Do you like the idea of Doomguy being a character or just simply you?? (In relation with Doom Eternal)

[Gerardo194]

When I first played (snes) Doom in 2008 and seeing Doomguy's face in the HUD, the first thing I wanted to know who was this guy, what's his name, where did he come from... just for one year later when I first played (snes) Wolfenstein 3D, all of my questions where answered... But years later, I realized about the movie, novels, Doom Bible and John Romero's words about: "there is no a "Doomguy" in the game, it is supposed to be you" So then I decided to send any ideas to trash about a Doom protagonist and just being just simply me the protagonist...

Now with this new reveal about who Doom Slayer really was and also hearing to speak in Doom Eternal, I have changed my mind and want to go back to believe he is in fact an in character and not me just like many people here believe... Just like the old times.

 

So, what do you guys think?? Is Doomguy a character or just simply you??

[croc_rock]

I like the idea of him being a character but you not knowing much about him. In Doom 2016 most of the info you had on him was the Slayer's Testaments, and even then they only really told you that he was some kind of supernatural "chosen one."

[ValeriyPipick]

43 minutes ago, Gerardo194 said:

or just simply you??

Yes, this! Everytime playing DOOM and breaking through hordes of hellish demons, horribly killing everyone of them i think ''Wow, this is literally me!'' while thnking of doomguy. 

[D4NUK1]

When i first played on Doom 95 (I was like, 10..12, was before PS2 lol), my impresion it's he was a marine that after the phobos incident and entering the sign of evil, he converted on a super marine, he lost fear and change it with hate. Doom 95 have also Doom II so in that game i feel he converted in a super marine, on the way the intermission screens talk about him. Plus point, i don't know about Final Doom on that time.

Then by the way of Doom 64, after years without Demons, i feel he was normal again, with PTSD or at least something like that say the manual, so he keeping in hell in the end it's like ending his mission of marine, he don't work as a marine for a company (UAC) he it's the marine vs the demons.


Doom 3 i will take it as another game, because on my head, that was the same time as Doom 1. Like those expansions of Half Life.

Doom 2016 and Eternal taking note of those intermissions screens, feel like they just completed the way of the character it's now (DoomSlayer)

 

[Gokuma]

I like BOTH!   How it's totally open-ended in the classic games (with a tiny bit of good backstory in the manual) and how they made the Slayer a seemingly immortal being who just wants to rip and tear demons apart.   Then Doom 3 is some survival horror game, but actually has good control.

[Taurus Daggerknight]

The idea of Doomguy being "you" got shot out the window the second they put a face to the trooper. Whatever the original iD's intentions were, the fact is, he was -not- you, the player. His hair color was distinct, his face structure as well, his eye color established, even the fact that he had a pet rabbit instead of, oh, I don't know, an iguana or a dog was nailed in. Likewise, his past was also somewhat set in place (assault on  a superior officer, residence being near/ in  a large city, etc). 

 

Doom 3 also goes ahead and puts a distinct face to the character, so does Resurrection of Evil. In fact, it's kind of funny that Doom 64 is really the only one to NOT imply much beyond his skin color (white, if the sprite is anything to go by). 

 

So to the question of "Do I like him being a character, or do I want him to be me?", the answer would be the former, because I never felt like it wasn't a separate character to begin with.  

[Mr.S Retro]

In my head cannon doomguy is B.J III and his father is commander keen.

So my timeline is Doom1,UDoom,Doom2,TNT,Plutonia,D64,Doom2016,Doom Eternal.

Doom 3 and all dlc is in a different universe. I prefer him to be a character rather than a blank slate for you to cast your image upon.

[Leninova]

Doomguy being "you" is nothing but a good advertisement method 

 

[NoahRules]

I feel like the main character being "you" doesn't really fit this type of game, with a game like Skyrim sure but not Doom

[fufu]

I like he being a character that you don't know much about so you can put your imagination into it, similar to other silent protagonists.

And he being "you" doesn't make much sense considering the fact that the status bar face exist.

[NPC_CO8ALT]

Honestly I'm just glad all the theories about the Slayer being the Doomguy from the classic games ended up being true. I didn't want it to end up being some other guy who was "like" classic Doomguy but not him.

[Reaverbot]

I don't think I've ever really thought of Doomguy as myself, but at the same time I don't really do that with any silent protagonists that I can think of.

 

I will say that his character isn't really important to me. Doom 1/2/64 just being about a dude who was really tough and survived was a simplistic action movie plot that was fine enough to me, but not something I actively thought about much. Doom 3's protagonist somehow has even less personality than the first games, but again, that was far away from the worst problem with that game. And while I find Doom 2016's iteration really cringey with its NIGHT SENTINELS and DOOM SLAYER being talked about in the world's worst cookie monster impression, it does so little with the concept that it's never actively bothered me much.

