Cyberdemon

The Cyberdemon is a type of enemy characters in the Doom franchise by id Software. It first appeared in the video game Doom in 1993. The Cyberdemon became the Doom series' icon and is remembered one of the most memorable boss characters in video gaming's history.

Appearances
The Cyberdemon is not mentioned in the manual for the original PC version, possibly to make his appearance a surprise for the player. The manual for the console versions describe him as "half unfeeling machine, half raging horned devil. This walking nightmare has a rocket launcher for an arm and will definitely reach out and touch you." In the first Doom, the Cyberdemon is the fastest character, with 4,000 hit points (an equivalent of 40 direct rocket hits), receiving no splash damage from explosions. The Cyberdemons return in Doom II: Hell on Earth, where one is depicted on the cover art and the title screen. A redesigned Cyberdemon is the final boss in the Doom 3 reboot game. It is described as the "Hell's Mightiest Warrior" and can be killed only by the Soul Cube.

In Doom RPG, the Cyberdemon was created by an occultist scientist Kronos. In Wolfenstein RPG, the Cyberdemon appears as the Harbinger of Doom, summoned at Castle Wolfenstein by the Nazis during World War II. B.J. Blazkowicz defeats it using the Spear of Destiny, destroying its right leg and left arm, and the Harbinger vows that it would have a rematch with Blazkowicz's descendent in the future, which happens when Stan Blazkowicz faces it in Doom II RPG.

An entire plot of the Doom comic is based on the Doomguy's frantic search for the BFG 9000 that he can use to destroy the Cyberdemon. In the Doom novels, the Cyberdemon's mechanical parts are steam powered and the characters call them "Steam Demons". A miniature figure of the Cyberdemon was included with the 1996 video game collection id Anthology and another appears in the 2011's Doom: The Boardgame.

Reception
In 2006, The Boston Phoenix ranked the Cyberdemon as the 13th greatest boss in video game history, adding that "in the annals of lazy game journalism, little stacks up to GamePro magazine's "pro tip" for conquering Doom's baddest foe: 'To defeat the Cyberdemon, shoot at it until it dies.'" In 2008, IGN featured the Cyberdemon among their seven favourite monsters of gaming, adding that "in many ways, the granddaddy of the modern gaming monster, the Cyberdemon, is as fearsome today as he was 15 years ago," and also ranked the fight against the Cyberdemon as 46th top video game moment, calling it "every bad boss you've ever fought rolled into one." That same year, GamePro listed the Cyberdemon as the 16th most diabolical video game villain of all time In 2010, the Cyberdemon took part in GameSpot's All Time Greatest Game Villain poll, losing in the first round against Andrew Ryan from BioShock. In 2010, Play Magazine included Cyberdemon on the list of the top ten scariest game monsters. In 2011, IGN put this "one mean son of a bitch" at 69th place on the list of top video game villains and NOW Gamer ranked the fight against the Cyberdemon as the 48th top gaming moment.