Baron of Hell (Doom 2016)

A baron of Hell.

This article is about the monster in Doom (2016). For other games, see:

• Baron of Hell
• Baron of Hell (Doom Eternal)

The baron of Hell returns as a monster in Doom (2016) and in Doom VFR as a towering, pink-skinned, horned demon with an enormous muscular stature, sharp-clawed green-glowing hands, and goat-like legs with hoofed feet. In addition to projectile and melee attacks which call directly back to its classic predecessor, it also possesses the ability to stomp the ground and unleash a massive shockwave area attack. Unlike its classic version, it bears little resemblance to the Hell knight, which retains an appearance similar to its Doom 3 incarnation. The barons are said to be direct, personal servants of the Lord of Hell, and it is said their powers are directly tied to their lord's.

Tactical analysis

Health: 3500

Chainsaw Fuel Usage: 5

The baron has three modes of attack—a melee strike, a ranged green fireball (sometimes charged), and a ground slam used to rapidly close distances. All three can be easily avoided by strafing around the baron in a circle. It is common for the baron to blindside the player by using a ground slam attack to move from a lower to a higher platform. Often, a super shotgun blast towards its head can interrupt the baron in the midst of its attack.

Infighting

Like many demons, barons can be found fighting imps, and are in fact observed doing this upon their first appearance in the Kadingir Sanctum.

Attacks

Attack	Too Young To Die	Hurt Me Plenty	Ultra Violence	Nightmare
Melee	17	35	61	104
Energy Bolt	17	35	61	104
Ground Slam	25	50	90	115

Unique player kills

The baron leaps onto the Doom Slayer, crushes his body with a stomp from one hoof, pulls off both his legs and then roars at the Slayer as he dies. This kill was first seen in the campaign trailer released by Bethesda on February 4, 2016.

Lore

The barons were described by the UAC as being the highest ranking demons in the order of the Hell knights. They were never observed leaving Hell, and the Lazarus Project was never able to capture any specimens in their tethering expeditions due to their violent, powerful, and elusive nature. At least one manned expedition, designated MTC 2145/128, was believed to have been lost due to an attack by barons.

Demonic tablets found during the automated survey of 2143 describe the barons as being the royal guard of the dark lord of the fourth age of Hell, an entity on which the UAC had little reliable data. Their power is described as having grown as compared to the past, and it is surmised that this power increase is correlated with their master's status.

Appearance statistics

Doom (2016)

Barons are first encountered in Kadingir Sanctum, and are present in all levels after that point, except the Lazarus Labs.

They also appear in only one classic map, the remake of Phobos Anomaly. In Halls of the Damned they are absent, and in Pandemonium and House of Pain they are replaced with Hell knights.

Doom 2016
Level	Count
Kadingir Sanctum	6
Argent Facility (Destroyed)	1
Advanced Research Complex	2
Titan's Realm	4
Necropolis	6
VEGA Central Processing	5
Argent D'Nur	4
Total	28

Classic Maps
Level	Amount
Phobos Anomaly	2
Total	2

Doom VFR

In Doom VFR the baron first appears in the fourth level, BFG Division.

Doom VFR
Level	Amount
BFG Division - Computational Sector	2
Titan's Realm	2
Necropolis	3
Total	7

Pre-release

The beta appearance of the baron of Hell.

A pre-release screenshot contained a baron of Hell in the distance which can be observed to closely match the concept art of the baron which appears in The Art of DOOM. This beta version is more or less identical to the final version in physical form, but is more reddish-gray or brown in coloration instead of pink, and includes numerous holes in its bony armor through which small flames emerge.

In other games

Doom: The Board Game

Hit points

13

Range

1

Movement points

5

Amount of figures in total

2

The baron of Hell appears in Doom: The Board Game and is one of the eight types of units that are available to the invader player. To summon the baron, the invader needs two Argent energy tokens. Because they are large figures, like other monsters of this category, they move only in orthogonal directions, and ignore terrain. They have an innate armor which reduces damage when a marine attacks them. The monster's defense ability is to gain two additional shields. The monster's abilities are:

Vengeful

Passive ability: Every time the demon is attacked it gains two movement points, which can then be used even if it is not his turn to act. These points can be spent to retreat or close gap with between Marines.

Beatdown

Standard ability: Is the melee, the invader needs to roll only two black dice. It can discard all of its five points to attacks the marine twice in one activation. The cards such as "Ferocity" or "Onslaught", etc., can give the opportunity to do Beatdown a third time per activation.

Grand Fireball

Long-range ability: This attack is only available when an Argent token is placed on the baron's card. Only four red dice must be rolled in time for its use. When this attack activates, increases range from one grid square to six.

Trivia

A dead hanging baron.

• In-game, barons of Hell frequently appear in pairs, which may be a reference to the classic counterpart's first appearance on E1M8: Phobos Anomaly, where two of them appear as a boss fight. Besides this, there are two more references to the classic barons:
  • In the Titan's Realm and the Necropolis, you can find hanging dead barons, which is a reference to a texture in the starting room of E2M8: Tower of Babel.
  • In The Art of DOOM these demons are also called "bruisers", which is a reference to their original Doom Bible name of the Bruiser Brothers. The classic baron also retains this name as its thing identifier, MT_BRUISER.
• Despite its similar appearance to its predecessor and its green projectiles, this iteration's blood is red, just like the rest of the game's enemies.

Sources

• DOOM - Bestiary (archived 🏛)