History YMMV / DoomEternal

** Marauders, ''holy crap''. While the other four Super Heavies tend to be rather slow to compensate for their massive strength and health, the Marauder has no such problems. They are probably the closest thing to fighting another player, packing mobility easily capable of matching yours while still retaining a massive amount of health. Their offensive capacity and damage are extremely strong, as well - all Marauders are equipped with a Super Shotgun of their own to drive you off from close-range, as well as an axe that they can use to throw energy slashes at longer ranges and swing at you with it at mid-range. To make matters worse, they also have an unbreakable energy shield that blocks all damage (even shots from the BFG and the Unmaykr or swings from the Crucible)[[note]]it ''is'' possible to hit and kill one with any of these, but they require the Marauder's guard to be down - more often than not, setting them up for a kill with any of these takes way more effort than it's worth, and using them on a staggered Marauder [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill is just insult to injury]][[/note]] and reflects projectiles, with the only form of damage capable of bypassing it being splash damage from well-timed explosives. The shield only goes down the moment one swings their axe; even then, only strong hits like a Super Shotgun blast will stagger a Marauder. The real icing on the cake is that they can summon spirit wolves and sic them at you to serve as a distraction - the wolves are annoyingly hard to hit and threaten with bite attacks that not only obstruct your screen but also slow you down, leaving you open for another attack to the face[[note]]Thankfully, Marauders only summon a wolf when actively blocking projectiles (player or otherwise) with their shields[[/note]]. Marauders can and will easily kill off the unprepared on any difficulty level, and demands one's ''full'' attention when one spawns lest you want to die quickly, which wouldn't be too hard if not for the constant harassment from nearby mooks almost every time a Marauder rocks up to the scene.

* EvilIsSexy:
** The Icon of Sin is incredibly muscular, with a well-modelled posterior to boot.
** [[spoiler:The Dark Lord makes his debut fully nude with his muscles on full display. Of course, being an AlternateSelf of the Slayer really helps with that.]]
** It depends, but several people find the Khan Maykr to be rather attractive as well. Her chest being breast-shaped likely helps.

** ''The Ancient Gods Part 2'''s Dark Lord feels like a slog to fight. He can only be damaged at specific parts but is inconsistent as to when he leaves himself vulnerable. While you wait for him to leave himself open, he only throws out rather predictable attacks, and the backup spirits he summons are very easily dealt with by the Sentinel Hammer. The worst part is that he heals himself if he damages you with his sword, but it's also very easy to heal and restock during the fight as well. The entire fight devolves into waiting, using the Sentinel Hammer on mooks, more waiting, and damaging him hopefully without getting hit.

** In ''The Ancient Gods: Part Two'', the Dark Lord is shown to be as much as a {{Determinator}} as the Doom Slayer himself, [[spoiler:but chooses to FaceDeathWithDignity in the end of the final battle.]] Is this just a [[spoiler:display of honor and respect for the Slayer]] on his end, or would this be an implication that [[spoiler:he is so full of pain and grief that he [[ThanatosGambit was planning to let himself, and Hell overall, die by the Slayer's hand]] just so he can find peace in death?]]

** The aforementioned ad contains the words "Power. Defiance. Courage. Be Eternal." as a {{Tagline}}. However, within the context of the Doom Slayer, this is seen by fans not only as generic and redundant but as a gross mischaracterization, especially when a {{Narm}}y [[ComicBook/{{Doom}} comic book]] once succinctly summarized the character, of which the ''2016'' game used as its CentralTheme - "[[UnstoppableRage rip]] [[OneManArmy and]] [[RatedMForManly tear]]."

** Dr Elena Richardson's Audio Logs: at first, they start pretty normal and she doesn’t seem to believe much in the Doom Slayer’s legend. However, as they go on, Dr Richardson starts to believe in the Slayer’s legend and understands the truth about him. That’s all well and good...except that in the later logs, she sounds less and less professional and more and more like a '''very''' [[HornyScientist enamoured]] FanGirl. First, it gets weird, then creepy, then downright funny; if the idea was to make her a believer in the Slayer’s legend, then it may have worked a little too well.

** Though intended to be a climactic, "Battle between Titans", The Icon of Sin is less climactic than it should be due to the fact that it's a FlunkyBoss and most of the real threats are from demons filling what little space you occupy. Though it's meant to be a CallBack to ''Doom II'' final boss fight.

** Second prize goes to the bespectacled ARC Intern who goes full {{Squee}} at the sight of the Slayer near the end of ARC Complex and is promoted to mission control for the better part of ''The Ancient Gods - Part One''. He's voiced by Edward Bosco, who doubles as the freaking ''Marauder'' and the '''Icon of Sin'''.

** When ''2016'' was released, many fans drew comparisons between the Doom Slayer to the titular ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer''. In ''Eternal'', several codex entries show drawings of the Slayer during his time with the Night Sentinels, where he's wearing [[https://i.redd.it/04e27vg6tul41.jpg a helmet that looks near-identical to the Goblin Slayer’s]].

