Imp (Doom 2016)

An imp.

This article is about the monster in Doom (2016). For other games, see:

• Imp
• Imp (Doom 3)
• Imp (Doom Eternal)

The imp is a large humanoid creature spawned from the depths of Hell who originally appeared in Doom (1993) and has been in every Doom game since. These imps are taller than those in the classic series and are similar in stature and acrobatic skills to imps in Doom 3. They are the weakest demon in Doom (2016), and as such they occur in droves throughout the game. As with their previous incarnations, they continue to present a dual threat in the form of melee attacks with their vicious claws, and the ability to throw fireballs at a distance.

Tactical analysis

Health: 250^{[citation needed]}

Chainsaw Fuel Usage: 1

Imps can leap in nearly any direction, hang on pillars and walls, and run twice as fast as the player, all while still attacking the player without any pause. Amongst lower-tier enemies they have already been described as "dangerous," with their charged fireballs doing significant damage, as much as 75 hit points in the game's Nightmare skill level. Imps possess two fireball attacks—a fast but weak fireball, and a "charged" fireball that has a short windup time but deals much more damage and moves more quickly, giving barely enough time for the player to dodge if their attention is focused. A "harasser" unit by design, imps will often retreat from the player and try to find purchase on a higher, more distant surface from which to attack, or will rush the player and attempt to engage them in melee. The ranged variation is in contrast to the previous incarnations of the monster, which always sought to close to melee range—this variation rarely resorts to melee attacks unless the player chooses to close to that range.

The ranged and melee variations of the imp do not possess any visual differences from each other, so observation is advised to determine which type the player is facing.

Attacks

Attack	Too Young To Die	Hurt Me Plenty	Ultra Violence	Nightmare
Melee	4	7.5	13	22.5
Fireball	7.5	15.5	22.5	45
Charged Fireball	12.5	25	44	75

Unique player kills

The imp has a player kill similar to that of the revenant, albeit more gory. It will rip out some of the Slayer's entrails before ripping off his left arm and beating him to death with it.

Lore

For how common the imp was as the front-line soldier of Hell's armies, the UAC possessed little actual information on the imp beyond the obvious. Anatomical comparisons of the imp with the summoner did seem to show a relationship between the two, however, suggesting that the latter is a highly advanced form of the imp.

Research found that the imp's projectiles are composed of concentrated Hell energy, which sucks in airborne particles and debris before heating them up into a condensed fireball. Their athletic ability and flexible combat tactics were also commented on, as well as their habit of feeding on human flesh when they have opportunities to do so.

SnapMap

The in-game codex mentions that imps have different combat tendencies, if you try to place imps in SnapMap you can see that there are actually three types of imps that differ in behavior.

• Standard imps: identical to the single-player counterpart.
• Horde imps: continuously run towards the player, they rely on close combat.
• Sentinel imps: opposite of horde, relying on long-range combat, throwing fireballs and constantly trying to run away from the player.

Design change

Imps underwent a dramatic redesign between the E3 2015 initial public presentation of the game and the release final product. The earlier design was closer in appearance to a smaller version of the Hell knight, suggesting some kind of relationship between the two. The final imp design added distinct features to the head and body, two prominent glowing eyes, and accents of purple color.

Some dead imps in the Lazarus Labs and in the multiplayer map Helix still retain the older model even in the final version of the game.

• 

  An imp being cut in half by the chainsaw during the E3 demo

• 

  Lying dead imp body with old model

• 

  Imp corpse lying on the operating table

Trivia

The bluish-purple coloration of the imp as well as the spines on its back are considered by some fans to be callbacks to the appearance of the normal imp and nightmare imp in Doom 64. This design influence remains currently unconfirmed, but other influences from the game are known to exist, making it a distinct possibility.

Sources

• DOOM - Bestiary (archived 🏛)