open/close all folders
Aurora survivors
Ryley Robinson
Voiced by: Simon Chylinski
- Action Survivor: As a person who appears to be a lowly systems maintenance guy for an interstellar company, he probably spent his previous days sitting inside a spaceship and keeping its systems online. After the crash, he not only manages to outlast any of the other survivors but saves a world he never knew and manages to get off of it.
- Alliterative Name: Ryley Robinson.
- Almighty Janitor: Prior to the crash, Ryley was the "Non-Essential Systems Maintenance Chief", which sounds like a really fancy way of saying "Head Janitor".
- Ambiguously Brown: Of the "future people are all one race" style.
- Anime Hair: One of the few things we know about the protagonist is that he has a huge fauxhawk. Unknown Worlds staff have joked that the one concrete thing they know about his personality is that his favourite thing in the world is hair gel.
- Badass Normal: He's just a low-level ship maintenance worker thrown into a desperate fight for survival on an alien planet, but he quickly copes with the shock, sets himself up for the long haul and perseveres against all odds. When the credits roll, he has survived countless predator attacks, cured a terrible alien plague, saved an ancient species and, through them, the whole planet from extinction, and made his way back home.
- Body Horror: He ends up getting green glowing pustules and visible cracks on his hands due to his Kharaa infection.
- Fluffy Tamer:
- It's possible to tame Stalkers by feeding them prey, which can help gather resources. Be careful, though. They can still attack you.
- Another, more permanent, method is to acquire an egg and hatch it in an Alien Containment. All fauna raised this way are permanently friendly towards you, even if released into the wild. Breeding Stalkers to help hunt down salvage (and farm their precious teeth) is but one application.
- Heroic Mime: Doesn't utter a single word in the game. The only thing you'll ever hear from him are grunts of pain or gasps for air.
- In-Series Nickname: The AI addresses them as Survivor, likely to avoid giving them a canon name. You are also called "Captain" when you enter a vessel or building. This either means you are the captain of whatever vessel or building you've created, but it could also mean that you've been designated the de-facto captain of the Aurora and its subsidiaries due to the fact that you're the only survivor.
- Instant Expert: Although he's basically a janitor in all but name, Ryley can utilize any tech he interacts with pretty much instantly. That includes the Cyclops, a submarine with a standard crew complement of three that only trained experts are supposed to be able to handle solo.
- Semi-justified: being a glorified janitor means practice using fabricators, repair tools, and scanners, reading the instructions, interpreting and following the PDA, some possible fork-lift experience from negotiating with stores, and other hands-on, general skills... Ryley's job would have given him some foundations he could build on to survive with, besides his incredible luck in not coming down, say, near a Crabsquid on day one. Unlike poor, out-of-his-depth Medical Officer Danby who perished near Lifepod 12 (probably via Warper rather than illness).
- Meaningful Name: Ryley, assuming it's pronounced phonetically, sounds very similar to R'lyehnote , the sunken city where Cthulhu sleeps in the Cthulhu Mythos. Robinson, meanwhile, is probably a reference to Robinson Crusoe.
- Reduced to Ratburgers: You have to eat certain creatures and plants in order to survive on the planet. The AI notes that, while the idea of eating a dead animal may disgust you, humans have been doing it for thousands of years. Some of the fish do look pretty normal in terms of fish your average Westerner would consider food species, but others are decidedly alien. You also eat parts of the fish most people would pass over: Peeper eyeballs are apparently rich in protein. Handwaved by the fact the Fabricator is stated to remove internal organs and generally sterilize the fish in the process of cooking/curing them for consumption.
- The Sleepless: You never need to sleep once in this game. Even though there's a day-and-night cycle, you can fast-forward by sleeping in one of three bedding options, yet you don't actually need sleep.
- The Needless: In Freedom mode, you don't have to worry about hunger or thirst, either, though you still have to watch your health and oxygen. In Creative mode, you don't even need to watch those.
- Sole Survivor: The only human survivor of the Aurora. Subverted as you're not the only one to survive the explosion at first, anyways. After the ship is shot down, many life pods managed to eject. However, as soon as they made planetfall, the other survivors got picked off one by one by radiation, the local wildlife, injuries caused by the crash, or they were straight up hunted down by the warpers who are designed to kill anything capable of screwing with the alien systems and can bring the Kharaa disease off the planet, as well as anyone who's been infected by the Kharaa. Your character is simply lucky enough to land in a safe zone, which is why you are able to get a foothold on the planet and survive.
- Super Swimming Skills: While you have an Oxygen Meter (only 45 seconds with just your own lungs), you can swim for an infinite amount of time and suffer no fatigue. More subtly, you're also immune to real diving problems like "the bends" and nitrogen narcosis.
- Swiss-Army Weapon: The Alterra standard-issue survival knife is one of the first tools the player is likely to craft, and it remains useful throughout the game. You can use it to harvest Creepvine and other plants, kill fish for food, break mineral outcroppings, and defend yourself against medium-sized predators such as Stalkers. Upgrading it into the Thermoblade allows it to cook the fish you kill with it, saving you a trip to the Fabricator.
- Unfazed Everyman: Ryley doesn't show any reaction at all to the predicament he's in, nor to all the crazy stuff and fearsome creatures he encounters on the planet several times a day. If he does feel anything about it, he never bothers to tell us.
PDA’s AI
- Accent On The Wrong Syllable: The Prawn AI talks more or less normally, but the others have very peculiar accentuation. It can double as Smart People Speak the Queen's English as the accent and accentuation are rather characteristic of recieved pronunciation
.PDA: New blue-print ac-quired. - Expospeak: Upon first emerging from your lifepod, the PDA will provide details about the surrounding environment — including the patently obvious, such as being mostly covered in water.
- Also designed in tandem with the scanner to assess local flora and fauna whilst assigning them "easy to remember names."
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Upon venturing deeper into the ocean and encountering the "blood kelp" biome:PDA: This ecological biome matches 7 of the 9 preconditions for stimulating terror in humans.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The only time that the PDA shows emotion in her usually emotionless voice is when we enter the Dunes, which is a territory known for having a massive amount of Reaper Leviathans.PDA: "Detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms in the region. Are you certain whatever you're doing is worth it?"
- Silicon Snarker: Older versions had the PDA's first greeting to you be "Congratulations on not dying."Cyclops: Welcome aboard, Captain. Some systems need attention.
- When you first build an observatory module, the PDA immediately remarks in the log about how they're "imprudent" (i.e "irrelevant") to survival.
- When entering the Dunes or Mountains, the PDA takes note of the multiple Leviathan-class lifeforms and asks if you're "sure what you're looking for is worth it?"
- The PDA also doesn't take your situation into consideration at times:PDA: Congratulations, survivor. You have exceeded your weekly exercise quotient by 500%. Data indicates that swimming was your favourite activity. Be sure to vary your routine for uniform muscle development.
PDA: The Seamoth is a fast, safe mode of transport, but remember that swimming is good for your glutes and endorphin levels. - The first time you collect copper ore:PDA: Copper is an essential component of all powered equipment. Your probability of survival has just increased to: unlikely, but plausible.
- The first time you build a nuclear reactor in your seabase:PDA: Exercise caution when handling radioactive materials. Exposure risks corrupting your PDA's recording of the circumstances of your death.
Aurora Crew
The other members of Aurora's crew; twenty-three on the Command team, eighty-five engineers, forty support crew and nine civilian passengers, totalling at 157 people overall. All appear to be dead aside from one — the player character, Ryley Robinson.
- Apocalyptic Log: This is basically the only means of identifying the crew who made it to the planet, their PDAs being all that's left of them by the time the player awakens.
- By-the-Book Cop: While not an actual cop, 2nd Officer Keen seems to come across as this, being the highest-ranking authority next to Captain Hollister and taking the regulations very seriously.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Medical Officer Danby cheated on his license exams and doesn't actually know anything about treating illnesses. Not like proper medical expertise would have helped him with his case of Kharaa, but it's the thought that counts.
- Doomed Contrarian: Though Officer Keen and CTO Yu managed to escape their lifepods and reach the rendezvous on the floating island, Yu insisted that the pair immediately leave to board the Aurora and use the communications equipment to contact fellow survivors, and she doesn't take no for an answer. On the way there, they met a Reaper, with predictable results. Had they stayed on the island like Keen wanted, they would have found the Degasi habitats with their still-stocked growbeds and, later, been reunited with the player, which would have made their survival vastly more likely.
- Face Death with Dignity: Jochi Khasar is last heard praying for his gods, saying that he is, "done playing as this bundle of flesh," as the systems in his lifepod shut down while it enters the atmosphere, ending his prayer by saying, "Return me."
- The Faceless: Aside from a photograph of a female crewmember in some lockers, we never actually see any of the other crewmembers, alive or otherwise, as their bodies have either been eaten by the wildlife or been taken away by the Warpers for disposal of "infected individuals".
- The Gadfly: CTO Yu seems to have had shades of this, having reprogrammed a remote drone to respond to certain ways of voicing orders just to inspire unusual reactions in others out of pure boredom.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Captain Hollister refuses to abandon ship and guides the Aurora to a controlled crash, hoping that the ship will be left intact enough for the survivors to utilize. This pays off; without the Aurora, the player never could have received the blueprints for the Neptune.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mongolian diplomat Jochi Khasar, by requesting Alterra's help with his search for the Degasi, is the whole reason the Aurora detoured to 4546B in the first place.
Other Survivors
Degasi survivors
In general
Three people who initially survived the crash of the Mongolian ship Degasi ten years prior, and have left evidence of their presence on Planet 4546B.- Action Survivor: Marguerit ensured the immediate survival of the group and Bart gave all he could to establish longterm conveniences.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Ultimately, the conflict between Paul Torgal and Marguerit Maida boils down to this. While Paul raises valid points that the group needs to be cautious, his ideal base is a floating island with no natural resources for the group to exploit beyond plants, with the implication they'll eventually be killed by bad weather or starvation if they stay there. Maida is more willing to take risks, but takes this too far, to the point of bringing a weakened-yet-live Reaper Leviathan back to their third base, resulting in another coming in to rescue its kin. Tellingly, it's Bart that lasts the longest, because he tries to find a happy medium between both paths.
- Heroes of Another Story: Their (tragic) adventure relayed through their PDA logs would make you wish you could have witnessed it yourself.
- Posthumous Character: They're long dead by the time Ryley finds their logs and abandoned seabases. Except Maida, as revealed in Below Zero.
- River of Insanity: The Degasi got on it twice: first the moment Paul ordered a detour to check Planet 4546B for valuable resources, which they got, an second when they left their island so they could go get more minerals (which their island couldn't provide).
- We ARE Struggling Together: Paul and Marguerit... do not get along. Almost every single log you find from the group involves them fighting over something, with Bart stuck in the middle. Even in Paul's last log, where he notes Marguerit saved him from a leviathan, it comes off more as she saved him by accident as she happened to be fighting it rather than deliberately wanting to help him.
Paul Torgal
Voiced by: Christopher Godwin
The captain of the Degasi, and CEO of the Torgal Corporation.- Bolivian Army Ending: Paul's final log has him note that he's almost out of oxygen and stuck hundreds of meters below the surface, ending with him acknowledging that something probably has his scent and is waiting for the right moment to attack. While his actual death is not recorded, the launch trailer implies that he was ultimately killed by a crabsquid.
