Quake (1996) | Quake II (The Strogg) | Quake III: Arena | Quake IV | Quake Champions
"The Strogg: soulless fusions of decaying flesh, bones and metal, twisted and ruined by centuries of war. They search the galaxy for the sole item their existence requires, harvesting, consuming and destroying everything in their path."
— Opening of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
The main enemy faction of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Quake II and Quake IV.
Rumor has it that the Cyborg Strogg were created for a war in another part of the galaxy. If that is true, then supposedly they went rogue and became a threat to the galaxy in their own right, assimilating various species into their ranks. The Strogg allegedly wanted to conquer Earth to have a staging area to invade dozens of other civilizations, provoking humanity to strike back against their home world of Stroggos and end the Strogg menace at its source.
The Call of the Machine campaign in the 2023 remastered edition of II reveals more about their origins.
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In general
- Aliens Are Bastards: Not only did they start an unprovoked war that killed millions, but they also subject any prisoners of war they get to horrific tortures, use them for inhumane experiments, and "process" them to make Strogg parts.
- Anatomy Arsenal: Many of them had their limbs replaced with assorted weaponry. Arm Cannons seem to be a favorite prosthesis of the Strogg, used for tools as well as weaponry. However, they also used hand-held weaponry, as shown with the Tactical Strogg from IV.
- Artificial Limbs: Some of them possess weaponry in place of limbs, others just have mechanical body parts to replace the organic ones. The most extreme case would probably be the Makron in II - the only organic part of him left is his brain, and it's not even in his head.
- Artificial Stupidity: In Quake II up to Id's 3.21. There are source ports that fix these behaviours such as kmquake, with the obvious consequence of making the game harder than it already is. The 2023 remaster introduces even more changes to their behavior.
- AI enemies run towards walls while finding a way to find you. This especially happens if you're used to taking cover behind a wall or object while they're shooting you, and it's especially grating with the Berserkers. In the 2023 remaster this is no longer the case, with all light and medium classes being able to jump over obstacles.
- Enemies running towards laser grids ignoring they exist at all.
- Enemies not being able to aim, the most jarring example being the Gunner and its grenades (again, another fix of the 2023 remaster).
- There's an odd bug where sometimes some enemies (gladiators being one) that don't have line-of-sight to you but have body parts sticking out where you can shoot them won't react when shot as long as you stay out of their line of sight and will just stand there getting shot until you kill them (the game has no Subsystem Damage so it doesn't matter what body part you shoot.)
- Artificial Zombie: It is consistently stated that the Strogg are not only cybernetic organisms, but some of their organic components are from dead subjects. Perhaps kept alive by the machinery and nanites inside of them. To quote the Enemy Territory: Quake Wars trailer: "soulless fusions of decaying flesh, bones and metal, twisted and ruined by centuries of war."
- Artistic License – Medicine: The Stroggification process shown in IV is so brutal to POWs that it's a wonder victims don't die from shock. This is Hand Waved by the Strogg injecting steroids and nanomachines repairing the cells, and the story even acknowledges that some transfers fail, but one may wonder if sedation would save the Strogg a lot of trouble.
- The Assimilator: The Strogg directives make them seek out and bring new species into their fold to exploit their specialties in terms of a desired role that needs filling.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Strogg society is a meritocratic stratocracy where the strongest ruled, with the mightiest warrior and general of their race being the 'Makron', who leads and are chosen from among ranks of lesser warlords who command lesser Strogg as well as fight among themselves for the position if the Strogg leader is killed (although occasionally a new Strogg Mekron is built from scratch).
- Bald of Evil: All Strogg (the humanoid ones at least), except for the Iron Maiden class in IV who appear to have implanted artificial cables for hair.
- Body Horror: Much of the Strogg forces were once humans, and close examination shows things like the Guards in II having bloodied gaps beneath their masks that seem grafted to their faces, or how the human parts of some enemies are messily attached to their cybernetics.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Their captures are forced to act against their will due to their neurocyte implants.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: The cybernetics themselves don't eat the soul, it's the neurocyte activation (as shown in IV that the Humans need to be concerned about.
- Empty Shell: The victims of Stroggification are forced to live, but their bodies no longer obey their will. Even past "death", cybernetics can still control and maintain the body for the Stroggs' needs.
- Enemy Civil War: In II. Airborne mooks shot by other airborne mooks will attack each other. Ditto for ground-based mooks. The only exceptions are that ground-based mooks will detect that you made them fight if they're attacked by air-based mooks and vice versa, and that mooks can't kill bosses. It is even explained in the lore, that once their current Makron is dead, they would choose a new leader via old-fashioned combat.
- Expy: The Strogg are functionally Captain Ersatz Borg, due to their aggressive mission to assimilate new lifeforms into their army only with a scavenged, Used Future design to their technology, and much more brutality in the assimilation process. Their assimilation process makes the Borg look humane, as they reassemble their prisoners while they're still conscious and not even tranquillized as the Borg prefers. Quake 4 in particular makes the similarities more apparent: They have Wetware Bodies that override the free will of the subject, replacing it with an ambiguous collective. They create a liquid to be implied to be made from captured prisoners of war and their subjects, which Quake 4 clarifies is called "Stroyent". They use it to heal themselves, being a loose equivalent to the regenerating nanites of the Borg.
- Formerly Sapient Species: One way to interpret the difference in the decor of the levels - the Makron's palace has a different aesthetic sense, with actual art - is that the Stroggs had once had more culture, an existence that wasn't entirely torturously fusing flesh and steel for conquest, and this is a vestige of it, a lingering trace of something they can no longer reach or remember.
- Health/Damage Asymmetry: Playing on General, the hardest skill level in IV, gives the Strogg extremely deadly attacks, similar to everyone having a Quad Damage boosting their attacks, as well as a damage sponge-like defense.
- Hive Mind: They seem to use this to some degree, although the backstory of II is a bit inconsistent as to how much. There are mentions of rival warlords and in-fighting, which seems to suggest that at least the higher-ranking Strogg have some degree of individuality/autonomy.
- Humanoid Alien: Many Strogg were once Human but some are merely human-like. The Makron, for instance, appears to be humanoid, but all that remains is their head wired into a Spider Tank. The Stream Protectors are also human-like but their jaw is very different.
- Implacable Man: In the Hard+/Nightmare difficulty of II, monsters don't flinch when hit.
- Industrialized Evil: The entire Strogg civilization can be summed up as one giant war machine, constantly churning out more weapons and soldiers to invade other worlds for more resources and populations to churn out weapons and soldiers in a Vicious Cycle. Their homeworld, Stroggos, is a desolate wasteland from centuries of war and pollution with what parts of it which isn't covered in bunkers, weapons factories, massive fortifications and other military-industrial infrastructure being a giant Mars-like desert.
- Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: Zig-Zagged, the Strogg use conventional ballistics alongside energy-based weapons. One of their pinnacles is their Railgun technology blending powered weaponry with ballistics. It's used as a high-power sniper cannon.
- Lack of Empathy: No Strogg in any of the games has shown any sort of positive morality whatsoever to anything that isn't themselves. In cases where one can see hints of the personality of Strogg individuals in spin-offs like Tank Jr. from Quake 3: Arena and the Strogg from Quake Champions, they have no respect for the sanctity of any non-Strogg life. As a whole, they are an expansionist empire that treats all other life like cattle and spare parts. Even fellow Strogg are spared no mercy if they fail, are lower ranks or accidentally hurt each other.
- Meat-Sack Robot: The Strogg as a whole blend and alternate what constitutes their fusion between machine and biology: Some are implied to be artificial intelligences controlling unwilling human (or alien) bodies. Some others are brains or heads in fully mechanized forms. Whichever of these cases, the Strogg seem to want to keep their biological components in one way or another. Quake II Tanks have human or humanoid faces stapled in their endoskeletal skulls. Likewise, Quake IV extended this to the torso having removed skin crudely fastened to their otherwise mechanical bodies. It is fully unknown why the aliens rely on harvesting organic material to reproduce and sustain themselves, but it is one of their signature traits.
- Mechanical Abomination: The Strogg are soulless flesh fused with machine.
- Multiple-Choice Past:
- Discussed by two Marines aboard the Hannibal in IV.
Marine: I heard the Strogg attacked Earth because it's a strategic location. From our planet, they'd be able to get at dozens of other civilizations.Marine: I've also heard the Strogg are super soldiers left over from some major war in another part of our galaxy."Marine: Someone else told me the Strogg are the next step in human evolution. When you think about how much we rely on technology, maybe that's not too far from bein' right.- According to the intro video for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, they search the galaxy for the sole item their existence requires, harvesting, consuming and destroying everything in their path.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: Extremely warlike, regard all other life as worthless inferiors, throw lots of people into Hellhole Prisons, do horrible Mad Scientist experiments on captives... Even the Strogg flag looks very like the Nazi flag, just with a winged skull where the swastika should be.
- Neglectful Precursors: Whoever's responsible for the Strogg program probably didn't realize their creation would go on to wreak havoc around the galaxy. Now it's up to humanity to shut them down once and for all.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Pretty much all Strogg, seeing how many of their forms consist of a lifeform with weaponry attached to it.
- Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Besides the cybernetics, most higher-tier Strogg have alien-like ridged brows, somewhat similar to Buffy the Vampire Slayer vampires.
- Scary Dogmatic Aliens: They are the "Nazi" variety, as they are extremely warlike and regard all non-Strogg lifeforms as worthless inferiors fit only to be killed for Strogg parts or used in experiments.
- Super-Soldier: A Marine aboard the Hannibal in IV suggests that the Strogg are rumored to be the remnants of a race of supersoldiers (whose creators mysteriously disappeared) that fought in a terrible war long ago.
- Used Future: The machine parts on the some Strogg look weather-beaten but functional. This is pronounced with the Sentries and Tacticals who have aged looks to their metal bodies; the latter was recently put into production implying salvaged parts.
- Unwilling Roboticization: The Stroggs' main method of "recruitment" is to subject their victims to a "stroggification" process which (as seen in IV) is closer to mutilation and replacement of body parts for machinery.
- Wetware Body: It is theorized by the marines that the Neurocyte cerebral implant that brainwashes the subjects is an AI that, once activated, makes the convert loyal to the Strogg, implying that the Strogg as a whole may be merely sentient machinery controlling organic, cybernetically fused organisms. Some do fight the programming like Voss but that seems like an exception rather than the rule. The fact that they are said repeatedly to be resurrected dead flesh may imply that even their cybernetics can "reactivate" the corpse while the Neurocyte puppets it around.
Marine Doctor: All higher brain functions have atrophied, which indicates the subject was incapable of independent thought. The transceiver located at the base of the skull shows almost all action was dictated by an external source.
Marine Technician: Do you have your own thoughts, or are you running purely on the AI programmed into the neurocyte?
- You Don't Look Like You: The strogg enemies that appear in Quake IV have noticeably different appearances compared to their Quake II equivalents.
Enemy classes introduced in Quake II
Guards / Soldiers
The different Guard/Soldier classes as seen in Quake II.note
Click here to see the Machinegun Guard as seen in Quake IV.
Click here to see the Machinegun Guard as seen in Quake IV.
[Light Guard]: "Weakest of the three processed humans, armed solely with a simple blaster. (...) Although their weapons may only sting, they may attack in packs or summon help from the big dogs."
[Shotgun Guard]: "These loyal troops have an automatic scatter gun prosthetic. (...) He goes down easy, but packs a punch."
[Machinegun Guard]: "Bigger, meaner, and deadlier than above... with a machine-gun for a right arm. (...) They tend to charge in droves and have a sharp eye."
[Ripper Guard]: "His arm-mounted weapon has been modified to accommodate a body-shredding Ion Ripper. (...) Watch for the Ripper projectiles ricocheting off of surfaces - it may miss you the first time, but find its target on the way back."
[Hyperblaster Guard]: "These troops have a modified version of the HyperBlaster as a deadly prosthetic. (...) Though easy to defeat, these troops' piercing blue energy rounds will make quick work of unsuspecting marines."
