and reimagine it for the 21st Century, or to do an early story with Duke... He still has the glasses, because they're part of the framing of his face. They're part of his character's silhouette. Their absence in Duke 1 and 2 becomes something of a "mistake" or "retcon" of sorts. He always had the glasses. He always should have the glasses. Even if we see him in the middle of rough Earth-shaking sex, the glasses stay gorilla glued to his face.

I'm not disagreeing with you in any way, but I have yet to see anything that adds the glasses to Duke 1, generally people accepts the pink vest, white muscle shirt, and no glasses. Generally, though, Duke 2 add the glasses. But I'm happy to be proven wrong if you know of something I don't.

[Ninety-Six]

Never Forgotten, on 07 September 2021 - 01:41 PM, said:

Generally, though, Duke 2 add the glasses.

Wasn't that only in the rerelease?

[ck3D]

Ninety-Six, on 07 September 2021 - 04:41 PM, said:

Wasn't that only in the rerelease?

I think so too, and also one of the most sacrilegious, half-assed, hilarious MS Paint retcons I've seen. Makes that version look cursed and also for flashbacks to when I used to draw accessories, tattoos and scars all over the people's faces on photos in the newspaper as a kid.

[MusicallyInspired]

Yeah I just checked, no shades in the original Duke 2. Nothing in the opening cutscene anywhere. Both rereleases added the glasses to both Duke 1 and Duke 2 but they weren't in the original games.

EDIT: Oh wait I'm totally wrong. There were no glasses in Duke Nukem 1's rerelease. I could have sworn there was. Only in Duke 2 rerelease I guess.

[TheMuseumCurator]

MusicallyInspired, on 07 September 2021 - 06:36 PM, said:

Yeah I just checked, no shades in the original Duke 2. Nothing in the opening cutscene anywhere. Both rereleases added the glasses to both Duke 1 and Duke 2 but they weren't in the original games.

EDIT: Oh wait I'm totally wrong. There were no glasses in Duke Nukem 1's rerelease. I could have sworn there was. Only in Duke 2 rerelease I guess.

I concur with you, Sir Graham. Duke Nukem II has an "official" (poorly done) sunglasses update, while the original Duke Nukum does not that I'm aware of. I guess maybe that's because the pink vest look is so far removed from what we know we can accept it as his early appearance, but by Duke II? He was so close... just needed glasses. Are you aware of the "FALLINGGUY" animation in LameDuke? He's not wearing shades & looks way more like his Duke II appearance.

Also... what was up with those metal rings he wore around his biceps in the earlier games?!

[NNC]

ck3D, on 07 September 2021 - 05:44 AM, said:

50 Shades of Richard Gray.

Levelord episode with this title when?

[OpenMaw]

Never Forgotten, on 07 September 2021 - 01:41 PM, said:

I'm not disagreeing with you in any way, but I have yet to see anything that adds the glasses to Duke 1, generally people accepts the pink vest, white muscle shirt, and no glasses. Generally, though, Duke 2 add the glasses. But I'm happy to be proven wrong if you know of something I don't.

I wasn't speaking of official release. I meant more in terms of discussions and what ifs? Most people I know would just presume a remake of Duke's first outing would have him looking like his contemporary design and not what was in Duke 1, because what they did with Duke 1 was half a limitation of the colors they had to work with.

[Kerr Avon]

Maybe if someone makes a prequel to DN3D, probably a fan-made mod of DN3D that explores Duke's earlier years, then the game can start off with him not wearing sunglasses, but at some point during the game he has to enter somewhere and destroy an important alien device, but inside there is a very bright light, bright enough to render his vision useless.

So, whilst Duke is outside, pondering his options, an enemy, perhaps a boss, appears wearing sunglasses, a boss fight ensues, and after Duke defeats and kills him, Duke takes the sunglasses and says "These will do nicely", then sees his reflection with them on and says the inevitable "Looking good".

Then Duke enters the very bright area, the sunglasses allowing him to see and to destroy the alien whatever-it-is machine that was, incidentally, the source of the too bright light. But Duke keeps the sunglasses on, because he thinks they make him look cool.

[Never Forgotten]

TheMuseumCurator, on 07 September 2021 - 08:49 PM, said:

Also... what was up with those metal rings he wore around his biceps in the earlier games?!

In Duke 1, and this is just assumption, I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be the power source for his laser pistol. In Duke 2 and 3D it was the cuffs they were holding him with, visible in the opening cutscene before he breaks free.