Are the demons genuinely evil, or are they just simple creatures with nothing but “KILL! KILL! KILL!” on their mind?

[VoanHead]

Yeah, I know this is a weird thing to talk about, but it’s something that has me curious. Yes, we could definitely argue that they come from hell, meaning they are malicious, or are the just simple-minded creatures that have no brain capacity other than killing. I’m thinking they are more of the latter since they infight, especially if one throws a projectile at you but another demon got in the way and then proceed to duke it out w/ the other demon. Like, they can’t get their own priorities straight on killing the doomguy first and brush off that projectile as a lesson for getting in the way.

[Lila Feuer]

They are highly malevolent extraterrestrials with only death, destruction and corruption on the mind. They are blatantly evil. Same with the monsters of Quake.

[ketmar]

5 hours ago, Lila Feuer said:

They are highly malevolent extraterrestrials with only death, destruction and corruption on the mind.

don't believe human propaganda! just take a look at the places before DoomGuy arrives: there are no death fights! DoomGuy is the only reason for demons to go mad.

[seed]

6 hours ago, Lila Feuer said:

They are highly malevolent extraterrestrials with only death, destruction and corruption on the mind. They are blatantly evil. Same with the monsters of Quake.

 

Essentially. The enemies of Doom and Quake are just malevolent being who have nothing else in their minds but death and destruction.

[Grazza]

Maybe they just want to play with Doomguy and don't realize that they are harming him. Imps might expect him to play catch with their fireballs, who knows? Perhaps the demons are trying to feed him and some of the other guys are looking for a little sparring. Come on, the guy's already got his protective head gear on.

[DSC]

Isn't being evil and always having "KILL" on your mind the same thing?

[DynamiteKaitorn]

Most of them just wanna kill you because they're salty you can use the plasma rifle.

The arachnotron is attacking you because they're scared.

[Havoc Crow]

Doom is actually a cautionary tale about bigotry and imposing your values on others. The "demons" are actually misunderstood creatures and Doomguy is despotically trying to impose his narrow-minded view of morality on them. The finale of Doom II is a tragedy: the unenlightened, musclebound macho lays devastation to the demons' beloved home and, unprovoked, murders the wise leader of their species.

[seed]

58 minutes ago, DSC said:

Isn't being evil and always having "KILL" on your mind the same thing?

 

Evil is a point of view.

[ketmar]

also, have you ever seen a demon killing a human (except DoomGuy)? yes, there are dead bodies everywhere, but you can find police and doctors near dead bodies too. so, are policemen and doctors evil killers? or maybe demons arrived to save others from something wicked that came through UAC portal, and killed everyone? and DoomGuy is actually killing saviours, just like people were killing plague doctors? maybe demons see symptomes of infection in DoomGuy, and they know that he cannot be saved, so the only thing they can do for him is to kill him, so he won't suffer more?

 

p.s.: also, demons seems to think that attacking others is a clear symptome of infection. that's why they're trying to kill everybody hostile, including their own comrades. it seems that there is no cure for aggressive ones.

[Graf Zahl]

The source code gives the definitive answer:

 

Their only objective is to acquire a target and then attack, maim and kill it. So yeah, they are just simple creatures whose thought process never goes beyond "Kill, kill, kill!" :D

 

[ketmar]

the source doesn't give the answer to "why?", though. my hypothesis about trying to stop some kind of plague can still be applied. it looks like there is no cure for the plague, and the suffering for infected is so painful that killing is the only choice.

 

p.s.: except for "zombification", which was applied to some humans. so-called "zombies" seems to be immune, but their intelligence is low, prolly due to "zombification" still being experimental.

Edited April 21, 2020 by ketmar

[DuckReconMajor]

This reminds me of another thought I've always had.

In traditional Christian and other theology, the followers are supposed to oppose Satan/the devil.

 

But what if Satan won?

What if the devil converted the entire universe into Hell?

 

I guess it would be an infinite scale of crude beings torturing and killing to survive.

Sounds like something that happened nearby in the past, oh wait.

Would the denizens of Hell eventually evolve to develop society?

Would they learn that there is more pleasure and less pain in long-term peaceful goals as they developed mentally to outsmart their peers?

[Cruduxy Pegg]

No! Pain elementals and Icon of Sin think differently!!

 

Pain Elementals : I must have a few hundred kids to help me work on my farm.

Icon of Sin : GET OUT OF MY HOUSE

[Gez]

What's the difference between being evil and only wanting to kill?

 

Anyway, we know they don't just kill, they also torture. Evidence: all the gore sprites and textures. This kind of things has been kept in Doom 3 and in the Bethesdoom Slayga.

[FractalBeast]

There is no difference between the demons and Doomguy.

 

The demons are there to kill, Doomguy is there to kill. It's all a sick simulation, a death arena build by incomprehensible abominable intelligences beyond space and time that only desire death and destruction, a universe drowning in blood.

