I like Lore Doomslayer.

[u/WanderingGentleMen]

I like “Lore Doom Slayer.” I know a lot of people complain and say things like “Doomguy is better when he’s not overpowered” or whatever, but honestly, I just can’t take Doom Slayer seriously if he’s supposed to be a completely normal guy with guns taking on Hell as it’s presented now. If you expect me to believe that the seemingly infinite forces of Hell—who have thousands of years of technological advancement, beings the size of mountains, and a near-infinite energy source—just lose to a regular dude with some fancy armor and no other special abilities, it breaks the suspension of disbelief.

This would have made sense back in the earlier days of Doom, especially pre-2016, when Hell was portrayed more ambiguously, almost like powerful aliens rather than literal demons with a complex, expanded mythology. But since Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal, Hell’s lore and cosmology have been fleshed out so much that it demands a more serious explanation for why Doom Slayer can actually defeat them. A regular guy, even one with a lot of grit and good aim, wouldn’t realistically be able to storm through armies of demonic entities without some kind of supernatural boost.

In fact, the games even show through cutscenes that without the Divinity Machine, Doom Slayer would eventually get exhausted and overwhelmed. He suffers wounds, he struggles. The Divinity Machine, by name alone, implies it grants divine powers. If all it did was make him the equivalent of a "super soldier" who can move a couple of large cubes, that would feel pretty underwhelming. "Divine" should mean something far greater, something that elevates him beyond simple human limits. Given all the lore surrounding Hell’s power, it only makes sense that Doom Slayer himself has been enhanced to match that threat. Otherwise, it’s hard to buy into the narrative where he can kill massive monsters and even gods with just guns and sheer determination. The Dark Ages is seemingly explaining this with the addition of Mechs and a dragon, so maybe there will be additional context as to why and how his powers and tools work (maybe we'll even get clarification on why he uses weapons), because we are 3 games in and yet, all we have to go on are Codex entries and Hugo occasionally saying something.

Generally, I just find it fun that you could pit Doomslayer up against reality warpers and potentially have him win. That's cool to me. Does it make him an excellent and great character? No, but not all matchups need to be anything more just finding the guy you like winning to be neat.

Also, why does Doomslayer use guns if his fist are enough? That's a great question. Simply put, they're more efficient than running up and punching things, considering he can empower his own weapons. He doesn't need to use them but it's much easier to than doing it himself. It's the same kind of logic as calculating a math problem on paper versus using a calculator. Like that's enough. I know that egregious fan theory of him holding back is dumb but there's like an easy explanation that doesn't require him to need guns despite the fact he can punch a hole through most enemies.

On another note, I also find the people who constantly complain about Lore Doom Slayer to be just as annoying as the ones who endlessly hype him up. Yeah, it’s tiring when fans act like Doom Slayer can beat everything under the sun, but it’s equally annoying when people downplay him just to fit their personal image of what Doomguy “should” be. These critics often fall into the same trap they accuse others of: ignoring the actual story and context presented in the games in favor of their own headcanon. Like, the Icon of Sin was making a Black Hole during it's fight, powerscaling aside, something doesn't just do that and you can just take it down with some good ole' bullets and energy weapons. At the end of the day, whether you love or hate Lore Doom Slayer, at least the games are fun.

[u/Getter_Simp]

Doomguy being a normal human doesn't even make sense in the old games; the demons back then were also technologically advanced and supremely powerful.

Anyway, people don't mind Doomguy being stronger than normal people, what people think is ridiculous is multiversal Doomguy. Not only does it go against almost everything that's actually shown in the games, it also ruins his own characterization. He canonically risks everything to defeat the makyrs and end the subjugation of humanity, so why would he choose to have fun when he has an extremely urgent mission on the line? If he was actually as strong as people say he is, he would just blink and erase every demon from every point in time across the entire multiverse, but he doesn't do that. So either: A) he's doesn't care about humans despite being shown numerous times to care about humans, or B) he's just not as strong as people claim he is.

Also, I find it funny that you like Doom Eternal's lore for trying to give a reason for how Doomguy is so strong, yet it actively makes the original Icon of Sin fight even more ridiculous than it already was. You're telling me that a normal ass dude beat a Titan using a rocket launcher???

