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Koko Ricky

Your rationalization of the demons

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I know there have been threads similar to this, but I wanted to start this one as a way of summing up the overall way we treat the existence of the demons within the context of Doom's very loose and ambiguous plot. Do you see them as literal demons, like those derived from religious texts? Or perhaps as something "supernatural" that isn't necessarily related to religion? Or as aliens that happen to have a demonic appearance?

My explanation has changed significantly over the years, but I think I've finally settled on the idea that they're artificially created chess pieces whose creators are never revealed. The creators themselves might be so drastically different from what we normally constitute as lifeforms as to be indescribable. I prefer this stance because I don't have to specifically visualize the head honchos. It's fun to keep it a mystery. It's similar to the engineers from Prometheus, being that they designed the xenomorphs as biological weapons. Which strangely fits in the Doom universe, seeing as the game was originally conceived as an "Aliens" FPS, the final product clearly being inspired by the film.

I went with the "engineers manufacturing demonic chess pieces to toy with humanity" explanation because I can't see the demons as being smart enough to execute an invasion on their own, especially one that involves who knows how many light years of interstellar travel. They're pretty dumb and animalistic. They kill each other over friendly fire, and don't seem to possess the articulation to set up the ritual sacrifices, skin tarps and geometric designs that litter the games. Those seem more like sadistic scare tactics planted by the creators.

Maybe I'm overthinking it. But it's a lot of fun, personally, to come up with my own interpretation, and I'm sure many of you will agree.

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GoatLord said:

I can't see the demons as being smart enough to execute an invasion on their own, especially one that involves who knows how many light years of interstellar travel. They're pretty dumb and animalistic. They kill each other over friendly fire, and don't seem to possess the articulation to set up the ritual sacrifices, skin tarps and geometric designs that litter the games. Those seem more like sadistic scare tactics planted by the creators.


Well, we don't know what they really do in their free time...

Perhaps most individual demons are indeed mere brutes, but the Doom ending text mentions that the Spider Mastermind had planned/directed the invasion, so probably they can at least carry out simple orders or even more complex tasks, if so directed by the smarter of the bunch (telepathically or as a sort of hive mind, so to speak). Even that way, the SM might just be a field leutenant.

Of course we know from the source code that they don't possess any kind of swarm intelligence whatsoever, but are instead highly individualistic and unaware of each other (except when infighting), pretty much like reptiles. "Tragedy of the Commons" doesn't even begin to describe how bad it is, but hey, it seems their creators view them as disposable and efficient enough with this simple mindset, at least for what regards combat.

Often the texts mention that a level was "built by demons" or that the demons "brought their own reality with them", suggesting that they can build stuff or at least alter/warp their surroundings by their mere presence. Perhaps their ability to take over human souls/zombify/warp reality is their most formidable weapon, but beyond that they have relatively little going on for them, as far as sophistication goes. E.g. they can bridge unspeakable distances by opening portals and corrupting everything, but after that, if confronted, they are merely brutes. I guess it's a fair tradeoff... ;-)

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I always thought of the demons as having a very loose command structure. Just enough to invade worlds, but not enough to dominate in an organized sort of way. A mix of Khan's Mongol hordes & Roman-era barbarians. A threat, but only if you make yourself a target, or happen to be in their way.

Regarding their tech/magic, I imagine them to be powerful, but inefficient. Like, they can graft rocket launchers to demons and resurrect their dead, but they still think candelabras look cool, and that chains are intimidating. It doesn't seem to occur to them that they could probably level Earth from orbit without even needing ground troops - probably because their social structures require constant warfare to keep from becoming bloated and unstable. As a result, they would probably prefer human demon-wave tactics, to actual tactical assaults or sieges.

If ever theirs was a more enlightened society, their intellectuals are now likely in the vast minority, forced to engage in constant war to keep the ignorant brutes occupied. A true mastermind might be just as fearful of their own generals/troops as they are of powerful enemies.

P.S. before anyone says it, yes, we realize it's a game and this is all just pointless fanfic. Now go away.

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Rationalize this, motherucker.

Demons From Space.
Satanic Aliens.
Alien Demons.
Diabolical Extraterrestials.
What The Fuck.

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GoatLord said:

I went with the "engineers manufacturing demonic chess pieces to toy with humanity" explanation because I can't see the demons as being smart enough to execute an invasion on their own, especially one that involves who knows how many light years of interstellar travel.

But they never did execute any invasion. It was the UAC scientists who accidentally opened a portal to Hell, from which the demons poured forth.

