Pain Elemental

The Pain Elemental is a monster in Doom II. Similar to Cacodemons, they float, have a single eye and a large mouth. Pain Elementals also have small arms although these are not seen used in the game.

The Doom II manual describes them this way: ''What a name. And what a guy. Killing him is almost as bad as letting him live.''

Combat characteristics
Instead of shooting a standard projectile, Pain Elementals shoot Lost Souls. Because of this, they will never be targeted by another monster, though it is possible to have them target another monster (although the Lost Soul fired does not inherit the Pain Elemental's target).

The Lost Souls produced by the Pain Elemental will begin their life with a short charge forwards and then go back to normal speed. This charge can hurt the player. If the Lost Soul is shot into a wall or a thing from close range when it is produced, it will explode.

When killed, the Pain Elemental will spawn 3 more Lost Souls unless the Lost Soul limit is in use and has not already been reached. Unlike the Cacodemon, which leaves behind a rather impressive corpse, the Pain Elemental when killed gives a grimace and explodes, leaving nothing behind (except Lost Souls).

However, it is possible for Pain Elementals to be crushed into gibs by moving floors or ceilings during their death sequence. If such gibs are found by an Arch-Vile, the Pain Elemental can be resurrected. This event is one of the most rare occurrences in the game. The Pain Elemental will also become a ghost monster as a result.

Tactical analysis
Pain Elementals are about the same speed as Cacodemons, and have a similar pain chance and hit points, but are much more dangerous. Unlike the Cacodemons, whose attacks may simply be dodged, Pain Elementals release projectiles which will come around for more attacks and which will not disappear until killed. As such, it is vital to focus one's attention on the Pain Elemental itself as much as possible. Only once it is dead is it recommended to begin killing the Lost Souls.

Appearance statistics
In classic Doom, the Pain Elemental is first encountered on these maps:

The IWADs contain the following numbers of Pain Elementals:

Doom 64
The Pain Elemental appears in Doom 64 with an altered design. It is colored red (like the original Cacodemon while the Doom 64 Cacodemon was colored brown and had two arms), has a green eye and in place of its arms are two mouths so it can now spawn two Lost Souls at the same time. Its back has a large horse-like mane. It gives off a sinister laugh when it has sighted the player.

Doom RPG
The Pain Elemental appears in Doom RPG as a class of monster. There are three variations, identified by color:


 * Beholder (green)
 * Rahovart (blue)
 * Pain Elemental (normal colors)

They, however, do not spawn Lost Souls when they attack; only when they are killed. They are particularly weak against attacks from captured Hellhounds.

Demo

 * [[Media:RESRPAIN.WAD|A level demonstrating how a Pain Elemental can be resurrected, despite normally never leaving a body behind when it dies, as a ghost monster]] (file info). Step on button 1 to activate the crusher and wait for the Pain Elemental to die, and then step on button 2 to stop the crusher when it is near the ceiling. After that, step on button 3 to release the Arch-Vile and witness the resurrection.