** The presence of a [[CallBack cage with two bags of rabbit food next to it]] in the Fortress of Doom brings up a couple of questions regarding the ultimate fate of Daisy in this continuity, but this comes into effect when [[spoiler: the player runs into Daisy several times hidden in each level as an EasterEgg]]. Some theorize that [[spoiler: Doomguy is hallucinating her in the levels, given how some of those locations include destroyed cities, an inaccessible city of the dead in the centre of mars, and ''the vacuum of space'']], while others believe the cage and food might simply be for a new rabbit. [[spoiler: The fact that this the game later reveals itself and ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' to exist in the same continuity as {{VideoGame/Doom}} classic muddles the waters slightly, especially considering the Khan Makyr's offer of "bringing back that which the demons took" from Doomguy; as well as [[MadnessMantra insane ramblings about]] [[{{ComicBook/Doom}} ripping and tearing demons with huge guts]] showing that decades of fighting demons in Hell did a number on his mental stability]].

** The [[BigBad Khan Makyr]] ends up having possibly the easiest boss in the game, [[spoiler: especially compared to fight against the [[FinalBoss The Icon of Sin]] in the next level]]. She’s a PuzzleBoss where you need to wear down her health, meathook her, and Blood Punch her chest 5 times. Her attacks hit hard but are easy to avoid and each enemy in the arena is a fairly slow-moving PinataEnemy who drops generous amounts of health and ammo. Each health bar is also fairly small and absolutely shredded with the Lock-On mod for the rocket launcher.

** "[[HubLevel The Fortress of Doom]]": rather than ''Eternal'' throwing the Doom Slayer into the next level as ''VideoGame/DOOM2016'' did, players instead get the time to walk around, take in the Fortress' surroundings and unlock some collectibles, only tackling the next mission when players choose to. This being said, the Fortress isn't always accessible after every level.

** After their absence in ''2016'', Archviles are back and in full force. Not only do they retain their ability to summon demons (which includes ''other Super Heavies'' if players are unlucky or slow)[[note]]Yes, this includes '''Marauders''', leading to some of the few instances of more than one Marauder being active at once if you can't kill him fast enough[[/note]], but they can also put up a large firewall in the midst of a summon, protecting them from all frontal damage until it's destroyed (up to and including a ''BFG-9000 blast''). They can also apply a StatusBuff to all enemies around it like a mobile Buff Totem, increasing {{Hit Point}}s, damage dealt, movement ''and'' attack speed, as well as making them more resistant to the Chainsaw. Additionally, Archviles are capable of teleporting across the battlefield like Prowlers, making them very difficult to hit even if players manage to track it down. Since they're part of the Super Heavy class, they pack high {{Hit Point}}s of their own, can activate an area-of-denial fire ring at short-range, can launch waves of flame at long-range, and even retain their infamous "flaming-aura-around-the-player" attack (though this time it can be avoided by simply moving fast enough). If it isn't the supercharged {{Mook}}s that it spawns that hound on players, the Archvile will instead be the one who barbecues the Doom Slayer. "One of the worst of a bad lot," indeed.

* EsotericHappyEnding: [[spoiler: "By His hand, all things were made... Even you..." This implies that "you" doesn't refer to Doomguy but also humanity in general, and despite how the demons around the Earth are suddenly vaporized, the fact that the true Father (or at least His metaphysical form) is killed means that the Maykrs, humanity and even reality as a whole will wither away unchecked. There is also a question of what the afterlife will be with a spiteful Father in it, if one exists beyond Urdak/Jekkad.]]

** ''2016'' was far from easy, but ''Eternal'' really ramps things up in the difficulty department. Enemies hit much harder and move much faster, and even the bulkier demons can be surprisingly mobile and persistent. Your ammo capacity has been cut by more than half, with the maximum amount of shotgun ammo going from 60 in ''2016'' to a paltry 24 in ''Eternal''. There are more complex mechanics to manage too, like the Blood Punch, the Flame Belch, your grenades, and your Chainsaw. The tradeoff is that the Slayer has been upgraded with more mobility and many of his weapons have seen substantial buffs, so mastering the combat system makes you a serious force to be reckoned with. It's telling that this game introduces a VideoGameLives mechanic into the mix where ''2016'' had none, and on the higher difficulties you'll be chewing through them fast if you don't play smart.

* ThatOneBoss: The FinalBoss of ''The Ancient Gods - Part One'', as per the DLC's SequelDifficultySpike, is significantly more brutal than any of the boss battles in the base game. The first phase isn't too bad despite [[spoiler:Samur's]] attacks and TeleportSpam, and even when he first spawns Spirits that must be killed to damage him, they're on relatively inconsequential demons (a Hell Knight and Mancubus) that let you kill them easily. All of this goes out the window in the second phase, where the arena transforms to become a maze of elevated platforms while laser grids periodically sweep across the map and force you to dodge through them, all while demons swamp the lower levels of the map. The player then has to hunt down [[spoiler:Samur]], whose TeleportSpam goes from mildly annoying to highly infuriating due to the map being much harder to navigate. While he evades you and forces you to give chase, he'll gleefully rain hell on you from afar, and chances are even when you track him down, he'll either warp away or reward you with an attack to the face for your troubles. Alongside him spawning deceptively tanky eyeball monsters that patrol the area and electrocute the Slayer if he's within a generous radius, the demon reinforcements are now too tough to just ignore - particularly since the level will start spawning [[DemonicSpiders Blood Makyrs]], which have punishing attacks and can't be hit unless they drop their barrier to attack. But the difficulty comes to its absolute head when he puts up his spirit shield for the second time, this time with the Spirits on ''a Pain Elemental and Dread Knight'', who are more than powerful enough to abuse their inflated stats and tear you a new one - and this is ''still'' while you're stuck in a constraining, hazard-laced map and trying to fend off the legions of demons and Blood Makyrs assailing you. On lower difficulties, the fight is already hard, but on higher ones, it's borderline ''sadistic.''

