How Doom 3 fits into canon

This is an attempt to explain how Doom 3 fits into the canon of Doom, not treating it as a reboot or a prequel to Doom 2016 but as a spin-off.

First up is examining Classic Doom. We all know the plot, in the end, Doom Guy stays behind in Hell.

Doom 3 doesn't seem to follow on completely from the Classic games. It's tempting to treat it as a reboot but that need not necessarily be true. The UAC never went anywhere and is still functioning as normal, albeit less interested in probing Hell (it likely learnt its lesson). However, all the exposure to Hell wore down Dr Bertruger's psyche and infiltrated him, causing him to hijack the UAC and subtly warp it into become a satanic cult that deliberately lets out Hell. The new player is a fresh recruit - nothing to do with the original Doom Guy, let's just call him Doom 3 Guy or something ordinary like Geoff. He is just an ordinary space marine, not only that, he is a newbie. That's why Doom 3's tone shifts to horror - this is all new to him! Nonetheless, he survives, beats Hell and the UAC rebuilds. Then comes RoE and we know how that goes.

After all, it's not hard to believe Doom 3 has a different protagonist to the originals, all Doom 3 games: Doom 3, Doom 3 ROE, Doom 3 Lost Mission and Doom Resurrection all starred different protagonists. All of whom are badass normal.

Some time after these events, the UAC has made its complete transformation into a corporate cult (TM) that wants to let Hell in. Meanwhile, Doom Guy, now called the Doom Slayer, has been raging in Hell for countless years, centuries, millenia, jumping from dimension to dimension, kicking demon arse. Seraphim blesses him at some stage and his transformation is complete. This is where Doom 2016 starts up. So it's the same Doom Guy in Ultimate, II, Final, 64 and 2016 but different in Doom 3.

So what do you think? Is this obvious, is this complete bullshit, is it a possible explanation?

Doom 3 is it’s own canon. In this version the previous Doom games never existed. I’m certain someone at ID said that during an interview.

But interesting post nonetheless!

2 hours ago, Ex Oblivione said:

Doom 3 is it’s own canon. In this version the previous Doom games never existed. I’m certain someone at ID said that during an interview.

 

But interesting post nonetheless!

You may be right, but I believe those mobile Doom Rpg games try and connect Doom 3 to the original Dooms, but those are mobile games so they most likely are non canon.

3 hours ago, Ex Oblivione said:

Doom 3 is it’s own canon. In this version the previous Doom games never existed. I’m certain someone at ID said that during an interview.

It makes me feel uncomfortable given Doom 2016 is heavily alluded to being a sequel to Doom 64.

12 minutes ago, Duke of Pathoris said:

It makes me feel uncomfortable given Doom 2016 is heavily alluded to being a sequel to Doom 64.

Honestly I think Doom 2016 could pick up after Doom 64 like you said, continuing the original games timeline. 

Doom-Ultimate Doom-Doom 2-Final Doom-Doom 64- Doom 2016

Given the inter-dimensional nature of the Doom games' plots, maybe the Doom 3 universe exists parallel to the main Doom timeline, and the 'hell' dimension links the two together. The ancient warrior that was spoken of on the stone tablets that you find in the excavation sites could be the Doom Slayer having a run in with the Doom 3 universe.

6 hours ago, Ex Oblivione said:

Doom 3 is it’s own canon. In this version the previous Doom games never existed. I’m certain someone at ID said that during an interview.

 

But interesting post nonetheless!

It was John Carmack himself who said that Doom 3 is in fact a remake of the original Doom. So yeah, D3 is its own canon (or at least its own timeline)

Sorry to bump my old thread but it occurred to me that I am an idiot. Doom 3 and Doom 1 occur at the same time. Doom 3 is on Mars, 1 is on Phobos and Deimos. Doom 3 just explains why the teleportation incident occurred and and it shows what happened on Mars.

Fan-lore on my take, it's almost the same as you. And it's show the trasformation of the UAC.

Doom 3 shows to the UAC the power of hell (Argent Energy), by Alien Tablets Excavations showing a battle bettewn Demons and Warriors( The Nigth Setinels) and how UAC can make connections with Hell (Dr.Bretuger, the whole nigth had to be recorded if the ending it's rigth, etc)

Doom RoE it's to tie with the ending of Doom 3 that UAC it's still following plans to use power of Hell, and how they are searching for the alien tomb or aliens rocks (that they don't find because other personal of the UAC trasported them).

Doom 3 Lost Mission don't have a good lore per se, but can show the advance of Delta Trasportation. And i don't see Resurrection.

I believe that it's in the same multiverse but a different reality. Seeing as Doomguy likely stayed in hell and was found by seemingly ANOTHER UAC with ANOTHER Mars/Earth under attack by demons, it's safe to say that there isn't one Doomguy or reality where the UAC is screwing up and having the Earth be under attack by demons.

23 hours ago, Duke of Pathoris said:

Sorry to bump my old thread but it occurred to me that I am an idiot. Doom 3 and Doom 1 occur at the same time. Doom 3 is on Mars, 1 is on Phobos and Deimos. Doom 3 just explains why the teleportation incident occurred and and it shows what happened on Mars.

I always just kind of assumed that Doom 3 was more or less a remake of Doom 1 Episode 1. But of course the fine details are still going to be different.

On 3/11/2020 at 5:01 PM, Agentbromsnor said:

I always just kind of assumed that Doom 3 was more or less a remake of Doom 1 Episode 1. But of course the fine details are still going to be different.

It was at the time but with the new id, they may want to make everything a timeline.

The topic title should probably "How Doom 3 could fit into canon".

So far, all we got is a Soul Cube easter egg with no direct mention to anything from Doom 3, so I'm assuming that the game isn't in the canon as of now.

Since they're making Doom 1 canon instead maybe it will be more fitting to leave it like that, trying to fit them in doesn't seem like the most coherent friendly idea to me, but who knows, maybe we'll get Doom 3 into it somehow.

Could you tell me how Doom RPG connects to Doom 3? I didn't notice anything there, but since Carmack said that Doom 3 is a remake, perhaps we can disregard that.

They also said 2016 was a reboot, and I think that was what they actually intended, but saw the fan backlash and theories and decided to please the fans .

Also wasn't the Praetor suit found in Site 3 ? Site 3 is a area from Doom 3, where there is also the HERO sarcophagus. 2016 takes place in 2148, 1 year after RoE. Many versions of hell in various media or religion states that time passes different in hell. Explains while Doomguy stayed and fought for aeons, became the hero, and when he was trapped and got back to mars it passed just a few years . Depending on how you take Doom 1 happened, Eternal seems to make it canon, but original took place in 2000s, they might have retconned this though,

I thikn there are more references though, but as far as I can say I thnk they're only that, for now. Leaves it open to us 

In Doom '16's Argent D'Nur you can find the same mural as DOOM 3, depicting the ancient Martian champion with the Soul Cube. The Praetor Suit is designated as artifact U9; the Soul Cube was designated as U1. And the Soul Cube itself does appear in both '16 and Eternal - in '16 it's in Olivia Pierce's office, in Eternal it's on Doomguy's computer desk.

It's separate timeline. In RoE (2158) the facilities are fucked, rusting, and mostly abandoned. In D44M (2151) the UAC is actively exploiting Hell with facilities in phenomenal condition. Can't build all that in 3 years. 

Even if you handwave all that as game logic, DOOM RPG and DOOM II RPG, which are canon with Doom 3, don't fit, since B J Blazkowicz III appears in DOOM RPG as protag, even though he should be stuck in a sarcophagus at that point. 

DOOM 3 is very clearly an alternate timeline to the Prime timeline.