Doctor Schabbs is the second boss of Wolfenstein 3D. He is fought in the final level of Episode 2: Operation Eisenfaust. Schabbs is the mastermind behind the mutants and the creator of the Übermutant.
Not to be confused with Schabbs, the alias used by prolific modder Brian Lowe.
Doctor Schabbs's nasty handywork is first encountered by BJ in Castle Nuremberg during the events of Spear of Destiny. It is here that BJ battles the Übermutant and learns that the Nazis are using reanimated supersoldiers. This effectively sets into motion the events of The Original Missions, as BJ spends the first two episodes attempting to thwart Operation Eisenfaust.
Schabbs creates the mutants using what is called a "corposkinetic animation serum" which effectively turns the mutants' blood into a purple slime and revives them from death with additional strength and ruthlessness. Though it is not outright stated that the syringes that Schabbs throws during the boss fight are the typical version of the animation serum (and are shown to house green fluid rather than purple) if the player is killed with one of the syringes their status bar will show that BJ has become a mutant. Because this ends the battle, it can also be assumed that the serum and the process of becoming a mutant makes a subject instantly lose their free will. Also, since the syringes cause such damage, it can be assumed that the serum is lethal to living recipients.
Tactics
Doctor Schabbs is an enemy who lobs a syringe projectile at the player, which creates a different kind of challenge from the typical hitscan-based enemies. While this means that the player can dodge Schabbs's attacks by strafing out of the way, it also means that if the player isn't careful they can catch a previously thrown projectile while setting up position to dodge a more recently thrown one. Mercifully, the syringes travel at a high enough speed that it's likely they'll terminally collide with an object or wall before the next one is thrown.
If battling on a harder difficulty Schabbs will have signficantly higher health than is normal for bosses. In fact, Schabbs has the highest health of any boss on I Am Death Incarnate difficulty, with double the health of Hans , Hitler 's Mecha Armor, or any of the bosses from The Nocturnal Missions. As such, keeping a full supply of ammunition is crucial for success.
Defeating Schabbs immediately ends the episode, so seeing the fight through is mandatory. This also means that, without code changes, map editors should only place one instance of him in the final level of an episode.
In E2M9 Schabbs is accompanied by several Mutants who should be eliminated before alerting Schabbs if at all possible.
Trivia
Set Roth replacing Schabbs in Wolfstone 3D
In Wolfstone 3D Schabbs is replaced with Set Roth, a supporting character of the MachineGames Wolfenstein family of games. Unlike most of the replacements, however, Set Roth is visually identical to Doctor Schabbs.
ECWolf DECORATE Definition
actor Schabbs : WolfensteinMonster 17
{
points 5000
health 850, 950, 1550, 2400
speed 1, 3
missilefrequency 0.04
deathsound "schabbs/death"
seesound "schabbs/sight"
+AMBUSH
states
{
Spawn:
SHAB A -1 NOP A_Look(0, 0, 0, 0, 360)
stop
See:
SHAB A 5 NOP A_Chase("*", "*", CHF_BACKOFF)
SHAB A 1.5
SHAB B 4 NOP A_Chase("*", "*", CHF_BACKOFF)
SHAB C 5 NOP A_Chase("*", "*", CHF_BACKOFF)
SHAB C 1.5
SHAB D 4 NOP A_Chase("*", "*", CHF_BACKOFF)
loop
Missile:
SHAB E 15 A_FaceTarget
SHAB F 5 A_FaceTarget
SHAB F 0 A_FaceTarget
SHAB F 0 A_CustomMissile("Needle")
goto See
Death:
SHAB A 5 A_Fall
SHAB A 70 A_Scream
SHAB GHI 5
SHAB J 10
SHAB J -1 A_BossDeath
stop
}
}
