User blog:Vorknkx/Quake Monsters Genealogy!

Brace yourselves for a long and highly analytical (as well as somewhat speculative) blog post tracing the awesome genealogy of Quake 1's monsters throughout id Software's games - their predecessors (in terms of appearance, gameplay mechanics or spirit) and their successors.

I hope you enjoy it (I invested a lot of effort and time into it). Let's begin!

Rottweiler
It seems someone at id really hates dogs, considering how much we get to kill them in their games.

Predecessors

 * Keen series - The Garg in Keen 1 is an enemy that will charge you and kill on touch. However, the most recognizeable predecessor is the Shockshund from Keen 5 - a dog that kills both by touch (it can leap too!) and by barking up electrical blasts.
 * Wolf 3D - The Dogs (German Shepherds / Dobermans in the SoD mission packs) are the most direct ancestor of Quake's Rottweiler. The only difference is that they don't leap. Also, it takes only one hit to dispatch them.
 * Doom - The "Pinky" Demons are the closest thing Doom has to dogs - they charge the player and do melee damage.

Successors

 * Quake 2 - The Parasite is a dog-like creature, though its attack is not melee; it attacks via a probe of some sort. Pretty nasty creature! Also, Ground Zero's Stalker is a somewhat dog-like.
 * Quake 4 - The Teleport Dropper is a dog-like creature, though it rarely attack the player directly, it rather prefers to summon other creatures. The only creature with dog-like behavior is the Grunt actually.

Grunt
The generic human trooper has deep roots in id Software's gaming traditions (as well as in pretty much every other FPS series ever).

Predecessors

 * Keen series - The Vorticon Grunt from Keen 2/3 is probably the closest thing we have to a generic cannon fodder that a player is supposed to kill in the hundreds. The only difference is that these guys don't shoot - instead they kill by touch and thus try to get closer to you. The Keen 1 grunt is a special case - there is only four of them and they act as mini-bosses (the last one beging a true boss).
 * Wolf 3D - Obviously, the generic brown-uniformed Guards - dumb, weak, and generally pathetic. You get to kill tons of them.
 * Doom - The generic Zombiemen are the direct predecessor of Quake's Grunt - similar weapon and behavior patterns.

Successors

 * Quake 2 - The generic Guards (of all three varieties) are the direct successor of the original Quake Grunt.
 * Quake 4 - Same as above - Guard (Q4).

Enforcer
Supposedly a better Grunt, though they often tend to be less dangerous, due to having a projectile attack (easier to dodge than hitscan). Still, they are the heavy infantry, which also has deep roots in id Soft's gaming culture.

Predecessors

 * Keen series - The Vorticon Elite from Keen 2, which are meant to be a deadlier and improved version of the common Grunt. They take more shots to kill and they do shoot (that's pretty hard to dodge). As a whole, they are a lot more dangerous than Quake's Enforcers.
 * Wolf 3D - The SS. Tougher, meaner, deadlier. Again, a much bigger threat than Quake's Enforcers.
 * Doom - The higher ranks of Zombiemen (Shotgun guys and Chaingunners), which also are generally more dangerous than poor old Quake Enforcer (sigh).

Successors

 * Quake 2 - This game's Enforcer (Q2) has more hit points and a chaingun, which makes him more threatening.
 * Quake 4 - The Tactical Strogg seems to be this game's version of the Enforcer.

Knight
A fast and melee-oriented variety of the human enemy. With a sword! And armor!!!

Predecessors

 * Keen series - Pretty much every kill-by-touch creature in the Keen universe is comparable to the Knight in terms of gameplay mechanics. However, the creature I consider to be a close predecessor is the Bloog, but only because its stronger version (the Blooguard) is comparable to the way the Death Knight is superior to the Knight.
 * Wolf 3D - I'd say it's the Officer - slightly stronger than the Guard/Grunt, yet faster moving and deadlier.
 * Doom - Hmmm, I guess it's the Pinky Demon again - fast and melee creature.

Successors

 * Quake 2 - I'd say the Berserker (Q2) - moves fast and pummels you with melee attacks.
 * Quake 4 - Same here - the Berserker (Q4).

Death Knight
Tin can Mark 2. Now with a ranged attack and more HP!

Predecessors

 * Keen series - If the ordinary Knight predecessor was the Bloog, the DK's is the Blooguard, which takes more shots to kill and has a ranged attack (though it doesn't kill, merely stuns).
 * Wolf 3D - The Mutant I believe is the closest - powerful, scary and deadly.
 * Doom - The Hell Knight and Baron of Hell are powerful melee+ranged creatures that can really hurt you!

