Uncle Duke
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Uncle Duke is a fictional character in the comic strip Doonesbury. He is nominally Zonker Harris's uncle, although early in the Doonesbury continuity he was established as a Harris family friend, making him an "uncle by courtesy" only. Duke himself seems to remember winning Zonker in a poker game. Duke's appearance and mannerisms are heavily based on the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (see Raoul Duke). Between 7 March 2005 (roughly two weeks after Thompson's suicide) and 12 March 2005, the strip even ran what was referred to as a tribute, with Uncle Duke lamenting the death of the man he called his "inspiration." The first of these strips<ref>http://images.ucomics.com/comics/db/2005/db050307.gif</ref> featured a panel with artwork similar to that of Ralph Steadman, who illustrated Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Some people regard Uncle Duke, a rabid controlled-substances buff, as "the High Lord of Inner Space," but he is really, as his son would describe him, "Forrest Gump's evil twin", a devious and hardworking scam artist with a cynical sense of humour. He has had a lot of adventures over the years, and has held many different jobs, some distinguished and political in nature, others decidedly not.
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[edit] Biography
Duke's early life is murky, but it is almost certain that he had a father, and was born in a hospital. While he was Ambassador to China, his mother sent him a Christmas gift. "Duke" was the only name he was ever given in the strip--it is not even clear whether Duke is his first or last name; however, the obituary excerpt on the back of the Doonesbury book "Death of a Party Animal" gives his full name as "Raoul Duke". (References in the strip to him as "Governor Duke" and "Ambassador Duke" would also support the idea that "Duke" is his last name.) He recalls that he was born wearing Ray Ban sunglasses, and is almost never seen without them.
Duke is unique among Doonesbury characters in that he does not seem to age; the only major physical transformation he has gone through has been a lightening of his hair from dark brown to sandy brown. Even as other members of the cast have gone from young adulthood to middle age since the strip began, Duke has been consistently portrayed as being in what appear to be his mid-to-late forties. This oddity appears to go unnoticed by the rest of the cast, although this may be because Duke's globetrotting usually keeps him away from the other characters (with the exception of Honey) and it's rare that he ever interacts with any of them. Other theories include that this is a holdover from when he was "zombified" (although he was not dead in any clinical sense) and also that he has so many substances constantly coursing through him that he is somehow preserved, almost like a mummy.
[edit] Duke vs. John Denver
At some point he acquired a dislike for John Denver, who for a period of time was his next door neighbor, and made a habit of shooting icicles off of Denver's porch roof with a high powered rifle. To this day the song "Rocky Mountain High" sends him into a violent frenzy. Despite theories by many of Duke's fans, Trudeau has refused to confirm or deny any complicity on Duke's part in the death of Denver in an ultralight flying accident. The closest he has come to commenting on the matter comes from the FAQ pages on the official Doonesbury Website. Although the original entry was more caustic towards readers demanding that Trudeau make parody of a tragic event, the current FAQ entry regarding Duke's reaction to Denver's death now reads as follows:
- Q: Will Duke react to John Denver's death? --E. Zuckerman
- A: Fortunately, Duke is not in charge of his own storylines. Readers will be spared his grotesque, loathsome reaction.
[edit] Career Path(s)
[edit] The 1970's
Since his first appearance in the strip, Duke has assumed many career hats, each one arguably more outlandish than the previous. When first introduced, Duke was working as a writer under Jann Wenner for Rolling Stone magazine, much to Wenner's chagrin and aggravation over Duke's inability to meet deadlines and/or maintain coherency within the confines of his articles.
While still on the staff of Rolling Stone, on a lark Duke applied for the position of Governor of American Samoa, and to his - and everyone else's - surprise, was actually appointed to the post by Congress. His term as the Governor was a period unlike anything the island's inhabitants had ever seen, a term that saw one crisis after another plague the island. Most notable of these crises were a series of natural disasters precipitated by a volcano virgin's refusal to sacrifice herself to a volcano god as scheduled, and a hostage crisis instigated by Duke himself that resulted in a US rescue operation highlighted by the rescue force's inability to locate American Samoa. During this period, Duke also recruited his nephew, Zonker Harris, as the Lieutenant Governor, who accepted the assignment for the sole purpose of acquiring the perfect tan.
Despite these events, then-President Gerald Ford expressed his positive impression with Duke's "knack for diplomacy", and appointed him as Ambassador to People's Republic of China where he served from 1976 to 1977, before being recalled by newly-elected President Carter. While in China he met translator Honey Huan, his future aide and devoted companion.
Following his "triumph" in Peking, Mr. Duke attempted a brief career as a laetrile farmer. He then made a name for himself as General Manager of the Washington Redskins, having been hired for his expertise in "sports medicine". His experience in packing heat led him to serve as a lobbyist for the NRA.
[edit] The "53rd Hostage"
The NRA gig led to in what most fans and critics consider the most media-watched Duke story ever told by Trudeau, as Duke became "the 53rd hostage" of the Iran hostage crisis of 1979. While acting as an NRA lobbyist, Duke was offered a job by Universal Petroleum to negotiate with officials in Iran for oil rights. As this was a clandestine mission - Duke was required to parachute into Tehran due to travel restrictions - events naturally took a turn for the worse, and Duke was captured by revolutionary forces. After Trudeau showed Duke in a cliffhanger attempt to bargain for his life before a firing squad, he was not seen in the strip for 17 months; Trudeau vowed that Duke would remain as a hostage so long as the US Embassy hostages remained in captivity. During this period, attempts were made by Duke's caretaker, Zeke Brenner, to have Duke legally declared deceased after having written a "tell-all" book on his employer. However, Zeke's efforts were thwarted by Zonker, who was declared Duke's sole heir in his will, and subsequently placed Duke's estate in escrow.
