Sigil timeline

The Sigil timeline is the structured events of the original series of Doom games from the original 1993 release to the non-canon Sigil, Sigil II and Hellion trilogy, and other Romero missions for Knee-Deep in the Dead E1b. (Phobos Mission Control and Tech Gone Bad).

Background

Sigil is John Romero's 'fifth episode' (mod) to the Original Doom. However, is is considered unofficial to the original canon  (as it does not appear to be endorsed, published nor owned by Bethesda). Note: Sigil is included as its own game in the Doom I + Doom II release, but still listed as 'unofficial' campaign.

It also takes some liberties with the story lines presented in the previous 4th episode (Thy Flesh Consumed) and official Doom Strategy Guide. Notably, whereas Episode 4 was supposed to have taken place in a city on earth during initial invasion, Sigil posits that it was actually some kind of limbo or purgatory before reaching earth. That after defeating the mastermind in Episode 4, the Marine attempted to catch a portal to earth, but is sent into a deeper section of Hell, one ruled by Satan, and had to fight his way out to find another way back to Earth.

Sigil was not officially produced by Bethesda, but it can be downloaded as an add-on to use with the newly released versions of Doom on Bethesda's website. And it has been added along with other unofficial add-ons to recent console ports as well. Bethesda's Slayer's Club refers to it as 'revisionist history', and as an 'unofficial sequel'.

As stated in the Add-ons menu for Bethesda's ports of Doom:

Sigil was designed by Romero Games: SIGIL was designed by id co-founder and lead designer of DOOM and DOOM II, John Romero to celebrate DOOM"s 25th anniversary. Created as an unofficial sequel to Ultimate DOOM, SIGIL follows DOOM's fourth episode, Thy Flesh Consumed, and is designed to be even more difficult - with a heavy emphasis on Satanic imagery.

Notably, Doom (and the early sequels) does not have clear dates for when events take place. It is implied to take place during early 21st century in a neo-1990s retrofuturistic setting, and there are only a few references to amount of time between games. Only the SNES manual gives any 'clear dates' for the events leading upto the events of the original Doom. Otherwise there really isn't much of a timeline to actually list.

John Romero indicates on the Daisy Death Certificate that Daisy died during Episode 3: Inferno, on May 29, 2020. Sets the offsets the timeline by two years from the SNES timeline. The manual dates are still included in this timeline but reinterpreted as being a document published after the events, discussing the history of the events.

Tom Hall has indicated (and Romero agreed) that the protagonist of Doom (the original Doom/Ultimate Doom which he worked on) is the descendent of the main characters from Wolfenstein and Commander Keen series. He is the grandson of Commander Keen (which was part of the early concepts of the ID multiverse). Tom Hall's comments that he is the grandson of Commander Keen, supports the theory that the timeline of the SNES manual is accurate. Since Keen grew up in the late 1980s-early 90s and likely would have had a son in the early 21st century. The Doom RPG series also took this route with the characters B.J. Blazkowicz (Doom) and Stan Blazkowicz (though clearly from a later century, those games set the series in the 22nd century). The novels which lie outside of the game canon (or canons) also places the general events in the early to mid 21st century, see Doom novels timeline.

Certain aspects about classic Doom games and their manuals are confusing and don't always seem to line up. This has opened up theories that there are events not covered in the game's or even multiple Doom Marines involved. For example Doom's original ending and Ultimate Doom's ending are different than the prologue to Doom 2 with the heroes reaching Earth by different means. Doom 2 also talks about Mars Base being invaded as well from the Outside, and the invasion stopped by the marine who lands on earth via drop ship discovering that Earth has been invaded. Some fans think this might even be the events shown in Doom 3.

Several of the later manuals and websites claim it's the same hero in all the games confusing matters further.

Note: Technically no exact date is given for Doom II, but its assumed by the fans to take place directly after Doom/Ultimate Doom at least chronologically.

Romero has also once said that all Doom wads are canon, as part of a Doom multiverse.

Classic Doom (Original Doom Games)

(Includes Ultimate Doom (Knee Deep in the Dead, E1M4b: Phobos Mission Control & E1M8b: Tech Gone Bad, Shores of Hell, Inferno & Thy Flesh Consumed), Sigil, Sigil II, Hellion (One Humanity), Doom II (Master Levels, Maximum Doom & No Rest for the Living), Final Doom (TNT Evilution & The Plutonia Experiment), Legacy of Rust (The Vulcan Abyss & Counterfeit Eden), and Doom 64 (The Lost Levels).