[Laser Guard]: "Advancing Strogg technology has given these guards the ability to mount a high-powered laser on their arm. (...) The Laser Guards have a keen eye and an advanced ability to track their targets. Stay clear of that laser, marine."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
One of the most common enemies encountered in the campaign and usually not much to write home about. They come equipped with three possible weapons: Blaster, Machine Gun, or Shotgun, with the The Reckoning Expansion Pack for II adding Hyperblaster, Laser and Ripper variants.
In IV they gain another notable trait in the electrical box and steel tubes attached to their chest that wouldn't look out of place in a hardware store. As the game progresses, the more advanced and coordinated Tactical Strogg start supplanting them partially, but the Guards still make appearances at the end game.
- Adaptation Name Change: Renamed to "Soldiers" in the 2023 remaster of II.
- Adapted Out: The Hyperblaster, Ripper and Laser Guards are absent from the PSX and N64 versions of II.
- Arm Cannon: Their weapons are mounted like so.
- Artificial Brilliance: The 2023 remaster gave them the ability to jump over obstacles.
- Cannon Fodder: They have this role, usually attacking in uncoordinated groups.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Their color determines what weapon they're equipped with.
- In II, red Guards/Soldiers have Blasters, light green Guards/Soldiers have shotguns, and dark green Guards/Soldiers have Machineguns. In addition, the guards introduced by The Reckoning usually have a black costume, with the highlights giving in which kind of weapon they use: blue for the Hyperblaster guards, green for the Ripper guards, and red for the Laser guards.
- In IV, red Guards have Machine Guns, yellowish Guards have Shotguns, and blue-gray Guards have Blasters.
- Evil Minions: In the later levels, they're much less common, with higher-ranking units serving as the majority of your oppositionnote . However, the few you do encounter are generally seen operating consoles and computer terminals, with the implication being they're used for operating controls due to still having a functional hand (which many of the heavier-armed Strogg lack) and being cheap to make.
- Expy: They fulfil the standard (by now) role of the weakest enemy in an Id game being a slow, fragile, gun-toting zombie, like the Zombiemen in Doom and the Grunts in Quake.
- The Goomba: They're only armed with low-tier weaponry in the base game with health in the 20-40 hitpoint range, meaning even two shots from your blaster are enough to kill them.
- Hell Is That Noise: Their breathing sound, indicating their presence.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy:
- In II, the Light, Hyperblaster and Ripper Guards have poor accuracy.
- In IV, all classes earned high grades. Even at close range, the shotgun guards may miss you completely if you get lucky.
- Last Breath Bullet: Downplayed. One of the Guards' death animations has them fall onto their back. They may sit up and fire a few shots ahead before going down for good.
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules:
- The Laser Guards of The Reckoning get a laser rifle. The player... can't.
- The Hyperblaster and Ripper Guards can shoot their weapons in bursts. The player, only at a steady pace.
- Underground Monkey: All of them share the same models, with the only relevant changes being the weapon they carry, their skin and their amount of health:
- Light Guards have 20 HP and fire Blaster beams.
- Shotgun Guards have 30 HP and fire Shotgun shots.
- Machinegun Guards have 40 HP and fire Machinegun barrages.
- The Reckoning's Ripper Guards have 50 HP and fire Ripper blades.
- The Reckoning's Hyperblaster Guards have 60 HP and fire Hyperblaster streams.
- The Reckoning's Laser Guards have 70 HP and fire continuous Laser beams.
- Unexpectedly Realistic Gameplay: The Reckoning's Laser Guards' laser is hitscan rather than an Energy Weapon, which is a lot more realistic: a real laser would travel at the speed of light and appear to hit someone instantly unless they were thousands of miles away or more.
- Unusable Enemy Equipment: While all of the other Guards' weapons can be used in the game, the Laser Guard is the only one that lacks an equivalent.
- Was Once a Man: They were human once and have been processed into Strogg.
Barracuda Shark
"The only creatures indigenous to water on Stroggos. Their blade-like teeth and spiked tail are capable of disembowelling you. (...) They attack in packs, but generally go down easy. Just don't become too occupied with them that you forget to take a breath."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A shark-like creature that resides in the water pools of Stroggos. They aren't dangerous on their own, but in packs, they pose a threat.
- Adapted Out: Was left out of the PSX and N64 versions as well as Ground Zero.
- Expy: They're the game's only aquatic enemy, they have only a weak bite attack, and they are easily dealt with on their own but frequently appear in groups, just like Quake's Rotfish.
- Fragile Speedster: Quite fast on water, but a pair of shots from your regular shotgun are enough to take them down.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: On Earth, a barracuda and a shark are two different animals.
- Sequel Non-Entity: They're absent from the entirety of Ground Zero, which takes place after both the main game and The Reckoning.
- Threatening Shark: A hostile aquatic shark that won't hesitate to charge at you at lightning speed and it's usually found within big water bodies. Sometimes behind walls or secret doors.
Berserker
"He has a metal spike as one arm, a hammer as another, and moves very quickly. (...) This bald mutha is one deadly freak. He may hit the dirt easy, but he'll get up and is relentless in his pursuits."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A fast enemy that only attacks at close range. In the 2023 remastered edition of the game, they gained a Ground Pound and a running attack.
In IV, they are much more dangerous than their original II counterparts, able to close distances at an alarming rate and even One-Hit Kill a healthy, unarmored Kane on the highest difficulty.
- Artificial Brilliance: Not only did the 2023 remaster of II give them the ability to jump, but it also gave them two attacks that were previously cut: a running strike with their hammer and a Ground Pound. This means they no longer need to catch you to attack you, as they can use the Ground Pound to quickly close the gap and inflict serious damage, while the hammer strike allows them to attack while moving.
- The Berserker: Of course. They don't have that name for nothing.
- Catchphrase: Their alert sound in II, "TRESPASSER!"
- Close-Range Combatant: They prefer to make a beeline for their enemies, usually to inflict a grievous stab wound with the stake on their arm.
- Critical Hit: Their spike attack is especially dangerous without armor on the highest difficulty level of IV. A critical hit is unsurvivable without armor, while the next lower difficulty will probably leave you near death.
- Deadly Lunge: The 2023 remaster of II gives them the ability to leap into the air and slam their hammer against the ground. Should the player be far enough away, they can leap across entire rooms.
- Elite Mooks: In IV and the 2023 remastered edition of II. They have moderate durability but have terrifying speed that makes this durability significant. On the highest difficulty, it's imperative to dodge their swings to avoid severe/fatal injury.
- Evil Laugh: In IV. Keep your ears ready, as a soft cackle is a possible warning that one is nearby and charging for you.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: A Berserker does this to a hapless marine in the enemy's introduction in IV.
- Insta Kill Mook: IV's armor system gives a means of preventing a One-Hit Kill thankfully but with full HP but no armor, you'll likely suffer a One-Hit Kill. They're a greater threat before Kane's Stroggification as you're noticeably slower and more fragile.
- Lightning Bruiser: They're among the fastest Mooks in both II and IV, hit extremely hard, and have respectable durability for a common mook, giving them the protection they need to get dangerously close.
- Mook Debut Cutscene: Subverted in IV by using a first-person introduction. The introduction of the Berserker involves them unlocking a secured door, and then impaling a marine who is distracted from calling for Kane's attention.
- Nerf: Their new jump attack introduced in the 2023 remaster of II was heavily complained about, due to essentially having no counterplay; it was functionally undodgeable and they could use it instantly without warning from several dozen feet away. This was nerfed in the remaster's first patch; the ground slam can now be dodged by jumping at the right moment, and the Berserkers now briefly telegraph that they're going to use it. It's now in line with the game's other enemy attacks; still a threat, but avoidable with timing and good reflexes.
- Shock and Awe: Unlike their II incarnations, they can channel lightning through their blade arm. They even can fire a bolt from it directly at you, but they don't often resort to this attack.
- Shockwave Stomp:
- In IV, sometimes they'll slam their blade arm into the ground while it's charged, creating an electric shockwave.
- In the 2023 remastered edition of II, they use a Deadly Lunge to close in the gap with their enemies, pushing them away.
- Smash Mook: They rush up to you and try to pummel you with their cybernetic arms, but can't do much else. This stops being the case in IV and the 2023 remaster, where they're able to do a Deadly Lunge to push you.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the original version of II, Berserkers were some of the easiest enemies in the game; their melee-only attacks and inability to quickly close the gap made them fairly easy to juke around, to the point that you had to go out of your way to let them hit you. In IV they gained a plethora of new attacks and a faster speed, and in the 2023 remaster, they are now considerably trickier and deadlier opponents thanks to their recovered attacks, on par with Quake's Fiends.
Brains
"A vicious cyborg abomination with life-stealing tentacles protruding from its chest during attack. (...) Stay out of range of his dangerous tentacle attack."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A sturdy creature that has two hooks by hands, a small camera on his head, and a bunch of tentacles guarded behind its armor. It also carries a Power Shield.
- Adapted Out:
- Was left out of the PSX and N64 versions.
- The 2023 remaster replaced them in the main game with their Beta Class variant from The Reckoning.
- Deflector Shields: They have a Power Shield that significantly reduces the damage of most frontal attacks.
- The Goomba: Likely an unintentional example. They can take a fair amount of punishment, but due to being extremely slow and having no ranged attacks they are pretty much sitting ducks. They have a power screen which increases their life expectancy somewhat, however, it only protects them from frontal attacks, meaning you can just circle-strafe to get behind them or use grenades.
- Non-Indicative Name: You'd think a creature called "brains" would look like, well, a giant floating/crawling brain. Instead, they just look like weird humanoid cyborgs with no head (other than their eyes) and a bunch of Combat Tentacles.
- Sequel Non-Entity: They're replaced with the more efficient and threatening Beta Class Brains in The Reckoning and are absent in Ground Zero. They also have no equivalent in Quake IV. Even the 2023 remastered version of the game removes them entirely in the base game, replacing them with the Beta Brains from The Reckoning.
- Stone Wall: Almost literally. Their speed is glacial and they're limited to melee attacks, not exactly a winning combination, but they have a frontal energy shield that lets them soak considerable damage. They are vulnerable from the sides or back but are often encountered in narrow corridors which prevents you from circle-strafing them.
Enforcer/Infantry
The Big Baldy Bastard
"Strong, muscle-bound warrior who dishes out chain gun speed damage. (...) These bullies have one objective in mind, marine - to fill your body with as much lead in the least amount of time. They can take a beating, and are effective at ducking your ammo. Also watch out for post-mortem spray from their chain gun caused by a spasm in that arm. Split once you see one fall to its knees."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A strong, muscle-bound former human who dishes out chaingun damage at lightning speed.
- Adaptation Name Change: Renamed to "Infantry" in the 2023 remaster.
- Artificial Brilliance: The 2023 remaster gave it the ability to jump over obstacles.
- Dead Man's Trigger Finger: One of their death animations: Once the head comes off, the Enforcer may involuntarily fire a spray of bullets as he falls.
- Gatling Good: His main weapon is a wrist-mounted Chaingun.
- Losing Your Head: In a downplayed example, they may briefly spray a burst of bullets after having their head blown off before actually dying.
- Significant Name Overlap: The first Quake also had an enemy called the Enforcer; outside of their both being the second-weakest enemy in their particular game, they don't have much else in common.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the Expansion Packs, they shoot first and reload later, making them even more of a threat than before.
- The 2023 remaster gives them the ability to open fire while running, rather than having to stop first.
Flyer
The Pack Nightmare
"A small two-winged monster, comprised of a controlling brain and a cyborg body that allows it to levitate. (...) The Flyer moves fairly quickly, travels in packs, and each wing is a laser blaster."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
Small drones that fire blasts at their enemies at a distance, and attack with their wings at close range.
- Airborne Mook: One of the few.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: A clear distinction between the original and 2023 Remaster versions of the mook is that, while they still can attack from a distance, they now favor closing in on you to slash you, which they previously used as a defence mechanism.
- Brain in a Jar: The manual mentions it as "a small two-winged monster, comprised of a controlling brain and a cyborg body that allows it to levitate".
