Marauder (Doom Eternal) — Doom Eternal Marauder demon with horns and glowing red eyes in front of a red portal

Marauder (Doom Eternal)

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Published October 9, 2026

The Marauder is a shield-wielding boss enemy introduced in id Software's 2020 shooter Doom Eternal, infamous for forcing players to break the game's run-and-gun flow. His reputation as a pace-killer turned him into object-labeling meme fuel, casting the Marauder as any unkillable obstacle while Doomguy stands in for the frustrated player.

boss fight memes object labeling gaming frustration memes villain memes

Overview

Marauder (Doom Eternal) memes typically pair the shield-wielding boss with the Slayer in a two-panel object-labeling setup: the Marauder gets tagged as whatever is ruining the poster's day, and Doomguy stands in for the person stuck dealing with it2. The format leans on the enemy's in-game reputation as a buzzkill, since the Marauder blocks most attacks, counters with hitscan axe bolts and a shotgun, and summons a wolf add that chews through health if ignored3.

A second strain of the meme pulls still frames from the January 14, 2020 Doom Eternal story trailer, where the Marauder sneers that Doomguy is "nothing but a usurper, a false idol"3. Posters swap new captions over the exchange to pit any upstart against any established thing, from pop stars to pandemics9. Writer Patrick Klepek summed up the character's broader cultural footprint in Vice, calling him the enemy that "brings everything to a screeching halt" in a game otherwise built on momentum1.

Origin & Background

Platform
Reddit (r/Doom)
Date
2019

Doom Eternal was developed by id Software and released on March 20, 2020, with the Marauder appearing as a mid-campaign boss-style encounter1. Fans began riffing on the character well before launch, after id teased him around E3 2019. The earliest documented meme is a June 8, 2019 r/Doom post by u/Tinbee using a trailer screencap of the Marauder mid-swing as an object label2.

Two weeks later, on June 21, 2019, r/Doom user shentheartist crossed the Marauder with the "Oh? You're Approaching Me?" JoJo format in a fan-art post that pulled 231 upvotes and 13 comments4. id Software made the game and the character; the earliest documented meme posters were r/Doom fans, and no single "creator" of the broader format is confirmed3.

How It Spread

After the March 20, 2020 release, Marauder discourse spilled out of r/Doom. Vice ran "Why the 'Doom Eternal' Marauder Sucks So Bad" on April 14, 2020, arguing the enemy's required duel rhythm clashed with the rest of the game's sandbox1. YouTuber Under The Mayo pushed back three weeks earlier, uploading a March 27, 2020 defense video that passed 350,000 views5.

Practical "how do I actually kill this guy" content followed. Marius Urucu's "Cheesing The Marauder" guide, posted April 9, 2020, cleared 50,000 views and 1,800 likes6. On the meme side, r/Doom user CMD_Neopolitan posted a Marauder image macro titled "DOOM Eternal has some top tier meme potential" on April 5, 2020, which pulled over 2,400 upvotes7.

The "usurper" trailer scene drove the format's biggest crossover hits. iFunny user jzadnik posted a macro built on that scene the same day the trailer dropped, January 14, 2020, racking up more than 61,000 likes8. On April 4, 2020, r/dankmemes user chungus23 reskinned the exchange to cast COVID-19 as the Marauder, hitting 19,100 upvotes9.

Timeline

2019-06-08

U/Tinbee posts the earliest documented Marauder object-labeling meme to r/Doom using a trailer screencap[2].

2019-06-21

R/Doom user shentheartist posts a Marauder x "Oh? You're Approaching Me?" crossover (231 upvotes)[4].

2020-01-14

Doom Eternal story trailer airs the "usurper, a false idol" line; iFunny user jzadnik posts a macro on it the same day (61,000+ likes)[8].

2020-03-20

Doom Eternal releases, giving players their first in-game Marauder fights[1].

2020-03-27

YouTuber Under The Mayo uploads a Marauder defense video that passes 350,000 views[5].

2020-04-04

R/dankmemes user chungus23 reskins the "usurper" scene as COVID-19 vs. Doomguy (19,100+ upvotes)[9].

2020-04-05

R/Doom user CMD_Neopolitan posts a Marauder macro titled "DOOM Eternal has some top tier meme potential" (2,400+ upvotes)[7].

2020-04-09

YouTuber Marius Urucu uploads "Cheesing The Marauder," which later clears 50,000 views[6].

2020-04-14

Vice publishes "Why the 'Doom Eternal' Marauder Sucks So Bad"[1].

How to Use This Meme

The common convention is a two-image object-labeling macro: slap "Me" or a stand-in on Doomguy, and label the Marauder with the thing giving you a hard time. A frequent variant uses the "usurper, a false idol" trailer still, with new captions written over the Marauder and Doomguy sprites to recast the quote for whatever rivalry the poster has in mind.

Frequently Asked Questions