Successors

 * Quake 4 - Their Berserker (Q4) is comparable to the DK as well, due to having a ranged attack too.

Ogre
Chainsaw + grenades. Disturbing.

Predecessors

 * Keen series - The only thing that reminds me of an Ogre in here is Keen 4's Berkeloid - it kills on touch but it also tosses fiery projectiles that act like Quake's grenades (in a way). It is a predecessor in terms of attack mechanics. In terms of appearance, it's probably the Bloog (big, fat and ugly). Also, some similarity to (don't laugh) Frenchy that kills both by touch and by throwing (don't laugh!!!) French fries at you.
 * Wolf 3D - Bosses combining hitscan weapons with rockets launchers could be considered predecessors fo the Ogre (e.g. General Fettgesicht).
 * Doom - The Imp - a combination of melee and ranged attacks, though slower and with less HP. It is about as common as the Ogre, though.

Successors

 * Quake 2 - The Gunner (Q2) is a combination of hitscan and a grenade launcher. It's not a Chainsaw, but the general scheme is the same - dodge the grenades or fight up close.
 * Quake 4 - Same as above - Gunner (Q4).

Scrag
Flying enemies are something you both love and hate in first-person shooters. But they are always fun to kill.

Predecessors

 * Keen series - The closest thing to a flying monster is Keen 2's Guard Robot, but it's pretty dumb because it doesn't react to the player's presence. It just follows its route and shoots at random intervals, regardless of what is in sight. Many monsters end up killed by these mindless robots.
 * Wolf 3D - No flying creatures in this engine. The only thing that comes slightly close is the Fake Hitler, which floats and shoots projectiles.
 * Doom - This is pretty obvious, the Cacodemon, whose projectle used to be the Scrag's projectile in Qtest (with messed up colors). Otherwise, the gameplay mechanics are pretty much identical.

Successors

 * Quake 2 - All flying monsters, especially the Icarus.
 * Quake 4 - The Sentry is fairly similar to the Scrag. Also, the various flying Hornet (Q4) things, though the only similarity is the fact that they fly.

Zombie
A special case, since it can only be killed by gibbing and it throws chunks of itself at you (ewww).

Predecessors

 * Keen series - Nothing zombie-like in here, although the Pea pod from Keen Dreams does attack by throwing pieces of itself at you (the smaller pea brains).
 * Wolf 3D - The Mutant is the only undead creature in the game.
 * Doom - The various zombie variants.

Successors

 * Quake 2 - The Brains walks in a slow clumsy manner similar to the zombies. But that's the only similarity.
 * Quake 4 - The Zombie (Q4), also known as failed or slimy trasnfers are the only zombie-like thing around.
 * Return to Castle Wolfenstein - The zombies found in this game require to be "gubbed" after being killed, otherwise they come back to life. That's the closest thing to the Q1 zombie.

Predecessors

 * Keen series - Ugly thing that charges you at top speed. Sounds like the Garg, doesn't it? Or Keen 5's Sparky? But most of all - Keen 6's Nospike, which charges you with a huge spike on its head, trying to impale you. I'd also mentioned Keen 3's Vortininja, which jumps at you suddenly and kills on touch. Furthermore, I'll mention the weird vegetable from Keen Dreams known as Asparagusto - it charges and impales you on its spiky... thing. Also - the Squasher that jumps at you suddenly.
 * Wolf 3D - Only the dog comes close the Fiend in terms of gameplay.
 * Doom - The Pinky Demon, obviously. But also, the Lost Soul, due to the way it moves (sudden bursts towards the player).

Successors

 * Quake 2 - The Mutant - very similar to the Fiend in both mechanics and appearance.
 * Quake 4 - I guess it's the Grunt...

Rotfish
An underwater enemy was something pretty new for its time. Duke 3D had underwater sharks, though its water mechanics were not nearly as cool as Quake's :P

Predecessors

 * Keen series - The famous Dopefish, which exists within a special "underwater" level of Keen 4 (The Well of Wishes). The game engine does not really support underwater movement/combat, so this level is a special case, where normal "land" walking and combat are disabled altogether.
 * Wolf 3D - The engine does not support anything related to water.
 * Doom - Same as above. Though I should mention that Hexen (heavily tweaked Doom engine) had an "aquatic" enemy - the Stalker, which moves "underwater" (and is thus invisible and uninteractable) until it emerges to attack you (at which point you can attack it).

