Credit
The Essence section is made by Gewsbumpz dude, link to his blog and the original.
The Argent Energy, Sentinel Energy and Hell Essence sections were made by ShionAH and SpicyPlatinum.
What Is Essence?
To give a simple explanation on what Essence is, it is essentially a fundamental force for living beings in DOOM, if not reality as a whole, and makes them possible to occur in the first place. Essence has a number of statements that signify it being that "fundamental force" I just described. For one, it is said to be the essence of your very being.
| “ | Their weaponry was not conjured from machined steel but from the essence of their very being. | „ |
| ~ Story of the Sentinels: Part VI |
Is described as the very substance of life. This directly suggests that essence sustains life and soon, as it will be covered in this blog, much more.
| “ | During their nightmarish journey the ethereal soul slowly drains from the body, and in that dark realm the substance of mortal life is manifest as matter. | „ |
| ~ Fuel the Eternal Flame: Part I |
It is described as the very essence of life.
| “ | In atonement, the Seraphs built the Luminarium for the Father on the oldest sliver of Urdak, and took cool pride in building their marvels, including machines that could contain the terrible energies of the very essence of life. | „ |
| ~ Book of Seraphs: Part II |
Lastly, it is described as "life-essence", and it is said to flow throughout the being's physical form.
| “ | Not wholly unlike our own, this power was the life-essence that flowed through their twisted form and powered their attacks. | „ |
| ~ Story of the Sentinels: Part VI |
We now have a proper understanding on what Essence is, that being the very building blocks of a being's existence. But what exactly does it encompass? For starters, it is explicitly told to us that Essence encompasses the memory, intelligence, will and essential nature of a being's consciousness.
| “ | Life spheres contain the memory, intelligence, will, and the essential nature of a being's consciousness, all of it contained by the mighty inventions of the Seraphs. | „ |
| ~ Book of the Seraphs: Part IV |
We can also determine that Essence encompasses the soul. During the Nekravol levels, Samuel Hayden explains Hell's soul extraction process in order to make Argent Energy, which involves the soul being extracted from the Essence.
| “ | This is raw Argent Energy. The suffering on Earth, the bloodshed, all of it..for this. Once the soul is extracted the husk of the human body will over time transform into the demons you fight now. The extracted soul that remains will power their world...the Essence of Hell. | „ |
| ~ Samuel Hayden |
Another thing, Samur Maykur (Samuel Hayden's original form) was able to separate the Father's mind from his life sphere, and would go on to use it to create VEGA. This has been described as his mind and spirit being divided. This further proves that Essence also encompasses the mind of a being.
| “ | Using the secrets of Maykr technology, the Father's mind was processed and reformed into the complex AI known as VEGA so that he could continue to exist among his creations and safeguard them against Hell. Separated from his divine essence, VEGA operated without full understanding of what it once was in order to hide its true nature from the Dark Lord, who wished to subvert his power. | „ |
| ~ Characters and Locations: Seraphim |
| “ | His spirit and mind divided, the Father can no longer take physical form after the destruction of his life sphere by the Slayer. | „ |
| ~ Characters and Locations: The Father |
Also in general, the words "essence" and "soul" tend to be used interchangeably, clearly signifying that they're related. Of course, given what is detailed above, Essence isn't just the soul of a being, but also their mind, their memory, their existence, their concept and their life.
Lastly, before moving onto the next topic, the last things Essence seems to encompass are the strength and abilities of the being. It isn't explicitly said anywhere, but we can tell that with what we are given, mainly thanks to Samur Maykr. In The Ancient Gods we see Samur Maykr unwillingly absorbing the essence of the Father after Doomguy broke it open, with him literally brimming with the stuff even up until his boss fight where he proceeds to demonstrate abilities only the Father would have or are universal with Primevals. For one thing, Samur Maykr controls the arena throughout the fight, and the Father is said to have full control over Urdak. Samur Maykr during the fight also creates spirits, which are the Essence of Summoners from DOOM (2016). All Primevals seem to be capable of influencing Essence, so, of course, someone with the power of a Primeval should do the same. Even the Doom Slayer is an example of this, with him gaining a boost in strength after going through the Divinity Machine, having a shard of Davoth's Essence put inside him. Also gaining abilities like his immortality, allowing him to fight against Hell for eons. Lastly, this obviously made Samur Maykr far stronger, with him being able to fight the Slayer and not get instantly stomped by him, who at this time can bust multiverses while Samur Maykr up until this point has shown far inferior stuff.
