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{{Doom 3 also in|Arch-Vile}}
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[[File:Map11 meet archie.png|thumb|First meeting with the arch-vile in [[MAP11: Circle of Death|MAP11]] of [[Doom II]]]]
[[Image:Map11 meet archie.png|256px|thumb|First meeting with the arch-vile in [[MAP11: Circle of Death|MAP11]] of [[Doom II]]]]
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{{Monster versions|disambig={{thisisabout|monster|doom2}}|doom3=Arch-vile (Doom 3)|doom4=Summoner|doom5=Arch-vile (Doom Eternal)}}
'''Arch-viles''' are emaciated-looking, yellowish-skinned humanoid figures with a grotesque appearance, including stigmata. They also have no flesh around their abdomens, revealing some of their ribcage. The Arch-viles first make their appearance in [[Doom II]]'s [[MAP11: Circle of Death (Doom II)|Map 11]]. Their manual description is:
+
The '''arch-vile''' is an emaciated, peach-skinned humanoid with a grotesque appearance, including stigmata. It has no flesh around its abdomen, revealing some of its ribcage and spinal column. The arch-vile first makes an appearance in [[Doom II]]'s [[MAP11: Circle of Death (Doom II)|MAP11: Circle of Death]]. Its description in the instruction manual is as follows:
  
''One of the worst of a bad lot. You can't think of enough rotten things to say about him. He's fast, hard to kill, casts spells, and resurrects dead monsters! At least these suckers are rare.''
+
{{Quote|One of the worst of a bad lot. You can't think of enough rotten things to say about him. He's fast, hard to kill, casts spells, and resurrects dead monsters! At least these suckers are rare.|Doom II instruction manual|Doom II instruction manual}}
  
 
==Combat characteristics==
 
==Combat characteristics==
Upon spotting the player, the Arch-vile emits a high-pitched, distorted laugh. When killed, it utters an anguished cry as its body seems to fall apart, collapsing in on itself into a bloody heap.
+
Upon spotting the player, the arch-vile emits a high-pitched, distorted laugh. When killed, it utters an anguished cry as its body seems to fall apart, collapsing in on itself, leaving a bloody heap of dismembered body parts.
  
 
These monsters can take a considerably high amount of damage (700 [[hit point]]s, the fourth highest in the game), and their attack consists of a unique ability to immolate their enemies in flames by raising their arms up and summoning fire upon the targeted foe, regardless of range (though they will not use their attack from more than 896 map units away unless hurt). They then hunch over and clasp their hands together, causing the fire to erupt, usually sending the enemy flying into the air, while causing up to 90 points in damage. This attack will always hit the enemy as long as there is a line of sight between the arch-vile and the target by the moment when the explosion happens, and can be avoided by staying out of the its line of sight at that moment, which is usually relatively easy since it takes the arch-vile about three full seconds to do one attack, from when it first calls the fire to when it actually sends out the blast. The blast occurs near the end of the spell. Moving out of the demon's sight does not cause the arch-vile to stop its attack; it always goes through the full sequence unless it flinches after being hit by a third party.
 
These monsters can take a considerably high amount of damage (700 [[hit point]]s, the fourth highest in the game), and their attack consists of a unique ability to immolate their enemies in flames by raising their arms up and summoning fire upon the targeted foe, regardless of range (though they will not use their attack from more than 896 map units away unless hurt). They then hunch over and clasp their hands together, causing the fire to erupt, usually sending the enemy flying into the air, while causing up to 90 points in damage. This attack will always hit the enemy as long as there is a line of sight between the arch-vile and the target by the moment when the explosion happens, and can be avoided by staying out of the its line of sight at that moment, which is usually relatively easy since it takes the arch-vile about three full seconds to do one attack, from when it first calls the fire to when it actually sends out the blast. The blast occurs near the end of the spell. Moving out of the demon's sight does not cause the arch-vile to stop its attack; it always goes through the full sequence unless it flinches after being hit by a third party.
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The arch-vile has the power to resurrect other, lower-level monsters that they come across. They can resurrect all monsters that leave corpses except [[cyberdemon]]s, [[spiderdemon]]s, [[Commander Keen]]s, and other arch-viles. They also cannot resurrect corpses that were placed on map by the level designer. This resurrecting power makes them top priority to kill in battle, to stop them from reviving defeated monsters and forcing the player to spend extra precious ammunition. However, the player does get credit for killing resurrected monsters, so in levels containing an arch-vile the <small>KILLS</small> percentage displayed at the end may exceed 100%.
 
