# Marauder (Doom Eternal) 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. ## Origin Doom Eternal was developed by id Software and released on March 20, 2020, with the Marauder appearing as a mid-campaign boss-style encounter[1]. 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 label[2]. 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 comments[4]. 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 confirmed[3]. - **Platform:** Reddit (r/Doom) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2019 ## 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 it[2]. 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 ignored[3]. 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 pandemics[9]. 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 momentum[1]. ## 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 sandbox[1]. YouTuber Under The Mayo pushed back three weeks earlier, uploading a March 27, 2020 defense video that passed 350,000 views[5]. 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 likes[6]. 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 upvotes[7]. 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 likes[8]. On April 4, 2020, r/dankmemes user chungus23 reskinned the exchange to cast COVID-19 as the Marauder, hitting 19,100 upvotes[9]. ## How to Use 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 ### What is Marauder (Doom Eternal)? The Marauder is a mid-game boss-style enemy in Doom Eternal whose shield, hitscan axe bolts and summoned wolf force a strict counter-rhythm; fans turned his reputation as a pace-killer into an object-labeling meme format[3]. ### Where did Marauder (Doom Eternal) come from? id Software introduced him in trailers ahead of E3 2019, and r/Doom user u/Tinbee posted the earliest documented Marauder meme on June 8, 2019[2]. ### What does Marauder (Doom Eternal) mean? In meme form, the Marauder stands in for anything hard to beat while Doomguy stands in for the frustrated player; the "usurper, a false idol" trailer still is often recaptioned to pit upstarts against established rivals[8]. ### How do you use Marauder (Doom Eternal)? Posters typically drop the Marauder and Doomguy into a two-panel labeling macro, or paste new captions over the January 2020 "usurper" trailer frame to cast new matchups[9]. ### Is Marauder (Doom Eternal) still popular? The format peaked around the March to April 2020 Doom Eternal launch window, with Vice coverage[1] and viral r/Doom posts[7], and is now treated as a classic Doom community reference. ## References 1. [https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/jgezzk/why-the-doom-eternal-marauder-sucks-so-bad]() 2. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Doom/comments/by3ysx/the_screencap_of_the_marauder_midswing_made_me/]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/marauder-doom-eternal]() 4. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Doom/comments/c3efy3/fanart_a_crossover_between_the_marauder_and_the/]() 5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmzAo7uM8Jo]() 6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C88Bn8vyvC4]() 7. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Doom/comments/fvmlvj/doom_eternal_has_some_top_tier_meme_potential/]() 8. [https://ifunny.co/picture/you-talk-alot-of-shit-for-someone-i-in-ripning-TNA45mbL7]() 9. [https://www.reddit.com/r/dankmemes/comments/fupsca/covid_19_is_nothing_but_a_usurper/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/marauder-doom-eternal Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library