Top Ten Most Badass Weapons in Gaming History - # 4 The BFG 9000

by James Fleming on November 18, 2007

What does BFG stand for exactly? Well if you don’t know then you must be new to this whole video game craze that’s been driving all the kiddies wild. The real name of the BFG is probably the worst kept secret in the history of video games.

It’s an acronym that had every twelve year old giggling with delight upon discovering the not-so-cryptic meaning. The name alone would constitute a place on a list such as this, but its screen-encompassing blast ratio doesn’t hurt either.

When Doom was released in 1993, it revolutionized video games. Id Software took a lot of inspiration from their previous 3D shooter, Wolfenstein 3D, and retooled it to create a gaming classic.

The graphics were crisp, the controls were responsive and the weapons were sadistic. Chainsaws maimed imps, shotguns splattered demons, and plasma rifles scorched the Barons of hell. Doom was also the franchise that conjured up the term “Deathmatch”. But as amusing as using these weapons were, there was still one that towered above all the rest - The BFG.

The gun itself really didn’t look like much. Once equipped, it appeared as if our favorite Space Marine was simply holding an outdated copy machine or trash compactor. But no one can forget the first time they fired up this behemoth.

The way the screen turned almost completely green, the sparks came cascading down and every enemy on the screen was completely obliterated. Standing too close to the blast would take you out as well. Never has a single weapon turned the tides in someone’s favor more drastically.

The BFG (or “Big F***ing Gun”, if you hadn’t figured it out already) had the ability to make menacing hounds of hell seem like helpless pups. It did have its limitations, however. You could only use it at short to medium range and it only killed enemies in your line of sight. But those minor setbacks don’t take away from the BFG 9000’s performance record. This is the gun that made the player “too tough for hell to contain”. Now that is one badass weapon.

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1