ENCYCLOPAEDIA DAEMONICA

TOME II - BEYOND CLASSIC DOOM

Your eyes are not deceiving you - it is an update to the encylopedia!

After all this time? Sure, why not - I have been able to expand my horizons recently. I got an opportunity to play two major Doom games that had eluded me thus far - Doom 64 and the amazing DOOM (2016), which is the latest addition to the series. I liked both of them, and I think D64 should be the first to be added to the Encyclopedia as it is much closer to the Classic, plus it is my "Second Age" (read more about the Ages below).

So, I hope you enjoy this little update and return to the Encyclopedia... as for the new DOOM, perhaps I will do some stuff about it too at some point in the future. If you have any specific ideas, feel free to suggest them ;)


Chapter Structure:

TOME II - BEYOND CLASSIC DOOM

8. Introduction & The Ages of Doom (you are here)

9. Doom 64

9.1 Background Story

9.2 New or modified monsters & weapons

9.3 Levels and Secrets

10. SIGIL


Chapter 8: THE AGES OF HELL

Throughout the eons, Hell has gone through several cycles of ruin and rebirth, always emerging transformed yet just as dangerous and malignant as before. Each of these "Ages" of the infernal realm are marked by a different Dark Lord and seat of power, as well as a number of peculiarities in the observed demonic species, tactics, powers, and artefacts. Though much of this history has been lost and the demons rarely kept accurate records, some of this knowledge has reached us...


The First Age (Age of Baphomet)

Ultimate Doom, Doom II, The Master Levels, Final Doom

The First Age of Hell is believed to have begun with the creation of this realm and its initial shaping. The Dark Lord of this age was the greatest and most cunning one the Multiverse had ever seen, Hell's architect and grand designer – Lord Baphomet. He invested much of his power and life force into the very fabric of the newly created realm and also populated it with the nightmarish fiends that we have come to know as demons. He also created his trusted lieutenants and most trusted assistants – the Hell Knights, the Spider Masterminds and the nefarious Gatekeepers. Baphomet established his seat of power in the region of Inferno – considered to be the oldest area of hell, perhaps even the first to be created. The Icon of Sin, the Dark Lord's mighty citadel, was built within the western regions of Inferno, while the eastern section was left under the stewardship of a Spider Mastermind occupying the infernal city of Dis. From Inferno, Hell's dark influence spread in all directions, seeking new worlds and souls to consume.

Towards the end of the First Age, humanity had already reached for the stars and was beginning to experiment with teleportation – a technology that breached the veil between dimensions and thus attracted the attention of Hell and its master. In the ensuing invasion, Hell snatched a piece of the human universe, a moon known as Deimos, as used it as an anchor for an unprecedented breach of the veil, resulting in the massive and catastrophic invasion of Earth. Baphomet's plans, however, were foiled by one man who dared to stand against the infernal legions and bring unto them harsh punishment and bitter revenge. This man proved that even mortals could stand against the powers of Hell and break it through sheer will and force of arms. Eventually, this man confronted Baphomet himself and defeated him in combat, despite the vastly overwhelming odds.

The First Age, however, did not end there and then – a power struggle ensued among the surviving powers of Hell, each vying for dominance now that their master lay slain. A group of influential demons, known as the Cabal, the most powerful Cyberdemons and Spider Masterminds, the last surviving Gatekeeper, and a number of other infernal warlords fought bitterly for the throne of Hell, yet they all fell eventually – victims of their own machinations or at the hands of the brave mortal who had defeated their master. A quiet fell over the umbral plains and it seemed that Hell's power was forever broken. All gateways had been sealed; infected facilities were quarantined and thus ended the First Age.


