History Videogame / CommanderKeen

* BadassGrandpa / BadassFamily: According to the VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D hint manual, William Blazkowicz has a grandson by the name of B. Blaze. Furthermore, the Cyberdemon encountered at the end of Doom is missing an arm and a leg. The same ones that William cut off. You know, the demon who vowed [[CycleOfRevenge revenge]] on William's descendants? Might Doomguy be Billy's decendant? In any case, even without Doomguy, Billy Blaze has a pretty badass family.

* ShoutOut: Several, the most notable ones being ToServeMan, ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' ([[ProductionForeshadowing which still had to be produced]]) and ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' (the Dopefish is the second dumbest creature in the universe, after all...)

Tom Hall has announced a GameMaker titled ''Worlds of Wander'', funded through Kickstarter, which will include a SpiritualSuccessor game to ''Commander Keen'' titled ''Secret Spaceship Club''; targeted for an early 2014 release. Throw it a few bucks [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/368238381/worlds-of-wander-plus-secret-spaceship-club-game here]] if you're interested.

** And in ''Earth Explodes'', you can activate it yourself. Which ends your game, obviously.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The full version of 6. [=FormGen=] actually published the title with Apogee reselling it as an retail product. Id like other Apogee developers kept the rights to the title. Id included it in the incredibly rare ''Id Anthology'' CD set. It's a ''little'' easier to find copies of that in order to buy ''Commander Keen 6'' (although it's still [[CrackIsCheaper a hundred bucks]]). Since Apogee/3D Realms sold their stock years ago, they don't have any further claim to the game. The rights to [=FormGen=]'s games seem to have been lost in the shuffle as each company went bankrupt and sold their I.P.'s to another.

* JumpPhysics: Mostly played straight, but {{Subverted}} in Keen 4, where you could jump into the edge of a platform, grab on, and pull yourself up.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In the Paris Tantalus level in episode 2, there is a section with colored platforms that spell out - in SGA letters - a certain [[PrecisionFStrike expletive]]. However, it's actually misspelled "fucl" (whether this misspelling is intentional or not is still unknown). This has become something of a MemeticMutation in the Keen community, with "fucl" (rhymes with "buckle") being a popular swear word on the forums. It's actually intentional, as explained by Tom Hall on his [[http://tomtomtom.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/happy-21st-birthday-commander-keen/ blog]]

* SocialDarwinist: Mortimer [=McMire=]. He thinks everybody dumber than him (Which is everybody in the universe) deserves to die.

* MooksButNoBosses: Only three levels in the entire series have bosses: The final level in Episode 3 (Mortimer [=McMire=] on his Mangling Machine), Episode 5 (Shikadi Master), and Keen Dreams (Boobus Tubber).

* ''Aliens Ate My Babysitter!'' (1992): Keen's babysitter Molly is kidnapped by an alien race named the Bloogs, and he must rescue her by fighting his way through the planet Fribbulus Xax. The game was published by [=FormGen=] and resold by Apogee.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The full version of 6. [=FormGen=] actually published the title with apogee reselling it as an retail product. id like other apogee developers kept the rights to the title. id did include it in the incredibly rare ''Id Anthology'' CD set. It's a ''little'' easier to find copies of that in order to buy ''Commander Keen 6'' (although it's still [[CrackIsCheaper a hundred bucks]]). they did sell it for an while in the commander keen pack on there download store until the late 90's the steam complete pack lacks the game due to it's old school copy protection.

* ''Aliens Ate My Babysitter!'' (1992): Keen's babysitter Molly is kidnapped by an alien race named the Bloogs, and he must rescue her by fighting his way through the planet Fribbulus Xax. The game was published by [=FormGen=] and distributed by Apogee.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The full version of 6. Apogee needed [=FormGen=]'s help to get the game out, and thus they could only act as a middleman in selling the game. Once [=FormGen=] went under and Apogee ran out of their stock, that was, as they say, that. Somehow id Software (a longtime collaborator with Apogee) got the rights to include it in the incredibly rare ''Id Anthology'' CD set. It's a ''little'' easier to find copies of that in order to buy ''Commander Keen 6'' (although it's still [[CrackIsCheaper a hundred bucks]]).

* OmnicidalManiac: Mortimer [=McMire=]

* SocialDarwinist: Mortimer [=McMire=]

* {{Doppelganger}}: Mortimer [=McMire=]. In the jungle level from ''Secret of the Oracle'', if Keen looks down at a certain point, you can see his face rotating on a computer monitor. It looks just like Keen's sprite, only with a black helmet and shirt.

* EvilCounterpart: Mortimer [=McMire=], Keen's arch-nemesis, who constantly taunts Keen for having an IQ that's 1 point lower.

* WhoForgotTheLights?: In episode 2 Keen can switch off (and back on) the lights in some levels. This is helpful; "A wise Vorticon never jumps in the dark. In fact, even unwise Vorticons will not jump in darkness."

