Editing Cacodemon

[[File:Cacodemon encounter.png|thumb|A cacodemon in [[E3M2: Slough of Despair (Doom)|E3M2: Slough of Despair]]]]
{{Monster versions|disambig={{thisisabout|monster|doom1}}|doom3=Cacodemon (Doom 3)|doom4=Cacodemon (Doom 2016)|doom5=Cacodemon (Doom Eternal)}}
'''Cacodemons''' are bumpy red [[monster]]s with large spherical bodies, crowned with horns. Cacodemons float slowly through the air, over ledges and through open windows. They have a single green eye placed above a large wickedly grinning mouth, showing a series of nasty teeth and a bluish, electrified interior. Given their floating abilities, cacodemons can roam virtually anywhere in their attempts to seek out the player.

Given its unique, "hideously cute" appearance, the cacodemon has become popular as an unofficial mascot in the Doom community.

The official description of the cacodemon is as follows: 
{{Quote|They float in the air, belch ball-lightning, and boast one Hell of a big mouth. You're toast if you get too close to these monstrosities.|Doom instruction manual|Doom instruction manual}}

== Combat characteristics ==
Cacodemons attack by spitting a ball of lightning, or by biting with their gaping maw. The cacodemon often seems to distance itself from the player when under attack, though the cause of this is that it is being pushed back by successful hits from its enemies. Biting attacks are a rare occurrence due to this behavior, but can be seen in close quarters with low ceilings.

Cacodemons emit a loud hissing sound when they first see the player or otherwise become active, and use the pain sound shared by most of the demonic monsters from [[Doom]]. When [[corpse|killed]], they let out a gurgling moan and fall from the air, splitting open like rotten melons as they crash. These death animation frames are unique, as they depict the monster in agony, spewing copious amounts of blue blood, with its intestines and eye flying out upon impact with the ground.

== Tactical analysis ==
Cacodemon attacks are relatively easy to dodge, and with sufficient space large numbers of cacodemons can be fought while sustaining little or no injury. Because they are slow, and because their [[pain chance]] is high, they are fairly easy targets. The [[chainsaw]] can incapacitate them, and repeating weapons such as the [[chaingun]] or the [[plasma gun]] are very effective against them, as they are pushed away and are nearly unable to fight back. They are relatively easy to goad into [[monster infighting|attacking other monsters]], but can occasionally be tricky in this respect if they are floating in a high position allowing most of their shots to go over other monsters in the player's area. A skilled player could use a [[shotgun]], run in for close shots, and dodge any incoming attacks while reloading and retreating.

Because of their flight ability and versatility, it is not uncommon to see cacodemons flying out of unexpected places once alerted.

Although the cacodemon has a melee attack, it does not actively try to use this attack; it simply "happens" if the player is at point-blank range at the time the cacodemon attempts to launch a projectile. (The cacodemon's melee attack also does not have a sound effect associated with it.) This is presumably to prevent the enemy from abusing this attack while located at a greatly different elevation from the player (where the player would not be able to retaliate).

In the [[Atari Jaguar]] version of Doom, cacodemons move and attack noticeably faster. This is due to their states' durations having been rounded down to account for the game's 15 frames-per-second logic refresh rate.

== Notes ==
[[File:Beholdercaco.jpg|right|thumb|The illustration on the cover of the ''{{wp|Manual of the Planes#Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition|Manual of the Planes}}'' from which the cacodemon sprite was cropped]]
* The name ''cacodemon'', derived from the Greek ''κακοδαίμων'' (kakodaimon), was likely intended to convey the meaning of "evil spirit", or more conventionally, ''demon''. The original Greek term, in use since ancient times, actually means "wretched" or "ill-fated" and does not have supernatural connotations. 
* The monster's general visual design is similar to that of the {{wp|Beholder (Dungeons & Dragons)|Beholder}}, a similarly one-eyed classic {{wp|Dungeons & Dragons|Dungeons &amp; Dragons}} monster (with eye stalks instead of horns). In addition, the cacodemon was created from a cropping of a creature that appears on the cover of ''{{wp|Manual of the Planes#Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition|Manual of the Planes}}'', a Dungeons & Dragons expansion book. The creature itself is known as an {{wp|astral dreadnought}}, and was created by {{wp|Jeff Easley}} for that book.
* The earliest known [[Versions of Doom and Doom II|version]] of Doom to include cacodemon graphics is the 0.5 alpha, released on May 22, 1993, and the earliest known appearance of the monster as an in-game adversary is in the press release version of Doom, released on October 4, 1993.
* Cacodemons are called ''pumpkins'' in the [[Doom novels]], and the [[Doom's protagonist|marine]] in the [[Doom comic]] refers to them as "big-mouthed floating thingies."
*The cacodemon is used as the Icon for the [[Xbox 360]] Arcade version of Doom, specifically in the game library and on the Achievement screen. The sequel, Doom II, simply uses the title rather than a monster to represent the icon. It is also the icon for [[The Ultimate Doom]] in the [[Steam]] game library and as the executable icon.