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Like its predecessor, the game is surprisingly well-liked in Japan, owing to the precision, skill and reflex-based gameplay with tight movement.

** The standard Zombies: their vacant expressions, the way they gawk at oncoming objects and having a lot of the most comedic Glory Kills almost override the inherent horror of what they are. [[spoiler:The one featured in the post-credits scene that starts messing with the Slayer's toy collection in the Fortress of Doom is a particular example, making noises like a child with action figures would]].

** The Pinkies: their design is somewhat chubby and as annoying as it can be, their habit of charging directly ahead to the point of faceplanting into walls is always worth a chuckle.

* MemeticLoser: In a shocking twist of fate, the ''Doom Slayer'' has been subjected to this in almost a reversal of the [[MemeticBadass reputation]] he had in ''2016'', owing largely to the game's SequelDifficultySpike. It's not uncommon to see FanArt of him being treated as a punching bag by certain demons, especially the Marauder, and how unbalanced the multiplayer Battlemode is to the demons' side further contributes to this.

** ''Eternal'' takes a new direction for the series combat that hasn't been entirely well-received. To explain, ''Eternal'' places a lot of emphasis on creating depth within the combat system that was invented in ''2016'', mainly by increasing the complexity of each enemy, weapon and mechanic. Enemies now have weakpoints to target that can only be taken out by certain weapon mods, making each weapon much more focused in their use than the previous game. ''Eternal'' also lowers the overall ammo count from ''2016'' and introduces dedicated ways to refresh your ammo and armor supply in the infinitely replenishing chainsaw and flame belch. This is balanced out by making enemies more aggressive and allowing them to hit very hard regardless of difficulty. All of this adds up to a combat system that demands quite a lot from the player in terms of physical skill, which has caused a rift in the fanbase. On one hand, many fans are irritated with the combat, feeling that these added complexities detract from the gameplay by limiting player expression and adding needless complexity to the streamlined combat system of ''2016''. They argue that since each enemy type often has one specific weakpoint, the player is forced into picking whatever weapons are "right" for the current situation instead of allowing them to come to their own conclusions about how best to proceed. On the other hand, many fans praise ''Eternal'' for evolving the combat in a meaningful way, arguing that these complexities increase the amount of engagement the player has in combat. The player is forced to pick the best approach to a situation from a series of options rather than [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome falling back on their default strategies and be-all-end-all weapons]], which both encourages players to familiarize themselves with their loadouts and prevents a single dominant strategy from emerging[[note]]A great deal of ''2016'' can be easily beaten by simply using the fully-upgraded Super Shotgun and Siege Mode mod for the Gauss Cannon - using almost anything else in the game's final third is only done if you get bored of those[[/note]]. How you feel about the combat system of ''Eternal'' is determinant of whether or not you feel these changes to the combat system create an enthralling and engaging gameplay loop, or if they introduce FakeDifficulty and needless complexity into a combat system beloved for its simplistic but engaging nature.
** The shift in aesthetic has been divisive as well. ''2016'' didn't take itself too seriously, but it did attempt to incorporate many old ''DOOM'' staples into a more realistic context, much the same as ''DOOM 3''- the series' famous Chaingun, for instance, is reimagined as the chassis of a deployable turret (with the Slayer literally ripping it off the bipod just so he can lug it around), while [[spoiler: the BFG is an experimental weapon of mass destruction with a realistic design and effect]]. Enemies were also quite frightening and looked much less cartoony than they did in the older games thanks to taking design inspiration from the ''DOOM 3'' interpretation of demons. This gave the game a more "grounded" look that gave the experience real weight and added to the grungy and gritty atmosphere. ''Eternal'' takes itself far less seriously, with glowing health and ammo pickups, enemies exploding into ''rainbows'' of different ammo colors, more cartoonish sound effects, enemies redesigned into closer approximations of their original designs from the first two games, glowing question mark models to designate secrets, and an honest-to-god VideoGameLives system depicted as literal "1-Ups". These more aggressive "video gamey" aesthetics are noted by some to be distracting and immersion-breaking, while others state that ''Eternal'' returning to a more retro look is simply the game not trying to hide that it's a video game.

** During ''VideoGame/DoomII'''s modding heyday, [=Team TNT=] -- the creators of the official fanmade expansion ''VideoGame/FinalDoom'' -- released a mod. It just so happened that this mod made in late 1997 was titled "Eternal Doom".