* ''Marooned On Mars'' (1990): The first part of the ''Invasion of the Vorticons'' trilogy. While exploring Mars, Keen discovers that the Vorticon have stolen four key components from his ship, and must journey across the landscape to several cities to retrieve his equipment. Featured the first appearance of Keen's signature pogo stick.

* ''Keen Must Die!!'' (1990): The final part of the ''Vorticon'' trilogy. After disabling the Vorticon mothership, Keen travels to their home planet in search of the mysterious force that had directed them to Earth. The game featured various Vorticon cities and establishments, and allowed players to learn the Vorticon alphabet (a heavily-advertised feature that allowed players to go back to the previous installments and decipher various signs in the levels).

* UnwinnableByDesign: Subverted in Episode 3: Keen Must Die! The "Impossible Maze of the Caves of Oblivion" before the final level is just that; if you face the challenge head-on and collect all the keycards hidden in the maze cave, you'll find that the level exit is right behind a gate of spikes with no way to get through them. What you're supposed to do instead is pogo up and over the mountain to a ''secret'' exit that's out in the open with no instant-death traps barring your way.

** Due to level design goofs or glitches, in some cases it's possible to leave a level without having achieved the objective. For instance, in the "Cave of the Descendants" in episode 4, there's a door with no floor on the other side, so you fall if you walk through. Due to a glitch, you can, if you're fast enough, go back through the door before you fall, whereupon you instantly win the level. But now you can't rescue the elder from that level. In another level, you have to make sure you reach the key gem needed to exit the level before the item-stealing monster does.[[hottip:* :Although in the latter case, if you have any lives left, you can suicide and thereby reset the level.]]

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A series of video games developed at the turn of the 90s, one of the first to be successful at replicating the side-scrolling action of the {{NES}} ''SuperMarioBros'' games in {{MS-DOS}} (more on that down below). The cartoon-style platformers are notable for their pioneering use of EGA graphics and shareware distribution, and because they were some of the first games by IdSoftware (which went on to develop blockbusters like ''{{Doom}}'' and ''{{Quake}}''). Although developed by id, most of the Commander Keen games were published by Apogee Software, an already established MS-DOS shareware game publisher.

* ApocalypseHow: ''Earth Explodes'' has the villains of the first episode position a planetary destruction ship in orbit over Earth. If you screw up, you get to activate it. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess what happens]].

* {{Cool Starship}}: The Bean-With-Bacon Megarocket. It's made of ''soup cans'' and runs on [[strike:vodka]]''Everclear''. Admit it, you want one.

* HintSystem: In the Game Boy version, arrows appear in the background to give players hints about the surroundings (because the screen is otherwise too small to see whether or not you can make a LeapOfFaith).

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The full version of 6. Apogee needed [=FormGen=]'s help to get the game out, and thus they could only act as a middleman in selling the game. Once [=FormGen=] went under and Apogee ran out of their stock, that was, as they say, that. Somehow id Software (a longtime collaborator with Apogee) got the rights to include it in the incredibly rare ''Id Anthology'' CD set. It's a ''little'' easier to find copies of that in order to buy ''Commander Keen 6'' (although it's still [[CrackIsCheaper a hundred bucks]]).

* {{No Ending}}: Beating ''The Armageddon Machine'' gives you a message saying "See you Christmas '92 when Commander Keen returns to battle for the universe! It'll be the biggest Keen ever!". Sadly, this grand finale was never made, and aside from a few fan-made {{Game Mod}}s, the series still ends on a cliffhanger.

* {{Sequel Escalation}}: The ''Invasion of the Vorticons'' trilogy had Keen fighting to save the Earth. In ''Goodbye Galaxy'', he saved the galaxy. The third trilogy, had it ever been made, would have had him up against a plot to destroy ''the entire universe''.

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* ContinuityNod: Billy Blaze's full name is [[VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D William Joseph Blazkowicz]] III, after his grandfather, who you probably know better as "B.J.".

* BadassGrandpa / BadassFamily: According to the Wolfenstein3D hint manual, William Blazkowicz has a grandson by the name of B. Blaze. Furthermore, the Cyberdemon encountered at the end of Doom is missing an arm and a leg. The same ones that William cut off. You know, the demon who vowed [[CycleOfRevenge revenge]] on William's descendants? Might Doomguy be Billy's decendant? In any case, even without Doomguy, Billy Blaze has a pretty badass family.

* ContinuityNod: Billy Blaze's full name is [[Wolfenstein3D William Joseph Blazkowicz]] III, after his grandfather, who you probably know better as "B.J.".

* ShoutOut: Several, the most notable ones being ToServeMan, ''Wolfenstein3D'' ([[ProductionForeshadowing which still had to be produced]]) and ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' (the Dopefish is the second dumbest creature in the universe, after all...)