Monkey Island series
Encyclopedia
Monkey Island is the collective name given to a series of five graphical adventure game
s produced and published by LucasArts
, originally known as LucasFilm Games through the development of the first game in the series; the games have produced a significiant cult following. The fifth installment of the franchise was developed by Telltale Games
in collaboration with LucasArts. The games follow the misadventures of the hapless Guybrush Threepwood
as he struggles to become the most notorious pirate
in the Caribbean
, defeat the plans of the evil undead
pirate LeChuck
and win the heart of governor Elaine Marley
. Each game's plot usually involves the mysterious Monkey Island and its impenetrable secrets.
The games were created as a collaborative effort among Ron Gilbert
, Tim Schafer
and Dave Grossman. Gilbert worked on the first two games before leaving LucasArts. Grossman and Schafer, who also worked on the first two games, would enjoy success on other titles before both of them also left. The rights to Monkey Island remained with LucasArts, and the third and fourth games were created without the input of the original writing crew. Development of the fifth game was headed by Dave Grossman, with work from Michael Stemmle
; while not actively engaged in the project, Gilbert was involved with the initial design of the game.
and Infocom
, both of which were known for games with sudden and frequent character deaths or "lock-outs". LucasArts itself used such closed plot paths for its drama games like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
(1989), but preferred the open format for other humor-oriented adventure games such as Sam & Max Hit the Road
(1993) and Day of the Tentacle
(1993). After Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
in 1991, the series went in hiatus until 1997, when it resumed with The Curse of Monkey Island
. After the fourth entry, Escape from Monkey Island
, the franchise again went on hiatus, though numerous rumors persisted about a revival until the announcement of Tales of Monkey Island
by Telltale Games
in early 2009.
Much of the music of the games is composed by Michael Land
. The score largely consists of reggae
, Caribbean
and dub
-inspired music.
The series also tends to break the Fourth wall
, as several of the characters acknowledge that they are in a video game.
around the Golden Age of Piracy
in the 18th century. The islands teem with pirates dressed in outfits that seem to come from movies and comic book
s rather than history, and there are many deliberate anachronism
s and references to modern-day popular culture
.
The main setting of the Monkey Island games is the "Tri-Island Area", a fictional archipelago
in the Caribbean
. Since the first game in the series, The Secret of Monkey Island, three of the games have visited the titular island of Monkey Island, while all have introduced their own set of islands to explore. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge features four new islands, but does not return to Monkey Island until the final cutscene. The Curse of Monkey Island introduces three, and Escape from Monkey Island, which revisits some of the older islands, features three new islands as well. As such, the "Tri-Island area" actually comprises a total of 13 visitable islands. Tales of Monkey Island takes place in a new area of the Caribbean called the "Gulf of Melange".
The main islands of the Tri-Island Area are Mêlée Island, Booty Island, and Plunder Island governed by Elaine Marley
in place of her long lost grandfather, Horatio Torquemada Marley. Elaine moves from island to island at her convenience, though she considers her governor's mansion on Mêlée Island, the capital island of the area, as home.
Other islands in the region are considered under the umbrella of Tri-Island Area as well, even though not directly governed by Elaine include: Lucre Island, Jambalaya Island, Scabb Island, Phatt Island, Plunder Island, Hook Island, Skull Island, Knuttin Atoll, Blood Island, Spittle Island and Pinchpenny Island.
The Gulf of Melange has its own set of islands: Flotsam Island, the Jerkbait Islands (Spinner Cay, Spoon Island, Roe Island), Brillig Island, Boulder Beach, Isle of Ewe, and the Rock of Gelato.
Monkey Island and Dinky Island are not officially part of any island area, but nonetheless are central to the series' overall back-story and canon.
(the protagonist); Elaine Marley
(the primary foil as the object of Guybrush and LeChuck's affection); and LeChuck
(the primary antagonist).
's two main inspirations for the story were Disneyland
's Pirates of the Caribbean ride and Tim Powers
' book On Stranger Tides
. The book was the inspiration for the story and characters, while the ride was the inspiration for the ambiance. "[The POTC Ride] keeps you moving through the adventure," Gilbert said in an interview, "but I've always wished I could get off and wander around, learn more about the characters, and find a way onto those pirate ships. So with The Secret of Monkey Island(TM) I wanted to create a game that had the same flavor, but where you could step off the boat and enter that whole storybook world."
Several specific references to the ride are made throughout the series, including a puzzle in the second game
based on the ride's famous Jail Cell/Dog With Keys scene (the dog in the scene is even named Walt
). The banjo music in the opening menu of the third game
is also very reminiscent of the banjo music at the beginning of the ride. Additional references are made to Disneyland and theme parks in general throughout the series, including Guybrush finding an E ticket
.
, Atari ST
and Macintosh
platforms; the game was later ported to Amiga
, FM Towns
and Mega-CD (1993). A remastered version with updated graphics and new voiceovers was released for Playstation Network, PC Windows
, Xbox Live Arcade
and Mac OS X
. An iPhone
version was also released on 23 July 2009.
