Infector

The Infector is a unique Necromorph encountered in Dead Space and Dead Space 2. The Infector's sole purpose is to spread the Necromorph contagion, thus creating more Necromorphs to spread the infestation.

Overview

Infector ch2 — An infector in *Dead Space* under stasis.

Formed from a human torso and legs, its 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 and with the spine providing support and attachment points for articulation (movement). The proboscis, made from mutated bone, muscle, and spinal tissue is the delivery mechanism used to infect potential 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.

Dead_Space_Infector_Necromorph_Sounds_HD — Dead Space Infector Necromorph Sounds HD

They seem to have a preference for corpses which have existing head wounds, possibly because this spares them having to crack the skull themselves; the Infector in the Morgue goes straight for the captain, with his eye-to-brain needle puncture, over any of the other corpses, and Challus Mercer is seen to have "prepared" corpses for them by boring a hole in the center of their foreheads. These corpses seem to be most noticeable in the Crew Quarters on the Ishimura. Dr Mercer can also be seen killing Acting Chief Engineer Temple this way.

Infectors in Dead Space 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 Dead Space 2 "Enhanced" form of the Infectors will make Enhanced Slashers, and regular Infectors will make regular Slashers. It is implied that the Infector also creates the other single-body types of Necromorphs in the game, although only the creation of Slashers and Twitchers are witnessed in-game.

Enhanced Infectors are a very rare sight in Dead Space 2, appearing only twice throughout the Sprawl. They appear as slightly-darker Infectors.

Strategy

The creature is unique in that it has only one "limb" to dismember: the infection proboscis. Wait until it latches onto a corpse before using stasis and shooting the proboscis as it emerges. The other tactic is to simply shoot it to death. This does not hold true in Dead Space 2, where you can also dismember its wings.
The Flamethrower is highly effective against them.
If you encounter an Infector as it is in the middle of infecting a corpse, immediately target the corpse and shoot it with whatever you have. The Infector will abort its efforts if you damage the corpse enough. Even if you fail, any damage you inflicted to the corpse will be carried on to the newly spawned creature, making for an easier kill.
Stomping on a corpse's head or limbs will sever them, making the corpse too damaged to infect. An Infector would still consider a legless or headless corpse good enough to infect, so be thorough.
In Dead Space, if you wish to dismember a large number of corpses in one room (e.g. the Morgue in Chapter 2, the Makeshift Chapel in Chapter 10), you can save time by using Kinesis to pile up the corpses and then use an explosive device (e.g. a Force Gun) to dismember them all at once.
If you're close enough, the Force Gun can damage the Infector and destroy the body simultaneously.
If the Infector has latched onto a body, the Line Gun can damage the Infector, and preemptively dismember the resulting Necromorph or damage the corpse enough that the Infector aborts its efforts.
Try dismembering both arms off a corpse (but nothing else). The Infector will still try to infect the corpse, but the newly born Slasher will die instantly, often dropping loot. Although this trick has been rebalanced in Dead Space 2, successful execution can still rid the eventual Slasher of its attacking capabilities, leaving it ridiculously easy for Isaac to kill the creature.
A fully upgraded Seeker Rifle will do the job in only one shot, even if the Infector is already infecting a corpse.

Trivia

In the movie Dead Space: Downfall, the infestation of the Ishimura was due to an Infector slipping onto a shuttle when a miner boards, with the corpse of his wife, who manages to crash it into the Ishimura docks past the closing bay doors. Unlike Infectors portrayed in the game that always crawl over the floor (with the only instance of an Infector seen flying is when dragging a body towards it, and the infector that kills Challus Mercer), the movie's Infectors rely on flying as their primary means of transportation. Infectors in the movie also directly transfer the infectious vector into the corpse through their proboscis, while Infectors in the game use an appendage to draw the corpses to them before infecting the victim, transforming it into an Enhanced Slasher.
Isaac seem to harbor a certain distaste for Infectors, as he shakes his head in disgust briefly before ripping off their probosces during successful grapple breaks.
The creation of an Infector is detailed in this backstory log.
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 a medical 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.
The yellowish-bile comes out of an Infector like blood from other necromorphs, though blood may be present as well.
The transformation of a corpse into an Infector was briefly shown in the 5th issue of the Dead Space comics, where Abraham Neumann saw the transformation first hand of Commander James, who began to infect the other corpses in the HQ room.
According to the book, Dead Space: Martyr the Infector is the first Necromorph known to be created, it was made by a scientist (Grote Guthe) who created an organic specimen from a DNA code that was retrieved from the Black Marker. In a mix of lack of sleep, hallucinations/visions, and insanity, the scientist accidentally injected the organism into his arm (for during his hallucinations he believes it to be a sedative). The scientist's transformation happens starting from his arm and moving towards the rest of his body as he travels towards the Black Marker. He is shot by security but continues forward (showing that even a small amount of Necromorph DNA can give high pain tolerance) until he reaches it, where the infection then stops. He is then restrained to a medical table and wheeled away, and the infection starts again. His bones and other body parts start deconstructing and reconstructing underneath the blanket which was put over him, and is ignored by his fellow scientists. This is ignored until he emerges as an Infector during a video call.
An Infector is the first Necromorph to appear in Dead Space 2, as the first creature seen is the Infector that transforms Franco Delille.
With the exception of the incidents aboard the USG O'Bannon (as detailed in Dead Space: Aftermath) and USM Valor, every outbreak has started with an Infector.
- By the time of Dead Space 3, however, this is no longer true. The first of the deceased S.C.A.F. personnel have been reported to transform via Swarms or by being infected by the discovered Alien Necromorphs.
The Infector infects its prey by injecting a fluid through its proboscis into its victim.
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.
Infectors do not appear in Dead Space 3, being replaced by the crab-like Swarm for the purpose of creating Necromorphs. It is possible the existence of Infectors became unnecessary on Tau Volantis after the planet became devoid of species to infect as well as the aggressively inclimate weather, which would render the Infector highly ineffective in such an environment. However Infectors are not present in the flotilla orbiting the planet's surface, nor do they materialize on the New Horizons Lunar Colony after the Marker shroud is destroyed.
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 engages 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.
The Infector kills the player in an unusualy non-reproductive manner. The Infector will first stab Isaac in the head with the proboscis, then procedes to slowly decapitating Isaac. Even though Isaac still can be infected, this is very impractical, for no reason other than to "make sure" he's dead.
It is entirely possible that the infector still infects Isaac's decapitated body (Which is possible) because right before the screen fades away, it's position is similar to right before it infects a corpse. This is proven by the fact that an infector heavily mutilates Challus Mercer's body and head and still infects him.

Death Scene

Dead_Space_-_Infector_Death — Dead Space - Infector Death

Isaac's death by the Infector.

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 Issac'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.

Infector

Contents

Overview

Strategy

Trivia

Death Scene

Gallery

Appearances

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