The arch-vile has the power to resurrect other, lower-level monsters that they come across. They can resurrect all monsters that leave corpses except [[cyberdemon]]s, [[spiderdemon]]s, [[Commander Keen]]s, and other arch-viles. They also cannot resurrect corpses that were placed on map by the level designer. This resurrecting power makes them top priority to kill in battle, to stop them from reviving defeated monsters and forcing the player to spend extra precious ammunition. However, the player does get credit for killing resurrected monsters, so in levels containing an arch-vile the <small>KILLS</small> percentage displayed at the end may exceed 100%.
  
Arch-viles are the fastest monsters in the game except for charging [[lost soul]]s, almost 50% quicker than even the [[cyberdemon]], and meeting two or more of them at once without any cover spells doom for most players. They are also the most resistant monster to [[pain state|pain]], which makes canceling their attacks difficult; a point-blank shot with the [[super shotgun]] only disrupts their spell 55% of the time.
+
Arch-viles are the fastest monsters in the game except for charging [[lost soul]]s, almost 50% quicker than even the [[cyberdemon]]. They are also the most resistant monster to [[pain state|pain]], which makes canceling their attacks difficult; a point-blank shot with the [[super shotgun]] only disrupts their spell 47% of the time.
  
Arch-viles can be hurt by the [[blast damage]] of their own flame attack, so it is possible for an attacking arch-vile to hurt itself or any arch-vile close to its target. However, monsters (including other arch-viles) damaged by an arch-vile's attack will never retaliate because there is an exception in the [[Doom source code|source code]] that prevents other monsters from targeting them. This does not stop arch-viles themselves from targeting and damaging other monsters, though. Arch-viles are easy to distract because of their lack of [[Monster behavior#Choosing target|targeting threshold]]; which means they will always immediately switch target when hit.
+
Arch-viles can be hurt by the [[blast damage]] of their own flame attack, so it is possible for an attacking arch-vile to hurt itself or any arch-vile close to its target. However, monsters (including other arch-viles) damaged by an arch-vile's attack will never retaliate because there is an exception in the [[Doom source code|source code]] that prevents other monsters from targeting them. This does not stop arch-viles themselves from targeting and damaging other monsters, though. Arch-viles are easy to distract because of their lack of [[Monster behavior#Targeting threshold|targeting threshold]]; which means they will always immediately switch target when hit.
  
 
===Tactical analysis===
 
===Tactical analysis===
It is not possible to reliably prevent an arch-vile from attacking, so it is essential to kill them very quickly or use cover. Futhermore, the cover may not be available, depending on the arch-vile location. As arch-viles move quickly, the cover may become unavailable after being used once or twice. The cover, however, is needed only for the very short periods when the arch-vile is about to damage the player. A timely [[BFG 9000|BFG]] blast from a short distance is the only reliable method to kill an arch-vile before it can finish its attack. When using any other weapon, cover is necessary. The [[Plasma rifle]] will often suppress them from using their attack thanks to its high rate of fire. The [[Rocket launcher]] is also useful at dispatching them, although the player runs a risk of being counterattacked, especially if there are more than one of them at a time. If using the [[super shotgun]], the player can also take a potshot at the archvile just after it had sent out the blast, as the archvile stands still after that for about half a second.  
+
An arch-vile has the lowest [[pain state|pain chance]] in the game, so it is not possible to reliably prevent an arch-vile from attacking. This makes it essential to kill them very quickly or take cover. As arch-viles move quickly, the cover may become unavailable after being used once or twice. However, it is needed only for the very short periods when the arch-vile is about to damage the player. A timely [[BFG9000|BFG]] blast from a short distance is the only reliable method to kill an arch-vile before it can finish its attack. When using any other weapon, cover is necessary. The [[plasma rifle]] will often suppress them from using their attack thanks to its high rate of fire; the [[super shotgun]] is similarly useful due to its large number of [[hitscan]] shots in one blast. The [[rocket launcher]] is also useful at dispatching them, although the player runs a risk of being counterattacked, especially if there are more than one of them at a time. If using the [[super shotgun]], the player can also take a potshot at the archvile just after it attacks, as the arch-vile is immobilized briefly after each flame attack.
 +
 
 +
It is inadvisable to attack an arch-vile while it is engaged in combat with other monsters. If an arch-vile switches its target while it is in the middle of performing an attack, its flames will instantly latch onto the new target without resetting their timer; therefore, if the player shoots an arch-vile while it is almost finished immolating another monster, the flames will move onto the player and explode almost instantly.  
  
