Necromorph

Overview
The Necromorph is an alien recombinant virus that only infects dead flesh. The pathogen prefers to wait for the host to die or wait for its prey to be cornered before it infects the organism. The mutated being must be mauled in a variety of ways to kill it, as most are able to sustain severe trauma before falling and upon losing a limb are able to adapt themselves to continue functioning. This suggests a distributed nervous system, rather than the centralised one that humans and other animals have. Necromorphs are quite intelligent, often feigning their own deaths before springing up in a sneak attack after approaching their "corpse". On an interesting note, a living human's metabolism will embrace the scourge and allow it to regenerate lost limbs.

Origin
The following event happens 200 years before the events in "Dead Space": The necromorphs actually originated from their bacterial basis dubbed 'The Corruption' by researchers. The Corruption was created by scientists through the code written on the Marker, which was a DNA sequence to create the pathogenic bacteria.

The first cultures synthesized by said code did not grow, despite placement in ideal bacterial conditions. The scientists deemed it a failure, but when they opened an opportunity for the bacteria to react to dead skin and hair cells when one of the cultures was incompletely decontaminated, what resulted was fascinating: the culture grew after regenerating the dead cells and other material with which it had come into contact.

From then on the scientists discovered the potential of the corruption as it could reanimate any type of dead cell (hair, waste, nails,). As the corruption grew, many scientists started to experience violent hallucinations, and several scientists were killed as a result.

One scientist who placed a body in quarantine, found that the corruption had morphed the body into a 'leaper' necromorph. During this time, hallucinations experienced by the scientists significantly increased.

Unknown organic growths were discovered around the lab indicating the bacteria had escaped it's quarantine. Those killed by the bacteria changed into necromorphs. The behavior of the bacteria explains why necromorphs kill: they are determined to procreate.

Scientists then discovered that the marker was creating some sort of "dead space" which makes the necromorphs and the corruption lay dormant. They then created an artifical marker which had a dark crimson colouring to create this 'dead space' aura. This new marker, and the necromorphs born of the dead scientists, were then left to rot on Aegis 7.

(to be continued)



Plot
In the 26th century, mankind has found a new way in order to survive: planetcracking. Through planetcracking, planets are literally dismantled to reveal their precious ore and metals beneath the crust. The planets are then mined into nothing but asteroids.

The Ishimura, the largest colonial mining ship prepares for a planetcrack on Aegis 7. Five years before, a colony is established to research its geological features in response to Ishimura's planetcrack.

As research continues, researchers find positive results and have also found an alien artifact. Strangely enough, 200 years before it was discovered, an alien artifact was found on earth. Which looks exactly the same except for its reddish colour.

The second marker was quickly embraced by Unitologists: a religious cult which had now grown large after the discovery of the first marker, their purpose being to study the existence of life. A large portion of the Ishimura's crew were members of this cult, as were many of the colonists. The Unitologists claim the marker is a sign from a higher power, and therefore it is divine.

Shortly after the discovery of the second marker, various Aegis 7 colonists started experiencing massive hallucinations followed by assaults, exhibitions of schizophrenia and strange behaviors, but not all were affected. Non-unitologists started to blame the marker, but they were ignored.

Believing that the marker will lead them to a new life in a new form, the unitologists saw it as their right to study the markers exclusively. A mass suicide then took place involving more than 40 members of the religion, under the assumption that they would rise to a new state of being.

Behind the Scenes
The name 'Necromorph' comes from the Greek words Necros (corpse, in the sense of dead) and morph (form), literally "dead form".

Variations
The necromorphs come in a lot of different types, Here are a few:

On the spot mutations can result in an enhanced version of regular necromorphs, there bodies are more durable to perforation (For example, black slashers).
 * INFECTOR: A bat-like, eyeless necromorph with a stableizer which is a massive stinger, is driven through the forehead, (or a mass of tentacles that seem to have previously been innards is slid down the victim's throat)and the victim mutates into a necromorph depending on hormonal state, age, and even body weight. They will avoid living organisms unless they feel threatened by them, mostly just infecting dead bodies.

Female slashers are not as aggressive as males but they are able to spit acidic projectiles. Black slashers (their enhanced variant) are much more resilient, can't spit acid like the female variant but strike harder and move faster.
 * SLASHER: These are the most common form of necromorph, only because there are plenty of dead humans around to infect and to be infected. their arms have been shifted to their shoulder blades and their hands grow sharp blade like spikes from their palms; an additional set of arms grow out of their abdomen. They can run at high speeds and will try to get new hosts for the alien scourge known as the INFECTOR. Their look may differ depending on their gender, class of officer and the length of time they have been mutated (some wear trousers, have breasts, have darker skin and scream in a different pitch of voice).


 * LURKER: These necromorphs are dead babies and still retain their infant bodies. They have 3 large tentacles that emerge from beneath their back plates. These can be used to grapple on (and possibly decapitate Issac if his health is critically low) or they can use the barbs on the end of them as a ranged weapon. They crawl on all fours and use suction cups to crawl on walls and ceilings both in normal and zero-G environments, meaning that they may attack from any direction. It has an enhanced variant. Killing them requires dismembering their tentacles, advanced ones require all tentacles.


 * PREGNANT: These are female and male necromorphs, since these critters are big in size their speed is hindered but they are still quite fast and use blades ( much like the slashers) to strike at Isaac. Their stomach is their deadliest weapon. When shot in the stomach to a certain degree, they release a swarm of tiny necromorphs(made out of dead skin cells.). These will latch on to Isaac and slow him down while his health rapidly decreases. Isaac will have to come to a complete stop to shake them off. (Later on, Lurkers and living body limbs called COMPONENTS will come out instead of a swarm.) If Pregnants are killed without releasing their spawn, their contents die as well.