Moving on, I'm gonna talk about how Essence is conceptual and governs reality as a whole. Pairing these together because they're crucial to understanding each other. The most obvious example being from before;
| “ | Life spheres contain the memory, intelligence, will, and the essential nature of a being's consciousness, all of it contained by the mighty inventions of the Seraphs. | „ |
| ~ Book of the Seraphs: Part IV |
This statement isn't just saying that Essence contains the mind of a being, but says that it contains the essential nature of their mind, along with other abstract things like their memories and intelligence. This actually goes along with these other statements that suggest in order to manipulate the Essence of a being, the Seraphs need to manipulate the very nature of creation itself, utilizing its fundamental energies.
| “ | It is only in the Luminarium that the resurrection can take place, and only the Seraphs that can give a life sphere the return of its original form, calling on the engines of creation to harness the great powers that lay between the dimensions. | „ |
| ~ Book of the Seraphs: Part VII |
| “ | The Seraphs proudly control these forces, calmly manipulating the nature of creation and mind to give life again to raw energy. Every life sphere resurrected is a sign of Seraph power and competence. | „ |
| ~ Book of the Seraphs: Part X |
The idea that Essence has barring over existence itself is actually quite grounded. It is established that universes in DOOM are alive and have souls, even realms like Urdak and Hell.
| “ | You denied the gods and awoke an ancient evil. Now rally the scattered Sentinel armies, lay siege to the last bastion of Hell, break through the fortress walls, and face the Dark Lord himself. The soul of the universe hangs in balance. | „ |
| ~ Official Description of The Ancient Gods Part - II |
| “ | Hell is itself a living thing, an entity possessing certain undeniable sentience. | „ |
| ~ The Art of DOOM Eternal |
| “ | In Maykr legend, Urdak itself is considered a living being, made of the souls of Maykrs past. | „ |
| ~ The Art of DOOM Eternal |
Wraith Energy, which is the Essence of the Elemental Wraiths, was once used to manipulate space itself. Cementing the idea of Essence being something that governs reality as a whole.
| “ | Propulsion is notably absent, as it is not required. The fortress manipulates space through an unknown process involving Sentinel energy. | „ |
| ~ The Fortress of Doom |
In general it makes sense for Essence to be conceptual. As detailed above, it governs the soul, mind and general life of a being, it wouldn't make sense for it to be on the same level of fundamentality. The word "essence" is even used to reference abstract things like mortal suffering.
| “ | The fearsome Titan, forged from the essence of mortal suffering, once bore a human soul - a soul now transmogrified and entombed within the still beating heart of its former self. | „ |
| ~ The Icon of Sin |
It also seems that an individual's Essence can vary in how powerful it is. In the Book of Seraphs, it is said that only the most powerful, god-like, indomitable minds can survive things like having their essence fused into a life sphere or corporal resurrection. This includes beings like Davoth, the Father, and the Khan Maykr.
| “ | Only the most powerful, god-like, indomitable minds can survive the incredible stresses of having their essence fused into a life sphere, and fewer still can bear the agony of corporal resurrection. | „ |
| ~ Book of the Seraphs: Part IV |
The Father's Essence, one of the aforementioned dudes, is described as being immutable and immeasurable.
| “ | His presence remains within existence, immutable and immeasurable, observing as the consequences of the Slayer's actions drive destiny forward. | „ |
| ~ Characters and Locations: The Father |
Lastly, it can be potentially argued that Essence is more fundamental than typical concepts given it governs Hell, which is emphasized to be beyond reality and its aspects, such as time, space, and dimension. Davoth is also evidently bound to it, even though he predates and created all of existence, including Hell.
Ramifications on Powerscaling
Essence in DOOM allows you to obtain these abilities if you were able to manipulate it.