The game starts off with the main character Guybrush Threepwood stating "I want to be a pirate!" To do so, he must prove himself to three old pirate captains. During the perilous pirate trials, he meets the beautiful governor Elaine Marley, with whom he falls in love, unaware that the ghost pirate LeChuck also has his eyes on her. When Elaine is kidnapped, Guybrush procures crew and ship to track LeChuck down, defeat him and rescue his love.
, Amiga
, Macintosh
, and later for FM Towns
. A Special Edition version, in a similar style as The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, was released in July 2010 for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
As Guybrush, with a treasure chest
in hand, and Elaine hang onto ropes in a void, he tells her the story of the game. He has decided to find the greatest of all treasure
s, that of Big Whoop. Unwittingly, he helps revive LeChuck, who is now in zombie form. Guybrush is eventually captured by his arch-nemesis, but escapes with help from Wally and finds the treasure only to find himself dangling from a rope, as depicted at the beginning of the game. As Guybrush concludes his story, his rope breaks and he finds himself facing LeChuck, whom he finally defeats using voodoo. The surrealistic ending is open to a number of interpretations. In the manual of The Curse of Monkey Island
, it is stated that Guybrush falls victim to a hex implemented by LeChuck.
in 1997.
Guybrush unwittingly turns Elaine into a gold statue with a cursed ring and she is soon stolen by pirates. He tracks her down before searching for a ring that can lift the curse. LeChuck appears in a fiery demon form, and is on the heels of Guybrush until a standoff in LeChuck's amusement park ride, the Rollercoaster of Doom.
, and in 2001 for Macintosh
and PlayStation 2
.
When Guybrush Threepwood and Elaine Marley return from their honeymoon, they find that Elaine has been declared officially dead, her mansion is under destruction order, and her position as governor is up for election. Guybrush investigates and unearths a conspiracy by LeChuck and evil real estate developer Ozzie Mandrill to use a voodoo talisman, "The Ultimate Insult," to make all pirates docile in order to turn the Caribbean into a center of tourism.
and LucasArts, with a simultaneous release both on WiiWare
and PC
. Unlike other installments, Tales is an episodic adventure consisting of five different episodes. The first episode was released on July 7, with the last one released on December 8, 2009.
During a heated battle with his nemesis, the evil pirate LeChuck, Guybrush unwittingly unleashes an insidious pox that rapidly spreads across the Caribbean, turning pirates into zombie-like monsters. The Voodoo Lady sends Guybrush in search of a legendary sea sponge to stem the epidemic, but this seemingly straightforward quest has surprises around every corner.
Tales of Monkey Island also released on Playstation Network as a bundle for $20.00 USD.
There has also been some speculation on Telltale Games forums about a possible sequel to their reboot of the series, Tales of Monkey Island, although this was dismissed by Ron Gilbert himself who stated that "Basically, when we were working on Tales, I understood that [...] I'm too old for that job now" in an interview with Edge Magazine in March 2010. The Tales team itself claims that, despite a considerably increasing fanbase since 2009-10, there aren't any plans to continue the series within the next five-year interval.
together with Industrial Light & Magic were working on an animated film based on the series. Steve Purcell
created the concept paintings and Ted Elliott
wrote the story. However during development the film was cancelled. Concept art of the film was released via Purcell's official blog.
In 2007, fan site World of Monkey Island was contacted by an anonymous source who told them that Ted Elliot had written the script for the film who before then remained unknown to the project.
Elliot would later go on to write the Pirates of the Caribbean
film series which bears striking similarities to the Monkey Island series.
, Guybrush appears as an unlockable playable skin for Starkiller.
In Poker Night at the Inventory
, another game by Telltale games, Reginald Van Winslow is the proprietor of the Inventory. As well seen behind Tycho is a painting of a Vaycaylian.
In Dark Seed, the name G. Threepwood is engraved on a tombstone in the cemetery.
In Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
, the cheat-code MAKEMEAPIRATE transforms the Indiana-Jones-character into Guybrush Threepwood.
In Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble
, fights begin by insulting your opponent in a similar fashion to Monkey Island. One of the Insults included in both games was "Look, a three-headed-monkey!".
In the Return to Zork
PC game Guybrush appears underwater in a sunken ship although this is not part of the game.
In a scene from Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones can die from drowning because he is unable to "hold his breath as long as Guybrush Threepwood".
In Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire
by Sierra On-Line, the developers added a nod to their rivals at LucasArts in the form of a rhyme that is shown when the Hero drowns after staying under water for too long: "This is the lesson you've been taught — Guybrush Threepwood you are not. When by water you are surrounded -- Get to shore before you're drown-ed".
s, puzzles, in-joke
s, and references.
fighting in the third, insult arm wrestling
and Monkey Kombat in the fourth, and Pirate Face-Off in the fifth. The first, second and fourth games also feature a puzzle which involves following another character through several locations, a trick also used in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
. Some other minigames include naval cannon battles, and platform diving.
s, humorous references, and Easter eggs: so many, in fact, that entire web sites are dedicated to their detection and listing.
