Welcome back, everyone! I have once again returned from my slumber to grace you with a battle of titanic proportions, a battle of world-eaters! This is a particular matchup I find to be interesting in concept, as both combatants grow increasingly stronger the more they consume. The outcome is dependent on the rate and amount at which the fighters can devour, a unique concept I feel is not explored enough in the VS debating scene, a gourmet race, if you will.
Aberrations, cosmic horrors that gnaw at the implicate fabric of reality itself merely by existing in it. In Lovecraftian lore, the cosmic horrors were introduced in an order of hierarchy, with each being more frightening and maddening than the last. The curtain and illusion of comfort stripped away as each layer revealed the great truth of the universe piece by piece, the truth that we are all a mere dream in the slumbering eye of the Great One, a fleeting thought that will be forgotten and cease to be as any dream would. There is an inherent dread present in all sentient beings that all we perceive is meaningless, as we are an infinitesimal speck adrift in a vast sea of darkness and cold, unfeeling matter. The history of our civilization can be documented and counted, as opposed to the great epochs of time, hundreds of billions of years that life existed on Earth alone, not counting the incomprehensible measure of time of existence before life. Do you measure your worth by your size or your mortality in comparison to the rest of the universe? These world-eaters are the personification of that concept: Darth Nihilus, the Lord of Hunger, and the Icon of Sin, Harbinger of the End Times.
In case you were wondering...
Star Wars and surprisingly Doom both have vast expanded universes comprising of different layers of canon and continuity. In the case of Nihilus, his main appearances are almost exclusively in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, with references and blurbs here and there in main canon novelizations and Disney canon movies. For the Icon, on the other hand, he has appearances and abilities outside of the main continuity. For fairness and simplicity sake, I will consider mainly the primary Doom games. Though… even then that can get fuzzy and a bit daunting for newcomers of the series considering there's a lot of dimension-hopping and time travel.
When I say Classic Doom, it refers to Doom (1993) and Doom II. This, in canon, is what is known as the "First Age". Doom 3 is a different dimension with a different Doom Marine, with Doom 64 being the true third installment to Classic Doom. The current games, Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal, take place in the Fourth Age, and are implied to be a universe separate from Classic Doom, with Hell being a multidimensional constant between all universes. In other words, all realms share a Hell, and it can be used to travel to all dimensions in the Doom Multiverse.
In the Wolfenstien RPG, it is revealed that Nazi anihillator BJ Blaskovitch is the great great grandfather of Id Software mascot Commander Keen, who is the ancestor of the original Doom Marine, and Blaskovitch fought a demon with the spear that pierced Jesus on the cross, a demon that Doomguy later fights as the Cyberdemon. And lest we forgot the Doom movie, where, contrary to popular belief, the Doom Marine is not actually The Rock, Dwayne Johnson is actually a demon monster mutated by Martian DNA and the real Doomguy was a guy named John Reaper. In Doom Annihilation, Doomguy's Blaskovitch ancestry is kept in tact but is unceremoniously killed off screen for no discernable reason other than to artificially elevate the female protagonist. And in the Doom novels, Doomguy is Flynn Taggart, who teams up with a Doomgirl as they go streaking and field strip corpses in an effort to fight off the demons who are actually aliens genetically modified by two warring intergalactic alien races known as the Newbies and the Fred's. Oh, and in Doom Eternal the Doom Slayer has Doom 1 and 2 on his PC, meaning that Doom is IN Doom.
Did you get all that? Don't worry, basically all you need to remember is that the Doomguy in Classic Doom is the same character as the Doom Slayer in the new games, and Hell is shared between all universes. (I just can't help but laugh at John Carmack's infamous quote that story in a video game is like story in porn and isn't really that important, considering he said that in regards to Doom which now has a massively expansive multiverse of lore comparable to that of Elder Scrolls).
All that being said, the Icon of Sin in the First Age is hinted at being a different entity as the Icon of the Fourth Age, though Eternal refers to his return as a "resurrection", so I will consider it the same.
