system
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human
[DOOM] what are the implications of Hell existing?

Does hell just exist in the doom universe? Is it different than the idea that you go there when you die? Or is it more of an evil dimension? Is it even hell or just another dimension filled with monsters. Side question: what has happened to people on earth in the doom universe? Are they still there? Or have they been consumed by ardent energy, etc. Thanks!
gpt
This could be a little long and really gets into the games, and some of the books.

First off lets keep in mind that when Doom was being made? John Carmack said something along the lines of, "Story in a video game is like story in a porno movie." Now again keep in mind, we're talking the early to mid-1990's here. Sure games like Final Fantasy and even some PC RPG's could do story? But it was told to you, or you found out the story in fairly simple ways. SSI Gold Box AD&D titles have the story in the game manual, Ultima with it's, "Name. Job. Bye." system of talking to NPC's. Point is? Doom's story was a simple line of Demons bad, you good, go kill! Like how in a porno movie no one gives a shit that the lady doesn't have money to pay for the pizza, we want the action.

Thus this brings me to the Doom Novels by Dafydd ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver. The story behind them is really that the Demons are 'Aliens' the whole hell stuff is ignored, Deimos is moved to Earth's orbit via gateways, the Zombies and the like are made via a bio-weapon. The third and fourth books have more aliens showing up and a plot that's almost sorta lifted from Babylon 5's Vorlon vs. Shadows stuff.

So long story short? The Novels are more or less made in a way that kinda go's down a more Sci-Fi road. Really they are not too bad for being based on two games that have 8 pages of story. Still lets get to Doom 3.

Here the idea is that 'Hell' is another dimension. Humans really came from Mars and when fucking around with transporter tech opened a gateway. Mars due to the war with the Demons gets wrecked, what's left of the Mars Humans flee to Earth and the Demons are beaten back via a 'warrior' with the Soul Cube. The humans on Earth after a few thousand years or so now have hell as the place where bad people go where they die as mankind has forgotten all about coming from Mars. So Doom 3? Hell is the evil dimension that just has energies and the like that turn people into Zombies, and the 'Demons' are just really the assholes who live there. Still with me? Good... Now we get into the real fun of the first two Doom games, Doom 64 and the 2016 Doom as yes they all sorta tie together...

Alright so again keep in mind there's barely any plot with the first two Doom games other then what you see after beating episodes or a number of levels in Doom 2. Doom 64 however? It's sorta Doom 3 if you will. The story being that the main character from Doom and Doom 2 returns to Mars to finish off what's left of the Demons. Said Marine go's to hell and beats the 'big bad' and stays in hell to make sure the Demons never get out ever again.

Thus this brings us to 2016 Doom. We find out that the Doom Marine was found in a sarcophagus in hell. The UAC started fucking around with Ardent Energy as Earth had an Energy Crisis on it's hands. The UAC are worshiping Demons and getting all into spooky black magic and the like. And the game does sorta hint that yes Doom 1, 2 and 64 took place.

So over all it's sorta this...

The Doom Novels are just 'Aliens' sure there's talk of heaven, hell and the like. However it's over all about a bunch of Aliens who much like the Vorlon's and Shadows have their own ideals that they are fighting over. Thus you die and no one really knows what comes after.

Doom 3? Humans are really ancient aliens (think Battlestar Galactica) who fucked around with transporter tech and found an evil dimension on the other side. Think Event Horizon and Warhammer 40k's 'The Warp'

Doom 1, 2, 64 and Doom 2016? There is a hell, it's the place where bad people go when they die and filled with not so nice things. The UAC after Doom 64 starts fucking around with hell and finds Ardent Energy, they also find the Doom Marine who when Hell over runs everything gets pissed off and leaps back into action. Chances are Doom Eternal will sum up what happened to everyone on Earth, and so far via the game play videos? Not looking too good...