THE MERGING OF DEMONS AND FLOWERS

On March 20, two very different new games come out: “Doom Eternal” and “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”

Doom is a very intense shooter game series that gives the player the task of slaying demons, by any means possible. Animal Crossing, on the other hand, is a game known for its cute animal characters and the relaxing atmosphere it provides.

The bond between these two franchises started from the Reddit messages and art of users Genkiz and Agent Strange. Agent Strange hopped onto the Doom Reddit page and wished the business happy greetings from the Animal Crossing Reddit page and said “Thank you” for sharing their release date. About a week after this message was sent, user Genkiz hopped into the Animal Crossing Reddit page with a similar message.

Both users made their introductions by showcasing two pieces of art of the mascots of Doom and Animal Crossing hanging out and being friends. This wholesome and cute trend started to spread rapidly through the entire gaming community, and even more art was drawn of these two mascots together. The community has made its own headcanon (fans’ interpretive narrative) that says Animal Crossing’s mascot, Isabelle, is a hardcore gamer who loves the Doom franchise and that the mascot for the Doom franchise, simply called “Doom Guy,” is a super-wholesome Animal Crossing player.

The art between the two communities is probably the cutest thing ever and has even created its own meme culture around the fact that the games release on the same exact date. The art and interactions between the two are more kind than most other online interactions between two very different communities.

Isabelle is a very common and recurring character in the Animal Crossing franchise who had recently made her appearance in the hit Nintendo game, “Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate” – the main reason she became the mascot. She is known for being the cute and ditzy secretary in the series, she has a very likable personality in the games, and is a fan favorite.

The Doom Guy is very famous, despite being void of an actual name. Doom has always been a game that was in a different category than all the other first-person shooter adventure games: It has been the target of controversy with its demonic imagery and violent gameplay and visuals. Some critics said that it raised young people who play the game to be satanists, but it actually shows (the player) getting rid of the demons, rather than joining them. Doom Guy is a brute in his games, and on his mission to eliminate the demonic spawn.

Doom Guy and Isabelle are very different characters and yet the community’s art of the two show how even if we gamers prefer different kinds of games, we can all get along and just enjoy talking about our favorites.