 raoul duke is the fictional character and antiheronash, paul. "fear and loathing in las vegas", close-upfilm.com. accessed october 16, 2008. "depp expertly delivers the quintessential counter-culture anti-hero raoul duke, expertly taking on the tics and gestures of thompson (he spent four months with the good doctor at his fortified compound shooting guns and making bombs)". based on hunter s. thompson in his autobiographical novel fear and loathing in las vegas. the book was originally written under the name raoul duke. ==in thompson's writings== duke is the main character and narrator of many of thompson's stories, novels, and articles, often taking part in the events of thompson's life in thompson's place. he is portrayed as a cynical, eccentric hedonist whose daily life is a near-perpetual state of intoxication on whatever drugs happen to be available, ranging from cannabis to amyl nitrite to adrenochrome. he usually obtains and consumes these substances in the company of his attorney, dr. gonzo, a half-crazed 300 pound samoan, whose drug-induced frenzies give even duke pause. thompson based gonzo on friend oscar zeta acosta. duke is first mentioned by thompson in his 1966 book hell's angels, where he is described as an outlaw who does not break the law in an offensive way to society, but a way that in fact makes him more acceptable. duke is often characterized as being somewhat of an author surrogate, a source of quotes and opinions that thompson would not necessarily be able to get away with himself, and actions that thompson didn't want to admit he had committed himself. his name, according to thompson in interviews, was inspired by raÃºl castro (brother of fidel castro) and john wayne's nickname "the duke", and probably originated as a pseudonym used to check into hotels, as in fear and loathing in las vegas. duke was also used so that thompson could talk about himself â after a diving accident thompson had to spend some time in a decompression chamber, and wrote a letter signed 'raoul duke' in which the pseudonym described the insanity of thompson's condition in the chamber â holding up scrawled notes to the single glass window and ordering a television set to watch coverage of the watergate hearings. the letter appeared in rolling stone in august 1973. in the great shark hunt (a large selection of articles written by thompson) raoul duke's name is the one that appears on several essays that were published in newspapers
Alter_egos Author_surrogates Fictional_antiheroes Fictional_con_artists Fictional_gamblers Fictional_physicians Fictional_reporters Fictional_versions_of_real_people