Running gag
s include lines such as "Look behind you, a three-headed monkey!", the introduction "My name is Guybrush Threepwood and I'm a mighty pirate", "How appropriate, you fight like a cow", "I'm selling these fine leather jackets" (a reference to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
), and "That's the second biggest [object] I've ever seen", a catchphrase from the TV series Get Smart
(and in EMI "That's the second largest... No, that IS the largest conch shell I've ever seen!"), and the astounding fact that Guybrush can hold his breath for ten minutes.
Two quotes from Monkey Island are mentioned in Scott Pilgrim
. One example has Scott taunting his roommate for ditching him on the bus, yelling "I am rubber! You are glue!". Another has Scott's girlfriend fighting his ex-girlfriend, and says "You fight like a cow!" in regards to the last attack.
Ron Gilbert has openly admitted that sections of Monkey Island 2 borrowed extensively from the original Pirates of the Caribbean Disneyland ride
, such as the famous "dog holding the keys to the jail-cell". However, he has also said that he thought the second movie (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
) may have 'borrowed' from the Monkey Island series. The opening menu banjo music in Curse is also very reminiscent of the beginning of the Disneyland ride.
Each game in the series features cameo appearances by Steve Purcell
's characters Sam & Max
, who were featured in their own LucasArts adventure game, Sam & Max Hit the Road
. These are replaced by the purple tentacle from yet another LucasArts adventure game Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle in the special edition versions.
There are many comic references to various Lucas projects, especially Star Wars. For instance, in 'Curse,' when you click on the fort that's been damaged by cannon fire from LeChuck's ship, Guybrush replies "That's funny, the damage doesn't look as bad from out here," which is C-3PO's line after he and R2-D2 escape from Princess Leia's ship in the escape pod.
Gilbert stated that he never told anyone what the true secret of Monkey Island is. A long article about the subject can be found here.
Gilbert stated in a 2004 interview that when the game was originally conceived it was considered "too big", so they split it into three parts. He added that he "knows what the third [part] is" and "how the story's supposed to end," indicating that he had a definite concept of the secret and a conclusive third game.
The team behind Escape from Monkey Island attempted to resolve the issue by showing that the Giant Monkey Head was actually the control room of a Giant Monkey Robot. The cut-scene in which the revelation was made is called "The Real Secret of Monkey Island".
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s produced and published by LucasArts
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
, originally known as LucasFilm Games through the development of the first game in the series; the games have produced a significiant cult following. The fifth installment of the franchise was developed by Telltale Games
Telltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
in collaboration with LucasArts. The games follow the misadventures of the hapless Guybrush Threepwood
Guybrush Threepwood
Guybrush Ulysses Threepwood is the main character of the Monkey Island series of computer adventure games by LucasArts. The voice of Guybrush is actor Dominic Armato in the third, fourth and fifth games, as well as the enhanced remakes of The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's...
as he struggles to become the most notorious pirate
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, defeat the plans of the evil undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
pirate LeChuck
LeChuck
LeChuck is a fictional character in the Monkey Island series of graphic adventure games. Created by Ron Gilbert for LucasArts, LeChuck was introduced in The Secret of Monkey Island and is the chief antagonist of the series. Gilbert drew on aspects of the characters in the 1988 novel On Stranger...
and win the heart of governor Elaine Marley
Elaine Marley
Elaine Marley–Threepwood is a fictional character in the Monkey Island series of graphic adventure video games. Created by Ron Gilbert for LucasArts, the character first appears in The Secret of Monkey Island and is one of the core characters in the franchise...
. Each game's plot usually involves the mysterious Monkey Island and its impenetrable secrets.
The games were created as a collaborative effort among Ron Gilbert
Ron Gilbert
Ron Gilbert is an American computer game designer, programmer, and producer, best known for his work on several classic LucasArts adventure games, including Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games. Gilbert was also co-founder of Humongous Entertainment and its sister company Cavedog...
, Tim Schafer
Tim Schafer
Timothy Schafer is an American computer game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in January 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts...
and Dave Grossman. Gilbert worked on the first two games before leaving LucasArts. Grossman and Schafer, who also worked on the first two games, would enjoy success on other titles before both of them also left. The rights to Monkey Island remained with LucasArts, and the third and fourth games were created without the input of the original writing crew. Development of the fifth game was headed by Dave Grossman, with work from Michael Stemmle
Michael Stemmle
Michael J. Stemmle is a computer game writer, designer, and director who cocreated some of LucasArts' adventure games in the 1990s and early 2000s...
; while not actively engaged in the project, Gilbert was involved with the initial design of the game.
