Gex (Novelization)

Gex (Novelization) is the novelized version of the Gex video game series. It was written by Michael Teitelbaum and published by Troll Communications LLC on February 8th, 2000. The novel is largely a written companion to the third game in the series, summarizing the events and scenarios of the game in a readable format. However, the first two chapters do summarize the events of the preceding games as well.

Synopsis[]

"We go back a long way, Rez and I. Oh, by the way, I'm GEX--short for Gecko Extraordinaire. Anyway, I've been fighting Rez for a long time (since way before I saw the report on the TV news telling me that Rez had kidnapped my beautiful partner, Agent Xtra, and pulled her into the Media Dimension). I'm going to have to go back there to rescue her.

But I get ahead of myself." -Gex, opening paragraph to the novel.

The overall plot of the novel is the same as the games it is based on. However, it differs slightly in its narration of the series' events. The novel is told from the perspective of Gex as he details his exploits in the Media Dimension.

The novel opens with Gex re-telling his backstory in a similar fashion to how it is told in the first game's manual. He then narrates the events of the first game, providing an alternate and more streamlined take on his adventures. He follows this up by providing a summary of the second game's events as well. However, curiously, Rez provides a different origin story than the one mentioned at the end of Enter the Gecko. He still claims to be Gex's previously deceased father. However, instead of his metallic appearance being the result of falling into a scrap heap to get free cable, it is because the NASA accident left him horribly disfigured and made him hateful. Despite this change, the ending of this second showdown still ends the same way it did in Enter the Gecko. Rez becomes trapped inside of a TV and Gex turns it off, having saved the Media Dimension once again.

After Gex catches the reader up on his past exploits, the story truly begins. Gex arrives in his secret cave headquarters located in the Media Dimension, only to find that Rez has completely trashed the place. Luckily, Gex finds a remote that turns on the only TV left intact and jumps through it. From this point on, the story largely resembles the events that take place in the third game. Gex hops across several different worlds until he finally confronts Rez in his space station. He defeats Rez a third time, saves Agent Xtra, and saves the day once again. In the final paragraph of the novel, Gex ponders for a moment if he has seen the last of Rez. However a re-run of Gex's favorite Gilligan's Island episode comes on, and he quickly ends the story to get back to watching TV.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Even though it has never been confirmed or denied by any of the developers, it can be inferred that this novel isn't canon.
In the opening line of the novel, the author tries to imply that Gex's name is actually an acronym that stands for "Gecko Extraordinaire" (GEX). This is, obviously, not canon and a creative liberty taken by the author.
Mooshoo Pork is incorrectly referred to as Moo Shu Pork, the dish his name is based on.
Many of the world and level names are different from those featured in the games. In the re-telling of Gex 1, the world names used are the ones featured in the first game's manual (New Toonland is Cartoon World, Cemetery is Graveyard World, etc.). Similarly, levels mentioned from Gex 3 also use this "World" naming convention. The Army Channel is called World War II World, Mythology Network is Roman World, Anime Channel is Anime World, Mystery TV is Clue World (a Monster World is also mentioned, but is clearly a reference to Mystery TV as well), Holiday Broadcasting is Twisted North Pole World, Western Station is Spaghetti Western World, and The Buccaneer Program is Sea World. These naming inconsistencies are more than likely due to the author's unfamiliarity with the source material, outside of the information provided in each game's manual.
On the topic of naming inconsistencies, "Twisted North Pole World" and "Spaghetti Western World" both may have been lifted from the Gex 3 website as it uses these same terms to describe Holiday Broadcasting and Western Station.^[1]
In the novel, the author implies that the Gex Cave (Gex's secret cave headquarters) is located in the Media Dimension. This is in contrast to Gex 3's manual, which implies that it is located in the real world on an island in the South Pacific.
In 2002, Troll Communications LLC was acquired by private equity firm, Quad Ventures LLC.
This novel was the final Gex product to be officially produced.

↑ Gex 3 website, Eidos Interactive. Archived January 17th, 1999.

[1] Gex 3 website, Eidos Interactive. Archived January 17th, 1999.

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