- Despair Event Horizon: Paul is left alone in the depths after Marguerit goes out in a blaze of glory against the Leviathan, his last log being to state he's low on oxygen and the scent of his blood is in the water with disquieting calm, having clearly accepted what seems to be his impending death.
- Hate Sink: Paul ordered the detour that got them stranded, and he does little afterward but pout about the situation and attempt to pull rank on Bart and Maida, both of whom are far more qualified to handle their predicament than he is. While he's not without Hidden Depths, Paul is easily the least likeable of the three survivors.
- Hidden Depths: It's implied in one of his logs that Paul does recognize that the pecking order has changed, but his life as a corporate bigwig has left him with nothing else to fall back on. Attempting to pull rank on Maida is the only way he can assert any kind of power while marooned on 4546B, even as he grudgingly admits that her ideas have merit.
- Jerkass: For someone stranded on an alien world, Paul doesn't seem to have gotten the memo that survival in a group requires everyone working as an equal; trying to pull rank when you don't have a ship gets you nothing but resentment.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Despite his bossiness and arrogance, Paul ironically remained the most cautious of the Degasi survivors all-throughout. In fact, in the second-to-last log where it turns out Maida was reckless enough to tow a living Reaper Leviathan to their base, Paul's calling Maida crazy — both for the risk of the Reaper and of drawing others down to try and save it — is quite justified. In the final log, Bart grimly concedes that "Father was right, we never should have left [the island]."
- The Kirk: In theory, he's the thoughtful authority figure who makes decisions for the group. In practice, Bart barely acknowledges his authority, and Maida openly rebuffs him at every opportunity.
- Mortality Phobia: He's terrified at the prospect of being cut off from modern medicine."I turned 80 years old last week. I thought I had another 80 in me, but marooned on this planet there's no swapping out of my liver when the old one fails. Here, I'm mortal."
- Pride: His Fatal Flaw. Paul can't accept that he's not qualified to be in charge in a survival situation, resulting in a lot of bickering among the group, which contributes to their demise.
- Thrifty Scot: Not in the story, of course — in-universe Paul is Mongolian — but his accent and his values match the trope.
Bart Torgal
Voiced by: James Backway
Paul's son and successor, and a bioengineer.- Despair Event Horizon: Bart manages to make it back up to the Floating Islands by virtue of leaving the seabase right before the Reaper attack. He reveals that he knew something on the planet didn't want them down that deep, but he didn't tell Paul or Marguerit about it and blames himself, implying he thinks whatever wanted them out had a hand in the Leviathan attack. He then laments that they shouldn't have left the island and that he deserves his loneliness, implying that he dies alone in what's left of their original bases.
- Only Sane Man: Bart is the only one of the three who recognizes that their survival depends on finding a compromise between Marguerit's aggressive approach and Paul's overly-cautious one.Paul: Bart, tell her; tell her I'm right!
Bart: You're both wrong! Marguerit, I can't find out how they resist the bacteria if you slaughter them all.
Marguerit: It ain't always they oblige in coming in alive.
Paul: He means you're being reckless.
Bart: Father, the outcome's no better if we hole up in here and don't go outside. We have to find a middle way.
Paul: There is no compromise, not while she's on my seabase!
Marguerit: YOUR seabase?!?
Bart: I'm going outside. - The Spock: He takes the logical, scientific approach to their predicament, focusing on studying the environment for ways to improve their prospects.
- Suddenly Always Knew That: Bart got an implant to know how to do biological engineering before the Degasi crashed. As the heir of a family of merchants, there wasn't any particular reason for him to purchase the implant, but it sure came in handy when he got stuck on Planet 4546B.
- The Xenophile: He's quite enamored by 4546B and its multitude of life, and is distressed by Maida's dispassionate violence towards it.
Marguerit Maida
Voiced by: Lorelei King
A mercenary hired to protect the ship against pirate raids.- Action Girl: Marguerit is, by any definition, an uber-badass. Unfortunately, she doesn't know how to be anything else, and her escapades tend to create as many problems as they solve.
- Blood Knight: Marguerit keeps stabbing the fish Bart needs alive to research.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: The last time Marguerit was seen was by Paul Torgal when she was stabbing a Reaper in the eye as it dragged her off into the deep. It turns out she lived.
- Fatal Flaw: She has two.
- Pride: Her presumption that her greater survival experience meant she knew better than everyone else escalates tensions within the group, and her arrogance in taking a live Reaper back to their base ultimately resulted in its destruction.
- Wrath: Paul pegs her as a Blood Knight who lives and breathes violence, and she doesn't exactly prove him wrong. Maida welcomes any excuse to slaghter the local fauna, even when told that doing so is counterproductive, and is implied to be seeking revenge on whatever shot the Degasi down.
- Improvised Weapon: Marguerit uses a piece of scrap metal to gouge out the eye of the Reaper who attacks the seabase in search of the other Reaper that she had towed there in her submarine.
- Jerkass: Her resentment of "corporate types" in general leads her to mistrust and challenge Paul more than is necessary.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Her distrust of Paul is completely understandable, and she turns out to be correct in her belief that escaping 4546B requires exploring deeper into the ocean to find out what shot the Degasi down in the first place.
- The McCoy: Of the "hotheaded and impulsive" variety. While Bart would prefer to study the planet and its lifeforms, Maida will happily butcher them on the spot if she thinks that's the best way forward.
- Redemption Equals Death: While never explicitly stated, one could interpret Marguerit's final charge against the Reaper Leviathan in order to save Paul as this, possibly recognizing in hindsight it was folly to bring one to their base.
- Sanity Slippage: Marguerit decides that going deeper and deeper below the surface is the way to solve things — and she starts stealing resources from the other two to either do it herself or force them to follow her. While it turns out she's right that the answers are deeper below the ocean, her threatening to leave Bart and Paul one man down and deprived of supplies, in addition to repeatedly causing trouble by being needlessly argumentative with Paul, was a step too far. This culminates when she somehow gets it in her head that towing a Reaper Leviathan to their base on their sub, still alive, is going to be a safe move and brushes off Paul's concerns that more Reapers will come down to save it. This is precisely what happens, culminating in their base being destroyed, Marguerit disappearing, Paul presumably drowning, and Bart seemingly spending his last days alone.
- The Social Darwinist: Marguerit lives and breathes by this mindset."When sea monsters are hunting you, you don't hide. You hunt the sea monsters. Then you build a bigger boat out of sea monster bones, and you hunt bigger monsters. Keep going until there aren't any monsters left to hunt you."
Craig McGill
A man who survived 47 months stranded on an island alone before arranging his return to civilization.
- Action Survivor: "[R]emember Craig McGill, who crash-landed in the acid swamps of Boreal 9 and fought off arachnid kidney-poachers for 47 months, before hijacking a tame starwhal and riding it to the nearest phasegate."
- Determinator: The reason why Alterra's AI likes to bring him up as an example for other survivors.
- Hero of Another Story: Surviving almost 4 years in the wilderness and finally going back home by your own means is most definitely incredible.
- A Hero to His Hometown: The PDA gives you two log files relating to McGill's feats while stranded to remind you that you can survive too.
- His exploits are also basis for a VR training simulation used by the company. Nobody ever managed to survive more than just handful of days.
- Reduced to Ratburgers: "Craig McGill survived 47 months on live tree-roaches and stankroot, prepared as a healthy, raw salad."
Subnautica: Below Zero Characters
Robin Ayou
- Voiced by: Kimberly Brooks
'' "Sometimes. Closure is a sense of resolution. Like, knowing that even though it still hurts, it'll be okay.
I did what I came to do. I found out what really happened to her, and I got to finish her work. I learned a little more about the person I've looked up to for my whole life. I wish I'd told her that more." ''
The protagonist of Below Zero. An employee of XenoWorx, a company recently bought out by Alterra, Robin is looking for her sister Sam after the expedition she was a part of went missing and Alterra refused to send help.—Robin to AL-An after curing the Frozen Leviathan.
- Big Sister Instinct: Inverted. Robin is the younger sister, and the main plot of the game is driven by her attempts to learn the truth about Sam's fate.
- Brain Uploading: Has an alien shoved into her brain because a Brain Uploaded Architect's storage unit detected there was room for another in there.
- Defector from Decadence: Her backstory includes ties to Alterra, but by the time the game starts she has abandoned any duties she had with the transgov and is actively working to subvert their interests.
- Going Native: Of a sort — she drops in on 4546B in a pod with no way offworld because she wants to know what happened to her sister. By the end of the game she decides not to stay behind on 4546b, but rather to travel with AL-AN to his own homeworld; fully intending to leave the past, and humanity, behind - so while she does go native, it's not on 4546b
- 90% of Your Brain: Some kind of this trope is in effect. When she stumbles across an Architect containment, it detects viable storage space in her brain and, indeed, AL-AN can fit in there with no problems for her barring her initial disbelief and freakouts - so while she doesn't gain superpowers, it's safe to say her brain wasn't taxed to the limit before. The fact that Robin is, for all intents and purposes, a normal human, means this would no doubt count for the entirety of the human species too.
- Odd Friendship: Forms two of these over the course of the game:
- Her first is with Al-An, an Architect that was uploaded in a previously undiscovered sanctuary and transferred into her brain until she could synthesize a new body for it. While Robin does begin to bond with it as they learn more about each other, it's unclear if the feelings are mutual, especially considering how aloof Al-An becomes once he transfers into his new body.
- The second is with Marguerit Maida, who she encounters while exploring an abandoned Alterra outpost. Though Marguerit is initially skeptical of her intentions, she eventually allows Robin to join in her endeavors and provides quite a bit of material assistance as the story progresses.
- Suddenly Voiced: Unlike Ryley, she is fully voiced.
- Super Swimming Skills: Like Riley, she can swim through day, night, storms, currents, moulins, and to the depths of the ocean. All she has to worry about is her vitals, none of which are exhaustion.
Sam Ayou
- Voiced by: Amanda Wilkin
- Accidental Murder: She accidentally killed Parvan (and herself) while trying to destroy the Phi Excavation Site.
- Everyone Has Standards: Sam very bluntly felt that the research on the Kharaa Bacterium samples acquired from the Frozen Leviathan was reckless and dangerous, and went out of her way to try and administer the cure to the Frozen Leviathan so that the disease could be permanently stopped.
- Posthumous Character: She died not too long before the game's beginning.
- Taking You with Me: Detonates a bomb in the Phi Excavation Site, killing herself and Parvan Ivanov, while also forcing Alterra to abandon the site.
Unknown Pilot (Unmarked Spoilers)
An old woman that Robin encounters during her search for answers about Sam. She turns out to be none other than Marguerit Maida, the last survivor of the Degasi, who's been living alone on 4546B for the past ten years.
- Action Survivor: Beyond surviving alone in Sector Zero by herself, her fight with the Reaper Leviathan in the first game definitely counts. She floated on its body for three weeks, eating its flesh, using its ribcage for shelter and burning its fat for warmth until she eventually washed up in Sector Zero.
- Ascended Extra: One of several characters heard through PDA logs in the first game, she is a major supporting character in the sequel, and the only other human Robin meets on 4546B.
- Bad with the Bone: Her PRAWN Suit has a Chelicerate mandible as an improvised sword. The PDA notes that she should have access to more effective weapons, and speculates she's using the tusk for Rule of Cool.