The Second Age (Age of the Mother)

Doom 64

While humanity believed that Hell had been defeated forever and that they could once more turn their attention towards the stars, one fiend had gotten away – a creature like no other encountered before. A Mother Demon – an abomination born from Lord Baphomet's twisted experiments with the essence of Hell. Having sensed the fall of its brethren, the foul Mother crawled out of its secretive lair and consumed the bodies of all fallen demons she could find. After devouring large amounts of demon flesh, she began giving birth to a new breed of demons – perverse and deadly variants of the demons that rose and fell throughout the First Age. Each of these new breed of fiends was intimately tied to her will alone, and thus the Mother did not have any lieutenants – she ruled over the infernal realm alone and undisputed, having absolute control over all demons. Having spawned her own army, the Mother Demon declared itself the new Dark Lord of Hell and thus began the Second Age.

She established her seat of power in the Bleak Wastes, one of the most corrupted and foul regions of Hell where many of its darkest secrets lie buried. She claimed the eldritch Temple of Absolution as her private lair and claimed the power of three mysterious artefacts known as the "Demon Keys", which allowed her to expand her influence and start preparing for a new incursion into the mortal realm. Her army was swift and efficient, as each fiendish warrior was an extension of her will. Soon after she took over a number of old human facilities and began plotting her revenge upon Earth.

The mortal warrior who had slain Baphomet, however, was still vigilant after all these years. Once more he picked up his arms and donned his combat armor, so that he could pour his burning rage upon the denizens of Hell. He fought and crushed the hordes, just as before, unraveled the demons' secrets and even claimed their closely guarded Demon Keys, and used their power to annihilate the Mother Demon herself. Having realized the full extent of Hell's might and enduring corruption, the human warrior chose to remain in Hell and hunt down any remaining demons, which were now left without a master and were thus feral and unpredictable.

Little is known about the mortal hero's exploits from this point onward, except that he traversed the umbral plains and found new powers and equipment that helped him fight against the seemingly endless hordes of Hell, forever keeping them at bay. And so ended the Second Age.


The Third Age (Age of Maledict)

Doom 3, Resurrection of Evil, The Lost Mission

As the demonic hordes were left shattered and leaderless, one malignant spirit among them sought to become their leader and usher in a new age. The Maledict, an incarnation of treachery and hate, proclaimed himself the Dark Lord of the Third Age and established his seat of power in the infinite Burning Abyss, the most primordial and unstable region of Hell, but also the greatest source of raw arcane power – all that remained of Baphomet's past power and glory. Fueled by this chaotic power, the demon population grew in numbers, new breeds of demons were spawned as well, and the feral survivors from the Second Age were molded into new and improved servitors as well. Most importantly, though, this fiery and turbulent region of Hell was far from the mortal warrior's reach and thus he could not taint it with his unquenchable wrath.

Meanwhile, time had flowed faster on the mortal plane – humanity had abandoned Earth, giving it an opportunity to heal and recover from the demonic invasion known as "Hell on Earth", as well as the centuries of industrial pollution that had preceded it. Humanity built a new and seemingly utopian society on Mars, developing many bizarre new technologies, eventually venturing into the field of teleportation as the threat of Hell was forgotten and dismissed as a silly old myth...

The gateways and teleporters soon breached the veil between our world and Hell, and the Mars humans even managed to establish an outpost in the burning realm to study its secrets. Thus they fell into the Maledict's trap, who launched his furious army, empowered by his own heart, which had been forged into an artefact of terrible power, which manifested itself in the form of the three dreaded Hellhunters. Just as all hope seemed lost, the mortal warrior who had saved humanity twice before, the Doom Marine, felt his brethren's plight and came to help them. He alone wielded humanity's last hope – a weapon known as the Soul Cube, and managed to repel the demonic hordes and capture the dreaded Artefact. Despite this victory, the Doom Marine was lost and the survivors built a symbolic tomb in his honor, with an empty sarcophagus that would remain there until his return. This tomb was built near the initial portal to Hell, to serve as a constant reminder of the horde's defeat. As for the Artefact – it could not be destroyed, even though it represented a great threat to humanity as it contained a gateway into Hell within itself, and thus it could enable a new invasion for as long as it remained in the mortal realm. Thus it was decided to hide it in the deepest and more secluded sanctuary. The planet Mars was devastated and heavily corrupted from the great battle that had taken place and was thus no longer habitable, forcing humanity to return to the now-recovered Earth, abandoning their great technologies behind, starting civilization from square one...