== Data ==
{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan=2|Cacodemon data (original)
|-
| [[Thing types|Thing type]]||3005 (decimal), BBD (hex)
|-
| [[Mobj|Enum]]||MT_HEAD (14)
|-
| Appears in||[[Doom]]/[[Ultimate Doom]]<br>[[Doom II]]/[[Final Doom]]
|-
| [[Hit point]]s||400
|-
| Speed||8 [[map unit]]s per frame<br>(93.3 map units per second)
|-
| Radius||31
|-
| Height||56
|-
| [[Mass]]||400
|-
| Reaction time||8 [[tic]]s
|-
| [[Pain chance]]||128 (50.00%)
|-
| Pain time||6 tics
|-
| Flags||{{c|4211206}} (decimal)<br>{{c|00404206}} (hex)
|-
| Flags list|| 1: Obstacle<br> 2: Shootable<br> 9: No gravity<br>14: Floating<br>22: Affects kill %
|-
| Spawns||MT_HEADSHOT (fireball)
|}
{{col-break|gap=0.5em}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan=2|[[Sprite]]s & [[sound]]s
|-
| Sprite name||HEAD
|-
| Alert sound||DSCACSIT
|-
| [[A_Chase|Active sound]]||DSDMACT
|-
| Pain sound||DSDMPAIN
|-
| [[Types of death|Death]] sound||DSCACDTH
|}
{| {{prettytable}}
! [[State]]!!Frames
|-
| Idling||1 [A]
|-
| Chasing||1 [A]
|-
| Attacking (melee)||3 [BCD]
|-
| Attacking (missile)||3 [BCD]
|-
| [[Pain state|Hurting]]||3 [EEF]
|-
| [[Types of death|Dying]]||6 [GHIJKL]
|-
| Resurrecting||6 [LKJIHG]
|}
{{col-break|gap=1em}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan=2|[[Melee attack]]
|-
| [[Damage]]||10-60 (8-64 in [[PSX]] version)
|-
| Sound||''none''
|}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan=2|Ranged attack
|-
| Type||[[Projectile]]
|-
| Enum||MT_HEADSHOT (32)
|-
| Velocity||10 map units per tic<br>(350 map units per second)
|-
| Damage||5-40
|-
| Radius||6
|-
| Height||8
|-
| Sprite||BAL2
|-
| Frames||2 [AB] (in flight)<br>3 [CDE] (impact)
|-
| Sound||DSFIRSHT (firing)<br>DSFIRXPL (impact)
|-
| Flags||{{c|67088}} (decimal)<br>{{c|00010610}} (hex)
|-
| Flags list|| 4: No blocklinks (Inert)<br> 9: No gravity<br>10: Drops off ledges<br>16: Projectile
|}
{{col-end}}

{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan=2|Cacodemon data (Doom 64)
|-
| Enum||MT_CACODEMON (11)
|-
| Appears in||[[Doom 64]]/[[The Lost Levels|Lost Levels]]
|-
| Speed||8 map units per frame<br>(80.0 map units per second)
|-
| Radius||55
|-
| Height||90
|-
| Flags||{{c|4210694}} (decimal)<br>{{c|00404006}} (hex)
|-
| Flags list|| 1: Obstacle<br> 2: Shootable<br>14: Floating<br>22: Affects kill %
|-
| Spawns||MT_PROJ_HEAD (fireball)
|}
Data not listed is the same<br>as for the original version.
{{col-break|gap=0.5em}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan=2|Sprites & sounds
|-
| Alert sound||SFX_065
|-
| Active sound||SFX_083
|-
| Pain sound||SFX_053
|-
| Death sound||SFX_078
|}
{| {{prettytable}}
! State!!Frames
|-
| Idling||4 [ABCD]
|-
| Chasing||8 [AABBCCDD]
|-
| Attacking (melee)||4 [EFGG]
|-
| Attacking (missile)||4 [EFGG]
|-
| Hurting||3 [BBB]
|-
| Dying||6 [HIJKLM]
|}
{{col-break|gap=1em}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan=2|Melee attack
|-
| Damage||8-64
|}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan=2|Ranged attack
|-
| Enum||MT_PROJ_HEAD (31)
|-
| Velocity||20 map units per tic<br>(600 map units per second)
|-
| Frames||3 [ABC] (in flight)<br>5 [DEFGH] (impact)
|-
| Sound||SFX_123 (firing)<br>SFX_044 (impact)
|-
| Flags||{{c|66576}} (decimal)<br>{{c|00010410}} (hex)
|-
| Flags list|| 4: No blocklinks (Inert)<br>10: Drops off ledges<br>16: Projectile
|}
{{col-end}}

