Did You Know? The ARMS of DOOM

After 25 years, a series like DOOM is guaranteed to collect its share of fun facts and interesting trivia. Thankfully, you don’t have to be the world’s most dedicated fan or a development insider to learn some of the coolest stuff about this franchise – you have us!

DID YOU KNOW:

DOOMGuy’s beefy arms belong to a real-life employee at id Software

The id team wanted DOOM to have a grittier and darker feel than their previous titles, so they experimented with a variety of sources from scanning in sketches to creating latex models to photographing toy replicas and other real-life reference material.

So, when the time came to create sprites of DOOMGuy wielding his mighty arsenal, id Software artist Kevin Cloud (pictured above with Adrian Carmack and John Romero) took matters into his own hands – literally. "(The DOOM Marine's) arm is just my arm,” says Cloud. “That's how you get stuff done.”

Even today, the resemblance is uncanny. One look at Cloud’s arms and all we can think is, OMG, these are the arms of DOOM.

Over 25 years later, Cloud still works at id Software, his hands having served a crucial role in gaming - not just for creating DOOM’s iconic art, but also inspiring one of the most recognizable forearms in first-person shooter history. "That's how you keep the same job for all these years,” Cloud laughs. “You need my arms for when people come to visit!”