[edit] The 1980's
Upon release, Duke first attempted to seek revenge against Zeke - not only for the attempts to have Duke declared legally deceased, but for refusing to send Duke his stash of Krugeraands he needed to negotiate his release - and after only wounding his former employee, settled down to a new career as a drug smuggler in Florida. This new career move was cut short by an ill-timed sightseeing cruise to the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War. Duke and Honey ended up on a desert island, where they survived for months, believing themselves to be stranded in the Atlantic, until he took a pair of bird watchers hostage, who summarily informed him that he was on Matagorda Island, a few miles from the mainland of Texas.
Following his rescue from Matagorda, Duke became entangled in Hollywood politics, encountering "superagent" Sid Kibbitz. Kibbitz represented Duke in negotiations for a John De Lorean biopic project entitled "Fast Lanes, White Lines". Not surprisingly, the subject wound up leading to Duke and Honey being the target of a major cocaine bust. Shortly after, Trudeau took a 22 month hiatus (from January 1983 to October 1984), during which he helped create a Doonesbury Broadway production. The Broadway show, entitled Doonesbury: A Musical Comedy. While the fate of Duke following the cocaine bust was covered in the plot of the musical - Duke is found guilty, sentenced to five years probation, and required by the court to open and manage a drug rehabilitation center for that period - most readers were unaware of these events due to the show's short run and limited publicity. At the end of the musical, Duke's efforts to sieze the Walden Commune so it can be razed and the land used for the rehab center are thwarted, and Trudeau has stated in interviews and on the official website FAQ that, while not shown in the musical, both Duke and Honey were forced to flee the country afterwards.
Following the hiatus, Duke and Honey opened the Baby Doc College of Offshore Medicine in Haiti, where Zonker was admitted as a medical student not because of his grades - which were unsurprisingly low - but because the volleball team needed his talent. Discovered by Honey as "more inert than usual" one morning, Duke was pronounced dead. The death was portrayed by Trudeau seriously enough that the St. Petersburg Times ran a full obituary for Duke.
However, unknown to all but Trudeau, but suspected by fans, Duke was in fact not dead, but merely "zombified" and taken into slavery. He winds up being purchased by the deposed tyrant Duvalier, and becomes his footservant now responding only to the name of "Legume". A side effect of the zombie process resulted in Duke losing nearly all his hair, which almost prevented reporter Rick Redfern from recognizing "Legume" as the former Ambassador when Redfern interviewed Duvalier while in exile. Redfern notified Zonker of Duke's existence, upon which Zonker arranged to buy Duke's freedom using most of the $23 million dollar (USD) lottery he'd recently won.
Back on his feet, Duke founded the Dr. Whoopee condom company, but lost control of it following a bad financial deal with John Gotti. Afterwards, Duke took a much-deserved rest in Bellevue, which was followed by a return to active duty as captain of Donald Trump's executive cruise ship, the Trump Princess. During his captaincy, Honey returned to Bejing for a college reunion, which led to her inadvertent involvement in the Tiananmen Square uprising. After seeking refuge in the U.S. Embassy after being named one of China's "25 most-wanted hooligans", Duke then smuggled Honey out of China and she begame his constant companion.
Tapped by President George H. W. Bush, Duke served as Maximum Proconsul in post-invasion Panama.
[edit] The 1990's
Afterwards, Duke smuggled arms to the underground resistance in Kuwait during the first Gulf War, then opened Club Scud, a popular wartime watering hole in Kuwait City. After working on David Duke's campaign, he began selling doctored photos of the John F. Kennedy assassination in Dallas, Texas to conspiracy theorists.
After the Republican revolution of 1994 Duke appealed to Speaker Newt Gingrich to help him open a low budget, privatized orphanage titled "Nothin' But Orphans." One of his first charges, according to the DNA test results, was one of his long-lost sons, Earl. Abandoning the orphans and Ms. Huan, father and son lived in a trailer in Las Vegas, gaming and trafficking in stolen Beanie Babies.
He spent some time in the early nineties as a bodyguard for Ollie North. When asked by Honey why North needed a bodyguard Duke replied "The Colonel's got enemies- powerful enemies!" When pressed he admitted, "Well, so far they're mostly imaginary." North was slow to trust him; but Duke soon became a key part of his security during his campaign for senator in Virginia.
[edit] Duke 2000 And Beyond
Duke ran for the White House after a short stretch as a key advisor to Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura. His campaign, headquartered in a motel in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, was a resounding failure, despite corporate sponsorships by heavy hitters Lipton Tea and Absolut Vodka. (Through the magic of motion capture technology, Duke was able to announce his candidacy in the real world on Larry King Live.) A successful business trafficking in stem cells was followed by a lucrative involvement in the messy fallout from the Enron scandal. As conflict with Iraq loomed, Duke made a return to government work, taking up a post as Viceroy-in-Waiting.
During the U.S. occupation of Iraq, Duke installed himself as mayor of the (fictional) Iraqi city of Al Amok. In late September 2005, Duke escaped Iraq and relocated again to New Orleans to profit from the reconstruction efforts after Hurricane Katrina and Rita. It was during this time that after years of verbal abuse and ignorance - with the "final straw" being that she was living in a lifeboat while Duke occupied a first-class suite - Honey finally abandoned Duke and went to find a new life partying at Mardi Gras.
[edit] Current Events
Since his separation from Honey, Duke has reunited with his son Earl, now a Washington lobbyist using Duke's knowledge of indigenous people to secure lucrative contracts with Native American tribes. It has been revealed that Duke was somewhat comatose during the entire period he spent as a lobbyist working with Earl, and only recently has awakened to the surprise that, while comatose, he was Washington's most effective and successful lobbyist.
[edit] References
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