[[File:CacoMHistogram.png|none|300px|thumb|''Damage done by a cacodemon's bite'']]

{| {{prettytable}}
| '''Bites needed to kill'''<sup>1</sup>
| Mean
| {{wp|Standard deviation#Interpretation and application|Standard<br>deviation}}
| Min
| Max
|-
|[[Player]] (100%<br>[[health]], no [[armors|armor]])||3.31||0.82||2||6
|-
|Player (100%<br>health, [[security armor]])||4.74||0.97||3||8
|-
|Player (200%<br>health, [[combat armor]])||11.86||1.30||9||15
|-
|[[Barrel]]||1.15||0.36||1||2
|-
|[[Zombieman]]||1.15||0.36||1||2
|-
|[[Shotgun guy]]||1.34||0.51||1||3
|-
|[[Wolfenstein SS]]||1.87||0.74||1||4
|-
|[[Imp]]||2.16||0.74||1||5
|-
|[[Heavy weapon dude]]||2.50||0.65||2||5
|-
|[[Lost soul]]||3.31||0.82||2||6
|-
|[[Commander Keen]]||3.31||0.82||2||6
|-
|[[Demon]]||4.74||0.97||3||8
|-
|[[Spectre]]||4.74||0.97||3||8
|-
|[[Romero's head]]<sup>2</sup>||7.65||1.14||5||11
|-
|[[Revenant]]||9.04||1.21||6||12
|-
|[[Cacodemon]]||11.86||1.30||9||15
|-
|[[Pain elemental]]||11.86||1.30||9||15
|-
|[[Hell knight]]||14.73||1.34||12||18
|-
|[[Arachnotron]]||14.73||1.34||12||18
|-
|[[Mancubus]]||17.68||1.44||15||22
|-
|[[Arch-vile]]||20.56||1.58||17||25
|-
|[[Baron of Hell]]||29.15||1.81||25||34
|-
|[[Spiderdemon]]||86.67||1.96||81||92
|-
|[[Cyberdemon]]||115.34||1.37||112||119
|-
|}

[[File:PlasmaHistogram.png|none|300px|thumb|''Damage done by a cacodemon's projectile'']]

{| {{prettytable}}
| '''Shots needed to kill'''
| Mean
| {{wp|Standard deviation#Interpretation and application|Standard<br>deviation}}
| Min
| Max
|-
|[[Player]] (100%<br>[[health]], no [[armors|armor]])||5.02||1.09||3||8
|-
|Player (100%<br>health, [[security armor]])||7.16||1.23||5||10
|-
|Player (200%<br>health, [[combat armor]])||17.99||1.97||13||22
|-
|[[Barrel]]||1.44||0.60||1||4
|-
|[[Zombieman]]||1.44||0.60||1||4
|-
|[[Shotgun guy]]||1.80||0.75||1||4
|-
|[[Wolfenstein SS]]||2.75||0.78||2||5
|-
|[[Imp]]||3.16||0.86||2||6
|-
|[[Heavy weapon dude]]||3.61||0.91||2||6
|-
|[[Lost soul]]||5.02||1.09||3||8
|-
|[[Commander Keen]]||5.02||1.09||3||8
|-
|[[Demon]]||7.22||1.29||5||10
|-
|[[Spectre]]||7.22||1.29||5||10
|-
|[[Romero's head]]<sup>2</sup>||11.68||1.70||8||16
|-
|[[Revenant]]||13.90||1.83||9||18
|-
|[[Cacodemon]]<sup>3</sup>|| || || || 
|-
|[[Pain elemental]]||18.27||2.04||13||22
|-
|[[Hell knight]]||22.80||2.24||17||28
|-
|[[Arachnotron]]||22.80||2.24||17||28
|-
|[[Mancubus]]||27.28||2.45||21||33
|-
|[[Arch-vile]]||31.76||2.58||25||37
|-
|[[Baron of Hell]]||45.16||3.09||36||52
|-
|[[Spiderdemon]]||134.41||2.61||128||140
|-
|[[Cyberdemon]]||179.12||2.55||173||184
|-
|}

