Cyberdemon

The cyberdemon is perhaps the most formidable enemy in classic Doom. This monster first appears as a boss at the end of Doom level E2M8, and re-appears in the secret level E3M9, and also on E4M2, E4M6, and E4M7. The cyberdemon also appears on the retail box cover of Doom II, and is used sparingly throughout that game.

The Doom II manual of the PC version describes the monster in the following way: ''A missile-launching skyscraper with goat legs. 'Nuff said.'' The Doom manual, on the other hand, does not list it, presumably to make its climactic appearance in E2M8 a surprise. The PlayStation and SNES manual for Doom does however make mention of the cyberdemon: ''Half unfeeling machine, half raging horned devil. This walking nightmare has a rocket launcher for an arm and will definitely reach out and touch you. Make sure you're loaded for bear before you get to this guy.''

Combat characteristics
It attacks by firing barrages of three rockets. It has 4000 hit points and does not receive splash damage from explosions, making it fairly difficult to kill. It is also the fastest moving monster in the original game (The lost soul's charge attack not withstanding), and second fastest in Doom II (after the arch-vile).

Cyberdemon rockets are the same as the player's rockets; however as all projectiles shot by monsters, they do not damage other monsters of the same type. Furthermore, the cyberdemon and the spiderdemon take only direct hit damage, and are immune to all blast damage. Therefore, a greater number of rockets is required to kill these bosses than might be expected, and they must be direct hits. The cyberdemon is given a higher probability of performing his attack than other monsters, causing him to launch volleys of rockets at a high frequency. The cyberdemon does not have a melee attack. In common with other monsters, although the cyberdemon is shown with his rocket launcher in his left hand, the rockets emerge from his middle.

Boss battle on E2M8
You start the level in a small octagonal room. Pick up the combat armor here before you do anything else. There is a short pillar in the center of this room with a switch on each of it four sides. Pressing one causes the stairs in front of it to raise. Press all four switches. Walk up any of the four sets of stairs until the wall with the crucified baron of Hell ahead of you opens, but do not walk through yet. Open the three remaining baron-walls in this manner as well -- this allows you to re-enter the starting area if you need to. Once they have all been opened, exit to the huge outdoor area. There are a number of lost souls outside; you might want to destroy them so they do not get in your way later, but it is not necessary. Walk around the building until you find the cyberdemon -- or he finds you. Use the pillars for protection if you need to. The four rooms inside the main building contain rockets and occasionally soul spheres if you need them. Do not be afraid to waste ammo, because this is the last level of the episode anyway. As there is no BFG9000 in The Shores of Hell, and you have plenty of rockets available, your battle with the cyberdemon will probably be a rocket-rocket fight. If you have a plasma gun that is loaded with ammo available, do not hesitate to use it. Mastering circlestrafing will greatly increase your effectiveness. Once the cyberdemon dies, the level, and episode, ends.

General tactics
Killing a cyberdemon is almost impossible without a large amount of ammunition. The BFG9000 is the most effective weapon against a cyberdemon, although the plasma gun can work fairly well. Three to four direct BFG hits will usually kill a cyberdemon, and at point-blank range two well-placed shots can even be enough. If a BFG9000 is not available, the rocket launcher is also effective - but be prepared for a long fight, since around 45 well-placed hits with the rocket launcher is required to kill a cyberdemon. Killing a cyberdemon with other weapons is significantly more difficult: for example it takes around 400 bullets from a chaingun. It is extremely difficult to kill a cyberdemon with melee attacks and it takes roughly 400 chainsaw or non-berserk fist hits to do so.

Because a cyberdemon has a low pain chance, it is difficult to prevent it from attacking. It is also important to be constantly aware of when it fires a rocket, as it will do so relentlessly. Circlestrafing can be used to avoid return fire while attacking. Because one rocket will often be enough to critically injure the player, it is imperative that all rockets are avoided. Because of splash damage, it is also important to stay away from the explosions. For example, it is advisable to avoid standing too close to a wall when fighting a cyberdemon, as splash damage can be sustained from rockets hitting the wall.

A skilled (and/or extremely lucky) player can somewhat nullify the cyberdemon's low pain chance by straferunning towards it to get within point blank range, and then hitting it with the super shotgun. The monster will flinch roughly eighty percent of the time when hit by the full twenty-pellet blast, giving the player time to retreat, reload, and repeat the process. This can take the cyberdemon down in fewer than 25 shots, but is very risky, and only recommended in areas where the rocket launcher is impractical, or to conserve rocket and plasma/BFG ammunition.

The cyberdemon's immense size can sometimes be used as an advantage when attacking it. In some maps, the cyberdemon(s) are in a large courtyard or structure and the entrance is too small for them to pass through. This can help a novice player to escape if major injuries are sustained.

Due to its firepower and hitpoints which are by far the highest among demons, the cyberdemon easily dominates in monster infighting battles. Because of this, luring it into fighting another monster is a great way to save ammunition. However, there is a chance of them losing if fighting against the spiderdemon (happens sometimes in MAP20: Gotcha!) and a large group of very strong demons like the baron of Hell (MAP08: Tricks and Traps).

Data



 * 1) This table assumes that all calls to P_Random for damage, pain chance, blood splats, and bullet dispersal 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 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.
 * 2) Assumes that the target takes a direct hit from each shot.
 * 3) Assumes that direct hits are possible, which does not occur in any stock map.
 * 4) Hardcoded exception to infighting prevents all damage.

Appearance statistics
In classic Doom, the cyberdemon is first encountered on these maps:

The IWADs contain the following numbers of cyberdemons:


 * 1) May be encountered earlier if the super secret level is played.

Wolfenstein RPG
The Cyberdemon was originally known as the Harbinger of Doom. During World War II, he was summoned at Castle Wolfenstein by the Axis army. William B.J. Blazkowicz was able to defeat it with the Spear of Destiny, destroying its right leg and left arm. The Harbinger of Doom vowed that it would have a rematch with Blazkowicz's descendent in the future. The rematch happened in Doom II RPG.

Doom RPG
In Doom RPG, the Cyberdemon was created by evil mastermind Kronos, by combining human technology with demon flesh.

Non-Doom games

 * Main article: Doom references in other games

Doom 64
The cyberdemons in Doom 64 have not gone through many changes except that they have darker colored skin, are slightly stronger and much larger. The Doom 64 version of the cyberdemon is notable for having the ability to lead its shots, making it an even more formidable opponent; the cyberdemon's third rocket is usually fired at the player's anticipated position rather than the player's current position. The rockets also leave smoke trails. The cyberdemons' rockets in this game emerge from the launcher itself instead of the middle.

Cyberdemons are relatively rare throughout the game, appearing chiefly in the secret levels or later in the game.

Trivia

 * In a PC World article, the cyberdemon was voted as #16 of the top 47 "The Most Diabolical Video-Game Villains of All Time".