There was another thing I wanted to address for this matchup. In the VS scene, the term "well-fed Galactus" is used to describe Galactus and similar cosmic characters whose power are dependent on the amount of cosmic energy they consume. As such, I wanted to address different scenarios, such as when both combatants are in base and full power, as well as how their armies fare against each other.
Backstory
Darth Nihilus
In the world of Star Wars, the Force is the focal point of all of existence. It does not know the concepts of good and evil, of dark and light, emotion and serenity that we have created, nor the Dichotomy of the Jedi and the Sith, the Light Side and Dark Side as they have labeled them, each of these are merely states of the same thing. The Force is everything, and, when wielded to its full potential, can do anything. The being that was once known as Darth Nihilus is an example of how terrifying a concept that can be.
Every action creates an echo. Through the Force, space and time are not a factor, even the smallest action will influence all life, the utterance of a single phrase can move galaxies. In approximately 4000 BBY, the rogue Jedi Revan launched a counterattack against the invading Mandalorians and led them to Malachor V. There, he challenged Mandalore the Ultimate to single combat and won, taking the helm of Mandalore and having all their Beskar armor melted to slag, then left them behind on the planet as he ordered the activation of his secret weapon, the Mass Shadow Generator. In Star Wars lore, a Mass Shadow is an energy field created by celestial objects that distorts Hyperspace. The weapon reversed Malachor’s Mass Shadow, causing the planet to simultaneously expand and collapse in on itself. The Mandalorian army was eviscerated in an instant on the surface, as fleets were pulled from orbit to the center of the planet, massive chunks of land terraformed and flung through space. The great cataclysm reverberated and caused an echo through the galaxy, described as a “wound in the Force”.
This was not merely retaliation against the Mandalorians, as destroying Malachor had another purpose. Malachor was also a base of operations for the Sith, and housed the Trayus Academy. Revan wanted to end the Mandalorian War as well as snuff out the possibility of any future conflicts by crushing the Sith, but in doing so, created something far worse than both. At the epicenter of the violently convulsing Mass Shadow that tore open the wound in the Force was the Sith Lord Darth Nihilus, who was killed and reborn as something neither living nor dead, motivated only by the emptiness now present in himself, expressed as hunger. Some would describe “him”, if he could be considered a person any longer, as a black hole that devours all life. More accurately, he is walking entropy, the death of the universe personified.
Upon waking in the ruins on Malachor, he pulled the remains of the ships that orbited and crashed on the planet, constructing a makeshift ship from the pieces he could find, as well as an almost literal skeleton crew out of the leftover corpses that still remained from the air battle that he reanimated to carry out his will.
He then traveled amongst the stars consuming world after world, until he came across the Miraluka homeworld of Katarr, of which he spared only one being to make his spy, assassin, and personal slave and then destroyed the planet.
Five years passed and after two wars that ravaged the galaxy, the Jedi and Sith were nearly extinct and scattered across worlds. Nihilus sent out his servant Visas Marr to search for Force sensitives to consume, as it was the only thing at that point that could come close to sating his endless hunger.
She encountered Meetra Surik, Jedi Exile survivor of Malachor and former follower of Revan. She attacked her aboard Revan's ship, the Ebon Hawk and Meetra convinced her to serve her instead. The remaining Jedi had a plan to draw out the Sith, and Nihilus is lured to Telos, the location of Atris' Jedi Enclave. Meetra and Visas team up with the Mandalorian Canderous Ordo, who was then Mandalore, and the three encountered Nihilus on board the Ravager. Nihilus attempted to feed on Meetra, but her carrying an echo of Malachor and being directly responsible as she was taking orders from Revan and gave the ok to detonate the weapon, was like attempting to pull from the very void that drove his hunger. This severely weakened him giving the three a fighting chance, yet Nihilus was still more than a match for them. Visas severed her Force Bond with Nihilus, stunning him and giving them the opening they needed to destroy his physical form. Meetra then took his mask as it was a powerful relic that housed his essence that could potentially be dangerous. If they hadn't stopped him then and there, the universe would have been consumed and no one would stop him.
Nihilus would become one of the most feared and revered Sith Lords of all time, worshipped far in the future by the likes of Darth Krayt, and his name removed from the Jedi Archives on Coruscant for fear of invoking him even after death.
