Hydroponics Deck
The Ishimura's Internal Farm
The Hydroponics Deck was the USG Ishimura's internal farm, growing the food and producing the oxygen needed to sustain the ship's crew. During the 2508 outbreak the deck was overtaken by the Leviathan, which polluted its air and destroyed the ship's food supply.
The Hydroponics Deck was the internal farm of the USG Ishimura, set in the upper portion of the two cargo towers near the rear of the ship. It produced the food that fed the vessel's thousands of workers and generated a sustainable supply of oxygen, making it one of the ship's most vital sectors until the Necromorph outbreak of 2508 left it ruined. (Dead Space; Dead Space (2023))
Layout and function#
The Hydroponics Deck occupied the top of the two cargo towers near the back of the Ishimura. It grew the plants that fed the ship's many workers, including vegetables, fruit, grain, mushrooms, flowers and herbs, and it produced a sustainable supply of oxygen for the vessel. The sector was divided into two primary parts: the multi-level Vegetation Grow Chambers and the central cylindrical Food Storage chamber. (Dead Space; Dead Space (2023))
At the heart of the deck stood the Hydroponics Central Hub, which carried a large holographic screen and the controls that governed the deck's air production, ventilation and filtration. The 2023 remake fleshes out the rest of the deck. There, the hub served as a crossroads, with doors leading to the West and East Grow Chambers and the Food Storage, along with a maintenance route to the Mining Deck tram station. Each Grow Chamber was a three-story tower of greenhouses fitted with solar lights and water sprinklers, the plants arranged by type and the walls hung with long climbing vines. The chambers even carried a simulated ambience of crickets and wildlife to imitate a forest environment. The deck also held refrigeration towers that kept harvested food frozen, flow control rooms, and a room of rare specimens secured behind a higher security clearance. (Dead Space; Dead Space (2023))
The Leviathan and the outbreak#
The Hydroponics Deck came under attack during the 2508 outbreak when the Leviathan, a massive Necromorph, smashed into the hull, grew into the Food Storage chamber and began polluting the air. The Corruption spread deep into this part of the ship, ruining the Ishimura's entire food supply, and the toxic creatures called Wheezers filled many of the deck's rooms with poisonous air. In the remake these include the Seedling Rooms, Elizabeth Cross' office and the air filtration chamber. (Dead Space; Dead Space (2023))
The damage divided the deck. By the time Isaac Clarke reached it the door to the East Tower had been wholly covered by the Corruption, leaving only the West Tower accessible. The West Grow Chamber remained in a strangely functional and healthy state despite the infestation, while the East Grow Chamber had rotted beyond use. (Dead Space)
Dr. Elizabeth Cross#
In the original game Isaac never meets the senior horticulturalist Dr. Elizabeth Cross. Her audio logs record that she was among the first aboard to learn of the Leviathan, before she left for the Mining Deck, where survivors were said to be gathering. The 2023 remake keeps her alive: she contacts Isaac over his RIG and asks him to inject an enzyme into the Wheezers to weaken the Leviathan, and security footage of her on the deck warns everyone to leave because the creature had destroyed the food supply, poisoned the air and killed her crew. Cross was one of at least two known Hydroponics specialists aboard the Ishimura, the other being Dr. Karen Howell. (Dead Space; Dead Space (2023); Dead Space: Extraction)
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Hydroponics Deck?
- The Hydroponics Deck was the internal farm of the USG Ishimura, located in the upper portion of the two cargo towers near the rear of the ship. It grew the vegetables, fruit, grain, mushrooms, flowers and herbs that fed the crew and provided a sustainable source of oxygen.
- What happened to the Hydroponics Deck during the outbreak?
- The deck came under attack when the Leviathan smashed into the hull, grew into the Food Storage chamber and began polluting the air. The Corruption spread deep into the sector, ruining the Ishimura's food supply, and Wheezers filled many of its rooms with toxic air.
- Who was Elizabeth Cross?
- Dr. Elizabeth Cross was a senior horticulturalist who worked on the Hydroponics Deck. Her audio logs in the original game record her early discovery of the Leviathan. In the 2023 remake she warns the crew to flee the deck after the creature poisoned the air and killed her people, and helps Isaac weaken it with an enzyme.
Sources
- GameDead Space, EA Redwood Shores, 2008
- GameDead Space (2023), Motive Studio, 2023 (remake)
- GameDead Space: Extraction, Visceral Games and Eurocom, 2009
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Mining Deck
The Mining Deck was the largest section of the USG Ishimura, the heart of its planet cracking operation, where asteroids and planet fragments were broken apart and smelted for valuable minerals. One of the last decks to be overrun, it was where Isaac Clarke again encountered the figure of Nicole Brennan.
