Doom II Easter Egg - Programmer's Head on a Stick

Speaking of which, this is the ONLY way I know how to beat this game. Is there a legitimate way to beat this level? I figure I have to throw the switch, which raises the platform, then get on the platform before it goes up all the way; once it DOES go up all the way I go to the platform in front of the goat-skull thing.....then what?

You can complete the level by shooting three rockets from the platform to the forehead of the giant demon. (the part what creates the ?boxes )

They also say it is one of the Sacked programmers head.

Gah. The final boss drove me nuts... it was absolutely impossible for me to beat the first, oh, twenty attempts. Getting a rocket through that small hole while moving up on an elevator and being attacked by flying skulls, fireballs, and everything else is tough. But, just to clarify... yes, killing John Romero's head is the only way to beat the game. You see, why you fire the rockets into the hole, the explosion hits the head, and it takes three hits to blast the head.

Of course you can beat the game without cheating!!!! I grew up on this game... (I'm only 17 now...) When the top of your rocket launcher is at the bottom of the faces chin( it should make a perfect line together)shoot. It may take a few tries to get right, but once you figure it out, you can hit it perfectly every time!!! And, yes, it says KILL...

minor correction you only have to hit him 2 times, not 3

I think it depends on the skill level. (Try nightmare dude!)

See, when you are standing on the platform that lifts you up, you can only make one rocket into the hole. After that turn back to those stage platforms behind you, put the 1st down and then quickly run to put the second one down. Each next platform would go down to the level of the previous one. Basically the idea is to lower the last platform to the level of the floor. If you lower the second one after first moved up, it wont lower it to the floor level. If you would be able to lower the last one to the floor, you'll see the button on the wall at the very bottom. Hit it and that column in the center of the room would go down. Then you can raise it up again and try to hit the second rocket there... again and again, until you kill him...

The head on the stick is actually the lead developer, John Romero... And you know the weird voice when you first enter the room? its recorded backwards and says "To win the game, you have to kill me, John Romero"

WHY THIS IS THERE: FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN ROMERO Interviewer: At the end of DOOM II the sound played backwards that says, "to win this game you must kill me, John Romero" and also the hidden replica of your head on a stake have become legendary among gamers. Did you plan to include those from the start, or is there some story behind those secrets? John Romero: There's definitely a nutty story behind those two Secrets of DOOM II. First off, my head in the demon's brain was not part of the original plan. There used to be a yellow circle sprite there (no one was supposed to see it anyway). One night while I was programming the sound effect for the demon to scream in pain (when a rocket made it through the brain opening), I "noclipped" through all the walls so I could just shoot the thing with a pistol and see if the yellow sprite made noise when I shot it. Well, just before I reached the demon brain room, I stopped noclipping suddenly because I thought I had seen my reflection in the screen somehow and it didn't seem right. I continued noclipping into the room and was immediately super-shocked to see my head on a stake in there! We were near the end of the DOOM II project and I knew that Adrian or Kevin must have sneaked that sprite in there at the last minute thinking that after the game was released they would have a good laugh and tell me what they did. My mission immediately was to reverse their little trick and have the Last Laugh when the game was released. So, I had to come up with something to put in the game that basically said that I knew about their little trick. I figured that an evil-sounding backwards voice at the start of that level would be a great way to shock the player, but also provide a nice way to stick my little reversal in there. I went in to where Bobby Prince was working on the sounds and music and told him the whole story and we came up with the infamous phrase that you now hear (pitch-shifted and reversed) and I programmed it to play as soon as you make it through the teleporter. Well, waiting for the game to hit the shelves before springing the trick on the guys didn't work because first thing the very next day, American came in, ran the level, heard the voice and said, "Oh cool, backwards hidden stuff!" and he found the sample, reversed it back to normal, heard my secret message, then told the artists. The gig was up. Hope this clears things out.

When I played the game, at the end I never heard the backwards message. I suppose I've got to play again.

see the pogrammers head on a stick but on any other leve you need a doom2 editer pick any level to edit go in goto the thing monsters pick brain bonus shoot that monstr dead 1-29 will exit the level and go to the next if 31-32 will exit to level 16

Yeah, the the Icon of Sin says at the beginning of the fight is true: You really DO have to kill John Romero (or at least, his facsimile) to win the game. To beat the Icon of Sin, once you get on the platform, you rise up to the top, shooting rockets at the pink area of the skull: The splash damage hits the John Romero sprite and causes damage. The massive skull is merely decoration on the wall: John Romero's head is (technically) the true final boss! :D

good find. that's what we all wanted to see after Daikatana came out.