Frag is a computer and video game term, used in first-person shooter (FPS) deathmatch. A frag is a killcount; one gets a frag if one kills ("frags") another player. In some games, one also loses a frag as a penalty for killing oneself (called a "suicide", even if unintentional), for example, by falling a long distance or discharging a rocket directly into a nearby wall. There can also be a punishment for killing teammates, like losing one or three frags. The origin of this term is most likely related to the military definition, possibly stemming from Doom deathmatch in which the object is to kill other marines. It is also believed to be an abbreviation of "fragmentation" in reference to the "gibbing" of players (blowing a player into blood-smeared smithereens of nothingness) killed by explosions. This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Doom, one of the games that defined the first-person shooter genre. ... Deathmatch (abbreviated DM) is a widely-used gameplay mode very well integrated into first-person shooter computer games. ... Frag is a term from the Vietnam War, most commonly meaning to assassinate an unpopular member of ones own fighting unit by dropping a fragmentation grenade into the victims tent at night. ... Doom (or DOOM) is a 1993 computer game by id Software that is among the landmark titles in the first-person shooter genre. ... Gibs in the wake of a redeemer explosion in Unreal Tournament For units of data measurement, see Gibibyte (GiB) or Gibibit (Gib). ...

One does not usually lose frags for being killed by another player. This leads to the game theoretical consequence that one should engage in combat with another player unless severely outmatched because the potential benefit (one frag) outweighs the potential harm (lost time for respawning and the opponent, who may not be ranked first, getting a frag). For information on spawning in biology, see spawning. ...

In this context the term "frag" is used to replace 'killing' or 'dying' as these terms are final - whereas first person shooters usually allow respawning (instant or almost instant reincarnation). The usage of the term fragging is also a response to advocates of computer game censorship, who argue that violence in games can cause violence in real life. Most FPS game players maintain that the obvious fantasy of computer games acts not only as a barrier preventing this cause-effect relationship, but it places the user in a virtual reality world to relieve his/her frustrations from the real world. The term 'fragging' rather than 'killing' thus becomes a semantic indicator of the distance of the violence from any real act. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Fragging is sometimes contrasted with gibbing. When one shoots another player's character, they have been fragged. When one shoots another with a rocket launcher or repeatedly shot with a weapon after the player is killed, and little bits of one's body go flying everywhere in an atrocious display, they have been gibbed. Both can be referred to as 'frags', however.

See also

• Telefrag
• Frag (military)

Frag is a term used in FPS's and is short for fragmentation grenade. In context it would be " I fragged that guy." or " He fragged me! " A telefrag, in many first-person shooter games featuring teleporters, occurs when one entity teleports into space already occupied by another; the latter is instantly fragged (often gibbed) and the former is said to have telefragged it. ... Frag is a term from the Vietnam War, most commonly meaning to assassinate an unpopular member of ones own fighting unit by dropping a fragmentation grenade into the victims tent at night. ...