Why does the Invulnerability sphere look evil?

[deadwolves]

Sorry if this has been asked before, I looked and couldn't find an answer. But it's something that's always bothered me.

It's the most powerful powerup in the game, but it looks completely evil. Not only is there a grinning face but it's a dark green, and green in Doom often means something painful (like Baron fireballs or toxic waste). Anything else, like health kits or health bonuses, is labelled pretty clearly too. OK so invisibility looks a little weird but that's it. So why does the invulnerability have a completely contradictory image to it? Just curious.

[kuchitsu]

It's pissed off because its name is so difficult to spell. I just say green sphere usually.

[HorrorMovieRei]

The spheres are artifacts of demonic origin, which is why they look evil, but humans can use them too. I wonder what kind of use the demons could have for the spheres though.

kuchitsu said:

It's pissed off because its name is so difficult to spell. I just say green sphere usually.

I just call it God sphere.

[ASD]

Wonder why the grimace is fading backwards in the sprite animation? That means power corrupts and makes the person damned into the green mist of solitude and madness.

[Crunchynut44]

Well consider the 'soul'sphere, I have always imagined these powerups to be trapped souls of particular notable qualities. With the Invulnerability sphere being the trapped soul of something extremely evil (a demon too rougue even for hell?), that the demons have trapped. The Soulsphere could have been something that was exremely good, like an angel perhaps.

[Doomkid]

It's the beta lost soul sprite shrinking within a green orb, that's why:

[Deleted_Account]

It looks evil because it's mad, it's mad that in order to talk about Doom these days, some twenty years later, you really have to scrape the bottom of the barrel.

[scifista42]

deadwolves said:

So why does the invulnerability have a completely contradictory image to it?

It's not contradictory if you view invulnerability as an evil power. After all, it's horribly unfair against whatever or whoever you're fighting. Just think of it from their perspective. What would you think if your deathmatch opponent had invulneribility? "That's unfair. And evil."