Overview
The Monkey Island series is known for its humor and "player-friendly" qualities. The player cannot permanently place the game in an unwinnable state or cause Guybrush to die without great effort. This "player-friendly" approach was unusual at the time of the first game's release in 1990; prominent adventure-game rivals included Sierra On-LineSierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
and Infocom
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
, both of which were known for games with sudden and frequent character deaths or "lock-outs". LucasArts itself used such closed plot paths for its drama games like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure is a graphical adventure game, originally released in 1989 , published by Lucasfilm Games . It was the third game to use the SCUMM engine.-Plot:The plot closely follows, and expands upon, the film of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...
(1989), but preferred the open format for other humor-oriented adventure games such as Sam & Max Hit the Road
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Sam & Max Hit the Road is a graphic adventure computer game released by LucasArts during the company's adventure games era. The game was originally released for DOS in 1993 and for Mac OS in 1995. A 2002 re-release included compatibility with Windows and Amiga...
(1993) and Day of the Tentacle
Day of the Tentacle
Day of the Tentacle, also known as Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle, is a 1993 graphic adventure game developed and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 1987 game Maniac Mansion...
(1993). After Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts in 1991. It was the second game of the Monkey Island series, following The Secret of Monkey Island, and the sixth LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine. It was the first game to use the iMUSE sound...
in 1991, the series went in hiatus until 1997, when it resumed with The Curse of Monkey Island
The Curse of Monkey Island
The Curse of Monkey Island is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts, and the third game in the Monkey Island series. It was released in and followed the successful games The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge...
. After the fourth entry, Escape from Monkey Island
Escape from Monkey Island
Escape from Monkey Island is a computer adventure game developed and released by LucasArts in 2000. It is the fourth game in the Monkey Island series....
, the franchise again went on hiatus, though numerous rumors persisted about a revival until the announcement of Tales of Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games and LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the Monkey Island series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, Escape from Monkey Island. Developed for Windows and the Wii console, the game was...
by Telltale Games
Telltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
in early 2009.
Much of the music of the games is composed by Michael Land
Michael Land
Michael Z. Land is an American video game composer and musician best known for his scores for various games produced by LucasArts.-Early life and career:Michael Land was born in the North Shore area north of Boston, Massachusetts...
. The score largely consists of reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
-inspired music.
The series also tends to break the Fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
, as several of the characters acknowledge that they are in a video game.
Setting
Each of the games takes place on fictional islands in the CaribbeanCaribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
around the Golden Age of Piracy
Golden Age of Piracy
The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation given to one or more outbursts of piracy in maritime history of the early modern period. In its broadest accepted definition, the Golden Age of Piracy spans from the 1650s to the 1730s and covers three separate outbursts of piracy:the buccaneering...
in the 18th century. The islands teem with pirates dressed in outfits that seem to come from movies and comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s rather than history, and there are many deliberate anachronism
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
s and references to modern-day popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
.
The main setting of the Monkey Island games is the "Tri-Island Area", a fictional archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. Since the first game in the series, The Secret of Monkey Island, three of the games have visited the titular island of Monkey Island, while all have introduced their own set of islands to explore. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge features four new islands, but does not return to Monkey Island until the final cutscene. The Curse of Monkey Island introduces three, and Escape from Monkey Island, which revisits some of the older islands, features three new islands as well. As such, the "Tri-Island area" actually comprises a total of 13 visitable islands. Tales of Monkey Island takes place in a new area of the Caribbean called the "Gulf of Melange".
The main islands of the Tri-Island Area are Mêlée Island, Booty Island, and Plunder Island governed by Elaine Marley
Elaine Marley
Elaine Marley–Threepwood is a fictional character in the Monkey Island series of graphic adventure video games. Created by Ron Gilbert for LucasArts, the character first appears in The Secret of Monkey Island and is one of the core characters in the franchise...
in place of her long lost grandfather, Horatio Torquemada Marley. Elaine moves from island to island at her convenience, though she considers her governor's mansion on Mêlée Island, the capital island of the area, as home.
Other islands in the region are considered under the umbrella of Tri-Island Area as well, even though not directly governed by Elaine include: Lucre Island, Jambalaya Island, Scabb Island, Phatt Island, Plunder Island, Hook Island, Skull Island, Knuttin Atoll, Blood Island, Spittle Island and Pinchpenny Island.
The Gulf of Melange has its own set of islands: Flotsam Island, the Jerkbait Islands (Spinner Cay, Spoon Island, Roe Island), Brillig Island, Boulder Beach, Isle of Ewe, and the Rock of Gelato.
Monkey Island and Dinky Island are not officially part of any island area, but nonetheless are central to the series' overall back-story and canon.
Characters
The games have a wide cast of characters, many of which reappear throughout the series. Each entry in the series revolves around three main characters: Guybrush ThreepwoodGuybrush Threepwood
Guybrush Ulysses Threepwood is the main character of the Monkey Island series of computer adventure games by LucasArts. The voice of Guybrush is actor Dominic Armato in the third, fourth and fifth games, as well as the enhanced remakes of The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's...
