Unfinished Doom: The Dark Ages monsters

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This article is about the monsters in Doom: The Dark Ages. For other games, see:

As with Doom 3 in Doom: The Dark Ages during the development, more enemies were considered, that didn't make cut into the final product.

Buff Totem[edit]

The buff totem was considered for inclusion in The Dark Ages; some of the sketches of potential visual redesigns were conceptualized by artist Alejandro Mirabal. [1] But for some reason it didn't make the cut. And in the final game, its role was given to the enforcer demons, serving as a mobile version of the totem.

Cosmic Fodder[edit]

"Cosmic fodder" ideation sketches by William Bao.

The "cosmic fodder" A. K. A. "Cthulhu fodder" [2] according to artist William Bao was supposed to be a reskin of the soldier but in the end, it evolved into super heavy unit, know in the final product as cosmic baron. The challenge during conceptualization was to find a balance with the Lovecraftian style which would feel appropriate within the bounds of the Doom franchise. [3]

Bao drew his inspiration from works by H.P. Lovecraft like Shadow Over Innsmouth and At the Mountains of Madness.[4]

The art director of the game, Emerson Tung also participated in the visual development of the creature, some of his artwork was inspired by deep sea divers and gas masked soldiers.[5] Other sketches for fodder and early sketches for baron were inspired by various deep sea ​​life such as shellfish, echinoderm etc. [6] Another source of inspiration for Emerson Tung was the kaiju monsters from the Ultraman franchise.[7]

The final design of the baron was created by Alejandro Mirabal, who borrowed some design elements of that cosmic entity by Tung and Bao.[8]

Cosmic mancubus[edit]

Cosmic Mega Mancubus concept art by William Bao

In exploration sketches of the mancubus, created by William Bao during the early dev cycle, can be see design options related to the Cosmic Realm. The idea was not immediately rejected, but the development further.

The "Cosmic mega mancubus" was an enemy that was considered in development during the early phase. Instead of the usual legs, there were small tentacles, and he had to hover on a trilobite-like creature. William Bao was then still trying to find a language for the inhabitants of the cosmic realm, driven by inspiration from pre-cabrian life.

Besides that the "grossy dreads" and "goatee" were inspired by old rockers and famos wrestlers. [9]

Despite the rejection of this version of the mancubus, the very idea of ​​a cosmic variant of the iconic demon was not abandoned and was included in cacodemon hybrid and its bigger counterpart.

Warbeast[edit]

Warbeast concept art by William Bao.

According to artist William Bao, the warbeast is an enemy that was considered in the game's early development cycle; it was intended to be a counterpart to the pinky rider. It was meant to be bigger and have cybernetic augmentations. Some of these augmentations include a flamethrower mounted on its head and a turret on its back for its rider.

The finalized design of the beast was inspired by the M4A3R3 Sherman variant used during WWII. [10]The final concept art also shows the battle knight as its rider.

Also according to the artist, the reason the demon was not included in the game was due not be satisfying in gameplay wise, as well as a lack of time and budget.[11]

Gallery[edit]

  • Buff totem sketches by Alejandro Mirabal.

  • The exploration sketches of mancubus by William Bao. The cosmic variants on center above, and on bottom left.

  • "Cosmic fodder" ideation Sketches by Emerson Tung, inspired by gas masked soldiers and deep sea divers.

  • The wizard concept by William Bao

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Mirabal, Alejandro. "Buff Pod." ArtStation. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  2. ↑ The concept art of the cosmic fodder and baron on Emerson Tung's website and in the alArtstation page are titled "emerson-tung-dtda-char-cthulhu-fodder"
  3. ↑ @willthebao (29 July 2025). "Concept for the Cosmic Baron designed for DOOM: The Dark Ages. This was a difficult task that spanned months and across @emersontung, myself and @mirabal.art. During which time the creature evolved from a reskin of the default hell soldiers to a full blown heavy unit. The challenge was finding the right balance of the creature’s brutal nature alongside its weird Lovecraftian elements while still feeling appropriate for the DOOM brand." Instagram. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  4. ↑ @willthebao (28 July 2025). "A small selection of Cosmic Baron designed ideas I for DOOM: The Dark Ages. From a hell fodder reskin to a full blown super heavy unit. Sourcing my influences from Shadow Over Innsmouth to Mountain of Madness." Twitter. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  5. ↑ Tung, Emerson (26 August 2025). "Gas masked soldiers and deep sea divers were the inspiration for this set." Twitter. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  6. ↑ Tung, Emerson (26 August 2025). "While this last batch was inspired by shellfish, echinoderm and other deep sea life." Twitter. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  7. ↑ Respond to a comment on the cosmic baron's artstation page by Emerson Tung: "I'm glad someone figured out the inspiration. I was a huge Ultraman fan growing up and I always felt they were very Cosmic Horror coded."
  8. ↑ mirabalart (1 August 2025). "My take on the Cosmic Baron, after going back and forth between @emersontung and @willthebao for a while. Most of the design elements were introduced by them. I just wrapped it up into its final shape, trying to add a more aggressive and agile look." Twitter. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  9. ↑ @willthebao (5 August 2025). "The Cosmic Mega Mancubus, one of the AI we were developing during the early phase of DOOM: The Dark Ages. During this time still trying to find the look of Cosmic Realm critters, doing my best to draw from pre Cambrian life by giving him a giant trilobite to ride. Most creatures I designed are usually spiritually based on famous wrestlers or old rockers, this guy is no exception with his greasy dreads and goatee." Instagram. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  10. ↑ @willthebao (14 July 2025). "Warbeast concept I did during the early dev cycle of DOOM: The Dark Ages. He was gonna be a bigger badder mechanized cousin of the Pinky Rider you see in game. Trying to channel some WWII Sherman Zippo flamethrower tank with this design." Instagram. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  11. ↑ William Bao's respond to one of comments under he's warbeast post on Instagram:“ looking cool doesn’t often equals fun to play, this often coincides alongside issues such as time and budget. At the end of the day it is the player’s experience we value most as game devs, making cool pictures comes in second ;)"

External Links[edit]

demons ideation sketches from Emerson Tung's Artstation profile.

Creatures ideation and explorations sketches from William Bao's Artstation profile.


Monsters from Doom: The Dark Ages
  • v · 
  • t · 
  • e
Ambient: Hell cultist • Tentacle
Fodder: Chaingunner soldier • Imp • Lost soul • Maykr drone • Soldier • Shield soldier • Stone imp • Zombie
Heavy: Acolyte • Arachnotron • Battle knight • Cacodemon hybrid • Hell knight • Imp stalker • Mancubus • Nightmare imp stalker • Pinky rider • Revenant • Whiplash
Super Heavy: Agaddon hunter • Cosmic baron • Cyberdemon • Komodo
Behemoth: Cyclops titan • Giant cacodemon • Titan • Vagary
Bosses: Ahzrak and Witch • Enhanced Ahzrak • Kreed Maykr • The Old One
Vehicles: Hell carrier • Hell ship • Hell tank
Mechanics: Champion • Demonic leader • Enforcer
Development: Unfinished Doom: The Dark Ages monsters
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