Quote Originally Posted by warty goblin View Post
That said, goofy but bleak is in some ways, a pretty good structural fit for the basic assumptions of this sort of cRPG. To wit:
1) You should be allowed to murder people who irritate you.
2) You should be materially rewarded for every decision.
3) You are super special and will save the world via the medium of killing 95% of the people, and 99% of the wildlife, you encounter.

Basically the fate of the universe rests in the blood-soaked hand of a psychotic mass murderer who's main claim to fame is being a better mass murderer than everybody else, and since about 60% of the sapient population in most RPGs seems to be sadistic bandits, there's a lot of competition. The concept is, at a foundational level, both goofy and incredibly depressing.

Really, in a lot of ways Doomguy is a lot more pro-social of a protagonist than your standard RPG hero.
Huh. On reflection, it's somewhat concerning just how on the nose this really is.