Doom's protagonist



The Doomguy is a space marine and the protagonist in the Doom games.

Biography
The only thing known about the Doom space marine’s life prior to the events of Doom is that he ended up on UAC Base in the first place because he assaulted a superior officer who ordered fire upon civilians. In Doom 3, the story is slightly different: the player finds he has been sent to Mars to “replace one of the guys we lost.”

Name
Many arguments have been made over the real name of the Doomguy, or as to whether a name would be appropriate at all. The original story by id Software is composed in second person, suggesting that there is no single “Doomguy” and that the Doom marine represents whoever is playing the game. However, other possibilities for a Doomguy name exist, most notably “Flynn Taggart”, the name he was referred to in the Doom novels. A more recent name has come from the Doom movie, where the Doomguy is referred to as John “Reaper” Grimm.

According to John Romero, "The less you know about him [the space marine], the more likely you as the player will feel free to invent your own personality for him". In this respect, the Doomguy can be seen as an Everyman character.

Trivia

 * In Doom's opening splash screen, and in the game, Doomguy is shown to be wearing a helmet with a visor. In the very first Alpha version of Doom the visor framed the screen, and was used instead of a status bar.


 * According to the end screens of Ultimate Doom, the severed rabbit head shown in the end screen of Episode 3: Inferno is none other than Daisy, the Doomguy's pet rabbit. After completing Episode 4: Thy Flesh Consumed, the player is shown clutching the rabbit's head outside of the demons' burning citadel, having avenged its death.

Other games with references to the Doomguy

 * Duke Nukem 3D
 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Quake
 * Quake III Arena
 * Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (featured in the PC version as a secret skater)