 
There are some interesting [[Engine bug|engine quirks]] associated with the arch-vile's attack and abilities, such as their [[arch-vile jump|assisting players with jumps]] and [[Ghost monster|creating non-clipping ghost monsters]].
 
There are some interesting [[Engine bug|engine quirks]] associated with the arch-vile's attack and abilities, such as their [[arch-vile jump|assisting players with jumps]] and [[Ghost monster|creating non-clipping ghost monsters]].
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== Inspiration and development ==
 
== Inspiration and development ==
  
The idea and name for the arch-vile came from [[Sandy Petersen]].[http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/december03/doom/romero/index2.shtml]
+
The idea and name for the arch-vile came from [[Sandy Petersen]].{{cite web archived|author=Benjamin Turner|title=Creating DOOM: Romero Remembers|url=http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/december03/doom/romero/index2.shtml|publication=GameSpy|publishdate=12 December 2003|accessdate=13 June 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111142546/http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/december03/doom/romero/index2.shtml|archivedat=archive.org}}
  
 
[[Bobby Prince]] said: "The Archvile is an evil healer. Anyone getting in his way is blasted with fire and disintegrated. This includes other demons. But, after he has wrought his destruction, he then goes around and reanimates all of the demons. Because of this interesting dual personality, I decided to give him a very evil laugh as an active sound. For his death sound, I recorded a young girl saying 'why,' pitch shifted it down and mixed it with other sounds. The Archvile just doesn't understand why anyone would want to kill him as he sees himself as only doing good for his fellow demon." [http://web.archive.org/web/19980521022218/http://bpmusic.com/pdf/tricks.pdf]
 
[[Bobby Prince]] said: "The Archvile is an evil healer. Anyone getting in his way is blasted with fire and disintegrated. This includes other demons. But, after he has wrought his destruction, he then goes around and reanimates all of the demons. Because of this interesting dual personality, I decided to give him a very evil laugh as an active sound. For his death sound, I recorded a young girl saying 'why,' pitch shifted it down and mixed it with other sounds. The Archvile just doesn't understand why anyone would want to kill him as he sees himself as only doing good for his fellow demon." [http://web.archive.org/web/19980521022218/http://bpmusic.com/pdf/tricks.pdf]
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== Notes ==
 
== Notes ==
 
* The arch-vile is based on a [[models|model]] which is currently displayed in the [[id Software]] building.
 
* The arch-vile is based on a [[models|model]] which is currently displayed in the [[id Software]] building.
* A lifesize cardboard cutout of the arch-vile produced by id Software exists. Photos of it are found [http://www.doomworld.com/sda/id/0.JPG here] and [http://files.drdteam.org/index.php/files/get/69m-CQZ28h/arch-vile-cutout.jpg here].
+
* A lifesize cardboard cutout of the arch-vile produced by id Software exists. Photos of it are found [https://www.doomworld.com/sda/id/0.JPG here] and {{archived link|http://files.drdteam.org/index.php/files/get/69m-CQZ28h/arch-vile-cutout.jpg|here|https://web.archive.org/web/20100921001833/http://files.drdteam.org/index.php/files/get/69m-CQZ28h/arch-vile-cutout.jpg|archive.org}}.
* MAP11 of [[The Plutonia Experiment]], [[MAP11: Hunted (The Plutonia Experiment)|Hunted]], is a maze where arch-viles are the only enemies. The same is true for MAP11 of [[Plutonia 2]] (The sequel to The Plutonia Experiment), [[MAP11: Arch-Violence (Plutonia 2)|Arch-Violence]].
+
* MAP11 of [[The Plutonia Experiment]], [[MAP11: Hunted (The Plutonia Experiment)|Hunted]], is a maze where arch-viles are the only enemies. The same is true for MAP11 of [[Plutonia 2]] (the sequel to The Plutonia Experiment), [[MAP11: Arch-Violence (Plutonia 2)|Arch-Violence]].
 