* HilariousInHindsight

** The Khan [[Characters/Doom2016MaykrsAndArgenta Maykr]] made a [[DealWithTheDevil Faustian pact with Hell]] to allow other worlds to suffer for her own power. Designing facilities to refine the powerful Argent Energy from suffering souls, the Khan Maykr gave countless worlds for the demons to take and reap the souls of. Setting the demons to Earth to wipe it out, upon [[Characters/Doom2016TheDoomSlayer the Doom Slayer]] killing the Hell Priests, the Khan Maykr decides to revive the Icon of Sin and set it loose upon the Earth to [[KillAllHumans kill every human]] and send their souls to be tortured for more Argent Energy, [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist all to keep her twisted rule and selfishness sated]].

** The [[BigBad Khan Maykr]] made a [[DealWithTheDevil Faustian pact with Hell]] to allow other worlds to suffer for her own power. Designing facilities to refine the powerful Argent Energy from suffering souls, the Khan Maykr gave countless worlds for the demons to take and reap the souls of. Setting the demons to Earth to wipe it out, upon [[Characters/Doom2016TheDoomSlayer the Doom Slayer]] killing the Hell Priests, the Khan Maykr decides to revive the Icon of Sin and set it loose upon the Earth to [[KillAllHumans kill every human]] and send their souls to be tortured for more Argent Energy, [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist all to keep her twisted rule and selfishness sated]].

*** It's possible that has to do with [[spoiler: The deal the Khan Maykr made with Hell, that the demons keep a certain amount of the population they invade alive, so that once they harvest enough souls to make enough Argent energy, the population can have enough left alive to rebuild, and, eventually be harvested over and over, making it renewable so to speak.]]

** The presence of a [[CallBack cage with two bags of rabbit food next to it]] in the Fortress of Doom brings up a couple questions regarding the ultimate fate of Daisy in this continuity, but this comes into effect when [[spoiler: the player runs into Daisy several times hidden in each level as an EasterEgg]]. Some theorize that [[spoiler: Doomguy is hallucinating her in the levels, given how some of those locations include destroyed cities, an inaccessible city of the dead in the centre of mars, and ''the vacuum of space'']], while others believe the cage and food might simply be for a new rabbit. [[spoiler: The fact that this the game later reveals itself and ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' to exist in the same continuity as {{VideoGame/Doom}} classic muddles the waters slightly, especially considering the Khan Makyr's offer of "bringing back that which the demons took" from Doomguy; as well as [[MadnessMantra insane ramblings about]] [[{{ComicBook/Doom}} ripping and tearing demons with huge guts]] showing that decades of fighting demons in Hell did a number on his mental stability]].

** The [[BigBad Khan Makyr]] ends up having possibly the easiest boss in the game, [[spoiler: especially compared to fight against the [[FinalBoss The Icon of Sin]] in the next level]]. She’s a PuzzleBoss where you need to wear down her health, meathook her, and Blood Punch her chest 5 times. Her attacks hit hard but are easy to avoid and each enemy in the arena is a fairly slow moving PinataEnemy who drop generous amounts of health and ammo. Each health bar is also fairly small and absolutely shredded with the Lock-On mod for the rocket launcher.

** ''The Ancient Gods Part 2'''s Dark Lord feels like a slog to fight. He can only be damaged at specific parts, but is inconsistent in when he leaves himself vulnerable. While you wait for him to leave himself open, he only throws out rather predictable attacks, and the backup he summons are very easily dealt with the Sentinel Hammer. The worst part is that he heals himself if he damages you with his sword, but it's also very easy to heal and restock during the fight as well. The entire fight devolves into waiting, using the Sentinel Hammer on mooks, more waiting, and damaging him hopefully without getting hit.