- Dual Wielding: Each of its wings has a hyperblaster.
- Glass Cannon: They can't take much damage, but their twin full-auto blasters can quickly drain your health if you don't take cover quickly.
- Razor Wings: Equipped with a pair of these, utilised for melee attacks.
Gladiator
"With two massively mechanized legs and one shoulder-mounted railgun, the Gladiator is the daddy of all the adapted humanoids. (...) Once targeted, you have less than a second to sidestep or you're toast. Also watch for his lethal left-handed clamp grip."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A tall Strogg with two mechanical legs and a Railgun on one hand and a clamp on the other. The The Reckoning Expansion Pack for II introduces a class called "Beta Class Gladiator" (renamed as "Phalanx Gladiator" in the 2023 remaster) that replaces its Railgun with a Phalanx Particle Cannon, which has its own folder.
They received an overhaul in IV. They still have their melee claw attack and Railgun from the regular version, but now also have a limited-angle Deflector Shield that deploys in reaction to taking hits and a powerful Blaster cannon. Notably, the Railgun can be targeted and destroyed now.
- A.I. Breaker: At close range, they'll forgo their dangerous railgun and try to club you with their claw, which is easily dodged due to their slow speed.
- Arm Cannon: A subtle one in IV, their blaster is integrated into their claw tool.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Armed with a pair of bloody, sword-length blades, gruesomely embedded in their left wrist in a pincer-like configuration.
- Boss in Mook Clothing: In IV, they're not to be treated as merely a more threatening mook. Their Railgun is more unpredictable, they have a new blaster attack.
- Breakable Weapons: In IV, their Railgun can be destroyed, and lightning-based attacks can destroy their shield.
- Catchphrase: Their oddly-pronounced alert sound in II, "InTRUder!".
- Chicken Walker: Its mechanical legs in both games are shaped in this fashion.
- Critical Hit: Their Railgun and Blaster attacks in IV have a chance of dealing double their base damage as well as values in between. The Railgun is the most dangerous as a Critical Hit will leave a healthy, unarmored Kane dead on the highest difficulty, or nearly dead on the next lower difficulty.
- Desperation Attack: Triggered only by the destruction of their Railgun in IV, a Gladiator will take the offensive with their blaster and try to corner Kane. Their shield becomes more of a nuisance now as you race to take them down or make a retreat.
- Developer's Foresight: If you blow off a dead Gladiator's Railgun in IV, it will twitch like it's still alive.
- Elite Mook: In II, they sport 400 HP, their Railgun shot deals 50 HP, and they're everywhere between the Jail, Power, Hangar and City units. They're also typically surrounded by other units.
- Giant Mook: The sturdiest and slowest enemies outside of bosses, matching with their size, next to the Tanks.
- Heavily Armored Mook: In IV, they're always a potent enemy on foot, but in the SMC Walker segment, they drop like flies.
- Insta Kill Mook: Downplayed in IV but being hit by their Railgun is certain death if you're unarmored and they score a Critical Hit on Harder Than Hard. Fortunately, a health upgrade later in the game makes survival slightly more forgiving.
- Lightning Bruiser: In II they take three direct Super Shotgun shots to fall, and they run quite fast.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: In IV, their shield protects them from direct fire and also reflects it in the opposite direction, so watch out. The Lightning Gun can disable the shield.
- Magnetic Weapons: The first enemy encountered with a Railgun in both the base II PSX game (as it later introduced a second enemy called the Arachnid with twin Railguns) and Call of the Machine, and the only non-boss class found with the weapon in both base II, The Reckoning, Ground Zero and IV.
- Mighty Glacier: They're slower than most Strogg in IV, but compensate with their shield to help extend their life beyond their regular Hit Points.Their Railgun hits like a truck and their blaster barrage can pack a wallop.
- Shoulder Cannon: Their Railgun again in all games the class appears.
- Subsystem Damage: Shooting at the Railgun enough in IV will destroy it.
- Unusable Enemy Equipment: A Justified Trope in both games, as their Railgun is an Arm Cannon in II and the vehicle-mounted variety in IV, lacking a physical trigger mechanism in both cases. You find a handheld equivalent later on.
- Took a Level in Badass: Went from a mid-range mook in Quake II, to a Boss in Mook Clothing with enhanced defensive techniques and a blaster attack accompanying a more unpredictable Railgun attack.
- The Voiceless: In IV, they no longer talk, only making mechanical growls as they take action.
Gunner
"The fighting elite for the Strogg, outfitted with a powerful machine gun and an automatic grenade launcher. (...) This cybernetic terror eats Mutants for breakfast before coming to work - on you. He does have one weakness, though. It takes a second for his hand to open up into the machine gun so take advantage of the brief delay."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
Tall, humanoid Strogg with a grenade launcher in one hand, and a machine gun on the other. The 2023 remaster of II introduces a class called "Gunner Commander" that replaces its Machinegun with an ETF Rifle, which has its own folder.
In IV, they're more defense-oriented than their previous incarnation. Their machine gun has been replaced by a Nailgun, they prefer to hold their position and lay down suppressing fire with their Nailgun & Grenade Launcher rather than chase down their enemies. They're similar in build to the Berserker.
- Aliens Speaking English: One of the few types of Strogg to use English in IV, declaring "Intruder!" or "You there!".
- Arm Cannon:
- A Machinegun in one hand and a Grenade Launcher in the other in II.
- A Nailgun in one hand and a Grenade Launcher in the other in IV.
- Artificial Brilliance: In the 2023 remaster of II they gained the ability to jump and vertically aim their grenades. They can also stop their barrage if they lose sight of their enemies.
- Calling Your Attacks: In IV, their Grenade Launcher attack is telegraphed by them verbalizing derision (presumably) towards their target while pumping the mechanism on their launcher.
- Combat Pragmatist: Notable in IV for using suppressing fire and lobbing grenades to keep you from passing, ideally while their squad deals with you. It's befitting of their typical commanding role.
- Elite Mook: Outright stated by the manual of II as being tougher, deadlier Enforcers. The 2023 remastered edition introduced a Gunner Commander, who are outright called "The Elite of the Elite of the Elite".
- Grenade Launcher: Their alternate weapon to their Machinegun/Nailgun. In IV, they make a verbal warning while pumping the action on the Launcher, giving you time to take cover.
- Interface Screw: Their grenades in IV disorients Kane if he's caught in the blast zone.
- Mook Commander: In IV, they have medium durability (about on par with a Berserker or Iron Maiden) and are occasionally seen leading groups of Guards and Tactical Strogg.
- Mook Debut Cutscene: When you first encounter the Gunner in IV, he fires a grenade from his launcher.
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Can shoot a barrage of six grenades. The player can only launch at a slower, steady pace.
- Nail 'Em: Their Nailgun in IV serves this purpose, naturally.
- Nerf: In IV, they only fire one grenade, as opposed to the burst of grenades they fired in II. In exchange, the grenades now mess up your vision for a moment if you're near the blast.
- The Unintelligible: When idle in II, they wander around mumbling the same gibberish phrase over and over again.
- Unusable Enemy Equipment: Subverted in both games. While you may not scavenge the Gunner's grafted Grenade Launcher, it's a preview of sorts to the weapon and how it works. Lieutenant Voss in IV eventually gifts you a handheld model that's designed for two-handed use.
Icarus
Unlike its namesake, the sun does not affect this being.
"Relies on a huge jet packed attached to its back, with laser blasters mounted into his shoulders. (...) With its durable shell, swift maneuverability, and insatiable appetite for destruction, the Icarus is an aerial nightmare."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A flying Strogg with no arms. Attacks using twin shoulder-mounted blasters.
- Airborne Mook: One of the few.
- Elite Mooks: Much tougher than Fliers (with comparable health to Berserkers), and start to replace them as the primary flying enemy about halfway through the game.
Iron Maiden
"Equally as powerful as the Gunner, this femme fatale has both an arm-mounted rocket launcher and flesh-tearing claws. (...) The cyber-bitch from hell... not the kind of girl to take home to mom."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
The only female Strogg among the ranks, armed with a Rocket Launcher in one hand and sharp claws in the other. The Reckoning introduced a "Beta Class" variant (called "Heat-Seeking Iron Maiden" in the 2023 remaster), which shoots heat-seeking missiles and has its own folder.
They're the final Mook enemy introduced in IV, and the last one returning from II. They are enhanced over their former incarnations with the ability to fly and teleport away in self-defense and return seconds later to confuse intruders. They gained a scream attack that is mainly intended to disorient the target. They still have their Rocket Launcher, but it's triple-barreled to fire three in quick succession. The Iron Maidens are first met at the final act of the game, and are used for security in the data tower trio and Nexus Core.
- Adaptational Attractiveness:
- They have much more human-like faces in Quake II RTX, having normal lips instead of the original's lipless teeth-filled mouth, and lacking the original's Buffy the Vampire Slayer-esque alien brow ridge.
- IV emphasizes more their feminine side over their monstruous side.
- Adapted Out: The II variant is left out of Call of the Machine in the 2023 remastered edition of II.
- Brown Note: In IV, much like a hostile grenade blast, their scream creates a disorienting Interface Screw.
- Elite Mooks:
- In general, they're armed with a heavy weapon and with comparable health stats to the Gunner. They don't appear until more than halfway through II.
- In IV, they have medium durability (comparable to the Berserker) but employ Confusion Fu with their personal Teleport Spam device to disappear for a few seconds and relocate unpredictably. Adding to their threat level is their disorienting shout attack and triple-barrel Rocket Launcher. Fortunately, they are relatively rare, except for their introduction level where they are frequent.
- Expy: They remain "asleep" in caskets on walls in IV until awakened to kill intruders, akin to how the Borg respond when intruders threaten their ships. They even have a crimson eye-piece that hearkens back to Borg drones.
- Fake Ultimate Mook: Their attacks in II are heavily telegraphed and their projectiles, though damaging, are also quite slow-moving. They're also easily staggered by heavy weapons and walk around instead of running. They're really only a threat in wide-open areas when also backed up by many other enemies.
- Iron Maiden: In IV, the caskets they sleep in have similarities to these, so they aren't called Iron Maidens for nothing.
- Mook Debut Cutscene: They debut in IV in the "Data Storage Security" level, right before Kane restores the power to the Data Storage Terminal. He approaches a sleeping, Stroggified female figure which then reacts and screams, causing an Interface Screw on Kane.
- Orgasmic Combat: They do a lot of moaning and deep breathing in II.
- Our Banshees Are Louder: In IV, their hover and teleport tech gives the feel of a ghost and their scream attack complements the motif. Additionally, they emerge from coffin-like enclosures inspired by the Iron Maiden execution device.
- Power Floats: In IV, they hover in the air rather than being ground-based like most Strogg.
- The Smurfette Principle: The Iron Maiden is the only female enemy in the entirety of II and IV. This remains true for both expansion packs as well, not counting Ground Zero's Black Widow Guardian.
- Teleportation: Their main way to prolong their life in IV.
- Vader Breath: In IV, a somewhat labored exhalation sound is heard throughout the facility where they are introduced, Foreshadowing their release from their coffins.
Medic
"As the name suggests, this threatening organism has the ability to awaken dead Strogg from eternal sleep. (...) When he's not healing, the Medic moves about on two hydraulic legs, and is armed with a laser blaster that shoots at hyper speeds."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A bipedal monstrosity that attacks the player with a barrage of beams. As its name implies, it also can resurrect dead Strogg.
- Adapted Out: Was left out from the N64 version.
- Anti-Frustration Features: They can't resurrect other medics. They also can't resurrect anything that's been gibbed or anything that doesn't leave a corpse behind (such as all of the flying monsters.) You can use this to your advantage by gibbing any corpses around if there's a medic in the area.
- Expy: Of the Arch-vile from Doom II, who is also able to revive dead monsters.
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Can shoot their hyperblaster beams in a steady, faster stream than the player's own Hyperblaster once the two "scout" shots are fired.