- Battle Trophy: She made a point of keeping the skull of the Reaper she killed in the first game as a trophy in her base. She wanted proof of the deed even after its corpse had rotted and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
- Blood Knight: She encouraged Sam Ayou to use terrorism to stop Alterra's research when it became clear that stopping them diplomatically wasn't going to work. Marguerit tells Sam to use bombs to blow up specific facilities, but decides that she wants to blow up Omega Lab instead because it'll be fun.
- Cool Old Lady: She's in her late fifties or early sixties by the time Robin meets her, and her hair is going gray. This hasn't stopped her from living off the land for the last ten years on 4546B and even recently bombing Omega Lab for fun.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: She starts trusting Robin more after she shuts down Alterra's communication tower.
- Doesn't Trust Those Guys: She does not trust people who are too big to fight and too wealthy to be bought off. This is part of why she doesn't like Alterra, as they are both.
- Enemy Mine: Forms this relationship with Robin once Robin demonstrates her lack of commitment to Alterra's objectives for 4546B.
- Establishing Character Moment: Robin first meets the Unknown Pilot when she drops from the sky in a PRAWN suit covered in bone armor and wielding a bone sword, where she promptly reveals she's hostile to Alterra personnel and demands that you "get off her land".
- Going Native: She has made Sector Zero her home, is hostile to Alterra's presence in the area (and anyone she suspects of being Alterra), and doesn't seem like she intends to leave. She demands that Robin "get off her land" when they first meet.
- Hero of Another Story: She's been living on 4546B for over 10 years, accomplishing impressive survival feats, especially considering the planet's rather hostile environment.
- Karma Houdini: After the mess she caused with the Degasi survivors Maida encouraged Sam to commit acts of terrorism that got Sam killed, and by the time of the game has gotten no karmic blowback for her actions.
- Leitmotif: Stay off My Land.
- Loyal Animal Companion: She tamed a Snow Stalker, calling it Preston. It is violently protective of her.
- Never Found the Body: Her death in the original game at the hands of a Reaper Leviathan was implied but not confirmed. Here, it's shown that she did survive.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Heavily implied. In her scanned bio, it's noted that she used to work for the Trans-System Federation until she stumbled across something on a reconnaissance mission. Whatever it was, it led to her taking out the entire local security detail single-handedly. When the locals were asked after the fact, they refused to give any information. Only that "God's Hand" had saved them.
- The Reveal: She's later revealed to be Marguerit Maida, the last living survivor of the Degasi. Last seen in the first game fighting a Reaper Leviathan with nothing but a jagged scrap of metal, she actually succeeded in killing it, and drifted into Sector Zero atop its corpse, burning its fat for warmth and cooking its flesh to survive.
- Unexplained Recovery: While surviving by herself with rudimentary tools for ten years isn't unbelievable, it's never explained how she didn't die from the Kharaa infection that she and the Degasi survivors got shortly after crashing on the planet. Particularly when it's established that Kharaa will start killing its host after only two weeks.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Convinced Sam to use explosives to sabotage the frozen leviathan outpost rather than just neutralize its Kharaa infection. The resulting cave collapse did successfully drive Alterra away from Sector Zero but also killed Sam and Parvan in the process.
- Walking Spoiler: Most of these tropes spoil the fact that she survived the fate of the Degasi crew and appears in Below Zero.
The Alterra Corporation
"Get what you deserve."
A Trans-Gov Corporation that owned the Aurora. While they are mostly a background organization in the base game, they take a much larger role in Below Zero.- Badass Pacifist: Weapons are banned in their space, although they make exceptions for law enforcement personnel, manufacturers, and exporters.
- Didn't Think This Through: They want to study the surviving Kharaa samples in the Frozen Leviathan for medical advances, blatantly ignoring how the last attempt to study the bacterium ended up causing an apocalypse on 4546B.
- Just Think of the Potential!: Their reasoning for working with the Kharaa Bacterium - it could provide numerous medical advances (all of which Alterra could profit off of).
- MegaCorp: To no surprise, given their influence and money-hungry tendencies, such as their disinterest in launching a proper search and rescue operation due to the expendature required and slapping Ryley Robinson with a one trillion credit debt that he must pay off before he can land the escape rocket in the nearest Alterra Corp base.
- N.G.O. Superpower: One of the largest and most influential Trans-Govs. They are the official arms supplier for the Trans-System Federation and own 9% of all phasegates in human space. Their threat to cease trade was one of the factors that ended the Expansion decades ago.
- One Nation Under Copyright: As a Trans-Gov organization, they have at least one planet (and probably many more) under their direct control.
- Planet Terra: "Although most trans-govs can trace their roots back to Earth, Alterra — literally meaning 'by earth' — is the only one brazen enough to take its name."
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Unlike the vast majority of Mega Corps that work with bioweapons, Alterra is only interested in the medical advances the Kharaa could provide. The only reasons the heroes oppose them are a combination of distrust for those who cannot be bought or intimidated (Maida) and awareness of just how badly things could go if the Kharaa escapes containment (Sam and Robin).
Alterra Personnel
Fred Lachance
- Voiced by: Vegas J. Jenkins
- Butt-Monkey: Goes through a few misadventures in his dedicated trailer, getting attacked by a Squidshark in his Seatruck and spilling his coffee all over himself, getting his Repair Tool stolen by a Sea Monkey whilst repairing his vehicle, having a Crashfish explode to his face, and, more dramatically however, getting chased by Snow Stalkers before falling into a crevasse. In-game, his PDA logs reveal he is also constantly losing shipments because of the local fauna.
- A Day in the Limelight: He's the focus of the cinematic trailer for Below Zero.
- Ironic Name: His last name roughly means "luck" in French, but as we see in the trailer centered around him, he is not having a good day.
- Porn Stache: His most distinguishing feature. Robin can even grab his mustache styling kit while she explores Delta Station.
- Skewed Priorities: When a Squidshark attacks his Seatruck in the trailer, he seems more upset about his spilled coffee.
- Small Role, Big Impact: As one of the Alterra employees working in Sector Zero, he has perhaps the least significant role as a mere Seatruck driver, but he is the one who discovered the Frozen Leviathan completely by chance, kickstarting the whole plot of Below Zero.
Jeremiah Murgle
- Voiced by: David Babich
- Pesky Pigeons: Hates the planet's skyrays, as they congregate around the antenna he's meant to keep up and running, and whatever they eat is turning their poop caustic, eating away at the electronics.
Emmanuel Desjardins
- Voiced by: Ryan Flynn
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Tries to present himself as easygoing and friendly, but instead is a smarmy jerk.
- Executive Ball Clicker: He has a futuristic, hovering one in his office, which Robin can swipe for her own base.
- First-Name Basis: Encourages employees to call him "Manu," even while he is tacitly threatening them with punishment. Nobody seems comfortable with this, since they don't like him that much.
- Geeky Turn-On: His letter to his husband Davide closes with this."Keep on succeeding in your projects. You know there's nothing I find more attractive."
- The Heavy: As the representative of Alterra and head of the project, Emmanuel is the one who keeps pushing for more Kharaa research even when other people voice their concerns.
- Workaholic: He claims to love his family, but that is hard to believe when he explains he is eager to spend even less time with them."I miss you of course, but I wonder if you feel it too? As great as we are together, we are almost better apart! Just look at how well Prosperina did in her last show! I'm sorry I couldn't be there to see it but I'm sure if I'd been around, I'd only have made her nervous."
Zeta Landon
- Voiced by: Bret Parker
Lillian Bench
- Voiced by: Lu Corfield
- Good Parents: Seems to be one of the few Sector Zero residents not to have a strained relationship with her family. The player can find multiple PDA messages to her children and she's covered the walls of her quarters with their drawings.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: Her PDA note she's not entirely sure why she was stationed at Outpost Zero for what might have been a distress signal (it was, but Al-An didn't want her to get any closer and stopped). She also quickly figures out it's a punishment for something when Samantha is moved to Outpost Zero, but can't put her finger on why.
- Token Good Teammate: Her only real "flaw" is that she's working for Alterra which is notable for being the only reason Al-An doesn't respond to her communication attempts. It also probably helps that, as a pure xenobiologist, she's also one of the few not directly working with the Kharaa virus, and seems almost oblivious to it when she talks with Samantha. Otherwise, she's chipper, doesn't have any real duplicitous workings or blind loyalty, is the only personnel on good terms with their family, and is cautious but otherwise doesn't hinder Sam once learning about her attempts to administer a Kharaa cure and blow up the Phi excavation site.
Parvan Ivanov
- Voiced by: Dave Boat
- The Big Guy: A security guard in charge of guarding the Frozen Leviathan. He also seems to be the most physically imposing of all the Alterra employees who were working in Sector Zero.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: He dislikes the overbearing influence of the scientists on 4546B, and feels that the ordinary workers (like himself and the miners at Koppa) are underappreciated.
- Hidden Depths:
- He was an artist in his spare time, making illustrations of the local fauna. Sam found them "inappropriate", while Parvan defended them as "art". He was also apparently interested in geology, collecting "interesting rocks" while on duty.
- One of his PDA logs reveals he had a family, at least one daughter and possibly a wife, with whom he was not on good terms, and wanted to make amends with them.
- Posthumous Character: He died in the same incident that killed Sam.
- Punch-Clock Villain: He's guarding the Frozen Leviathon infected with Kharaa, but doesn't seem to know how dangerous it is.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: How he views being posted to Sector Zero, as detailed in an unsent letter to his family.I was going to send you a message saying how great everything is here and how everyone loves me. I've had a promotion to a very important security dossier. I'm treated like a hero.
But really, this is a cold, wet planet. The scientists are full of themselves. There's no action to speak of. The only thing I look forward to is weekly games of Alien Intruder, but more than that, of coming home to you.
Danielle Valenti
- Voiced by: Elsie Bennett
- Artists Are Attractive: One of the ways she flirts with Sam is by giving her a painting.
- Differing Priorities Breakup: When Sam expresses her concern about Kharaa getting out-of-control, Danielle doesn't seem to take it seriously and tells Sam to forget the "crusade" she's on.
- Just Think of the Potential!: Danielle genuinely believes her work with the Kharaa could revolutionize medical science and is worth the risk.
Vinh Pham
- Voiced by: Griffin Puatu
- Mad Scientist: While there are multiple people researching Kharaa in the Omega Lab, he's the only one who paints pictures of it too.
Alexis Riedell
- Voiced by: Haruka Kuroda
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: For a given value of "evil". Upon discovering the Phi Excavation Site damaged by an explosion, figures out that Sam was involved after finding her inside the cave, apparently dead from a fall. This perplexes Alexis, since Sam has no history of vandalism. It never occurs to Alexis that Sam might have a moral obligation to prevent a second Kharaa outbreak from occurring, whatever that may take.
Al-An (Unmarked Spoilers)
- Voiced by: Matthew Marsh
- An Alien Named "Bob": expressed by Robin in-game when she meets one of the ancient alien Precursor Architects.Robin: My whole life, I've been dying to meet a sapient, spacefaring alien up close, and you're telling me your name is ALAN?
Al-An: Is it not sufficient? - The Blank: His new body has no face. In no way does this prevent him from interacting with Robin.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Especially at first, a lot of his friction with Robin is caused by him not intuitively grasping how humans think and operate. The reason he uploads himself into Robin's brain is because he doesn't know that humans draw a distinction between their biological bodies and the technology they use. For an Architect, there is no difference.
