Humor
An important part of Keen games is their humor and cartoon-like atmosphere. Humorous touches can be found in the characters, enemies, items, back story, locations, levels, signs, and animations. Tom Hall has stated that many elements of the games were inspired by Chuck Jones's Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century. This can be seen directly at least in two references to the Acme Corporation from Looney Tunes: in the world-map for episode two, which is the blueprints of the Vorticon Mothership, there is a small sign in the Standard Galactic Alphabet that says "Blueprint — Acme". Also, at the end of episode four, the Oracle has the sign "Acme Oracle" written on it in the same alphabet.
Some other humorous parts:
- In episode 3 of "Invasion of the Vorticons", Foobs are creatures who are afraid of everything, and run away from Keen. If Keen touches them, they die, in contrast with Keen dying when he touches an enemy.
- In the "Pyramid of the Moons" level of Secret of the Oracle, if Keen stands on top of one of the crescent moon symbols on the floor, after a short while he will moon the player.
- In the "Pyramid of the Moons" level, Keen can gain access to a secret level by gathering inchworms under him at a certain point. He must gather 12, and then a giant foot appears (since 12 inch (worms) = one foot).
- At the end of the secret level of Secret of the Oracle, which is very difficult to complete, what appears to be one of the guardians of the oracle is actually their janitor, kidnapped by mistake.
- In "Secret of the Oracle", the Dopefish is mentioned to be the 'second dumbest' creature in the whole universe, referring to the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- In episodes 4, 5, and 6, if Keen is left idle for several seconds, he will look directly towards the screen with his hands on his waist, looking impatient, then shrug his shoulders. After a few more seconds he will grab a big red book out of his pocket, sit down, and start reading, flipping pages occasionally. He will continue to do this until an action key is pressed. In "Keen Dreams", Keen will fall asleep instead of reading a book.
Read more about this topic: Commander Keen
Famous quotes containing the word humor:
“Humor is not a mood but a way of looking at the world. So if it is correct to say that humor was stamped out in Nazi Germany, that does not mean that people were not in good spirits, or anything of that sort, but something much deeper and more important.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“Affection, indulgence, and humor alike are powerless against the instinct of children to rebel. It is essential to their minds and their wills as exercise is to their bodies. If they have no reasons, they will invent them, like nations bound on war. It is hard to imagine families limp enough always to be at peace. Wherever there is character there will be conflict. The best that children and parents can hope for is that the wounds of their conflict may not be too deep or too lasting.”
—New York State Division of Youth Newsletter (20th century)
“There are men so philosophical that they can see humor in their own toothaches. But there has never lived a man so philosophical that he could see the toothache in his own humor.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)