• 2016 - The military, UAC's biggest supplier, has used the remote facilities on Phobos and Deimos to conduct various secret projects, including research on inter-dimensional space travel.
• 2017 - The Marine assaults a superior officer, and is transferred to Mars, home of the Union Aerospace Corporation.
• 2020
  • Mars receives a message from Phobos base stating that the base is under attack and requesting backup.
  • A few hours later, the marines land and try to stop the invasion. The Marine is ordered to stay behind and protect the perimeter. The marine forces are wiped out or turned into monsters. Planetary authorities send the final Marine the new DOOMNL 01-D19505-1D replacing earlier manual (now including briefing for the Marine, and images from the invasion captured by remote video cameras. The video data was computer analyzed by the UAC and the results are provided "here and only here"). The Marine leaves the escape pod vowing to take down as much of the invasion force as possible before death.
  • Knee Deep In the Dead begins as the Marine arrives in the Hangar Atrium.
    • Phobos Mission Control
      • With the Toxin Refinery in the rear-view, Doomguy makes his way to Phobos Mission Control where the computers crunching the data from the Phobos Anomaly are located. He needed to use them to gain access to the Phobos Lab, but remembers hearing that the computers were tied into all areas of the installation and that he never knew when the environment around him would change. He needed to keep his eyes alert to all movement - this place was not what it seems.
    • Tech Gone Bad
      • After exiting the Computer Station he knew the worst was up ahead. You still hadn't reached the place where the demons were coming from. The steel door shuts behind hin as he realized he's there; he's at the Phobos Anomaly. Cracks from hell are all over the place as seepage from the portal invades the entire installation. Now it's time to find the portal and stop the demons from coming through. He knows UAC had hundreds of scientists working at a high-tech lab somewhere in this area, and the portal must be connected to it somehow. Time to lock and load.
  • Knee Deep in the Dead ends as the Doom marine is ambushed by the forces of hell upon arriving on Deimos, and presumably dies.
  • Shores of Hell begins as the Doom Marine finds himself alive somehow, and pushes against the forces of Hell.
  • Shores of Hell ends as the Doom Marine rappels down the surface of Deimos, discovering that it is now orbiting above Hell itself.
  • May 29
    • Inferno begins as the Doom Marine arrives on the surface of Hell.
    • Daisy is killed by a Demonic Guillotine on Earth, and her body is sent to the Stygian Abyss (an earth-like purgatory pocket universe between surface of hell and deeper regions of hell).
    • Inferno ends with the Doom Marine killing the Spider Mastermind, the general of the Phobos and Deimos invasions, and 'rewarded' with a gateway to the Stygian Abyss, thinking that earth been invaded and discovering his pet Rabbit was killed.
  • Thy Flesh Consumed begins (an interquel of sorts inserted after Shores of Hell and before or during Doom II). The Doom Marine continues to fight in revenge for his dead pet Daisy stopping the Spider Mastermind's invasion force 'before' it is sent to earth. But he is unable to prevent Hell on Earth.
  • Doom Marine realizes he is not really on Earth but rather another location of hell called the Stygian Abyss, where his pet rabbit had been sent after being killed by the Demon Guillotine.
  • SIGIL begins (the interquel continues): After killing the Spiderdemon the Marine's next stop is Earth — he must save it from hellspawn that has causing unimaginable carnage. But Baphomet glitched the final teleporter with his hidden sigil whose eldritch power brings the marine to even darker shores of Hell. He fights through this stygian pocket of evil to confront the ultimate harbingers of Satan, then finally return to become Earth's savior.
  • SIGIL ends: Baphomet was only doing Satan's bidding by bringing the Hero back to Hell. Somehow they didn't understand thathe's the reason they failed in the first place. After mopping up the place with his arsenal, he's ready to face the more advanced demons that were sent to earth. Lock and load, rip and tear.
  • SIGIL II begins: After escaping Baphomet's series of traps at the end of SIGIL, Satan throws one last-ditch attempt at stopping the Doomguy from reaching Earth. This one's for all the marbles; if that fails, Satan will just unleash his minions on Earth and hope Doomguy falls in the ensuing chaos. (As we'll see in Doom II) He casts the Hero into the Darker depths.
  • Sigil II ends: Satan erred in casting the Hero to Hell's Darker Depths, his plan failed. He has tried for so long to destroy him, and he has lost every single, his only option is to flood Earth with demons and hope the Hero goes down fighting. Prepare for Hellion!
  • Hellion begins
    • One Humanity
  • Meanwhile, a Marine stops a demonic invasion on the UAC Mars Base on Mars over the course of a few days. He is given leave to return to Earth. He was the only survivor on Mars. He returns to earth in a drop pod only to discover it has been invaded by the Demons from the Outside.
  • Doom II begins
  • Doom II ends
    • The Horrendous visage of the biggest demon you've ever seen crumbles before the hero, after he pumps his rockets into his exposed brain. The monster shrivels up and dies. It's thrashing limbs devastating untold miles of Hell's surface. He's done it, the mission is over. Earth is saved. Hell is a wreck. He wonders where bad folks will go when they die. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he begins the long trek back home. Rebuilding Earth ought to be a lot more fun than ruining it was.
