BFG

Lore & Background

In the Serious Sam universe the BFG is not so much a military-issue sidearm as a piece of absurdly oversized hardware that happens to be sitting in a supply crate. The games never elaborate on a specific manufacturer or research program; it simply exists as the pinnacle of the arsenal Sam can scrounge together across his various campaigns. What it does have is a cultural lineage: the 'BFG' label is a direct inheritance from the Doom and Quake lineages, where it denoted the single most satisfying weapon in the entire arsenal. Croteam leaned into that reputation, making the Serious Sam BFG feel like a toy-box version of the same idea—bigger, louder, and more cartoonishly powerful.

Mechanically the BFG occupies a specific niche. It is not a rapid-fire weapon; it is a statement. The projectile it launches is a large, slow-travelling sphere of energy that detonates on impact, dealing heavy damage to everything in a wide radius. Against the dense hordes of aliens, goblins, and mechanical horrors that flood the arenas, a well-placed BFG shot can clear a screen in a single breath. Its slow reload and limited magazine force the player to commit shots deliberately, turning each discharge into a small tactical decision.

Across the franchise the BFG has remained a near-constant fixture. Whether Sam is fighting through a desert outpost, a ruined city, or a space station, the BFG is the weapon that signals the player has reached the deeper, more dangerous stretches of a level. It is the reward, the exclamation point, the moment the game says 'you earned this.'

In Their Own Story

The corridor was a meat-and-bone mess. Three goblins had torn through the last of the med-kits and were gnawing on a severed arm that was still twitching. Sam's shotgun was dry. His pistol was dry. He was backing up, boots crunching on shattered tile, when the glow caught his eye.

It was sitting on a low plinth at the far end of the hall, half-hidden behind a toppled crate. The BFG. The cylinder was as thick as his torso, the energy conduits pulsing a slow, hungry amber. The magazine was full. He could feel the weight of it before he even lifted it, a gravitational pull behind the sternum.

The first goblin turned. The second was already mid-lunge. Sam shouldered the thing, felt it settle into his hands like a second skeleton, and squeezed.

The world went white. The sphere rolled out of the barrel with a low, resonant thump, and the air in front of him simply ceased to exist. All three goblins, the plinth, the crate, a good chunk of the far wall—gone. Replaced by a ring of orange light and the smell of ozone. Sam exhaled. The BFG hummed, warm and patient, waiting for the next one.

Reader's Guide

Silhouette and feel: The BFG reads as a fat, short cylinder with a wide muzzle and a chunky grip. It sits heavy in the hands, and the firing animation is a deliberate, two-handed shove rather than a quick trigger pull. The recoil is a full-body nudge, and the muzzle flash is a slow-blooming sphere of light rather than a sharp burst. It feels like swinging a sledgehammer, not pulling a trigger.

Damage profile: Each shot launches a large energy sphere that detonates on impact, dealing very high area damage to everything within a generous radius. It is the highest single-shot damage weapon in the arsenal. The projectile travels slower than a bullet, so leading targets at range takes practice, but at close-to-mid range it is essentially a screen-clearing tool.

Ammo: The BFG uses its own dedicated energy-cell magazine. The capacity is modest, and the reload is long, so you are not spamming it. Plan your shots.

First drop: In the original Serious Sam titles the BFG appears in the later sections of levels, typically after the player has already cycled through the lighter weapons. It is a reward for pushing forward, not a starting tool.

Fan verdict: Unanimous crowd-pleaser. The BFG is the weapon players screenshot, the one that makes a new player grin the first time they pick it up. It is not a niche pick; it is the franchise's power-fantasy in a single object.

Version notes: The HD remakes and later entries (Serious Sam 2, 3, 4) refined the BFG's visuals and adjusted projectile speed and damage numbers for balance, but the core identity—slow, heavy, enormous area blast—has remained consistent across every iteration.

Did You Know?

• The 'BFG' naming convention in Serious Sam is a direct homage to the weapon of the same name in id Software's Doom and Quake, where it was famously described in the code as the 'Big F**king Gun.'
• The BFG's projectile in the Serious Sam games is a travelling sphere rather than a hitscan beam, meaning it can be dodged at extreme range and can be deflected or interact with the environment in some titles.
• Despite its enormous visual size, the BFG is not the heaviest weapon to carry in terms of movement penalty in most Serious Sam titles; the movement cost is minimal compared to its damage output, making it a pure reward w
• The BFG appears in virtually every mainline Serious Sam title from The First Encounter through Serious Sam 4, making it one of the few weapons with a continuous, unbroken presence across the entire franchise.