- Body Snatcher: Averted. He accidentally invades Robin's brain, but any horrifying aspects of this are neutralized by his affable attitude: as soon as he recognizes this is not what she wants, he seems apologetic and eager to fix the problem.
- Brain Uploading: His mind was uploaded into Ion Cubes alongside other Architects when the Kharaa Outbreak occurred. Unlike the other Architect minds, who remain in a dormant state, he remained conscious.
- Cyborg: As the databank describes, Architect anatomy is a combination of biological and cybernetic elements. They are so well-integrated that distinction between the two is irrelevant.
- Cyborg Helmsman: After Al-An activates the ship, he invites Robin aboard. He apologizes for not helping her embark, as he has become fully-integrated with the ship.
- Gentle Giant: Downplayed. His completed "storage vessel" is nearly the same height as a PRAWN suit, yet he remains his affable-if-blunt self. He picks up Robin easily and gently when they finally meet face-to-face.
- Humans Through Alien Eyes: Because of his alien nature, he has a limited comprehension of how humans work and doesn't understand concepts that seem completely normal to them, particularly that humans functions as individuals rather than as a network like him. He repeatedly calls humans primitive or inefficient, much to Robin's annoyance.
- Intrigued by Humanity: Sometimes he drops his smug attitude and is interested in the human experiences that he (through Robin) is witnessing.
- If you use the Jukebox to play music, he is puzzled by this autitory information.Al-An: I sense it has an impact on your pulse and breathing. It makes you move differently. [amazed] Humans are controlled by music?
- If you use the bed to sleep, he will be confused and inquisitive about the dream you just had.Robin: We can experience impossible joy and also impossible terror in our dreams...
Al-An: Your biofeedback indicates that flying was the most enjoyable dream. I therefore hope you have many more of those — mainly for my own safety.
- If you use the Jukebox to play music, he is puzzled by this autitory information.
- Last of His Kind: Uncertain. Since he cannot contact any other Architects, Al-An fears the possibility that he may be this. The Ambiguous Ending does not confirm or deny it.Al-An: If I am the last of my kind, I will experience the sorrow of ten thousand souls dimming.
Robin: And if they survived?
Al-An: With you, I am ready to face whatever awaits. - Literal-Minded: When describing the feeling of hope, Robin quotes "'Hope' is the thing with feathers," a poem by Emily Dickinson. He doesn't grasp the metaphor, and thinks she's referring to some unfamiliar avian species. He adds an entry for "Hope" to the "Fauna" section of the Databank.
- Must Make Amends: He desires to return to his people, where he may get a chance to atone for what he's done.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Downplayed, as he's had plenty of time to come to grips with his guilt. But he clearly regrets his role in instigating the Kharaa plague.
- My Greatest Failure: Al-An gets cagey when pressed for details about his past, and Robin accuses him of withholding information. When he reveals that he was the leader whose mistake led to the Kharaa outbreak, he admits fearing that Robin would refuse to help him if she knew he was responsible for the disaster. Instead, she assures him "everyone makes mistakes."
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Desperate to cure Kharaa, he defied protocol to acquire the Sea Dragon Leviathan's eggs, believing they could be useful in developing a cure. On one hand, he was right about the embryos. On the other, he failed to anticipate the adult Sea Dragon's reaction: its rampage destroyed the containment facility and released Kharaa. Albeit indirectly, Al-An is responsible for everything bad in Subnautica.
- Odd Friendship: Forms one with Robin by the end.
- Sculpted Physique: By gaining access to an ancient fabrication facility and providing it with the proper materials, you can synthesize a new body for Al-An.
- Swiss-Army Appendage: Has six hovering drone arms, not physically connected to his body but cybernetically linked to it. He lets Robin borrow a couple to repair some equipment.
- Sharing a Body: For most of the game Al-An exists as a voice inside Robin's head and is able to access her thoughts and memories to an extent.
- Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Imprisoned alone in an abandoned facility, forcefully uploads his consciousness into Robin's brain, initially arrogant towards humans, desperate to get home, evasive about his past, with no corroborating evidence, responsible for the Kharaa outbreak — Al-An has all the markings of an Evil All Along Final Boss. But by the end Al-An gets his own body without harming Robin, then offers to take her to his home planet as a friend.
- The Stoic: Almost never does he break his calm facade, except when talking about how the Kharaa pandemic started. He is also noticeably shaken when looking at the dead remains of other Architects.
- Time Dissonance: Since his species passed The Singularity a long time ago a lot of Al-An's disagreements with Robin are from not grasping that humans have a finite lifespan which affects their priorities.
- Tron Lines: Some of his synthetic connective tissues glow and shimmer.
- Unbreakable Bones: His skeleton is a geodesic structure fabricated of diamond and plasteel.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He underestimated the Mama Bear fight a Sea Dragon Leviathan would put up to protect her eggs. Taking them provoked the Leviathan to attack and destroy the research facility where her eggs were being experimented on, releasing Kharaa on the entire planet.
- Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: Has a centauroid form, plus drone arms.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Zigzagged: while he seems to have trouble understanding familial love, he does understand that Robin and Sam shared a close bond. He also does not understand why she feels closure after ending the Kharaa threat (and thus completing Sam's goal) in part because he can sense other emotions from Sam.
Fauna of The Crater
Carnivores
Ampeel
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its eyes and the tips of its electricity-generating prongs glow.
- Green and Mean: Its dorsal side is green, and it will not take kindly to those that get too close to it.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Although they are turquoise in color, you can help but feel like this thing is always giving you a cold glare.
- Meaningful Name: The ampere is the base unit of electric current.
- Psycho Electric Eel: If you annoy them, they'll arc electricity along their body as a warning before turning to actually attack you.
- Segmented Serpent: Well, a segmented eel in this case. But each one does have four prongs on them.
- Shock and Awe: If two of them meet, they'll zap each other until one gives up and leaves.
- Slippery as an Eel: Their bodies are actually rather joined and arthropod-like and the long prongs make them look decidedly less slippery.
- Sudden Name Change: These guys were originally known as Shockers, but their names were changed most likely because Ampeel has a better ring to it.
Biter
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The tip of their lure glows, naturally, but the tips of their fins also glow a bit.
- Bizarre Alien Senses: The lure on their foreheads isn't even a lure, but rather an antenna which they use to pick up smells within the water.
- Dumb Muscle: The scanner claims it's 94% muscle, 4% connective tissue, and only 2% brain.
- However, it becomes Downplayed since this percentage is very high in comparison to the fish from Earth.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It bites you. A lot.
- Extra Eyes: They have four eyes, two on each side of the head.
- Fangs Are Evil: While not evil per se, they will sink their fangs into their prey.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Its eyes are cyan in color, and it is one mean little fish.
- Monstrous Cannibalism: They're not picky when it comes to food when hungry, and they're always hungry, hence being mostly muscle to avoid being eaten even by their own species.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: They have a ridiculous number of needle-sharp teeth for tearing you apart.
- Piranha Problem: If they smell blood, they'll attack in swarms. They even look like piranhas too!
Blighter
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The tip of their lure glows, naturally, but the tips of their fins also glow a bit.
- Extra Eyes: They have four eyes, two on each side of the head.
- Fangs Are Evil: Just like their shallow relatives, they aren't evil, just hungry.
- Luring in Prey: their antennas serve the same function as those of Earth anglerfish. Being able to attract smaller prey towards them so they can soon be devoured.
- Meaningful Name: They look like zombified ("blighted") Biters. In another way, "blighter" can be slang for an obnoxious opponent.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: They have a ridiculous number of needle-sharp teeth for tearing you apart.
- Obviously Evil: Just look at it!
- Palette Swap: Deep sea relative of the Biter.
- Piranha Problem: If they smell blood, they'll attack in swarms. And they also look like piranhas.
- Portmanteau: Of the words blight, and bighter.
- Prophet Eyes: Unlike the Biter which has Icy Blue Eyes, the Blighter's eyes are cloudy white, making it look like they are blind.
- Underground Monkey: They are a variant of the Bighter which can only be found among the blood kelp.
Boneshark
- Devious Dolphins: Unlike an actual shark, the Boneshark's tail is oriented horizontally, giving it a very dolphin-like style of movement.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's a shark that appears to have bony plates all over its body.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Their eyes glow in the dark.
- Hellish Pupils: Its pupils are slit, just like certain Earth sharks.
- Horns of Villainy: As stated below, the shark also has four horns on their head that make them look almost draconic.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Their glowing eyes are cyan in color.
- Jagged Mouth: Unlike most lifeforms, their mouths have teeth that are fused with their lips. That is, if they have lips.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The word Boneshark doesn't exactly sound friendly now does it?
- Spikes of Villainy: They have spikes on their fins and head and are one of the most common threats one has to deal with.
- Threatening Shark: But of course, it would be this. It even has sharp teeth and slanted gills.
- Throwing the Distraction: They're attracted to light, so tossing a flare will divert their attention from the player.
Crabsnake
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The fins on its sides glow.
- Fangs Are Evil: It has four small fangs within its mouth and two large, fang-like appendages at the corners of its mouth. Clearly, it wants to give you a friendly hug!
- Eyeless Face: None visible, at least; not that this slows it down. Probably has some Bizarre Alien Senses to make up for the lack of eyes.
- Giant Enemy Crab: Downplayed as it is more snake than crab, but it does have mandibles that resemble the pincers of a crab with some carapace on its head.
- Meaningful Name: It's mostly snake-like; the "crab" features around its face are really more arachnid.
- Mix-and-Match Critter: Its body is very snake-like but it also has the mouth parts, carapace, and mandibles of a crab.
- Psycho Pink: They are pink in color and will attack anything that gets too close to them.
- Slippery as an Eel: It behaves much like a moray eel, hiding inside a Jellyhroom until disturbed and then lashing out. However, it also occasionally patrols the area around its shrooms.
- Snakes Are Sinister: It is a bit more like an eel than a snake, but it is definitely sinister. When entering the Jellyshroom Caves, one must always be aware of the presence of these creatures.
- The Symbiote: The PDA indicates that is acts as one with the Jellyshrooms (the giant mushroom-like plants it lives in) - in exchange for living inside the Jellyroom, it guards the plant from herbivorous predating and provides it with a constant source of food in the form of whatever pieces remain after it devours its prey.
Crabsquid
- Angry Guard Dog: One of the most territorial creatures in the game, Crabsquids go ballistic on anything that enters their stomping ground. This trait, coupled with their sensitivity to light and their EMP blast, makes them the bane of anyone who's trying to set up a base in the resource-rich deep sea biomes they inhabitnote Some players have exploited this through hatching a Crabsquid in containment and releasing it, which will make sure anything that used to threaten you, your base, your vehicles and your cameras will be a thing of the past.
- Big Eater: Though never seen in-game aside from them trying to attack anything that moves and/or glows, their data bank entry states that Crabsquids do almost nothing else in their lives but stuff their giant stomachs day in, day out. Unfortunately, the Player Character is of the perfect crabsquid snack size.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its eyes, feet, several spots on its body, and the cracks on the stomach visible inside its clear outer membrane sack all glow. The general bioluminiscence of everything in the planet is likely also the reason why it's so attracted to lights, since light = alive = edible under most circumstances.
- Bizarre Alien Senses: While it has large eyes and is attracted to light, it also makes clicking sounds for echolocation.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: On the topic of their eyes, they are a very vibrant shade of blue. But when in the darkest depths, they look so creepy.