[Lizardcommando]

I always thought of the Doomguy as just a normal everyday space marine who got stuck saving the world because his buddies got slaughtered by the demons.

[HorrorMovieRei]

I like him best not as "myself" but as a very vague character. I like having room to speculate as you can see from my insane ramblings on this site. I don't care much about the lore in the new games, but I guess they're not that intrusive when it comes to the character of the Slayer either, or at least not contradictory to how I see him (hates demons, loves humans, same guy as in the old games probably, yadda yadda).

[Cruduxy Pegg]

His own character, this isn't a roleplaying series and him being "you" is just an excuse for shit\no writing.

[Egg Boy]

In Doom and Doom 2, you're never really forced to think about who you're playing as at all, there is no real story (besides the intermission text, which refers to the player rather than the character), the entire game is in first person and control is never taken away from you. Doom 2016 and Eternal are different because they force you to think about who you are playing as. It seems the games can't shut up about the Doom Slayer. Everyone knows your a demon slaying beefcake, and they want you to know that they know. So the player is constantly getting in game feedback about who their character is, and how others interact with him. There's also lore to contend with, both games give you ample information to sus out who, exactly, the slayer is.

[JCST]

14 hours ago, Leninova said:

Doomguy being "you" is nothing but a good advertisement method 

 

Probably just comes from the fact that Doom was a groundbreaking FPS and Carmack's long old love for VR, nothing more.

 

Myself i like that Doomguy is his own vague entity that's a total murder whacko with a genuine love for rabbits.

[Maximum Matt]

Doomguy IS John Romero 

[Lizardcommando]

So then Doomguy kills himself at the end of Doom 2?

[Mangcubus]

I never felt like Doomguy was a good self-insert protagonist. I mean, I wouldn't evil grin while mowing down entire squadrons of zombified friends with a minigun, I'd probably scream.

[Gez]

I liked his characterization in 2016, but it's a bit weaker in Eternal. All the added backstory about his past in the Night Sentinel -- past that you, the player, knows nothing about -- makes it harder to identify with him. Also how they moved to third-person cameras, so you watch him emote, instead of conveying his emotions just by what he looked at, which was one of the coolest things about 2016's storytelling, adds some distance between him and you.

 

The weakest part IMO was when they made him speak, in a flashback.

Spoiler

Especially since he's just hamming up some Doom comic lines that make him sound like a complete moron. Huge guts! Rip and tear! Must kill them all!

 

Disclaimer: I didn't play the game, I just watched MKIceAndFire's video of all cutscenes.

[D4NUK1]

1 hour ago, Gez said:

 

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Especially since he's just hamming up some Doom comic lines that make him sound like a complete moron. Huge guts! Rip and tear! Must kill them all!

 

Disclaimer: I didn't play the game, I just watched MKIceAndFire's video of all cutscenes.

Take in consideration what it's years and years of Demon Killing and not being your first time being almost the brink of Death. Im was pretty sure Doomguy don't talk with all those PTSD on him. In that cutscene, also show that he it's really struggling to talk, only talking of rage or his mission. 

[taufan99]

@Gez

Spoiler

Yeah, I also wish he spoke some original lines in addition to those. Maybe a bit more complex conversation wouldn't hurt.

 

[seed]

I like both, really, although I've never really seen Doomguy as a blanket for the player in the first place considering the presentation even in classic Doom.

 

That being said, I do prefer the original though.

[Faceman2000]

Doomguy’s always been more akin to Master Chief to me (well, Chief in Halos 1-3), in the way that he’s clearly a distinct character from us but we experience the game through him. He shows relatively little emotion so that his reaction is our reaction and so forth. And that’s how Doomguy works best to me.

[Faustrecht]

I just wonder why the Doomguy has no history in its games.(or did i miss something?) It would make him interessting than just beeing a Kickazz Demonslayer.

I mean he dont only fight for Survival he fight also for the Mankind.(doom 3 and 2016 have a very similar Story if u dont dig too deep)

 

While i play The Doomguy is not me. I am the Doomguy :P

[TheNoob_Gamer]

11 minutes ago, Faustrecht said:

why the Doomguy has no history in its games

From Doom 1's manual:

[Faustrecht]

38 minutes ago, TheNoob_Gamer said:

From Doom 1's manual:

I never saw this booklet. I had only a disk.

But Thanks for this.

Edited March 25, 2020 by Faustrecht

[GMB718]

I honestly am fine with him being a character, because I actually very much enjoy the story and universe that Hugo Martin and the other people on the creative team are producing with the modern Doom games. 

[Dizza]

I'm fine with him being a character, and I like his characterization in the new games, but I do prefer thinking of his anger over the loss of Daisy as the source of his strength instead of 

Spoiler

the divination machine, but with the timeline I guess he was just working off of anger alone until after DOOM 64 so it's fine