Memes / Doom

Spoilers Off

The Entire Franchise

• "PROTIP: To defeat the Cyberdemon, shoot at it until it dies."^ExplanationA fake magazine scan from GamePro (where every tip shown in their game reviews was labeled as a PROTIP) which quickly went viral for the contrast between how convincing it was (with most people not knowing it was a hoax by Doomworld co-founder Linguica) and how outrageously unhelpful the "advice" was. As a result, it quickly became a subject of parody, revolving around similar pieces of Captain Obvious or otherwise unhelpful advice; this also extended to "protip" becoming a sarcastic way of invoking such mock assistance.
• The Revenant has become entangled with other skeleton-related memes that circulate the Internet, such as the Agitated Skeleton^note Although it debuted as a Fan Nickname for the Revenant itself, the (DOOT) Trumpet Skeleton, and the Spooky Scary Skeletons song.
• The Godmode cheat code IDDQD has become a major piece of modern gaming culture and is regularly referenced in games, jokes, and is crossbred with other related memes such as the Konami Code. The "Get all weapons, ammo, and keys" cheat code IDKFA is very nearly as popular.
• The BFG 9000 is such a memorable weapon that it has an entire article about its influence on gaming culture on Know Your Meme. It is also the Trope Namer.
• The iconic "status bar face◊" - a protagonist's concerned face displayed on the bottom that makes amusing grimaces depending on circumstances (getting hit by projectile, picking up a weapon, etc); over the years, it became memetic in Doom fandom and a common source of photoshop memes and shout-outs, as well as being referenced in some of the Id Software's own games.
• The 16-page comic book released to advertise DOOM 1 on PC (DOOM Volume 1 - Knee Deep in the Dead) includes many a line that has since been used in several fan-made mods and standalone games:
  • "RIP AND TEAR! RIP AND TEAR YOUR GUTS! YOU ARE HUGE! THAT MEANS YOU HAVE HUGE GUTS!" ^ExplanationDoomguy, under the influence of a Berserk Pack, encounters a Cyberdemon which he proceeds to taunt in the above manner.
    • Doom (2016) even has its first spoken phrase include this one:
  "They are rage; brutal without mercy. But you? You will be worse! Rip and Tear until it is done!"
  • "HEEEEEERE COMES THE NIGHT TRAIN!" ^ExplanationAlso from the Doom comic, Doomguy tries to punch the Cyberdemon...only for his Berserk Pack to run out right as he strikes its armored belly, hurting his hand in the process. Linkara had a field day with this particular quote in his review of the comic.
  • "Hey, chaingun! The hell with respect!"^ExplanationRight after declaring that there was nothing else more commanding of his respect than the pump-action shotgun he retrieved earlier, Doomguy then casually tosses it aside once he spots a minigun for the taking.
  • "Ahh! Chainsaw! The great communicator!"^ExplanationDoomguy finds a chainsaw to communicate his feelings to the zombies with.
  • "Now I'm radioactive. That can't be good!"^ExplanationAfter a Pinky demon tackles him into a pit of toxic waste, Doomguy begins ranting about what kind of polluted planet humanity is leaving for its future generations to inherit.
• "But can it run Doom?"^note The art of getting either of the first two games to run on as many computers and computer-like devices as possible, from the ZX Spectrum to the TI-83 Plus Graphing Calculator, to a Canon printer, a Porsche 911 (though it has since been proven to be fake), and even a pregnancy test. Someone even made it run on Archive of Our Own (sort of, have fun trying to control the character). It reached its zenith when you can actually play Doom as a Game Within a Game in Doom Eternal. Yes, you can even play Doom on Doom. Later, an official collaboration with Husqvarna allows you to play Doom for a limited time on their Automower. The trend started as far as in The '90s, with Grosse Pointe Blank showing a character playing Doom on the arcade machine, even though it hasn't been ported there (yet).
• "HERE COMES FLAME BOI" for the Arch-Vile, originated from a humorous Doom mod that turns every sound effect into voiced text to speech, it made it all the way to the Doom Eternal gameplay reveal, where most of the live comments said the phrase upon the appearance of the Arch-Vile.
• "Unf!"^ExplanationAn onomatopoeia of Doomguy's grunt while trying to interact with walls, locked doors (if the player doesn't have a respective keycard/skull key in order to work), or even when trying to find secrets throughout the original games.
  • "AAAAAAGH"^ExplanationDoomguy's death scream, which plays in any instance of death no matter how violent or mild it is
• "A Bethesda.net account is required to play this title. Please connect to the internet to continue." ^ExplanationA message that appeared after booting up the 2019 Unity ports of the first two games for the first time. This seemingly arbitrary restriction for the over 20-year-old games quickly became a source of mockery, and similar to the Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice copypasta, everyone has had a field day putting this phrase in everything, such as Garfield: A Week of Garfield◊, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, Kirby's Adventure, and Super Mario World◊. Since then, the developers have removed the reviled DRM and the PC version of the Unity ports are DRM-agnostic outside of needing a Bethesda.net account to download the free add-ons.
• Pogodemon ^ExplanationAn edit of the Cacodemon sprite made to imitate the PogChamp emote from Twitch.
• "Mother of God, its all toilet sounds!"^explanationThe Sega 32X port of Doom is infamous for the abysmal quality of its soundtrack, which many fans have likened to a soundtrack consisting entirely of flatulence. Go to any video of the 32X OST, and the comment sections are guaranteed to be filled with fart or toilet jokes. In fact, one fan even took this comparison to its logical conclusion.
• SOMEMONG ^ExplanationA red-tinted photo of Brad "Carnevil" Carney, creator of the source port Skulltag (now defunct, with its assets being used for Zandronum), found among the asset files for Skulltag. Troll WADs often have this texture covering floors, walls and/or ceilings when they reveal their malicious nature, and several WADs use this image of "Carn" as a Final Boss enemy.
• HDOOM. ^ExplanationA mod that transforms DOOM into a H-Game, with it replacing the demons with monster girls with Ecchi elements and adding Hentai sex scenes. Originally made as a meme, it would later be further developed seriously by the developer.
• TO WIN THE GAME, YOU MUST KILL ME, JOHN ROMERO! ^ExplanationIn the final level of Doom II, the titular Icon of Sin says something demonic sounding before proceeding to shoot out demons at you, which is actually this in reverse.
• Alex Jones is the Doomguy.^ExplanationRadio host Alex Jones' paranoid rants about ongoing demonic invasions sound entirely rational when put in the context of the Doom universe, with multiple compilations floating on the net of Alex Jones voicing the Doomguy.
• The Cyberdemon is THICC!^ExplanationThe Cyberdemon has a...rather detailed buttocks on his back sprites. There's been plenty of memes that acknowledge this.

