Regenerator

Regenerators were Necromorphs able to regrow any lost limb within a matter of seconds, drawing on a supply of biomass that never seemed to run out. The strain stood apart from the lesser forms in being nearly impossible to kill by ordinary means, and it included some of the most persistent creatures of the outbreaks: the Hunter, the Ubermorph, and the Hunters of Tau Volantis.

Form and ability#

All of the regenerative Necromorphs shared a common build. They were greatly taller than an ordinary person, heavily muscular, and able to lift a survivor into the air with ease. Each possessed two blade-like limbs similar to those of a Slasher, and they spoke with deep, loud voices that set them apart from the lesser forms. Their defining trait was the ability to regrow any limb cut from them within seconds, fed by an apparently endless supply of biomass.

That regeneration made the strain almost unkillable by the means that worked on other Necromorphs. Severing a creature's limbs only slowed it for a moment before the parts returned. The single reliable way to destroy a Regenerator was to burn it completely to dust before it could regrow, whether through a large and powerful explosion that obliterated it at once or by holding it in constant fire, such as the exhaust of a shuttle or a ship firing its engines.

Origins#

The source of the regenerative ability was never fully established, and it appeared to arise in more than one way. The Hunter, the first of the strain to be documented, gained its power when the Unitologist scientist Challus Mercer injected Necromorph tissue directly into the brain of a living patient, who then underwent a gradual transformation through Mercer's subsequent surgeries. The Hunters encountered on Tau Volantis were hinted to have gained their regeneration from close contact with the Red Markers on the planet, though this was never confirmed. Those creatures also appeared to be developing the same five eyes found on the Ubermorph, the Hive Minds, and the Brethren Moons.

Known forms#

The strain was seen in several distinct creatures across the outbreaks. The Hunter was the regenerative Necromorph created aboard the USG Ishimura by Challus Mercer. The Ubermorph appeared during the outbreak on the Sprawl, and its form suggested it may have been an early stage of a Nexus organism rather than a true Regenerator alone. The Hunters of Tau Volantis carried the strain into the final campaign on that frozen world. All of them shared the same low-pitched grunts and roars and the same way of swiping at a victim from below, the marks of a creature that could not be stopped simply by taking it apart.