Baron of Hell

"Tough as a dump truck and nearly as big, these Goliaths are the worst things on two legs since Tyrannosaurus Rex."

- Doom instruction manual

The Barons of Hell is a powerful species of demon resembling a cross between a minotaur and a fawn. There is only a small number of them in existence.

Biology
The appearance of the Baron of Hell consists of a reddish-pink complexion, muscular, hairy goat-like legs ending in hooved feet, a muscular upper body, a goat-like snout, and two black outward curving horns located on the sides of its head. Barons of Hell are capable of creating and throwing green fireballs, and have bodies that are extremely resilient to various forms of damage. What appears to be a subspecies of the Barons of Hell, or possibly an evolved form of the original Barons, is considerably larger, and while original, satyr-like Barons appeared to only bear ordinary skin, these Barons bear what appears to be natural armor over their upper torsos, with the same color as their skin. In addition, they lack snouts, with a bony face that appears to better resemble that of the Hell Knights, with small eyes and no visible nose. Barons are also described as being the highest in the order of Hell Knights, implying a direct relation between the species. The race of Fireborne Barons, almost identical to snoutless Barons but with a grey, inorganic, magma-infused body, are native to the deeper levels of Hell, where the incendiary matter of Hell fused with them. Beneath their armored skin, their bones and muscular structures appear to be made of magma, like armored Arch-viles, and a fiery blade protrudes from just above the wrist of each arm. Their level of sapience is unknown, but they appear to be in command of at least some demons, such as Hell Knights, possibly through a biological hierarchy, and are known to also serve as royal guards to the current Dark Lord, implying a notable degree of intelligence and loyalty. If they are related to Hell Knights, this could be an extension of the willing subservience to stronger demons that Hell Knights display. In addition, Barons are known to be nearly unparalleled in bloodlust and combat prowess among demons, boasting some of the greatest strength among demonic races under Titans. The blood of the organic Baron breeds is green.

History
The Barons of Hell came from a demonic dimension called Hell. Barons of Hell were the highest of the order of Hell Knights, and a strain of Barons became the Fireborne, evolving in the depths of Hell and feeding off of the damned. They rarely left Hell during the war against the Argenta, who were led by the Order of the Night Sentinels. The Argenta priests turned against the rest of the Argenta, siding with the Maykrs, who struck a deal with Hell for their mutual benefit. The Night Sentinels, along with their champion, an unnamed human known only as the Doom Slayer, were trapped in Hell, where Barons of Hell and other demons launched a relentless assault on them. Only the Doom Slayer survived, and continued to fight demons for eons, until he was finally locked away in a tomb on the surface of Mars within an unknown universe. In the future, when Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) scientists were experimenting with teleportation technology on Phobos, they accidentally opened a rift to Hell. This caused a whole manner of demonic forces to come through the portal onto Mars' moons and the other bases, with two Barons taking control of Phobos. The demons brought destruction on the UAC bases and killed or possessed many UAC personnel. The invasion was put down by a lone marine, who killed the Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind in command of the demons. Not too much later, under the command of the Spider Mastermind, the demons made their way to Earth to continue their attack there. It was here that a single hero, the marine who put down the first invasion, slaughtered the demon hordes, allowing Humans to escape, and later managed to close the rift between the dimension of Hell and the Earth itself, sealing surviving Barons away in Hell. The corpses of Barons of Hell would later be revived by the Mother of All Demons, only for the marine to destroy them again. The marine then voluntarily remained in Hell to put down its threat forever, fighting hordes of demons alone, somehow going back in time and across dimensions, eventually becoming the immortal superhuman known as the Doom Slayer, the very one who had fought demons over eons. Some time in the future, in what appears to be another universe, UAC teleportation experiment teams were killed by Barons of Hell, who were also studied by a growing faction of cultists within the UAC, led by Dr. Olivia Pierce. These Barons were of an armored, snoutless race. When the demons launched another invasion of Mars, the Doom Slayer was woken up, as the universe he was held in was the very one being invaded. Retrieving his armor and weapons, the Doom Slayer eventually fought Barons after blasting his way to Hell, killing them and other demons, eventually killing the Spider Mastermind and stopping the invasion. Years later, in the same universe, a demonic invasion of Earth was launched at the order of the Khan Maykr, and Doom Slayer, who had been banished out to unknown regions of space at the end of the previous invasion, returned in an Argenta space station to combat the demons once more. This time, a species of Barons known as Fireborne Barons were called forth in the invasion, attacking Slayer since he returned to Mars. Many were killed in the battles against the Slayer, culminating in the final battle on Earth against the Icon of Sin. All Barons remaining on Earth were gradually killed or otherwise banished after the death of the Icon of Sin. The Slayer then utilized ARC resources to retrieve the life sphere of the Dark Lord in order to destroy it, killing more Barons along the way. When the Dark Lord was revived, he had cybernetically modified Barons attack the Doom Slayer throughout his journey to Immora, and any Barons outside of Hell were destroyed when the Dark Lord was killed.

Doom/Doom II/Doom 64
The Barons of Hell are some of the most resilient species in Hell. They throw a green ball of plasma-like energy that can cause significant damage and they also pose a severe threat during melee combat due to their powerful claw attack (Melee combat is strongly discouraged when dealing with this creature). Barons of Hell are easiest taken down with big weapons such as a rocket launcher or plasma rifle. Although, despite their endurance, the Baron of Hell has a some-what slow ranged attack and their projectiles, when given enough space, are easy to dodge, making combat easier.

Doom 2016
Barons of Hell, now a visibly armored and snoutless variant, remain one of the most resilient demons in Hell, also able to lob hellfire at the Doom Slayer. However, they are far more aggressive with their melee attacks, jumping in closer to the Slayer and attacking with their fists. Heavy weapons such as the Chaingun, Gauss Cannon, and Super Shotgun can be used to take them down, with the Chaingun being able to falter them. The BFG-9000 can instantly kill Barons, as can 5 pips from the chainsaw. The Slayer must keep moving to avoid the devastating melee attacks from the Barons.

Doom Eternal
Now faced with Fireborne Barons, the Doom Slayer must continue using the tactics of avoiding and dashing away from the melee attacks of the Barons. Fireborne Barons, being more durable, can take a single shot from the BFG-9000 without being killed, and cannot be killed by the chainsaw. The Chaingun, Ballista, and rocket launcher are still effective for taking them down, and the use of the plasma rifle's heat expel, Frag Grenades' stumbling shockwave, and Blood Punch can falter them. The Super Shotgun can also prove effective at close range, possibly faltering them. For the most effective stun, use the Ice Bomb, which can instantly freeze the Barons for a short period of time. Upgrading the Ice Bomb's freezing time and adding the upgrade for extra damage dealt to frozen demons will increase the Ice Bomb's effectiveness. In addition, The Crucible can be used to instantly kill a Baron.

Appearances

 * Doom (1993)
 * Doom II (1994)
 * Doom 64 (1997)
 * Doom (2016)
 * Doom Eternal (2020)
 * Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 1 (2020)
 * Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 2 (2021)