* The arch-vile's attack inflicts a base 20 points of damage, plus up to 70 additional points of [[blast damage]]. The blast damage against immobile targets is often around 63 or 67 points, as the center of the attack is not normally placed at the center of the target.
 
* The arch-vile's attack inflicts a base 20 points of damage, plus up to 70 additional points of [[blast damage]]. The blast damage against immobile targets is often around 63 or 67 points, as the center of the attack is not normally placed at the center of the target.
 
* The long casting time of the demon's spell usually gives the player enough time for two super shotgun shots. However, the arch-vile's negligible pain chance renders this method rather tricky, as the player would almost certainly suffer a blast by the time of his second shot.
 
* The long casting time of the demon's spell usually gives the player enough time for two super shotgun shots. However, the arch-vile's negligible pain chance renders this method rather tricky, as the player would almost certainly suffer a blast by the time of his second shot.
* The [[cyberdemon]] and the [[spider mastermind]] are immune to blast damage, so it takes an arch-vile much longer to kill one of these enemies than one might expect.
+
* The [[cyberdemon]] and the [[spiderdemon|spider mastermind]] are immune to blast damage, so it takes an arch-vile much longer to kill one of these enemies than one might expect.
* The <tt>MARBFAC2</tt> texture in [[Doom]] bears a scant resemblance to the design of the arch-vile, but [[John Romero]] has issued conflicting statements through the years as to whether or not the sketch that texture was based upon became part of the arch-vile's design influences, at one time stating that it was a different "alien demon" creature whose design was abandoned aside from surviving in the texture, but later claiming that it was indeed the arch-vile itself.
+
* The {{c|MARBFAC2}} texture in [[Doom]] bears a scant resemblance to the design of the arch-vile, but [[John Romero]] has issued conflicting statements through the years as to whether or not the sketch that texture was based upon became part of the arch-vile's design influences, at one time stating that it was a different "alien demon" creature whose design was abandoned aside from surviving in the texture, but later claiming that it was indeed the arch-vile itself.{{cite web|author=Fernito|title=The MARBFACE Textures|url={{dwforumst|1223968}}|publication=Doomworld|publishdate=19 December 2013|accessdate=14 June 2018}}{{cite web|author=Revenant100|title=Doom 2 Minor Sprite Fixing Project - v1.9 Release (updated 1/27/18)|url={{dwforumst|1328520}}|publication=Doomworld|publishdate=13 December 2014|accessdate=14 June 2018}}
 +
* The official French name of the monster is ''archi-infâme'' (though the circumflex in ''infâme'' is not reflected in the game itself due to technical limitations).
  
 
== Data ==
 
== Data ==
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   |ID #||64 (decimal), 40 (hex)
 
   |ID #||64 (decimal), 40 (hex)
 
   |-
 
   |-
   |[[Hit points]]||700
+
   |[[Hit point]]s||700
 
   |-
 
   |-
 
   |Speed||15 [[map unit]]s per frame<br>(262.5 map units per second)
 
   |Speed||15 [[map unit]]s per frame<br>(262.5 map units per second)
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   |Reaction time||8
 
   |Reaction time||8
 
   |-
 
   |-
   |[[Pain chance]]||10 (3.91%)
+
   |[[Pain chance]]||10 (3.13%)
 
   |-
 
   |-
 
   |Pain time||10 tics
 
   |Pain time||10 tics
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| '''Shots needed to kill'''<sup>1</sup>
 
| '''Shots needed to kill'''<sup>1</sup>
 
| Mean
 
| Mean
| [[Wikipedia:Standard deviation#Interpretation and application|Standard<br>deviation]]
+
| {{wp|Standard deviation#Interpretation and application|Standard<br>deviation}}
 
| Min
 
| Min
 
| Max
 
| Max
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|[[Lost soul]]||2.00||0.00||2||2
 
|[[Lost soul]]||2.00||0.00||2||2
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Commander Keen]] <sup>2</sup> ||2||0||2||2  
+
|[[Commander Keen]]<sup>2</sup> ||2||0||2||2  
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Demon]]||2.00||0.00||2||2
 
|[[Demon]]||2.00||0.00||2||2
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|[[Arch-vile]]<sup>3</sup> ||8||0||8||8  
 
|[[Arch-vile]]<sup>3</sup> ||8||0||8||8  
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Baron of hell]]||12.00||0.00||12||12
+
|[[Baron of Hell]]||12.00||0.00||12||12
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Spiderdemon]]||150.00||0.00||150||150
 
|[[Spiderdemon]]||150.00||0.00||150||150
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== Appearance statistics ==
 