  • No Rest for the Living begins.
    • The Doom Marine continues his battles on Earth after Hell's forces were seemingly been vanquished, and is forced to travel to a pocket universe to stop another demonic threat. The demon invasion of Earth was seemingly not yet vanquished, and a Cyberdemon was attempting to re-open the gateway between Hell and Earth.
  • No Rest for the Living ends
    • Trouble was brewing again in his favorite vacation spot... Hell. Some cyberdemon punk thought he could turn Hell into a personal, amusement park, and make Earth the ticket booth. Well that half-robot freak show didn't know who was coming to the fair. There's nothing like a shooting gallery full of Hellspawn to get the blood pumping... Now the walls of the demon's labyrinth echo with the sound of his metalltic limbs hitting the floor. His death moan gurgles out through the mess you left of his face. This ride is closed.
  • The Union Aerospace Corporation is entirely reformed, as the original stockholders, trustees and management were killed in the invasion of Earth, and begin managing two projects; one in an unknown jungle, and the other on one of the moons of Jupiter.
• 2021
  • July 1 - DOOMNL 01-D19305-1C is published (presumably first edition covering events of Phobos invasion in 2020).
  • Yearly supply ship reaches Jupiter's moon. Demons use it to invade the UAC base there.
  • TNT Evilution begins with the Doom Marine, the last surviving marine Jupiter moon base, once again fighting against the forces of Hell.
  • TNT Evilution ends with the Doom Marine destroying the Demon-spitter
  • The Quantum Accelerators succeed in their maiden test, however, the next day seven gates open up throughout the base by the forces of hell. Marines fight back, closing off six gates, but are overwhelmed, leaving one Gate left open for the forces of Hell to stream through.
  • The Plutonia Experiment begins as the Doom Marine fights against the forces of Hell again after arriving via pickup truck.
  • The Plutonia Experiment ends with the Doom Marine destroying the Gatekeeper, swallowing up the final demons and the accelerator.
• 2022
  • March 15, 2022 - DOOMNL 01-D19505-1D is published superceding earlier version. It contained the records of the initial Phobos invasion of 2020.
  • Legacy of Rust begins: Vassago's Rest, the ancient inscriptions called it. With the meaning of the name lost to time, it wasn't long before the interlopers began calling the land by another: "New Eden". Just like the Garden of old, mankind's exile from this newly-settled realm was swift and brutal. This remote region of Hell, overflowing in (un-)natural resources as it were was almost devoid of demonic presence. The Union Aerospace Corporation, never one to shy away from hubris and excess, learned the hard way that even the demons feared something greater, something deeper. When the Ones Beneath awoke, the UAC's crown jewel was swallowed in a cascade of blood and fire. Three hours--all it took to reduce New Eden to a sea of molten glass. Three minutes--all it took before the UAC's top brass played their ace. Three seconds--all it took for the hero to weigh the risks before accepting the job. His orders were clear: reclaim the lost base, and preserve the UAC's Legacy. Or die trying.
    • End of The Vulcan Abyss: Doom Guy finds himself trapped. Damn... The oldest trap in the book, and he fell right into it. Even the best make mistakes. As he fades into unconsciousness, an epiphany surges through the pain: the base is beyond recovery, and the UAC knew it. Why send their best agent on a suicide run? There's something else at stake. What are they hiding on this barren, bleeding rock? As they toss his half-conscious form into a rusty iron cage. He vows to find answers. Time to carve a legacy of his own.
    • End of Counterfeit Eden: Tick, tock, tick tock. The air is thick with blood and irony. Doom guy has turned the UAC's final gambit against them,, but will they have the last laugh? Three, two, one. Then with a snap and a puff of ozone, the portal winks out of existence, it's crimson maelstrom yielding to blessed silence. Zero. It's done, he's rid the world of two evils in a single violent stroke... and survived. Legacy can wait. He isn't finished yet.
  • Legacy of Rust ends
  • The fatigued Doom Marine is decommissioned, and the military DOOM Episodes are classified. The UAC's bases are sealed, and quarantined by radioactive bombardment.
• Years Later
  • Mother Demon survived in radiation of bombarded planetary space installation. Shielded in the radiation it resurrected the demons mutating them into stronger and more vicious forms.
  • Doom 64 begins. The Doom Marine is re-commissioned to stop and the latest invasion, he stops the Motherdemon's forces which had been building in the former battlegrounds he failed to clear.
  • Doom 64 ends. The Doom Marine decides to stay in Hell to prevent the rise of another demon lord after destroying the Motherdemon.
  • The Lost Levels begins. A new chapter in the Doomguy's saga, taking place shortly after [Doom 64's] original campaign concludes. The Mother Demon the marine defeated, had a sister, and Doomguy has been messing up Hell non-stop, she tried to get rid of him by sending him away back to a base on Earth. He makes it back to the sister in Hell and take's revenge.
  • The Lost Levels ends. The Marine had not expected to be torn from Hell so soon after his fateful decision. Getting back there was his only concern. The plans of the sister Resurrector to exterminate him had failed. A grim vision took hold of his mind as the demon carcasses steam in his wake. Stretched before him is was a path of perpetual torment... A path through DOOM...