(the protagonist); Elaine Marley
Elaine Marley
Elaine Marley–Threepwood is a fictional character in the Monkey Island series of graphic adventure video games. Created by Ron Gilbert for LucasArts, the character first appears in The Secret of Monkey Island and is one of the core characters in the franchise...
(the primary foil as the object of Guybrush and LeChuck's affection); and LeChuck
LeChuck
LeChuck is a fictional character in the Monkey Island series of graphic adventure games. Created by Ron Gilbert for LucasArts, LeChuck was introduced in The Secret of Monkey Island and is the chief antagonist of the series. Gilbert drew on aspects of the characters in the 1988 novel On Stranger...
(the primary antagonist).
Inspiration
Ron GilbertRon Gilbert
Ron Gilbert is an American computer game designer, programmer, and producer, best known for his work on several classic LucasArts adventure games, including Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games. Gilbert was also co-founder of Humongous Entertainment and its sister company Cavedog...
's two main inspirations for the story were Disneyland
Disneyland Park (Anaheim)
Disneyland Park is a theme park located in Anaheim, California, owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of the Walt Disney Company. Known as Disneyland when it opened on July 18, 1955, and still almost universally referred to by that name, it is the only theme park to be...
's Pirates of the Caribbean ride and Tim Powers
Tim Powers
Timothy Thomas "Tim" Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare...
' book On Stranger Tides
On Stranger Tides
On Stranger Tides is a 1987 historical fantasy novel written by Tim Powers. It was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and placed second in the annual Locus poll for best fantasy novel....
. The book was the inspiration for the story and characters, while the ride was the inspiration for the ambiance. "[The POTC Ride] keeps you moving through the adventure," Gilbert said in an interview, "but I've always wished I could get off and wander around, learn more about the characters, and find a way onto those pirate ships. So with The Secret of Monkey Island(TM) I wanted to create a game that had the same flavor, but where you could step off the boat and enter that whole storybook world."
Several specific references to the ride are made throughout the series, including a puzzle in the second game
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts in 1991. It was the second game of the Monkey Island series, following The Secret of Monkey Island, and the sixth LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine. It was the first game to use the iMUSE sound...
based on the ride's famous Jail Cell/Dog With Keys scene (the dog in the scene is even named Walt
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
). The banjo music in the opening menu of the third game
The Curse of Monkey Island
The Curse of Monkey Island is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts, and the third game in the Monkey Island series. It was released in and followed the successful games The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge...
is also very reminiscent of the banjo music at the beginning of the ride. Additional references are made to Disneyland and theme parks in general throughout the series, including Guybrush finding an E ticket
E ticket
The phrase E ticket refers to an unusually interesting, thrilling or expensive experience. It derives from the admission ticket system used at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom theme parks before 1982, in which the E ticket admitted the bearer to the newest, most advanced, and/or most popular rides...
.
The Secret of Monkey Island
The series debuted in 1990 with The Secret of Monkey Island on the MS-DOSMS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
platforms; the game was later ported to Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, FM Towns
FM Towns
The FM Towns system is a Japanese PC variant, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with regular PCs...
and Mega-CD (1993). A remastered version with updated graphics and new voiceovers was released for Playstation Network, PC Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
. An iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
version was also released on 23 July 2009.
The game starts off with the main character Guybrush Threepwood stating "I want to be a pirate!" To do so, he must prove himself to three old pirate captains. During the perilous pirate trials, he meets the beautiful governor Elaine Marley, with whom he falls in love, unaware that the ghost pirate LeChuck also has his eyes on her. When Elaine is kidnapped, Guybrush procures crew and ship to track LeChuck down, defeat him and rescue his love.
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
The second game, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge from 1991, was available for fewer platforms; it was only released for PC MS-DOSMS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
, Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
, and later for FM Towns
FM Towns
The FM Towns system is a Japanese PC variant, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with regular PCs...
. A Special Edition version, in a similar style as The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, was released in July 2010 for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
As Guybrush, with a treasure chest
Treasure Chest
Treasure Chest was a Catholic-oriented comic book series created by Dayton, Ohio publisher George A...
in hand, and Elaine hang onto ropes in a void, he tells her the story of the game. He has decided to find the greatest of all treasure
Treasure
Treasure is a concentration of riches, often one which is considered lost or forgotten until being rediscovered...
s, that of Big Whoop. Unwittingly, he helps revive LeChuck, who is now in zombie form. Guybrush is eventually captured by his arch-nemesis, but escapes with help from Wally and finds the treasure only to find himself dangling from a rope, as depicted at the beginning of the game. As Guybrush concludes his story, his rope breaks and he finds himself facing LeChuck, whom he finally defeats using voodoo. The surrealistic ending is open to a number of interpretations. In the manual of The Curse of Monkey Island
The Curse of Monkey Island
The Curse of Monkey Island is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts, and the third game in the Monkey Island series. It was released in and followed the successful games The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge...