<small>
#These tables assume that all calls to [[Pseudorandom number generator|P_Random]] for damage, [[pain chance]], [[blood]] splats, impact animations, and backfire checks are consecutive. In real play, this is never the case: counterattacks and AI pathfinding must be handled, and of course the map may contain additional moving monsters and other randomized phenomena (such as [[Sector#Doom|flickering lights]]). Any resulting errors are probably toward the single-shot average, as they introduce noise into the correlation between the indices of "consecutive" calls.
#Assumes that direct hits are possible, which [[Icon of Sin|does not occur]] in any stock map.
#Hardcoded exception to [[infighting]] negates damage (excepting indirect damage caused by exploding barrels).
</small>

== Appearance statistics ==
In the [[IWAD]]s the cacodemon is first encountered on these maps per [[Skill level#Doom and Doom II skill levels|skill level]]:

{{col-begin}}
{{col-break|width=50%}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan="4"|Single-player
|-
!Game / ''Episode''!!1-2!!3!!4-5
|-
|''[[Knee-Deep in the Dead]]''||-||-||-
|-
|''[[The Shores of Hell]]''||[[E2M3: Refinery]]||[[E2M1: Deimos Anomaly]]||E2M1: Deimos Anomaly
|-
|''[[Inferno]]''||[[E3M2: Slough of Despair]]||[[E3M1: Hell Keep]]||E3M1: Hell Keep
|-
|''[[Thy Flesh Consumed]]''||[[E4M2: Perfect Hatred]]||E4M2: Perfect Hatred||E4M2: Perfect Hatred
|-
|[[Doom II]]||[[MAP05: The Waste Tunnels]]||MAP05: The Waste Tunnels||MAP05: The Waste Tunnels
|-
|[[TNT: Evilution]]||[[MAP02: Human BBQ]]||MAP02: Human BBQ||MAP02: Human BBQ
|-
|[[Plutonia Experiment]]||[[MAP02: Well of Souls]]||[[MAP01: Congo]]||MAP01: Congo
|-
|[[Doom 64]]||[[MAP03: Main Engineering]]||MAP03: Main Engineering||MAP03: Main Engineering
|-
|[[The Lost Levels]]||[[MAP34: Plant Ops]]||MAP34: Plant Ops||MAP34: Plant Ops
|}
{{col-break}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan="4"|Multiplayer
|-
!Game / ''Episode''!!1-2!!3!!4-5
|-
|''Knee-Deep in the Dead''||-||-||-
|-
|''The Shores of Hell''||E2M3: Refinery||E2M1: Deimos Anomaly||E2M1: Deimos Anomaly
|-
|''Inferno''||E3M2: Slough of Despair||E3M1: Hell Keep||E3M1: Hell Keep
|-
|''Thy Flesh Consumed''||E4M2: Perfect Hatred||E4M2: Perfect Hatred||E4M2: Perfect Hatred
|-
|Doom II||MAP05: The Waste Tunnels||MAP05: The Waste Tunnels||MAP05: The Waste Tunnels
|-
|TNT: Evilution||MAP02: Human BBQ||MAP02: Human BBQ||MAP02: Human BBQ
|-
|Plutonia Experiment||MAP02: Well of Souls||MAP01: Congo||MAP01: Congo
|}
{{col-end}}

The IWADs contain the following numbers of cacodemons per skill level:

{{col-begin}}
{{col-break|width=50%}}
{| {{prettytable|style=text-align: center;}}
!colspan="4"|Single-player
|-
!Game / ''Episode''!!1-2!!3!!4-5
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''[[Knee-Deep in the Dead]]''||''0''||''0''||''0''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''[[The Shores of Hell]]''||''15''||''39''||''50''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''[[Inferno]]''||''32''||''57''||''76''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Doom|Doom (registered)]]||47||96||126
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''[[Thy Flesh Consumed]]''||''15''||''48''||''67''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Ultimate Doom]]||62||144||193
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Doom II]]||44||121||188
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[TNT: Evilution]]||43||76||99
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Plutonia Experiment]]||95||108||123
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Doom 64]]||69||109||129
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[The Lost Levels]]||31||53||74
|}
{{col-break}}
{| {{prettytable|style=text-align: center;}}
!colspan="4"|Multiplayer
|-
!Game / ''Episode''!!1-2!!3!!4-5
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''Knee-Deep in the Dead''||''0''||''0''||''0''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''The Shores of Hell''||''15''||''39''||''50''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''Inferno''||''32''||''57''||''76''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|Doom (registered)||47||96||126
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''Thy Flesh Consumed''||''15''||''48''||''67''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|Ultimate Doom||62||144||193
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|Doom II||44||121||188
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|TNT: Evilution||43||77||102
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|Plutonia Experiment||104||118||134
|}
{{col-end}}

