Cacodemons are common demons encountered in all classic Doom games. They are also the mascot of the first classic Doom game.

Trivia

• The name Cacodemon, which comes from the Greek κακοδαίμων (kakodaimon) usually meaning "evil spirit", a more precise name for what is generally known as demon (which ultimately comes from "god" or "spirit"), is in English a word that may be found in most comprehensive dictionaries.
• The monster's general visual design is similar to that of the Beholder, a similarly one-eyed classic Dungeons & Dragons monster (with eye stalks instead of horns). In addition, the Cacodemon was created from a cropping of a creature that appears on the cover of Manual of the Planes, a Dungeons & Dragons expansion book. The creature itself is known as an Astral Dreadnought, and was created by Jeff Easley for that book. Doom Eternal makes a reference to the Astral Dreadnought in its codex entry for the cultist base, citing a mythic cyclopean giant from Argent D'Nur's past, called an "Aggaddian".
• The earliest known version of Doom to include Cacodemon graphics is the 0.5 alpha, released on May 22, 1993, and the earliest known appearance of the monster as an in-game adversary is in the press release version of Doom, released on October 4, 1993.
• Cacodemons are called pumpkins in the Doom novels, and the marine in the Doom comic refers to them as "big-mouthed floating thingies."
• The Cacodemon's frightening yet comical appearance helps explain their popularity as a symbol and mascot for the Doom series, even earning them a place as an Internet meme for humourous purposes. They're commonly nicknamed "tomatoes" or "pumpkins" in the same way Demons are called "Pinkies" or "pigs", similar to how Pain Elementals are often nicknamed "Meatballs".

• Cacodemons were regularly referenced in the Star Wars franchise starting with the second issue of Star Wars Gamer on November 1, 2000 and some media after, where they are bodiless creatures from the underworld mentioned in the folklore of the galaxy and have some relation to Dark Side cults.
• Homestar Runner makes three references to Cacodemons. In Strong Bad E-Mail number 150, Strong Bad remarks that an interdimensional portal "looks like it could release some serious Cacodemons." In the Halloween 2007 cartoon, Pom Pom dresses as a Cacodemon. On the menu for strongbad_email.exe Disc Five, when Strong Bad's screensaver pops up, a Cacodemon with a disgruntled face is shown, which he calls "A fairly disgruntled cackle demon."
• The Cacodemon is used as the Icon for the Xbox 360 Arcade version of Doom, specifically in the game library and on the Achievement screen. The sequel, Doom II, simply uses the title rather than a monster to represent the icon.
• Microsoft's Windows 95 port of Doom also uses a Cacodemon icon.
• The Cacodemon is also used as the icon for The Ultimate Doom on Steam.
• Hissy the Cacodemon (see below) serves as the Doom Wiki logo, along with a cartoonish version of the Doom logo.
• In a ZDoom-based source port, if the player is killed by a Cacodemon, one of two obituary messages will be displayed at the top of the screen depending on which attack the Cacodemon used to kill the player: "[player name] was bitten by a Cacodemon" or "[player name] was smitten by a Cacodemon" for the bite and lightning-ball attacks respectively.
  • Technically, the lightning message is incorrect: the past tense of the word "smite" is "smote", whereas the word "smitten" refers to someone developing romantic attraction for someone else. This means that "[player name] was smitten by a Cacodemon" would actually mean that [player name] had fallen in love with a Cacodemon.
• Strangely enough, Cacodemons bleed red when shot at (or green in the GBA versions), yet bleed blue when killed.
• The Cyclopean Cackle Pet is a Cacodemon-themed pet in Diablo IV.^[1]

Doom RPG/Doom II RPG

Main article: Cacodemon/Doom RPG

The Cacodemon appears in both Doom RPG and Doom II RPG as a class of monster. There are three variations, identified by color:

• Malwrath (gold body, red eye, red throat)
• Cacodemon (normal colors)
• Wretched (blue body, olive green eye, bright red throat)

Cacodemons attack three times consecutively and are most weak against axe attacks and plasma blasts.

Fortnite: Battle Royale

The Cacodemon also appears in three different cosmetic items in the first season of the fourth chapter of Fortnite: Battle Royale, alongside other Doom-themed cosmetics:

• A Cacodemon-themed glider that can be deployed to slow the player character's descent when initially exiting the Battle Bus at the start of the match, or whenever the player is launched into the air later into the match.
• A Cackle-demon emoticon that can be assigned to the emote wheel that simply projects an icon of a Cacodemon.
• A "Doom Slayer" loading screen that features the titular character fighting a Cacodemon.

Mighty Doom

Cacodemons appear in Mighty DOOM as enemies. They attack by firing a pink ball of plasma that splits into two when it hits a wall, or in some cases four balls. The bolts can be avoided by hugging the wall they will hit. Cacodemons are vulnerable to toxic weapons, and can bite the Slayer for a melee attack if he comes too close. The boss version can fire several balls in a row tracking the Slayer that also split on impact, but it also has a more dangerous attack where it can fire three at once rapidly in a spread-shot fashion, which can be more easily avoided the farther the Slayer is from the boss.

Etymology

"Cacodemon" or "cacodæmon" comes from Ancient Greek and means "evil spirit"; it had entered Old English by the 12th century. In ancient Greek, "demon" or "dæmon" simply meant "spirit" and was neutral; the latter spelling (usually with the ligature separated into "ae") still has neutral uses to this day.

Merchandise

On September 5, 2013, Gaming Heads released both a Cacodemon and Pain Elemental for purchase on the Bethesda Store.^[2] In the final video of John Romero's playthrough of the first episode of Doom with JP LeBreton on "Devs Play," these plushies are visible on his mantle.^[3] Gaming Heads went on to release the Doomguy ("Doom Space Marine") as the third available plush.^[4]

Sources