, it is stated that Guybrush falls victim to a hex implemented by LeChuck.
The Curse of Monkey Island
The Curse of Monkey Island, the third in the series, was exclusively available for PC WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
in 1997.
Guybrush unwittingly turns Elaine into a gold statue with a cursed ring and she is soon stolen by pirates. He tracks her down before searching for a ring that can lift the curse. LeChuck appears in a fiery demon form, and is on the heels of Guybrush until a standoff in LeChuck's amusement park ride, the Rollercoaster of Doom.
Escape from Monkey Island
Escape from Monkey Island, the fourth installment, was released in 2000 for PC WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, and in 2001 for Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
and PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
.
When Guybrush Threepwood and Elaine Marley return from their honeymoon, they find that Elaine has been declared officially dead, her mansion is under destruction order, and her position as governor is up for election. Guybrush investigates and unearths a conspiracy by LeChuck and evil real estate developer Ozzie Mandrill to use a voodoo talisman, "The Ultimate Insult," to make all pirates docile in order to turn the Caribbean into a center of tourism.
Tales of Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island is the fifth installment within the series, co-developed by Telltale GamesTelltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
and LucasArts, with a simultaneous release both on WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
and PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
. Unlike other installments, Tales is an episodic adventure consisting of five different episodes. The first episode was released on July 7, with the last one released on December 8, 2009.
During a heated battle with his nemesis, the evil pirate LeChuck, Guybrush unwittingly unleashes an insidious pox that rapidly spreads across the Caribbean, turning pirates into zombie-like monsters. The Voodoo Lady sends Guybrush in search of a legendary sea sponge to stem the epidemic, but this seemingly straightforward quest has surprises around every corner.
Tales of Monkey Island also released on Playstation Network as a bundle for $20.00 USD.
Monkey Island Special Edition Collection
The Special Editions of The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge were released together for retail on September 8, 2011. Included with the release are concept art, soundtracks, material from the cancelled animation film and a DLC code for PSN and Xbox Live Marketplace.There has also been some speculation on Telltale Games forums about a possible sequel to their reboot of the series, Tales of Monkey Island, although this was dismissed by Ron Gilbert himself who stated that "Basically, when we were working on Tales, I understood that [...] I'm too old for that job now" in an interview with Edge Magazine in March 2010. The Tales team itself claims that, despite a considerably increasing fanbase since 2009-10, there aren't any plans to continue the series within the next five-year interval.
Cancelled film
In 2000, LucasfilmLucasfilm
Lucasfilm Limited is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco, California. Lucas is the company's current chairman and CEO, and Micheline Chau is the president and COO....
together with Industrial Light & Magic were working on an animated film based on the series. Steve Purcell
Steve Purcell
Steve Ross Purcell is an American cartoonist, animator and game designer. He is most widely known as the creator of Sam & Max, an independent comic book series about a pair of anthropomorphic animal vigilantes and private investigators, for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007...
created the concept paintings and Ted Elliott
Ted Elliott
Ted Elliott is an American screenwriter. Along with his writing partner Terry Rossio, Elliott has written some of the most successful American films of the past 15 years, including Aladdin, Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean. In 2004, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild...
wrote the story. However during development the film was cancelled. Concept art of the film was released via Purcell's official blog.
In 2007, fan site World of Monkey Island was contacted by an anonymous source who told them that Ted Elliot had written the script for the film who before then remained unknown to the project.
Elliot would later go on to write the Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in...
film series which bears striking similarities to the Monkey Island series.
Stage play
A live stage version was produced based on the first game. It ran from 21 to 29 May 2005 at Hammond High School in Columbia. The production was made by student Chris Heady who was granted permission from LucasArts.Appearances in other media
In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed IIStar Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is LucasArts' sequel to 2008's Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game. A trailer announcing the game was shown December 12, 2009, at the Spike Video Game Awards. The game was released across multiple platforms in October 2010, along with a collectors edition of...
, Guybrush appears as an unlockable playable skin for Starkiller.
In Poker Night at the Inventory
Poker Night at the Inventory
Poker Night at the Inventory is a poker video game developed by Telltale Games. It features four crossover characters: Tycho from the Penny Arcade webcomic, Max from the Sam & Max franchise, the Heavy-class from Team Fortress 2, and Strong Bad from the Homestar Runner web series...
, another game by Telltale games, Reginald Van Winslow is the proprietor of the Inventory. As well seen behind Tycho is a painting of a Vaycaylian.
In Dark Seed, the name G. Threepwood is engraved on a tombstone in the cemetery.
In Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine is a multi-platform action-adventure video game by LucasArts released in late 1999. The first 3D installment in the series, its gameplay focuses on solving puzzles, fighting enemies, and various platforming sections...