- Non-Indicative Name: They act more like a sci-fi necromancer than a medic proper, since they won't bother healing their allies mid-combat until they've kicked the bucket.
- Shoot the Medic First: Medics can quickly resurrect fallen Strogg so long as the corpse hasn't been gibbed, meaning the player can end up wasting a lot of ammo killing repeatedly resurrected foes if they refuse to prioritise killing the Medic. The 2023 Remaster's new tutorial level even includes a demonstration of the Medic's Strogg-reviving capabilities to hammer this point home.
Mutant
"The Strogg refineries have spewed toxins into the ecosystem for untold decades causing this once docile creature to mutate into a fierce, fast, flesh-tearing beast. (...) Run."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
The only organic terrestrial enemy on Stroggos, it attacks by launching itself at its enemy.
- Adapted Out: Was left out of the PSX version.
- Boss in Mook Clothing: A "Bloodthirsty Mutant" is the Mid-Boss of Call of the Machine's Operation: Laser Eyes.
- Deadly Lunge: They leap towards their enemies (be it the player or another mook which took a shot to it) should they be in a long distance.
- Expy: They bear a pretty strong resemblance, in both attacks and appearance, to the Fiend from the first Quake.
- Gang Up on the Human: Despite being indicated to be native wildlife and not part of the Strogg hivemind (lacking any cybernetics to speak of), they won't attack Strogg and are solely hostile to the player, unless monster in-fighting from stray fire occurs.
- Tragic Monster: According to the manual they started as docile creatures, but were mutated into vicious beasts by toxic waste from the Stroggs' factories (hence their name).
Parasite
"Four-legged beast with a probe on its back. Once fired, it attaches itself and literally sucks the life from you. (...) You probably don't want to pet the Parasite."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A quadrupedal Strogg. Attacks by sucking out the life of its foe with a tongue-like appendage.
- Artificial Brilliance: In the 2023 remaster they can now jump over obstacles and won't use their Vampiric Draining if their prey is out of range, and will try to lead their shots just to be sure.
- Balance Buff: In the original 1997 release, the Parasite's hitscan probe was restricted to short range and incapable of firing it at targets at different heights, akin to Quake's Ogres. This is no longer the case as of the 2023 remaster.
- Hell Is That Noise:
- Their screeching and skittering noises, as they are always a pain in the ass.
- They make a distinctive, rhythmic foot-tapping sound with a foot before they're alerted to the player's presence.
- Left Stuck After Attack: The 2023 remaster adds a weakness to their draining attack. Managing to dodge the Parasite's tube near a solid surface causes it to stick to that surface, immobilising the parasite for a few seconds as it tries to pull the probe loose.
- Nerf: In the original 1997 release, the Parasite's probe was a hitscan attacking, making guaranteed to hit the player if it was allowed to attack. In the 2023 remaster, it's now a speedy projectile that the player can dodge with the right timing.
- Vampiric Draining: Their sole attack is launching a tongue-like probe appendage which is implied to suck your blood. Unlike most examples, doing this doesn't heal the Parasite.
Tank and Tank Commander
[Tank]: "Tanks have three weapons they use at random: an arm-mounted machine gun, an arm-mounted laser blaster, and a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. (...) Get in, take your shot, and get out. Repeat as often as necessary. These metallic beasts can endure massive gunfire."
[Tank Commander]: "These Tanks are a special class, designed to secure the Inner City from infiltrators. (...) Consider planning your means of attack beforehand, rather than running into their view with your weapons blasting."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
Huge, slow-walking armored Strogg which can use three weapons: a laser blaster, a shoulder-mounted Rocket Launcher and a machine gun.
- Artificial Brilliance:
- In Ground Zero, Tank Commanders can now shoot surprise rockets without having to load.
- In the 2023 remaster, Tanks are immune to Enemy Civil War, always focusing their fire on their target rather than their attackers, even if that attacker is another Strogg. They also mix up attacks, starting with a three-bolt barrage and immediately following that with three rockets, without waiting between shots.
- Boss in Mook Clothing:
- They sport 750 and 1000 HP respectively, each rocket fired deals 50 damage, each blaster bolt shot deals 30 damage and even their Machinegun shots deal 20 HP (so a lot of cover is required, woe betide you if you're forced to fight one of these in a corridor without any cover), have an attack suite on par with the Makron itself, and can be found everywhere (Tanks are scattered across the different units, while Tank Commanders are everywhere in the City unit).
- A regular Tank sporting a Power Shield is fought at the end of the "A Grave for Dead Gods" level of Call of the Machine's Operation: Corpse Run.
- Call of the Machine introduces an even harder version of the Tank Commander, armed with a Power Shield and firing homing rockets. One of these is even fought as a Final Boss, at the tail end of Operation: Wasteland, called simply "Commander".
- Breakout Mook Character: A Tank made the cut for Quake III: Arena as Tank Jr., based on the game's easter egg.
- Fake Ultimate Mook: They look like they could be a threat to the player due to being a Walking Armory, but they're so slow and their attacks are so painfully telegraphed that it's easy to take them out unscathed.
- Final Boss:
- In the demo version, a Tank awaits at the very end of "Installation".
- The Nintendo 64 version has two guarding the Core in the last level which Turns Red when enough damage has been dealt to them, as part of the Boss Rush.
- Call of the Machine has a Tank Commander with a Power Shield and homing rockets called simply "Commander", fought at the tail end of Operation: Wasteland.
- Giant Mook: The sturdiest enemies outside of bosses, matching their size.
- Hell Is That Noise: Their whump-whump-whump stomping.
- Mascot Mook: The console versions of the game used an image of a Tank for their cover art.
- Mighty Glacier: In exchange for their size, their walking speed is quite slow.
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Fires their Rockets in barrages of three; the player can only shoot rockets at a slower, but steadier, pace.
- Turns Red: The enhanced Tank Commanders you face at the end of the "Command Core" level in the N64 version turn red after they take a beating, meaning that they're close to defeat and will attack even more aggressively than before.
- Underground Monkey: Tank Commanders have extra health and deal extra damage than their regular counterparts.
- Walking Tank: Cyborg tanks with legs instead of treads, and equipped with multiple weapon systems too.
Technician
Not your regular explosive tank.
"An almost completely robotic brute, controlled by a brain that floats around inside its metal body in a red preserving fluid. This creature moves about by hovering on four jets that sit under its body and is equipped with three weapons: a shocking prod, a flesh-ripping claw, and a laser blaster. Use energy armor if you’ve got any. (...) The T Echnician is easy to hit, but takes a lot of damage. A good slap from your super shotgun at close range will make him keep his distance."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A floating Brain in a Jar. Attacks using a Hyperblaster, Utility Claw and Shock Prod.
- Adapted Out: Was left out from the N64 version.
- Airborne Mook: One of the few comprising the Strogg's forces.
- Brain in a Jar: A literal brain-in-a-jar controlling a flying-saucer-like machine.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: They look a lot like generic kitchen blenders.
- Shock Stick: One of its two melee weapons.
Super Tank
"The ultimate combination of man and machine has been enhanced with powerful energy armor. Only one thing matters when it comes to defeating this beast: firepower. You can't have too much of it."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A giant tank that guards key areas of Stroggos. Like its regular namesake, it contains a Rocket Launcher, but unlike it, it eschews the Machinegun and Blaster for a more damaging Chaingun.
- Final Boss: In Call of the Machine's Operation: Laser Eyes, surrounded by three Beta Class Gladiators.
- Flunky Boss: In the higher levels, the one guarding the Grid Control is surrounded by a bunch of Berserkers.
- Hell Is That Noise: The actual tank treads.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The secret "The Janitor" encounter in Operation: Firewall involves an ammo pack-sized Super Tank. It hits as hard as the real deal.
- Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: After its defeat, it falls to the side, a bunch of small explosions take place, and then the bigger (and somehow non-lethal) explosion reduces it to bits.
- Recurring Boss: Fought in "Grid Control" and a second one at the beginning of "Power Plant". In Call of the Machine it appears more often, being fought twice in Operation: Darkest Depths as "Overburden" and "The Underminer". Not to mention the secret encounter with a miniature Super Tank at the tail end of Operation: Firewall as "The Janitor".
- Skippable Boss: The second Super Tank you encounter in the main game is guarding a red keycard. You can run past it to grab the keycard without fighting it, or can even ignore it completely as there is a secret shortcut that lets you skip to the end of the level and skip the red keycard door entirely.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the 2023 remaster, Super Tanks gain a dual Grenade Launching attack, another cut attack that turns them into fearsome foes.
Hornet
"The Strogg Hornets are used for strategic defense of key objectives. While they are large in size, they are also highly maneuverable, allowing them to faithfully patrol both indoor and outdoor areas. As a weapons platform, they have both a pair of Chainguns and a pair of Rocket Launchers at their disposal, giving them excelent suppression ability. (...) Watch out for their Chaingun, they are deadly accurate. Use cover judiciously, and don't corner yourself leaving you open to take a rocket to the face."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A giant flying monstrosity that, like the Tank, also guards important areas. It fights using a multi-rocket launcher and a pair of chainguns.
In IV, they only appear in vehicle missions and are regular Mooks that show up frequently. They lack the exposed torsos of the originals. Tank cannons and vehicle machine guns make short work of them if they connect accurately. They're equipped with rockets, gravity bombs, and machine guns.
- Degraded Boss: They're more present in IV, especially in the vehicle-based levels.
- Dual Boss: In the Nintendo 64 version of II, two appear after the Tank Commanders are dealt with.
- Fragile Speedster: In IV, they aren't too much of a threat to your vehicles, but can dodge machine gun fire quickly. However, they can't withstand cannons or heavy machine gun fire for very long. Albeit, the SMC Walker may have more difficulty with them due to its limited mobility and slow missiles.
- Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: After its defeat in II, it falls to the side, a bunch of small explosions take place, and then the bigger (and somehow non-lethal) explosion reduces it to bits.
- Recurring Boss: Thrice in the main game of II ("The Big Gun", "Inner Hangar" and "Comm Satellite"), once at the PSX version ("Defence Command" after getting the A-M Bomb in the prior level), twice in the Nintendo 64 version (a Dual Boss encounter in "Command Core"), and another in Call of the Machine ("The Death Gate") as the Mid-Boss "Gate Warden".
- Skippable Boss:
- In II, the Hornet in "Inner Hangar" doesn't need to be fought, you can just quickly flip the switches and run right past it.
- Also from II, the one in "Comm Satellite" also technically can be skipped, but you probably want to kill it as you're likely to take a lot of damage flipping the switches to destroy the comms dish if it's still alive.
Spoiler character for II, The Reckoning, Call of the Machine and IV
The Makron
The Makron as seen in Quake IV.
Click here to see the Makron's first form as seen in II.
Click here to see the Makron's second form as seen in II.
Click here to see the Makron's first form as seen in II.
Click here to see the Makron's second form as seen in II.
[Jorg form]: "Little is known about the Jorg, besides they appear to carry the Makron head of command. (...) They're built more tough than anything else we've seen. Unload everything you've got on it."
[Makron form]: "Even less is known about the Makron than the Jorg. The Jorg appears to act as a vehicle for the Makron inside, but even detached from the Jorg they have even more dangerous weaponry. (...) This is who you're after. Good luck!"
[Makron form]: "Even less is known about the Makron than the Jorg. The Jorg appears to act as a vehicle for the Makron inside, but even detached from the Jorg they have even more dangerous weaponry. (...) This is who you're after. Good luck!"
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
The Final Boss itself. Starts the fight in its gigantic Jorg suit, armed with double Chainguns and a BF G10k. Once the suit is destroyed, the Makron fights as its regular self, retaining the BFG but replacing the dual Chainguns with a head-mounted Railgun and a Hyperblaster barrage. Fought at the "Final Showdown" level.
In IV another Makron makes its appearance, being created/elected to take his place.
- Aliens Speaking English: He enjoys talking smack to Kane in IV in his native tongue to demoralize him.