Successors

 * Quake 2 - Quite obviously, it's the Barracuda Shark. Nearly identical in terms of appearance and mechanics.
 * Hexen II - Modified Q1 engine, so it belongs here. It's the Hydra, which is the Rotfish's successor, apart from the fact that it has a ranged attack too (some kind of ink that also blinds you momentarily). For the sake of realism, slain Hydras float to the surface inbstead of sinking to the bottom like the Rotfish.
 * Heretic 2 - The Myxini is another iteration of an evil fish, this time in a modified Quake 2 engine (which makes it more of a Barracuda successor).

Vore
This is more difficult case, folks. But worry not, ol' Vorknkx will handle it!

Predecessors

 * Keen series - The only spider-like thing is Keen 4's Arachnut. In terms of mechanics, I can't find anything like the Vore. The Keen simply doesn't support tracking projectiles.
 * Wolf 3D - Nothing even close.
 * Doom - In terms of appearance - the Arachnotron and Spider Mastermind. In terms of tracking missile mechanics - the Revenant.

Successors

 * Quake 2 - Appearance - the second spider-like phase of the Black Widow from Ground Zero. As for tracking missiles - it's the Iron Maiden (Beta Class).
 * Quake 4 - The Stream Protector kind of looks like the Vore, though it has no tracking projectile attacks.

Spawn
This one is even weirder. Good thing ol' Vorknkx likes a good challenge.

Predecessors

 * Keen series - The only thing that is somwwhat comparable to a monster that explodes and hurts on death is Keen 5's Shelley - it will try to jump on you and produce a deadly explosion on death. I can also mention the Keen Dreams Tomatooth that jumps around somewhat erratically.
 * Wolf 3D - Nope, nothing.
 * Doom - The Lost Soul's movement patterns might be somewhat similar to the Spawn. But only slightly.

Successors

 * Return to Castle Wolfenstein - Probably the Loper - it jumps around erratically and does heavy damage.

Shambler
Huge, powerful and almost boss-like.

Predecessors

 * Keen series - I'd say it's Keen 5's Robo Red - huge, utterly deadly... and unkillable.
 * Wolf 3D - Any boss enemy is comparable to the Shambler in terms of strength and size.
 * Doom - The lovely Cyberdemon, of course, though it's considerably tougher than the Shambler.

Successors

 * Quake 2 - The Tank and Tank Commander, though they are much slower and clumsier than the Shambler.
 * Quake 4 - Again, Light Tank and Heavy Hover Tank.

Chthon
A unique boss with a special killing method. Brace yourselves!

Predecessors

 * Keen series - Keen 3's Mangling Machine is a stationary / set piece boss that requires some special moves to kill. It's not exactly Chthon, but it's somewhat close. I might also mention the Keen Dreams boss (don't laugh!!!) Boobus Tuber who can only be killed with a special weapon that you collect in the other levels of the game.
 * Wolf 3D - n/a
 * Doom - The Icon of Sin is another large set piece that you kill in a special manner (by shooting a hole in its head). Keep in mind that the Icon itself is just a set of textures and the "boss" itself is an actor hidden inside it (Romero's head).

Successors

 * Quake 4 - A bit of a stretch but... in the Dispersal Facility level is a large beating heart, not an enemy but more a device you need to destroy. And the way to disable it permanently is to overload with with... (prepare yourself)... two electrodes. Sounds similar to Chthon's killing, doesn't it?

Shub-Niggurath
The ultimate mistress of evil is... an inert blob with tenatacles? Huh?!?

Predecessors

 * Keen series - The Quantum Explosion Dynamo is quite similar to Shubby - immobile, inert, cannot be damaged by the player in any way, and you win the game when it is destroyed. However, instead of a telefrag, you kill it by luring a Shikadi Mine near and causing it to explode, which destroys the QED, thus ending the game. I might also mention the special-case final Keen 1 grunt again (a.k.a. the Vorticon Commander) who is normally killed by a special mechanic (dropping a ceiling on his head), though keep in mind that this Commander can also be killed normally if you have a lot of ammo - 105 shots, to be precise).
 * Wolf 3D - n/a
 * Doom - n/a

Successors

 * Quake 4 - The Stroyent-processing creature in the level Putrification Center is an immoble and indestrutible set piece, which can only be killed by overfeeding it, i.e. by making it blow up from within. It sounds similar to telefragging Shubby, does it not?

(bonus) Gremlin
This creature was likely inspired by the Lightning Guards in Rise of the Triad. which have the ability to steal your weapons and then use them against you. Keep in mind that some of the people who worked on RotT actually did join Hipnotic Software later to work on SoA, so no surprise this idea migrated with them.

(bonus) Armagon
Possible predecessor is the Cyberdemon from Doom, as for successors - the Makron and his Q4 counterpart.

I hope you liked this study!