Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
A joke that became a creed. In 1996 it was unintentional comedy from a berserking space marine; in 2016 the reboot said it with a straight face and made it the Slayer's whole ethos: no talking, no mercy, keep moving. It is now shorthand for the series' relentless, metal-soaked energy, shouted by players mid-fight, scored by Mick Gordon's guitars on a song of the same name, and carried by the fans who laughed at the comic first.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for DOOMShow the scene
The phrase began in Knee Deep in the Dead, a one-shot Doom comic that Marvel produced in 1996 as a convention giveaway, written by Steve Behling and Michael Stewart and drawn by Tom Grindberg. There Doomguy, on a berserk power-up, vows to rip and tear a cyberdemon's guts before it wears off. The comic became a cult joke for its dialogue, and when id Software rebooted the series with Doom (2016) a voice-over in the opening sequence used the phrase to describe the Doom Slayer's brutality: a command to be worse than the demons, until the job is done.
Sources (3)
- Know Your Meme: Rip and TearOrigin; SpreadReference checked
- Wikipedia: Doom (franchise)Comic bookReference checked
- Wikipedia: Doom (2016 video game)AccoladesReference checked
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