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Mercer: "And... how do you feel now?"
Harris: "Dead. Awake. Whole."
Dr. Mercer and Brant Harris, shortly before the latter fully succumbed to his transformation.[1]

The Hunter was a Regenerator-type Necromorph biologically engineered by the Unitologist Doctor Challus Mercer on board the USG Ishimura.

The Hunter's creation began when Mercer inserted a piece of Necromorph tissue directly into the cranium of a live crew member, a patient named Brant Harris, who began a slow transformation into the creature. The Hunter was subsequently developed by Mercer through several surgeries on Harris to create the final version of the Necromorph; this experiment was performed by Mercer in his attempt to fulfill Marker 3A's demand that "the makers must be absorbed" for Convergence to take place.[2]

Overview[]

"Hounded in life. Hunter in death."
—Whispers from Marker 3A.[3]
DSR Hunter Concept

Concept art of the Hunter in Dead Space (2023).

Born from the corpse of Brant Harris, the Hunter physically resembled a Slasher, possessing large blades that were attached to a pair of elongated arms jutting out from its shoulder blades. It was noticeably bulkier and taller than the standard Slasher and its original arms appeared to be bound inside the flesh of its torso similar to a straitjacket. Unlike the other forms of Necromorphs, it was able to regenerate lost limbs in seconds, meaning that conventional dismemberment tactics only served to temporarily incapacitate it. The Hunter's voice could be compared to a deep throaty roar as opposed to the Slasher's usual form of screaming and shouting. The victim's jaw was gone with four tentacle-like veins hanging in its place, along with the neck frozen into a 45-degree angle. The big toes were severely enlarged into sharp claws. The body was greatly covered in muscular tissue with no original skin left due to the mutation. Pieces of different bones could be seen pointing at different body parts. The spine and the pelvis bone could be seen at the back.

History[]

20230129185449 1

The Hunter breaks free of its stasis tube.

The Hunter first appeared to Isaac Clarke during Chapter 5: Lethal Devotion. Dr. Challus Mercer kept the Hunter stored in a stasis tube in the Chemistry Lab on the Medical Deck, just outside the Cryogenics Storage Room, in order to keep the creature from attacking him. When Isaac entered the lab, Dr. Mercer awoke the Hunter in an attempt to kill Isaac, telling the engineer that he intended to find out if death by dismemberment was the "missing factor" for Convergence to trigger.[4]

DSR Hunter Close up RDT 20230203 1223437394402460996117330

The Hunter chases Isaac.

Isaac eventually escaped after learning about the Hunter's regenerative abilities. The creature stalked him as he attempted to complete his objectives, leading to a confrontation in the Cryogenic Lab where Isaac managed to freeze the Hunter inside a cryogenic tube, supposedly taking care of the problem. However, the creature was eventually thawed and once again began stalking Isaac, confronting and pursuing him once again on the Mining Deck in Chapter 7 before the engineer escaped.[note 1]

The Hunter reappeared in Chapter 10, after Dr. Mercer killed Jacob Temple. The creature chased Isaac throughout the Crew Deck, first in the central room where Marker 3A was located before following him to the bunk rooms.

DSR Isaac vs Hunter

Isaac faces off against the Hunter on the Crew Deck.

Toward the end of the chapter, when Isaac went to test fire the engines of the shuttle in the Executive Shuttle Hangar Bay, the Hunter once again revealed itself and attempted to kill him. To defeat it, Isaac lured it toward the back of the shuttle, stalled the Hunter via either Stasis or dismemberment, and test fired the engines again, completely incinerating it. In the original game, it dropped a Power Node where it died.

In Dead Space (2023), there is a side-mission called "Premeditated Malpractice" to learn about the origins of the Hunter. Completing it will earn the achievement "Final Regeneration". If the player did not complete "Premeditated Malpractice" prior to killing the Hunter, Isaac will say "You're done, you son of a bitch!" upon the creature's death. If the side-mission was completed, Isaac will instead say "You're done, Harris. He can't hurt you anymore." The player is still able to complete the side-mission after defeating the Hunter up until reaching Chapter 12, where the mission will be registered as cancelled.

Death Scenes[]

Regenerator_Death_Scene_-_Dead_Space_Remake

Regenerator Death Scene - Dead Space Remake

Isaac's Hunter death sequence.

  • The Hunter has a special attack that will be signaled by it rearing its blades back. If Isaac is hit by this attack, the Hunter will sink both of its blades through his torso, lift him up, then violently stab him two times. The Hunter then slices off his legs and left arm, and lowers Isaac. Isaac struggles to hold up his right arm, almost as if pleading to the Hunter. It then cuts his head off and finally slices him in half. The Hunter will perform this move if Isaac's health reads yellow or lower.
  • If Isaac is slashed with the Hunter's blade while he has moderately low health, whatever part of him is hit will be torn off as he dies.