Icon of Sin
In Judeo-Christian lore, the Icon of Sin referred to the personification of all sins of mankind that were left unredeemed by Christ as a result of those who didn’t repent and accept Him into one’s heart. In the crusade period it was represented as the demonic figure Baphomet, depicted as a sacrificial goat, and was used as a scare tactic against Paganism and to demonize false idols and the practice of other religions.
In Doom lore, the references to Christianity aren’t directly made though parallels remain. Iconography of the being existed as far back as Doom 1, though the Doom Marine wouldn’t encounter him until the end of Doom 2, confronted after the invasion of Earth while in Hell. There, the Icon was in a dormant state, though could still attack Doomguy and summon waves of enemies. Doomguy killed the Icon by firing his rocket launcher into his exposed brain, causing it to writhe and destroy most of Hell in its death throes. The vanquished arch-demon then lay silent in a fractured Hell for millenia.
Though dead, a Dark Lord's disembodied consciousness can still influence the actions of sentient beings from beyond the barriers of realms. One of these realms was the world of Sentinel Prime, the home planet of the Sentinels, a race of technologically advanced space knights. After the appearance of the figure who later came to be known as the Doom Slayer, Hell turned its attention to the Sentinels as one of many worlds left to conquer.
With the Slayer leading the charge, several raids were lead into the heart of Hell itself and many demons were slain in their glory. In retaliation, the dormant Icon telepathically influenced the mind of Commander Valen after his son was killed in combat. He tormented Valen with visions of his son suffering perpetually in Hell, and the Icon promised the return of his son to the world of the living if Valen left the Hellgate open. Valen, in a moment of irrational weakness, obliged and the city of Argent D'Nur was claimed by Hell, its Wraith deities absorbed to further power up Hell's armies. Valen's son was resurrected, but in Hell's infinite cruelty was now bound to the heart of the Icon of Sin, his still-beating heart on his pedestal as offering.
Valen was labeled the Betrayer and condemned himself to the Hellscape as punishment. Centuries later, the sealed sarcophagus of the dreaded Slayer was unearthed on Mars and freed by Samuel Hayden. The Slayer countered the ongoing invasion on Mars and headed to Earth, killing the Hell Priests and undoing the demons' conquest of Earth. The Khan Makyr, leader of the Order Deag and the Hell Priests, in a last ditch effort to stop the Slayer and claim Earth, resurrected the Icon of Sin in physical form, sealing it in a mechanical construct of Makyr design to suppress and control it. In the Khan Makyr's hubris, believed they could control the Icon by influencing the human spirit attached to it, but the Slayer freed the spirit of Valen's son, removing his bond to him and relinquishing any measure of control the Makyrs had over it.
In physical form, the Icon of Sin takes the form of a demonic Titan, a Harbinger of the End Times, the apocalypse in form and function. His presence damages and pulls away reality itself, creating a singularity that can swallow entire universes. Fortunately, the Slayer killed the Icon before this happened, though a Titan will not remain dead unless the weapon of a God-King is permanently embedded in its body.
Knowing this, the Slayer broke off the blade of his Crucible into its head, allowing it to collapse and remain dormant once again.
It wasn't until the Doom Slayer faced the Dark Lord Davoth in ritual combat and won that the Icon was permanently destroyed, as Hell and all its beings are tied to his essence.
Feats
Nihilus
DC and Durability
Merely stepping on Malachor’s surface is like having every cell of your being crushed as your Mass Shadow is manipulated. Kotor 2's main cast are seemingly unaffected. Also scales to the Storm Beasts who tanked the Mass Shadow Generator ( starts at 10:00).
Scales to Jedi Masters like Bastila Shan who lead the Jedi strike team against Revan.
Scales to Exar Kun, who tanked an attack from the Jedi Council that was visible from space.
Scales to Clone Wars era Jedi Masters who are at least baseline planet level, as Yareal Poof was able to manipulate a planet's worth of energy.
Was most affected by the Mass Shadow Generator's detonation, and though he died, his physical body remained intact.