[Eurisko]

Excuse me. You mean, 'Mortally Challenged'

[NoXion]

On 4/21/2020 at 4:19 PM, Gez said:

What's the difference between being evil and only wanting to kill?

I think what the OP is asking is whether the demons are meaty robots who are simply programmed to kill and torture mortals, or whether they are actually sapient beings who knowingly commit atrocities.

Personally, I think that all demons are sapient to varying degrees - Archviles are canonically said to be the smart guys, the upper crust, while Pinkies are more animalistic. It's quite obvious from some of the Slayer's glory kills that demons can feel emotions like terror and panic. At least some of them are smart enough to tell each other stories, and keep records of such (cf. Slayer Testaments).

I also think that the demons being sapient puts the Doom Slayer in a more heroic light; it makes his hands-on marmalizing of the demons come across as more like exacting entirely justifiable revenge, and less like someone taking out their own frustrations on a bunch of dumb beasts that cannot possibly know any better. Which comes uncomfortably close to perpetrating animal cruelty, at least for me.

[SirJuicyLemon]

I was thinking the same thing that some users already said (wrote).

Is there any difference between someone genuinely evil and someone who just simply thinks "KILL! KILL! KILL!"?

 

If we were to talk about people, well, depends on the scale of evilness or genuine evil, or if someone were to concrete evil actions on purpose driven by his own evil mindset and, once again, the severity of those actions; while on the other hand someone who just thinks "KILL!" is probably a potential murderer/psycopath.

 

In some sense, I'd say there is no difference; but at the same time, someone "genuinely evil" sounds like too ambiguous to make a clear comparison.

 

For some reason I sense that your questions is rather addressed to the complexity of demons' minds and thinking.

As if they have an innate desire to kill, like instinctively, as a wild animal/monster. Or, as if they have the capability of having more complex thoughts, like rational beings, and have (to some extent) the decision to kill or not, like human beings (I mean to some extent refering to, in this context, demons being considered as hell soldiers, so their mission is to kill, but ultimately, they could decide not to kill, just like a deserter soldier for example)

[WowozuelaSpammer]

On 4/21/2020 at 11:03 AM, Graf Zahl said:

The source code gives the definitive answer:

 

Their only objective is to acquire a target and then attack, maim and kill it. So yeah, they are just simple creatures whose thought process never goes beyond "Kill, kill, kill!" :D

 

That's an intelligent point of view, but then, wouldn't damaging surfaces think about killing and therefore, be sentient?

[666shooter]

6 minutes ago, TheStupidestBeing said:

That's an intelligent point of view, but then, wouldn't damaging surfaces think about killing and therefore, be sentient?

The slime trails! THEY'RE FOLLOWING MEEEE! Oh God whyyyyy?!

[Mr. Freeze]

On 4/21/2020 at 7:30 AM, DuckReconMajor said:

This reminds me of another thought I've always had.

In traditional Christian and other theology, the followers are supposed to oppose Satan/the devil.

 

But what if Satan won?

What if the devil converted the entire universe into Hell?

 

I guess it would be an infinite scale of crude beings torturing and killing to survive.

Sounds like something that happened nearby in the past, oh wait.

Would the denizens of Hell eventually evolve to develop society?

Would they learn that there is more pleasure and less pain in long-term peaceful goals as they developed mentally to outsmart their peers?

 

Reminds me of that one Terminator comic where the machines win, and with no humans to kill anymore Skynet questions what it's goal is. Eventually the machines build malls and establish trade. 

[silentzorah]

Mancubus just wants to go back home to finish his Let's Play of Sigil.  That, and he wishes H-Doom was real.

[Solmyr]

They seem to be quite evil, and very sadistic as well. 

 

[NoXion]

Having read historical accounts of cities being sacked and armies conquering nations, that kind of stuff can be stomach-turning. I imagine the Legions of Hell are like that but worse, being all over the planet and fucking up reality as well as having supernatural powers.

[Koko Ricky]

I regard them as magical matter that is not necessarily consciously aware the way a human or god might be; their awareness is more akin to an insect. Living chess pieces. That said they seem to be imbued with hatred and sadism.

[Maes]

On 4/21/2020 at 2:26 PM, DSC said:

Isn't being evil and always having "KILL" on your mind the same thing?

 

Not if you legally work as an executioner or in pest control.

[Maes]

2 hours ago, TheStupidestBeing said:

That's an intelligent point of view, but then, wouldn't damaging surfaces think about killing and therefore, be sentient?

 

Interestingly, from a Doom code point of view, damaging floors aren't "thinkers", while crushing ceilings/sectors are.

[Chip]

They are all zombies (not literally, well for a few it's literal, but I mean they are all just dumb beings who follow their leader) I don't even know if they know they are hurting each other or you, they just throw and shoot. 

[Gokuma]

Evil is a social construct.