During a playthrough stream earlier this month, Doom Eternal director Hugo Martin was asked if the team had ever considered developing a female Doom Slayer for the game. His answer was surprisingly thorough.
“I’ve thought about it, actually,” Martin told Bethesda community manager Joshua Boyle following a viewer question. “I think if we did it, I’d want it to be lethal. I think it’s interesting how it would impact the glory kills, the kind of weapons that she would have, the fighting style. All aggression, absolutely, but a different type of aggression. I would really strive to allow it to impact the gameplay in a way that was meaningful. I’ve definitely put a lot of thought into that.”
The folks behind 2016’s Doom and 2020’s Doom Eternal have referred to their main character as a Ferrari, in that playing as the Doom Slayer is fun at any speed. Martin said they would want to figure out similar kinds of references for any character they develop, including a hypothetical female Doom Slayer.
“How would that affect things?” Martin added. “What sort of analogies could you draw from that and allow that to influence the experience? It definitely would be cool.”
The identity of Doom’s protagonist—formerly known as Doomguy before being reinvented as the Doom Slayer alongside the modern, story-oriented reboot—has never had much bearing on the first-person shooter’s action. He’s simply a vessel for the player’s own desire to destroy a bunch of demons as brutally as possible. That said, the fact that Martin has put serious thought into developing a female counterpart is pretty neat, and it should be interesting to see if those ideas make their way into future Doom projects.
