Primeval

This article is about the concept in Doom Eternal. For the mapper and musician, see John Weekley (PRIMEVAL).

A Primeval is a singular type of powerful being, only one of which exists in each dimension. It is a largely mysterious element of the cosmology of Doom Eternal.

Lore

Spoiler Warning: Plot details follow.

The existence of Primevals is first posited in the Book of the Seraphs, a work from Urdak found in The Ancient Gods, Part One which details the history of the cosmos as told by the Maykrs. Part I of the book explains that a Primeval is the steward of a realm, claiming them to have been created by the Father, and that the Dark Lord Davoth was the steward of the realm called Jekkad, which later became Hell.

Part XI of the book also makes the claim that the only thing that can truly kill a Primeval is another Primeval. If taken with the fact that the Doom Slayer was able to destroy Davoth, this would indicate that the Doomguy was also a Primeval. However, The Ancient Gods, Part Two also reveals that the contents of the Book of the Seraphs are unreliable as part of the Maykrs' rewritten history, so it is difficult to ascertain which information within it is true and what may be distorted.

Developer information

According to information given in a livestream by Hugo Martin, the Primevals, including Davoth himself, were actually created by an even higher, totally unknown entity, and possibly the source of the voice which screamed, "No!", during the death of the Khan Maykr. This lore has yet to be referenced directly in any game of the series.

Spoilers end here.