Destroyed the Miraluka homeworld of Katarr. (5:40)
During the Ravager mission in Kotor 2, it is made exceedingly clear (starting at 3:50) that Nihilus must be killed before his ship is destroyed, meaning destroying his ship first, even in space, would barely inconvenience him.
It is stated by Kreia, Visas and NPC’s that he has consumed multiple planets and stars.
Drained his own master, Kreia's life Force, and scales to Darth Sion who beat her to near death beforehand.
Kreia and Visas claim that if he is not stopped, he will leave behind an empty galaxy and proceed to consume the rest of the universe.
Speed
Scales to Clone Wars era Jedi (pg.7) and General Grievous, who can react at near lightspeed.
Was able to keep up in a 3-on-1 duel between himself, Visas, Meetra Surik, and Mandalore the Preserver.
Traveled from Onderon to Telos in less than a week. For context, the Ravager is incapable of Hyperspace and is not propelled by engines, Nihilus instead pulls it through space by use of the Force. (5:34-12:09 for context) From what I could gather from this galaxy map and the coordinates I found from Wookiepedia, Telos is about 9 star systems away from Onderon. The average distance between solar systems irl is about 6.5 light-years, and if we lowball this to saying Nihilus took 7 days to get there (link to calculator here, Google used to convert values), we get 339 times the speed of light.
Icon
DC and Durability
Doom Eternal's cinematics showcase the moon after it's been shattered. It's never directly addressed, but it's clear it was a direct or indirect result of the Hell invasion. A bit vague, but there are similar feats in the same ballpark (see Hellification in abilities).
Destroyed a section of Hell in Doom 2's ending, to the point Doomguy wondered "where bad folks will go when they die now". I would hesitate to call this universal given the vagueness of the flavor text, though at least "untold miles" were destroyed.
It takes several shots from Doomguy's strongest weapons to pierce the Icon's armor and damage his body. He should also scale to the BFG 10000 blowing a hole through Mars, considering the Crucible is canonically the only weapon potent enough to kill him.
Speed
Dodges Doomguy's projectiles, which range from bullets and missiles to plasma and ion-based energy bolts.
Can cross city blocks in seconds due to his sheer size.
The AOE of his abilities and attacks have a stellar radius, able to encompass entire planets and beyond.
Abilities
Nihilus
The Force
“The Force is an energy that flows through all living things, and like energy, it may be harnessed, channeled, and consumed. At times, it may even be a substance that can burn and ignite.”
-Kreia
In short, the Force is the nexus by which its users can perform the feats and abilities they possess. By use of the Force, one can gain strength and agility, as well as metaphysical energy manipulation and raw destructive power. Its potency is dependent on the power of the user.
Force Vision
An ability that allows its user to see beyond the physical and instead see the energy that flows through objects and matter. Also allows one to see past walls and the alignment of Force users.
Cosmic Awareness
His former master Kreia fears speaking his name, as even a stray thought (17:00) may draw him near. He can also see planets and stars regardless of his location in the galaxy, and can navigate to celestial bodies without the use of navigation software or so much as a map. He can also alter one’s perception (9:30) to force them to view the galaxy as he does.
Force Lightning/Force Storm
Force Lightning aka Sith Lightning is an advanced ability taught and used by practitioners of the Dark Side of the Force. It allows one to manipulate electrons in the air as well as generate electricity from one’s own energy. There are multiple abilities in Star Wars called Force Storm, though the one in KotoR is presented as the user becoming a living Tesla Coil that rains down lightning on all nearby. Again, it is dependant on the amount of energy produced by the user, and can be more powerful than natural lightning, as it can kill the Storm Beasts on Malachor V (see Feats).
Force Drain/Death Field
Darth Nihilus’ primary ability that makes him so dangerous in the Star Wars mythos. Force Drain is exactly what it sounds like, the user drains the Force from an object or being. The pinnacle of this ability is using it so frequently that it happens automatically, a passive ability that saps the life force from living beings and energy from objects within a set vicinity. Nihilus has utilised this to such an extent that he drains planets and civilizations in mere moments simply by being near them.
