Doomguy

Doomguy—also called the Doom Slayer—is the main character of id Software's *Doom* series. Game designer John Romero created him, and he first appeared as the player character in the 1993 original *Doom*. Throughout the franchise, Doomguy is a space marine who hunts demons, wears green combat armor, and almost never speaks in cutscenes. In *Doom Eternal*, Matthew Waterson voiced him, and Jason E. Kelley voiced him in the downloadable content *The Ancient Gods: Part Two* and the 2025 prequel *Doom: The Dark Ages*. A different character with a similar role was played by Karl Urban in the 2005 *Doom* film.

Doomguy has shown up as a guest character in other games, such as *Quake* and *Tony Hawk's Pro Skater*. His likeness appears as a customizable Mii Gunner skin in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*, and as outfits in *Fall Guys* and *Fortnite*. He has generally received positive reviews.

In the original 1993 *Doom*, the protagonist has no name. In 2002, Romero explained this was to make players feel like they were the character: "There was never a name for the marine because it's supposed to be YOU." He joked in 2020 that the character's name was "Doom Guy." Lead artist Adrian Carmack created the sprites, starting with a sketch and a clay model. Romero stated in 2017 that he was the model for the box art. In 2021, *Doom Eternal* director Hugo Martin revealed that a female Doomguy was almost added to the game but was cut because it would have been too much work.

Tom Hall's early design document, "The Doom Bible," included several characters that were not used. The only non-playable one, Buddy Dacote, was most like the final protagonist. "Dacote" stands for "dies at conclusion of this episode," and Buddy was meant to be killed by a boss at the end of the planned third episode. In the finished game, Doomguy nearly dies in the same way at the end of the first episode but survives. Hall and Romero later confirmed that Doomguy is a descendant of B.J. Blazkowicz, the hero of id Software's *Wolfenstein* series.

The box art for the 1993 *Doom*, painted by Don Ivan Punchatz, shows Doomguy firing a weapon not in the final game at demons below while one grabs his left wrist. A fellow marine in grey is rushing behind him. The same image appears on the game's title screen, where Doomguy holds a shotgun and a Baron of Hell kills the grey marine in the background.