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The Guardians are a variety of sessile Necromorphs. They are anchored onto walls, their flesh fused together with the Corruption. As a result, they cannot actively hunt for prey, but true to their name they serve as guardians to areas important to the infestation, or simply as hindrances that Isaac Clarke and other survivors must clear in order to proceed.

While they are immobile and do not have any visible repurposed limbs, Guardians are capable of killing anything that draws near instantly, striking the victim with a lethal scythe-tipped appendage made from the host's intestines.

Overview[]

DSR Immature Guardian

An immature Guardian attacks Isaac Clarke.

DSR Mature Guardian

A mature Guardian.

Guardians are created from a single human corpse that has been fused together with the Corruption growing on the walls, thus establishing a form of symbiosis. The transformation of the host is quite extensive and both their first and last stages can be witnessed.

At the beginning stage, the "immature" Guardian still retains some resemblance to their human host, although they are heavily mutilated. More specifically, the torso is only intact down to the waist, where the abdomen is vertically split apart with the entrails hanging out. At this stage, the newly formed Guardian is extremely weak and lethargic, being easily dispatched and incapable of performing any kind of lethal attacks. At the very most, they will play dead until approached, or otherwise alerted, when they will attempt to cause damage by flailing out the host's intestines.

Given sufficient time, the torso will transform and ultimately develop to the stage of a "mature" Guardian. The fusion between the human body and the Corruption has been, for the most part, completed, with the two being indistinguishable from each other, with most of the human features of the host body being unrecognizable at this stage.

The first thing one notices is the apparent increase in size compared to the previous stage, a result of the fusion with the Corruption's biomass. Moreover, the human arms that were a characteristic trait of the immature stage have either atrophied or been consumed by the Corruption, as they currently serve no purpose. Alterations can also be seen on the head of the host, with the lower jaw and part of the neck completely missing, exposing the trachea and leading to a wide-open thorax and a newly created sac where the abdomen used to be. The latter two are two body structures that have been re-purposed and created, respectively, in order to accommodate with the Guardian's functions.

DSR Guardian Concept

Concept art of a mature Guardian in Dead Space (2023).

The thoracic cavity now serves as a place for the newly created tentacle appendages to rest. The creature has two kinds of said appendages; the first kind are the appendages that are used to further anchor the creature on their spot and are instantly drawn out once the Guardian has spotted a hostile in their vicinity, while the second kind is a single scythe-tipped tentacle that serves as the creature's only means of attack in close quarters and is what makes the Guardian extremely lethal.

The sac is in fact an orifice that serves as a canal for the Corruption to spew out embryonic spawn known as Pods, which will aid in attacking and keeping detected threats at a distance. The sac can also eject Swarm Infectors to reanimate nearby corpses, as seen in Dead Space 3.

Strategy[]