 * TWITCHER: Military personnel who had the unfortunate luck to be turned into a necromorph have the joy of being a Twitcher. They have a body that is very hard to take down because of their twitches and are thus harder to dismember. The one thing that sets these apart from normal slashers are their stasis modules, which fused with their flesh during mutation and instead of slowing them down accelerated them to almost unbelievable speeds. Their movements are often blurry and can cross a large room in seconds. Once they have spotted Isaac they instantly spring into eliminate mode. Don't let them corner you!


 * LEAPER: A necromorph which has mutated its lower half. Its legs are fused into a single, muscular tail which, as its name suggests, allows it to make leaps across great distances. It can also crawl on walls and ceilings. It is not as resilient as other necromorphs and instead prefers to ambush its prey. It is particularly dangerous in zero-g due to its crawling abilities as it may attack from any direction, and in a vacuum there is no sound which makes it harder to detect. It has an enhanced variant.


 * BRUTE: A truly monstrous creature, the Brute is formed from multiple bodies fused together. It has heavy layers of flesh that serve as armor on its massive arms and head which it uses to protect itself and to ram opponents. It will stop at nothing to kill its prey and will rip and tear without a second thought. Fortunately it is rare and it lacks armor on its legs so attacking its back and legs gives the best chance of victory. And if you have precise aim there is weak point in their shoulders. Shoot these points and you can take it down much easier than a head-on attack. The enhanced variant is seen in the Dead Space: Downfall deleted scene "Graverobber."


 * WHEEZER: This species stays anchored to one spot in a crouched position. Its purpose is to transform the breathable air aboard the Ishimura, exhaling a deadly noxious substitute using a large, mutated lungs on its back. Isaac must kill all of these in the Hydrophonics sector to before the life-support systems can go back on-line.


 * DIVIDER: The divider is a tall-bodied necromorph. When killed it will fall to the ground and seperate into 5 parts: the 2 arms, a head, and 2 legs. The body parts will grow tentacles and crawl after you. The head has a special grapple attack, attempting to decapitate you and then take over your body. This enemy type can be heard coming before its appearance, due to the eerie groans it emits.


 * COMPONENTS-Mutated limbs and heads parts from a divider.


 * SWARMER: These are somehow formed inside of the pregnant necromorphs. They are small and if you do not kill the pregnant necromorph the right way at least 10 of these will burst out of it. They are basically nothing but boneless bits of flesh with teeth. If they get close enough to you they will leap on to you and start to chew on you. Bad news all around.


 * EXPLODER: These necromorphs have their legs fused into one spindly limb. Their dominant arm is mutated into a huge sack of chemicals, which explode if struck hard enough. If the sack is dismembered it can still attack Isaac but it is very weak. Its head is split in two to create a mouth and can bite Isaac in half. Yes, in half! Before it can do so use your kinesis to grab its exploding sack and launch it right back at him.

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 * HUNTER: Created by Dr. Challus Mercer on the USG Ishimura, the Hunter is a unique necromorph. Towering over Issac, if its limbs are lost or it takes damage it can regrow its limbs and head as well. It can only be incapacitated with severe burning or by freezing it. If caught by this creature it will immediately stab you and slice off your limbs one by one with it's massive bladed arms. He'll stare into your eyes as he does it, watching you slowly lifting your hand for mercy. the Hunter or regenerator can only be killed through the accessibility of the environment. such as freezing it, or burning.
 * GUARDIAN: Guardians are human torsos that have been glued to doorposts and reanimated. Their intestines have been mutated into tentacles; the tentacles of Mature Guardians are a guaranteed decapitation one-hit kill. They can also eject pods from their stomachs and these pods can launch quills from thier single, Lurker-like tentacles. Beware, once you sever the pod tentacle the pod explodes in a final attempt to damage you. The distinctive cries of a mature guardian indicates extreme pain.
 * STALKER: Stalkers are necromorph infected children encounterd on the sprawl. The stalkers are rather crafty, one comes out in front of Isaac and dodges the shots that isaac fires. After a while they will try to lure Isaac into a pack of their own. These creatures are very fast and attack were Isaac can't reach, like his back. because of their speed they are hard to attack, but the only option that Isaac has is fireing a mine in front of it and then will try to trick it into steping on it.
 * HIVE MIND: An extremly large necromoph which is aparently the cause of the neromoph out break, The Hive Mind acts a sort of leader, being able to control all other necromophs telepathically. The Hive Mind's main weapon is it's enourmous tendrils which it will slam to the ground trying to crush Isaac, It can also rip Isaac of his feet and pull him apart with it's teeth resulting in an instant death and a gameover screen. The Hive Mind is the final boss of the game and once defeated Isaac will escape from the planet leaving the Hive Mind to be destroyed.

VULNRABILITIES:&nbsp Necromorphs have very little weaknesses, they can easily withstand a barrage of bullets and Necropmorphs can only be killed by dismembering their limbs until they are completely dead. Although some Necromorphs require more than dismembering. They also have an origin connected to an ancient obelisk called the Marker, which was built by an unknown race. Humans found it on Earth, and cloned it. It was activated on Aegis 7, which kills everybody there and causes a Hive Mind to form. The Red Marker is able to supress the Hive Mind.