- Applied Phlebotinum: Its dark-matter weaponry beyond just his BFG in IV. It powers his Ray Gun and presumably his grenades too.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Implied. According to the manual of II, the Strogg pick up the strongest of the Warlords and name it the Supreme Leader. As the ending of II states numerous Strogg vied for the position of Makron after Bitterman killed the original one, it means this guy is the one who bested the rest.
- Authority Sounds Deep: Speaks and laughs in a deep, reverberating and heavily distorted voice, befitting of the Strogg's leader.
- Back from the Dead: Subverted in IV. He was built following the original Makron's destruction.
- Balance Buff: In the 2023 remaster, the Jorg battle suit receives a massive buff to its health to compensate for the player's ability to use Quad Damage against it. As an Anti-Frustration Feature, a Quad Damage is dropped by the teleporter that leads to the final boss arena, so if you didn't save one from before you'll still have one on hand to use against the Jorg and his massive health pool.
- BFG:
- In II, his head is a Railgun that works just like yours. His left arm is a literal BFG.
- In IV, he has a Dark Matter Gun at his disposal.
- Big Bad: No one else fits the bill. This is, after all, the Strogg leader we're talking about.
- Brain in a Jar: Practically the only visibly organic component of the Strogg leader in II, situated at the base of its torso. Defeating the Makron causes it to fall out with an unceremonious "plop".
- Brains and Brawn: In IV, it acts as the brawn to the Nexus's brains.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Do not let his goofy mannerisms in II, fool you, this guy is dangerous.
- Call-Back: The Dark Matter Gun in IV makes the same firing sound as the BFG from previous Quake titles.
- Combat Pragmatist: He'll use dirty tricks to win in IV, such as carpeting an area with dark matter grenades and using ricochet blaster shots that require careful dodging. They're also not afraid to summon reinforcements to distract you. Additionally, if anyone puts up a good fight and isn't Strogg, he's willing to immobilize them and send their Worthy Opponent off to a painful "promotion" to bolster the Strogg forces.
- Composite Character: In IV he has traits of both the II Makron and the Black Widow Guardian from Ground Zero. The Dark Matter Gun is like the old Makron's BFG, while the Spider Tank is similar to the second phase of the Black Widow. Their Dark Matter beams and technology are also akin to the Black Widow's Plasma Beam & Disruptor respectively.
- Cyber Cyclops: The barrel of its railgun "head" in II bears resemblance to one.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: The 2023 remaster of II gave the Jorg a massive amount of health, as the devs expect you to kill it with Quad Damage, to the point of giving one to the player in the previous level. It is killable without Quad Damage, but you'd need several dozen rockets or railgun slugs to do the job.
- Decapitated Army: According to the manual of II, by killing him, the Strogg Warlords start to battle each other for supremacy, leaving the Stroggos not only without a leader but in a very bad situation.
- Degraded Boss: Previously the Final Boss of II and The Reckoning, turns into this in Call of the Machine, where he's fought without him riding his Jorg suit twice (once as its usual self in Operation: Corpse Run and another as "The Sysadmin" in Operation: Firewall), and two smaller Makrons are fought after the encounter in Operation: Corpse Run.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Double Subverted in IV. First, the Makron is fought halfway through the game. Then he's finally defeated in the final stage, but this reveals the actual True Final Boss, the Nexus itself.
- Dual Boss: At the end of Operation: Corpse Run in Call of the Machine in the 2023 remastered edition of II, you face two lesser copies of it after you defeat the main Makron.
- Enemy Summoner: In IV, unlike the Prototype Dropper or Voss, he isn't limited to summoning basic Mooks and can summon anything from a Berserker to a zombie. Fortunately, any of your Splash Damage weapons can easily destroy the teleport drops.
- Evil Is Bigger: In IV, he's roughly the size of the Jorg Suit from II. His complete battle body's size is about 20 feet, and second only to the Tower Guardian's stature.
- Final Boss: Of the main II game, of The Reckoning, and of Call of the Machine's Operation: Firewall.
- Fission Mailed: In the first fight with the Makron in IV, Kane must injure him long enough for him to use his tractor beam. If your health reaches zero, it's time to load a save. If done right, it appears the Makron is going to kill you with their Dark Matter beam but after Kane passes out for a few seconds, he is lifted up by a claw and the Makron laughs, gloating over their new capture.
- Full-Conversion Cyborg: In ''II', his only apparent organic element (outside of his presumably techno-organic Jorg) is his brain.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol: His arm in IV. He uses it on Kane.
- Head Blast: His second form has a railgun for a head.
- Human Resources: He has a Human torso unit as part of his body in IV.
- Interface Spoiler: The id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition has its two forms as part of the bestiary, even though they're introduced quite late in the game.
- Knight of Cerebus: IV doesn't start lighthearted to begin with, but the unexpected appearance of the New Makron during a major operation already going wrong marks the point of the story when things go south for the heroes, and the risk of losing the war becomes very high. This also marks the point where Kane is captured and painfully Stroggified.
- Mechanical Abomination: This guy's technically just a brain in a giant suit of power armor in II, his appearance is what makes him so unsettling though. His arms are laser guns, he's quite big, and his head is a Railgun.
- Mighty Glacier: He's almost as slow as a Tank in II, but is packing more firepower than any other enemy in the game.
- Non-Human Head: Features a mostly unassuming anthropomorphic build in II... except its brain sits in its torso while its "head" is a Railgun.
- One-Winged Angel: Inverted in II. His first form is a massive (approx. 30 feet tall) robot with two chainguns and a BFG. After you destroy him, this is revealed to be a Humongous Mecha and his real form is only about 8 feet tall (though no less deadly).
- Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: After defeating the Jorg in II, it falls to the side as it's peppered by a bunch of small explosions. A final, larger explosion engulfs the machine, with the Makron himself leaping out unscathed to face down the player.
- Recurring Boss: Appears at the end of the main in II game, at the end of The Reckoning riding the Jorg mech, at the end of Operation: Corpse Run without the Jorg (with two smaller, Jorgless Makrons following afterwards as the "Sons of Makron") and at the end of Operation: Firewall as "The Sysadmin".
- Sequential Boss:
- First fought in II in its Jorg battle suit, then battled standalone. Both forms have 3000 HP.
- In the Jorg suit, it wields dual Chainguns and a BFG.
- As himself, he retains the BFG but adds a barrage of painful beams fired in a circle and a Railgun.
- In IV, you first fight the Makron while he's on the ground. After that, he detaches his legs and becomes airborne. At this part, he is capable of healing himself by absorbing torso jars.
- First fought in II in its Jorg battle suit, then battled standalone. Both forms have 3000 HP.
- Shockwave Stomp: In IV. It's heavily telegraphed and when they complete the animation, a wave of energy is sent in all directions. The best way to avoid it is a jump just before the wave hits you.
- Slap-on-the-Wrist Nuke: Strangely, their Dark Matter Gun in IV is weaker than your model. The blackhole sphere may look intimidating but it requires a direct hit to have any effect and can be dodged with little effort from a distance.
- Spider Tank: His first form in IV has four spider-like legs on the bottom.
- Stock Sound Effects: Many of the Makron's attacks (most notably his Dark Matter Gun) in IV make the same firing sound as the BFG10K from II.
- Unusual Weapon Mount: His head in II is a Railgun.
Introduced in Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning
Gekk
"A lightning-fast amphibious creature that lives and hunts in the planet's proto-swamps. (...) Commonly found in packs, these creatures will hunt you down, leaping from the shadows to claw or bite."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
An organic creature, made of a certain chemical, which can explode into pieces should it be Cherry Tapped.
- Alien Blood: They have glowing yellow blood and gibs.
- Deadly Lunge: They leap towards their enemies (be it the player or another mook which took a shot to it) should they be in a long distance.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: They look like a combination of a reptile and some kind of monkey or ape.
- Super Swimming Skills: The only terrestrial enemies capable of swimming in water; other such foes will simply walk along the bottom of water bodies.
Fixbot/Repair Bot
"Better left alone, these hard-working robots can usually be found repairing doors, lights, and other types of equipment. (...) Keep your eye on these guys – though innocent looking they also have the ability to awaken dead Strogg from eternal sleep."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A mostly inoffensive, robotic, floating creature whose main role is the maintenance of the Strogg systems. Beware, though, if it detects ungibbed Strogg corpses, it can resurrect them.
They return in IV, being mostly inoffensive.
- Adaptation Name Change: Renamed to "Fixbots" in the 2023 remaster.
- Adapted Out: There are no instances of these in Ground Zero or Call of the Machine.
- Canon Immigrant: The dubious canon status of The Reckoning didn't prevent these from appearing in Quake IV.
- The Medic: Can bring fallen Strogg Back from the Dead.
- Unique Enemy: They only show up in the second unit of The Reckoning and nowhere else, although they do come pack in Quake IV.
Brains (Beta Class)
"When revealed, his tentacles will pull you within range of his slashing hooked arms. When out of tentacle range, lasers from his eyes will cut his prey in half."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
An improved version of the Brains enemy from the main game, this time it's armed with an attracting Hookshot and lasers.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: They replace the regular Brains enemy in the main game in the 2023 remaster.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Subverted, unlike the other Beta Classes from The Reckoning, the Beta Class Brains has the same skin as its counterpart, the implication being that this isn't just a different Brains, but a Brains unit from the past that has been upgraded.
- Eye Beams: They shoot lasers from their eyes.
- Took a Level in Badass: The original Brains was very slow and had no ranged attacks, essentially making it a sitting duck. The Beta Class Brains has both Eye Beams and, even worse, a Combat Tentacles attack with a very long reach (about 30 feet or so) which also pulls you towards the Brains and drains your health, meaning if you get into its range it's pretty much lights out. Furthermore, Beta-Class Brains lack a unique appearance.
- Underground Monkey: Differentiates itself from the regular Brains' with the inclusion of Hookshot tentacles which attract their foes to them and laser eyes.
- You Will Not Evade Me: They pull the player into melee range.
Beta Class Iron Maiden/Heat-Seeking Iron Maiden
"Her arm-mounted rocket launcher has been modified with heat-seeking rockets that track their targets. (...) This bitch is bad news. Her rockets will track your ass down, but they won't track around objects. So if she fires one off, look fast for cover."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
An improved version of the Iron Maiden which shoots heat-seeking, homing rockets.
- Adapted Out: Left out of Ground Zero and Call of the Machine.
- Adaptation Name Change: Renamed to "Heat-Seeking Iron Maiden" in the 2023 remaster.
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules: They can fire homing rockets. The player, can't.
- Underground Monkey: They fire homing missiles, unlike the regular Maidens' straight missiles.
Beta Class Gladiator / Phalanx Gladiator
"This mutant's shoulder-mounted weapon has been modified to fire Phalanx Particle Cannon rounds. He has also been fitted with protective energy armor. (...) Persistence is the key in defeating this powerhouse. You must first deplete his energy armor, then you can move in for the kill."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
An improved version of the Gladiator with a Power Shield, an even more damaging clamp, and a Phalanx Particle Cannon instead of a Railgun.
- Adaptational Wimp: One of the sturdiest and most damaging enemies in the original The Reckoning. In the 2023 remaster they take fewer hits and can only fire two Mag Slugs instead of three. As a result, they go down faster than before.
- Adaptation Name Change: Renamed to "Phalanx Gladiator" in the 2023 remaster.
- Boss in Mook's Clothing: Their Power Shield effectively gives them the cumulative health of 1700 HP. Combined with their powerful Phalanx Particle Cannon, they're almost as tough and dangerous as a full-scale boss like the Super Tank or Hornet.
- Deflector Shields: They have a Power Shield which significantly increases their durability.
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Can fire their Phalanx Mag Slugs in steady streams of three shots. The player's Phalanx Particle Cannon can only fire two slugs per shot, at a slower pace.
- Underground Monkey: They fire Mag Slugs instead of regular Slugs, have a Power Shield and extra health.
Beta Class Super Tank / Heat-Seeking Super Tank
"Like the Super Tank, but even worse with the addition of heat-seeking rockets. (...) Was the regular model really not enough?"