Stasis Field
An ability that forces a target or group of targets’ body into a state of meta-stasis, effectively paralyzing them.
Force Stun
Similar to Stasis Field, but affects the mind rather than the body. Heavily disorients those its used on, even top tier Force users have difficulty resisting this from Nihilus.
Dominate Mind/Inspire Followers
Can telepathically force ideas and suggestions into other’s minds. He telepathically reached the military leader of Onderon and convinced him to serve him. The Jedi Exile has such potency in telepathic ability that they can convince others that jumping into a chasm is a good idea, and Nihilus far exceeds them in psionic ability, to the point where they have a great deal of difficulty resisting him. When others are converted to his side, they will fight and die for him, fighting with further efficiency and coordination than before, in a manner similar to Battle Meditation.
Terror/Insanity
A form of emotional manipulation that induces fear, can cause groups of targets to cower in terror or cause madness through sheer panic.
Force Shield
An ability that allows a user to shield themselves with the Force, offering another layer of protection.
Technopathy
Despite being a dead ship, the Ravager still has functional computers and life support systems with no known power source. Nihilus himself keeps these systems running through his own power.
Metaphysical Presence
There is a reason I keep referring to his death as “destroying his physical body”. Sith lords can bond themselves to objects upon death to create apparitions near them or speak to and influence others from beyond the grave, but Nihilus already had access to the beyond due to what happened on Malachor. He was technically already dead, puppeting his corpse from beyond the Living Force. Nihilus attached his essence to both his mask and his holocron, making him one of the only Sith to have more than one artifact to manifest from after death. One can only remove his presence from the physical world permanently by destroying these artifacts, though killing him in physical form will put him out of commission and release the energy he absorbed.
Necromancy
Just as Nihilus puppets his own body from beyond death, he can also do the same to others. After he has drained those of their life force, he can convert them into his undead slaves, still with full consciousness and functionality as though they were still alive.
Deathspeak
This “ability” has no real name in canon, though he is no longer able to speak as most living beings would. He instead projects ghastly sounds from the Force itself, and can allow those he has consumed to speak though him, which comes out like an unsettling amalgamation of whispers and screams. Multiple fans claim he is speaking the Sith language or the language of the Force itself, though there is no confirmation for this.
Icon
Hellification
A process in which the Hell dimension is merged with a section of land, terraforming it to suit Hell's environment. Hell Growth overtakes structures and locations with its cells reproducing at a rapid rate beyond any living being, further corrupting and Hellifying the landscape. Storms are created, gravity is manipulated, and magnetic poles are reversed, essentially all forms of energy are thrown off to induce chaos. The Hellification in Doom Eternal shows that he can induce this on a muli-continental to planet-wide scale, and this dissipates when he is killed.
Spatial Manipulation
The Icon can manipulate the barriers to the Hell dimension to summon Hell energy and demon minions for support. He can also manipulate space to telefrag enemies.
Hellfire/Hell Energy
The Icon can also control Hell energy, which he can pull from Hell via his dimensional manipulation or project his own. He can fire it in beams, rain down meteors, and set Hellfire to the battlefield.
Physical Aberration
The Icon's very physical presence is a singularity that distorts space and reality. He gradually becomes more powerful and destructive over time, similar to how a black hole increases in size and gravity the more mass it consumes over time. His physical strength and destructive potential also increases the longer he manifests in the physical plane, to the point where he can pull in the entirety of the universe with his sheer gravity.
Survivability/Immortality
The Titan species of demon is effectively immortal, with the Icon being the god figure of the Titans. He can be killed, though temporarily, and in the Doom universe only a God-king's weapon, such as the Doom Slayer's Crucible can do so. We of course treat these cases as NLF, not to mention if he can be immobilized by the weapon, it may be possible to do so by other methods.
The extent
of his immortality allows him to continue to fight despite being disemboweled and reduced to flesh and bone.
Psychic presence/Telepathy
Even without a body, as a Dark Lord the Icon can influence civilizations or individuals to commit evil acts. As mentioned before, he compelled the experienced Sentinel Commander Valen to leave the Hellgate open in exchange for his son's life. He can also possess humans and control the dead to begin or accelerate Hellification via Satanic rituals.
