Template:Enemybox The Vagary is the first boss of Doom 3 and first encountered at the end of Alpha Labs Sector 4. She has the lower half of a giant spider and the upper half of a woman. She is analogous to the Spider Mastermind in Classic Doom. However, unlike the Spider Mastermind, the Vagary is weak compared to the other bosses in Doom 3 and returns in a later level (Caverns Area 2). Her attacks are simple melee, as well as telekinesis which she uses to lift and throw various heavy debris laying around the level at the player. Its transparent abdomen contains a malformed Mancubus fetus gestating inside.
The Vagary also resembles Quake's Vore enemy since both resemble humanoid spiders; both are likely influenced by Driders, dark elf/spider hybrids in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.
Tactical analysis
When the player first meets a Vagary, he or she should have picked up the chaingun not far behind. A prolonged chaingun salvo should send the spider packing in under a minute. It is also possible to use the plasma gun if it was picked it up earlier in the level, as this will quickly deplete her health.
Killing the Vargary should not give you any trouble as long as you keep dodging the projectiles thrown by telekinesis.
You can fairly easily dodge these projectiles by simply listening to the sound cue(s) and duck at the right timing,
A pair of Vagaries will attack the player at the very end of the game, just prior to the final battle with the Cyberdemon. By this point, the player should have the Soul Cube, and should be prepared to use it. The best route of action is to use the Soul Cube and then either the chaingun, plasma gun or rocket launcher to finish her off. A BFG shot might be used for players seeking a quick end. If possible, the first Vagary should be killed using the Soul Cube and weapons fire before the second Vagary makes its appearance several seconds after the first one.
This time, she is accompanied by Trites, so the player should have a shotgun or machine gun handy ready to eliminate the swarm before tackling their mother (note: the Trites are a particular nuisance when using the Soul Cube, sometimes being targeted instead of Vagary, and the BFG, as they sometimes destroy the chip it fires before detonation).
The Lost Mission
In the Lost Mission campaign of the Doom 3 BFG Edition, a Vagary appears as a mid-level mini-boss in Hell. She is unable to use her telekinetic attack, due to the absence of loose objects to throw, and is instead limited to running at the player and using her melee attack. However, she is also accompanied by several Cherubs which will attack in tandem with her.
Trivia
- In the Making of Doom 3 book, the equation "Sexy + Gross = Creepy" was used to describe the driving concept behind the Vagary. It is also the only monster in Doom 3 that is clearly female, while the others are either male or genderless.
- Although her torso has breasts, these lack nipples.
- Despite being the first official boss in Doom 3, the Vagary has extremely different characteristics compared to other bosses. She burns up when she dies and no cutscene is activated on her death. She is also the only boss monster that appears multiple times and is vulnerable to headshots.
- Like some real spiders, the Vagary has six eyes. The two largest and most obvious are positioned roughly where human eyes would be. Two much smaller eyes are between these and slightly higher, straddling the top of the bridge of the nose, and another two of intermediate size are above those on the creature's forehead. All eyes are depicted without pupils and have black scleras (sclera is the solid "white" of the eye) mimicking the look of the real-life spiders' eyes.
- In Resurrection of Evil, the Vagary does not appear, but the Trite does.
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