Doom Wiki
Register
Advertisement


StubIcon
This article is a stub. Please help the Doom Wiki by expanding it.

The BFG 9000 is a weapon in DOOM. It is a massively powerful plasma energy weapon which utilizes ionized Argent Energy. Similar to the Chainsaw, it cannot be found on the weapon wheel, and is instead accessible through a dedicated button. By default, this button is "T" on the PC or pressing the topmost face button on a console controller ("Y" for Xbox One, "Triangle" for PS4, "X" for Nintendo Switch).

In this game, the BFG 9000 is a gift of sorts from Samuel Hayden, who points the Doom Marine to where he can find it.

Tactical analysis[]

The BFG 9000 fires a green burst of plasma, damaging enemies near the projectile during flight and vaporizing targets upon impact, as well as causing significant splash damage to enemies standing in the vicinity of the projectile's explosion. The damaging bolts do anywhere from 120 to 1 damage a shot at 100ms, doing 1200/1 dps. Because of the projectiles slow speed and large radius it will do major damage before the enemy leaves the area. A direct hit does 6000 damage. Thus, the BFG 9000 is the most powerful weapon in the game, as it's able to kill any non-boss creature in a single direct hit.

However, bosses can be stunned with one direct hit for a few seconds, which can be used to break up an attack. The weapon is very useful in dangerous situations or against a large group of powerful creatures.

Unlike most weapons, no modifications can be added to the BFG 9000, nor can any improvements be made. It can hold up to 3 shots in Singleplayer. Like the Chainsaw, the BFG 9000 draws its ammo from an exclusive ammo pool, and its ammo does not drop from enemies. There is, however, an exception, as the Ammo Boost's Mastery Benefit gives enemies a small chance of dropping BFG ammo.

BFG ammunition takes the form of green ringed orbs that give off a low whirring noise. They are actually not particularly rare in most levels.

The BFG is one of the 3 power weapons available in Multiplayer, where it is an excellent way to kill demons or clear large areas of enemies. As with the Chainsaw and the Gauss Cannon, the Weapon Mod allows the user to see enemies through walls. The damage is 15/1 per bolt with 100ms, so it does 150/10 dps. A direct hit does 275 damage. Unlike in Singleplayer, the BFG will hold up to 4 shots in Multiplayer.

Codex[]

BFG I[]

When correctly charged, ionized, and compressed, deadly packets of Argent Energy can be released in a controlled manner at a velocity and potential energy quota far exceeding conventional weapons. The weaponization of Argent Energy led to the development and mass production of the Plasma Rifle, but the UAC realized they were capable of much more.

The BFG-9000 is the culmination of those efforts. Only one prototype of the final weapon exists, and it is housed deep within the ARC in the BFG Division. This weapon delivers streams of supercharged Argent Energy to multiple targets, and is to some extent self-guiding. The streams will seek any cache of Argent it can find - usually demons (or human test subjects that have had Argent beacons surgically implanted). When the streams find their target, they released all of their stored energy in a fraction of second, delivering an electrical shock that instantly boils the blood and fatty tissue of the recipient. Spontaneous explosion of the subject often follows.

BFG II[]

The theoretical design for the BFG-9000 was first put forward by the R&D department in the Advanced Research Complex, and the concept was later given its own funding program. The BFG Division was formed to develop a working design. Several prototype weapons have since been made. The prototypes never went into full production due to numerous testing accidents and the deadly radiation spikes produced. Previous versions of the weapon had slightly different energy patterns to the current generation. Some released solitary Argent spheres that unleash a deadly wave upon impact, others formed an Argent laser that cuts through anything in its path. The current prototype, the BFG-9000, creates Argent streams that seek out targets and boils them alive.

BFG III[]

Advocates!

Witness the BFG-9000. What greater triumph for the glory of the Ascension could there be than an entirely new type of weapon, born not only of traditional UAC technology, but by your faith and dedication to the cause? This is what we strive for - an understanding beyond traditional science, unrestrained by the repressive thinking of dimensionally bound contemplation. Only through our use of SEFT can the power of such a mighty weapon be realized. Such a weapon requires not only science, but BELIEF.

While access to the BFG-9000 is strictly limited to Tier 3 advocates, you are encouraged to envision the day you might get to see the magnificence of its design, and if you are luckier still, experience the invigorating touch of its majestic form of Argent Energy.

Trivia[]

  • A glitch exists that allows the player to vastly increase the damage of traces from the BFG: to perform it, the player must aim the BFG to miss, then pull up the radial weapon menu. While this slows down all action on-screen including the BFG's projectile, the trace continues to deal damage in real-time. Increasing the frame rate (by turning down visual settings and disabling Vsync) can increase this still further: this is often used in speedruns to quickly kill the bosses.
  • The overall appearance and function of the BFG 9000 appears to combine many features of previous BFG iterations; its overall design appears to be based on the movie incarnation (the Bio Force Gun 3.14) as the bottom half of the gun with the classic design being attached to the top and providing the color scheme. Its projectile behaves similarly to the Doom 3 incarnation (but with a faster flying speed).
  • Some of the descriptions given for the BFG test rooms seem to describe how the BFG functioned in earlier Doom games.
  • The UAC labs seem to treat the BFG as an object of worship in and of itself, demanding all bow to the weapon's inherent majesty. Indeed, it's one of the most heavily-guarded objects in the entire complex; even the Doom Slayer's sarcophagus wasn't as heavily guarded.
  • BFG cells vary widely in how common they are. While very rare in the part of Hell the player explores to get the Crucible, they are plentiful in the other four levels that contain it, and use of the BFG is in fact encouraged in the last level. This may be intended as a compensation for the BFG in Doom 3, which suffered from being sidelined by the Soul Cube as that game's most powerful weapon. Furthermore, this game's BFG will not splash-damage the player, unlike the BFGs in The Ulimate Doom and Doom 3.

Gallery[]

Advertisement