Pregnant

The Pregnant, called the Swollen in the art book for the 2023 remake, was a heavy Necromorph named for the enormous sac that hung from its abdomen. Set apart from forms like the Slasher by the brood it carried, it served the infestation as a walking carrier, ferrying smaller Necromorphs into a fight and releasing them when it was wounded. It first appeared during the outbreak aboard the USG Ishimura and returned in every outbreak that followed. (Dead Space; Dead Space 2; Dead Space 3; The Art of Dead Space (2023))

Anatomy#

The Pregnant appeared to be created from a single human corpse that had been radically mutated. The skull's lower jaw was detached, and what looked like tentacles hung from the mouth. Two massive arms grew out from its back, each ending in a large bone-like scythe that it used to slash and rend an opponent in the same manner as a Slasher. The host's own human arms had been fused into the great sac that developed on the torso. (Dead Space; Dead Space 2)

To carry that weight, the creature's legs had become shorter, lowering its center of mass to keep it balanced, and its overall leg structure had been altered. The bulk slowed it, but it could still move at a brisk enough pace to out-walk its target when it was determined to close in. (Dead Space; Dead Space 2)

The brood#

The defining feature of the Pregnant was the sac itself, which hosted smaller Necromorphs inside it. These were usually Swarmers or Swarm Infectors, but a sac sometimes carried deadlier payloads, including Lurkers. When heavily damaged, a Pregnant tended to claw open its own abdominal sac to release the brood in an effort to ensure its victim's death, and it could survive doing so, continuing to attack afterward though often reduced to crawling. (Dead Space; Dead Space 2; Dead Space 3)

Pregnants did not commonly travel in packs, but they tended to move with other Necromorphs and could wreak havoc when Slashers or other forms accompanied them. (Dead Space; Dead Space 2)

Later forms#

The Pregnants of the Tau Volantis outbreak differed in appearance from the earliest ones. Their bodies were mostly a single color and their sacs were far more swollen, and when those sacs burst they released Swarm Infectors rather than Swarmers. (Dead Space 3)

A flesh-colored form was also recorded, one that looked as though it had been created from a male host and that retained the host body's jaw. (Dead Space 2: Severed; Dead Space 3)

The 2023 remake added an Enhanced Pregnant in the later stages of the Ishimura outbreak, harder to bring down and releasing Enhanced Lurkers rather than Swarmers when its belly was ruptured. (Dead Space (2023))