Olivia Pierce

"My sisters and brothers, be thankful. You will be the first. You will have a seat alongside them just as I will in what will become the new world they create for us. Starting now."

- Olivia Pierce

Olivia Pierce is a high-ranking researcher of the UAC and the main antagonist of Doom (2016). She was the Head of Biochemical Research at the Argent Facility on Mars and a fanatical researcher of Hell. After coming into contact with Hell's Dark Lord, Pierce made a pact with Hell to aid in their invasion.

History
A former protege of Samuel Hayden, Olivia Pierce was graduated with first class honors in biomechanical and genetic engineering in Strasbourg. After graduating, she was appointed to the Global Science Council and made a fortune by becoming one of the founders of a global research company called NanoStruct Aerospace and Defense Systems. During her two-year tour of duty with the Global Science Council, Pierce once served as a missionary in South America in which she described her experience as a "spiritual but frivolous pilgrimage".

Pierce initially rejected Hayden's offer to join UAC as she had no interest in the energy business until her former mentor gave her an artifact, the Helix Stone, from the Argent Fracture. Soon becoming obsessed with the artifact, which slowly corrupted her mind, Pierce made her decision to join the UAC's Lazarus Project as its Head Director after relinquishing her hold on her company.

After a few months working in the Argent facility, Pierce suffered from idiopathic scoliosis due to her long-term exposure to Hell, causing her to be bound to a wheelchair. In order to regain her freedom of movement, she agreed to take an experimental augmentation surgery which involved grafting a titanium exoskeleton to her body to replace her damaged spinal function. Despite regaining her ability to walk, moving causes her a tremendous amount of pain due to a side effect of the procedure. However, Pierce refused to take painkillers, believing the medicine would cloud her mind.

Doom (2016)
Along with Samuel Hayden, she was responsible for studying Hell to solve the human energy crisis. Ultimately, she made a deal with an unseen demon lord to aid in Hell's invasion of Earth in exchange for great power - in her words "becoming a god." Pierce soon formed a demonic cult within the UAC, allegedly promising her followers a place in the "new world"; in reality Pierce was only using her followers as disposable minions to serve in her selfish desire of godhood. Using the Lazarus Project's research, Pierce gave cybernetic augmentations to demons and made plans to use the Argent Tower as a gateway to Hell. During this time, Pierce's occult obsessions was initially tolerated by Hayden and the UAC board but over time her relationship with Hayden worsened as the latter became very suspicious of her intentions.

Pierce was also tasked by her demonic masters to ensure that the location of the Doom Slayer's sarcophagus remained a permanent secret. However, she was unable to prevent Hayden from finding the Slayer's sarcophagus and bringing it back to the UAC base as a contingency against Hell. Pierce was then berated by her demonic master for failing them which she begged that it wasn't her fault that Hayden found the Slayer and promising that their plans to open the portal will go unimpeded.

Pierce inevitably used the Argent Tower to allow the demons to invade the facility, as it released a hellwave from the Lazarus Labs which killed the Elite Guards and caused a majority of the UAC personnel to fall into demonic possession. She also released the captive demons from the Lazarus facility's holding cells upon her former co-workers, including all of her cult members. In response, Hayden reawakened the Doom Slayer to stop Pierce and the demonic invasion.

Pierce first meet the Doom Slayer himself face-to-face from behind a bullet-proof window in the Foundry. She locked out VEGA from stopping her from overriding the Foundry as she rerouted the facility's power to the Argent Tower in order to enlarge the Hell portal. Before heading to the Argent Tower, Pierce tells the Slayer that he "could not have saved them anyway." When the Slayer destroyed Argent energy induction filters from empowering the tower, Pierce salvaged her attempt by using an Argent Accumulator to open an explosive rift into Hell where she is transported there.

By the time the Doom Slayer meet her at The Well, she is shown bloody and severely weakened. Pierce realized too late that Hell has deceived and betrayed her and mutters her last words to the Slayer, "They promised me so much." The demonic forces of Hell then strike her with a crimson lightning bolt, transforming her into the Spider Mastermind to fight the Doom Slayer, which he defeats in a boss battle and glory kills with a BFG blast to the mouth.

Doom Eternal
Olivia appears as a statue that the Slayer has to knock down to proceed in the final area of Nekravol.

Appearance
Olivia Pierce is a Caucasian English woman that appears to be aged somewhere between her late 40s to early 60s. She has white hair cut very short and wears a light gray exoskeleton. She appears sickly and almost emaciated, being very thin and and short of stature compared to the rest of the game's cast.

Near Samuel Hayden's office level in the UAC Mars base, there is a digital photo of her younger self hanging on the wall, where she has short blond hair and wears a typical scientist lab-coat and jewelry.

Trivia

 * Olivia Pierce's name appears to be a nod to Pierce Rogers the archaeologist in Doom 3, who was studying the sarcophagus, tablets and Soul Cube of The Hero in the Site 3. Likewise in Doom (2016) she is one of the researchers of the Doom Slayer's sarcophagus, various tablets, and has been researching the inert Soul Cube as well.
 * Olivia Pierce's role in Doom (2016) as a scientist colluding with Hell is very similar to that of Doom 3's Malcolm Bertruger.
 * Olivia Pierce is the first female human antagonist in the series.
 * Olivia Pierce's facial capture is done by Stephanie Panisello.
 * The ominous theme that plays every time the player encounters Olivia is a remake of the level music "Suspense" that plays in E1M5 in the first game.
 * In Olivia's office in the Lazarus Labs, her computer has a video game called Demon Destruction that can be interacted with and played. On the high score board, it shows Olivia has the second highest score at 9,261,983.
 * Other items in Olivia's office include: discarded pizza boxes, one pizza box with pizza still in it, bottles of soda and orange juice, and three novels entitled "Watcher", "Evil Cabin", and "Mars," respectively.

Gallery
==References==