Malcolm Betruger


 * Rank: Research Director / Head of Demons
 * Alignment: Hostile
 * Fate: Dead
 * First appearance: Mars City

Dr. Malcolm Betruger is a character from Doom 3, voiced by Philip L. Clarke. He is the head scientist of the UAC on Mars.

Dr. Malcolm Betruger is the main antagonist in both Doom 3 and Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil expansion pack by id Software. In Doom 3, Betruger is the director of all research at the Union Aerospace Corporation research facility on Mars, in Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, he is part of a flying dragon-like demon named the Maledict. He is an elderly, overworked doctor, whose right eye is grayed over with blindness.

In Doom 3, it is stated in an audio log that Betruger inexplicably entered a teleporter, transporting him to Hell. He had done this some time before the events depicted in the game took place. The doctor who recorded the audio log claimed he had no idea why Betruger entered the teleporter, he thought Betruger had gone crazy. He went in by his own will, with a Faustian pact in mind, where he agreed to provide a portal that the demons could use to invade the facility, which would supposedly award him great supernatural power, including a degree of omnipresence and the ability to command armies of demons. The doctor also stated that when Betruger returned from the teleporter he had changed. He still looked the same, but he behaved differently. This suggests that Betruger may have become possessed, But it is never clearly stated what happened to him.

Sometime before the player's character arrives on Mars, Dr. Betruger had found the Soul Cube. Knowing that it was the only thing that could stop his plans, he hid it in Hell where no one could find it and use it against him. Shortly after the player's character arrives at the UAC's research facility with Counsilor Elliot Swann and Jack Campbell; Betruger, driven mad by his visit to Hell, deliberately opens the UAC's main teleporter, removing safety constraints and thus opening a gateway for demonic forces to pass through. Following the disaster on Mars, he plans to lure the Marines of the Earth Fleet to Mars and use their spacecraft to send his demons to Earth, ultimately intending to conquer and rule the planet. However, he is foiled in his attempts by the player's character.

Dr. Bertruger makes a second appearance in the Doom series merged with the Maledict (He can also be seen merged with the Maledict in the ending cutscene of Doom 3) in Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil. When a marine, a combat engineer, found the Artifact, he sent the Hell Hunters to get it back as he commanded another Hellish invasion army. When the hunters were defeated, the marine went to hell to destroy the Artifact there. In Hell, Betruger/Maledict demanded him to give him the Artifact. When the marine refused to give it to him, Betruger decided to fight the marine himself. After a hard fight, the marine attempted to shoot Maledict with the Rocket launcher but missed. The Maledict attacked and bit the marine, causing him to pass out. When he awoke, Betruger demanded him to give him the Artifact again, but the angry marine instead shoved the Artifact in Betruger's mouth, killing him and ended his reign of terror.

As the Maledict
At the end of the game, Betruger is shown in hell as the Maledict, a giant skeletal dragon-like demon. The Maledict is featured more prominently in the Doom 3 expansion pack Resurrection of Evil, and is the final boss of the game.

Trivia

 * Betruger's name comes from the German word "Betrüger" which means "deceiver" or "traitor".
 * Dr. Reinhard from Evil Dead: Regeneration has several similarities to Betruger. In addition to looking similar (with a solid white eye), both were said to have been good before their pacts with the undead. They also have German names.
 * In the E3 2002 demonstration of Doom 3, Betruger wears glasses or goggles, which were removed for the final release of Doom 3. In the demo video, he is shown pushing past a couple security guards to initiate a dangerous test sequence.