Doom 3

• "THERE IS NO DUCT TAPE ON MARS", which refers to the inability to use the flashlight and weapons at the same time in the original release.
• Jokes about the general darkness and poor lighting in this game resulted in a running joke about extremely dark screenshots, pictures of the insides of lens caps, and other such low-lighting images being mockingly identified as being from Doom 3. Similarly, the game was also called a "flashlight simulator".

Doom (2016)

• When the original cover was revealed, many people argued that it was so generic that with a few tweaks to the artwork, coloring, or even just the logo, it could be made to fit with any other shooter franchise, and began churning out such tweaked versions to prove their point.
• There's a famous gif showing one of Doomguy's interactions with a plush. Specifically, the one where he brofists it◊.
• Doot◊, a photoshopped image of a Revenant playing a trumpet has gone memetic due to how absurd it is and as a reference to the trumpet skull meme. There's even a image of said Revenant photoshopped onto the reversed cover.◊ And then there's the video with the full soundtrack...
• "Demonic Presence at unsafe levels. Lockdown in effect."^ExplanationThis is a voice line from the Facility Voice that plays quite alot of times throughout all of the UAC Levels.
• After the Switch port was released, and was shown to be a Polished Port for the most part, the whole "Nintendo is doomed" idea was given a Triumphant Reprise in the form of an obvious pun.
• Speaking of the Switch, Doom footage with Super Mario Odyssey music.
• Samuel Hayden's voice is often joked upon, especially with his drawing out of the word "resolve."
• When the DOOM music kicks in. ^Explanation"BFG Division" is often used in internet videos set to scenes of violence, or used to suggest violence. With Eternal, the same goes for "The Only Thing They Fear is You".
• I'm going to shit yourself ^Explanation A nonsensical threat issued by Samuel Hayden in Max0r's Incorrect Summary of Doom Eternal. Due to the video it came from, most people actually associate it with the aforementioned Doom Eternal, despite the footage coming from this game.
• Man literally too angry to die^ExplanationThe News Parody meme was exploited in some pictures as it fits Doom 2016's surprisingly colorful characterization of the Doomguy as a Dreaded, Unstoppable Rage-fueled One-Man Army. Even funnier when one of them staples that his rage comes from the demons killing his pet bunny, a fact confirmed in the sequel.

