Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This article explores the construction of power fantasy and posthuman masculinity in the Doom series, mainly Doom (2016), Doom Eternal (2020), and Doom: The Dark Ages (2025). The study argues that the games construct a uniquely embodied fantasy of resilience through fast-paced violence, rhythm-based gameplay, and minimal narrative framing. Drawing on theories of affect, masculinity, and posthuman embodiment, the article positions the Doom Slayer as a symbolic projection of digitally mediated agency and control. Unlike other hypermasculine avatars, the Slayer is characterized by narrative silence, affective opacity, and rhythmic precision: traits that support an affective loop of empowerment. The analysis reframes Doom not merely as gratuitous violence, but as a meaningful response to contemporary cultural anxieties about control, identity, and survival. Ultimately, the games create a playable allegory of posthuman agency, where the human body is rendered obsolete in favor of mechanized flow, tactical immediacy, and emotional resilience amid collapse.

Keywords

Doom player projection posthuman masculinity power fantasy video game psychology

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

C. A.

Dill

K. E.

(2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(4), 772. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.4.772

Blomquist

(2021). Postmodern Medusa: The Monstrous-Feminine in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Games and Culture, 16(8), 935–954. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211017934

Bogost

(2010). Persuasive games: the expressive power of videogames. MIT Press.

Bowman

N. D.

Tamborini

(2012). Task demand and mood repair: The intervention potential of computer games. New Media & Society, 14(8), 1339–1357. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444812450426

Braidotti

(2013). Posthuman humanities. European Educational Research Journal, 12(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.2304/eerj.2013.12.1

Butler

(2000). Gender trouble. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203902752

Connell

R. W.

(2005). Masculinities: knowledge, power and social change (2nd ed.). Polity.

Connell

R. W.

Messerschmidt

(2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender and Society, 19(6), 829–859. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639

Conway

(2020). Poisonous pantheons: God of war and toxic masculinity. Games and Culture, 15(8), 943–961. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412019858898

10.

Crick

(2011). The game body: Toward a phenomenology of contemporary video gaming. Games and Culture, 6(3), 259–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412010364980

11.

Csikszentmihalyi

(1990). Flow: the psychology of optimal experience (Vol. 1990, p. 1). Harper & Row.

12.

Davenport

(2020). Doom eternal review. PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/doom-eternal-review/

13.

Dyer-Witheford

De Peuter

(2009). Games of empire: global capitalism and video games. University of Minnesota Press.

14.

Ferguson

C. J.

(2015). Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influences on children’s and adolescents’ aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(5), 646–666. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615592234

15.

Ferguson

C. J.

Rueda

S. M.

(2010). The hitman study. European Psychologist, 15(2), 99–108. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000010

16.

Gee

J. P.

(2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 1(1), 20–20. https://doi.org/10.1145/950566.950595

17.

Gee

J. P.

(2008). Video games and embodiment. Games and Culture, 3(3–4), 253–263. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412008317309

18.

Granic

Lobel

Engels

R. C.

(2014). The benefits of playing video games. American Psychologist, 69(1), 66. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0034857

19.

Gray

K. L.

(2020). Intersectional tech: Black users in digital gaming. LSU Press.

20.

Haraway

(2013). Simians, cyborgs, and women: the reinvention of nature. Routledge.

21.

Hayles

N. K.

(2000). How we became posthuman: Virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and informatics. https://doi.org/10.1088/0963-6625/9/4/704

22.

Juul

(2011). Half-real: video games between real rules and fictional worlds. MIT press.

23.

Kaye

L. K.

Bryce

(2012). Putting the “fun factor” into gaming: The influence of social contexts on experiences of playing videogames. International Journal of Internet Science, 7(1), 23–37. https://knowledge.lancashire.ac.uk/id/eprint/6033

24.

Keogh

(2018). A play of bodies: how we perceive videogames. MIT Press.

25.

Kimmel

(2008). Guyland: the perilous world where boys become men. Harper.

26.

Madigan

(2010). The psychology of immersion in video games. The Psychology of Video Games. https://www.psychologyofgames.com/2010/07/the-psychology-of-immersion-in-video-games

27.

Mandryk

R. L.

Birk

M. V.

(2017). Toward game-based digital mental health interventions: Player habits and preferences. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(4), e6906. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.6906

28.

Massumi

(2021). Parables for the virtual: movement, affect, sensation. Duke University Press.

29.

Nyíri

(2022). The evolution of the character of Kratos in the God of War series.

30.

Pallavicini

Ferrari

Mantovani

(2018). Video games for well-being: A systematic review on the application of computer games for cognitive and emotional training in the adult population. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(2127), 407892. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02127

31.

Pinchbeck

(2013). Doom: Scarydarkfast (p. 199). University of Michigan Press.

32.

Przybylski

A. K.

Weinstein

(2019). Violent video game engagement is not associated with adolescents’ aggressive behaviour: Evidence from a registered report. Royal Society Open Science, 6(2), 171474. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171474

33.

Russoniello

C. V.

O’Brien

Parks

J. M.

(2009). The effectiveness of casual video games in improving mood and decreasing stress. Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation, 2(1), 53–66. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carmen-Russoniello-2/publication/289131468_The_effectiveness_of_casual_video_games_in_improving_mood_and_decreasing_stress/links/589b371492851c942ddac68d/The-effectiveness-of-casual-video-games-in-improving-mood-and-decreasing-stress.pdf?origin=journalDetail&_tp=eyJwYWdlIjoiam91cm5hbERldGFpbCJ9

34.

Ryan

R. M.

Deci

E. L.

(2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68

35.

Sanders

(2020). Redeeming the monster: The God of War Subreddit's narrative of rebirth for hegemonic masculinity. https://doi.org/10/18122/td/1714/boisestate

36.

Shaw

(2015). Gaming at the edge: sexuality and gender at the margins of gamer culture. University of Minnesota Press.

37.

Shinkle

(2005). Feel it, don’t think: The significance of affect in the study of digital games. Proceedings of DiGRA 2005 Conference: Changing Views: Worlds in Play. https://doi.org/10.26503/dl.v2005i1.114

38.

Sicart

(2014). Play matters. MIT Press.

39.

Soderman

(2021). Against flow: video games and the flowing subject. MIT press.

40.

Taylor

T. L.

(2015). Raising the stakes: E-sports and the professionalization of computer gaming. MIT Press.

41.

Veale

(2017). Gone home, and the power of affective nostalgia. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 23(7), 654–666. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2016.1262447

42.

Villani

Carissoli

Triberti

Marchetti

Gilli

Riva

(2018). Videogames for emotion regulation: A systematic review. Games for Health Journal, 7(2), 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1089/g4 h.2017.0108

Rip and Tear: Reimagining Power Fantasy Through the Posthuman Aesthetics of the Doom Games

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References