The Snow Beast
Massive Necromorph of Tau Volantis
The Snow Beast was a massive Necromorph on the frozen world of Tau Volantis, thought to be the reanimated form of an ancient crustacean. It stalked and ambushed survivors with long tentacles and a lashing tongue, retreating whenever it was wounded.
The Snow Beast was a massive Necromorph that roamed the frozen surface of Tau Volantis. It was very likely the reanimated form of an ancient sea dwelling crustacean. Resilient and unusually cunning, it stalked Isaac Clarke and John Carver across the planet, ambushing them again and again before its final defeat. (Dead Space 3)
Origin and form#
The Snow Beast was very likely a Necromorph form of a crustacean from the ancient seas of Tau Volantis: a Sovereign Colonies researcher wrote that eyewitness accounts closely matched frozen creatures recovered at Facility One and Facility Two, a crustacean he would have expected on a deep sea expedition rather than on a frozen world. It caught prey with its long tentacles and an incredibly fast tongue. Yellowish tissues on its back tentacles were particularly vulnerable; when those tentacles were severed, a secondary set appeared whose destruction critically wounded the creature, though the damage regenerated over time. The Beast was resilient, powerful, and relentless, yet intelligent for a Necromorph, and it would retreat once it was injured rather than press an attack to its own destruction. (Dead Space 3)
The creature had been known to the Sovereign Colonies forces who occupied the planet roughly two hundred years before, when research teams compared it to a yeti in their logs and described it as extraordinarily resilient. Dead Snow Beasts lay elsewhere on the surface, showing there had been more than one, and an old pair of harpoons stood facing each other nearby. (Dead Space 3)
Stalking Isaac and Carver#
The Snow Beast first appeared after the crash on Tau Volantis, when Isaac and Carver followed a trail of flares left by Ellie Langford. It lunged from a cliff, knocking the two to the bottom, then vanished. Its roar could be heard as they explored the area, and it was glimpsed climbing the buildings around the pipeline, stalking the pair as Isaac searched for an Arctic Survival Suit at a nearby waystation. (Dead Space 3)
The first true confrontation came at Facility One, where the Beast ambushed the two in a cargo lift; its weight sent the lift crashing, though both men and the creature survived, and after a short fight they drove it off. It struck again as Isaac returned through the staging yard, only to flee once more after further damage to its tentacles. (Dead Space 3)
The final confrontation#
The Snow Beast made its last appearance when it attacked a cargo lift carrying Ellie, Carver, and Jennifer Santos. Ellie and Carver escaped, but Santos was trapped in the cage as the creature's weight began to collapse the cliff. Despite Isaac's attempts to save her, Carver cut the lift cable, sending both Santos and the Necromorph plummeting. The Beast survived the fall and climbed back up, breaking away the cliff edge so that Isaac, Carver, and the creature went down together. After recovering, the two found a pair of large mounted harpoons and, when the Beast made its final attack, used the harpoons to pin it. Isaac activated a winch that retracted the harpoons, tearing the enormous Necromorph in half and ending it for good. (Dead Space 3)
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Snow Beast?
- The Snow Beast was a massive Necromorph encountered on the frozen planet Tau Volantis. Sovereign Colonies researchers matched it to frozen specimens of a crustacean they compared to a deep sea creature, which points to the reanimated form of an animal from the planet's ancient seas.
- How did the Snow Beast hunt?
- It used long tentacles and an extremely fast tongue to catch prey. Yellowish tissues on its back tentacles were its weak points; when those were severed a second set appeared, and damage to them critically wounded the creature before it regenerated. Resilient and unusually intelligent for a Necromorph, it would retreat when injured rather than fight to the death.
- How was the Snow Beast finally killed?
- After repeated ambushes on Isaac Clarke and John Carver, the final confrontation came when the two found a pair of large mounted harpoons. They restrained the creature with the harpoons and activated a winch that retracted them, tearing the massive Necromorph in half.
Sources
- GameDead Space 3, Visceral Games, 2013
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
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.
Ellie Langford
Ellie Langford was a CEC heavy equipment pilot who survived the Necromorph outbreak on Titan Station, fought her way to Tau Volantis to find the source of the Marker signal, and became one of Isaac Clarke's closest companions.
Facility One
Facility One was a vast military and archaeological compound built by the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces at the base of a mountain on Tau Volantis. It served as the nerve center of the Galactic Expedition, coordinating the search for the source of the Marker signals.
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.
Jennifer Santos
Jennifer Santos was an EarthGov technician at Keyhole Station who joined Ellie Langford's expedition to Tau Volantis. She led the effort to locate the alien Machine using the frozen Nexus before she was killed in the fall of a cargo cage on the mountain.
John Carver
John Carver was an Earth Defense Force sergeant who lost his wife and son to a Necromorph outbreak on Uxor and joined Isaac Clarke on the expedition to Tau Volantis to destroy the apparent source of the Marker signal.
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