The BFG9000 appears as a bulky steel-grey gun which fires large balls of green plasma (40 cells per blast). For general purposes it can be considered the most powerful weapon in the game.

The initials composing the weapon's name stand for "Big Fucking Gun." Another name for it was "Bio Force Gun" in the 2005 movie. In various materials the name has been bowdlerized as "Big Friggin' Gun" or "Big Fancy Gun." With the introduction of the Ballistic Force Crossbrow in Doom: The Dark Ages, it is also possible that the modern iterations of the BFG stand for Ballistic Force Gun.

Notes

• The original BFG was digitized from a RoarGun, a battery operated toy gun manufactured by Creatoy. Flat images of parts of the same toy were used for some of the Tekwall textures.
• As with the rocket launcher and chaingun, the full BFG sprite (after pickup) is slightly too large for the screen, and can only be viewed with a level or resource editor; the lower edge of the sprite includes a BFG logo.
• The Cyberdemon's rocket launcher mounted on its left arm bears a slight resemblance to the BFG9000. The main difference is its rocket launcher lacks the black barrel (where the projectiles are shot) and the weapon stops from the hinged arm-mounted exterior, to the monster's arm.
• An early version of the BFG9000, known as the "BFG 2704" in the Doom Bible, was originally capable of firing a deadly, rapid-fire spray of green and red plasma projectiles that can bounce off of ceilings and floors (spending 40 cells per shot), as if it were "a Plasma gun that had gotten on steroids". That was changed to the final, possibly more powerful version because the former could greatly slow the game down from the number of projectile sprites on screen. According to John Romero, the idea of the weapon firing the green and red plasma projectiles was scrapped because it "looked like Christmas". A source port of the game, MBF, features a working reenactment of the early-version BFG seen in the beta.
• The comic book adaptation of Doom appears to depict the BFG 9000 as a heavy machine gun instead of a plasma weapon, since it fires a stream of small projectiles that resemble bullets instead of an expanding energy blast. However, it is possible that this was meant to be based on the original concept of the BFG, which similarly fired a stream of multicolored plasma projectiles, as mentioned above. Similarly, it may have been representing the 40 tracers fired by the BFG after its primary projectile hit.
• In the Doom Bible, the section on weapons (14) describes the BFG 2704 as a highly destructive weapon which would damage the wielder a bit, pushing him back. That same entry unveils the meaning of the BFG initials.
• The SNES port of Doom's BFG suffers from a scaled-down projectile, possibly due to memory constraints; it appears, instead, as a Baron's plasma ball, using the same firing sound effect and bursting sound when it hits an enemy or wall. The shocking effects of the subsequent field of damage to other targets after the projectile detonates is not present (instead of the original tracer rays effect, it appears to use a radius-based damage effect), and any targets within range of the explosion will either simply fall over dead or suffer damage. The projectile's damage output is also higher than its PC counterpart.
• The BFG does not appear by itself in the 32X port of Doom and only appears by means of a cheat code. However, if this code is used, the game will not end properly; it will cut to a DOS screen rather than the game's real ending. As a result, it does not seem possible for the player to have/use the weapon in this port and get the real ending.
• The BFG9000 has a "safety catch" similar to the rocket launcher. When selected while the fire key is still pressed, the BFG will not begin firing immediately like other weapons, but only when fire key is released and pressed again. The safety mechanism was likely implemented to prevent the player from wasting 40 cells by accident.
• To determine the damage of a BFG tracer, a random number between 1 and 8 is generated and repeated 16 times. This makes the total damage varies from 16 to 128 (due to the "bell curve" phenomenon, the value is weighted towards the middle of the range). However, due to the Pseudorandom number generator of Doom, this never happens in real gameplay, and the damage is limited to 49-87.
• The BFG-9000 is one of four equippable Ultimate weapons in Mighty Doom, resembling its appearance in the reboot duology. Once it is charged up after killing many demons, the player can manually fire the BFG-9000 to unleash a ball of green energy that inflicts massive, unavoidable plasma damage (color-coded purple) on every enemy on the stage. At the beginning of a run, provided that the player obtained the Starting Ability Mastery, the player may have a chance to acquire its passive ability "BFF", which increases maximum health by the same amount as a Max Health Increase for that run.