Of the maps covered on the Doom Wiki, the following have the highest numbers of cacodemons in single-player:
{| {{prettytable}}
! Map !! Count
|-
| [[MAP07: - (Dance on the Water)]] || 12784
|-
| [[MAP05: Cosmogenesis (Cosmogenesis)]] || 4969
|-
| [[MAP99: Sunset Configuration (Hardfest 2)]] || 4160
|-
| [[Holy Hell Revealed]] || 3625
|-
| [[Doomworld Mega Project 2019]] || 2685
|}
''This data was last verified on March 13, 2024.''

== Other games ==
=== PlayStation Doom ===
In the [[Sony PlayStation]] version of Doom, there is a single instance of a spectral cacodemon, which can be found in [[MAP45: Tenements (PlayStation Doom)|MAP45: Tenements]], replacing the [[arch-vile]] normally found in a cage in a pillar in the center of a pool of brown slime. It appears on all skill levels and has no special properties aside from appearing to be [translucency|translucent]] with 50% foreground weight. Its presence is most likely a level design error, as the flags controlling this property are normally only applied to [[demon]]s in order to create [[spectre]]s and [[nightmare spectre]]s.

=== Doom 64 ===
[[File:Doom64 cacodemon.jpg|thumb|Doom 64 cacodemon.]]
In [[Doom 64]] the cacodemon underwent a major design change, becoming beige brown, with a single yellow-green eye, and gaining two arms with broken chains attached, and a rather terrifying face. The body of the monster has animation frames (mostly in the way it swings its arms when in flight), whereas the original cacodemon floated in a motionless manner. It resembles Doom II's original [[pain elemental]].

=== Doom RPG ===
The cacodemon appears in [[Doom RPG]] as a class of monster. There are three variations, identified by color:
* Malwrath (gold body, red eye, red throat)
* Cacodemon (normal colors)
* Wretched (blue body, olive green eye, bright red throat)

Cacodemons attack three times consecutively and are most weak against axe attacks and plasma blasts.
<gallery mode="nolines" widths="200px" heights="200px">
Malwrath.png|Malwrath
CacoDoomRPG.png|Cacodemon
Doom RPG Wretched.png|Wretched
</gallery>

== Plush cacodemons ==
=== Hissy ===
Circa 1997-98, amateur Doom level designer [[Jonas Feragen (Chrozoron)|Jonas "Chrozoron" Feragen]] created [[Hissy]], a plush cacodemon which quickly became famous in the Doom community. Hissy can be found as a character in various modifications such as [[Skulltag]] and [[MassMouth 2]]; the plush cacodemon itself is on a "world tour." She has been in the hands of over a dozen community members in the past 20+ years.

=== Cacopet ===
A short series of plush cacos known as "cacopets" were created by [[Laura Herrmann (BahdKo)]]. One such was given to [[Dylan McIntosh (Toke)]] as a gift in August of 2001. Cacopet is smaller than Hissy, a brighter shade of red, and is more round, but is otherwise quite similar in appearance. Toke's cacopet is now cared for by his longtime friend Ganja.

=== Pixel ===
Pixel is a plush-toy cacodemon created in November 2004 by Doom enthusiast [[Hughe]], in response to a challenge from a friend. Pixel was created to be as accurate in form as possible using five different materials, including all his horns, separate teeth, upper mouth and single eye. Pixel was created before Hughe had any knowledge of the plush [[Hissy]], and was in no way made to compete with her. In fact, it is said that Pixel finds Hissy rather cute.

Hughe later made a second, named Sprite. Sprite was made of a couple different materials; and is believed to guard Hughe's desk at the {{wp|Sony}} offices in London.

=== Official plush ===
[[Bethesda]] released an official [[Bethesda plush toys|plush cacodemon toy]] in 2013 on the Bethesda Store website, alongside a plush pain elemental.

<gallery>
Hissy2.jpg|Hissy in 2003
Toke and Cacopet.jpg|Toke with Cacopet in 2001
Pixel.jpg|Pixel, just after being finished in 2004.
Bethesda-plush-doom-cacodemon.jpg|Official Bethesda cacodemon plush.
Crochet Caco.jpg|Crochet cacodemon owned by Doomworld user ryiron.
</gallery>

== Sources ==
* {{wikipedia|title=Cacodemon}}

{{Doom monsters}}
{{Doom 64 monsters}}
{{Sony PlayStation monsters}}
{{featured article}}
[[Category:Cacodemons]]