Samur Maykr

Samur Maykr, also known as The Seraphim, was the overseer/guardian of the Doom Slayer.

History[]

Backstory[]

Samur Maykr was originally a Maykr who served the Father and was responsible for administrating worlds, studying divine experiments, or reporting progress in all creation.^[1] He helped the Father in defeating Dark Lord of Hell, Davoth, and reducing his essence into a Life Sphere. However, Samur failed in convincing the Father to destroy Davoth's essence and ending Hell, as the Father could not go through in eliminating his first creation and preferred containing Hell.^[2] Thereafter, the Father withdrew from the physical realm and Samur was tasked to store the Father's Life Sphere in the Luminarium of Urdak. Samur was also instructed to bring the Father's Life Sphere to a place that none could find it should the Father perceive any rising dangers from Jekkad, even though this action will brand Samur as a heretic by the Maykrs.^[3]

According to the Ligria Sultagenta, Samur later served as the chancellor to the Khan Maykr. Prior to the appearance of the Doom Slayer, Samur stole the essence of the Father and hide it away within Ingmore's Sanctum.^[4] This consequently damaged the Maykrs' Transfiguration process of voluntary death and resurrection, and prompted the Khan Maykr to siphon Argent Energy from Hell in order to sustain her race.^[5]

During Argent D'Nur's war against Hell, Samur played a role in helping the Doom Slayer and his allies in stopping a major demonic assault led by a monstrous Titan known as the Dreadnought. After witnessing the Doom Slayer's prowess in battle, and acting on his own accord, Samur hurried the Slayer to the Chapel of Purity and submitted him to the Divinity Machine, granting the Slayer enhanced strength, endurance, and agility. This allowed the Slayer to single-handedly defeat the Dreadnought. As Samur acted without the Khan Maykr's consent, his actions was seen as heretical and he was believed to have been exiled from Urdak afterwards.^[6][7]

Samur eventually traveled to Earth and implanted his consciousness into a cloned human body as Dr. Samuel Hayden. Acting on the Father's mission, Samur acknowledged that humanity will eventually discover the power of Argent Energy on their own and he secretly guided them to prepare for the coming conflict with Hell.^[4]

DOOM (2016)[]

Samur is mentioned in the Slayer's Testament, specifically his role in bestowing the Doom Slayer with "terrible power and speed" to use against Hell's forces.^[8] He is depicted in a drawing from the "Book of Daeva" where Samur is shown as a hooded figure watching as the Slayer fights with two Night Sentinels against demons that resemble the ones from the cover art of the classic Doom.

Doom Eternal[]

During the Doom Slayer's journey to Taras Nabad to recover his Crucible, he comes across the Chapel of Purity and the deactivated Divinity Machine; this prompts him to recall Samur (known in the campaign as the "Hooded Figure") helping him into the Divinity Machine.

Throughout the events of Doom Eternal there are several explicit clues of Samur being Hayden. Their names are similar, and Samur's lines in the flashback mirror some of Hayden's from Doom (2016). After bringing Hayden to the Fortress of Doom, VEGA states that the architecture of the ship is similar to Hayden's body, and the humans in the ARC Complex remark that Samuel's body is "alien" - this suggests it was possibly based on reverse-engineered Maykr technology. Samuel also seems to have substantial knowledge of Urdak and even the Khan Maykr's weakness, as well as the portal systems in Urdak.

When the Slayer enters the Maykr facility with Samuel, the facility refers to him as the Seraphim. Furthermore, when VEGA is placed into an Urdak system, he asks Hayden if he is "the Father," indicating that VEGA may have been created from the Father's essence by Samuel after he stole it from the Maykrs.

The Ancient Gods - Part One[]

Following the end of the Hell invasion of Earth, the Slayer, Dr. Samuel Hayden, and the Armored Response Coalition embarked on a mission to find Samur, seeking his help to seal Urdak, which has fallen to Hell, and preventing the demons from using the realm's higher dimension to renew their conquests.

The Doom Slayer journeyed to the UAC Atlantica Facility where the body of Samur is located. Upon reaching Samur's stasis chamber, Hayden transferred his consciousness into Samur, and revealing that he and Samur are one and the same.

