Doom Slayer

Grab your Super Shotgun and prepare to shoot like Hell, because the Doom Slayer is tearing through the competition!

The Slayer, also known as the Doom Slayer or Doom Guy, has a gigantic arsenal of weapons from across his series that I wanted to represent in his moves and spirits, but at his core the Doom Slayer is a fairly standard gunner, just with a lean towards the fast and furious.

The Mii
Since the Slayer’s face is entirely covered, the Mii you choose for him doesn’t matter too much, but if you do want a nice looking Mii that matches his source material, this is a very impressive guide I found.

The Moves
Doom Slayer’s neutral special is Charge Blast, representing the powerful, orb-like shot of the BFG 9000. This gives him a solid ranged kill option that takes time to prepare and can be difficult to recharge in the heat of battle, similar to how in the DOOM series the BFG is typically the most powerful gun in the game, but is heavily limited by the scarcity of its ammo.

For his side special, the Doom Slayer uses Gunner Missile in a very similar way to how he uses his Rocket Launcher in the newest Doom duology, using the Remote Detonation weapon mod to create a mid-air explosion that provides him with a form of stage control.

For his up special, the Slayer uses Lunar Launch. There isn’t much direct inspiration to go on for Doom Slayer’s up special, although Lunar Launch is slightly more limited than other Gunner up specials, which felt appropriate due to Doom Guy’s history as a primarily ground fighter. His original games didn’t even have a jump function. So keeping his aerial game a more minor part of his moveset, while dishing out punishment from the ground, felt most appropriate.

For his down special, Doom Slayer uses Bomb Drop like a grenade. Grenades have been in the DOOM series for a long time, although this specific move most closely matches the utility of the shoulder-mounted grenade launcher from DOOM Eternal, which served as a close-range “get off me” button to help put distance between yourself and the horde.

The Style
For Doom Slayer’s spirit setup, I used a Ray MK III with Land Style, to capture the high speed gameplay of his home series while also increasing his focus on ground combat.

The Spirits
For his spirits, he uses a Beam Sword Equipped spirit, representing the powerful Crucible weapon from DOOM Eternal. Like in that game, the Crucible only has a limited number of charges, so make creative use of it at the start of the match to hopefully create a strong early lead.

He also uses a KOs Heal Damage spirit, closely representing the Glory Kill system from the new DOOM games. In those games, when you melee kill an enemy who is at low health, they’ll drop a small amount of health pickups. While you don’t necessarily have to get a kill with a melee attack in Smash, this spirit keeps the, ahem, spirit of DOOM’s unique glory kill mechanic alive. More pain, more gain.

Analysis
Overall, the Slayer is a fast and durable fighter who can leverage a lead very strongly with his ability to heal off of KOs, but struggles with a weak and predictable recovery when taken off-stage. While he doesn’t have quite as many unique quirks as other MFP characters, I feel he has a very solid and fun moveset, and his spirit effects can make for some fun and intense matches if you know how to utilize them well.

Summary:
The Ray MK II with Land Style: 1 Support Spirit with KOs Heal Damage 1 Support Spirit with Beam Sword Equipped



Credits: Uielicious Mii: WiiSPN