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A highly improved version of the Super Tank, sturdier than before due to the addition of a Power Shield on top of its ludicrous HP. Still retains its attacks, though. Two are fought halfway into "Intelligence Center", one at the beginning of "Industrial Facility", and another guarding a key item on the same level. The 2023 remastered edition gave it a new tool in the form of heat-seeking missiles.
- Adaptation Name Change: Renamed to "Heat-Seeking Super Tank" in the 2023 remaster.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: Identical to the normal Super Tank but with more hp (about 2500) meaning you just have to strafe and shoot for a while (using a Quad Damage or Dualfire Damage powerup will help).
- Dual Boss: In the "Intelligence Center" dual arena, at the same time.
- Grenade Launcher: Contains two in the trailings, one each.
- Homing Projectile: The 2023 remastered edition of the game replaced its missiles with this variety.
- Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: After its defeat, it falls to the side, a bunch of small explosions take place, and then the bigger (and somehow non-lethal) explosion reduces it to bits.
- Recurring Boss: Fought twice in "Intelligent Center", with a third one being stationed at a garage at the beginning of "Industrial Facility". Call of the Machine adds more encounters: one at the end of Operation: Laser Eyes surrounded by three Beta Class Gladiators, and another in Operation: Ruined Earth following an encounter with a Carrier.
- Took a Level in Badass: As if the Power Shield trait wasn't enough, in the 2023 remastered edition of the game it also gained heat-seeking missiles it didn't had back in the original The Reckoning.
Introduced in Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero
Stalker
Clinging to the ceiling, awaiting for attacking you.
"Spider-like cyborgs that skulk around in unlikely places. At a distance they fire an improved Blaster from ports on their backs. Up close, they have a lethal slash attack. (...) These little buggers are vicious. They can cling to ceilings, pounce down on top of you to attack, then re-attach to the ceilings to evade your retaliation."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
An arachnid Strogg, found across most levels. Can walk either at floors and ceilings, and attack players at close range with their claws, as well as a weak green blast for ranged attacks.
- Artificial Brilliance: They can dodge projectiles such as rockets by jumping from floor to ceiling or vice versa. Unlike with other Strogg, you can't compensate for this by adjusting your aim, since they're actively dodging instead of just ducking.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: They're roughly child-sized, but are as tough as Elite Mooks like Gunners and Iron Maidens. This remains true even in the 2023 remastered edition of the game, helped by the Nerf imposed on the Railgun, one of the main tools used to destroy them.
Turrets
"These rapid-fire weapons are mounted in the floors and ceilings. They activate when they sense your presence. There are three types of turrets: Blaster, Machine Gun and Rocket. (...) They shoot a wide variety of weaponry, and they're deadly wherever you find them. If you can see one of these, dance!"
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
Stationary turrets, which come in Blaster, Rocket and Rail varieties. Found across most levels starting from "Eastern Warehouse".
- Nerf: Turrets were quite sturdy in the original Ground Zero, being able to tank three rockets or two Railgun slugs while surprising players with their unannounced shots. In the 2023 remastered version, they were given a laser telegraphing both their position and whether they were targeting players, considerably reducing the surprise factor. Their damage output and durability were also hit hard, with a single rocket taking them down instantly and their hits dealing less damage.
Daedalus
"This is a more powerful version of the Icarus. He shoots an upgraded Blaster from his shoulder-mounted lasers. He also utilizes the Power Screen to blunt the force of your attacks. (...) Basically they're a flying platform for double barrel Blasters. Their intelligence has been improved, so these birds are ready to foul you up. Watch out, they are tough!"
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
An improved version of the Icarus, containing a Power Screen and extra health.
- Expy Coexistence: It's not uncommon to see regular Icarus alongside these varieties.
- Underground Monkey: An Icarus with a Power Screen and extra health.
Medic Commander
"These troops have a modified version of the HyperBlaster as a deadly prosthethic. (...) If re-animating dead comrades and creating new enemies were not enough, this guy also fires an upgraded Blaster. Keep your eyes peeled for the S.O.B. He's itching to kick your butt!"
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
An improved version of the Medic, in addition to its healing capabilities, can recall other units to the battlefield and fill any area with mooks.
- Enemy Summoner: Can recall several mooks into the battlefield.
- Shoot the Medic First: Much like the regular medic, it can heal foes. The tutorial level in the 2023 remaster even shows you why.
- Underground Monkey: A Medic which can heal and recall foes.
Carrier
"Massive, brutish, and deadly, this particular Strogg is one to avoid at all costs. With twin chainguns, a railgun, and a grenade launcher, this flying arsenal is well-equipped to deal with Marines. As if that weren't enough, the Carrier can also teleport in Flyers for extra Marine-gibbing action. (...) They don't call this guy the Carrier for nothing. Make sure to concentrate your fire on it first and then take care of those pesky Flyers."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A stronger version of the Carrier with added capabilities such as a Grenade Launcher and the ability to shoot Flyers and Homing Kamikaze Flyers. Fought at the end of the "Lower Hangars" level.
- Composite Character: The "Garbage Carrier" in Operation: Wasteland summons Stalkers instead of Flyers, making it one of the original Carrier and the Black Widow Guardian from Ground Zero.
- Expy: Much like the Protoss Carrier, they are an aerial unit whose main form of attack is summoning small Flyers and even the Kamikaze homing variety to pester players. Unlike the Carrier, they get other attack alternatives in the form of Grenade Launchers, Rocket Launchers, Railguns, and Machineguns.
- Flunky Boss: Attacks alongside the Flyers it summons.
- Mook Maker:
- Can summon Flyers at will. These Flyers come in two varieties: regular Flyers and homing kamikaze ones.
- The "Garbage Carrier" in Call of the Machine's Operation: Wasteland summons Stalkers instead.
- Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: After its defeat, it falls to the side, a bunch of small explosions take place, and then the bigger (and somehow non-lethal) explosion reduces it to bits.
- Recurring Boss: Call of the Machine turns it into this: it's fought in Operation: Ruined Earth at the tail end of "Way of the Warrior" and as a secret boss encounter in the Secret Level "Pumping Station III" as the "Ancient Carrier", and in the "Junkyard" level of Operation: Wasteland as the "Garbage Carrier", summoning Stalkers rather than Flyers.
Spoiler character for Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero
Black Widow Guardian
The Guardian's first form.
Click here to see her second form.
Click here to see her second form.
[Humanoid form]: "She appears to be high-ranking within the Strogg hierarchy, which means she has been around and has been victorious. Her experience can be seen in her armaments; she has multiple weapons at her disposal, and the ability to summon reinforcements at moment's notice. (...) This is what stands between you and the Gravity Well. You're going to have to do what no other species has done yet if you want to succeed."
[Arachnoid form]: "This is the Black Widow's preferred mode of transport: an arachnid-shaped tank, featuring even more firepower than when she's on foot. (...) We've only received intel about the capabilities of this thing, nobody that has seen it has come out alive."
[Arachnoid form]: "This is the Black Widow's preferred mode of transport: an arachnid-shaped tank, featuring even more firepower than when she's on foot. (...) We've only received intel about the capabilities of this thing, nobody that has seen it has come out alive."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A dual-mode boss. The first form is humanoid, and launches Railgun and Hyperblaster shots, while the second is arachnid and launches Plasma Beam shots and a Disruptor. It can also mimic their enemies' powerups and summon Stalkers.
- Contractual Boss Immunity: In Hard and Hard+/Nightmare difficulties will mimic any powerup the player uses against her. Thus, if you use Double Damage, she will also use it and double the damage of her attacks (same with Quad Damage; beware of those 4x attacks). And if you use Invulnerability, she also becomes invulnerable.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: Combining both forms, sitting at 4000 health points just in the Easy mode, and at a whopping 13500 in Hard+/Nightmare, it's the strongest foe in all of Quake II combined.
- Deflector Shields: On Hard+/Nightmare, she's got a Power Shield on top of her already massive health pool.
- Flunky Boss: Attacks alongside the Stalkers it summons.
- Giant Spider: It's a Strogg-spider hybrid, and the biggest foe of the game in her second form.
- Interface Spoiler: The id Vault has its two forms as part of the bestiary, even though they're introduced quite late in the game.
- Mook Maker: Can summon Stalkers at will.
- Sequential Boss: Like the Makron, it has two forms: a humanoid one, and the Giant Spider. Both have different arsenalsnote but otherwise share the Stalker summon and powerup mimicry in Hard and Hard+/Nightmare.
Introduced in Quake II: Call of the Machine
Gunner Commander
"If the Gunner is the fighting elite, the Gunner Commander is the elite of the elite. The Gunner Commander is more lethal, shooting projectiles from a modified form of the ETF Rifle. The Commander is also issued with Power Armor as standard, and has multiple melee attacks. (...) The Gunner Commander may be an elite unit, but they still go down when shot like everyone else. Use energy weapons to break through the shield and then give 'em a good Super Shotgun blast."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
The Elite of the Elite, Gunner Commanders are equipped with ETF Rifles and Power Shields and have more powerful melee attacks.
- Boss in Mook Clothing: They are the Elite Mook to the Elite Mook, and are larger than normal Gunners to match.
- Call-Forward: Replacing their Machine Gun with the Nailgun-like ETF Rifle makes them more in line with their Quake 4 versions.
- Deflector Shields: They are equipped with Power Shields, making them even more durable against non-energy weapons.
- Last Breath Bullet: Occasionally when downed they will fire off a final blast from their ETF Rifle.
Introduced in the console versions of II
Arachnid
"The Arachnid's dual railguns are fired one after the other, right first, and are capable of outright killing an unprotected player if both shots connect. When in melee range, the Arachnid swings at the player with its arms, using the railguns as improvised clubs. (...) The Arachnid should be a high priority. The accuracy and firing speed of their railguns is dangerous."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A robotic Strogg with four legs carrying twin Railguns and guarding key areas of Stroggos. Introduced in the PlayStation version.
- The Bus Came Back: After being a PSX-exclusive mook, one appears in Call of the Machine's Operation: Firewall as a set encounter.
- Spider Limbs: A six-legged crawling threat. Appears quite often in the PSX version, but not so much in Call of the Machine where only one instance is fought.
Guardian
"It appears to have been constructed from a Tank Commander's torso, wired into a massive pair of mechanical legs. Two large weapon assemblies extend from its shoulders. Commonly, the Guardian launches continuous four-round bursts of hyperblaster fire in the player's direction from its right weapon mount. The Guardian will also use the laser mounted on its left shoulder against players who are a greater distance away. If the player gets too close to the Guardian it will attempt to kick or stamp them, dealing massive amounts of damage. (...) Due to the massive damage dealt by its melee attack, it is advisable to keep your distance."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
A titanic robotic beast who holds the Gravity Generator. Fought in the Launch Command level in the PlayStation version.
- Mid-Boss: Appears right after Stepchild destroys the Big Gun, and fights on its own.
Introduced in Quake IV
Grunts
- The Berserker: They have a preference for melee like the greater Strogg of the same name, and use a Stroyent injection in their Desperation Attack.
- Close-Range Combatant: They prefer to make a run for Kane to perform a Deadly Lunge attack, rather than resort to their gatling cannon.
- Desperation Attack: Their Stroyent injection system.
- Expy: Especially their "faces" resemble original Xen Grunts quite a bit.
- Gatling Good: Their rarely-used Shoulder Cannon.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted, They're the third character in the Quake series to be named "Grunt", after an enemy in the first game and a multiplayer PC in the second & third games.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The Grunt appears to be a stand-in for the Quake II Enforcer.
Heavy Hover Tanks
That's one big gun.
A new addition to the Tank series of Strogg. They tend to appear in vehicle levels but also show up occasionally in the final act of -the game when the player is on foot. Equipped with shoot-able homing rockets, and a form of Blaster.- Arm Cannon: Their BFG-style Rocket Launcher.
- Critical Annoyance: In vehicles, their guided rockets set off a blaring alert for incoming missiles.
- Degraded Boss: There are two versions of the HHT: One that shows up in vehicle levels, and another that appears in regular levels with reduced Hit Points.