Arsenal
Nihilus
Lightsaber
The primary weapon of choice for Force sensitives. Nihilus' lightsaber glows red via a synthetic Aggedon crystal. Nihilus uses a little-known lightsaber form known as Atra-Manua, a Sith-modified variation of Form 4 and a defensive combat form that relies on devastating counterattacks with rapid, sweeping and circular motions meant to instantly wound or incapacitate opponents. He moves deceptively fast for a corpse, and his exceedingly tall frame gives him an edge over most opponents.
Ravager
The Ravager is Nihilus' vessel he uses for interplanetary travel in order to consume celestial bodies and feed his hunger. It is a makeshift ship scavenged from wreckage of destroyed ships he pulled from Malachor’s orbit following its devastation. By all accounts it should not function; it has no Hyperdrive or sub-light engines, and it is full of holes with massive chunks missing from its infrastructure, doors and hallways leading directly into open space with no airlocks. Nihilus holds this all together via the Force and it has its own gravity and atmosphere that are barely enough to sustain the living members of his crew.
Mask and robes
A mask and padded robes that offer some protection in combat. His presence can be projected through these objects should his body be destroyed.
Icon
Makyr Armor
A containment suit meant to seal the Icon for the Makyrs' purposes. It also protects the Icon's body, and should be somewhat proportional to his own durability considering both react similarly to the Doom Slayer's weaponry.
Armies
Nihilus
Nihilus Slaves
The crew of the Ravager, acquired either through his psionic abilities or necromancy. They are mostly engineers and technicians, though can defend themselves if necessary.
Sith Assassins
Sith trained to conceal themselves completely, effectively invisible to the untrained eye. Are capable of Force Drain (though not nearly on the same scale as their master) and can become proportionately as powerful as their targets, to an extent.
Colonel Tobin
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A military leader from Onderon who was persuaded to serve Nihilus via his telepathic influence. Possesses blasters, grenades, and energy shields. Also commands Onderon military forces aboard the Ravager.
Visas Marr
Visas is a Miraluka, a blind, human-like race that uses the Force to see. Nihilus uses her as his personal assassin and spy, often sending her to find suitable planets and powerful beings to feed on, and the two communicate via psychic bond. She carries a lightsaber and is a powerful Force user that can perform most of Nihilus' abilities, though on a smaller scale. Can also alter the perception and senses of her targets.
Icon
The Unwilling
Effectively zombie drones controlled by a Demon Lord (the Icon of Sin in this case). Like ants, they break down and gather carrion and carnage to create Gore Nests, ritually-induced Hell Growth that acts as a dimensional nexus to Hell. In combat they pose little threat to anything stronger than a human, though if any are left alive they will continue to create Gore Nests and bring in more reinforcements.
Hellified Soldiers
Humans that have been transformed into demons via an Argent Wave, usually generated by a sufficiently large Gore Nest.
Imps
The first true demons that appear in a Hell invasion, usually the frontrunners of Hell's armies. With their lizard-like appendages, they can crawl on walls and ceilings to infiltrate and flank defenses. They also possess similar transdimensional properties as the Gore Nests, able to summon Hell Energy to use as projectiles.
Gargoyles
Imps that have evolved to suit the climate of Exultia, home of the Night Sentinels. Possess flight and can attack with their sharp talons in addition to their other abilities.
Tentacles
Essentially the "roots" of Hell Growth that spread rapidly to further induce Hellification. Seem to possess a will of their own and can attack from the ground. Vary greatly in size.
Prowlers
AKA Nightmare Imps, as they are distant cousins that have more refined dimensional manipulation, as they can teleport and exist between dimensions to become intangible.
Whiplash
Snake-like demons that slither around and use hook blades to maneuver around enemies at close quarters.
Pinky
Basically Hell's equivalent of a feral hog, AKA Pig Demon, nicknamed Pinkies for the pigmentation of their skin. Covered in durable scales that are heavily resistant to ballistics and missiles, but are more vulnerable from behind.