  • In order to kill a Guardian, all of the tentacles that sprout from the chest cavity need to be severed. If there is access to any kind of explosives, be it an explosive canister, or a weapon's firing mode, aim and shoot them at the opening on the Guardian's chest, when all of their tentacles are drawn out, for an easy kill.
    • One of the easier ways to kill a Guardian is to use Stasis when they're alerted, and the tentacles emerge. This leaves all of them vulnerable for a good amount of time, enough to either pick off each tentacle one by one or find a method of instantly severing all of them.
    • In fact, in Dead Space (2023), hurting them almost at all while under Stasis seems to instantly kill them for some reason, greatly reducing the amount of ammo and time required to kill.
  • Do not open fire on a Guardian until they have released their tentacles onto the wall they are anchored to. If you shoot them before they notice you, you won't do any damage.
    • It's important to note that the timing of being alerted is inconsistent on a Guardian-by-Guardian basis - while some Guardians will only unfurl their tentacles when they gain line of sight, others will already be deploying pods without all of their tentacles out. Be mindful of which Guardians are already alert and which ones aren't.
  • Always keep a distance from the Guardian at all costs. Attempting to get close to use close ranged weapons, such as the primary mode of the Ripper, can prove fatal as the Guardian launches a bladed tentacle from their torso which can decapitate Isaac instantly.
    • That being said, this range is still rather generous and can allow Isaac some breathing room to deal with the Guardian if getting close is necessary - however, keeping a safe distance is still preferred.
  • When a Pod is spit out by a Guardian, they have a short delay before they unfurl their tentacle and begin to attack the player. The Pods fire a ranged projectile once they spot the player and will also detonate if one comes too close to them. In Dead Space 2, Pod explosion damage is enormous, even on Casual difficulty. They can be easily dispatched by severing their tentacle with the weapon of your choice.
    • The Pods also detonate when they are killed, but this does nothing. Only worry about being too close to one if you haven't already severed its tentacle.
    • It's a good idea to conserve your ammunition by ignoring the Pods until after the Guardian is dead. With a bit of timing, you can evade the projectiles they shoot while you sever the tentacles of the Guardian, and once the Guardian is dead, the Pods won't respawn.
  • Due to the distance at which fighting a Guardian is preferable, it can sometimes be difficult to tell if a Guardian has in fact died or not. It is advised to wait for a few seconds to see if the Guardian ceases moving altogether; otherwise, if they sprout more tentacles or do not create an audible sigh, they are still alive.
  • The mines fired by the Line Gun can make short work of a guardian as the lasers will dismember most of the anchoring appendages, given that they are out of the cavity.
    • A single Fire Wall from the flamethrower can also instantly kill a Guardian in the remake.
  • While the tentacles are still emerging, one good shot with a saw blade from the Ripper can sever most or all of them, with sufficient damage upgrades.
  • If you are using a Javelin Gun, you can shoot them in the torso and use its secondary fire to dismember all tentacles. Note that using the secondary fire of the weapon uses up another javelin, so be sure you have more than 1 shot remaining when doing this as miss timing the secondary fire can result in only a few tentacles being severed.
  • Immature Guardians, for the most part, are not considered dangerous and ammo should not be wasted on them. However, while some immature Guardians are truly harmless, certain others (even when they are dead) can harm or even kill Isaac while flailing their intestines, although the damage dealt is almost nothing.
    • It's not possible to kill an immature Guardian by punching it. If attempted, the player character will instead be moved back roughly the distance of their extended arm, and no damage will be registered.
  • The Guardians in Dead Space 3 eject Swarm Infectors instead of spawning Pods, which can make tackling them a little easier. Line Gun/Force gun combo is ideal for dealing with them.
    • However, that doesn't mean you should underestimate the Swarm Infectors completely, as given enough time they can create a few Slashers and Fodders that you may not be prepared to deal with.
    • A weapon with a Survey Charge tool can make extremely short work of the Guardians, blowing off all tentacles in a single hit much as any explosives would in previous games.

Death Scene[]

Guardian_Death_Scene_-_Dead_Space_Remake

Guardian Death Scene - Dead Space Remake

  • If Isaac Clarke, John Carver (in DS3), or Gabe Weller (in Severed) comes too close to a Guardian, the Guardian will shoot a tentacle out of its chest, hitting his head and decapitating him. Because this happens so quickly, his body will try to feel what's left of the head (by reaching up to it in shock) before stumbling to the ground, claimed by death.
    • Isaac's torso can also be taken out with a slash to the waist.
    • The tentacles can also rip Isaac apart after decapitation, although this is a rare occasion.
  • If Isaac is killed by an exploding Pod, he is thrown backward and usually has a limb or two missing.

Trivia[]

  • A Guardian's wailing can be heard in a room in Chapter 2 of Dead Space (Mobile), but strangely, it is nowhere to be found. As the room is revealed to be a hallucination, it is possible that the Guardian's cry was part of it.
  • If you stand in front of a dead Guardian and punch them, the blood spatter will spray forward, and the screen will darken as if it were spraying in your face. This can also be done with any other body that Isaac can punch but is easiest with Guardians as they always stay in the same position.
  • Guardians seem to mature in a very short amount of time. The second time Isaac enters the Medical Deck on the Ishimura, he encounters a few Guardians that weren't there the first time despite it only being a few hours.
  • The Guardian's instant-kill attack is a proximity-triggered script rather than a property of the creature himself; it is thus not affected by Stasis and will come out instantly even if the creature is slowed down.
  • No immature Guardians are seen in Dead Space 2 and 3.
  • Guardians appear only three times in Dead Space 2, once in Dead Space 2: Severed, and merely twice in Dead Space 3, the latter of which is rather strange considering that they are noticeably redesigned in both appearance and animations.
  • If the player is able to be near a Guardian without alerting it, they will be able to hear quiet moaning, whimpering and heavy breathing.

Errors[]

  • In Dead Space, the melee attack grants immunity to certain triggered states, including running out of air and a Guardian's instant kill trigger. This immunity only lasts until Isaac stops performing repeated melee attacks; it is possible to melee-step towards a Guardian and kill them, but as soon as the player does anything but another melee attack, Isaac will die instantly as if hit by the tentacle.
  • In Dead Space 3, the two Guardians appear to be pitch black on the PS3 version. This could indicate an oversight by the developers, as it is possibly a render error that was ignored.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

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