Pregnants, also called Swollen,[1][2] are specialized heavy Necromorphs. They are named due to the enormous sac that extrudes from their abdominal area, the contents of which are other, smaller forms of Necromorphs which burst forth when the sac is damaged.
Overview
Pregnant Necromorph Idle Animations and Creepy Noises - Dead Space (2023 Remake)
Pregnants appear to be created from a single human corpse, albeit one that has been radically mutated. The skull's lower jaw has been detached, and what appear to be tentacles now hang from the mouth.
This Necromorph sports two massive arms coming out from its back, each ending in a large bone-like scythe, which is used to slash and rend an opponent in the same manner as a Slasher does. The host's human arms appear fused into the massive sac that has developed on the torso. This sac hosts smaller Necromorphs inside of it. When heavily damaged, Pregnants tend to claw open their own abdominal sacs in order to release their spawn in an effort to ensure their victim's demise.
Concept art of the Pregnant in Dead Space (2023).
Their abdominal sacs usually host Swarmers or Swarm Infectors but sometimes they may carry deadlier payloads of Necromorphs, including Lurkers as well as small creatures composed of miscellaneous body parts, identical to those that come from Dividers. In order to accommodate its great weight, a Pregnant's legs have become shorter in order to balance the creature by lowering its center of mass, and the overall leg structure has been altered. As a result, although their weight hinders their speed, they can move at a brisk enough pace to out-walk their target when they are determined.
An Enhanced Pregnant in the remake, carrying Lurkers inside its sac.
Pregnants do not commonly travel in packs, but they do tend to travel with other Necromorphs. Pregnants can easily wreak havoc when they have Slashers or other Necromorph forms accompanying them.
Pregnants in Dead Space 3 are different in appearance from previous games. Their bodies are overall mostly one color and their abdominal sacs appear much more swollen. When their sacks burst, they release Swarm Infectors rather than Swarmers.
Strategy
- A Pregnant's heavy weight renders them unable to move particularly rapidly, leaving them to mostly walk to players in order to cause harm.
- It's recommended to go for their legs to deprive of their mobility further, then sever their limbs for quick kills.
- It is encouraged to avoid shooting a Pregnant's sack at all times, as it will release a hoard of Swarmers or some Lurkers. Although not necessarily dangerous to a prepared player, it can result in a waste of environmental resources or weapon ammunition.
- It is possible to kill a Pregnant while it is releasing its payload to stop whatever is coming out. This is easiest with Stasis - if the player believes they may have accidentally released the Pregnant's payload, stasis them and kill them quickly to prevent the release.
- Pregnants can survive having their payloads released and continue to attack the player much as they would before being damaged; however, they will also likely be forced to crawl as if their legs were severed.
- Weapons with large areas-of-effect - such as the Flame Thrower and Force Gun - are to be avoided, as both can easily rupture a Pregnant's sack.
- Given this, the aforementioned weapons will still easily kill any Swarmers that come out; Lurkers may be harder to deal with, however.
- In Dead Space (2023), the Flamethrower will not rupture the Pregnant's sack unlike the other games, and as such is a good weapon to deal with them.
- In Dead Space: Sabotage, applying stasis to a Pregnant and ripping its stomach open with the Plasma Saw or a Ripper will release its payload, but it will also be in stasis. At this point you can stomp on its slowed down spawn and take out the Pregnant easier.
Trivia
- In The Art of Dead Space (2023), as well as remake concept art on ArtStation, the Pregnant is labeled as the "Swollen". It is unknown why this name change was made.
- The very first encounter with a Pregnant happens in Chapter 3 of Dead Space, in the Engine Room, but X-rays of them can be found in the BioLab, indicating attempts were made to understand their anatomy.
- In Dead Space 2: Severed and Dead Space 3, a new form of Pregnant with flesh-colored skin is encountered. This new form looks as if it were created from a male host more than the standard form, and also retains the host body's jaw.
- Aside from a Slasher Robert Norton, Pregnants are the first Necromorphs to be encountered in Dead Space 3: Awakened.
- In Dead Space: Sabotage, during the later part of the game, Vandal encounters Enhanced Pregnants.
- Enhanced Pregnants are also encountered in the later chapters of Dead Space (2023). Like other enhanced Necromorphs, they hit harder and are harder to kill, but they will spawn enhanced Lurkers instead of Swarmers when their belly is ruptured.
- Strangely, while Pregnants would also spawn Lurkers towards the end of the original Dead Space, they still had the appearance of regular Pregnants.
Death Scenes
The Pregnants have two "death scenes" for Isaac, although one of them is a generic dismemberment death and the second isn't necessarily a "Pregnant death scene" because the ones who kill Isaac are actually their spawn.
- If Isaac's health is critical, the Pregnant will slash one of his limbs off, or even bisect him at waist height.
- If Isaac breaks the Pregnant's abdominal sac, it will unleash either Swarmers or Lurkers which can result in any of the death scenes related to either of them.
Gallery
_Swollen.png "The Art of Dead Space (2023) Swollen.png (1.49 MB)")
Videos
Dead Space Pregnant + Swarmer Necromorph Sounds HD
The Pregnant's sound effects in the original game.
Sources
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