The BFG in other id Software games

• Doom 64 includes a slightly revamped version of the BFG. Upon being fired, it will make a computerized whirring sound increasing in pitch until the projectile is shot out. When the projectile hits an enemy or wall, it will create a cone-shaped field of damage from its detonation point back to the player, killing or hurting any monsters in its path.
• Quake II features the BFG 10K. This was the first attempt to rework the BFG mechanics, and set the standard for future BFGs. Rather than the complicated system of firing traces out of the player after the projectile explodes, the traces are fired out of the projectile as it moves, dealing damage-over-time to nearby enemies. The projectile sprites are exactly the same as Doom's. Unlike Doom's BFG, however, a point-blank blast will kill the player as well as their intended target.
• Quake 3 Arena included a new version of the BFG 10K that works considerably different then its previous incarnations. It fires explosive plasma projectiles at a high rate of fire and has a more streamlined shape.
• Doom 3 includes a redesigned version, see BFG9000/Doom 3. It can be charged up for a more powerful shot, but if charged for too long it will "overload," failing to fire and dealing a large amount of damage to the player. It is otherwise mechanically similar to the Quake II variant.
• The BFG also appears in Doom RPG, where it is named BFG-9000.
• RAGE includes a weapon called the Authority Pulse Cannon, which normally acts as a sort of energy-based minigun, but also features the ability to fire an alternate ammo type called "BFG Rounds", which do devastating damage to targets within range.
  • The BFG 9000 proper, modeled after its original design, is included as part of the Deluxe Edition of RAGE 2.
• The BFG appears in Bethesda Pinball's Doom table as a collectible weapon that is the most powerful of 8 possible weapons. One shot from the BFG instantly annihilates a demon wave, and an extra ball is granted when it is first obtained.

Other appearances and homages

Many subsequent first-person shooters implemented similar weapons, but few were quite as notorious as the BFG9000. In addition, due to its reputation, the BFG has been referenced or parodied in many other places:

