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Arch-Vile

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...and yet another piece of fanart out of the proverbial drawing over that seems to be my hands :p

This time, though... I have made a rendition of one of my favorite, even if most feared and annoying, enemies in all of DOOM, but this version in particular does homage to DOOM³'s iteration of the creature which originally plagued my frustration and my veneration back when I was a lot younger in DOOM2. As you've already come to know from the title of the picture, the Arch-Vile now graces the screen before you with as much malefic presence as I could give it on paper.

What has always captivated me about the Arch-Vile's appearance is that compared to the rest of the creatures in the DOOM series, this bastard (as mon cherie has so lovingly called him :p) is rather innocuous looking and seems particularly frail when placed in the midst of his fellow comrades from Hell. But that's where his "insipid" composure ends, as he is actually EXTREMELY powerful and could possibly be categorized in the "toughest ass fothermuckers of DOOM" category. Back when he first appeared in DOOM 2, the Arch-Vile was something that I thought was going to be easy enough to kill... He didn't even SOUND as vicious as his other helpers he looked so thin and frail... I thought it must've been a joke of an enemy when only one of them appeared around level 8 near the end of said map. But when suddenly my screen began to be enveloped by digital flames and I saw the beast as if it was consumed by flames itself, I knew I was in for a rather difficult fight. Of course, I had no idea what to do at the moment, and a few moments later, I simply exploded and the Arch-Vile vaporized me while all of his other little buddies gloated at my corpse.

I later tried to subvert all of his demonic pals before taking him on again... but whoa loh, what is this? His fallen comrades soon began to breathe new life and rise once more to try and kill me just as they had a few moments before as if I hadn't shoved a rocket down their throats... Then I saw who was responsible. Of course, our pal the Arch-Vile again. Who then proceeded to set me on fire again and blow me to kingdom come.

This was getting ridiculous.

I tried to take him head on, thinking that he couldn't really resist all that much ammunition shoved forcefully into his body... But STILL he set me on fire and killed me after receiving quite a hefty amount of damage from my double-barrelled shotgun. It was purely out of luck that I found out that if I got out of his line of sight before his incendiary spell finished, the explosion wouldn't get destroy me. Still, taking on his fast-moving, spontaneously-combusting, monster-resurrecting presence was no picnic and has NEVER been a picnic. Here I learned the important lesson that appearances are not always everything in this particular game, and in some sick and twisted sense, the Arch-Vile gained my admiration even if I hated the fiend to no end.

In DOOM³, I was glad to see his familiar visage again... and mostly unchanged from his original form. He still ends up looking so withered, pale and harmless compared to the others that show up in DOOM³ (and these look a LOT more aggressive now) and he still has the incredibly nasty habit of setting you on fire... only that now his attack comes in two flavors. The original vanilla flavor that makes flames erupt from you, and a more damaging but avoidable flavor in which a stream of fire flows forth from his hands in a straight line towards you. But, if you get caught in the blast, it'll be sure to hurt like hell. The BIG difference is that this guy no longer brings back his dead buddies from death... but, he DOES bring a gaggle of them to hunt you down whenever he wants. Well, I think i've babbled on long enough about his wealth of abilities and all of the cool things this guy can do... just... well, just enjoy the picture and leave comments if you will, they're always appreciated :D
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Soundwave04's avatar
Ah the Arch-Vile... and the level "Hunted" as well...