"Invaluable reservoirs of recombinant bacteria, but a little volatile. Even with Stasis observations, one can get too close..."

—Dr. Challus Mercer^[1]

Exploders are a specialized Necromorph form that act as "suicide bombers," much like Crawlers. Their most prominent feature is the large, glowing pustule attached to their left arm being filled with a highly explosive chemical substance.

Overview

Exploders appear to be created from a single human host. The cranium of the host is split open vertically, with the brain cavity being filled with connective tissue that allows the two halves of the head to serve as "jaws." The left arm of the creature has become stiff, no longer having any articulation points except for the shoulder. A large pustule filled with a yellow "bile", apparently concentrated recombinant bacteria, has developed at the arm's end, making it heavy and unwieldy. This "bile" is extremely reactive to blunt and ballistic force, resulting in a powerful explosion when damage surpasses a sufficient threshold.

To counter the weight of the left arm, the Exploder's right arm and legs have been transformed in a way that moves the creature's center of mass away from the massive pustule, thus allowing the Exploder to walk, albeit clumsily, with a heavily staggered limp.

The right forearm has been extensively modified, with the right hand and foot fused together and extended in order to act as a leg, while the original legs and left foot have become fused and twisted to form a single muscular limb. Although Exploders move sluggishly in general, they are capable of displaying occasional surprising bursts of speed after they have closed some of the distance between themselves and their intended target.

Once an Exploder is within melee range, it will swing its pustule at its victim or nearby ground, resulting in a deadly explosion for anything caught in the blast radius. The blast produces enough force to dismember a human victim, and usually results in the destruction of the Exploder itself.

Due to their suicidal explosion attack and relatively slow movement, they often attack in large groups in an attempt to overwhelm their target. Their presence can be easily detected by the distinctive wailing sounds they make when they are in the vicinity.

In Dead Space 3, a slightly altered, more deadly variant of the Exploder is encountered: the Crawling Exploder. This variant moves considerably faster, and low to the ground with the pustule dragging behind them, making it much more difficult to maintain a safe distance and shoot the pustule. It can be seen as favorable to fire at the body with high power weapons, use explosives, or actively utilize Stasis before it can rapidly close the distance.

Strategy

• It is imperative that Exploders be taken out at medium to long range in most cases, as their explosion is often lethal, particularly in Dead Space 2, as Exploders possess a significantly larger blast radius than any other entry in the series.
  • Exploders make their signature wailing sounds immediately upon spawning, and the pustule glows distinctly from a long distance, making them easy to spot. Use their distinctive sounds as a warning to get rid of them quickly.
• A single Exploder can withstand a lot of damage specifically to the body. In certain circumstances, they may even survive a direct hit from heavy tools such as the Contact Beam, if the shot hits their non-pustule areas.
• Shooting the pustule attached to the Exploder's arm will detonate it after small amounts of damage, killing the Exploder and any other Necromorphs caught within the blast radius.
  • If an Exploder gets too close to safely destroy its pustule, shooting it in the body will knock it backwards a moderate distance.

• The arm that carries the pustule is very weak and can be reasonably severed. This deprives the Exploder from its powerful explosion and causes it to resort to a rather weak head-butt, drastically reducing the threat they pose.
  • Accurate weapons, such as Plasma Cutter, Javelin Gun and the Ripper are best to dismember, or even kill an Exploder without destroying its pustule.
  • Kinesis can be used to throw a severed pustule at other enemies. An Exploder's pustule inflicts more damage than any weapon or explosive in the game, capable of killing even Brutes in one successful hit given the right circumstances.

• In all main games, any area that contains Exploders can spawn in an air vent directly next to Isaac. When this occurs, the Exploder will immediately slam their pustule to detonate as soon as it exits the vent, with little to no time for reaction. When Exploders are spawning, pay special attention to the presence of vents and stay away.
• Isaac can use Stasis on an Exploder, and then run past it. This triggers its attack animation so that once the Stasis wears off, it will explode itself and kill any other nearby Necromorphs.
  • It is possible to avoid the damage from the explosion even without Stasis, if there is a solid wall between Isaac and the Exploder - for example, if Isaac makes a sharp turn around a corner or a goes up a ramp. However, this is extremely hard to pull off and is not recommended unless the player has full confidence that they can take the damage of the explosive in case it does not work.
• The Force Gun's primary fire in all three main games does not detonate the pustule even if shot directly. This makes it useful simultaneously push the Exploder away from Isaac and makes for killing one without detonating the pustule easier, allowing it to be grabbed with Kinesis and detonated elsewhere.
• In all three main games, an Exploder will commit suicide if it survives its hand and foot getting dismembered, leaving only the pustule attached. It will fall to the ground, look to the left and right, then slam its pustule into the ground.
• In Dead Space 2, be wary of Exploders in rooms containing a decompression window; in these scenarios, it's best to sever the pustule and leave it be. It's easy enough to get dangerously close to a window during these moments, and detonation will often break the window and leave Isaac no time to close it.
  • Issac can also stand in a previous room with the door open or far enough away in the same room and fire a shot to purposefully break the decompression window, venting any active Necromorphs into space. The decompression window will automatically close after several seconds, allowing him to proceed.
• In Dead Space 3, Crawling Exploders possess a quick time event, making them slightly more threatening without their pustule compared to their upright counterparts.
  • The pustule's range and damage of both variants have been lowered in Dead Space 3, taking ~4 explosions to kill Isaac/Carver on Hard difficulty with all RIG Health and Armor upgrades. This is in stark contrast with the Exploders in Dead Space 2, where having one explosion up even a few meters away can be fatal. On Impossible Difficulty however, if Isaac or Carver possess no Health or Armor upgrades, the explosion will still instantly kill.