• In the cyberpunk action-RPG Deus Ex (2000), the Plasma Rifle looks very much like the BFG.
• The Doom movie features the weapon under the moniker "Bio Force Gun v3.14". It is unknown what 'Bio Force' means.
  • Additionally, the sprites for Skulltag's BFG 10K are modelled after the BFG v3.14 from the Doom Movie.
• In the hack-and-slash RPG Sacred, one character, the Seraphim, has a combat art called "BeeEffGee".
• Magic: the Gathering (Unglued expansion) includes The "BFM" (Big Furry Monster).
• A character in the movie Jason X mentions using a BFG.
• In the 1994 computer game Jazz Jackrabbit, Jazz's gun is called the "LFG-2000". LFG may stand for 'Large Fucking Gun'.
• In the RPG Adventure Quest, the "BFG" weapon is an obvious clone of Doom's BFG.
• The character Bob in ReBoot plays a guitar called a BFG (Big Fancy Guitar).
• In the game Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, the Archer and Tigress characters have a turbo attack called "BFG", which fires a huge green burst shot forward.
• In the flash game Defense of Portal 2, there is a weapon called the "BFG-OVER9000".
• There was originally a quest in the second EverQuest expansion, The Scars of Velious, which resulted in an item called "Breezeboot's Frigid Gnasher", using the image of the BFG9000. The item lore calls it "Model 9000".
• In the 1999 space simulator FreeSpace 2, the largest red- and green-colored beams in the game are referred to internally as BFRed and BFGreen.
• In the platform shooter Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, there is a level called "The Nefarious BFG" (a reference to both the weapon and to The Notorious B.I.G.).
• It appears in the PSP game Infected as the BMFG (Big Mother Fucking Gun).
• In the television series Eureka, the episode "Alienated" referred to a high-tech gun called the "BMFG."
• The M249 SAW is an unlockable weapon in the FPS game Black, where it is called the "BFG".
• Version 3 of the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk introduced a new class of lightweight, large-bore, man-portable gyrojet weapons known as Ballistic Flechette Guns (BFGs).
• The 2020 video game Cyberpunk 2077 features a powerful one-handed melee weapon called the BFC 9000, though the similarity is in name only.
• Magnum Research, Inc. produces a line of powerful revolvers called the Magnum Research BFR. Officially, this stands for "Big Frame Revolver" or "Biggest, Finest Revolver." (Personally? I'd call it the Big Fucking Revolver.)
• Duke Nukem: Zero Hour contains a weapon called the BMF Thunderstrike.
• In the movie Soldier, a computer screen is briefly displayed which shows that Kurt Russell's character is qualified on the BFG 9000.
• In the Inspection training mission of MechWarrior 2, one of the boxes has an inspection reading of BFG 9000.
• Half-Life: Opposing Force featured a nearly identical weapon called the Displacer, which even shared the same explosion sprite. It also allowed the player to teleport themselves to a hidden bonus area (provided they had sufficient ammunition).
• In Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire, a technology called String Resonance is referenced internally as "BFG9000".
• Facebook's "Pets" application, in which you control battling rabbits, includes a weapon named the "BFG2000".
• A weapon called the C.B.F.G. became available in Kingdom of Loathing during Crimbo 2007. This stands for "Crimborg Biomechanical Fragging Gun."
• The most powerful missile weapon in the game Fury3 is called the BFM (Bion Fury Missile).
• In Halo 3, the description for part 2 of the mission "The Storm" reads: "Scarab. BFG. End of World," with BFG referring to a large Covenant anti-air cannon.
• In Halo 2, the easter egg Scarab gun fires a blast similar to the BFG.
• In Halo Reach, the Multiplayer map "Spire" has an area named BFG.
• In the flash game Onslaught 2 there exist combos which are called "BFG", which shoot a blast simillar to that of the BFG.
• The largest size can of Monster Energy Drink, a 32oz-large can, is referred as the "BFC": presumably meaning "Big Fucking Can".
• In the 1999 video game Recoil, the player's vehicle is known as the BFT or Battle Force (or Big Friggin') Tank.
• In League of Legends, there is an item called "B.F. Sword". Additionally, its description reads: "When big is just not quite big enough."
• In the browser-based game Plazma Burst 2, there is a gun called the CS-BNG (also known as gun_bfg in the Map Editor ID's in the game). This weapon also fires a green radiation-based explosive projectile.
• In Dead Rising 2, Dead Rising 2: Case West, and Dead Rising 2: Off The Record, there is a weapon named "Blast Frequency Gun" also known as the BFG that has 50 shots before running out of ammo, it fires like a small shock wave that travels around, this weapon is effective against "Gas Zombies" that blow their heads off, but aren't effective against regular zombies that it would just knock them to the ground, it takes like 30 shots to kill a regular zombie and only 1 shot to the "Gas Zombies", this weapon can be found once the military arrives, but it can be found earlier in the underground once you completed Case 2-2 Ticket to Ride somewhere in the ramps on the underground, there is also a combo weapon that includes the "Blast Frequency Gun" with a "Amplifier" that is combined on a workbench that has a double red door with a sign saying "Maintenance Room" once they are combined the BFG will turn into the "Super BFG" that fires a big shocking wave like the BFG9000 but way more powerful, in which the projectile can kill a really high amount of zombies in a wide area at a long range and is effective for making a safe path for survivors, getting a lot of kills, clearing out a small room from zombies and can kill both types of zombies in 1 shot, however the "Super BFG" has only 15 shots. There's also a weapon called "Impact Blaster" (Only in Dead Rising 2: Case West). The "Impact Blaster" has 2 regular BFG attachment with tape, surprising the "Impact Blaster" only needs 1 BFG, but when crafted, it has 2 BFG's instead of one.
• In Heroes of the Storm, an ultimate ability of the character Sgt. Hammer is the "Blunt Force Gun". Its initials (BFG)' and effect (firing a giant devastating missile) is most likely a reference to Doom's BFG9000.
• In Starbound, one of the Tier 6 weapons that can be found in the game, called "Doomcannon", is a Grenade Launcher and Shotgun hybrid. The weapon uses the original BFG sprite from Doom 1. The description of the gun reads "'...because in the end, Doom is all that counts."
• In Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, there is a weapon named "Ubergewehr". Developed by the Nazis in 1961, the Ubergewehr can obliterate a lot of enemies in a huge explosion of electricity and diesel, in a similar manner to BFG9000.
• In the FPS Killing Floor, a weapon similar to the BFG called "Husk Fireball Launcher" works in a similar fashion of charged energy balls resulting in an explosion on contact.
• In the bullet hell game Enter the Gungeon there is a weapon known as the "BSG" or "Big Shooty Gun" which looks and acts like the BFG9000.
• In the video game Risk of Rain 2, there's an activable equipment known as the "Preon Accumulator", its behavior mimics the BFG9000 from modern games, with enemy-seeking tendrils that deal massive damage, while the ball of energy itself deals enough damage to one-shot most bosses if used correctly.
  • The Achievement for unlocking such item is named [REDACTED], likely in reference to the "F" in BFG.
• In tormgate, the artillery mech is equipped with a weapon called the "BFG." Incidentally, the weapon deals area-of-effect damage, and the mech is primarily used against demons in the game's context.
• In Doodle Devil the BFG 9000 element can be made by combining Inferno and Weapon and when it is combined with the Demon element it creates Ash.

See also

• Silent BFG trick
• Rocket passes through the player who fired it

External links

• The BFG9000 FAQ
• Information on the BFG9000
• 5 years of Doom: Interview with John Romero (comments on the BFG 2704)

en:BFG 9000