Cacodemon
Floating, ball-shaped demons that fire projectiles from their mouths, and can produce a highly corrosive acid. A bite from their serrated teeth can easily tear through armor plating.
Pain Elemental
A more highly evolved relative of the Cacodemon, can summon demons from within its mouth called Lost Souls which are fired as projectiles. In addition to damaging their targets, a Lost Soul can attach to a host to possess them.
Mancubus
A super-heavy bloated demon that produces a highly flammable and combustible
substance within its stomach that can be fired as projectiles from its cannon arms. Produce enough energy to propel itself off the ground. Can produce AOE attacks by slamming the ground and explode, leaving behind damaging acid when killed.
Arachnotron
Offspring of the Spider Mastermind from the Fourth Age. Has arachnid appendages it can use to scale walls, and possess a turret and grenade launchers, essentially a mobile tank. They have an intelligence that exceeds that of any human, thanks to their massive brains.
Revenant
A skeletal demon with a jetpack and shoulder-mounted rocket battery. Proficient in attacking from above, in addition to being a formidable melee opponent up close.
Hell Knight
The elite forces of Hell, that rush down enemies relentlessly and attack them head-on with brute force.
Baron of Hell
A Hell Knight that ascended beyond their ordinary capabilities, now possessing a new body and the ability to project BFG-like energy blasts.
Fireborne Baron
An offshoot breed of Barons of Hell that have adapted to the harsh climates of the Burning Abyss, perpetually coated in Hellfire and now having energy blades on either forearm. Bleed lava and will damage those that come into close contact.
Archvile
Arguably the most dangerous non-boss enemies in Doom. They are able to resurrect non-gibbed demons as well as bolster the strength and speed of Hellish forces exponentially. It can also summon new demons that enter the battlefield with this buff. Archviles also create flame walls and ignite areas in flame to make them far more hazardous. Archviles are a priority target since they will increasingly magnify the threat of demons the longer they remain
Weaknesses
Nihilus
Nihilus’ power is also his greatest weakness. He does not see with his eyes, he perceives through the Force, and only cosmic amounts of energy are enough to grab his attention. As such, one can mask their presence to pass by him undetected or get the drop on him with abilities or weapons beyond his energy-sensing capabilities. That said, you can’t just shoot a gun at him and call it a day, as his absorption is passive and anything that enters his field will be drained, not to mention you still have to get past his durability. Theoretically, anything that can bypass or exceed these two things can hurt him.
In KotoR 2, Nihilus attempted to drain Meetra but was weakened as she carried the same void that made him what he is. Therefore if Nihilus attempted to drain anything devoid of the Force he would be weakened. One might argue that anything outside the SW universe would apply as they don’t carry Midichlorians,though the Force is described as something that flows through all things and is energy that can be harnessed and controlled, and since celestial objects and forms of energy exist in the Doom universe it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Nihilus could absorb those as well. What happened with Meetra on the Ravager was also very plot specific.
Icon
In Doom, it is established that only a Crucible can kill a Titan, and to keep one down permanently the blade must remain embedded in a vital area (17:25).
However, the Titan bodies found on Exultia also suggest that they can be immobilized or decay past the limits of their immortality, considering they were killed with mech suits and not a Crucible.
Verdicts
Base Nihilus vs Base Icon
In this scenario, both combatants are dropped into the fray at base power.
It's difficult to pinpoint what exactly "base power" is for both characters, considering they're at levels beyond where they started when the protagonists face them. For example, in KotoR 2, five years have passed since Nihilus' exposure to the Mass Shadow Generator, so there's no telling how much more powerful he became, what level he started at, and how many planets and/or stars he absorbed. The Icon of Sin is also active on Earth for an indeterminate amount of time and it is unclear the rate at which he grows in power.
To simplify matters and avoid a guessing game, we'll say that "base power" means the level they were at when the player character encounters them. Now, the Icon of Sin is already at a disadvantage considering Nihilus at that point had already consumed several planets and stars worth of energy, and by the time Doomguy gets to the Icon he's still working on forming a singularity to envelope the Earth.
The Icon still has spatial hax to telefrag Nihilus' body, though he has to consciously use this whereas Death Field is passive, and it is more likely for Nihilus to slice the Icon into pieces despite his size before he even gets a chance, considering the massive speed difference.
