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

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

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