Demonic leader

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The Slayer holds a demonic essence taken from a pinky rider leader.

Demonic leaders are special versions of monsters which occur in Doom: The Dark Ages. They have silver skin. Many leaders occur in morale encounters, in which most other demons in the encounter must first be eliminated. Eliminating leaders earns the Doom Slayer upgrades to his intrinsic statistics, including health, armor, and ammo carrying capacity.

Leaders have more health than other demons of their kind and are immune to shield throws. They can only be finished off with an execution, where the Slayer plunges his right hand into the leader's chest and pulls out a heart-like organ called a demonic essence, which he then crushes to receive its power.

When facing a pinky rider or mancubus leader, it will always be the armored variant.

Morale encounter

During a morale encounter, the leader demon will be surrounded by a barrier (indicated with shield icons) and is initially completely invulnerable. Its health is displayed via a boss bar and, underneath, a morale meter displays the strength of its barrier. As other demons in the encounter are eliminated, the morale meter will deplete. Once it is emptied, the leader's barrier is dispelled.

List of leader encounters

Demon type	Encounter location	Reward
Pinky rider	Hebeth	Health
Mancubus	Sentinel Barracks	Armor
Pinky rider	The Holy City of Aratum	Health
Battle knight	The Holy City of Aratum	Shell ammo
Mancubus	Siege - Part 1	Spike ammo
Pinky rider	Siege - Part 1	Armor
Battle knight	Siege - Part 2	Health
Pinky rider	Abyssal Forest	Armor
Battle knight	Ancestral Forge	Health
Mancubus	Ancestral Forge	Cell ammo
Mancubus	The Forsaken Plains	Armor
Revenant	The Forsaken Plains	Skull ammo
Cyberdemon	The Forsaken Plains	Health
Agaddon hunter	Hellbreaker	Armor
Pinky rider	Sentinel Command Station	Health
Mancubus	From Beyond	Reaver ammo
Revenant	From Beyond	Armor
Cyberdemon	Spire of Nerathul	Health
Revenant	Spire of Nerathul	Launcher ammo
Agaddon hunter	City of Ry'uul	Health
Battle knight	City of Ry'uul	Armor
Agaddon hunter	The Kar'Thul Marshes	Armor
Mancubus	The Kar'Thul Marshes	Shell ammo
Pinky rider	Temple of Lomarith	Spike ammo
Revenant	Temple of Lomarith	Cell ammo
Acolyte	Belly of the Beast	Armor
Komodo	Harbor of Souls	Health
Pinky rider	Harbor of Souls	Skull ammo
Revenant	Resurrection	Health
Acolyte	Resurrection	Armor
Komodo	Resurrection	Reaver ammo
Cyberdemon	Reckoning	Launcher ammo

Trivia

• In the game's files, the leaders are referred to as "captains".
• The symbol in demonic essence is rune Dazed and Confused from Doom (2016).