Is the Doom Slayer‘s War Against Hell a Case of Justified Insanity?

While the Doom Slayer‘s endless rampage against demonkind exhibits behavior that could be deemed insane, a closer look at the traumatic origins of his crusade and the continued existential threats posed by Hell‘s armies make a strong case that his methods are a necessary evil.

As one of the brave marines defending Mars‘ moons when the portal to Hell opened, the man who would become the Doom Slayer witnessed the gruesome deaths of his entire squad and loss of his beloved pet rabbit Daisy. This trauma birthed an endless drive for vengeance in the face of impossible odds.

Post Traumatic Savior or Dangerously Obsessed?

Emerging from his sarcophagus tomb ready to wage war anew each time he is revived, the Doom Slayer displays symptoms of PTSD including emotional numbness, hypervigilance, and unconstrained rage. Having sacrificed everything from mortal bonds to his own body and mind, he cannot stop battling the demonic hordes even at risk of collateral damage to human settlements.

His unwillingness to cease pursuit of every last demon regardless of cost shows obsessiveness bordering on insanity to critics. But most beneficiaries of his protection argue that absent his intervention, our species would have been driven extinct or enslaved by the endless armies emerging from Hell intent on our destruction. They view the marine as a necessary hero and even worship him like a deity. As the codex discovered by the UAC researchers described of the Doom Slayer:

In his crusade, the seraphim [Doom Slayer] bestowed upon him terrible power and speed, and with his might he crushed the obsidian pillars of the Blood Temples. He set forth without pity upon the beasts of the nine circles. Unbreakable, incorruptible, unyielding, the Doom Slayer sought to end the dominion of the dark realm.

The Doom Slayer quickly earned a mythic status through not only surviving but thriving in the deepest pits of Hell for eons, destroying every category of demon in vast numbers. Quantifying just how effective at decimating the limitless hordes from Hell, he has been credited with slaying:

An Antihero Defending Humanity or Reckless Warmonger?

The Codex Umbra further describes the doom marine waging total war against every circle of Hell:

He set forth without pity upon the beasts of the nine circles. Unbreakable, incorruptible, unyielding, the Doom Slayer sought to end the dominion of the dark realm.

This campaign resulted in mass demon casualties but also significant collateral damage as the ruins of Argentina D‘Nur attest after the battle against the Titan demon army. The demons recognize the overwhelming threat posed by the Doom Slayer, doing everything in their power to halt his rampage or trick humanity into hindering him.

And in his terrible rancor between worlds and through time, the Hell Walker found the wretch who shall not be named, but in his heresy was loyal to his evil cause. The wretch adorned the Doom Slayer in a mighty armor, wrought in the forges of Hell, impenetrable and unyielding.

Some humans argue that the risk of the marine‘s fury falling upon our settlements is too great, fearing the destruction from his arsenal which includes the BFG10000 plasma cannon, crucible blade, and enough guns, rockets, and explosives to level mountains. He has no regard for any treaty or rules of war in his endless crusade. But the praetor suit armor the demons themselves forged for him enhances rather than constrains his power.

An Ally Too Potent to Control

UAC cultists succeeded in containing the Doom Slayer for a time, sealing him in blessed sarcophagus tombs to awaken only when threats required his intervention across dimensions. But upon each resurrection, his untamed fury soon turns to destroying the forces controlling his reawakening.

In the most recent demonic invasion, the UAC facility that unsealed and betrayed the Doom Slayer fell quickly to his overwhelming force. Even Dr. Hayden who hoped to harness the marine‘s power to solve an energy crisis could not control what he had unleashed. Forced to destroy Hayden‘s compromised ARC facilities in order to stop Hell‘s invasion of Earth, the Doom Slayer‘s collateral damage is measured against entire human cities or planets being overrun.

Conclusion: Necessary means toward survival‘s ends?

Reasonable people can debate whether the Doom Slayer‘s obsession with destroying Hell at any cost passes into a form of insanity. His lack of speech, empathy, mercy, or self-preservation instinct resemble a PTSD sufferer unable to stop re-living trauma through violence.

However, the continued clear and present danger shown by immortal Titans, planet-threatening demonic sacraments summoning limitless reinforcements from Hell, and even the Dark Lord‘s ability to resurrect endlessly, make the case that our species‘ very survival requires an ally of equal relentlessness and potency. An ally beholden to no mortal organization‘s chain of command, but able to rip said chains from the walls of Hell as needed. The Council of wizards who empowered and armed the marine recognized that defeating an enemy willing to spend resources without limit required investing in an immortal champion whose dedication to annihilating demonkind matched their limitless numbers.

So perhaps what appears as insanity or obsession instead represents the burden the Doom Slayer alone can bear on behalf of humanity. As the only crusader capable yet willing to wage eternal war against the numberless hordes of Hell, his endless rampage reflects not a fixation but a necessary stewardship in defending Earth and all worlds from the interdimensional reach of demonic invasion. An invasion only held back by the Doom Slayer‘s infinite capacity and will for destruction, which some might term madness yet our planet calls salvation.