Summoner

Summoners are a rare demonic race capable of summoning other demons to its aid in battle.

Biology
Summoners are tall, lanky humanoids, with a body that is mostly light blue in color, resembling some sort of light natural armor, covering fleshy red skin visible on their joints, necks, jaws, and forearms. They have no visible eyes, possibly seeing with an extra sense, and sport a large, bone-like structure protruding from their head, like a sideways crest. Their backs have two fleshy, useless wing-like structure, possibly vestigial remains of actual wings. Summoners are able to float and teleport in a flash of light, similar to armored Arch-viles. Their primary attacks consist of summoning linear waves of Argent Energy that they fire at targets, usually able to instantly kill a Human, but also able to turn select victims into zombie-like minions under their control, known as Possessed. Their most prominent ability, which granted them their name, is their ability to open rifts to Hell and summon lesser demons from the rifts. Also notably, Summoners are able to manifest after death as blue incorporeal entities known as Spirits, fueled by their sheer hatred and want of revenge. As Spirits, they become parasites that eat souls, able to possess other demons, as they are unable to cause physical harm without a host. Possessed demons are infused with the Spirit's essence, granting them enhanced speed, resistance, and power. If their hosts are killed, the Spirit will be ejected, but can take on a new host. Spirits can only be destroyed by sustained and concentrated energy. Spirits also appear to lose the ability to summon demons. Summoners are possibly a heavily evolved breed of Imps, and bear some resemblance to Imps in body shape and anatomy. Their level of sapience is unknown, but they are known to be cunning beings in combat, usually going on the defensive and trying to build a swarm to overwhelm opponents. The UAC found it possible to effectively sedate Summoners by constantly draining their energy, making them too weak to attack.

History
Summoners were a rare breed that arose in Hell at an unknown time, possibly descended from Imps, and gained the ranks of Infernal Priests, putting them just below Arch-viles. Before 2149, a cultist in the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) named Olivia Pierce took control of the Lazarus Project, using it as a front for capturing and researching demons in preparation for an invasion ordered by the Spider Mastermind. Some Summoners were captured by the Lazarus Project, and sedated in order to be studied, as they would violently attack with Argent Energy once restrained. When the gateway to Hell was opened by Olivia with the Argent Tower on Mars, Samuel Hayden, a Maykr Seraph in the body of a Human cyborg, awoke the Doom Slayer to combat the invasion, having had previously brought the Slayer to Mars. The Slayer fought his way through Mars and Hell to shut off the Argent Energy production and stop the invasion, killing many Summoners along the way. However, death was not the end of the Summoners. Their souls remained, able to manifest into incorporeal spectral forms through their hatred, now known as Spirits. No living Summoner was seen again by the Doom Slayer after the Spider Mastermind was killed. While they did not get the chance to attack the Slayer again during the Mastermind's invasion or the Maykr-led invasion of Earth, they were present in the Blood Swamps when the Slayer appeared once more to revive and kill the Dark Lord Davoth. Even while incorporeal and possessing other demons, they were unable to stop the Slayer, and started being destroyed once more by the Microwave Beam of the Slayer's plasma rifle. Spirits continued to attack the Slayer across Urdak, Argent D'Nur, Earth, and Hell on the Slayer's path to destroy Davoth, but were unable to stop him, being granted second deaths in the process. Any Summoner or Spirit outside of Hell was destroyed when the Dark Lord was killed. Given how only Spirits were seen by the Slayer during his final battle against Hell, it is possible that the Summoners are extinct.

Appearances

 * Doom (2016)
 * Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 1 (2020)
 * Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 2 (2021)