== Appearance statistics ==
  
In the [[Doom games]], the arch-vile is first encountered on these levels:
+
In the [[IWAD]]s the arch-vile is first encountered on these maps per [[Skill level#Doom and Doom II skill levels|skill level]]:
  
{| {{prettytable}}
+
{{col-begin}}
!Game||[[I'm Too Young To Die|ITYTD]] and [[Hey, Not Too Rough|HNTR]]||[[Hurt Me Plenty|HMP]]||[[Ultra-Violence|UV]] and [[Nightmare!|NM]]
+
{{col-break|width=50%}}
|-
+
{| {{prettytable}}
|[[Doom II]]||[[MAP11: Circle of Death (Doom II)|MAP11: Circle of Death]]||[[MAP11: Circle of Death (Doom II)|MAP11: Circle of Death]]||[[MAP11: Circle of Death (Doom II)|MAP11: Circle of Death]]
+
!colspan="4"|Single-player
|-
+
|-
|[[TNT: Evilution]]||[[MAP12: Crater (TNT: Evilution)|MAP12: Crater]]||[[MAP03: Power Control (TNT: Evilution)|MAP03: Power Control]]||[[MAP03: Power Control (TNT: Evilution)|MAP03: Power Control]]
+
!Game!!1-2!!3!!4-5
|-
+
|-
|[[Plutonia]]||[[MAP03: Aztec (The Plutonia Experiment)|MAP03: Aztec]]||[[MAP01: Congo (The Plutonia Experiment)|MAP01: Congo]]||[[MAP01: Congo (The Plutonia Experiment)|MAP01: Congo]]
+
|[[Doom II]]||[[MAP11: 'O' of Destruction!]]||MAP11: 'O' of Destruction!||MAP11: 'O' of Destruction!
 +
|-
 +
|[[TNT: Evilution]]||[[MAP12: Crater]]||[[MAP03: Power Control]]||MAP03: Power Control
 +
|-
 +
|[[Plutonia Experiment]]||[[MAP03: Aztec]]||[[MAP01: Congo]]||MAP01: Congo
 +
|}
 +
{{col-break}}
 +
{| {{prettytable}}
 +
!colspan="4"|Multiplayer
 +
|-
 +
!Game!!1-2!!3!!4-5
 +
|-
 +
|Doom II||MAP11: 'O' of Destruction!||MAP11: 'O' of Destruction!||MAP11: 'O' of Destruction!
 +
|-
 +
|TNT: Evilution||[[MAP11: Storage Facility]]||MAP03: Power Control||[[MAP02: Human BBQ]]
 +
|-
 +
|Plutonia Experiment||MAP03: Aztec||MAP01: Congo||MAP01: Congo
 
|}
 
|}
 +
{{col-end}}
  
The [[IWAD]]s contain the following numbers of arch-viles per [[skill level]]:
+
The IWADs contain the following numbers of arch-viles per skill level:
 +
 
 +
{{col-begin}}
 +
{{col-break|width=50%}}
 +
{| {{prettytable|style=text-align: center;}}
 +
!colspan="4"|Single-player
 +
|-
 +
!Game!!1-2!!3!!4-5
 +
|-
 +
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Doom II]]||8||15||17
 +
|-
 +
|style="text-align: left;"|[[TNT: Evilution]]||10||27||38
 +
|-
 +
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Plutonia Experiment]]||65||86||99
 +
|}
 +
{{col-break}}
 +
{| {{prettytable|style=text-align: center;}}
 +
!colspan="4"|Multiplayer
 +
|-
 +
!Game!!1-2!!3!!4-5
 +
|-
 +
|style="text-align: left;"|Doom II||8||15||17
 +
|-
 +
|style="text-align: left;"|TNT: Evilution||21||43||61
 +
|-
 +
|style="text-align: left;"|Plutonia Experiment||91||126||144
 +
|}
 +
{{col-end}}
 +
 
 +
Of the maps covered on the Doom Wiki, the following have the highest numbers of arch-viles in single-player:
 
