Fist

This article is about the original Doom games. For the weapon in Doom 3, see Fist (Doom 3). For the weapon in Doom 2016, see Fist (Doom 2016).

Fist being used on MAP02: Underhalls

An imp makes the acquaintance of the berserk fist on E2M2: Containment Area

The fist is the player's stock melee attack. It is always available unless the player has picked up a chainsaw. Punching is only about as effective as a pistol shot, however, unless the player has collected a berserk powerup, which increases the power of the fists tenfold. Like the pistol, the punch is used via left hand. A berserk punch is somewhat more effective than the chainsaw and (unlike the normal fist) can be used instead of it. It does, however, have the disadvantage of not doing continuous damage, which leaves the player open to counterattacks. While the chainsaw drags the player erratically toward the enemy, the fist does not change the player's position, and only re-adjusts his orientation in the moment of a successful hit. This means that the fist requires more careful aim than the chainsaw, but may be preferred to prevent being drawn onto a damaging floor, under a crusher, around a corner or from a narrow bridge. Likewise, it is safer to trigger a barrel explosion with the fist (although it remains dangerous), additionally because the finishing punch propels the beaten monster or barrel away.

The damaging hitscan effect of the punch is inflicted two frames into its animation. The fist is not completely extended at this point, and consideration of this lag can help in timing punches effectively.

Notes

The fist from Doom 64, now wearing a brown glove.

• In the PlayStation and Saturn ports of Doom, the player can still access the fist attack even if he picks up a chainsaw and regardless of whether he has also picked up a Berserk Pack. This feature is also available in Doom 64.
• When wielding weapons, the protagonist's hands are shown to be wearing brown gloves (black in Doom's title screen). When punching, the player's right hand is unadorned, while his left hand carries a spiked knuckleduster.
• Since monsters are technically activated by any nearby attacks from players and not specifically by the the sound effects of these, a punch in the air will alert them as if it were a loud gunshot. Players who want to provoke enemies without wasting ammo can do so with the fist attack.
• The fist from Doom 64 went through some graphical changes. The protagonist now wears brown, bloodstained gloves and lacks the knuckleduster.
• In the Game Boy Advance port of Doom, if the player punches a wall the same "hitting" sound effect (as if the player had punched an enemy or barrel) will be heard.
• The Xbox Live Arcade release of Doom II features an Achievement that requires the player to kill a Cyberdemon with their bare hands, named "You Have Huge Guts", after the Doom comic. Note that the player is required to use the fist only to kill a Cyberdemon: players can use other weapons to soften the Cyberdemon up and earn this achievement as long as they use the fist to deliver the final blow.
• In Brutal Doom, both of the player's hands wear black fingerless motorcyclist gloves without knuckledusters and become blood-stained after killing an enemy via punch or chainsaw. The punches are now much more accurate and useful - the primary fire key throws a fast left jab while the secondary fire key throws a slower but more powerful right cross punch - and can perform fatality-style finishers on enemies or simply gib them after acquiring the berserk object or a demonic strength rune - the berserk power is noted by the punching sound effect becoming "bolder" and deeper. Pressing the reload key after getting the berserk/demon rune alternates between "smash" (for gibbing monsters) and "rip and tear" (for the finishers) modes. And unlike the the original fist, it will not alert monsters when you punch in the air.

Data

Fist data
Weapon number	1
Damage	2-20 (20-200 with berserk)
Included ammo	Infinite
Shot type	Hitscan
Shots per minute	123.5 punches
Sound	DSPUNCH
Appears in	Shareware Doom Registered Doom The Ultimate Doom Doom II/Final Doom
Sprite	PUNG (wielded) PUFF (impact, miss) BLUD (impact, hit)

Damage done by a punch (non-berserk)

Blows needed to kill1 (non-berserk)	Mean	Standard deviation	Min	Max
Barrel	2.34	0.74	1	4
Zombieman	2.34	0.74	1	4
Shotgun guy	3.25	0.87	2	6
Wolfenstein SS	5.14	1.09	3	8
Imp	6.10	1.10	4	9
Heavy weapon dude	6.99	1.24	4	11
Lost soul	9.80	1.43	7	14
Commander Keen	9.80	1.43	7	14
Demon	14.45	1.91	11	21
Spectre	14.45	1.91	11	21
Romero's head2	23.68	2.45	19	29
Revenant	28.46	2.98	23	34
Cacodemon	37.90	3.78	34	48
Pain elemental	37.90	3.78	34	48
Hell knight	47.14	4.59	41	57
Arachnotron	47.14	4.59	41	57
Mancubus	56.53	5.61	49	67
Arch-vile	65.78	6.48	58	80
Baron of hell	93.80	9.16	83	113
Spiderdemon	280.65	27.18	254	329
Cyberdemon	374.07	36.27	339	439

Damage done by a berserk punch

Blows needed to kill1 (berserk)	Mean	Standard deviation	Min	Max
Barrel	1.00	0.00	1	1
Zombieman	1.00	0.00	1	1
Shotgun guy	1.11	0.31	1	2
Wolfenstein SS	1.21	0.43	1	3
Imp	1.21	0.43	1	3
Heavy weapon dude	1.34	0.51	1	3
Lost soul	1.45	0.57	1	3
Commander Keen	1.45	0.57	1	3
Demon	1.94	0.71	1	4
Spectre	1.94	0.71	1	4
Romero's head2	2.95	0.84	2	5
Revenant	3.25	0.87	2	6
Cacodemon	4.24	0.97	2	7
Pain elemental	4.24	0.97	2	7
Hell knight	5.14	1.09	3	8
Arachnotron	5.14	1.09	3	8
Mancubus	6.10	1.10	4	9
Arch-vile	6.99	1.24	4	11
Baron of hell	9.80	1.43	7	14
Spiderdemon	28.46	2.98	23	34
Cyberdemon	37.90	3.78	34	48

1. This table assumes that all calls to P_Random for damage, pain chance, and blood splats 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 direct hits are possible, which does not occur in any stock map.

See also

• UV Tyson
• Fists (Doom 3)

Template:Doom weapons