Weakened due to his approaching Transfiguration and being unable to set foot in the Dark Realm, Samur tasks the Slayer with braving the trials of the Blood Swamps in Hell in order to retrieve the Father's Life Sphere and returning him into physical form, allowing him to save Urdak from the demons and as well curing Samur's Transfiguration. However, he let slip that he intends for the Slayer and the rest of humanity to be his and the Gods' servants. Finally realizing Samur's agenda, the Slayer decided to destroy the Father's life sphere instead (which the Intern remarks on at the beginning of the Blood Swamp quest). At the end of the quest, the Slayer does destroy the sphere right in front of Samur to prevent the Father's interference, further weakening Samur in the process. Without any opposition, the Slayer took the Dark Lord's Life Sphere with the intent of using the Luminarium in the Holt of Urdak to give the Dark Lord physical form in order to destroy him with his subjects. He leaves Samur behind.

Upon the Slayer reaching the Luminarium, Samur confronted him, trying to prevent him from resurrecting the Dark Lord. Soon after, Samur is consumed by his Transfiguration and engages in a fierce battle with the Slayer.^[4] Ultimately, the Slayer emerges victorious and prepares to kill Samur, only for the Father to rescue Samur and grant the Slayer access to the Luminarium. His whereabouts and condition following this encounter are unknown, but he is presumed to still be alive.

The Ancient Gods - Part Two[]

While he does not appear in the game, Samur is mentioned within the Codex entries. It's revealed that Davoth subtly influenced his thoughts, leading him to believe that the Khan Maykr would lead the Maykr race to ruin. This manipulation led Samur to empower the Slayer with the Divinity Machine as a way to stop the Khan Makyr's plans and, by extension, exact Davoth's revenge.^[9][10]

Mighty Doom[]

Samur appears in this game as the Seraphim, a non-playable character whom the Slayer can encounter after defeating a boss. He particularly appears if the player defeated the boss efficiently, taking little or no damage while destroying them quickly, instead of the Mod-Bot that otherwise appears. He randomly offers the Slayer one of 6 possible deals, in which the Slayer would gain a boost in one of his stats in exchange for a penalty to a counterpart stat, although the player can spend a Seraphim's Blessing/Favor floppy disk to eliminate the disadvantage in the offer. The possible 6 offers are as follow:

• Berserker: Decreased melee damage taken, but increased ranged damage taken.
• Sensitive: Increased healing received, but reduced max health.
• Sniper: Decreased ranged damage taken, but increased melee damage taken.
• Tinkerer: Faster Secondary Weapon cooldown (-2 seconds), but lowered Secondary Weapon damage.
• Turret: Increased attack speed, but reduced movement speed.
• Warrior: Increased damage dealt and taken.

Quotes[]

• We have been allies for some time now. I knew who you were the moment you set foot in our world and who you could become to us. I brought you to the Divinity Machine, and gave you your power. Where would all of this be now, had I not had the foresight to create... you.
• Your "gifts" are owed to us now. Repay the Father for all he has granted us both by returning him to his throne - and then, he will save us all.
• Your reckless mission ends now.
• This... was not how it was meant to be.
• This must end!

Gallery[]

Script from The Book of Davea, showing Samur in the upper left corner

Samur from Doom Slayer's flashback in Doom Eternal

Trivia[]

• The name Seraphim refers to celestial beings from religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. They are described as being the highest rank of all angels from paradise, appearing as heavenly creatures with three pairs of wings. The plural suffix in Hebrew is "IM" (equivalent to an "S" in English), making Seraphim the plural of Seraph.
• His name, Samur, is most likely an allusion to the Hebrew Angel of Death Samael.
• Samur Maykr is voiced by Darin De Paul, who also voices Samuel Hayden.
• Prior to his disappearance after his battle with the Doom Slayer, Samur briefly grows two additional arms from his abdomen. It's only visible for a few frames before he is teleported by the Father. Hugo Martin said during a live stream that the Transfiguration will eventually turn Samur into a Cthulhu-like being.

References[]