{| {{prettytable}}
 
{| {{prettytable}}
!Game||1-2||3||4-5
+
! Map !! Count
 +
|-
 +
| [[Holy Hell Revealed]] || 615
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Doom II]]||8||15||17
+
| [[MAP01: Deus Vult Zero (Deus Vult Zero)]] || 264
 
|-
 
|-
|[[TNT: Evilution]]||10||27||38
+
| [[MAP29: Saint Peter's Gate (Deus Vult II)]] || 219
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Plutonia]]||65||86||99
+
| [[MAP05: Deus Vult (Deus Vult)]] || 219
 +
|-
 +
| [[MAP22: Evil Eye (NDCP2)]] || 188
 
|}
 
|}
 +
''This data was last verified on August 2, 2019.''
  
 
== Doom RPG ==
 
== Doom RPG ==
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* Infernis (blue)
 
* Infernis (blue)
* Arch-vile (gold)
+
* Archvile ''[sic]'' (gold)
 
* Apollyon (red)
 
* Apollyon (red)
  
The arch-vile class of monsters are particularly susceptible to axe attacks and also appear to share a similar weakness to the fire extinguisher that lost soul-class monsters do, much the same as in the [[Doom_novels#Monsters|novelisation]] of [[Doom_novels#Hell_On_Earth|Hell on Earth]]. They also possess the ability to revive dead monsters, though this will fail if the player is standing on its target's corpse at the time. Something that should be noted is that when attacking, no matter if the arch-vile is an Infernis or Apollyon or just plain arch-vile, it always uses the unmodified costume of the regular arch-vile raising its arms and catching fire.
+
The arch-vile class of monsters are particularly susceptible to axe attacks and also appear to share a similar weakness to the fire extinguisher that lost soul-class monsters do, much the same as in the [[Doom_novels#Monsters|novelisation]] of [[Doom_novels#Hell_On_Earth|Hell on Earth]]. They also possess the ability to revive dead monsters, though this will fail if the player is standing on its target's corpse at the time. When attacking, no matter if the arch-vile is an Infernis or Apollyon or just plain arch-vile, it always uses the unmodified costume of the regular arch-vile raising its arms and catching fire.
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
Line 217: Line 271:
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
*[http://files.drdteam.org/index.php/files/get/yRqAoVwWfO/sketch-arch-vile.jpg Arch-vile sketch] by [[Adrian Carmack]]
+
* {{archived link|http://files.drdteam.org/index.php/files/get/yRqAoVwWfO/sketch-arch-vile.jpg|Arch-vile sketch|https://web.archive.org/web/20100920233648/http://files.drdteam.org/index.php/files/get/yRqAoVwWfO/sketch-arch-vile.jpg|archive.org}} by [[Adrian Carmack]]
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
<references />
  
 
{{Doom monsters}}
 
{{Doom monsters}}

Revision as of 08:05, 2 August 2019

First meeting with the arch-vile in MAP11 of Doom II
This article is about the monster in Doom II. For other games, see:

The arch-vile is an emaciated, peach-skinned humanoid with a grotesque appearance, including stigmata. It has no flesh around its abdomen, revealing some of its ribcage and spinal column. The arch-vile first makes an appearance in Doom II's MAP11: Circle of Death. Its description in the instruction manual is as follows:

"One of the worst of a bad lot. You can't think of enough rotten things to say about him. He's fast, hard to kill, casts spells, and resurrects dead monsters! At least these suckers are rare."
― Doom II instruction manual [source]

Combat characteristics

Upon spotting the player, the arch-vile emits a high-pitched, distorted laugh. When killed, it utters an anguished cry as its body seems to fall apart, collapsing in on itself, leaving a bloody heap of dismembered body parts.

These monsters can take a considerably high amount of damage (700 hit points, the fourth highest in the game), and their attack consists of a unique ability to immolate their enemies in flames by raising their arms up and summoning fire upon the targeted foe, regardless of range (though they will not use their attack from more than 896 map units away unless hurt). They then hunch over and clasp their hands together, causing the fire to erupt, usually sending the enemy flying into the air, while causing up to 90 points in damage. This attack will always hit the enemy as long as there is a line of sight between the arch-vile and the target by the moment when the explosion happens, and can be avoided by staying out of the its line of sight at that moment, which is usually relatively easy since it takes the arch-vile about three full seconds to do one attack, from when it first calls the fire to when it actually sends out the blast. The blast occurs near the end of the spell. Moving out of the demon's sight does not cause the arch-vile to stop its attack; it always goes through the full sequence unless it flinches after being hit by a third party.