Millennia passed and humanity forgot the tragedies of the past, rebuilding its civilization and once again reaching for the stars. Eventually, humanity set foot upon Mars once again, establishing its colony on the now-hostile and desolate world. The ruins of the dark past were found, though no one recognized their true meaning, not even after finding the tomb of the great warrior and the tablets that told the story of the ancient invasion. Heedless of its past mistakes and hungry for new horizons, humanity once again sought to breach the veil and experiment with teleportation technology, which was the signal for Hell to awaken and once again seek conquest. The Maledict worked slowly and carefully, corrupting the minds of the human colonists on Mars and eventually claiming a host body – their lead scientist, who was corrupted and turned into an obedient puppet. Once the Soul Cube, the only weapon the demons of this Age feared, was brought into Hell for safekeeping, the invasion was launched and quickly overwhelmed the budding colony.

The plan was set in motion, yet the Maledict had underestimated the hand of fate, for there existed a prophecy that if the great mortal warrior who had ended two Ages were to disappear, three others would rise in his stead. And so did three men rise up and foil the Dark Lord's plans at every turn. The first was a warrior of great strength and will, who fought his way through the fiendish hordes, retrieved the Soul Cube from Hell itself, and eventually defeated Hell's mightiest warrior, an ancient Cyberdemon tempered by eons of war into near invincibility. Along this desperate battle, there also was a skilled and tactical fighter, the last survivor of a crushed squad, who found a way into the ancient human outpost in Hell and destroyed a powerful teleporter that could have been used for an invasion.

Hell's attempt to conquer the mortal plane was again thwarted, yet, just as before, the Dark Lord of Hell survived. Several years later he made one final attempt to invade our world by playing his last trump card – the Artefact that had remained hidden on Mars. Finding it tore the barriers between the dimensions and brought forth an incursion led by the dreaded Hellhunters themselves. It was then that the third mortal warrior rose, a cunning and resourceful combat engineer who wielded the Artefact itself and turned it against its masters, defeating the Hellhunters and eventually finding his way to the Maledict's inner sanctum within a swirling nexus of raw infernal energy. The Maledict's desire for the Artefact proved to be his undoing, for the unstable object caused a chain reaction that destroyed it and the Maledict as well. With the Dark Lord fallen, and the hordes of Hell routed yet again, ended the Third Age.

(And yet, the great human warrior, the Doom Marine, was still missing and his fate remained unknown at the close of this Age...)


The Fourth Age (Argent Age)

DOOM (2016)

The legendary Doom Marine had vanished after his defeat of the demonic horde early in the Third Age, when he gave humanity a second chance. What had truly happened was that the brave warrior was tricked by the Hellish blood priests and trapped into a cursed sarcophagus, where he remained for a long time... ironically, the survivors of Mars also chose to commemorate him with an entombed sarcophagus, as if somehow sensing what had happened to him.

Centuries had passed. During this time humanity underwent changes and advanced. A new Dark Lord arose in Hell, though his name eludes us – having learned from his predecessors' mistakes, he is secretive and very cautious. He has established Hell's seat of power in the Great Steppe – a vast and desolate region of Hell, littered with the trophies and spoils of countless wars throughout the Ages. The new Dark Lord focused his attention on the assimilated realm of Argent D'Nur, which contains the Well – a great source of energy, more focused and pure than the power of the Burning Abyss, which was Hell's primary bastion in the Third Age. More importantly, though, this energy could be the temptation that would once again lure humanity towards Hell's grasp. All it would take is to leak some of this sweet honey into the mortal realm, preferably on Mars, far away from meddlers. All that was left to find was an ambitious human who would be easily swayed by Hell's promises and thus turned into a loyal servant.

One thing the unknown new Dark Lord did not consider, however, was the possibility for the his arch-nemesis, the Doom Slayer, to be released from his prison and once again brought into the battle.

What will happen from this point onward, no one knows... but it is clear that Hell is still in its prime and that the cycle of Ages shall continue as it always had.