Monkey Island

Monkey Island is a graphic adventure series from LucasArts (then still Lucasfilm Games) that, starting with The Secret of Monkey Island, defined the genre of comic pirate storytelling. The player takes on the role of Guybrush Threepwood, an awkward dreamer who wants nothing more than to become a real pirate, and the series rests on a combination of clever point-and-click puzzles, absurd dialogue humor and the legendary insult sword-fighting duels fought with words rather than blades, where the wittier comeback always wins. Its fictional Caribbean setting, anchored by Mêlée Island and its harbor full of dubious characters, became one of the genre's most recognizable backdrops.

The second entry, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, deepened the darker, more surreal tone and the relationship between Guybrush and the undead pirate LeChuck, and together with the first game it is generally regarded as the series' high point thanks to its dense puzzles, unforgettable supporting cast and a famously ambiguous ending that fans still argue over. After a long gap, the series returned with The Curse of Monkey Island, notable for its striking cartoon art style and full voice acting, and Escape from Monkey Island, which moved to 3D graphics and split fans over its departure from the classic cursor-based interface.

The series was later extended by the episodic Tales of Monkey Island from Telltale Games, which picked up the story years later and experimented with releasing individual chapters over time. Remastered Special Editions of the first two games also appeared, with reworked visuals and controls plus the option to switch back to the original look at any moment. Throughout, co-creator Ron Gilbert kept returning to the franchise's orbit, and his relationship to the later sequels has often been a topic of fan debate over what counts as a "real" Monkey Island game.

Part of its cult status also came from the adaptive iMUSE music system, which let the score react smoothly to the player's actions, and from the long-running joke of the rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle, a supposedly universal but practically useless inventory item. Thanks to its inventive puzzles, unmistakable humor and influence on an entire generation of graphic adventures, Monkey Island remains one of the most frequently cited series in the genre and an inspiration for countless later point-and-click games.