- EMP: The Crabsquid possesses an EMP blast that temporarily shortcircuits machinery. Its actual, biological purpose isn't understood, though the PDA theorizes it has to do with shutting down Ampeel defenses.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's a cross of a crab and a squid.
- Extra Eyes: It has four eyes, like many of the game's animals.
- Giant Crab: It is a very big deep dea predator that has the limbs and mandibles of a crab.
- Giant Mook: Crabsquids are among the largest non-Leviathan creatures in the game, dwarfing the Prawn suit and capable of being a threat to even the Cyclops.
- Giant Squid: It also has very large eyes and a fined mantle much like that of a squid.
- Glowing Eyes: Probably the reason why their eyes are so creepy looking is because you can see them staring in the dark.
- Hero Killer: It's implied that a crabsquid is the creature that ultimately finished off Paul Torgal. The last Degasi Base is located in the Deep Grand Reef and is quite literally surrounded by crabsquid, and during the launch trailer, one of them attacks a human right as Bart mentions that his father was correct in suggesting going deeper was a bad idea. Its likely the crabsquid observed the destruction of the base and saw Paul as the easiest available meal.
- Mascot Mook: One is shown on the box art of the Switch version.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Crabs and squids. It's in the name.
- My Brain Is Big: Subverted. It looks like it has an enlarged brain underneath its transparent skin, but the database confirms that is not its brain but its stomach.
- Shock and Awe: It can generate an electromagnetic pulse that can temporarily shut down vehicles and other electronics.
- Shout-Out: Its vocalizations and EMP are straight from the MUTOs.
- Sickly Green Glow: Downplayed, as they are only applied on small spots on its limbs and within the veins of its stomach. However, it is played straighter when using their EMP
- Suicidal Overconfidence: Possibly the only lifeform in the game that actively tries to eat Warpers. While certainly much bigger, trying to hunt prey that teleports is an exercise in futility or worse.
- Technicolor Lightning: Its EMP pulse wave is green.
- Throwing the Distraction: They're attracted to light, so tossing a flare will divert their attention from the player.
Crashfish
- Action Bomb: Their means of attacking is to swim up to the player and explode, thanks to a chemical reaction in their spines.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its fins glow brightly, but the red scales on its back also exhibit a faint glow.
- Expy: Share more than a few similarities with Minecraft's Creepers.
- Glass Cannon: They pack enough punch to wipe out an unarmored Seamoth on a direct hit and can seriously hurt or kill an inattentive player, but they can only attack once and have a terrible turning radius, making avoiding them fairly easy if you can figure out which direction they're coming from.
- Hell Is That Noise: The sound it makes before it blows itself up can best be described as "tortured screams of the damned."
- Jumpscare: These creatures will almost always startle you whenever you get to close to them.
- Meaningful Name: Its sole purpose is to crash into potential aggressors, including the player or their vehicle.
- Red Is Violent: You can't get more violent than being a living bomb!
- Suicide Attack: They'll blow themselves up a few seconds after launching themselves from their nest.
Lava Lizard
Lava Shell
An aggressive species of aquatic lizard that is capable of swimming in lava and even gathering it onto its back to use as armor and ammo. It is found only in the Inactive Lava Zone.
- Alliterative Name: Lava Lizard.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: One of the few aversions, as the animal itself doesn't glow. However, after diving into lava, it carries around glowing, molten coals on its back.
- Fangs Are Evil: Or at least a very good indicator of aggression.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: If one were to look closely, one would then see that the lizard is actually covered in many scars of varying severity. The PDA states it most likely gained them from the constant exposure of the lava it swims in.
- Green and Mean: Just like a stereotypical lizard, they are green. And also like certain predatory lizards, they are very mean. Not just to you, either; do not leave your Prawn unattended if you want it intact when you get back.
- Immune to Fire: And lava. It has to be in order to adapt to the harsh volcanic conditions of the lava zone. As stated approve with their scars, they gained this immunity by building thick layers of scar tissue which not only allows them to resist it on the outside but on the inside as well. Talk about hardcore!
- Lava Adds Awesome: It's already aggressive and toothy, but swimming in lava grants it the ability to shoot fiery rocks.
- Magma Man: Not only can they swim through lava and gain some free armor. But it can also spit up molten debris at its prey.
- Milky White Eyes: It has blank white eyes that give it an extra uncanny vibe to it.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: It's got a mouthful of vicious chompers, including some large ones at the front.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: It resembles a large aquatic lizard and has a temper that is as nasty as its looks.
Mesmer
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its large fins glow. Unlike other species, the precise function of the glow is known: it mesmerizes anyone stuck in front of it, leaving them open for attack.
- Bright Is Not Good: It is a very vibrantly colored creature with a carapace covered in many different shades of purple, blue, and green. However, it actually uses its pretty pigmentation to help lure in its prey.
- Combat Tentacles: The Mesmer attacks its prey by shooting out four pink stalks that end with sharp teeth.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Each of their eyes features horizontal "S" shaped pupils.
- Flower Mouth: The Mesmer has a mouth that splits open four ways to reveal four tentacle-like appendages lined with teeth that lead to its actual throat.
- Hearing Voices: It will do this to you if you get too close.
- The PDA entry says the pattern on its fins basically makes you perceive the most trustworthy source to tell you the above message. In the protagonist, that's obviously the PDA. Makes you wonder what the other fish hear/perceive.
- Hypnotic Creature: Despite being no bigger than an average dog, its true danger lies in the fact that you can't even risk looking at it for long before it tries to hypnotize you and take a huge bite when you get too close.
- Interface Screw: The glowing patterns on the Mesmer's fins are so hypnotic it becomes difficult to wrench your eyes away from it, mechanically reflected by the camera being forced to center on it while nearby unless the player can turn themselves entirely away or get enough distance.
- Luring in Prey: Tiny lenses on its fins allow it to flood the minds of its victims with pleasing messages, drawing them in and making them an easy kill.
- Mission Control Is Off Its Meds: Invoked by the Mesmer's Charm Person ability. The Mesmer cannot talk, but it can cause you to hallucinate that your PDA computer is talking to you, telling you your primary directive is to swim closer to that beautiful creature. This even extends to its Data Bank entry:The Mesmer can open the jawlike recess in its protective outer shell in order to [ERROR463] share its beauty... Do not resist...
Assessment: Draw closer. - Meaningful Name: It mesmerizes creatures into becoming vulnerable prey.
- Nested Mouths: Its entire face splits open to reveal four tentacle-like appendages lined with teeth that lead to its actual throat.
- Sickly Green Glow: Its wing-like fins glow an unnatural green glow. It can rapidly flash its fins to hypnotize its prey.
- Starfish Aliens: They look like an oceanic flower that was plucked from a stalk and brought to life. And they only get stranger from here.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: It has bright yellow eyes which contrast with its cool-colored body. Indicating that there is something off about this creature.
River Prowler
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Downplayed, as its entire body glows a subtle teal.
- Combat Tentacles: It will use its four spindly tendrils to whip its prey and draw them closer.
- Fangs Are Evil: It has very sharp dagger-like fangs within its maw, which it uses to mince up its prey.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Its eyes also glow, but they are orange instead of teal.
- Gonk: While many of the lifeforms aren't exactly attractive, the River Prolwer stands out as they are particularly grotesque looking. This fits very well considering it is a deep-sea predator residing in an underwater graveyard.
- Monochromatic Eyes: It's eyes have no pupils and are a solid orange.
- Riddle for the Ages: One of only three large creatures in the game to lack eggs (the other two being the Reaper Leviathan and the Sea Treader). How exactly they reproduce is unknown.
- Slippery as an Eel: They are eel-like in many ways be it because of their elongated body or because their mouth is filled with sharp fangs.
- Skeleton Motif: Kind of. Its body is actually translucent, making its bones visible. oddly enough, the same doesn't apply to their organs.
Sand Shark
- Alliterative Name: Sand Shark
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its eyes and the inside of its mouth glow.
- Black Dot Pupils: It has these on its glowing orangish-yellow eyes.
- Creepy Centipedes: While not noticeable at first. The sand shark actually has an elongated segmented body with many spikey legs just like a centipede.
- Dig Attack: As the name implies, this creature burrows into the sand and waits for any unsuspecting prey. When the moment arises, it will ambush them.
- Extra Eyes: It has four Glowing Eyes that face in different directions.
- Faster Than They Look. You would think that a fish without tailfins would be very slow, right? Nope. While they are indeed slow normally, they are able to sprint in the water by zigging and zagging.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: You will most likely see these, when it is charging directly at you.
- Jumpscare: It will come out of the blue while letting out a threatening roar.
- Land Shark: Played With. While it is an underwater creature, it ambushes prey by burrowing into the ocean floor and jumping out when prospective prey passes by.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Its flat, segmented body and multiple legs give it traits of centipedes and pill bugs.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Like a real shark, it has rows upon rows of pointed teeth.
- Roar Before Beating: You will know that these guys are after you if you hear their deep monstrous roars.
- Shark Fin of Doom: The only way you can tell a Sand Shark is near is if you can see its head dorsal fin poking out of the sand. Interestingly, the PDA is unsure of why it has this fin, with it theorizing it may used to shift the sand beneath the surface. Or for mating rituals. Or it's just an evolutionary dead end?
- Threatening Shark: Even more so than the Boneshark. Unlike them, they remain hidden and will only reveal themselves when it is too late.
Stalker
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: This is one of the first creatures that you come across that will actually avert this. Interestingly, despite this, their eggs will actually produce a Sickly Green Glow.
- Darkness Equals Death: The fact that they lack bioluminescence is bad. But then there is the fact that they become much more aggressive at night time, making this even worse.
- Genius Bruiser: Despite being large and aggressive, the Stalker is one of the more intelligent lifeforms on the planet. If you feed it fish or metal, it will remember you for a bit and not attack.
- Hellish Pupils: It has slit pupils much like certain crocodilians.
- Mama Bear/Papa Wolf: These guys are very protective of their eggs. Get too close to their babies, and they will go berserk.
- Metal Muncher: Downplayed — they chew on metals and metal objects to sharpen their teeth, but do not actually eat the stuff.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: It resembles a real-life gharial. But with the flippers of a mosasaur.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: It is sea green with purple markings and is the main threat you will come across within the kelp forests.
- Stealthy Mook: One of two creatures that lack bioluminescence alongside the Lava Lizard, and unlike the latter they don't use any methods that make themselves glow, which makes Stalkers harder to spot at night.
- Tastes Like Friendship: Believe it or not, it is possible to placate a Stalker. All you have to do is feed the beast any type of catchable fish and it will become docile. However, this is only temporary and it will eventually return back to its grumpy self.
- Teeth Flying: They'll frequently bust off some of their teeth when they're trying to chew on metal, especially if they try taking a bite out of a Seamoth. Good for you, because you need those teeth to create reinforced enameled glass.
Warper
"▀▖┗▛Nine new biological subjects designated. Mode ▄▖▜▚┣: hunting/analyzing. Sharing subject locations with other agents."
A strange and dangerous deep-water creature capable of ripping holes in the fabric of reality and opening portals to other locations on the planet. Its true nature is largely mysterious and cannot be verified by the PDA.—The first partially translated broadcast that you receive from them.