Doom Reboot series

(future and/or parallel universe, Doom 64 leads into the 2016 reboot series per the Lost Levels ending...))

• 80,000 Years Ago
  • Doom: The Dark Age
• 2149
  • Doom VR
  • October
  • Doom (2016) Begins
• 2163
  • Doom Eternal

Notes

• The SNES/Midway made dates would seem to place events of Doom between 2021 and 2022 (the Doom novels place Doom somewhere between 2004 and 2012 but perhaps as late as 2020s give or take, talking about Star Trek Ten (technically released in 2002) and an alternate Star Trek XI). In Romero's dating he places it Doom in May 2020. This timeline reflects Romero's placement, and reinterprets Midway's timeline as material published following the invasion, to teach new recruits about the demonic forces encountered on Phobos, etc. Doom II strategy guide is written also from perspective that its teaching new recruits just before they are deployed into mission to assist Doomguy. It appears though that the original interpretation was intended to be a manual given to Doom Guy and others in his group as they were briefed before their mission to Phobos.
• According to the SNES manual; "When the Creatures first appeared in at the Gateways, their images were captured by remote video cameras. The video Data was computer analyzed by the UAC and the results are provided here, AND ONLY HERE, to help you determine what you're up against. Some call them Demons, some Call them Monsters. Whatever they are, they're not of this world and they're waiting for you."
• Further more each of the enemy recognition screen data listings includes "Time" when they were first appeared in the cameras.

Former Soldiers were first appeared at 17:48. Former Sergeants first appeared at 03:21, Imps appeared at 11:34, first images of Demons was at 20:17, Lost Souls at 02:47, Cacodemons at 09:35, Barons of Hell at 22:59, Cyberdemon at 13:26, Spider Demon at 11:11. The times are there for flavor and show that they they all appeared on the same date, though the times are not particularly useful information beyond that.