Furthermore, in his death throes a stray bolt of energy from Nihilus was able to wound Mandalore, who is very similar in stats to a pre-DLC Doomguy. Nihilus would also drain the Icon's army before a straggler zombie or Archvile attempts to resurrect more.
"Gourmet Race" Concept
This scenario is like a weird hybrid of a Death Battle and a Death Race, with the universe being the track, and the racers get more buff with each turn.
At the risk of contradicting myself, I'll try to determine a rate at which the combatants increase in power.
Now, in Doom Eternal, it takes less than an hour for Doomguy to get back to Earth, with Samuel Hayden constantly stressing the urgency that the Icon must be dealt with immediately. Though we aren't given an exact time frame, it isn't much of a stretch to say that the Icon's rate of consumption is faster than the Icon's, and it is implied in in-game text that as soon as Earth is consumed, the singularity increases and the rest of the universe shortly follows.
That being said, the energy Nihilus absorbs isn't exactly 1 to 1. Nihilus eating one planet isn't necessarily the same as gaining 1 planet's GBE worth of energy. It also depends on the inhabitants and the energy they give off. For example, consuming Katarr, assuming 1 Jedi scales to a fraction of Exar Kun's feat bare minimum and baseline planet level at maximum, it was really like consuming thousands of continents and moons and several planets worth of energy, on top of the actual planet's own energy. However, Nihilus has to travel light-years to reach these planets, assuming they'll even feed him that much. Nihilus can also only do this one by one, whereas the Icon stays right where he is and pulls the rest of the universe towards him, and will consume mass as well as energy whereas Nihilus absorbs just the energy. Nihilus' best bet is to find the Icon and gank him before this happens, assuming he can get there in time.
Army vs Army
The Icon of Sin's army has far more variation in terms of abilities, and can get the drop on the Ravager's crew in a variety of ways. Archviles, Gore Nests, and the Icon himself can continuously produce more demons onto the battlefield, and he already had a massive strength in numbers advantage. That being said, Visas and the Sith Assassins are likely more than enough to deal with them in time. The Sith can absorb their energy and match, if not exceed them in power, as well as being able to overwhelm them in speed. Their life drain will be able to counter their intangibilities and other hax.
Now that all being said… factoring in Nihilus himself makes this all completely irrelevant. It's game over as soon as he sets foot on the planet (likely even before that considering his range), the entire Hell Army would be wiped out.
Both Combatants at Max Potential
This is a bit more straightforward. As said before, The Icon of Sin consumes energy and matter, whereas Darth Nihilus absorbs just energy. Also, it is implied that the Icon has destroyed dimensions before, whereas in Nihilus' case its more of a hypothetical whether or not he can consume a whole universe (though he could absolutely consume galaxies eventually if allowed to roam free).
Overall verdict
This is a bit sketchy for me to say, considering typically in a VS match both combatants are allowed to fight bloodlusted with no restrictions. Though with combatants who can increase in power, the two are put on equal footing until a maximum is reached.
But the reason, say, Life Bringer Galactus or World Breaker Hulk is brought up is VS debates is because these are forms that are quantifiable and we see what they are capable of. When you're dealing with a "This character has the potential to become this powerful" situation, things are a bit more fuzzy. But if we give both of them the benefit of the doubt, and we pit them against each other at full potential, the Icon has a huge advantage. If we drop them on the same battleground at base, Darth Nihilus takes it handedly. Even before his 5-year cosmic feast, he should still be way beyond baseline planet level by tanking the Mass Shadow Generator and scaling to Jedi Masters, while the Icon of Sin starts out muli-continental to moon and is approaching planet level before Doomguy kills him.
Now, this would be "death before super", a trope in VS where a character kills another before they reach max power or use their best attack, which is frowned upon, but the thing is... as long as the Icon is in Nihilus' presence, his passive life drain simply will not allow this to happen, and we typically put combatants on the same battlefield for them to fight each other.
The winner is Darth Nihilus
I have been Hero's Shade, and thank you for reading!