Voiced by: Unknown
- Aliens Steal Cable: Inverted. Sometimes your radio will intercept messages from the warpers as they relentlessly hunt down the Aurora survivors. The first such message, partially translated, establishes that they're patrolling the area. The second transmission reveals that the player is now their priority target. The third transmission is completely incomprehensible. All you might get out of it is that they're angry.
- Badass Longcoat: Interestingly enough, their own skin resembles this.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its eyes and veins glow brightly, while the membranes surrounding it also have a faint glow.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Once you scan this thing, you soon realize that nothing about it makes sense. For starters, despite being labeled as a carnivore, it doesn't have a stomach. It also has complicated mechanisms inside of it. Once you reach the Disease Research Facility, you quickly realize these guys are actually Meat Sack Robots, and therefore Needs Nothing to survive.
- Bioweapon Beast: They were spliced and modified by the Precursors with the sole purpose of eradicating infected lifeforms and keeping the plant's ecosystem stable. So far, they have done a decent job. It's a shame you've been infected and are therefore a target, though...
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Instead of hands, each arm ends with a Sinister Scythe. You can probably guess what they are used for.
- Cyborg: Created by infusing technology into an unknown species. Its organs are equipped with hardware to improve processing power and bugged with remote communications, and their skin contains a miniature phase-jumping system.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Their "voices" are deep and gruff.
- Expy: The Warper is loosely based on the Fade from Natural Selection 2.
- Final Solution: Built to kill all infected fauna not under quarantine.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Its' eyes glow magenta and can look very intimidating in the darkness.
- The Heavy: Although they are not the source of conflict in the story, they're the closest thing the game has to proper antagonists, being the only aggressive species that target the player specifically rather than by instinct.
- Heel–Face Turn: When The Player cures themselves of the bacteria, they cease their hostility.
- Hero Killer: They are implied to have killed off most of the Aurora survivors, and in the latter half of the game they target you specifically.
- Implacable Man: Very much so. They're almost always somewhere nearby, and even if they're not attacking you, they tend to follow you from a distance just to keep an eye on you.
- It Can Think: Unlike most fauna which behave like animals, these guys are very different as if you can tell that are studying you. They are able to warp you out of your vehicle if you are too far away, will retreat by teleporting to another location if struck, and can even summon other hostile fauna as a backup. Their intelligence might be because they are actually Cyborgs designed to kill infected lifeforms, and are able to communicate with each other by using radio waves.
- Monstrous Mandibles: It has a pair of mandibles surrounding its circular mouth. Because having ovular blunt teeth just isn't scary enough.
- My Brain Is Big: They have very big and round heads that make it look like they have large brains in there. Their brains might very well be that big; they are sapient, with the PDA mentioning their brains are digitally augmented to process information faster.
- Mysterious Purple: They have purple skin and are extremely mysterious.
- Non-Malicious Monster: They're simply following what they were engineered for. Once the player is cured, they are quite passive and potentially helpful at warding off aggressive wildlife.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: While stalking and roaming, they're much less noisy than other lifeforms on the planet. If you didn't see 'em right away, the first warning there's a Warper in the area is usually you being violently teleported. Which make sense, since they were literally made to kill infected creatures. The damage they inflict also ramps up the further along in infection you are, so better have that Reinforced Dive Suit equipped.
- Octopoid Aliens: They have many cephalopod elements in their design such as a large bulbous head, a strange beaked mouth, and many-tentacled limbs.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: If you actually try to attack them, either with a weapon or simply ramming them with a Seamoth, they will make an electronic screech and warp away. It's pretty hard to actually kill them as a result.
- Starfish Aliens: Not just to you, but also every other creature on 4546B! For starters, it has no genetic ancestry with the locals, let alone any defense behavior that can be called similar to theirs. It has mechanisms in their heads that allow them to warp. Although it hunts lifeforms, it seems to not be for sustenance as it has no digestive system - Justified, as in actuality, they're a created species designed to hunt down infected creatures. Plus its internal structure is extremely complex in comparison to the simple endo/exoskeletons of their neighbors.
- Starfish Language: They are able to communicate with each other using various robotic clicks and screeches. Even with subtitles on, you'll only get the occasional translated word out of squares at best.
- Summon Bigger Fish: Literally. Sometimes they will summon hostile fish to distract you, depending on what biome you're in.
- Swirly Energy Thingy: In contrast to the Cyber Green current of the phasegates, their portals are spinning vortexes of glowing violet and cyan.
- Teleport Spam: Their signature ability, hence the name.
- Thinking Up Portals: How exactly are the warpers able to force you closer to them? By flinging smaller portals at you!
- Villain Teleportation: Well, they aren't truly evil, but still antagonistic. They have built-in teleportation hardware. They can come and go as they wish. Not only that, but they can teleport you out of your vehicle so they can attack you directly, and warp hostile fauna in on top of you.
- Walking Spoiler: It is very difficult to even talk about these guys without spoiling what they really are.
- Zerg Rush: If you approach any of the Architect bases, expect to be mobbed by these things at a much faster rate than normal.
Herbivores
Bladderfish
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The air bladder glows faintly. The same also applies for the spots on its body.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Just look at this thing. Its swim bladder is huge in comparison to its thin little body. It is so surreal looking that even the PDA notes that it is very unusual looking amongst its neighbors.
- Bizarre Alien Locomotion: So, how can a fish swim if it doesn't have any tail fins? Well, it does so by using those six tubes that stick out of the bladder. They are open-ended with the ability to be angled and contracted to pump out water. This allows the creature to achieve low velocity, guided propulsion.
- Black Dot Pupils: The Bladderfish's eyes are unique simply because of how simple and cartoony they look.
- Com Mons: Considering how important they are for crafting, it shouldn't be surprising that these guys are found in nearly every biome. Be it in the safety of the shallows or in the dangers of the depths.
- Glowing Eyes: Its sclera will also glow faintly in the dark as well.
- Helpful Mook: Because their bodies are composed of so much water and air, they can actually be used to craft certain materials such as drinkable water and the air bladder.
- Meaningful Name: 95% of its mass is dedicated to its water-permeable bladder.
- No Mouth: Strangely enough, these creatures don't seem to have any visible mouths whatsoever. However, the PDA states that it feeds by filtering the surrounding seawater with its swim bladder.
- Starfish Aliens: Although it is called a bladderfish. It is more bladder than it is fish.
- Sudden Name Change: Their original name was "Airsack", but this was changed in one of the 2016 updates.
Boomerang
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The tips of their fins glow cyan.
- Black Dot Pupils: Each of its eyes has a white sclera with black pupils.
- Boomerang Comeback: Just like the thing they are named after, chances are if you release one, you will be easily able to catch it again.
- Com Mons: By far one of the most common creatures on 4546B and one of the easiest to capture.
- Extra Eyes: It has four, arranged both above and below its mouth.
- Meaningful Name: Named for its resemblance to the Australian Aboriginal weapon.
Crimson Ray
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Unlike the other species of Ray in Subnautica, it possesses very little Bioluminescence, in that the only parts that glow are its eyes and gill slits.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The top side of the creature has a crimson pattern.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Its pupils are rectangular in shape, just like that of a caprid.
- Gentle Giant: It is the same size as the fairly large Ghostray; despite this, the animal is completely and utterly harmless.
- Glowing Eyes: As stated above, its eyes glow yellow.
- Immune to Fire: The PDA states that its thick scales are what protect this ray from the boiling temperature of its hostile home
- Mellow Mantas: The Crimson Ray has the same body structure of a manta ray, and just like them, they too are gentle giants.
- Palette Swap: Of the Ghostray. And unlike them, you can't see through it.
- Red Is Heroic: Or rather, red is friendly.
Cuddlefish
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The white marking on it will actually glow in the dark.
- Easter Egg: Wild specimens of these creatures cannot be found in the oceans of 4546B. To meet one, you must find an egg and hatch it. There are only five eggs in the game, each hidden in an out-of-the way and easily-missed location.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Its old name was the Cutefish, and it's a cute fish. Its function is to be cute. The current name is also rather appropriate, as it has a remarkably cuddly appearance for a half-squid creature, and indeed you can pet and cuddle it when playing with it. If you never release it into open water you can actually take it home with you to hug and pet and play with forever!
- Friendly, Playful Dolphin: Has some porpoise inspiration in its design, makes squeaking noises similar to a dolphin, and is indeed friendly and playful. It's also curious and intelligent, being able to both be intrigued by, and express amazement at, the old "coin behind your ear" sleight-of-hand trick.
- Funny Octopus: It also has just as many octopus elements in its design as well. As they will often interact with
- Killer Rabbit: Back when it was meant to be the Crash, it was this. Now it's perfectly harmless.
- Light Is Good: It has white accents on its body and is by far one of the most friendly creatures you will come across on 4546B.
- Meaningful Name: It is a marine animal that you often get to play and bond with. In other words, it is a fish that you cuddle with.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: It resembles a very small porpoise crossed with a octopus.
- Punny Name: Of the real-life cuttlefish, who aren't as cuddly. However, they are intelligent, and some people have indeed bonded with them.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: While subtle and not as extreme, there is no denying that this critter has very precious eyes.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: The equivalent of an aquatic alien puppy. Its diminutive mouth is a curving smile, and it also chirps like a small bird.
- Shoo the Dog: After the player has built the Neptune Escape Rocket, they realize that they can't take the Cuddlefish with them. So, they are forced to say farewell as their little aquatic companion embraces them one last time.
Eyeye
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The fins behind its eye glow cyan.
- Black Dot Pupils: Despite its eye being its primary feature of it, its pupil is dark and simple.
- Butt-Monkey: Some creatures just shove them around without even eating them.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Because of how much has gone into the creature's eye, it has essentially sacrificed its maneuverability and is unable to make a quick escape. It instead relies on sporting the predator, and then planning their escape.
- Cyclops: Its body is 90% eyeball. A single eyeball.
- Innate Night Vision: The PDA states that the deep-set rings within the fish's lens specialize in identifying potential predators in dimly lit environments.
- Meaningful Name: Its most salient feature is its eye.
- No Mouth: Although the Bladderfish can be Justified for not having one because of their Bizarre Alien Biology, the PDA doesn't even bother explaining how this thing is able to eat anything without a proper mouth.
- Oculothorax: In addition to its giant eyeball, it's got a few little fins that trail behind it. That's it, though; it doesn't even have a discernible mouth.
- Punny Name: Its name is a play on the phrase "aye, aye", and its most prominent feature is its large eye.
Garryfish
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its fins glow red.
- Black Dot Pupils: Like many small herbivores, it too has simple dark pupils.
- Cowardly Yellow: It is mostly yellow in color, and will flee at the slightest sign of danger.
- Com Mons: It lives in the Safe Shallows and is by far one of the easiest fish to catch.
- Delicious Distraction: Part of its strategy for not getting eaten is being a less filling meal than the surrounding fish.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Interestingly enough, their eyes are shaped like an almost organic oval with a small secondary pupil beside them.
- Eye on a Stalk: They seem to be beneficial when it is keeping a lookout for potential predators within their hiding spots.
- Informed Attribute: Its PDA entry states that part of its survival strategy is camouflage. You never see this happen.
- Shout-Out: It resembles Gary the snail from SpongeBob SquarePants.
- Sphere Eyes: They are ovular shaped which seems to be because of how they are supported by their eye stalks.