Doom Eternal

• "Mortally challenged"^Explanation In-Universe, 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 Overcorrectness.
  • "Remember: x can be an offensive term. Refer to them as y challenged."^ExplanationA snowclone of the full line of dialogue of the above, heard during "Super Gore Nest" level.
• DOOM Souls^ExplanationThe game's asynchronous multiplayer invasion mechanic in the Eternal single-player campaign has earned this moniker from more than a few people due to its inspiration.
• "Eternal Wood"^ExplanationBy flipping the game's logo upside down◊, it becomes an apt description of many fans' reactions to the trailers and gameplay footage pre-release.
• With the reveal of the BFG-10,000 during QuakeCon 2018, some fans joked about this being the first game to give a Doom protagonist a love interest.
• Due to the game's delay to March 20, 2020 (the same day as Animal Crossing: New Horizons), Crossover Fan Art between the Doom Slayer and Isabelle from Animal Crossing: New Leaf began popping up everywhere, alongside jokes from players about having to make the hard decision of which game to play first.
  • Doom Slayer teaching other characters how to use firearms.^ExplanationAlthough 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..
    Izra◊: "Dear Diary: today i got payed to draw Doomguy teaching Rapunzel, from Disney's Tangled, how to shoot the Heavy Assault Rifle. today was a good day."
  • "One copy of Doom Eternal / Animal Crossing: New Horizons, please."^ExplanationThe shared launch date of both games led to an emerging trend where cute characters from wholesome, kid-friendly franchises are juxtaposed into a video game retailer asking for copies of Eternal, while masculine and/or muscular characters from mature-oriented series will ask for New Horizons.
  • Doom Slayer becoming close friends with Isabelle, often bringing out his softer side, what with him drinking tea and teaching her to use his Super Shotgun. Conversely, Isabelle is shown to be perfectly comfortable wielding firearms bigger than her and slaughtering demons from Hell.
  • Doom Crossing: Eternal Horizons^ExplanationIt became common to merge or swap the two title's styles◊.
• KAREN TOOK (THE KIDS)^ExplanationA common chant heard in the Eternal soundtrack is "Kar En Tuk". According to Mick Gordon, it is the Sentinel/Argentan language for "Rip and tear". Viewers on YouTube were quick to comment on "Karen" jokes based on the chant, as "Karen" is the memetic term for an entitled, obnoxious middle-aged woman who voices petty complaints or makes shallow demands of people.
• Dean Takahashi's infamously bad gameplay review.^ExplanationHistory Repeats itself just like Polygon's infamous footage of 2016, where a game journalist made a clown of themselves playing a Doom game. In this case, Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat was one of several who was given early access to an Eternal release build for reviewing purposes. Takahashi decried the game for being "unfair" and "too difficult", all while demonstrating comically-bad skill, where he can't maintain a bead on enemies, misses easy jumps, gets confused by simple puzzles, and frequently stands in one place to get shot at instead of dynamically moving around the area, all while playing on the easiest difficulty setting. The gaming community was quick to ridicule Takahashi over this, not helped by his already well-known moment for being stuck on the tutorial level of Cuphead. VentureBeat had since removed Takahashi's original footage and replaced it with a marginally-improved version.
• No offense but this aint music its noise.^ExplanationA YouTube user by the name of Michael P. Shipley posted this comment about one of the game's tracks, typos and all, and the channel's owner pinned the comment at the top, causing everyone and their mother to have a field day with it, with most of the comments on that track involving Michael somehow.
• The Doom Slayer punching things to make them work.^ExplanationSince 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 Characters trying to give them stuff. Since the Slayer applying violence to every problem like that is entirely in-character, this was quickly memed.
  • In particular, this is also applied to the Sentinel spectres that awards the Praetor Points and people ran with the idea that the Doom Slayer punching them before taking their offering is akin to a schoolyard bully slugging someone to take their lunch.
• "ARGENT ENERGY IS PEOPLE!"^ExplanationIn Eternal, the narrative reveals that Argent Energy is made of tortured human souls. Naturally, since the game takes place in an apocalyptic future where people are forced to rely on a resource that is literally made from the dead to survive, some fans couldn’t help but make a joke or two about comparing this game to The Reveal from Soylent Green.
• "The longer the Icon of Sin is on Earth, the stronger he will become!"^ExplanationSamuel Hayden repeatedly pointing this out in Urdak has become a source of jokes. To make it even odder, he never actually explains why this happens. It takes the only lore entry found in the following level, "Final Sin", to back this statement.
  • In a similar vein, the automated voice heard throughout the first part of the Mars Core level that announces "WARNING: BFG-10000 is firing" - note that the gun fires very, very frequently.
• "You can't just shoot a hole into the surface of Mars..."^ExplanationHayden's reaction to what the Doom Slayer intends to do in the Mars Core level, saying it can't be done. Naturally, he's proven wrong and it became infamous rather quickly.
  • Likewise, "That is a weapon, not a teleporter."^ExplanationAgain, Hayden's statement of using a railgun to travel quickly is proven to work for the Slayer, who launches himself as a Human Cannonball without any difficulty.
• "x is temporary: Doom is Eternal."^ExplanationBased on the Tag Line "Times change. Doom is Eternal" from the "25 Years of Doom" Milestone Celebration video, this became an exploitable meme where one comically tries to convince another out of their (usually-weird) interests and play Eternal instead.
• "THERE'S TWO OF THEM?!"^ExplanationAt the end of the official trailer for The Ancient Gods - Part One, fans were shocked to discover they would have to fight two Marauders at the same time! Cue jokes about how it still wouldn't be much of a challenge for the Doom Slayer and how Part One will receive low scores due to it being too difficult for game journalists. Ironically, after the DLC's release, people started to talk about how the double Marauder was the least of their worries...
• "This makes me want to/feel like x"^ExplanationA recurring comment on YouTube rips of the soundtrack, with x being some outlandish boast such as battling the sun, disagreeing with terms of service, stepping on cracks in the sidewalk, etc.
• Due to Samur being the boss of the Ancient Gods Part 1 DLC, people have often depicted them as not fighting the Slayer due to their canon motivation (trying to stop him from summoning the Dark Lord), but for all the (comparatively) minor grievances he suffered at the Slayer's hands as Samuel Hayden, including and not limited to his destruction of the Argent facilities and shooting a hole into the surface of Mars.

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