If you ask me, the demons are a some sort of materialization of human fears and concept of Hell: They are clearly based on the imagery of satanism and witchcraft that belongs to western Christian cultures, and the only explanations why they would be so similar are either sometime in the past we were in contact with the demons, or they were consciously created in the image of our concept of Hellish creatures. Since it took extremely advanced science to open the portal to Hell, I don't really think the first option is that likely...

As to what would have created the demons based on our concept of Hell, I'd say it's some malevolent, shapeless energy or force that just wants to fuck around with things. Or alternatively, Doomguy is just insane and he made up absolutely everything.

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No, darkreaver. You are the Satanic Alien Extraterrestrial Demons from Space.
And then darkreaver was like What The Fuck.

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I like to think of them as literal demons from Hell. It just seems fitting. But then again, in the books, they were mentioned to be devilish-looking aliens sent to ravage Earth by the Freds, while they were having a war over the interpretation of some "holy texts" against the Klave.

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Maes said:

No, darkreaver. You are the Satanic Alien Extraterrestrial Demons from Space.
And then darkreaver was like What The Fuck.


But then who was phone?!

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I've never been religious so I can't say I've ever seen them as "literal" demons. When I was younger I just saw them as evil monsters invading from some other dimension or universe. The movie "Event Horizon" helped a lot with that, and as I've grown I've come to see them as simply extraterrestrial/extradimensional beings, less than "demonic."

Doesn't help having the knowledge that originally the id guys were wanting to make an Aliens game, so that had a lot of influence on the Doom setting in its infancy.

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Hell is a metaphysical dimension of unknown origins, it sucks and there's fire and there's little red guys with pitchforks that poke you in the bum.

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John Stalvern waited. The lights above him blinked and sparked out of the air. There were Alien Demons in the base. He didn’t see them, but had expected them now for years. His warnings to Cernel Joson were not listenend to and now it was too late. Far too late for now, anyway.
John was a space marine for fourteen years. When he was young he watched the spaceships and he said to dad “I want to be on the ships daddy.”
Dad said “No! You will BE KILL BY DEMONS FROM SPACE”
There was a time when he believed him. Then as he got oldered he stopped. But now in the space station base of the UAC he knew there were demons, which could satanic aliens.
“This is Joson” the radio crackered. “You must fight the satanic alien extraterrestrial demons from outer space!”
So John put his doubts aside, gotted his palsma rifle and blew up the wall.
“HE GOING TO KILL US” said the Diabolical Extraterrestials
“I will shoot at him” said the cyberdemon and he fired the rocket missiles. John plasmaed at him and tried to blew him up. But then the ceiling fell and they were trapped and not able to kill.
“No! I must rationalize the demons” he shouted
The radio said “No, John. You don't even exist"
And then John was the phone.

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Piper Maru said:

Why do literal demons need rocket launchers anyways? Can't they just shoot laser beams out of there eyes?!


“I will shoot at him” said the cyberdemon and he fired the rocket missiles. John plasmaed at him and tried to blew him up. But then John tried to rationalize why literal demons needed rockets.
“No! They must shoot laser beams out of there eyes” he shouted
The radio said “No, John. You are the rockets"
And then John was in a cyberdemon's butt.

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GoatLord said:

Or as aliens that happen to have a demonic appearance?


According to the novels, is this theory.

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Demons are the enemy. You cannot be friends or negotiate with them. If it seems like you can, it's a trap. You might not realize it soon enough, and that's why they can win. Conversely, they can mean destruction and death without pleasantries.

They're the perfect device for infinite hordes of evil killers. I'd love to see a Doom novel where humans over the world are constantly threatened (and often attacked) by hellish invasions, just to fuel the paranoia. In the Doom universe they just happen to be real.

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The demons are clones. Probably another UAC experiment. UAC must have used leftover clones in their tranporter experiments. Escaped clones from UAC experiments are the source of all the demons.
The escaped clones must have captured a cloning lab and are now cloning themselves in some other dimension.

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No Maes, you are the Repercussions of Evil.

Anyhow, I think of the demons as creatures controlled by a single entity (the icon of sin) who come from another dimension/planet of some sort. Some of them (the imps and pinky demons) might also be mutated subverted humans.

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Literal demons, of the Abrahamic religious sort, with a bit of Lovecraftian influence thrown in for good measure. Eternal torment, fire and brimstone, 40 years of darkness, cats and dogs living together.

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Xaser said:

Demons are from Hell. When they die, they go to Super Hell.

No. Sadly, they just respawn :( We're doomed.

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Maes said:

Well, we don't know what they really do in their free time...

Yes we do. They stand in place and do the little "I need to pee" dance.

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Gez said:

Yes we do. They stand in place and do the little "I need to pee" dance.


That's what the demons want you to believe when you are actually observing them ;-)

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