Gasopod
- Annoying Laugh: Its call sounds like cheeky daughter. Almost as if it finds its Fartillery amusing.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: The tail and even the animal itself are not dangerous. However, it is home to a symbiotic species of algae that produces a very caustic acid, and when startled the Gasopod tenses its muscles and expels pods of the stuff.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its eyes and the gas pods on its tail glow.
- Deadly Gas: Gasopods can produce gas pods that explode after a short while to create a deadly, yellow-green cloud. If the player is quick, they can grab one or two pods before they pop and use them to create gas torpedoes.
- Fartillery: The gas it releases will paralyze fish and damage you or your vehicles. If you grab the pods before they explode, you can keep them in your inventory and use them as improvised weapons or as an ingredient for the Gas Torpedo.
- Gas Mask Mooks: Their trunk resembles a gas mask. It also functions as one, with multiple pairs of gills capable of filtering and detoxifying the gas from its tail.
- Gasshole: Its species hat.
- Glowing Eyes: Just like the gas pods, they glow chartreuse.
- Green Is Gross: In this case, it most certainly is.
- Helpful Mook: Although its Deadly Gas is lethal, the pods they come out of actually have a cool-down time. Meaning you can collect them and use them yourself.
- Living Weapon: The gas is actually produced by symbiotic algae that live in the Gasopod's tail.
- Meaningful Name: The gas-releasing pods on its tail are its most noteworthy feature.
- Mix-and-Match Critter: It looks a lot like a mutated fish with the body plan of a manatee.
- Planimal: Upon further scan, the PDA reveals that the glowing chartreuse spots in its tail are actually a type of algae gland. One which is able to produce the Gasopod's titular gas pods. It is Downplayed though since it is just the tail.
- Poisonous Person: Although the algae are the things that create the toxins, the Gasopod is the one that spreads them. It has the ability to contract the muscles in its tail which then release the toxic spores into the water.
- Sickly Green Glow: It stands out amongst the other fauna of the shallows as its Glowing Eyes and tail spots look almost nauseous. This might as well be considered a red flag considering what it can do.
- The Symbiote: It provides transport for the algae that lives in its tail to find better spots to synthesize, and in return, the plants the give creature a means to defend itself.
Ghostray
- Blue Is Calm: Seeing a fever of them drifting around the Giant Cove Tree is very satisfying to watch and can take away the tension that you are deep under the ocean in a Sea Monster graveyard.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: If a manta ray was reincarnated into a glowing, spectral entity, it would be this Ghostray.
- Gentle Giant: The entire ray itself is several times larger than a human; despite this, the animal is completely and utterly harmless.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Not only is their body blue, but their eyes are also a bright cyan. Both of which help to allude to their serene nature.
- Mellow Mantas: Much like their volcanic cousins, the Ghost Rays resemble manta rays in not only appearance but also behavior. And in spite its unnatural appearance and large size, these creatures are very friendly.
- Monochromatic Eyes: Unlike its volcanic counterpart, the Ghostray doesn't have any visible pupils.
- Phosphor-Essence: The entire animal glows, including the organs seen through its translucent body.
- Poisonous Person: Much like most Rays on the planet, the Ghostray's flesh is covered in toxic mucus.
Holefish
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The small spots behind its gills also glow very faintly.
- Fragile Speedster: What the holefish lacks in size or strength, it makes up for it in speed and agility.
- Glowing Eyes: Like much of the other fauna, it also has glowing eyes.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: They are blue in color, which helps indicate their docile nature.
- Mini Mook: In comparison to the already small common herbivores, the holefish are tiny! The PDA theorizes this might be because of the lack of vegetation in the low-light environments it can live in.
- Torso with a View: Tail with a view, actually. This fish gets its name from the hole in its tail. Despite this, the hole isn't a puncture wound but is rather a natural part of its body.
Hoopfish
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: One of the brightest fish in the sea. Its most striking feature is the glowing green hoop that extends around the top and bottom of its body from nose to tail, but its fins and body spots also glow.
- Bizarre Alien Locomotion: Rather than swimming, the Hoopfish uses the fine green antenna which encircles its body to alter the composition of the water in front of it, allowing it to 'sail' through the low density it just created.
- Com Mons: By far the most abundant fish within the sea. They are found in almost every biome that is near the surface.
- Glowing Eyes: Just like its titular hoop, its eyes also glow a bright green.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Although it is very hard to notice. Its pupils are actually dark blue in color. Also, it is a creature that is completely harmless.
- Meaningful Name: They are fish that have antennae that encircles the ventral and dorsal sides of their body. Thus making a hoop.
Hoverfish
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its "feet" and the spots on its back glow.
- Black Bead Eyes: It has two black eyes that make it look almost like a stuffed toy.
- Lovable Lizard: It resembles an aquatic lizard and is very much lovable.
- And as a bonus, it was going to even have a terrestrial arctic variant of it known as the Hoverlizard!
- Meaningful Name: It "swims" by ionizing the surrounding water, allowing it to "hover" over the sea floor.
- Non-Indicative Name: Despite being called a Hoverfish, the description of its cooked form says it has reptilian flesh. Coupled with the appearance of its face up close, it appears to actually be more of a Hoverseaturtle.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: While not as aggressively cute as the Cuddle Fish, many fans have taken a shine to the Hoverfish thanks to its adorable, smiling face and being curiously emotive for such a small and simple creature. Some have expressed a desire for Hoverfish to be able to be adopted and interacted with in a manner similar to the Cuddlefish.
- Adorably, they actually seem to develop an affection for the player if kept in an Alien Containment. Hoverfish can be observed swimming up to the player and "dancing" with a huge smile on their face.
- Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: It has six limbs in total, and very much resembles an amphibian.
Jellyray
- Bizarre Alien Senses: Despite the fact that it lacks any visible eyes, it is still somehow attracted to light.
- Blue Is Calm: Much like their deep water relatives, the Ghostrays, the Jellyrays are mostly blue in color and glide peacefully through the forests and reefs they call home.
- Constantly Curious: They are very curious about the various light sources around them, and will usually investigate if one of them seems to interest them.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: If a jellyfish and a stingray had a baby, it would be this Jellyray. The only way its name could get more accurate is if you called it a glowing Jellyray.
- Eyeless Face: It doesn't really have a proper face, but it most certainly has no visible eyes.
- Gentle Giant: The central core of its body is about as big as a human; the tentacles and tail streaming behind it are much longer. Despite their pointed tips and its resemblance to a jellyfish, the animal is completely and utterly harmless; it is neither aggressive nor in possession of stinging nematocysts.
- Jumping Fish: They have been shown to be able to jump out of the water in their concept art and in the game's teaser trailer. However, this behavior is absent in game.
- Light Is Good: They are very brightly illuminated, and are quite friendly.
- Mellow Mantas: Although the Jellyray does appear to be rather unsettling, they are by all means completely harmless.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: As the name implies, it is a mix between stingrays and jellyfish.
- Phosphor-Essence: The entire animal glows.
- Not only that, but the PDA suggests its bright illumination is used to help light up the area when foraging, scaring away predators, and finding others of its kind.
- Throwing the Distraction: Despite not being a predator, they are attracted to light. They can often be seen investigating these new light sources, but will quickly stop once they realize it isn't anything important.
Magmarang
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Not only do the tips of its fins glow (albeit orange instead of cyan), but the white markings on its skin will faintly glow as well.
- Extra Eyes: Just like the Boomerang, it too has four eyes.
- Glowing Eyes: Unlike the Boomerang, they glow like a burning fire.
- Immune to Fire: It has to be this if it even wants to have a chance of surviving in the Lethal Lava Land it calls home.
- Lava Adds Awesome: Is exclusively found in the Inactive Lava Zone, where its coloring and bioluminescence are evolved to make it visually blend into the volcanic formations and lava channels.
- Palette Swap: Of Boomerangs.
- Portmanteau: Of magma and boomerang.
- Underground Monkey: They are a variant of the Boomerang that is found exclusively in the Lava Zone.
Oculus
- Bizarre Alien Biology: The PDA speculates that it feeds on the soft caps of the Jellyshrooms, though how it does so is unclear since it lacks any visible mouth.
- Exotic Eye Designs: The Oculus is interesting as its pupils seem to resemble a plasma globe.
- Glowing Eyes: Its big eyes also glow, but they are violet instead of yellow.
- Innate Night Vision: It's eyes are far more developed for seeing in the darkness of the caves it lives in.
- Item Farming: Oculus makes the best bioreactor fuel of any edible fauna and a decent meal on top of that, making them a good choice for breeding in Alien Containment.
- Life-or-Limb Decision: According to the PDA it can detach its tentacles to distract predators in a manner similar to a lizard dropping its tail.
- Meaningful Name: Oculus is Latin for eye.
- No Mouth: When looking at it from the front, one can see that the Oculus doesn't seem to have a mouth. Making one wonder how exactly this fish is able to sustain itself.
- Oculothorax: Like the Peeper, the Oculus has huge eyes which allow it to survey its surroundings at all times.
- Stealth Pun: The Oculus has large eyes that are magenta in color, and magenta is sometimes referred to as being a shade of pink. In other words, these fish have pink eye.
- Underground Monkey: It's a slightly larger subspecies of the Peeper, adapted to living in Jellyshroom caves. The two are still closely related enough to breed with each other if placed in an alien containment unit together; said offspring will always be more Oculus.
- Weakened by the Light: Because of how their eyes have adjusted to the limited lighting of the Jellyshroom Caves, the Oculus's eyes are very sensitive to light and it has developed Photophobia.
Peeper
- Beak Attack: Although it never uses it to defend itself, the PDA states its beak was likely used to break down corals and tough vegetation.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: The PDA makes it blatantly clear that the Peeper has features that have no discernible purpose. For starters, it has an unusually large nasal cavity that has evolved to detect a single specific enzyme that does not match the odor of anything known on the planet. Then it has tubes attached to its torso which connect directly to the gills and stomach, and appear to be designed to expel the contents on demand. And despite living in shallow waters, the PDA states that it can survive in deeper depths as well. As we later find out, all of these unusual adaptations are features used to distribute Enzyme 42 to the surface.
- Bizarre Alien Senses: Thanks to its big eyes, the Peeper is capable of discerning colors not just in shallow water, but also in other lighting conditions as well.
- Blue Is Heroic: They are navy blue in color and are quite friendly. However, they are more than just friendly but are full-on heroic. The reason being that they are the ones that spread the Enzyme 42 across the planet, keeping the ecosystem healthy and alive.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The Peeper as a species is probably secretly the second most important creature in the game, after the Sea Emperor itself. Under its command, they not only converted the aquarium into a thriving ecosystem but single-handedly stopped the Kharaa from completely destroying the planet.
- Com Mons: They are usually the first lifeform that players will encounter in the Crater.
- Foreshadowing:
- The PDA is quick to point out that the Peeper has a lot of evolutionary traits irrelevant to any of its habitats. This is because they're secretly the Sea Emperor's underlings, who evolved them into a heavily customized form fit for delivering the cure to the world.
- One of these adaptations are the holes on the side of the peeper, which lets it expel the contents of its stomach. The PDA cannot fathom a biological reason for it. Peepers can be seen doing it sometimes in-game, leaving glowing trails behind them. It's how they deliver the cure.
- Fragile Speedster: While weak, the Peeper has adapted to this by gaining powerful fins that allow it to rapidly propel itself through the water. Without improved fins, you'll have serious trouble catching one in daytime (at night, on the other hand, they're fairly sedentary).