USG Ishimura
The USG Ishimura was the flagship of the Concordance Extraction Corporation and the first Planet Cracker-class mining ship. After recovering Marker 3A from Aegis VII in 2508, it became the site of a catastrophic Necromorph outbreak that wiped out its crew and bound its name to the history of the Markers.
Isaac Clarke
Isaac Clarke was a ship systems engineer for the Concordance Extraction Corporation who survived the Necromorph outbreak aboard the USG Ishimura, became a host for the Markers' replication blueprints, and spent years hunted by EarthGov and the Church of Unitology as he fought to destroy the Markers.
Necromorph
Necromorphs were aggressive creatures formed when the Markers' electromagnetic signal reshaped dead tissue into monstrous new forms. Driven to kill the living and gather corpses for Convergence, they were the recurring plague that destroyed the Aegis VII colony, the USG Ishimura, and Titan Station.
The Corruption
The Corruption was an encrusting mass of Necromorph tissue that grew wherever an outbreak took hold, spreading in the presence of a Marker signal. It reshaped its surroundings into a habitat for the horde, poisoning the atmosphere and providing a ready supply of biomass.
The Leviathan
The Leviathan was a massive, amorphous Necromorph that lodged in the USG Ishimura's Food Storage and barricaded the Hydroponics Deck. Named by Elizabeth Cross, it choked the deck with the Corruption before Isaac Clarke destroyed it.
Mentioned in13 entries
Crew Deck
The Crew Deck was the residential section of the USG Ishimura, a self contained district of sleeper bunks, mess halls and recreation built so that miners and technicians could live aboard the Planet Cracker. During the Necromorph outbreak it became a slaughterhouse and a site of mass Unitologist suicide.
Dead Space Chapters: the Story of All 12 Chapters
Dead Space has 12 chapters, from New Arrivals to Dead Space, and the 2023 remake keeps the same names and order. This is what happens in each one, with full spoilers and notes on where the remake tells it differently.
Dead Space Story Explained: Plot Summary and Ending
The full story of Dead Space, from the Kellion's crash on the Ishimura to Isaac Clarke's escape from Aegis VII, with the ending explained and every way the 2023 remake changes it.
Dead Space: Extraction Story Explained: Plot Summary and Ending
The full story of Dead Space: Extraction, the prequel that follows a handful of survivors from the dying Aegis VII colony onto the infested Ishimura, and what its bleak final scene means for Lexine and Gabe.
Flight Deck
The Flight Deck was the central port complex of the USG Ishimura, where shuttles arrived and departed and the ship's tram system was operated. It was where the USG Kellion crashed and Isaac Clarke's ordeal aboard the ship began.
Jacob Temple: the Ishimura's acting chief engineer
Jacob Temple was a Concordance Extraction Corporation engineer aboard the USG Ishimura who inherited the chief engineer's post after the outbreak killed Ariel Rousseau. He held the ship together, built a sanctuary on the Mining Deck, and in the 2023 remake was lured away by a false distress call from Challus Mercer, who executed him once his work on the Marker failed.
Nathan McNeill
Nathan McNeill was a P-Sec detective on the Aegis VII Colony and a veteran of the Resource Wars who survived the outbreak on the colony and aboard the USG Ishimura. He escaped toward the Sprawl only to succumb to his wounds and reanimate as a Necromorph.
The Leviathan
The Leviathan was a massive, amorphous Necromorph that lodged in the USG Ishimura's Food Storage and barricaded the Hydroponics Deck. Named by Elizabeth Cross, it choked the deck with the Corruption before Isaac Clarke destroyed it.
The Urchin
The Urchin was a massive aquatic Necromorph that grew in the water purification facilities deep within the USG Ishimura's sewer system. A formless body wreathed in tentacles, it ambushed survivors below the Hydroponics Deck during the ship's outbreak.
Tram System
The Tram System was the USG Ishimura's automated monorail, which carried crew between the decks of the vast mining vessel. Built around a single rail, it linked the ship's major sections through a network of stations and a central maintenance bay.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: The Lullaby of the Outbreaks
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was an old Earth lullaby that recurred through the Necromorph outbreaks, sung by dying crew, by Marker maddened believers, and by the hallucinations the Markers built from the dead. Survivors heard it aboard the USG Ishimura and the USG O'Bannon, and it was written into Isaac Clarke's psychiatric records on Titan Station.
USG Ishimura
The USG Ishimura was the flagship of the Concordance Extraction Corporation and the first Planet Cracker-class mining ship. After recovering Marker 3A from Aegis VII in 2508, it became the site of a catastrophic Necromorph outbreak that wiped out its crew and bound its name to the history of the Markers.
+ 1 more
Get new articles in your inbox
No spam. New lore drops, canon conflicts, and deep dives only when they’re worth reading.
Some links on Lore Fortress are affiliate links. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.