A question about the Cyberdemon

Cyber is boss. Mancubus is manager. Zambies be the empolyees. Period.

msm0220 said:

is the Cyberdemon a boss or a enemy...

It's both.

A boss is technically just a higher tier of enemy, whether it activates anything on death or not.

nxGangrel said:

Cyber is boss. Mancubus is manager. Zambies be the empolyees. Period.

McDOOM. Cyberdemon Is the boss, Mancubus Is obviously the fat-ass amager and the Zombies and Imps are Impolyees (HUE HUE). Dunno why, but someone should animate that Idea or something.

karacho said:

The cyberdemon from E2M8 is not the same cyberdemon that is in E4M2.

I think the only difference is the action after death. So they are almost the same.

Tritnew said:

McDOOM. Cyberdemon Is the boss, Mancubus Is obviously the fat-ass amager and the Zombies and Imps are Impolyees (HUE HUE). Dunno why, but someone should animate that Idea or something.

Archvile is the guy who always complains about his fries being cold but the employees are trained to never be rude to a customer so they just have to take it.

Captain Ventris said:

Archvile is the guy who always complains about his fries being cold but the employees are trained to never be rude to a customer so they just have to take it.

And If they are rude to the Archvile, they'll get flames of fire blown up In their face and have to be resurrected to suffer with all the bitching about the fries again.

"Boss" is a relative term. As noted, it depends entirely on context. Even a generally weak monster like an imp can be deadly in the right circumstances.

That said, and to reiterate what many others have said, the intention was the Cyberdemon was the boss, or ultimate monster, of Episode 2. But, like the Baron of Hell, is seemingly "downgraded" by Episode 3, making rare, but other unceremonious, appearances. Same goes for the Spider Mastermind after its initial Episode 3 appearance.

Of course, Doom was never exactly clear on rules regarding bosses. Other than being immune to splash damage, the Cyberdemon doesn't really have any special properties usually associated with bosses. It's vulnerable to every weapon, doesn't rely on some one-time use gimmick to be defeated, etc. It's just a powerful enemy.

Thus, I have never really considered any Doom episode to have a boss. After all, every enemy is ultimately going to have some introduction, right? The two imps that appear on the ledge in E1M1 wouldn't be considered bosses, even though it's their first appearance. And even in Doom 2, several new enemies debut in relatively mundane fashion.

Buckshot said:

Fine.

in DOOM 1... it's a boss.

in DOOM 2... it's an enemy.

in DOOM 3... it's a boss.


...better?

In DOOM 1, it's not a boss in E3M9 or in UD E4M2, E4M6, and E4M7.

Heck in DOOM 1 the Baron of Hell is a boss of E1.

Pure Hellspawn said:

In DOOM 1, it's not a boss in E3M9 or in UD E4M2, E4M6, and E4M7.

Heck in DOOM 1 the Baron of Hell is a boss of E1.

That's the thing about Doom, it seems "boss" translates to "first appearance of a powerful enemy." Can the Pain Elemental be considered the boss of Map 8 in Doom 2? What about the Arch-Vile on Map 11?

E1M8 plays out like a normal map to a certain extent. While E2M8 and E3M8 are more like typical RPG boss fights, as the maps end after defeating the enemy.

The only Doom WAD I can actually remember off-hand to have a true boss was Knee-Deep in zDoom, which had a powerful, unique enemy at the end of Z1M8, and even gave it an HP meter.

Not really. A boss is a tougher monster that you have to kill to advance. You have to kill the Barons in E1M8, Cyberdemon in E2M8 etc and thus it is a boss. The only exception to this rule is the commander keens in map 32.

The Mancubus and Arachnotron's on Map 07 are bosses/mini-bosses. You have to kill them. They are fairly powerful enemies with really powerful attacks, and you have to kill them to beat the level.

You do not have to kill the Arch-Vile or Pain Elemental at any point of the game to beat the level and so they are not bosses.

Another thing to consider is where you are in the game. If you were to fight the first boss of a game towards the end, it would be much, much weaker than a normal monster. It all depends on context, and where you are in the game.