This article (Nolan Stross), has one or more disputed facts. Please visit the Talk Page for more info, and clean this page so it meets wiki standards.
"Alexis, if you get this, I love you. I would never do anything to hurt you, or our son. After the sessions, I keep seeing you, but... you're so mad, so... angry. You're scaring me. I want you to stop. What's happening to me? Please come get me..."
—Nolan's Guilt of killing his wife and his infant son.
Nolan Stross was a senior scientist who served aboard the USG O'Bannon, tasked with retrieving pieces of the Red Marker from Aegis VII. He descended into madness after coming into possession of a Red Marker fragment, later captured and transferred to Titan Station for further investigation.
As a senior scientist aboard the USG O'Bannon, Stross was tasked with retrieving pieces of the Red Marker (with the help of a team of engineers) and conduct research on the retrieved fragments. Stross became obsessive over a Marker fragment as he conducted experiments on it. He soon descended into a state of madness and, under the influence of the fragment, infected a corpse with a necromorph pathogen. As the necromorph he created slaughtered his assistant and two engineers, Stross fled to his private quarters in terror. Due to his Marker-induced madness, he perceived his wife and infant son as Necromorphs, and subsequently killed them both.
Stross was later found by Isabel Cho, a crewmember whom he had been having an affair with, and was taken to other survivors of the outbreak. Stross explained that the Marker fragment would have to be destroyed in order for the outbreak to end. The group moved towards the ship's reactor core to do so, but Stross could not bring himself to throw the shard into the core. Isabel took the fragment from him and destroyed it herself.
Stross and the remaining survivors were soon apprehended by a rescue team and interrogated aboard the USM Abraxis. Since he had come into contact with the fragment and had been mentally affected by it, Stross was placed in cryogenic stasis alongside another crazed man captured weeks earlier and taken to Titan Station for research.
During the necromorph outbreak unleashed on Titan Station, Stross briefly encountered Isaac Clarke, a fellow patient under the care of Director Hans Tiedemann. Both men were balconies apart. Before the crazed Stross could completely explain on what was happening, he spotted a Leaper climbing towards Issac and warned him just in time. Shortly after disappearing amidst the chaos Stross would continue communicating with Isaac through video feeds, struggling to explain the situation with the Marker on Titan Station and the steps on how to destroy it. Stross later runs into Ellie Langford, another survivor who also met Isaac during the outbreak. Isaac convinces Ellie to keep Stross alive for him as the three journey towards the Government Sector.
Along the way, Stross becomes progressively worse for wear in terms of sanity, haunted by hallucinations of his dead wife and child. His added delusion over the steps causes him to start acting hostile towards Ellie, first by biting her on the tram then by threatening her with a screwdriver. Eventually, under the belief that she would be able to understand step three, Stross attacked Ellie, gouging out her right eye with the screwdriver. Soon after, he attempted to kill Isaac with the same tool (Ellie's eye still attached) but failed; Isaac quickly disarmed him and stabbed Stross in the head with the screwdriver, killing him.
Death Scene
Dead Space 2 - Nolan Stross Death Scene
Dead Space 2 - Nolan Stross Death Scene
Should Isaac fail to counter Stross' attack, the latter will repeatedly stab him in the head with the screwdriver, continuously yelling, "Tell her I'm sorry!".
On the other hand, should Isaac succeed in breaking Stross's grapple, he will wrest the screwdriver off of Stross's hand and jabs it through the left side of his head, killing him.
Trivia
Stross imploring Isaac to try and escape with him
In both Dead Space: Aftermath and Dead Space 2, Stross is voiced and modeled after actor Curt Cornelius.
It is odd that Ellie's eye was seen on Stross's screwdriver, driven through the sides, as it is practically impossible to do so from the front.
In Dead Space: Aftermath, Stross shared a likeness with the 3D animated Stross, but did not with the cell-shaded 2D animated Stross.
Stross seems to be very level headed after the events of the O'Bannon; which is very unusual since even the most strong-willed people in the movies and games suffer immensely after the death of a loved one. But he did believe they were in fact Necromorphs, as when he speaks to his hallucinations in Dead Space 2, he acts as if they were still alive and with him. This is very similar to Dr. Kyne and his hallucinations of his wife.
On the PC version of Dead Space 2, Stross's attack on Isaac often experiences a glitch, making the game fail to register QTE inputs by the player, effectively rendering the sequence un-winnable. This has a chance of being rectified by restarting the game. If this does not help, it can be fixed by setting the resolution down to 800x600.
When Stross's dead body is stomped by Isaac or tossed with Kinesis, an audio log will appear. His body is one of the few non-infected corpses which will relinquish an item, through stomping or otherwise. Some corpses of military officers share this trait as well. Oddly, Stross' head doesn't explode when you toss it with Kinesis.
For a time, Stross was able to resist the Marker's effects in Dead Space 2. He knew how to avoid Earthgov's patrols as well as Necromorphs, and was able to hold it together and offer advice to Isaac. His strongest moment occurs when Stross proposes that he and Isaac can destroy the Site 12 Marker. He also seems aware at the time that the dementia will worsen for him and Isaac, telling him "Time is running out for me. For us."
After he releases the Slasher on the O'Bannon, he is seen running away from them with a tool similar to a Plasma Cutter with laser saws on the bracers similar to the Plasma Saw in his left hand, though he only uses it to attack his wife and son. Afterwards, he never uses it or even carries it for the rest of the film.
Throughout the entire movie, Stross is consistently shown as being left-handed, both writing and using tools with his left hand. However, it is not as apparent in the game.
When Isaac is wearing any of the Security Suit variants, Stross' image can be seen on the holographic display on the suit's chest.
Ironically Stross is one of the smartest of individuals when it comes to the Marker's true nature when there have been thousands of scientists trying to figure it out, one explanation could be in Dead Space Aftermath was Stross didn't want to destroy it, merely study it while EarthGov saught to abuse and control it's power so it spoke to him, that or it tricked him into becoming more curious enough to experiment with a dead body and start the outbreak aboard the O'Bannon.
Gallery
Stross' animated appearance in Dead Space: Aftermath
Stross' computer-generated appearance in Dead Space: Aftermath
Stross in Dead Space 2
Stross and Isaac Clarke on a Wanted screen identified as fugitives.