Trivia

• The Exploder's head is very similar to the creature in John Carpenter's The Thing, where the first form of the Thing encountered has a split head. Though this may also be a coincidence, it is very possible that the Exploder was inspired by it given the film's heavy influence on the overall creature design of the Necromorphs.
• There are three instances of Exploders that do not attack Isaac in the original Dead Space:
  • An inaccessible Exploder observes Isaac in combat from behind rubble in Chapter 9 on the USM Valor before wandering off to a corridor.
  • Another Exploder observes Isaac behind a glass window in the Mess Hall Chapter 10, although it fails to break through to get to him, instead retreating into a nearby vent. It is possible to run immediately past the glass, and all the way back and kill this Exploder before it retreats into the vent.
  • At the beginning of Chapter 11, when Isaac open the door towards the Cargo Bay, an Exploder will jump into the ceiling's vent which was right behind the door. Similar
• A very rare glitch can occur in the original Dead Space and Dead Space 2 when an Exploder bursts near Isaac and tears off the top half of Isaac's head, leaving his bottom half somewhat intact and still able to walk around holding a gun. This is glitch is known as Undead Isaac.
• Enhanced Exploders are encountered exclusively in Dead Space: Sabotage, appearing darker in skin color with a dark orange pustule. This variant is not encountered in any other game, despite taking place on Titan Station.
• In Dead Space 3, hitting either variant of the Exploder with Stasis, running past it, and making it explode while still in Stasis will make the screen shake around the area until the Stasis wears off.
• Exploders possess a smaller growth of seemingly the same explosive yellow substance on their shoulder of their pustule arm; however, shooting it simply removes the arm without any explosion.

Death Scene

• There is no specific death scene animation for the Exploder in Dead Space and Dead Space 2, but Isaac is blown into pieces if a pustule's explosion kills him.
  • The Exploder will "bite" pieces of Isaac off using the jaws of its split head if the pustule has been severed.
• If a Crawling Exploder pins Isaac or Carver in Dead Space 3, and the QTE is failed afterwards, it will disable his arm pushing it back by chewing on the shoulder (but not biting it off) and proceed to bite his head off. 
• In Chapter 9 of Dead Space (2023), if the singular Exploder found in the room with the nuclear warhead is allowed to detonate anywhere in the room, the whole area will go up in flames as Isaac burns alive and the screen fades to white. It is highly recommended to either shoot this specific Exploder only in the body or impale it center mass with an object thrown with Kinesis.

Gallery

Concept Art

Exploder concept art.

Exploder concept art.

Early concept art of an Exploder.

Very early concept art of a female Exploder with a significantly different appearance and stance.

Exploder showcase in The Art of Dead Space (2023).

Screenshots

Dead Space (2023)

Exploder description by Dr. Challus Mercer.

Render of the Exploder in Dead Space (2023).

Close-up render of the Exploder in the remake.

Close-up of an Exploder in the remake.

Close-up of an Exploder's split face.

An Exploder in the USM Valor's warhead room.

Dead Space (2008)

Up close look at an Exploder.

Full body overview of the Exploder.

Isaac in combat against a group of Exploders.

Isaac encounters Exploders.

Isaac kills an Exploder with the Line Gun.

Another Exploder.

Isaac fighting an Exploder.

Exploder render.

Dead Space 2

Exploder in Dead Space 2.

A pair of Exploders attacking Isaac.

Dead Space 3

An upright Exploder in the Cargo Bay of the CMS Terra Nova in Dead Space 3.

A Crawling Exploder in the Conning Tower of the CMS Terra Nova in Dead Space 3.

A Crawling Exploder pinning down Isaac after the pustule is severed.

Dead Space: Sabotage

An Enhanced Exploder encountered in Dead Space: Sabotage.

Sources