How the Doomslayer reduced an eldritch god to a mere plot point

Created by H.P. Lovecraft in 1928, Cthulhu is a being of unimaginable horrors, able to appear in the dreams of humans, and shatter even the strongest of minds with a mere glance driving them insane. Not only is he an all-powerful god, but he’s also a household name in the cosmic horror genre and an absolute icon in online media.  

But in Doom the Dark Ages he’s reduced to a mere plot point, there to just drag out the game. 

The latest addition to the Doom series of horror-themed first-person shooters, features a version of Cthulhu referred to in game as “The Old One.” They never actually use the name Cthulhu, but its identity is unmistakable by the design that the Great Dreamer himself.  

At first, Cthulhu’s appearance in the game goes well. Its arrival in the game was beautifully done. Even while imprisoned he manags to abduct Thira, the general leading the resistance against hell, and Kreed, bishop of Argent D’nur. Cthulhu decides not to reveal his full form, instead opting to show his raw power to seize them using massive tendrils and portals. A sense of mystery and dread comes upon the player up to this point since it’s never directly stated who or what took them away.  

To pursue allies and save them, the Doomslayer (the player character in the Doom series) must find a way to traval through dimensions. So he gets the idea to piggyback a ride on the dimension-hopping Cthulu, releasing Cthulhu from his prison beneath the deep sea.  

The moment Cthulhu’s chains are broken; he escapes through his dimensional portal. Seizing this moment Doomslayer casually leaps on Cthulhu. What should have been an exhilarating first encounter, becomes essentially a taxi ride. 

Later, while trying to get to Thira, Doomslayer has another run-in with Cthulhu. This time Cthulhu acknowledges the Slayer’s existence and swallows him whole, ending the level. This leads to another level where Doomslayer is tasked with destroying Cthulhu’s organs, killing him from the inside out. For what could have been an intense battle to the death with the Old One turns into another level where the Doomslayer rips apart more demons.  

A better approach to an encounter with Cthulhu could have involved the Doomslayer being dragged into a dream-world where the true power of Cthulhu can be realized. This would tie to his dream haunting powers and leave an unforgettable level for the player to experience.  

The continued appearance of Cthulhu continues to dilute the slightest bit of dread he has left as later three Cthulhu-like figures trap the Doomslayer above a vat of acid in another dimension. The Doomslayer opts for mutual destuction, destroying the seal that is keeping him trapped, and dropping them all, himself included, into the acid. This was also short lived since the Doomslayer was almost instantly revived as a zombie removing all importance of what just happened, and the player quickly moves on with the game. 

Eventually you make it to the final mission of the game, to kill the prince of Hell, Ahzrak. In this level Cthulhu makes a surprise appearance as a new demonic, hellish eldritch god. He guards Prince Ahzrak so to get to him you have to get through an old enemy, Cthulhu. Unfortunately, like all of the encounters with Cthulhu, this was disappointing. The battle with Cthulhu is among the easiest in the game; his attacks are slow, easily dodged, super weak, and insanely underwhelming. The epic showdown with Cthulhu teased in the trailer that has been hyped up for a month, ended up being forgettable sub-boss to the real final boss of the game, Prince Ahzrak. 

Throughout the game, Cthulhu was nothing but let down after let down. He has appeared four times in the story of the game to either be an obstacle or a means of progression. Good enemies in video games shouldn’t feel like obstacles, their only purpose is to stand there, stopping the player from progressing. Out of the four times that Cthulhu has made an apperarance in the game, he’s died in three of them. Many of the vast abilities he has shown in books were stripped away from him. Without his dream-haunting, reality-bending, and madness-inducing form, he is just another monster for Doomslayer to kill. 

It is reasonable that to properly implement Cthulhu in the Doom universe, they had to make some tweaks to the original. But taking a cosmic horror and reducing it to an underwhelming shell diminishes the impact on the story, and leaves players wondering why he was added to begin with. 

Image credit: Bryon Caldwell