>>713174485
>Duke 3D makes Duke blow up
>put Duke in a bunch of random merchandise up to and including a peak-90s "how to internet" guide
>make Tomb Raider-esque third person shooters as spinoffs
>Duke quickly becomes parody of what he is rather than what he was a parody of
>final entry in the franchise is derivative of contemporary shooters and self-referential

Mario was the biggest thing on the planet since 1985 and boasted the best selling games of the third, fourth and fifth gen of consoles. And right at the end of the century he was joined by Pokemania. There was a corporate blueprint to making a shitload of money off a successful IP thanks to cheap and rapid game development and the nascent blockbuster IP age, and though most companies usually tried it with platformer mascots(of which Duke technically was one given he started as a 2D sidescroller), it was just as applicable to a shooter hero. The difference is Mario and Pikachu have little in the way of defined characterization but it was easily noticeable with Duke, especially when the franchise just functionally stopped due to DNF's prolonged development.