Doom's BFG began with a very blunt name

Doom’s bluntest weapon name is a joke in plain sight

“BFG” is not an elaborate military designation or a mystery hidden in the game’s lore. Doom’s manual spells out the initials as “Big Fucking Gun.” The joke is that the weapon’s official-sounding abbreviation briefly disguises a phrase that is deliberately, unmistakably crude.

The name matches the weapon’s role

The BFG is built to feel like an escalation: a huge cannon that launches green plasma, not another ordinary firearm in the player’s arsenal. Its name states that purpose with comic bluntness. Instead of dressing the weapon in technical jargon, Doom gives players a label that sounds almost like a placeholder—and then makes the manual confirm that the obvious reading is the right one.

That contrast helps explain the name’s staying power. The BFG is memorable not only because it is a powerful weapon, but because the game refuses to pretend its name is more sophisticated than its punchline.