IDDQD

About

IDDQD is a cheat code used in the 1993 first person shooter game Doom, which enables a game state that prevents the player from being damaged or killed known as “god mode”. It is sometimes associated with the codes “idkfa”, which provides the player with all available weapons in the game, and “idclip”, allowing the player to pass through solid objects.

Origin

The first person shooter shooter game Doom was released by the video game development company id Software on December 10th, 1993. In the game, the player assumes the role of a space marine on the planet Mars, who battles demons that have teleported on the planet’s two moons. To enable god mode, players could input the characters “IDDQD”, which would turn the avatar’s eyes yellow and prevent any damage from being received.

Etymology

It has been rumored that the code “IDDQD” was an abbreviation for the id Software inside joke “Delta Quit Delta.” On May 25th, 2004, a thread about video game cheat codes was created on the role-playing game enthusiast RPG Forums^[9], in which member blanknode claimed the “Delta Quit Delta” was a fake fraternity for people who received the grade “Q.” On June 28th, the gamer Quarter to Three Forums member curst replied to a “Favorite easter eggs” thread that “Delta Quite Delta” was a fake fraternity that you could only join by quitting college.

Spread

On November 5th, Urban Dictionary^[3] user ih8uplzdie submitted an entry for “IDDQD”, which noted its use in the game Doom along with the code “IDKFA.” On February 14th, 2009, the web comic series BrainStuck^[10] published a comic in which a father tells his son that God used the cheat code “IDDQD.”

On July 7th, a Facebook^[8] page for “IDDQD” was created. On November 11th, a Doom thread was posted to the /v/ (video games) board on 4chan^[2], to which an anonymous user replied with an MS Paint comic showing a man using the cheat code to prevent a saw blade from killing him.

On February 26th, 2011, an entry for “IDDQD” was created on the online language database InternetSlang^[4], which defined the term as a “cheat code for Doom.” On November 18th, the online retailer RetroGT^[6] began selling a shirt with the cheat code printed on the front (shown below, left). On December 21st, Redditor mintmouse submitted a post titled “IDDQD” to the f7u12^[7] rage comics subreddit, which speculated that the feeling of warm water on a cold day might be similar to the feeling of god mode in Doom (shown below, right).