** ''Eternal'' takes a new direction for the series combat that hasn't been entirely well-received. To explain, ''Eternal'' places a lot of emphasis on creating depth within the combat system that was invented in ''2016'', mainly by increasing the complexity of each enemy, weapon and mechanic. Enemies now have weakpoints to target that can only be taken out by certain weapon mods, making each weapon much more focused in their use than the previous game. ''Eternal'' also lowers the overall ammo count from ''2016'' and introduces dedicated ways to refresh your ammo and armor supply in the infinitely replenishing chainsaw and flame belch. This is balanced out by making enemies more aggressive and allowing them to hit very hard regardless of difficulty. All of this adds up to a combat system that demands quite a lot from the player in terms of physical skill, which has caused a rift in the fanbase. On one hand, many fans are irritated with the combat, feeling that these added complexities detract from the gameplay by limiting player expression and adding needless complexity to the streamlined combat system of ''2016''. They argue that since each enemy type often has one specific weakpoint, the player is forced into picking whatever weapons are "right" for the current situation instead of allowing them to come to their own conclusions about how best to proceed. On the other hand, many fans praise ''Eternal'' for evolving the combat in a meaningful way, arguing that these complexities increase the amount of engagement the player has in combat. The player is forced to pick the best approach to a situation from a series of options rather than [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome falling back on their default strategies and be-all-end-all weapons]], which both encourages players to familiarize themselves with their loadouts and prevents a single dominant strategy from emerging[[note]]A great deal of ''2016'' can be easily beaten by simply using the fully-upgraded Super Shotgun and Siege Mode mod for the Gauss Cannon - using almost anything else in the game's final third is only done if you get bored of those[[/note]]. How you feel about the combat system of ''Eternal'' is determinant on whether or not you feel these changes to the combat system create an enthralling and engaging gameplay loop, or if they introduce FakeDifficulty and needless complexity into a combat system beloved for its simplistic but engaging nature.
** The shift in aesthetic has been divisive as well. ''2016'' didn't take itself too seriously, but it did attempt to incorporate many old ''DOOM'' staples into a more realistic context, much the same as ''DOOM 3''- the series' famous Chaingun, for instance, is reimagined as the chassis of a deployable turret (with the Slayer literally ripping it off the bipod just so he can lug it around), while [[spoiler: the BFG is an experimental weapon of mass destruction with a realistic design and effect]]. Enemies were also quite frightening and looked much less cartoony than they did in the older games thanks to taking design inspiration from the ''DOOM 3'' interpretation of demons. This gave the game a more "grounded" look that gave the experience real weight and added to the grungy and gritty atmosphere. ''Eternal'' takes itself far less seriously, with glowing health and ammo pickups, enemies exploding into ''rainbows'' of different ammo colors, more cartoonish sound effects, enemies redesigned into closer approximations of their original designs from the first two games, glowing question mark models to designate secrets, and an honest-to-god VideoGameLives system depicted as literal "1-Ups". These more aggressive "video gamey" aesthetics are noted by some to be distracting and immersion-breaking, while others state that ''Eternal'' returning to a more retro look is simply the game not trying to hide that its a video game.
** Is the Marauder an example of FakeDifficulty? In a game largely about aggression and using the correct weapons against the correct enemies, the Marauder instead forces the player to fight ''very'' defensively within an extremely narrow range band while waiting for his limited windows of vulnerability. Supporters argue that this creates a strong challenge that, unlike the other super heavy enemies, is also [[LightningBruiser a fast and nimble threat]] and {{foil}} to the player that rewards knowledge of the game's high-level mechanics and forces them to play differently to deal with them. Detractors argue that, in addition to all-but requiring full attention in a game that [[FlunkyBoss generally makes paying full attention to any one threat difficult and inadvisable]], the Marauder's demanding skill floor and restrictive set of weaknesses play against the combat system's strengths - and that no method of beating them is more effective than [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome cheesing them with explosives and high-stagger weapons anyway]], so it's not as if they feel rewarding to deal with either unless you're [[SelfImposedChallenge forgoing them]].

** After their absence in ''2016'', Archviles are back and in full force. Not only do they retain their ability to summon demons (which includes ''other Super Heavies'' if players are unlucky or slow)[[note]]Yes, this includes '''Marauders''', leading to some of the few instances of more than one Marauder being active at once if you can't kill him fast enough[[/note]], but they can also put up a large firewall in a midst of a summon, protecting them from all frontal damage until it's destroyed (up to and including a ''BFG-9000 blast''). They can also apply a StatusBuff to all enemies around it like a mobile Buff Totem, increasing {{Hit Point}}s, damage dealt, movement ''and'' attack speed, as well as making them more resistant to the Chainsaw. Additionally, Archviles are capable of teleporting across the battlefield like Prowlers, making them very difficult to hit even if players manage to track it down. Since they're part of the Super Heavy-class, they pack high {{Hit Point}}s of their own, can activate an area-of-denial fire ring at short-range, can launch waves of flame at long range, and even retain their infamous "flaming-aura-around-the-player" attack (though this time it can be avoided by simply moving fast enough). If it isn't the supercharged {{Mook}}s that it spawns that hound on players, the Archvile will instead be the one who barbecues the Doom Slayer. "One of the worst of a bad lot," indeed.

** At higher difficulties, Arachnotrons ([[GiantSpider fittingly enough]]): these demons are fast for their size, have a meaty amount of {{Hit Point}}s, fire surprisingly accurate and highly damaging streams of plasma rounds, and can side-step to dodge bullets, making getting a clean hit on their plasma turret troublesome. They can also rush up for a melee attack if players aren't careful and unless their turret is destroyed, Arachnotrons can still shoot accurately at long distances. Finally, thanks to their design, they can climb onto walls and cling on ceilings for a vantage point. It doesn't help that Arachnotrons are introduced in the first level, "Hell on Earth".
** While a lesser example, Cyber-Mancubi are these compared to the regular ones. Regular Mancubi have weak spots on their gun-arms, which can be blown or sniped off to weaken their fireballs and completely remove their flamethrower attack. Cyber-Mancubi have them bolted on and are unable to be removed. That said, they are highly vulnerable to a Blood Punch so if you can close the gap and have one stocked, it'll shatter their armour instantly and without it, they take less punishment than a standard Mancubus. The downside is that Cyber-Mancubi are usually summoned either in pairs or backed up by a standard Mancubus, and getting close to them for a Blood Punch is a good way to fall in their acid trap or get bombarded by the one you aren't focusing on.

