John Romero cleared a longstanding question within the DOOM community. He noted that the name of the demon-killing player character is, indeed, Doom Guy.
This weekend the 26th anniversary of DOOM 2’s launch. John Romero, one of the game’s original creators, was running a Twitter trivia to celebrate the event. One of the burning questions he answered was the name of the lone soldier.
In all the names that came out for the character, Romero favored the original. His name is Doom Guy by canon.
DOOM creators already outline Doom Slayer’s lineage
During the early FPS games of its genre, DOOM codified it. Wolfenstein was the prototypical FPS title, but it was DOOM, which became the perfect game. Many started cloning the game, with a variable range of success.
Doom Guy's name is Doom Guy. https://t.co/jy9vBVKzPR
— John Romero 🤘🏽 (@romero) October 9, 2020
Moreover, many player characters received their own names and backstories. Wolfenstein’s very own main character was William Joseph “B.J.” Blazcowicz. In Duke Nukem, it was Duke Nukem while Serious Sam has Sam Stone.
DOOM’s marine, however, does not a real name across him. According to both Romero and Tom Hall, the original plan for him was to be the great-great-grandson of BJ Blazcowicz. In a Twitter conversation in March, they detailed how the lineage worked.
The lineage isn't a theory. Fact. And I think you have one generation off, there.
— • 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 • (@ThatTomHall) January 30, 2018
Tom Hall, the creator of BJ Blazcowicz, noted in a tweet that “heroism skips a generation.” He notes how BJ is the grandfather of Billy Blazcowicz, known as Commander Keen. Commander Keen is then the grandfather of Doom Guy.
While this discussion lends credence to the lore, it might not be canon after all. It’s also possible that Doom Guy is still a Blazcowicz on his mother’s side, making him Doom “Blazcowicz” Guy.
Doom Guy has many names, epithets
Throughout the years, Doom Guy received many different names apart from the one John Romero gave him. In the original 90s novels, he got the name “Flynn Taggart.” This name immediately conflicted with the Doom 3 novel, where his name is John Kane.
In the current meta, DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal calls him Doom Slayer. Even then, Doom Slayer is more of a title than a name, which leaves that ambiguous. It sounds like a trivial matter, but it’s a contested topic of debate within the community.
DOOM Eternal is about to get its first DLC called The Ancient Gods, Part One. It seems the Slayer will start killing eldritch gods too on October 20. Players can expect a ton of carnage and dead antediluvian nightmares in their midst.
John Romero is currently busy with his upcoming game, Empire of Sin. The game will come out on December 1 this year, barring any delays.
Featured image courtesy of Bethesda Softworks/Youtube Screenshot