Pain Elemental
A floating Doom II demon that spawns lost souls to overwhelm the player.
The pain elemental is a floating demonic monster first introduced in Doom II: Hell on Earth. Visually similar to the cacodemon — sharing its spherical body, single eye, and large toothed mouth — it distinguishes itself through its attack: rather than firing projectiles directly, it spawns lost souls and launches them at the player. The classic monster has 400 hit points.
Updated
Stats
// Engine constants from the Doom source, verified against doomwiki.org — the same dataset as the enemies database. Pain chance = painchance ÷ 256 (nominal odds).
- Health
- 400
- Attack
- Spawns Lost Souls: 3–24 each
- Speed
- 93.3 u/s
- Pain chance
- 50%
- First appears
- MAP08: Tricks and Traps
Tactics: Priority target. Kill it before the lost souls multiply, and expect its death burst: it tries to release three more lost souls (none once 21 are in the level).
Shots to kill
| Weapon | Min shots | Typical shots | Max shots | Ammo (typical) | Time (typical) | More |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fist | 20 | 38 | 200 | — | 18.0 s | |
| Fist (Berserk) | 2 | 4 | 20 | — | 1.5 s | |
| Chainsaw | 20 | 38 | 200 | — | 4.2 s | |
| Pistol | 27 | 39 | 80 | 39 bullets | 15.2 s | |
| Shotgun | 4 | 6 | 12 | 6 shells | 5.3 s | |
| Super Shotgun | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 shells | 1.5 s | |
| Chaingun | 27 | 39 | 80 | 39 bullets | 4.3 s | |
| Rocket Launcher | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 rockets | 1.1 s | |
| Plasma Rifle | 10 | 18 | 80 | 18 cells | 1.5 s | |
| BFG 9000 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 40 cells | one shot |
Scroll sideways for more columns →
Every pellet and every hit lands; no infighting. Min = every damage roll at its maximum, Max = every roll at its minimum, Typical = at the average damage of Doom’s fixed random table (the true expected count can differ by a shot). Time = first hit to last at full fire rate, typical shots, projectile travel not included. For the two shotguns Min and Max are formula bounds the fixed table cannot fully reach: a super shotgun blast with every pellet on one monster lands about 170–245, never 100 or 300.
Rocket = direct hit + 103–117 blast (a rocket detonates one step short of its target; the Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind take no blast). BFG 9000 = ball impact only (100–800); each of its 40 tracers adds 49–87 to whatever it hits, so against a big monster at close range the real count is lower. Fist (Berserk) = ×10. Chaingun and Chainsaw count single bullets and teeth; the chaingun always fires in pairs, so an odd count spends one bullet more.
Where it appears
Placed in 51 of the 132 classic maps (Doom II 13, TNT: Evilution 18, The Plutonia Experiment 20). First: MAP08 Tricks and Traps (Doom II). Most on Ultra-Violence: MAP32 Go 2 It (Plutonia) with 11. Across all maps: 83 / 126 / 178 on skill I–II / III / IV–V.
