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Creeper and Shambler

Divider Head and Its Reanimated Host

The Creeper was the disembodied head of a Divider, and the Shambler was the armed corpse it animated by burrowing into a body''s neck. The pair appeared during the events on Tau Volantis, where reanimated soldiers turned their own firearms on the living.

By Joe Garratt

The Creeper and the Shambler were paired forms of the Divider Necromorph encountered during the outbreak on Tau Volantis. The Creeper was the disembodied head of a Divider, and the Shambler was the corpse it reanimated by burrowing into the body's neck. Unlike most Necromorphs, the resulting Shambler carried and fired the weapons of the dead soldier whose body it wore.

The Creeper#

The Creeper was the name given to the severed head of a Divider, the tall Necromorph whose body broke apart into independent pieces when killed. The head survived that separation and continued to act on its own, distinguished by an elongated tongue and three tendrils that hung from the stump of its neck. Though only a fragment of the original creature, the Creeper retained enough drive to seek out a new body, displaying a rudimentary form of the contextual behavior seen in other Necromorphs.

The Shambler#

A Creeper made a Shambler by decapitating a dead body and burrowing into the open neck, taking the corpse for its own. On Tau Volantis, where the dead of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces and of the Circle lay where they had fallen, the bodies the Creepers seized were still holding their firearms. The Shambler wielded those guns at medium range, which made it the only Necromorph form ever seen using ranged weapons. Being a reanimated corpse, however, it aimed poorly and moved sluggishly, and it posed less of a threat than a living, armed enemy would have.

If a Shambler's body took enough damage, the Creeper ripped itself free of the neck and threw itself at the nearest survivor in a final attack. A head that missed and struck a wall was left briefly stunned. Whether the Creeper was destroyed inside its host or after it leapt clear, a single solid hit to the head killed both the Shambler and the Creeper controlling it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a Creeper and a Shambler?
The Creeper is the severed head of a Divider, with an elongated tongue and three tendrils from its neck. The Shambler is the corpse the Creeper takes over by decapitating a body and burrowing into the neck stump, animating it as a walking host.
Why do Shamblers carry guns?
The Creeper takes over the bodies of dead SCAF soldiers and Circle terrorists who died holding firearms, and the resulting Shambler wields those weapons. It is the only Necromorph form seen using guns, though the dead body's aim is poor and its movements sluggish.
Where do the Creeper and Shambler come from?
They are a manifestation of the Divider Necromorph. The Divider's head, which survives when the main body is destroyed, acts independently as the Creeper and creates a Shambler from a fresh corpse, a behavior documented during the outbreak on Tau Volantis.

Sources

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