, the cheat-code MAKEMEAPIRATE transforms the Indiana-Jones-character into Guybrush Threepwood.
In Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble
Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble
Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble, known in Japan as , is a PlayStation Portable beat 'em up video game released in 2008 in Japan and 2009 in the United States...
, fights begin by insulting your opponent in a similar fashion to Monkey Island. One of the Insults included in both games was "Look, a three-headed-monkey!".
In the Return to Zork
Return to Zork
Return to Zork is a 1993 adventure game in the Zork series. It was developed by Activision and was the final Zork game to be published under the Infocom label.-Gameplay:...
PC game Guybrush appears underwater in a sunken ship although this is not part of the game.
In a scene from Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones can die from drowning because he is unable to "hold his breath as long as Guybrush Threepwood".
In Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire
Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire
Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire is the fifth and final game in the Quest for Glory computer game series by Sierra Entertainment. Unlike the first four games, Dragon Fire is an Action/RPG with few elements of Adventure.-Story:...
by Sierra On-Line, the developers added a nod to their rivals at LucasArts in the form of a rhyme that is shown when the Hero drowns after staying under water for too long: "This is the lesson you've been taught — Guybrush Threepwood you are not. When by water you are surrounded -- Get to shore before you're drown-ed".
Common themes
The games in the series share several minigameMinigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s, puzzles, in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
s, and references.
Maps
Each game contains a map puzzle, wherein Guybrush must use an unconventional map to find his way through a maze. The first game features a set of dance instructions that point the way through the dense forest of Mêlée IslandTM to find the Island's fabled treasure. In the second game, Guybrush must use a song from a dream sequence to find his way through LeChuck's dungeon. The third game is the reverse of this, as the instructions the player receives are traditional directions and need to be used on a theatre light board. The fourth game has a set of directions based on time, and the fifth based on animal sounds and the direction of the wind and finally a map to get one of the items needed for "The Feast of the Senses".Recipes
Each game features a sequence of some sort, where players must gather the ingredients to create an item. Then, later in the game, the player has to create the item again, but this time around with improvised materials. In 'Secret', Guybrush must brew a voodoo concoction but, lacking ingredients, must improvise with the contents of his inventory, leading to amusing puns. In Monkey Island 2, at two points of the game, Guybrush has to create a voodoo doll, one of Largo LaGrande with legitimate ingredients, and one of LeChuck with improvised ingredients. The same goes with the hangover medicine in 'Curse' and the Ultimate Insult in 'Escape'. 'Tales' starts with Guybrush having to obtain fizzy root-beer then dropping it and him having to instead put together some fizzy root-grog. Later 'Tales' requires Guybrush to put together a 'feast of the senses' to increase the size of La Esponja Grande, and later track down a reversed recipe for the 'diet of the senses'.Minigames
Each game also contains a minigame based on learning and repetition of a sequence in order to become more proficient: Insult Swordfighting in the first and third games, a number-based "password" as well as a spitting contest in the second, banjoBanjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
fighting in the third, insult arm wrestling
Arm wrestling
Arm wrestling is a sport with two participants. Each participant places one arm on a surface with their elbows bent and touching the surface, and they grip each other's hand...
and Monkey Kombat in the fourth, and Pirate Face-Off in the fifth. The first, second and fourth games also feature a puzzle which involves following another character through several locations, a trick also used in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is a point-and-click adventure game by LucasArts originally released in 1992. Almost a year later, it was reissued on CD-ROM as an enhanced "talkie" edition with full voice acting and digitized sound effects...
. Some other minigames include naval cannon battles, and platform diving.
Pop-culture references
The Monkey Island series is full of spoofs, in-jokeIn-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
s, humorous references, and Easter eggs: so many, in fact, that entire web sites are dedicated to their detection and listing.
Running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
s include lines such as "Look behind you, a three-headed monkey!", the introduction "My name is Guybrush Threepwood and I'm a mighty pirate", "How appropriate, you fight like a cow", "I'm selling these fine leather jackets" (a reference to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure is a graphical adventure game, originally released in 1989 , published by Lucasfilm Games . It was the third game to use the SCUMM engine.-Plot:The plot closely follows, and expands upon, the film of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...
), and "That's the second biggest [object] I've ever seen", a catchphrase from the TV series Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
(and in EMI "That's the second largest... No, that IS the largest conch shell I've ever seen!"), and the astounding fact that Guybrush can hold his breath for ten minutes.
Two quotes from Monkey Island are mentioned in Scott Pilgrim
Scott Pilgrim
Scott Pilgrim is a graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. It consists of six digest size black-and-white volumes, released between August 2004 and July 2010, by Portland-based independent comic book publisher Oni Press. It was later republished by Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins...
. One example has Scott taunting his roommate for ditching him on the bus, yelling "I am rubber! You are glue!". Another has Scott's girlfriend fighting his ex-girlfriend, and says "You fight like a cow!" in regards to the last attack.