** ''The Ancient Gods - Part Two'' introduces multiple {{Underground Monkey}}s to provide variety. Among them is the Screecher Zombie, a purple-hued variant of the [[TheGoomba standard Zombie]]. They go down just as easy as the others, which may leave you wondering why they're in this entry. The answer: if you take one out, it will let out a scream that gives all other demons a huge buff, not unlike a Buff Totem. The problem here is that they like to appear amidst chaotic fights and wander around aimlessly, meaning that unless you have really good aim and reflexes and/or stick to non-AreaOfEffect weaponry, a Screecher suddenly dying while you're hammering an enemy just so happened to walk in front of will happen a lot. On lower difficulties, it can make combat noticeably more hectic, but on Ultra-Violence and above, they can make an otherwise okay battle into a nightmarish dance of death where you have to try to avoid them while ''also'' paying attention to all the other enemies swarming you. The only saving grace is that, while multiple Screecher Zombies can appear in a fight, their death buffs don't stack, plus [[KungFuProofMook they're immune to chainsaws]] so you don't accidentally see one while trying to get ammo back.

* HarsherInHindsight: The memetic "Why does Doomguy not have PTSD? Because he ''is'' the traumatic event" exchange loses a bit of its humour, [[spoiler:now that we find out that he ''did'' have it, and suffered pretty severely at that, back when he was Doomguy. On the other hand, it does add a level of badassery that he went through suffering from trauma to embodying it for the demons]].

* MagnificentBastard: ''Ancient Gods'' [[DownloadableContent DLC]]: [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks Davoth]], the "Dark Lord" and the true Father, was once a benevolent deity who sought the best for all his people by giving them immortality. Creating the Maykrs before being betrayed by them, Davoth sought destruction for all life in retribution. Davoth was reduced to a voice, and even then [[GreaterScopeVillain engineers]] Hell invasions across multiple dimensions, making numerous bargains before turning on his "partners". Notably, Davoth uses the Kahn Maykr's greed and the Doom Slayer's war on Hell to [[PlayingBothSides play all sides against each other]], resulting in the Slayer wiping out the Maykrs as revenge for their betrayal and tricked Samur Maykr into empowering the Slayer with his essence, creating Hell's greatest threat and knowing they would face each other one day. Resurrected by the Slayer, Davoth intends to lead the final battle for the fate of creation and forces the Father to reveal the truth of his betrayal. When beaten, Davoth [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepts his death]] and asks the Slayer if he has anything to say to his creator.

** "Mortally challenged"[[labelnote:Explanation]]InUniverse, the Union Aerospace Corporation and cultist sects deem the term demons as "offensive", thus gave them this new label. A section of the fandom immediately embraced this due to the inherent Political Correctness.[[/labelnote]]
*** "Remember: ''x'' can be an offensive term. Refer to them as ''y'' challenged."[[labelnote:Explanation]]A snowclone of the full line of dialogue of the above, heard during "Super Gore Nest" level.[[/labelnote]]

*** Doom Slayer teaching other characters how to use firearms.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Although it precedes Doom Slayer/Isabelle (but is partially responsible for popularizing this), the Doom Slayer showing a character from an unrelated franchise (the cuter and more innocent, the better) how to use his weapons have taken off. Naturally, Isabelle is the go-to character for these types of work.[[/labelnote]].

** The Doom Slayer [[PercussiveMaintenance punching things to make them work]].[[labelnote:Explanation]]Since the button to interact with objects and the punching button is the same, it's very common for players to accidentally punch things like levers, buttons, control panels and {{Non Player Character}}s [[BreadEggsMilkSquick trying to give them stuff]]. Since the Slayer [[CuttingTheKnot applying violence to every problem like that]] is entirely in-character, this was quickly memed.[[/labelnote]]

** The Demonic Troopers, the very last enemy introduced in ''The Ancient Gods Part 2'', have been hit with this for being so absurdly weak that one would argue that them being listed under "Ambient" demon class is too generous a classification. How weak are they? A single punch kills them. Not a [[MegatonPunch Blood Punch.]] [[ScratchDamage A regular punch.]] Even the pathetic zombie can take ''dozens'' of punches before getting into a Glory Kill state. And all the while they were being hyped up as the Dark Lord's elite guard.

* MisaimedMarketing: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2hytfsXExM A television advertisement]] released to promote ''Eternal'' features HipHop mixed with clean, non-gory visuals that barely shows game-play, using cut-scenes lifted from the single-player campaign, instead. ''Doom'' veterans have called out Creator/{{Bethesda}} for this marketing by ignoring the very elements that define the franchise - FirstPersonShooter action, violence against demons and HeavyMetal; in particular, it's an egregious error when Music/MickGordon, who has contributed to the ''Eternal'' soundtrack, should have been the obvious choice for the ad's music.

** The little ''plink'' of a demon weak point getting shot off.
** The reverberating sound your shots make when using a Haste or Quad Damage powerup.

** The sound of a bunch of armor shards getting picked up at once after burning up a horde of fodder.

** The aforementioned ad contains the words "Power. Defiance. Courage. Be Eternal." as a {{Tagline}}. However, within the context of the Doom Slayer, this is seen by fans not only as generic and redundant but a gross mischaracterization, especially when a {{Narm}}y [[ComicBook/{{Doom}} comic book]] once succinctly summarized the character, of which the ''2016'' game used as its CentralTheme - "[[UnstoppableRage rip]] [[OneManArmy and]] [[RatedMForManly tear]]."

** The Classic Doom Marine skin is a cool throwback to ''Doom'''s roots, giving Doomguy an appearance that matches his appearance in the original games. It also kind of just looks a bit off, thanks to the fact that it's designed to match the proportions of modern Doomguy's bulkier armor and doesn't add any detail to the spaces that were usually covered by guns or other accessories in the classic games. As a result, it kind of looks like he's wearing ill-fitted armor over equally ill-fitted green pajamas.