• Another minor change which might change certain contexts is that the SNES manual changes the description related to artifacts from 'the other dimension' to 'the other dimensions' plural for whatever reason, perhaps suggesting that Hell takes place in multiple dimensions or that UAC has accessed multiple dimensions (in Doom (2016) the possibilities of multiple dimensions is discussed see Worlds and Time).
• According to the Doom 64 manual it mentions "planetary" twice and both "space installation" (space installations) when discussing previous events. Some believe this may be a reference to the Mars Base invasion on Mars rather than Phobos/Deimos invasions which occurred on the moons (rather than planets).
• Technically no date for Doom II's events are specifically given in any source (other than mid-21st century in the novels). The novel is a very loose adaptation practically a different/original story even, lacking most of locations and events from Doom II. Though characters do reach earth from Deimos using a shuttle, which might be loosely inspired by the drop pod account in Doom II manual. Fans generally assume Doom II takes place directly after Doom/Ultimate Doom’s ending.
• In Romero’s timeline Sigil, Sigil II, and Hellion take place between Ultimate Doom and Doom II.
• In Doom RPG Deimos is missing, which appears to be a nod to Doom/Ultimate Doom (and a hint that at least in the ID multiverse it takes place after Doom, and is in the same timeline as hinted on the website). Though it takes place in the 22nd century.
• The official doom strategy guide mentions 2500 B.C. as the date of Sun Tzu.
• The official Doom II strategy guide ignores much of the first part of the intro to Doom II instead retelling the events at the end of original Doom (but minus the events of Thy Flesh Consumed): "At the end of DOOM, Our Hero, having returned to Earth, is left staring at a flaming city, evidence that the demon aggressors have arrived ahead of him.
• John Romero puts the death of Daisy as March 29, 2020 on Daisy's death certificate. She died by Demonic Guillotine.
• In some interpretations Doom 64 is the third in the Midway Doom trilogy (PSX Doom, PSX Final Doom, and Doom 64 all sharing similar engine and soundtrack). In another interpretation it is a direct sequel to the original Doom (replacing Doom II and Final Doom). Hence the reference to "Doom Episodes" is a reference to the classic Doom's three episodes or also 4th episode in Ultimate Doom, and direct references to Phobos base on Doom 64 website, and in the partial novelization in Nintendo Power (see Doom 64: The Story So Far). Newer releases suggest its a follow up to Doom II."
• The two official Doom 64 strategy guides acknowledge Doom PSX/Final Doom PSX (but speak of the PC Doom I-II-Final Doom, as being somewhat different series). One of the two guides treats PC Final Doom and Doom 64 as two 'separate' endings to the franchise (while acknowledging that Doom 64 was an original game made outside of Id Software's influence). "DOOM II was kept alive by Master Levels, which featured 20 missions assembled by independent designers, and included Maximum DOOM, a vast collection of 3,000 levels created by fans of the game. The hastily-named Ultimate DOOM consisted of a new adventure, Thy Flesh Consumed, and the original PC DOOM, the first time it had been available in stores. Final DOOM really was the last of the series--by id Software at least, who gave Midway Entertainment, Inc, the green light to convert a restyled version to the Nintendo 64. Basically a rewrite of DOOM II, Final DOOM spread 64 levels across two episodes, full of tense shoot-outs and taxing puzzles fans have come to know and love...And now there's DOOM 64, coded by Midway programming team in San Diego, it's the first all-new version of DOOM in four years. Anticipation for this "dream-match" of the ultimate shooting game on the most powerful console was such that the official "Doomsday" of April 4, 1997, was flouted by many retailers in North America, who put the cartridges on the shelves as soon as they could get them."
• Created by id Software co-founder, John Romero, and released as an episode-sized mod consisting of 18 new maps, Sigil fits in between the timelines of DOOM (1993) and DOOM II. Baphomet, the gatekeeper of Hell, “glitched the final teleporter with his hidden sigil, whose eldritch power brings you to even darker shores of Hell. You fight through this stygian pocket of evil to confront the ultimate harbingers of Satan, then finally return to become Earth’s savior.”
• Though described as unofficial in the main menu of Doom I + Doom II the marketing has this to ssay: "Created by id Software co-founder, John Romero, and released as an episode-sized mod consisting of 18 new maps, Sigil fits in between the timelines of DOOM (1993) and DOOM II. Baphomet, the gatekeeper of Hell, “glitched the final teleporter with his hidden sigil, whose eldritch power brings you to even darker shores of Hell. You fight through this stygian pocket of evil to confront the ultimate harbingers of Satan, then finally return to become Earth’s savior.”"

See also

• Console Doom timeline