"These children of the Marker - Kyne's "Necromorphs" - have provided all the material I could ask for. And the infector variant has provided a key insight: implanting the material directly into the brain renders optimal results."

—Dr. Challus Mercer^[3]

The Infector is a unique Necromorph whose sole purpose is to quickly convert corpses into Necromorphs, thus creating more forms to spread the infestation. Infectors are often the first Necromorphs created by the Marker signal and act as an accelerant for the infection.^[2]

Overview

"Different vectors of infection seem to be- Someone needs to keep a record. If the Marker's signal can change a body from a distance, we need to know. [...] The chest of Dr. Clifton's corpse has started to expand like... uh, like it's taking a deep breath. Something appears to be happening under the surface of the skin. The body's... convulsing. There's- A yellowish briny liquid is bursting from the mouth. He's choking? But he's... Oh god, I hope it's gas release. Okay, now there's, uh, the esophagus is bulging and the jaw is collapsing. The head... His, uh, head is splitting apart. It's reforming. Almost looks like a proboscis with... feelers? The chest is splitting along the center now. The chest is splitting and... It's... stretching. Expanding outwards as the, uh, internal organs, muscle, and bone are bent inwards. [...] So the, erm, internal organs have reorganized themselves. It's... The structure isn't... There seems to be a central organ now resembling a massive bladder. The bladder is filling with a liquid, some of which can be seen spilling from his- the creature's proboscis. So the two must be connected. The legs are quivering violently. The flesh is peeling away and, uh, merging with the flesh from the chest re- Fuck! Sorry. Shit, the, um, leg just bent backwards and- uh, okay, now the other one just snapped back at the knee as well. It's, um, starting to sit up? That's... It seems fully reanimated."

—An Aegis VII Colony doctor describing the creation of an Infector by the Marker signal.^[2]

Formed from a human torso and legs, the Infector's wings are formed by a flap of skin from the chest and then fused between the former host's bent and broken legs. The jaw collapses within the body and the rest of the head breaks and twists into its proboscis and feelers with the spine providing support and attachment points for articulation (movement). The proboscis, which is made from mutated bone, muscle, and spinal tissue is the delivery mechanism for the pure Necromorph tissue used to infect new hosts. This is done by enveloping the host in its wings, extending the proboscis from the spinal cavity, and then stabbing it into the skull to inject a yellow fluid stored in an internal bladder. In any room with the remains of crew members, these are the beasts that should be taken down quickly before you get overrun with newly created Necromorphs.

Infectors seem to have a preference for corpses which have existing head wounds, possibly because this spares them having to crack the skull themselves; Unitologists aboard the USG Ishimura were seen to have "prepared" their bodies for the creatures by boring a hole in the center of their foreheads.

Infectors born from the Aegis VII incident produce Enhanced Slashers (unless the corpse being infected is that of a Marine, in which case the corpse will mutate into a Twitcher), while in the Sprawl incident, "Enhanced" forms of the Infectors will make Enhanced Slashers, and regular Infectors will make regular Slashers. It is implied that the Infector is also capable of creating other single-body types of Necromorphs, although only the creation of Slashers and Twitchers are witnessed in-game.

Enhanced Infectors are a very rare sight, appearing only twice throughout the Sprawl. They appear as slightly-darker Infectors.

Strategy

• Infectors generally only appear in areas with many dead bodies, notably in the morgue from Chapter 2: Intensive Care in Dead Space, and the Church of Unitology from Chapter 4: Going to Church in Dead Space 2.
  • For the most part, the biggest threat that Infectors pose is creating Necromorphs from intact corpses, as they themselves are quite fragile and can be easily taken out.
    • It is recommended to sever the limbs and legs of corpses in areas where Infectors may appear, which can be done easily by dragging a body close to Isaac with Kinesis and then stomping it.
• Infectors have far less in the way of body parts that can be severed; notably their infection proboscis can be severed, which is only revealed when they're infecting corpses.
  • It is advised to use Stasis to slow down the process of infection, then sever the infection proboscis for a quick kill.
    • A risky strategy is by baiting an Infector to attack the player, which can prompt a Quick-Time-Event. Winning the event will have Isaac kill the Infector instantly.

Death Scene

• If Isaac fails to kill an Infector that has latched onto him, the creature impales him through the forehead with its proboscis. It then uses it to stab Isaac's neck three times, with the third stab completely decapitating him. However, it seems to react to this with surprise, attempting to peck into Isaac's skull (and missing) as it rolls away.
• If Isaac succeeds in getting the Infector off him, he will throw it to the ground, step on its body, and instantly kill it by ripping off its proboscis.

Trivia

• The creation of an Infector is detailed in a text log.
• Infectors do not appear in Dead Space 3, being replaced by the crab-like Swarm Infectors for the purpose of creating Necromorphs.
• Isaac seems to harbor a certain distaste for Infectors, as he shakes his head in disgust briefly before ripping off their probosces during successful grapple breaks.
• Several logs in Dead Space allude to those infected as aspirating a yellowish bile from their mouths as one of the first signs of transformation into an Infector. An assumed corpse of an officer in the Imaging Diagnostics lab of the Medical Deck vomits yellowish bile during Chapter 2. The body is gone later too, hinting that it has transformed into an Infector.
• In Dead Space and Dead Space 2, if no corpses are around the area, an Infector will behave like a regular Necromorph and attack the player.
• The Infector will stop injecting fluid if the body receives damage beyond survival capabilities.
• Sometimes, Infectors stick to walls or windows to rest. This can be seen in Chapter 12 in the room with the Store near the beginning. However, if Infectors run out of corpses to infect, they might do it as well. If they do so, they will no longer attack Isaac.
• There are only two Enhanced Infectors in the whole series, encountered in Dead Space 2 in Chapter 14: Marker Access and a New Threat. When Isaac leaves an elevator shortly before the game's final Zero-G chamber, two Enhanced Infectors can be seen transforming the corpses of scientists in the next room into Enhanced Slashers, who promptly engage Isaac as he attempts to blow the fuse to leave the area. The Ubermorph also joins the fray at this point so escaping is made much more difficult to manage if the player's maneuverability is poor and/or the difficulty level is high.

Gallery

Concept Art

Very early concept art of a humanoid Infector.

Early concept of an Infector.

Early concept art of an Infector.

Early concept art of an Infector spawning from a Slasher.

Concept art showing an infected miner "spawning" an Infector.

More finalized concept art of an Infector infecting a corpse.

Screenshots

An Infector infecting the corpse of Captain Mathius in Dead Space (2023).

Overview of a normal Infector.

Infector render.

Infector back render.

An Infector spears a corpse in preparation for transformation.

An Infector forcing its proboscis into Isaac's head.

An Infector on the Crew Deck.

Isaac aiming to kill the Infector before it mutates a corpse.

Video log of an Infector killing Mercer in the original game.

An Infector infecting the corpse of Captain Mathius in the original game.

An Infector killing and infecting Franco Delille in the intro of Dead Space 2.

A normal Infector in Dead Space 2.

A normal Infector in Dead Space 2.

An Infector during the Sprawl outbreak.

An Enhanced Infector from Dead Space 2.

Enhanced Infector render.

Enhanced Infector back render.

An Infector in Dead Space: Downfall.

Sources