The arch-vile has the power to resurrect other, lower-level monsters that they come across. They can resurrect all monsters that leave corpses except cyberdemons, spiderdemons, Commander Keens, and other arch-viles. They also cannot resurrect corpses that were placed on map by the level designer. This resurrecting power makes them top priority to kill in battle, to stop them from reviving defeated monsters and forcing the player to spend extra precious ammunition. However, the player does get credit for killing resurrected monsters, so in levels containing an arch-vile the KILLS percentage displayed at the end may exceed 100%.

Arch-viles are the fastest monsters in the game except for charging lost souls, almost 50% quicker than even the cyberdemon. They are also the most resistant monster to pain, which makes canceling their attacks difficult; a point-blank shot with the super shotgun only disrupts their spell 47% of the time.

Arch-viles can be hurt by the blast damage of their own flame attack, so it is possible for an attacking arch-vile to hurt itself or any arch-vile close to its target. However, monsters (including other arch-viles) damaged by an arch-vile's attack will never retaliate because there is an exception in the source code that prevents other monsters from targeting them. This does not stop arch-viles themselves from targeting and damaging other monsters, though. Arch-viles are easy to distract because of their lack of targeting threshold; which means they will always immediately switch target when hit.

Tactical analysis

An arch-vile has the lowest pain chance in the game, so it is not possible to reliably prevent an arch-vile from attacking. This makes it essential to kill them very quickly or take cover. As arch-viles move quickly, the cover may become unavailable after being used once or twice. However, it is needed only for the very short periods when the arch-vile is about to damage the player. A timely BFG blast from a short distance is the only reliable method to kill an arch-vile before it can finish its attack. When using any other weapon, cover is necessary. The plasma rifle will often suppress them from using their attack thanks to its high rate of fire; the super shotgun is similarly useful due to its large number of hitscan shots in one blast. The rocket launcher is also useful at dispatching them, although the player runs a risk of being counterattacked, especially if there are more than one of them at a time. If using the super shotgun, the player can also take a potshot at the archvile just after it attacks, as the arch-vile is immobilized briefly after each flame attack.

It is inadvisable to attack an arch-vile while it is engaged in combat with other monsters. If an arch-vile switches its target while it is in the middle of performing an attack, its flames will instantly latch onto the new target without resetting their timer; therefore, if the player shoots an arch-vile while it is almost finished immolating another monster, the flames will move onto the player and explode almost instantly.

There are some interesting engine quirks associated with the arch-vile's attack and abilities, such as their assisting players with jumps and creating non-clipping ghost monsters.

Inspiration and development

The idea and name for the arch-vile came from Sandy Petersen.[1]

Bobby Prince said: "The Archvile is an evil healer. Anyone getting in his way is blasted with fire and disintegrated. This includes other demons. But, after he has wrought his destruction, he then goes around and reanimates all of the demons. Because of this interesting dual personality, I decided to give him a very evil laugh as an active sound. For his death sound, I recorded a young girl saying 'why,' pitch shifted it down and mixed it with other sounds. The Archvile just doesn't understand why anyone would want to kill him as he sees himself as only doing good for his fellow demon." [1]

Notes

  • The arch-vile is based on a model which is currently displayed in the id Software building.
  • A lifesize cardboard cutout of the arch-vile produced by id Software exists. Photos of it are found here and here (archived 🏛).
  • MAP11 of The Plutonia Experiment, Hunted, is a maze where arch-viles are the only enemies. The same is true for MAP11 of Plutonia 2 (the sequel to The Plutonia Experiment), Arch-Violence.
  • The arch-vile's attack inflicts a base 20 points of damage, plus up to 70 additional points of blast damage. The blast damage against immobile targets is often around 63 or 67 points, as the center of the attack is not normally placed at the center of the target.
  • The long casting time of the demon's spell usually gives the player enough time for two super shotgun shots. However, the arch-vile's negligible pain chance renders this method rather tricky, as the player would almost certainly suffer a blast by the time of his second shot.
  • The cyberdemon and the spider mastermind are immune to blast damage, so it takes an arch-vile much longer to kill one of these enemies than one might expect.
  • The MARBFAC2 texture in Doom bears a scant resemblance to the design of the arch-vile, but John Romero has issued conflicting statements through the years as to whether or not the sketch that texture was based upon became part of the arch-vile's design influences, at one time stating that it was a different "alien demon" creature whose design was abandoned aside from surviving in the texture, but later claiming that it was indeed the arch-vile itself.[2][3]
  • The official French name of the monster is archi-infâme (though the circumflex in infâme is not reflected in the game itself due to technical limitations).