Doom II — 13 maps, 64 on UV
| Map | Name | I–II | III | IV–V |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAP08 | Tricks and Traps | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| MAP09 | The Pit | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| MAP10 | Refueling Base | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| MAP11 | Circle of Death | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| MAP15 | Industrial Zone | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| MAP17 | Tenements | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| MAP20 | Gotcha! | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| MAP21 | Nirvana | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| MAP23 | Barrels o' Fun | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| MAP25 | Bloodfalls | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| MAP27 | Monster Condo | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| MAP28 | The Spirit World | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| MAP29 | The Living End | 1 | 3 | 4 |
TNT: Evilution — 18 maps, 40 on UV
| Map | Name | I–II | III | IV–V |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAP02 | Human BBQ | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MAP07 | Prison | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MAP10 | Redemption | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| MAP13 | Nukage Processing | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MAP14 | Steel Works | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| MAP15 | Dead Zone | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| MAP16 | Deepest Reaches | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| MAP17 | Processing Area | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| MAP18 | Mill | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| MAP19 | Shipping/Respawning | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MAP20 | Central Processing | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| MAP21 | Administration Center | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| MAP22 | Habitat | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| MAP25 | Baron's Den | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| MAP28 | Heck | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| MAP29 | River Styx | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MAP31 | Pharaoh | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| MAP32 | Caribbean | 1 | 3 | 3 |
The Plutonia Experiment — 20 maps, 74 on UV
| Map | Name | I–II | III | IV–V |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAP01 | Congo | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| MAP03 | Aztec | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| MAP04 | Caged | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| MAP06 | Baron's Lair | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| MAP08 | Realm | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| MAP10 | Onslaught | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| MAP12 | Speed | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| MAP13 | The Crypt | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| MAP15 | The Twilight | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| MAP18 | Neurosphere | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| MAP19 | NME | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| MAP21 | Slayer | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| MAP22 | Impossible Mission | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| MAP23 | Tombstone | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| MAP24 | The Final Frontier | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| MAP25 | The Temple of Darkness | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| MAP26 | Bunker | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| MAP27 | Anti-Christ | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| MAP29 | Odyssey of Noises | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| MAP32 | Go 2 It | 11 | 11 | 11 |
Single-player thing counts per skill column as the Doom Wiki lists them for each map (I–II = I’m Too Young to Die / Hey, Not Too Rough; III = Hurt Me Plenty; IV–V = Ultra-Violence / Nightmare!). Multiplayer-only placements are not counted; MAP30’s spawner is not a placement. Level data: doomwiki.org level articles, CC BY-SA 4.0 — the level database has the full report card per map.
The pain elemental’s behavior depends on more than its health: the original game’s lost soul limit, the space available for spawning, and its death sequence all affect an encounter. Later versions in Doom 64 and Doom Eternal change several of these mechanics.
For related monster profiles, explore our Doom enemies database; our Doom weapons database covers the weapons discussed in the tactics below.
Appearance and visual identity
The pain elemental’s visual design reinforces its kinship with the cacodemon while distinguishing it through color and detail. Both monsters have a floating, spherical body dominated by a single eye and a large, tooth-filled mouth. The pain elemental differs through its leathery brown hide, two small arms, and two dark, curved horns on top of its body. Its arms resemble the spider mastermind’s limbs, while its horns resemble those of the cyberdemon. These features give it a distinct silhouette despite its basic resemblance to the cacodemon.
Combat characteristics in Doom II
In the classic Doom II engine, the pain elemental is a floating monster with no direct damaging attack of its own. Its attack consists of spitting lost souls directly at the player; each launched lost soul then acts as an independent monster and will pursue and charge the player on its own. The pain elemental itself does not bite or melee; its entire threat model is based on this soul-launching attack.
A well-known property of the original pain elemental is its death behavior: when killed, it attempts to spawn three lost souls, each in a different direction. These spawns can fail because of blocked placement or the original game’s lost soul limit.
It is one of two classic monsters, alongside the lost soul, that normally leave no corpse. Consequently, it does not normally respawn on Nightmare! or leave a body for an arch-vile to resurrect. An unusual exception occurs if a crusher turns a dying pain elemental into gibs: an arch-vile can raise those remains as a ghost monster in engines that preserve the relevant bug.
The lost soul limit
In the original executable, a pain elemental cannot spawn another lost soul when 21 or more already exist anywhere in the level. This is a deliberate hard-coded spawning rule, not an engine entity limit. The check counts souls placed by the map author as well as those created during play, and applies to both attacks and death spawns.
This has visible consequences in existing maps. On Ultra-Violence and Nightmare!, Doom II’s MAP09: The Pit starts above the limit, preventing its pain elementals from spawning souls until enough existing ones have been killed. Hell Revealed’s MAP19: Everything Dies uses the same rule as a trap: collecting the starting room’s megasphere triggers crushers that kill lost souls in an inaccessible room, allowing its previously harmless pain elementals (four on Ultra-Violence and Nightmare!, fewer on lower skills) to attack.
