Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison was originally planned to appear as Duke Nukem's sidekick in Duke Nukem Forever. She was scrapped from the final version of the game, but she has since appeared as the main protagonist in two games of her own.
Scrapped from Duke Nukem Forever
The only in-game shots of Bombshell in Duke Nukem Forever were shown in the game's 1998 E3 trailer. In the trailer, she is seen with Duke in the mine caves of Nevada, hitting switches and avoiding traps. She is also shown dodging fire from a flying saucer, boarding a drop shuttle, and speaking face-to-face with Duke. She was cut from later trailers, and she was ultimately scrapped from the project altogether. In the final release, Dylan replaces her as Duke's sidekick, but he is not as central to the game's storyline as Bombshell was in earlier drafts.
Leaked script
On August 15, 2024, Scott Miller leaked a couple pages of the original script for Duke Nukem Forever, circa 2000. Miller specifically isolated the pages in which Bombshell would have been introduced in the game. As part of an extended cutscene, Duke Nukem and another character named Will Stiff have arrived at Slick Willy's strip club under orders from General Graves to locate the President. Shortly after they arrive, Duke is approached by one of the club's performers, Bombshell. She says, "Hey, big boy, wanna go in BombShell's (sic) back room for a private lap dance?" In the back room, Bombshell instructs Duke to take a seat. She then asks him to wait while she changes into "something more comfortable." When she returns, she is wearing traveling clothes and informs Duke he's sitting on a pressure-activated bomb. "Get up before the music stops, you go boom-boom. Bye-bye," she tells him and then leaves.
Resurrection
In 2014, the development of Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction took a new direction when, in response to mounting legal pressure from Gearbox Software, Interceptor Entertainment stripped the game of all references to Duke Nukem. Given that 3D Realms had recently been acquired by the same holding company as Interceptor Entertainment, it was decided that the game would instead be based around Bombshell, the intellectual property of 3D Realms, as a partial appeasement to Duke Nukem fans. The game was eventually finished and released in 2016 under the title Bombshell.
Current status
Bombshell is currently the intellectual property of 3D Realms, as she was never included in any agreement with Gearbox Software. Following a legal settlement between 3D Realms and Gearbox Software in 2015, she was redesigned in every aspect except for her nickname. She has since been featured in a few games of her own:
- Bombshell (2016)
- Ion Fury (2019)
- Ion Fury: Aftershock (2023)
- Phantom Fury (2024)
Bombshell also features prominently as a playable character and NPC in the Duke Nukem: Alien Armageddon and AMC TC total conversions for Duke Nukem 3D. The total conversions use her original design that was scrapped from Duke Nukem Forever.
Gallery