Data

Attributes
ID # 64 (decimal), 40 (hex)
Hit points 700
Speed 15 map units per frame
(262.5 map units per second)
Width 40
Height 56
Reaction time 8
Pain chance 10 (3.13%)
Pain time 10 tics
Mass 500
Bits 4194310
Bits list

1: Obstacle

2: Shootable

22: Affects Kill %

Sprites & sounds
Sprite name VILE
Alert sound DSVILSIT
Action sound DSVILACT
Pain sound DSVIPAIN
Death sound DSVILDTH
Ranged attack
Type Special
Blast
Damage 20 (direct hit)
0-70 (blast radius)
Sprite name FIRE
Sound DSVILATK (incantation)
DSFLAMST (fire column)
DSFLAME (fire column)
DSBAREXP (explosion)
Shots needed to kill1 Mean Standard
deviation
Min Max
Player (100%
health, no armor)
2.00 0.00 2 2
Player (100%
health, security armor)
2.00 0.00 2 2
Player (200%
health, combat armor)
5.00 0.00 5 5
Barrel2 1 0 1 1
Zombieman 1.00 0.00 1 1
Shotgun guy 1.00 0.00 1 1
Wolfenstein SS 1.00 0.00 1 1
Imp 1.00 0.00 1 1
Heavy weapon dude 1.00 0.00 1 1
Lost soul 2.00 0.00 2 2
Commander Keen2 2 0 2 2
Demon 2.00 0.00 2 2
Spectre 2.00 0.00 2 2
Romero's head2 4 0 4 4
Revenant 4.00 0.00 4 4
Cacodemon 5.00 0.00 5 5
Pain elemental2 5 0 5 5
Hell knight 6.00 0.00 6 6
Arachnotron 6.00 0.00 6 6
Mancubus 7.00 0.00 7 7
Arch-vile3 8 0 8 8
Baron of Hell 12.00 0.00 12 12
Spiderdemon 150.00 0.00 150 150
Cyberdemon 200.00 0.00 200 200

  1. Assumes that the victim never takes blast damage from an attack on a different target.
  2. Cannot be targeted because arch-viles attack other monsters only in retaliation, but may be accidentally hurt by blast damage.
  3. Arch-viles can never be arch-vile targets, but may suffer accidental blast damage.

Appearance statistics

In the IWADs the arch-vile is first encountered on these maps per skill level:

The IWADs contain the following numbers of arch-viles per skill level:

Of the maps covered on the Doom Wiki, the following have the highest numbers of arch-viles in single-player:

Map Count
Holy Hell Revealed 615
MAP01: Deus Vult Zero (Deus Vult Zero) 264
MAP29: Saint Peter's Gate (Deus Vult II) 219
MAP05: Deus Vult (Deus Vult) 219
MAP22: Evil Eye (NDCP2) 188

This data was last verified on August 2, 2019.

Doom RPG

In Doom RPG, the arch-vile appears as a class of monster. There are three variations, identified by color:

  • Infernis (blue)
  • Archvile [sic] (gold)
  • Apollyon (red)

The arch-vile class of monsters are particularly susceptible to axe attacks and also appear to share a similar weakness to the fire extinguisher that lost soul-class monsters do, much the same as in the novelisation of Hell on Earth. They also possess the ability to revive dead monsters, though this will fail if the player is standing on its target's corpse at the time. When attacking, no matter if the arch-vile is an Infernis or Apollyon or just plain arch-vile, it always uses the unmodified costume of the regular arch-vile raising its arms and catching fire.

See also

External links

References

  1. Benjamin Turner (12 December 2003). "Creating DOOM: Romero Remembers." GameSpy (archived 🏛). Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  2. Fernito (19 December 2013). "The MARBFACE Textures." Doomworld. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  3. Revenant100 (13 December 2014). "Doom 2 Minor Sprite Fixing Project - v1.9 Release (updated 1/27/18)." Doomworld. Retrieved 14 June 2018.