Hell Knight/Doom (2016)

The Hell Knight is a hell monster that appears in Doom. They are first encountered in the Foundry. Hell Knights are also an order of demons that also includes the Barons of Hell at the top.

Description
UAC Report File DLF11557:

''The Hell Knight is a towering brute built for combat deep in the bowels of Hell. These diabolical beasts are the prized gladiators of the demon-horde. They relentlessly stomp towards their target, smashing their massive fists into the ground to create shockwaves that stagger their opponent and leave them vulnerable to bone-crushing melee attacks. The Hell Knight's powerful legs allow it to leap across large distances effortlessly, quickly closing the gap to its enemy.''

UAC Report File U75ZJJFD

''Tablets, retrieved from the Great Steppe in the UAC Automated Survey of 2143, suggest that Hell Knights originally flanked the Great Serpent during the first age. After their master was defeated by the Guardian the Hell Knights were placed in the arenas of Hell, where they would feed on any victims thrown to them by the Demon overlords as sport. It is now believed that they guard the most sacred and important relics in the nether world.''

Appearance
In the context of this game, "Hell Knight" stands for "a thousand pounds of pissed-off meat trying to curb-stomp you." The Hell Knight strongly resembles its Doom 3 counterpart, however there are some noticeable changes, The Hell Knight seems less broad and head design differs slightly in that it has what appears to be a partially-exposed skull. Their skin tone appears to be much more flesh-like as opposed to the plain white skin tone seen with its Doom 3 counterpart. It appears much earlier in the game than in Doom 3, and has no projectile attack, instead performing the role of a frightening close-quarters melee monster like Doom 3's pinky Demon.

Combat Characteristics
The Hell Knight in combat is very aggressive, moving noticeably faster than its Doom 3 counterpart, and seems to be a close quarters combat monster; it has several attacks such as a ground pound, uppercut punch and lunge attack. The ground pound is a new attack that may have been introduced from the Warcraft series, which involves stomping the ground and causing a small earthquake which stuns the player and causes damage.

Tactical Analysis
Hell Knights are rather tough but can be quickly dispatched with three or four super shotgun shots and can be insta-killed when using the chainsaw or BFG 9000. Walking backwards while they charge at you is highly effective given the fact they make no effort to dodge shots, preferring to run through them.

When the player is killed by one, the Hell Knight punches 3 times with the last punch being the hardest. It also stomps on the player, forcing their vision to immediately cut to black.

Trivia

 * The 2016 Hell Knight greately resembles its Doom 3 counterpart (one of the few enemies to do so).
 * One of the glory kills on the Hell Knight cut from the game consists of punching the head three times, then snapping their neck counter-clockwise.
 * Unlike its Doom 3 counterpart, the Hell Knight is not able to fire energy balls from its hands. This is most likely due to the fact that Doom 3 did not have any Barons of Hell, so that version filled the empty role. They do throw off flashes of light from their fists before performing an attack, which confusingly gives the impression that they are about to fire energy balls.
 * Because they are melee-only and appear early in the game, and are fond of rushing and getting up close and personal with the player, this Hell Knight fills more of the role of the pinky Demon, especially the Doom 3 version, rather than Doom II's Hell Knight. By contrast, Doom 3's Hell Knight played the role of that version's Baron of Hell.
 * Furthermore, in line with their melee role early in the game, their description even somewhat matches that of the original Pinky Demon: "Sorta like a shaved gorilla, except … harder to kill. Don't get too close or they'll rip your fraggin' head off."
 * The 2016 Hell Knight is also now differentiated from the 2016 Baron of Hell, as the original Hell Knight in Doom 2 was just a tan palette swap with inferior stats.