BFG (weapon)

The BFG is a fictional weapon found in many video game titles, mostly in first-person shooters such as the Doom and Quake video game series.

The abbreviation BFG stands for "Big Fucking Gun" as described in Tom Hall's original Doom design document and in the user manual of Doom II: Hell on Earth. The Quake II manual says it stands for "Big, Uh, Freakin' Gun". Another expurgated version of the name used in the Doom motion picture is "Bio Force Gun". The versions found in the Doom games are called "BFG 9000" and those in Quake "BFG 10K". In mods, various other versions made by fans can be found.

Appearances

The first appearance of the weapon is the press beta release of Doom. In that version, the BFG 9000 released a cloud of 80 little plasma balls (randomly green or red) per shot.

In the first commercial Doom game, the BFG 9000 is a large energy weapon that fires giant balls of green plasma. The most powerful weapon in the game, it causes major damage to opponents and can clear an entire room of foes in one use. A direct hit from it is often an instant kill. The player is unaffected by the splash damage, which makes it possible to use the BFG 9000 safely in close quarters, unlike some of the other powerful weapons. In the first Doom the weapon can only be picked up in the third and fourth episodes. The BFG 9000 also appears virtually unchanged in Doom II: Hell on Earth, Final Doom, Doom 64, and Doom RPG.