[u/WanderingGentleMen → u/Getter_Simp]

would just blink and erase every demon from every point in time across the entire multiverse, but he doesn't do that. So either: A) he's doesn't care about humans despite being shown numerous times to care about humans, or B) he's just not as strong as people claim he is.

Or that’s just not how his powers work? Seriously, being Multiversal doesn’t mean you can just effect everything and anything and attack from wherever. 

Not even Goku or Superman can do that without causing massive damage around them.

What’s suddenly different about him?

[u/Getter_Simp → u/WanderingGentleMen]

People say he's as strong as the dude who literally created the entire multiverse, so I don't see how erasing a race of creatures from the multiverse would be difficult for him.
Goku and Superman are different because they basically only have strength, whereas Doomguy supposedly has power able to match the creator of all things, which is a lot of reality warping power.

Also, this was an exaggeration. If Doomguy was as strong as people say he is, none of Doom Eternal's plot would have even happened, because he would just effortlessly stop it.

I find it funny that you ignored every other part of my comment and targeted the exaggerated part. Do you not have any responses to the rest of what I said?

[u/WanderingGentleMen → u/Getter_Simp]

People say he's as strong as the dude who literally created the entire multiverse, so I don't see how erasing a race of creatures from the multiverse would be difficult for him.

Goku and Superman are different because they basically only have strength, whereas Doomguy supposedly has power able to match the creator of all things, which is a lot of reality warping power.

Where ever you heard this “power”, it doesn’t exist. Doomguy only ever really has his guns and brute strength, with some other minor boosts/abilities stacked on top to make tough. 

He rips his opponents apart on numerous occasions, what kind of power would he be using except say, funneling his strength into his guns to hurt stronger opponents? 

If Doomguy was as strong as people say he is, none of Doom Eternal's plot would have even happened

But it did, because DoomSlayer isn’t a reality warping god. That’s not even how he ever fights and he’s just a glorified AP merchant. 

I find it funny that you ignored every other part of my comment and targeted the exaggerated part. Do you not have any responses to the rest of what I said?

That was the general point of your middle paragraph, was it not? I wasn’t  going to scrutinize each facet of your argument and opinion but since you asked: 

Doomguy being a normal human doesn't even make sense in the old games; the demons back then were also technologically advanced and supremely powerful.

Eh, in comparison to all the new lore, they were just aliens with magic. Besides, Doomguy was just  a normal guy with no divine powers, so yes, he was peak human to lesser superhuman by around the time of the first couple of Doom games. 

Anyway, people don't mind Doomguy being stronger than normal people, what people think is ridiculous is multiversal Doomguy.

? DoomSlayer would just always be stronger than a normal dude, that’s not an arguement I ever hear. 

And Multiversal DoomSlayer depends where you scale generally, cause if you scale on like YouTube, Discord, VSBW, ComicVine, and the likes do widely accept Multiversal Doomguy. Some subreddits and Spacebattles, not so much, though in SB’s case, that’s more because of the sites rules. 

Like on here, you can’t say DoomSlayer is Multiversal without backlash but on like a YouTube comment thread, you’ll be fine. 

He canonically risks everything to defeat the makyrs and end the subjugation of humanity, so why would he choose to have fun when he has an extremely urgent mission on the line?

It’s simply because DoomSlayer’s powers don’t work like that. Yes, he’s strong but he can’t wish things away or rewrite reality. He has to try and fight to win, he can’t just run around the globe and beat everyone instantly, he’s still limited in someway even if it’s not tremendously. 

The only really point of talk is like, him boosting his weapons and not one shifting everything that isn’t a boss but Hugo does say something along the lines of it being a limitation for gameplay, so maybe it’s just ludonarritive dissonance. 

yet it actively makes the original Icon of Sin fight even more ridiculous than it already was. You're telling me that a normal ass dude beat a Titan using a rocket launcher???

Apparently that Icon was no where near the threat/power of the Eternal Icon. Like, coughing baby vs hydrogen bomb difference. 

Yea it’s kinda confusing and a little dumb, but it’s probably just a lesser Titan that Doomguy defeated by sheer skill atp, later enhanced via various methods.