- Conceptual Manipulation (Type 2, It is the essential nature of a being, the blocks of their very existence, with it encompassing every single aspect of a being: from their soul, to their mind, will, memory and conciousness, all the way to their life and their powers and strength)
- Soul Manipulation ("Essence" and "soul" are terms used interchangeably throughout all of DOOM. Furthermore, a soul of a being is able to be extracted from the rest of their Essence)
- Mind Manipulation (As it is stated, among other things, it ecompasses the mind. It is able to separate the mind of a being from the rest of their Essence)
- Empathic Manipulation and Memory Manipulation (Alongside the mind, Essence also contains the memories, the conciousness and the intelligence of a being)
- Life Manipulation ("Essence" and both "Life-essence" and "Life-sphere" are interchangeable terms throughout the whole series, with Essence being described as the substance and essence of life itself)
- Power Absorption and Nullification (A Life-sphere contains the abilities and the strength of a being. After absorbing The Father's Life-shpere, Samur Maykr was able to access his abilities and keep up with Doomguy, dispite the latter being unfathomably stronger than him previous to the absorption. Similarly, Doomguy was able to gain Davoth's immortality (which allowed him to fight the forces of Hell throughout eons) and a boost of strength after having a shard of Davoth's Essence put inside him)
- Reality Warping and Space-Time Manipulation (As a whole, Essence the thing that governs over reality itself, as whole universes such as Hell and Urdak are stated to have Essence of its own)
- Absorption
Davoth's Essence
Now, Davoth's Essence is much more than the average Essence...
As established before, Essence in general is a conceptual force, so naturally Davoth's Essence would also be conceptual. What separates Davoth's Essence from all of the other kinds of essence is that it extends to absolutely everything in the DOOM cosmology. If you are a prolific DOOM scaler, you likely already know the scan of Hugo Martin saying that Hell is an extension of Davoth's power and will, but there is more to this statement. After this, Hugo Martin raises the question of what else is an extension of Davoth, and that we will get answers on it in The Ancient Gods 2, directly suggesting that more of the cosmology is an extension of his power. As you already know by now, in TAG 2 it is revealed that Davoth created all of existence, and given the context of the former statement, we can conclude that not only is Hell an extension of Davoth's power and will, but so is the rest of the DOOM cosmology. We also know that the whole "extension of his will and power" (as established before, will and power are encompassed by Essence) is literal here, indirectly thanks to his emotions. We can also conclude that Davoth's Essence exists independently from the cosmology it governs, with Davoth being an entity that predates the conception of both Hell and the multiverse, and this only makes further sense given the specific wording here. Hell and the rest of the cosmology are likened to "extensions" of his essence, rather than actual parts of his Essence.
So Davoth's Essence is a conceptual force that governs and exists independently from the rest of existence. Making it a fundamental concepts that govern all of reality, and exist independently from it. So if the things that represent it are destroyed, the concept itself will remain. Doom Slayer was able to seemingly destroy Davoth's essence by stabbing directly into his life sphere, causing it to explode. Similarly, other beings like the Father can directly attack and could potentially destroy Davoth's Essence entirely.
This would make Davoth's Essence a Type 1 Concept and 6D in potency.
Hell Essence
Hell Essence, also known as Demonic Essence, is a form of energy produced using the Essence of mortals in Hell and harnessed to help create Argent Energy.
When a mortal is taken to Hell, their soul turns into Hell Essence over the course of millennia and coalesces into a physical substance that gathers in an area of Hell known as The Well, while the mortal's empty husk transforms into a demon. The demons feed off this Essence in order to invigorate themselves for battle, but the Maykrs discovered that the full potential of the essence could be realized by introducing it to the energy produced by the Elemental Wraiths.
Hell Essence is manufactured in the Nekravol, where it is combined with Wraith Energy and becomes Argent, which then flows directly to Urdak. Due to being harnessed in Hell, a 5D realm, and being innately tied to it, Hell Essence would be 5D in potency, with it being the baseline of all extra-dimensional sources of energy in DOOM.
Ramifications on Powerscaling
Hell Essence allows you to obtain these abilities if you were able to manipulate it:
- Enhanced Essence Manipulation (Hell Essence is made out of the collection of multiple Essences of mortals in Hell)
- Unholy Manipulation and Conceptual Manipulation (Type 1. Hell Essence is innately tied to Hell, which is not only unholy by definition being a realm corruped by Davoth's rage, but its Essence is a mere extension of Davoth's, which governs reality as a whole)
- Energy Manipulation and Limited Dimensional Manipulation (Being made by the suffering of mortals in Hell, with Hell being a 5D realm, Hell Essence is a form of energy itself)
Sentinel Energy
Sentinel Energy, also known as Wraith Energy or Wraith Essence, is the untainted essence derived from the Wraiths prior to their imprisonment. Sentinel Energy has many extraordinary properties with a seemingly endless number of uses, powering mighty machines and spaceships like the Fortress of Doom and giving the individual enhanced physical abilities.
Sentinel Energy and Hell Essence are used to create Argent Energy, an extraordinarily powerful fuel source that could end or improve life. Specifically, Sentinel Energy was stated to be way stronger than Demonic Essence, as the Wraiths empowered the Night Sentinels with Sentinel Energy, making them nearly invincible against the demonic forces of Hell, as well as being capable of giving an unlimited supply of Argent Energy, which is already far superior to Hell Essence in on its own. Thus, Sentinel Energy is not only 5D in potency, but it is further than Hell Esence into the tier.