- Expy: Intentional or otherwise, they have a striking resemblance to the Assault Commander from Duke Nukem right down to using a Rocket Launcher.
- Mini-Boss: They show up occasionally, and can take quite a beating. They're a bigger threat on foot due to the unavailability of Regenerating Health but have less health to offset the lack of vehicle firepower.
- Splash Damage: Their rockets have this trait to a large degree, and their shockwaves can even hurt you from around cover, so find some distance.
- Unusable Enemy Equipment: A Justified Trope due to the sheer size of their Rocket Launcher note but Subverted later in the game when you not only have your own Rocket Launcher, but a Technician even upgrades it with a laser-guided mode akin to the HHT's homing.
Light Tanks
About as tall as the average bear.
The Light Tank is similar to the classic "Tanks" from Quake II, but their mobility has been improved over the old versions. Now they can jog towards an opponent in an attempt to club them with their morning star but they're not nearly as fast as the Berserker. They possess an Arm Cannon that can launch a fireball attack (like the old Tank's dumbfire rockets), act as a flamethrower, and fire drunken blaster bolts.- Arm Cannon: Their Blaster/Fireball/Flamethrower unit.
- Ax-Crazy: A Guard dies when he obstructs a Tank that wants a piece of Kane.
- Bad Boss: In his Mook Debut Cutscene, a Guard ends up being in his way, leading to the Tank fatally clubbing the Guard as if upset over incompetence.
- Charged Attack: Occasionally, they may charge up their arm cannon to send a fireball at you.
- Dumb Muscle: They're relatively easy to handle for heavy-weight Strogg, even more so than the Gladiator. As long as you keep your distance, their weaponry is easy to dodge and they're comically easy to kite around with your superior running speed.
- Evil Laugh: They have a guttural laugh when they spot Kane.
- Fake Ultimate Mook: For the reasons mentioned above. They're only a real threat if they back you into a corner, which will only happen if you screw up.
- Kill It with Fire: Their close-range flamethrower.
- Master of None: They are dangerous if they back you into a corner, but otherwise don't excel at any roles in the game. The Berserk is faster and better at melee combat, the Gladiator is better at ranged combat with a Railgun and a shield for blocking return fire, and the Heavy Hover Tank has better rockets with superior splash damage and homing capability.
- Smash Mook: They tend to start charging at you.
- Stone Wall: They have high health for a non-boss enemy and are one of the few (if not only) enemies who take reduced headshot damage but their ranged weapons tend to be easy to avoid, and their melee attack is easier to outrun or dodge than a Berserker's.
- Subsystem Damage: They have a destructible weapon on one arm, but there's little incentive to take it out as Tanks are easy to provoke into chasing you and it's more damaging the aim for the head as you kite them. The weapon is also rarely used. You can also disable their blaster arm.
- Tank Goodness: Even more pronounced than the Heavy Hover Tank due to their extensive metal cladding.
- Walking Tank: Like the classic tanks of Quake II, they are cyborg tanks with legs instead of treads.
Scientists
Ready for your check-up?
A Strogg that is completely exclusive to the Strogg Medical Facilities. They're optimized for research rather than combat so they're usually even easier to take down than the basic Guards. They're equipped with weak poison grenades and can use their tools as improvised melee weapons. Scientists are the first Strogg units that Kane encounters after being stroggified.- Airborne Mook: Befitting their functions, they hover in the air, letting them get around obstacles with ease and move around the Medical Facilities freely.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: One of the advantages of their poison gas is that it bypasses your armor. It's still weak so it hardly makes a difference.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Supposedly, they play a part in experimenting on prisoners without anesthesia. The room they're first fought in contains vivisected soldiers who died from the torture.
- Improvised Weapons: They can use their tools against intruders, but they are no match for Kane whose specialty is combat.
- Expy: They appear to be a replacement for the Brain enemy from Quake II, albeit airborne.
- Mad Doctor: It is implied that they participate in agonizing experiments on prisoners of war, albeit according to the will of the Strogg programming. During the stroggification process, one scientist takes the liberty of slashing Kane just for the fun of it.
- Mook Debut Cutscene: Subverted. Surprisingly, this Strogg unit is seen before its debut cutscene.
- POW Camp: Their Medical Facilities, where they help perform experiments and Stroggifications.
- Unique Enemy: They are only encountered in the level where they are introduced.
Sentries
Becoming Strogg may cost you an arm and an leg.
Another new addition to the Strogg forces. True to their name, Sentries tend to protect data installations from intruders using weapons akin to submachine guns. Their bullets don't hurt severely but their damage still adds up.- Airborne Mook: Equipped with some form of hover technology to let them freely navigate the cavernous spaces they may inhabit.
- An Arm and a Leg: Both arms and both legs.
- Body Horror: Even by Strogg standards, they've been dismembered badly. There isn't much left besides their head and organs stored in a bowl of translucent fluid.
- Composite Character: They seem to be a collective stand-in for various flying enemies from previous games. Their low health & threat level calls to mind the Flyer, their shoulder-mounted guns in place of arms resemble the Icarus, & their jar of floating organs and anti-gravity method of propulsion call back to the Technician, all from Quake II, while their hard-strafing attack pattern is lifted directly from the Scrag of Quake, which their greenish coloration and “limbless torso” shape also match up with.
- Scratch Damage: Their weapons are weak, but they compensate with rate-of-fire somewhat.
Stream Protectors
Talk about "Spider-Man".
Protectors of critical data streams, the Stream Protector is a new mini-boss-type Strogg. Equipped with missile and blaster-like weaponry, they seem to take design queues from the spider-like Strogg models of Quake II: Ground Zero, as well as the Arachnid enemy from the PSX version of Quake II.- Ambiguous Gender: It's unclear what gender they once were as their cybernetics give them a skeletal appearance and they were not originally humans. The spider-like design suggests a feminine host but it's not clarified.
- Arm Cannon: As with many Strogg, they use this method to carry at least one of their weapons.
- Expy: They're like cyborg versions of the Vagary from Doom³, in addition to their aforementioned similarities above.
- Macross Missile Massacre: They fire a swarm of drunken missiles as one of their attacks.
- Mini-Boss: They show up rarely to play this role, and in locations that have ties to The Nexus.
- More Dakka: One of their attacks is firing a lot of blaster bolts, so many that the sound goes out for a second.
- Spider Tank: They use a set of six legs for locomotion.
Tactical Strogg
A Tactical, lying in ambush with their team and holding the first obtainable Railgun.
An improvement over the standard Guards, they work in squads, utilizing cover and more advanced weaponry like Hyperblasters, and Railguns. They also utilize Flyers for transport to their assignments, in certain cases.- Call-Back: The Tacticals are similar to the Cyborg skin for Quake II, but reimagined with greater detail and implemented for the story campaign as a high-risk interceptor force. The Tactical Skin is also available for Quake IV deathmatch in orange as well as a black elite variant.
- Chainsaw-Grip BFG: Tacticals demonstrate this when equipped with the Railgun which has a chainsaw trigger. It's a bizarre example due to said weapon also being a scoped sniper rifle, but lacking a stock like one might expect. The Railgun can be "hip-fired" by Kane with perfect accuracy too.
- Ditto Fighter: This is the design philosophy that the Strogg gave them. They emulate the fighting tactics of your human squads and equip themselves with human equipment, but the Strogg Railgun is also issued for devoted sharpshooters (and Kane may loot them in turn). They use the same AI and animations as your friendly marines.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: They have vivid orange armor and in the Mook Debut Cutscene, are shown to be capable of working in teams, unlike the typical Strogg. They're often encountered in groups led by a Gunner, and they sometimes have a heavier Strogg unit like Gladiators and/or Light Tanks as their support too.
- Elite Mooks: Tactical Strogg are stronger than the basic Guards, and possess better weaponry. They also utilize cover, unlike the former.
- Enemy Chatter: One of their weaknesses is they don't have a grasp of radio silence, which gives away ambushes.
- Evil Counterpart: Unlike most Stroggified humans, Tacticals are the ones who closely resemble their former human selves the most. They wield external weapons, as opposed to the integrated weapons of other Strogg. Their armor is also the same as a marine's, only orange-colored. Given their resemblance to Kane's Post-Stroggification self and their role in combat, he gets to flip this on them by being their Good Counterpart.
- Expy: Functionally similar to the coordinated Z-Sec from Doom³, only better armed and armored. They also both have a Radio Voice. They also might seem vaguely reminiscent of the Heavy Weapon Dude from Doom: An enhanced trooper with better protection and weaponry and a vivid color scheme.
- Glass Cannon: Downplayed: They're better protected than the Cannon Fodder Guards, having the same Hit Points (125) as an unarmored player. (Higher difficulty settings lower your weapon damage, making this deceptive however.) A careless player will find themselves dead in seconds from the Hyperblaster or Machine Gunner Tactical, while Railgunners can maim or kill if they hit you. Yet, even on General difficulty, Splash Damage weaponry chews squads up quickly, and the Dark Matter Gun needs only one shot to turn them into blood vapor.
- Insta Kill Mook: Downplayed, but Railgun snipers are still very damaging and will kill you in one hit without armor (at full health) on Harder Than Hard. Sufficient armor will save your life provided you have sufficient health. Being caught off-guard by a hail of Hyperblaster bolts can be just as deadly too.
- Magnetic Weapons: The Railgunners, thanks to the magnetic principle of their arms. Kane can also pick them up for his own use or to scavenge extra slugs.
- May the Farce Be with You: They have elements of this going on, due to being like Strogg elite Stormtroopers. They've captured heroes of the SMC who were turned against their kind through electronic mind control (rather than temptation). Their arms and legs are mostly replaced with mechanical equivalents. They have a Vader Breath thanks to their Radio Voice and breathing apparatus. Coincidentally, their face mask resembles the one worn by Darth Malak which itself is like Darth Vader with his helmet removed, plus they're both bald. Kane also steals a prototype Lightning Gun that was being developed for Tactials but never made it into production; said lightning guns would have given Tacticals an attack that resembles Force Lightning.
- Mook Debut Cutscene: They appear before their debut cutscenes, as they are shown in People Jars throughout the Strogg Medical Facilities, and Kane hears the Strogg announcer declaring that "Tactical Teams" are awaiting deployment. The first time one is seen in action is when he bursts out of a jar and attacks Lieutenant Voss. Later on, their proper debut depicts them demonstrating their intelligence and tactics.
- Slow Laser: If a Tactical has a Hyperblaster, as with your own, a hail of blaster bolts will visibly travel towards you giving you precious milliseconds to dodge or be killed/heavily wounded.
Teleport Droppers
They have backup on speed dial.
A new style of Strogg with visual similarities to the old Parasite of Quake II, and the ability to teleport in reinforcements like the Medic Commander of Quake II: Ground Zero. However, their teleport "drops" are vulnerable to explosives which thankfully destroy said devices so they can't warp in up to four Strogg per cast.- Achilles' Heel: Their ability to summon Strogg can be intimidating, but if Kane has explosives handy (Dark Matter Gun included) and pursues the beast, they're almost helpless.
- All Animals Are Dogs: Their dog-like mannerisms. However, they're cowardly for a dog-like enemy and like to let their reinforcements attack intruders.
- Enemy Summoner: They prefer to summon Strogg and flee to safety but are capable of basic melee damage. The Strogg units they summon are Guards, Grunts, and Berserkers.
- Expy: Functionally similar to Doom3's Arch-Vile. They also act like a nerfed version of the Medic Commander from Quake II: Ground Zero. Their appearance is also similar to Doom 3's Pinky Demon, being a cybernetic dog-like creature.
"Zombies"
Slimy & Failed Transfer
Slimy Transfer
Failed Transfer
When a Stroggification fails to meet the Stroggs' standards, the victim ends up in the Waste Processing Facility. They have two forms: the Slimy Transfer which uses a Zombie Puke Attack and the Failed Transfer which carries a Shotgun for guard duty and whose legs can be blown off, leading to them attacking you as a torso.- The Bus Came Back: The grand return of zombies to the Quake series for the first time since Quake, although these fellows don't throw chunks of flesh at you nor do they get back up after being shot with anything that doesn't gib them.
