Mars Facility Awakening

Lore & Background

The Mars Facility Awakening is not a single event but the starting point of the Doom Slayer's campaign in Doom Eternal. The Slayer teleports to Earth and kills Deag Nilox, but the Khan Maykr transports the two remaining priests to unknown locations. To track them, the Slayer retrieves a celestial locator from the Sentinel world of Exultia, then travels to Hell to acquire a power source from the exiled Sentinel, the Betrayer. The Betrayer gives him a dagger to stab the heart of his son, whose body was turned into the apocalyptic demon, the Icon of Sin. The Slayer finds and kills Deag Ranak at his citadel in the Arctic. In response, the Khan Maykr moves Deag Grav again and accelerates the invasion of Earth. With no leads on the last Hell Priest, VEGA suggests finding Dr. Hayden, who knows his location. At an ARC compound, the Slayer retrieves Hayden's damaged robot chassis and the demonic Crucible. Upon uploading Hayden's mind into the fortress, he reveals Deag Grav is hiding on Sentinel Prime; the only way to get there is a portal located in the lost city of Hebeth in Mars' core. The Slayer travels to the Martian moon Phobos, where he uses the BFG 10000 to shoot a hole in the surface of Mars to reach Hebeth.

In Their Own Story

The airlock hissed open, not with the sterile rush of recycled oxygen, but with a sulfurous stench that burned the lungs. Red emergency lights bathed the corridor in the color of fresh blood as the hum of the fusion reactor was replaced by guttural screeches echoing from the dark. A lone figure stirred in the cryo-pod, ice shattering off his armor as he stepped out into the carnage. The scientists were gone, their screams silenced hours ago, leaving only twisted metal and writhing shadows. He raised a plasma rifle, the charge humming in tune with the rage building in his chest. Mars was no longer a world of science; it was a slaughterhouse, and he was the executioner.

Reader's Guide

The sequence begins when UAC scientists on Phobos successfully open a stable portal to Hell to harvest energy, but they fail to realize the entities are intelligent and hostile. The breach triggers an immediate invasion, with demons overwhelming security forces and spreading across the surface of Mars. As the facility descends into chaos, the Doom Slayer is awakened from his suspended animation. Initially disoriented, he quickly adapts, utilizing the facility's weaponry to eliminate waves of Imps, Hell Knights, and other demonic horrors while trying to understand the situation. The climax involves a desperate push to reach the central portal control room. The Slayer battles through heavily infested zones, destroying key UAC assets that have been corrupted by demons. His actions ultimately lead to the destruction of the primary rift or its temporary sealing, though the immediate threat is neutralized only at great cost. This event sets the stage for the broader conflict, establishing the Slayer as the sole effective countermeasure against Hell's forces and revealing the UAC's catastrophic failure in handling demonic energy.

Did You Know?

• The Doom Slayer was originally found badly wounded by Sentinels sometime after Doom 64 and forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena before being inducted into the Sentinels.
• The Khan Maykr reveals her plan to resurrect the Icon of Sin to consume mankind after the Slayer kills Deag Grav in the arena.
• A rogue Maykr called the Seraphim imbued Doomguy with superhuman abilities by putting him in the Divinity Machine, transforming him into the Doom Slayer.
• The Khan Maykr had made a pact with the Hell Priests to sacrifice humanity for her own race's survival.
• The Slayer uses the BFG 10000 on Phobos to shoot a hole in the surface of Mars to reach the lost city of Hebeth in Mars' core.