Ramifications on Powerscaling
Sentinel Energy allows you to obtain these abilities if you were able to manipulate it:
- Vastly Enhanced Essence Manipulation, Energy Manipulation and Limited Dimensional Manipulation (It's stated to be way superior to Hell Essence, with Sentinel Energy making the Night Sentinel nearly invincible against the demonic forces of Hell, powered with Hell Essence at that point, as well as being capable of giving an unlimited supply of Argent Energy, which is already far superior to Hell Essence alone)
- Healing and Disease Manipulation Resistance (It has the capability of bringing medical benefits and curing diseases)
- Statistics Amplification (It's capable of giving boosts of strength and enhance physical abilities. When interacting with a Sentinel Crystal, Doomguy is able to increase either his maximum health, armor or ammunition capacity as desired)
Argent Energy
Argent Energy is a new form of renewable energy that was discovered by the Union Aerospace Corporation in the late 21st century. It is produced by neutron activation of Argent Plasma. Publicly, Argent Energy was believed to originate on Mars, but in reality, it is secretly mined from Hell, where the element is innately tied to that realm and its demonic inhabitants.
Sentinel Energy and Hell Essence are used to create Argent Energy, with both them being 5D in potency. Thus, Argent Energy would also be 5D in potency. Furthermore, it is stated multiple times that Argent Energy is way more powerful than Hell Essence, as when Hell (which was powered up by Hell essence beforehand) got a hand Argent, they became a threat of all existence and being comparable to Sentinel Energy, possibly being more powerful than it, as Argent Energy is the "true power of Essence". Thus, Argent Energy would be further into 5D in potency than Sentinel Energy and Hell Essence.
Argent Energy is stated to be a boundless and endless power source that can give infinite power. It is made from extra-dimensional resources, Demonic Essence, Sentinel Energy, human suffering and souls. It is described to go beyond theoretical temperature limits, to be capable of making beings invulnerable, being capable of powering huge machines, offering medical benefits and curing diseases and giving beings a boost of strength, and replenishing Doomguy's health, ammunition and armor, as well as being considered as the Makyr race to be an extraordinary energy that could end or enhance life.
Ramifications on Powerscaling
Argent Energy allows you to obtain these abilities if you were able to manipulate it:
- Enhanced Sentinel Energy Manipulation (It's made out of Essence from both Hell and the Elemental Wraths and it's compared and even implied to be even more powerful to the latter, whose potency is way higher than Hell Essence, which is a cocktail of various Essences. It is the de-facto energy source for Urdak, Hell and the Earth, replacing Sentinel Energy and other conventional sources such as natural gas, oil, nuclear energy, solar energy among others)
- Corruption (Type 2), Death Manipulation and Necromancy (Biowaves of Argent Energy are known to convert ordinary people into the Possessed, with the Possesed being a class of zombie-like monsters which are analogues of former humans)
- Heat Manipulation (It goes beyond theoretical temperature limits)
- Invulnerability (It's capable of making it's users invulnerable)
- Enhanced Statistics Amplification and Enhanced Healing (When interacting with Argent Energy Cells, Doomguy is able to fully restore either his ammunition, his health, or his armor)
NOTE 1: Being able to manipulate Essence-derived energies themselves and being able to use them for weaponry are two different things. Being able to manipulate Essence-drived energies themselves means that the user is capable of manipulating the essences that make up the energy in the first place, which would give you all Essence Manipulation's haxes. However, being able to use Essence-derive energies from means you can only use the "energy" part of them, as it's never stated that forms of Essence-derived energies are able to interact with Essences on their own.
Thus, if a character can only use Essence-derived energies as a power source, they don't get any of the haxes that Essence Manipulation grants, only the abilites/haxes that the energy source itself grants.
NOTE 2: While Argent Energy is made partially out of Hell Essence, it wouldn't grant all of his abilities if a character is able to manipulate it, given that Argent Energy is subject to a purification by the Wraths process before being used, striping away all of his demonic influence.
Conclusion
Essence in DOOM is a conceptual force that governs and sustains all of reality, and is responsible for the existence of the soul, memory, intelligence, will, mind, power, and powers of a being, right down to their essential natures. Powerful enough gods can directly influence essence, obviously giving them a variety of powers.