- Our Zombies Are Different: They're Strogg with defective bodies, effectively putting the "zombie" in Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot.
- Hollywood Acid: The Slimy Transfer uses a deadly acid as an attack.
- Not Using the "Z" Word: A marine does call them "zombies", but one teammate "corrects" him and establishes that they're failed Strogg transfers.
- Unique Enemy: They are only encountered in the "Waste Processing Facility" level. However, the Failed Transfer has a chance of being spawned by the Final Boss.
- Zombie Puke Attack: The Slimy variety's main attack. It can still damage you in one-second intervals for a few seconds after it hits you.
Harvesters
Where's its weakpoint?
One of the tallest vehicles in the game. It's unclear if this is a vehicle driven by Strogg personnel (like the Flyer), the battle body for a captured organism, or an unmanned robot. (Their organic motions suggest a captured organism.) They're equipped with nailguns, heavy missiles, and grenades. They can also use their legs to devastating effect.- Attack Its Weakpoint: The pair of storage tanks are vulnerable and their destruction disables the Rocket Launchers, making the fight much easier.
- Humongous Mecha: One of the tallest vehicles the Strogg have to offer.
- Mook Debut Cutscene: In their formal debut, they're shown impaling two hover tanks like toys, introducing the first Harvester fight. They're cosmetically present in the very first level during the cutscene of you waking up from your dropship crash, giving you a harmless preview.
- Spider Tank: A colossal one at that.
- Subsystem Damage: The Harvester's missile launchers and nailguns can be blown off. It's also possible to destroy one of its legs.
Stroyent Processing Creature
They're not happy to see you.
This creature is force-fed with raw Stroyent for digestion which makes the resource ready to use.- Fat Bastard: This guy takes "morbidly obese" to a whole new level.
- Puzzle Boss: The creature isn't fought with conventional firepower, rather, Kane over-feeds it causing its bowels to rupture open. The acid pours down and eats through the floor, opening the way to the exit.
- Hollywood Acid: That aforementioned acid is very strong stuff. It eats through metals like Xenomorph blood.
- "Instant Death" Radius: The inner circle of the boss room exposes you to their scythes, but thankfully, you can take cover behind columns as you navigate the room.
- Shout-Out: Their acid melting through metals like they're nothing is like what a Xenomorph can do with their blood in the Alien series.
Spoiler character for IV
Strogg Scott Voss
Just moments after Matthew Kane was barely rescued from stroggification and Medic Jeremiah Anderson perished at the hands of a Strogg Scientist, Kane reunites with Lieutenant Scott Voss, who's informing him of the situation when a Tactical Strogg in a jar gets his neurocyte activated and drags Voss with him. The next time Kane encounters Voss, he's become a Strogg creature with powerful attacks.
For tropes related to his human self, check Quake IV's character sheets.
- And I Must Scream: He is fully self-aware after being Stroggified, but is unable to stop himself from attacking Kane. He spends the entire boss fight against him pleading with Kane to run.
- Attack Its Weak Point: His organic torso takes normal damage, while his mechanical body is armored and takes reduced damage from attacks.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: When he's captured, he's fused into a heavy-duty combat walker.
- BFG: After being Stroggified, he becomes one of the few enemies to possess a Dark Matter Gun.
- Deflector Shields: He has shields on top of his health, which he can recharge from the energy conduits around the room.
- Enemy Summoner: Can summon several lower Strogg classes while recharging his shield.
- Macross Missile Massacre: As a Strogg, he's equipped with semi-homing rockets fired in salvos.
- Tragic Monster: He gets Stroggified into a mech-like boss monster, but retains enough self-awareness to try and warn Kane before he goes berserk and attacks him.
- Was Once a Man: After his Stroggification, his torso is all that remains of his original body.
Network Guardian
Big Friendly Giant? No such luck.
The defender of the three network towers flanking the Nexus, The Network Guardian is the penultimate boss of the story that must be killed to allow Kane to open the portal into the Nexus. They have Blaster and missile weaponry and can also use their Jet Pack as Weaponized Exhaust.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: He's over 30 feet tall and slouching. The Strogg don't seem to mind that the Guardian causes collateral damage in its attempt to stop Kane. Also, Kane is about 1/3rd the size of its leg.
- Ax-Crazy: He's zealous to kill Kane, and will tear apart installations in a berserk rage just to stop him.
- Jet Pack: Uses one to fly, which is also weaponized.
- Proactive Boss: If there's one nice thing you can say about the Guardian, it's that it's certainly committed to its job. As Kane moves through the Data Towers, he occasionally sees the Guardian wreaking havoc, but soon enough, it appears in person to attack him after he activates the Data Processing Terminal, punching the elevator he's in several times and heavily damaging it just to get at him. After that, the Guardian doggedly tries to kill Kane several times over in the following levels, culminating in a boss fight on the rooftop of the Data Networking Terminal, where the Guardian confronts him directly.
- The Dragon: Plays the role of safeguarding the data towers and central Nexus on behalf of the Makron. Subverted when it's revealed that it's the Makron is The Dragon to the Nexus core itself.
- Weaponized Exhaust: Thankfully, it only does Scratch Damage.
Spoiler character for IV
The Nexus
The brains of the Strogg operation!
A sight that only the Makron has ever laid eyes upon (until you showed up). The Nexus doesn't have any attacks of its own, rather its chamber has reinforcements teleport in to defend it. Not just any Strogg either, even elite Strogg have a chance of appearing which can make things hectic.- Brains and Brawn: The literal brains to the Makron's Brawn.
- Brain Monster: Not even attached to a body; it's just a giant brain on a spinal cord.
- Broken Armor Boss Battle: It's shielded by a force field that you need to bring down to hit the brain before it regenerates.
- Decapitated Army: Without them, the Strogg are left in disarray.
- Expy: Their gimmick is very similar to the Icon of Sin which is also a Mook Maker who is defeated by shooting a brain. Both can become much harder if you stall too long due to your being whittled down by mooks.
- Final Boss: Just when you thought the worst was over by defeating the Makron, you get thrown a curve ball and must destroy the Nexus while under fire from reinforcements.
- Ludicrous Gibs: The Nexus makes quite a bloody mess when it's finished. Kane stands not far from the brain when it explodes and appears satisfied with his work.
- Mook Maker: The brain is completely harmless without reinforcements.
- Regenerating Shield, Static Health: The shield completely regenerates after a time delay, when a pair of repair bots appear to repair its shield generator. Its health does not.
Strogg classes from Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
In general
- Always Male: Despite later canonical games introducing the Iron Maiden enemy class, there are no female Strogg classes.
- Cast from Hit Points: They can turn health into ammo via specialized commands. This, of course, comes at the cost of them not being able to survive sustained fights.
- Charged Attack: All classes have a Blaster in their arsenal. When upgraded, it can fire a charged shot.
- Death from Above: Their air-based combat vehicle is the Hornet, a giant monstrosity with plenty of attack options.
- Dual Mode Unit: Their Desecrator Tanks have a Siege Mode that sacrifices speed for extra firepower.
- Emergency Weapon: The Blaster is the only Strogg firearm that doesn't consume Stroyent.
- Flight: Their single-driver Icarus packs gives them the ability to hover over obstacles.
- Over Heating: Unlike the EDF side, the Strogg weapons have unlimited ammo, but will overheat quickly.
- Ramming Always Works: They have a vehicle, the Hog Truck, which deals devastating damage when ramming.
Aggressor
The Strogg side equivalent to the Soldier, a heavy-weapons user. It carries the Lacerator, Hyperblaster (or Obliterator Bosonic Orb), Shrapnel Grenades and the explosive Plasma Charge. On certain Level-Ups they also gain a Lightning Pistol.
- Anti-Vehicle: Instead of the Hyperblaster, a Strogg Aggressor may carry the Obliterator Bosonic Orb, an anti-vehicle Rocket Launcher which excels on taking down EDF vehicles. Its alternate mode zooming functions allow a lock-on, and the next rocket launched follows its target.
- Lightning Gun: They have an unlockable Lightning Pistol. It consumes Stroyent unlike the Blaster, and it has a pitiful range, but it has 100% accuracy.
- Necessary Drawback: EDF drivers are alerted whenever an Obliterator orb has locked onto their vehicle.
- Satchel Charge: They carry a Plasma Charge, which is required in order to blow up certain objectives. Upon being set up on the objective via the Arming tool, there's a 40-second delay before it blows up. It can be disabled by the EDF Engineer.
Technician
The Strogg equivalent to the EDF Medic, they carry a Nailgun or a Lacerator in battle, as well as Shrapnel Grenades. They can also heal themself as well as fellow Strogg, and supply them Stroyent, which act as both ammo and health. They can also deploy forcefield emitters and hack EDF (almost) dead warriors, turning them into mobile Strogg spawnpoints.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Their healing and assisting abilities come at the expense of an extremely poor loadout.
- Human Resources: They can hack fallen EDF soldier bodies to become host spawnpoints for their team.
- Magic Tool: Their Revival tool allows fallen Strogg to revive, and allows the Technician to hack fallen EDF warrior corpses, turning them into mobile spawnpoints.
- The Medic: It heals Strogg on the field and provides them with Stroyent, which can be used as health.
- Nail 'Em: Can carry a Nailgun as an alternative to the standard-issue Lacerator.
- Short-Range Shotgun: Their version of the Nailgun is a short-range shotgun-type weapon, making it closer to the gun found in Quake III: Team Arena than the rapid-fire version of Quake or Quake IV.
Constructor
The Strogg side equivalent to the EDF Engineer. They deploy turrets and carry Shrapnel Grenades and a Repair Drone. Can be loaded with Proxy Mines and a Nailgun. Their version of the Lacerator has a plasma grenade launcher on a certain level-up.
- Anti-Vehicle: They can deploy anti-vehicle turrets.
- Cast from Hit Points: Their Grenade Launcher-like ability consumes Stroyent.
- The Engineer: They can repair friendly vehicles, turrets and artillery guns, defuse enemy bombs and mines and construct bridges.
- The Faceless: The only Strogg class whose face is entirely covered.
- Grenade Launcher: They get one in a level-up, allowing them to fire their repair drones at an objective while the Constructor focuses their attention somewhere else.
- Land Mine Goes "Click!": They can plant mines.
- The Medic: They carry a Repair Drone with them that allows them to repair vehicles, turrets and even friendly objectives.
- Nail 'Em: They can be loaded with a Nailgun.
- Turret Master: They can deploy anti-vehicle and anti-personnel turrets.
Infiltrator
The Strogg side equivalent to the EDF Covert Ops. It carries a Railgun, stunning bombs Scramble Grenades, a hacking tool, and a camera drone to spy on their enemies and complete objectives at a safe distance. In addition, they can possess the body of a fallen EDF warrior for espionage and sabotage purposes. Their version of the Lacerator has an alternate mode that allows them to fire a three-shot burst.
For the Infiltrator class as it appears in Quake Champions (as Strogg & Peeker), go here.
- Ascended Extra: Just a playable class without much of a background, they become a fully-fledged playable character in Quake Champions.
- EMP: They carry Scrambler Grenades instead of their Shrapnel variety, EMP Grenades that shut down electronic-based objectives such as vehicles, turrets, radars and artillery guns.
- Mook Mascot: Appears up-front in the cover of ETQW.
- Revive Kills Zombie: It's unwise for Strogg Infiltrators under disguise to allow EDF Medics, Field Ops and Engineers to supply them, as they'll reveal what's below the disguise.
- Sniper Rifle: They carry a Railgun into battle.
Oppressor
The Strogg side equivalent to the EDF Field Ops. It's equipped with a Lacerator and a Blaster. It can summon Rail Howitzers, Plasma Mortars, and Dark Matter Cannons and call an Orbital Strike. Like the Constructor, their version of the Lacerator has an alternate mode that allows them to fire a three-shot burst.
- Death from Above: They can use a flare to call a satellite laser which follows a path destroying anything in it's way.
