Prowlers are demonic humanoids who are possibly descended from Imps, like Summoners and Gargoyles.
Biology[]
A Cursed Prowler
Prowlers are humanoids that bear a similar appearance to Imps, who they are possibly descended from, in terms of overall body structure, with similar armor configuration and a hunched stature. Unlike Imps, Prowlers have a mostly purple body color, larger, yellow claws, and are taller, with wider chests and a head with three small, red eyes, two eyes below the third one in a triangle-like shape, and a tri-segmented jaw lined with long, sharp teeth. The general body of the Prowler also appears to be more muscular than that of the Imp, and they possess greater strength. Prowlers are able to generate and fire purple fireballs with greater speed and accuracy than an Imp, and teleport in a purple flash of light, in a similar manner to Summoners and armored Arch-viles. Prowlers have enhanced vision, able to see what Humans and other species cannot, due to a more complex parietal lobe granting them night vision and infrared vision. While Imps and other demons are known to hunt in packs, Prowlers are solitary beings, and are described as predators. Due to their sharp teeth and claws, it is extremely likely that they are carnivorous. Prowlers that lived in the deepest pits of Hell were the only known demonic race to naturally evolve the ability to use a form of blood magic known as necrotic poison, transferred through their claws to their victims. The poison slowly drains a victim's essence, causing their blood to curdle, distorting their vision, and affecting how fast they can move. However, due to the poison being a supernatural ability, its effects can be removed by killing the Cursed Prowler that slashed the victim. Cursed Prowlers are otherwise identical to regular Prowlers, with the exception of utilizing a green color for their fireballs and teleportation, being slightly stronger, and being a sickly shade of green in color. Prowlers have an orange, round, heart-like organ within their chests.
History[]
Prowlers arose at an unknown point in time in Hell, possibly evolved from Imps. One breed of Prowlers, native to the deepest pits of Hell, naturally evolved necrotic poison, an incredibly dangerous form of blood magic that few other beings were able to harness. Prowlers were known to be among the demonic forces that invaded Argent D'Nur, with Prowlers stalking Argenta villages as solitary hunters, being dubbed Nightstalkers by the Night Sentinels. During the war, the Maykrs, extradimensional aliens that the Argenta were serving, secretly struck a deal with Hell to let them take Argent D'Nur and other worlds in exchange for immortality-granting Argent Energy. Soon, the Night Sentinels found out about the deal, and led by their champion, an unnamed superhuman known only as the Doom Slayer, waged a civil war against those loyal to the Maykrs, until they were tricked into entering Hell by the Deag Priests, Argenta priests who once served the king, and were scattered in Hell while the demons launched an unrelenting assault on them. Argent D'Nur fell as the Elemental Wraiths, the source of the Sentinels' energy, were kidnapped and imprisoned in Hell, and only the Doom Slayer survived the assault, continuing to fight the demons for many eons. Eons later, during the Maykr-led invasion of Earth, Prowlers were summoned to join the demonic ranks, fighting against the Human resistance force, the Armored Response Coalition (ARC), led by a Maykr Seraph who had been exiled from Urdak and lived in the form of a Human cyborg named Samuel Hayden. The ARC was pushed to the brink of collapse, but the Doom Slayer soon arrived in a Sentinel space station, slaughtering invading demons as he hunted down the Deag Priests commanding them, now known as Hell Priests. After the first Hell Priest, Deag Nilox, was killed, Deag Ranak fled to his arctic base, where he was guarded by various demons, including Prowlers. However, the Prowlers were no match for the Doom Slayer, who killed them, the other demons, the resurrected Doom Hunter, and Deag Ranak. Prowlers continued to attack the Doom Slayer across Argent D'Nur, Mars, Hell, but were killed across every location they fought the Slayer. Prowlers were among the demonic forces that invaded Urdak when the revived Icon of Sin destroyed the holy seal around the realm, but any who stood in the Slayer's path as he went to activate a portal to Earth were quickly killed. After the Icon of Sin was killed, Prowlers remaining on Earth were pushed back by a renewed Human resistance. The Doom Slayer later sought to revive the Dark Lord Davoth, currently held in a life sphere, to completely destroy him and end Hell's threat. Prowlers fought the Slayer once more as he ventured from Earth to the Blood Swamps of Hell to the Luminarium on a now-corrupted Urdak, soon attacking him on Argent D'Nur after Davoth's revival to prevent the Slayer from getting a crystal shard from the World Spear, but were once again unable to stand against the Slayer. The Slayer then returned to Earth to access and power the Gate of Divum with the crystal shard, as it could transport him to the Hell city of Immora, where Davoth had fled to. On Earth, Cursed Prowlers attacked the Slayer, but met the same fate as their predecessors. Prowlers continued to attack the Slayer in Immora, where they stood alongside Jekkadian Demonic Troopers and fought the Night Sentinel army that followed the Slayer to Immora, but were unable to stop the Slayer from breaching the city and reaching Davoth. All Prowlers outside of Hell were destroyed when Davoth was killed.
Appearances[]
- Doom (2016)
- Doom Eternal (2020)
- Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 1 (2020)
- Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 2 (2021)
Notes[]
- The first full campaign appearance of Prowlers was in Doom Eternal, as they were only available in multiplayer mode in Doom (2016).