Some source ports remove this limit, while others make it optional. Check the port’s compatibility settings when playing WADs whose encounters depend on the original behavior.
Tactics: how to defeat the pain elemental
- Close to point-blank range and stay directly in front of its mouth when the surroundings permit it. A lost soul that spawns overlapping the player is immediately destroyed because it cannot occupy that position. This blocks its forward attack, but does not reliably block the three souls attempted in other directions during its death sequence.
- Use the chaingun, plasma gun, or chainsaw to keep interrupting it. The pain elemental’s high pain chance makes fast, repeated attacks effective at delaying its spawning attack; choose the chainsaw when you can safely maintain contact.
- Avoid firing rockets while a pain elemental is actively spitting souls toward you. A newly spawned soul can intercept a rocket close to the player, causing splash damage. Switch to a weapon without that explosive risk when the space between you is filling with souls.
- Use the BFG 9000 when a swarm of lost souls blocks a clear shot at the pain elemental. It can clear the souls, and a sufficiently close attack can also kill the spawner.
- Deliver a strong attack, then retreat behind cover to break its line of sight. The pain elemental needs to see its target to initiate its normal spawning attack, so breaking sight limits further attacks while you reposition. This does not stop its separate death-spawn routine.
- Kill the pain elemental yourself instead of waiting for infighting to finish it. Its indirect attack does not normally provoke retaliation from other monsters, so a pain elemental that has been angered by another enemy can continue spawning souls for a long time.
The pain elemental in Doom 64
The Doom 64 version has a dark pink body, a green eye, and two mouths that spawn two lost souls at once. Its failed spawns are dangerous: when a soul cannot appear because its placement is blocked, it causes an explosion with barrel-like damage. The classic point-blank blocking tactic is therefore unsafe against this version.
The pain elemental in Doom Eternal
The pain elemental returned in Doom Eternal with a relatively unchanged appearance and its core soul-launching identity intact. In the campaign, it has health roughly on par with a baron of Hell. It can use an aerial dash to dodge attacks and use its lost souls as living shields. Unlike its classic counterpart, it does not spawn lost souls upon death.
Its campaign attacks include homing lost souls that can be shot down, thrown souls that act as proximity mines, and a three-soul barrage. At close range, it can slash with its claws.
It also functions as one of the six playable demons in the Battlemode multiplayer game mode, where its attacks include throwing a lost soul directly at the opposing Slayer player.
Frequently asked questions
Could the pain elemental originally fire fireballs?
Early screenshots show it firing cacodemon fireballs. When Doom II is loaded into the Doom 1.4 beta executable, the pain elemental uses the cacodemon’s attack sequence, including its bite, rather than its final soul-spawning behavior.
Does an invulnerability powerup stop it from creating enemies?
No. Invulnerability protects the player from damage, but the pain elemental’s attack still creates lost souls if the normal spawning conditions are met. The powerup does not disable its spawning routine.
Where does the pain elemental first appear in Doom II?
Its first appearance is in MAP08: Tricks and Traps on every skill level, in both single-player and multiplayer.
How many lost souls can a pain elemental spawn?
In the original Doom II, it spawns one lost soul per attack, but cannot create another while 21 or more lost souls already exist anywhere in the level. Once that number falls below 21, it can spawn more. On death, it attempts to create three additional souls, subject to the same limit and available spawning space. Some source ports remove the limit or make it optional.
What happens when a pain elemental dies?
When killed, the pain elemental attempts to release three lost souls from its body; a soul whose spawn spot is blocked is destroyed at once, and none appear while 21 or more lost souls are already in the level. This means that destroying one can immediately increase the number of active enemies in the area rather than reduce them, requiring players to manage their positioning carefully at the moment of its defeat.