** In ''2016'', the Heavy Assault Rifle Tactical Scope mod was considered to be vastly inferior to the Micro Missiles, offering slightly higher-than-normal damage output at the cost of a much slower rate of fire and tunnel vision. Its successor for ''Eternal'', the Heavy Cannon Precision Bolt mod, is ''almost a requirement'', allowing players to neutralize some of the most dangerous abilities of Heavy-class demons they'll be facing while making the most out of the game's limited ammunition pool. Not only that, but the new Ice Bombs make sniper weapons much more viable despite the game's close-ranged, fast-paced gameplay. Attacking the weak points of even the most agile enemies is trivially easy when players have just turned them into helpless statues.

** When it was initially introduced, very few players would admit the Plasma Rifle's Microwave Beam mod was good. It was mostly derided as an excessive ammo hog that dealt less damage than standard fire, while its movement speed penalty frequently players end up reduced to chunky kibbles. It wasn't until a balance patch increased the damage it dealt over time that players bothered to explore its applications:

*** The charge bar that appears when locking onto an enemy is the closest thing in the game that constitutes an enemy health bar, allowing players to check an enemies' remaining {{Hit Point}}s and plan how to eliminate it without wasting ammo.

** The design choice where players failing Secret Encounters and Slayer Gates will not be refunded with whatever ammunition, health, and lives lost attempting them turned many away from trying to beat them all together. Keep in mind, both of these cases can be very hard to clear even with a reasonably-upgraded Slayer and weapons, and the game's emphasis on DroughtLevelOfDoom combined with this lack of a "refund" mechanic (unless the player considers the pair of separate suit upgrades to make barrels regenerate and dropping ammo after being exploded a "refund" mechanic) means ContinuingIsPainful since one will be coming back in with even fewer resources that probably wouldn't have helped had they just decided to soldier on with the campaign instead.
** The limited ammunition: at the beginning of the game, players can only hold 16 shotgun shells compared to 20 or 50 in the earlier games in the series. On one hand, it encourages smarter play by aiming at the enemy weak points and switching up weapons more frequently, but on the other hand, ''Doom'' has never been a game about very restrictive ResourcesManagementGameplay. Having to utilize the chainsaw mechanic so frequently means players are forced to spend more time looking at a preset animation and less time gunning down demons. Thankfully, this becomes less of an issue as the game goes on and more ammunition upgrades and weapons are unlocked, allowing players to exploit more weaknesses and strategies that reduce overall ammo expenditure in any given fight.

** ''2016'' was far from easy, but ''Eternal'' really ramps things up in the difficulty department. Enemies hit much harder and move much faster, and even the bulkier demons can be surprisingly mobile and persistent. Your ammo capacity has been cut by more than half, with the maximum amount of shotgun ammo going from 60 in ''2016'' to a paltry 24 in ''Eternal''. There are more complex mechanics to manage too, like the Blood Punch, the Flame Belch, your grenades, and your Chainsaw. The tradeoff is that the Slayer has been upgraded with more mobility and many of his weapons have seen substantial buffs, so mastering the combat system makes you into a serious force to be reckoned with. It's telling that this game introduces a VideoGameLives mechanic into the mix where ''2016'' had none, and on the higher difficulties you'll be chewing through them fast if you don't play smart.

** Doom Slayer meeting the spirit of King Novik was played up a lot in the marketing leading up to the release of the game. It's quite memorable particularly because of how grandiose Novik's speech sounds, and because of how surprising it is to see the Doom Slayer kneel out of respect to someone. It helps that the cutscene ends with a noteworthy shot of Doom Slayer [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/5fe5a59fe59ddf29446a9199c46fc214/tumblr_psv8rtO7Sp1s9hwyio6_500.gifv looking back at the camera]].

*** Fortunately, as of Update 4 this has been changed so that the Slayer as the Cultist Slayer does not mime putting on his helmet, and instead [[https://youtu.be/tbYSyheZcDw?t=111 places down his original helmet]]. And of course, the helmet lights were fixed.

*** The revelations of how Argent Energy and the [[DemonOfHumanOrigin demons came to be]] makes the version of Hell in ''Doom'' very close [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace to the Warp and its daemons]] (it helps that, like the Warp, Hell can also be used for FTL travel), Hell has plenty of human agents/worshippers in this dimension supporting their efforts and the Icon of Sin resembles a greater daemon prince (including only being killable with a special artifact and otherwise reconstituting elsewhere when he's killed conventionally).

** The emphasis on fast movement, quick reflexes and ammo management combined with the QuadDamage and Haste powerup stand-ins, the usage of jump pads, large arenas, and the behavior of the {{BFG}} makes the game akin to a mix of ''Doom'' and ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', in particular ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena''. The portal system that the Doom Slayer uses is even outright called a "Slipgate".