Ron Gilbert has openly admitted that sections of Monkey Island 2 borrowed extensively from the original Pirates of the Caribbean Disneyland ride
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in...
, such as the famous "dog holding the keys to the jail-cell". However, he has also said that he thought the second movie (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by...
) may have 'borrowed' from the Monkey Island series. The opening menu banjo music in Curse is also very reminiscent of the beginning of the Disneyland ride.
Each game in the series features cameo appearances by Steve Purcell
Steve Purcell
Steve Ross Purcell is an American cartoonist, animator and game designer. He is most widely known as the creator of Sam & Max, an independent comic book series about a pair of anthropomorphic animal vigilantes and private investigators, for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007...
's characters Sam & Max
Sam & Max
Sam & Max is a media franchise focusing on the fictional characters of Sam and Max, the Freelance Police. The characters, who occupy a universe that parodies American popular culture, were created by Steve Purcell in his youth, and later debuted in a 1987 comic book series...
, who were featured in their own LucasArts adventure game, Sam & Max Hit the Road
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Sam & Max Hit the Road is a graphic adventure computer game released by LucasArts during the company's adventure games era. The game was originally released for DOS in 1993 and for Mac OS in 1995. A 2002 re-release included compatibility with Windows and Amiga...
. These are replaced by the purple tentacle from yet another LucasArts adventure game Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle in the special edition versions.
There are many comic references to various Lucas projects, especially Star Wars. For instance, in 'Curse,' when you click on the fort that's been damaged by cannon fire from LeChuck's ship, Guybrush replies "That's funny, the damage doesn't look as bad from out here," which is C-3PO's line after he and R2-D2 escape from Princess Leia's ship in the escape pod.
The Secret of Monkey Island
None of the games explicitly reveal the "Secret of Monkey Island" (although creator Ron Gilbert has stated that the secret was not revealed in any of the games, and that the true secret would be revealed if he got to work on the fifth entry in the series). LeChuck himself, when asked in the second and third games, refuses to answer the question; Guybrush can eventually prod LeChuck to confess that he does not know what the secret is.Gilbert stated that he never told anyone what the true secret of Monkey Island is. A long article about the subject can be found here.
Gilbert stated in a 2004 interview that when the game was originally conceived it was considered "too big", so they split it into three parts. He added that he "knows what the third [part] is" and "how the story's supposed to end," indicating that he had a definite concept of the secret and a conclusive third game.
The team behind Escape from Monkey Island attempted to resolve the issue by showing that the Giant Monkey Head was actually the control room of a Giant Monkey Robot. The cut-scene in which the revelation was made is called "The Real Secret of Monkey Island".
See also
- World of Monkey IslandWorld of Monkey IslandThe Monkey Island series takes place in a fictional world supposedly located deep within the Caribbean Sea and set roughly during the Golden Age of Piracy, some time in the late 17th century...
- LucasArts adventure gamesLucasArts adventure gamesFrom the late 1980s to the early 2000s, LucasArts was well known for their point-and-click graphic adventure games, nearly all of which received high scoring reviews at the time of their release. Their style tended towards the humorous, often irreverent or slapstick humour, with a few exceptions...
- SCUMMSCUMMScript Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion is a scripting language developed at LucasArts to ease development of the graphical adventure game Maniac Mansion....
- ScummVMScummVMScummVM is a collection of game engine recreations. Originally designed to play LucasArts adventure games that use the SCUMM system , it now also supports a variety of non-SCUMM games by companies like Revolution Software and Adventure Soft. It was originally written by Ludvig Strigeus...
- Ron GilbertRon GilbertRon Gilbert is an American computer game designer, programmer, and producer, best known for his work on several classic LucasArts adventure games, including Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games. Gilbert was also co-founder of Humongous Entertainment and its sister company Cavedog...
External links
- Monkey Island Adventures - Official Monkey Island Facebook profile
- miwiki.net - A Monkey Island wiki
- Grumpy Gamer - The personal blog of Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert
- Soundtracks - Soundtracks to the first four Monkey Island games, converted to mp3 format and free for download.
- Soundtrack (CD audio version) to The Secret of Monkey Island
- Soundtracks (MT-32 versions) to The Secret of Monkey Island and LeChuck's Revenge
- Soundtrack to The Curse of Monkey Island
- ScummVM - A multi-platform open-source SCUMM interpreter allowing the first three MI games to be played on all modern platforms
- The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar A popular fan site (Re-opened after the announcement of Tales of Monkey IslandTales of Monkey IslandTales of Monkey Island is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games and LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the Monkey Island series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, Escape from Monkey Island. Developed for Windows and the Wii console, the game was...
.) - World of Monkey Island A large Monkey Island fan site
- The Legend of Monkey Island Another fan site with lots of information
- Quick and Easy How to run LucasArts adventure games in Windows XP, 2000 and NT with no problem at all
- ATMachine's House of LucasArts Detailed information about the graphics in the games