Strategies[]

  • Use your environment to your advantage.
Look for ways to stop or, at the very least, slow the Hunter. If there are points where the Hunter could get caught up on (low ceilings, doors with Node locks, barricades), use them! If there are throwable objects you can use to dismember limbs (Blades of Slashers, sawblades, etc.) or to stun it (exploding canisters, heavy objects, etc.), then use those, too. For example, in Chapter 10, after you collect the third navigation card, lure the Hunter to the room with the movable bunk beds. You can create a barricade to simply protect yourself. But note, there are a series of ceiling vents that the hunter will use if blocked, so plan your movement.
Cut off the limbs of the creature, most effectively done with a Line Gun or Ripper, and then put it under stasis once its limbs start to regenerate. This will buy you a lot of time to attempt to leave the room.
  • Do what the situation requires.
If you can exit the room immediately, do so. In some situations, you will be locked in the room with the creature until Kendra unlocks the door. That's the only time you should confront the creature.
At the end of Chapter 5, when you confront the Hunter in the Cryogenics room, lure it to the end of the room with the stasis recharge. Make it follow you into the middle section, then take out its legs and / or stasis it, and run into the small room at the other end, which will be unlocked. Make sure the Hunter is in the middle section, then use the holographic panel to freeze it. Likewise, near the end of Chapter 10, the Hunter must be lured to the back of the shuttle and then put into stasis and/or dismembered. There, you should activate the engines to incinerate it for good.
  • Do not waste your ammo.
The Hunter does regenerate, but under serious pressure you may not think about that. Use your ammo efficiently by removing its arms to avoid its heavily damaging attacks; slice off its legs to knock it onto the ground and slow it down. An alternate solution to dismemberment is by using the Force Gun or the Contact Beam's secondary fire, which can knock down and briefly stun the creature. This tactic also gives you time to escape.
  • The Hunter is relatively slow.
Knocking out its legs to slow it further is a great tactic. Save your stasis ability for after you've taken down a few of its limbs, then stasis it and run. In a crowded room however, do not simply think stasing it will cripple it. Watch out for any movement it makes as it can score a few hits on Isaac if he's too distracted even when slowed down, which can be fatal on Impossible.
  • Use your Stasis.
Keep a Stasis Pack or two handy when in chapters encountering the Hunter. Also, make sure that you upgrade your Stasis Module so that you have more shots AND that the shots have a longer effect. A quick way to escape is to take off most limbs (i.e. leg + arm) while it enters its regeneration stage. Freeze it and run! This is also useful in situations when it needs to be in a certain place (quarantines, the shuttle hangar, etc.).
  • Avoid, avoid, avoid.
When other enemies are near while confronting the Hunter, it's a relatively good idea to eradicate them instead of focusing on the major threat. This tactic is especially useful when there are Twitchers around, as the Twitchers can kill you quickly if you choose to ignore them. Keep moving, take out a limb or two, and freeze it, then attack the remaining enemies and repeat if necessary. This strategy is wonderful for those of you who collect items.
  • Lace up your running shoes!
If all else fails, you can conserve ammunition and health by simply avoiding the confrontation (most of the time) when things just seem too dark to handle! Remember, this is a "survival-horror" title.
  • Selective Dismemberment
If you're low on Stasis energy and Kinesis isn't effective enough, you can slow it down by blowing off its legs (or one leg to save ammo). Don't forget to watch out for its support. The Hunter will only regenerate its legs when you are far from it, so running around can prevent it from regenerating.

Trivia[]

  • In the original game, it is alluded that the Hunter was once Brant Harris, as Dr. Mercer had expressed interest in using "the prisoner from the colony" in his studies to learn more about the Necromorph infection.[5] This was confirmed to be the case in the 2023 remake.
  • In the original game, the Hunter's eyes glowed, though not as strongly as the other Regenerators'.
  • If the Hunter is somehow trapped and unable to reach Isaac, he will stand still and remain looking at Isaac while growling and scratching his claws, apparently trying to intimidate Isaac. This can be seen right when the Hunter first appears in Chapter 10; the player can move a shelf that completely blocks its path with no alternative routes for it.
  • There is a glitch in Chapter 10 in the room where you have to wait for Kendra to open the door. If you see the Hunter coming through the door into that room, if you shoot it with the Force Gun and the door closes, the Hunter will be unable to enter the room. It will still reappear later in the Chapter.
  • The Hunter appeared at the end of the Dismemberment Demo for Dead Space, appearing much earlier than it does in the full game. The Hunter only appeared to kill Isaac and end the demo, its appearance triggering an unavoidable cutscene.
  • The Hunter can actually be seen in Chapter 7, very briefly, when going down the elevator from the second floor to the final if you look in C deck as the elevator passes it.
  • At the start of Chapter 8, when going down a hallway, the Hunter can be heard growling and sharpening its blades.
  • Sometimes the Hunter will become stuck in an infinite loop, circling one area for no reason until the player intervenes.
  • In the Prima Guide and the official art book for Dead Space 3, the Regenerators are referred to as Hunters.
    • In the game files of Dead Space 3, the Regenerators are also referred to as Hunters.
  • In the graphic novel Dead Space: Salvage, Captain Benedykt Malyech has a nightmare after touching several shards of Marker 3A in which he is being chased by the Hunter aboard the Ishimura.
  • The exact same Hunter model from the 2008 game can be found in Dead Space 3 using the textures of the third game's Regenerator variant. The creature is locked inside a similar sarchophagus that the other variants are locked behind, but it can never be fought.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Notes[]

  1. In the original game, only a brief glimpse of the Hunter's silhouette can be caught in Chapter 7 as the cargo elevator descends past the closed gates to the mining sub-deck for the first time.

Sources[]

  1. Log:Working Discreetly
  2. Log:Mercer's Journal (2023)
  3. List of whispers in Dead Space (2023)
  4. Dead Space (2023) - Mercer: And I haven't fully explored the cause of death as that missing factor. Dismemberment... Now, I think you're on the right track there. Try and relax, Mr Clarke. Convergence is so close. Maybe your death will tip the balance.
  5. Log: Mercer's Journal

See also[]

Videos[]

Dead_Space_Hunter_Ubermorph_Regenerator_Necromorph_Sound_Effects_HD

Dead Space Hunter Ubermorph Regenerator Necromorph Sound Effects HD

Dead_Space_-_Hunter_Death

Dead Space - Hunter Death

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