Trite

The Trite is an enemy found in Doom 3. Trites resemble spiders, being an upside-down, human-like head with several spider-like legs, albeit only six of them. They possess a cluster of multiple spider-like eyes where the two human eyes should be. They usually attack in swarms and are rarely seen alone. They are characterized by their sharp throaty roar.

Trites attack by jumping at the player from more than a dozen feet away, or by biting at close range. Although individually weak, a large swarm of Trites can be deadly and should be considered a major threat. Fortunately, Trites do not appear in huge groups often, and they have a low amount of HP, so only a couple of pistol shots are all that is needed to kill one. Another good weapon to use against Trites (especially when you are greatly outnumbered by them) is the Machine Gun. You can also use a grenade if you encounter a small group of them. Find cover if you encounter a large group to buy you some time to aim. Trites die differently from other enemies; they curl up into a ball and explode in a splash of green blood. Sometimes the Trite is able to commit suicide by exploding if the player is at an altitude where the Trite is completely unable to harm them. Players that experience this will not have to use any ammunition to kill them, as they would eventually all die off themselves, although the explosion can still do damage to the player.

They tend to surprise the player by crawling out of narrow spaces where the player cannot fit, or by dropping from ceilings with the aid of spider thread. Although new Trites often emerge to replace those the player kills, Trite swarms are not infinite, and will eventually cease attacking once the player kills enough of them. As such, an effective strategy when facing Trite swarms is to immediately sprint back to a nearby chokepoint, and kill them as they funnel towards you from a single direction.

In Resurrection of Evil, they can be killed instantly with the Grabber. However, it is not recommended to use this weapon when facing a large swarm, due to the slow rate of fire (caused by the cooldown) and the amount of danger the player can be in as a result.

Trivia

 * The name "Trite" means two things:
 * A type of jumping spider. (For its obvious arachnid anatomy.)
 * A synonym for the term "overused". (For their large numbers and frequent appearances.)
 * Trite appearances are similar to that of Ticks. This could suggest that they are either related as similar species, or the same species but of different ages (Trites could simply be older Ticks) or different sexes.
 * Owing to their spider appearance and tendency to appear around the Vagary, it is conceivable to think that perhaps Vagaries are "Adult" or "Queen" Trites.
 * Doom 3 does not have Spider Masterminds or Arachnotrons, two spider based enemies. So this kind of creature can be analogous to them.
 * The Trite bears a striking resemblance to one of the monsters in John Carpenter's movie The Thing.
 * There are no huge swarms of these creatures in the expansion. They only appear, at the most, in groups of four.