* ThatOneBoss: The FinalBoss of ''The Ancient Gods - Part One'', as per the DLC's SequelDifficultySpike, is significantly harder than any of the boss battles in the base game. The first phase isn't too bad despite [[spoiler:Samur's]] attacks and TeleportSpam, and even when he first spawns Spirits that must be killed to damage him, they're on relatively inconsequential demons (a Hell Knight and Mancubus) that let you kill them easily. All of this goes out the window in the second phase, where the arena transforms to become a maze of elevated platforms while laser grids periodically sweep across the map and force you to dodge through them, all while demons swamp the lower levels of the map. The player then has to hunt down [[spoiler:Samur]], whose TeleportSpam goes from mildly annoying to highly infuriating due to the map being much harder to navigate. While he evades you and forces you to give chase, he'll gleefully rain hell on you from afar, and chances are even when you track him down, he'll either warp away or reward you with an attack to the face for your troubles. Alongside him spawning deceptively tanky eyeball monsters that patrol the area and electrocute the Slayer if he's within a generous radius, the demon reinforcements are now too tough to just ignore - particularly since the level will start spawning [[DemonicSpiders Blood Makyrs]], which have punishing attacks and can't be hit unless they drop their barrier to attack. But the difficulty comes to its absolute head when he puts up his spirit shield for the second time, this time with the Spirits on ''a Pain Elemental and Dread Knight'', who are more than powerful enough to abuse their inflated stats and tear you a new one - and this is ''still'' while you're stuck in a constraining, hazard-laced map and trying to fend off the legions of demons and Blood Makyrs assailing you. On lower difficulties, the fight is already hard, but on higher ones, it's borderline ''sadistic.''

*** One Secret Encounter in the Cultist Base drops ''two Whiplashes and a Mancubus'' on you and requires you to kill them in under 30 seconds. This is much easier said than done, and the mission itself requires a lot of RNG to work in your favour. The intended solution is to Ice Bomb the two Whiplashes and blows them up with rockets, grenades and/or the two explosive mines present in the room before they unfreeze, and to then turn your attention to the Mancubus, but a player entering the mission for the first time will likely not understand this and get killed several times working out how the encounter works.

*** As if the one in Taras Nabad wasn't bad enough, a Secret Encounter in The Holt for ''The Ancient Gods - Part One'' has the same setup, except there's a Blood Maykr providing back-up. Like Maykr Drones, Blood Maykrs can be instantly killed via BoomHeadshot, but only if they drop their defenses by using a strong attack. If the Maykr isn't willing to cooperate, players may have already lost considering that, unlike the Blood Maykr, the Marauder ''won't'' go down with a single hit. Mercifully, this Encounter lasts for 40 seconds.

** When The Ancient Gods, Part 2 came out, the title screen remix of [[VideoGame/DoomII Opening To Hell]] was replaced with a new track by David Levy, to the disappointment of many fans who loved the old song. Eventually this decision [[AuthorsSavingThrow was also reverted]], with Opening To Hell returning as the main theme... Which then led to other fans complaining about switching it back, preferring the newer theme to original one. The Horde Mode update fix this issue by letting players choose which song to play in the options.

** The Archvile doesn't get his grand entrance promised in the trailer - instead he just appears in a regular encounter , and you fight him along with other monsters with no fanfare.

** The standard Zombies: their vacant expressions, the way they gawk at oncoming objects and them having a lot of the most comedic Glory Kills almost overrides the inherent horror of what they are. [[spoiler:The one featured in the post-credits scene that starts messing with the Slayer's toy collection in the Fortress of Doom is a particular example, making noises like a child with action figures would]].

** At one point in the campaign, the Doom Slayer establishes a psychic link with a Revenant and takes control of it to retrieve his Super Shotgun. This is the only time controllable enemies appears in the campaign. The multiplayer is built around this concept, however.

** The best part? Despite more diverse environments and varieties of enemies and non-player characters, the game storage size requirements at launch is approximately half of ''Doom 2016''. Sure the game lacks Snapmap, but it wasn't why because Snapmap reuses content from campaign and multiplayer.

* PolishedPort: Keeping up from Videogame/Doom2016, the Switch port of ''Eternal'' works surprisingly well despite the graphical and frame rate compromises in addition to having gyro aiming at launch. The only downside is its digital-only availability. There ''was'' supposed to be a physical edition of the game for Switch to be released, but that ended up getting cancelled, restricting it to download-only.

*** That being said, it is, bizarrely enough, a good way to display the sheer power of the Crucible. See that Tyrant who can soak up rockets like rubber duckies and shrug off bullets like a goddamn Terminator? The Slayer take just three swings and it's dead.

** The design choice where players failing Secret Encounters and Slayer Gates will not be refunded with whatever ammunition, health, and lives lost attempting them turned many away from trying to beat them all together. Keep in mind, both of these cases can be very hard to clear even with a reasonably-upgraded Slayer and weapons, and the game's emphasis on DroughtLevelOfDoom combined with this lack of a "refund" mechanic means ContinuingIsPainful since one will be coming back in with even fewer resources that probably wouldn't have helped had they just decided to soldier on with the campaign instead.

* DemonicSpiders: [[SequelDifficultySpike Given how much the difficulty is ramped up]], expect a lot of enemies to ruin your day completely. However, despite the name, the Arachnotrons aren't among them.

* DemonicSpiders: [[SequelDifficultySpike Given how much the difficulty is ramped up]], expect a lot of enemies to ruin your day completely.