- Glowing Eyes: Its signature eyes glow a bright yellow.
- Helpful Mook: They're not actually 100% natural creatures. They're an entire species of underlings for the Sea Emperor, tailor-made through evolution, and their one job is to collect flora to keep the Emperor's aquarium functioning, and deliver the cure to the surface to fight off the Kharaa.
- It Can Think: The PDA states that is somewhat more intelligent than the usual small herbivore and this is best shown when being chased by a predator. It can shut its eyelids to make it harder to be spotted at night. However, what makes it really intelligent is that it understands the tasks that it is required to do in delivering the enzyme across the planet. They actively approach the Sea Emperor to collect the Enzyme, use the Alien Pipes to quickly travel to the various regions of the planet, and then release the Enzyme into the water.
- Jumping Fish: Every now and then, one can see a Peeper jumping out of the water. It is stated to do this in order to avoid pursuers.
- Mascot Mook: Peepers are probably the most well-known creatures in the games, with one serving as the PS4 menu icon in the first game, and an Artic Peeper doing it in the second.
- Meaningful Name: You cannot miss a school of Peepers' peepers with your own peepers at all. They're probably also little info-gatherers for the Sea Emperor. Which is probably why it can reach out to chat to you at all. When the PDA warns you about the possible intellects of creatures you study in containment, the Peeper is one likely candidate. It watches you: check its animations when you idle nearby.
- Oculothorax: The Peepers get their name from their extremely large eyes which they use to survey their surroundings.
- Tube Travel: The Peepers are able to enter and exit the Primary Containment Facility whenever they please by using the alien pipe network.
- Walking Spoiler: Upon reading this and seeing all of the hidden paragraphs, it becomes clear that this isn't an ordinary fish.
Rabbit Ray
- Alliterative Name: Rabbit Ray
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its fins and the spots on its back glow.
- Dark Is Not Evil: It's body is mostly a very dark blue in color. However, it is completely friendly.
- Meaningful Name: Its head and ears resemble that of a rabbit, while its body is very similar to a ray.
- Mellow Mantas: The Rabbit Ray is the first ray you will encounter on 4546B, and it will become clear that they usually prefer to keep to themselves, just like the rays back on Earth.
- Orange/Blue Contrast: It has blue and orange accents on its body.
- Poisonous Person: Is described as having "awesomely poisonous flesh", hence why it is inedible.
- Righteous Rabbit: While it isn't truly a rabbit, it does have many features similar to a rabbit. And just like one, it is quite docile.
Red Eyeye
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Their fin membrane still glows. But it is now a molten orangish yellow instead of a simple blue.
- Butt-Monkey: Much like its shallow water relative, some creatures will just push them around for no reason what so ever.
- Cyclops: It is still 90% eyeball.
- Fireball Eyeballs: The way their irises are patterned definitely invokes this.
- Glowing Eyes: Unlike their shallow relatives which have simple Black Dot Pupils, these guys instead have a vibrant firey iris.
- Immune to Fire: Just like everything else in the Lava Zone. Although, this doesn't stop them from getting bullied.
- Lava Adds Awesome: These fish much like the Magmarangs have gotten a new firey color scheme which allows them to blend into their environment.
- No Mouth: It still isn't clear how these guys can even be alive without one.
- Oculothorax: Just like before, they are mostly eyeball, with barely enough tissue to be called a body,
- Palette Swap: Of Eyeyes.
- Punny Name: In addition to what was stated earlier with the normal Eyeye, these guys now have the red in their names. This can bring to mind a condition known as red eye.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted. Despite its slightly more intimidating design. The Red Eyeye, is still an Eyeye.
- Shout-Out: Their eye looks similar to Eye of Sauron.
- Underground Monkey: A warmer relative of the Eyeye which can only be found living within the depths of the Lava Zone.
Reginald
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its fin glows.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: It has four gill-like slits for eating instead of a mouth.
- Item Farming: Reginalds are a very popular choice for farming in an Alien Containment, since they restore the most food of any edible fauna. They also make good bioreactor fuel, second only to the Oculus in output when compared to other edible fauna.
- Odd Name Out: They're the only species in the game without a Meaningful Name.
- Shrinking Violet: These creatures are quite shy, and will flee once they have been spotted.
Skyray
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The undersides of its wings glow.
- Disturbed Doves: When you complete the Neptune, the countdown to launch shows a flock of skyrays perched on the nose of the rocket. They fly away when you take off.
- Mellow Mantas: Yes, even though they're more like birds than fish, the skyray is still technically a ray, and is just as harmless as the others.
- Super Drowning Skills: It can't stand being underwater at all. This includes if you use console commands to spawn it inside your base; apparently, the mere presence of water above it — despite being in an oxygenated base — is enough to make it drown.
Spadefish
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its fins and spots glow.
- Black Dot Eyes: It has a single dark pupil in the middle of its large eye.
- Cyclops: It has a single, sky-pointing eye.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Has a mouth full of tiny, but sharp-looking teeth. It is still completely harmless, though.
- Use Your Head: Unlike the other prey fish, Spadefish are tough enough that plowing through them with your Seamoth will actually damage the vehicle. Downplayed in that it still kills the Spadefish.
Spinefish
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The stripes on its body glow a faint teal, giving it a ghostly look.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: The data log says it uses the rib-like stripes to play dead to hide from predators, however, this behavior is never seen in-game.
- Prophet Eyes: The Spinefish's pupils are completely blank. Not only that, but the PDA also mentions how these guys are blind.
- Skeleton Motif: It looks like a fish skeleton that came to life. As its appearance might suggest, it's also a terrible meal, being skin and bones in a quite literal sense.
- Underground Monkey: It is an eerie variant of the Hoopfish that can be found lurking within the deepest and darkest biomes.
- White and Red and Eerie All Over: Although it is hard to notice, the Spinefish actually has red accents on certain parts of their body.
Scavengers and Parasites
Amoeboid
Bleeder
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Downplayed as while it does glow, it isn't very bright. Still cool though.
- Combat Tentacles: They possess retractable tendrils around their mouths that make it harder to remove them while feeding.
- Instant Leech: Just Fall in Water!: These guys are very clingy. Just swimming near one will entice it to latch onto your arm.
- Meaningful Name: They make you bleed, sucking both health and nutrition from your body.
- Monstrous Cannibalism: If a Bleeder dies, the others in the area won't be averse to chowing down on the dead one's corpse. This can be exploited, as by killing one and dropping it back in the water with the Propulsion Cannon, other Bleeders will swarm and present themselves to you as open targets.
- The Swarm: Like Biters, a pack of Bleeders can add up fast. Unlike Biters, Bleeders also drain your food, which means you can starve to death due to a parasite sucking all the nutrition out of you.
Blood Crawler
- Dire Beast: Most crabs are not taller than people.
- Extra Eyes: They have four small eyes on the front of their body and one giant one on top.
- Giant Enemy Crab: Minus the pincers, plus some extra crabby attitude.
- Glowing Eyes: Their eyes, including the giant one in the middle of their back, glow.
- Meaningful Name: They're Big Creepy-Crawlies and are predominantly found in the Blood Kelp Zones. Also, if you get too close, they'll try to draw your blood.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Blood Crawlers sound like swell guys to invite to your luau.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: They have five red eyes on the top of their bodies, safe to say that they aren't friendly.
- Spiders Are Scary: Even more so than its smaller relative thanks to its Extra Eyes.
- Underground Monkey: They are a deep-sea relative of the Cave Crawler.
- White and Red and Eerie All Over: And their white skin just adds to the creep factor.
Cave Crawler
- Bizarre Alien Biology: According to the PDA, this critter is able to breathe with its eye!
- Cephalothorax: Just like certain arachnids and crustaceans, its head and body are fused together.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: It has a big blue eye that looks almost lifeless.
- Cyclops: It has a single, upward-facing eye on its back, likely to spot predators passing overhead.
- Giant Enemy Crab: It's only about knee-high, but it's still rather large for a crab.
- Glowing Eyes: The eye on its back glows. And it has just one.
- Meaningful Name: It crawls on four legs and is commonly found in caves (however, it's sometimes found a good distance outside them as well).
- Spiders Are Scary: It resembles a spider as much as a crab, and is aggressive enough you'd be right to give it a wide berth.
Floater
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Most floaters are small, about the size of a coconut. You can also find a giant variety that's several times your size. Interestingly, the giants are less destructive: while floaters are not aggressive, they are indiscriminate in what they attach themselves to, and so strongly buoyant that they can drag even your Cyclops around. The big ones are already attached to their rock, and big enough that they won't be dislodged by anything, meaning they won't ever get in your way as the little ones can.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The pink inner body glows slightly.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It floats. That's about it.
- Lamprey Mouth: The bottom of the creature is a sucker mouth. Its "teeth" actually appear rather soft and rounded, however.
- Turtle Island: A few of these have grown to a gargantuan size, holding up several underwater landmasses alongside what is easily the biggest island in the game.
Lava Larva
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its eyes, mouth, and a streak along its belly glow.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: They completely lack a digestive tract, sucking the energy they need to survive directly out of their prey instead. It's unknown what exactly they feed on when there aren't any human castaways invading their territory with fancy machines.
- Glowing Eyes: They glow orange just like the other glowing areas on it.
- Lamprey Mouth: Its mouth (visible on the underside of its body) is a teardrop-shaped ring of teeth.
- Meaningful Name: It's found near lava and is apparently the larval form of a larger creature.
- That creature was intended to be the Rock Puncher before it was
Dummied Out in the original game.
- That creature was intended to be the Rock Puncher before it was
Rockgrub
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The whole thing glows.
- Eyeless Face: Has no real facial features aside from a gaping mouth.
- Lamprey Mouth: Its front end is this round opening ringed with teeth.
- Our Fairies Are Different: Rockgrubs are basically aquatic fireflies.
- Sickly Green Glow: Although it glows green, it is by all means completely harmless.
Shuttlebug
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The orange patterns on its body glow.
- Notice This: They tend to hang out at the entrances of smaller but confusing underwater caves, which combined with their bioluminescence can help you find them if you need to cave-dive or serve as markers to find your way out.
Leviathan Class
Ghost Leviathan
- Angry Guard Dog: One hell of a guard dog, for sure. Ghost Leviathans are incredibly territorial, requiring singular dominance over a considerable space in order to feed. Anything they regard as challenging them for ownership is met with incredible force, with the intent of driving it off. note
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Notable for being the only aggressive Leviathan species to exhibit this trait to a relevant degree. Its four eyes glow a golden orange colour, as do a series of light-tipped stalks and lines of light along the inside of its body. The entire body also emits a faint blue glow that's hard to notice unless the surroundings are pitch-black, like the Crater Edge for instance, which makes for an incredibly chilling sight that probably gave them their name.
- Bizarre Alien Reproduction: While Ghost Leviathans are implied to breed via internal fertilization in the same way as many Earth fish and all terrestrial tetrapods, their eggs are laid in trees and gradually seem to fuse with the plants, to the point that several branches appear to be inside of the eggs. This does not harm the developing embryos.
- Border Patrol: Fully-grown adults will spawn in to chase the player should they leave the playing area. They're also far more aggressive than the others on the Crater and will relentlessly chase the player until they're dead or back in the map. Up to three can be chasing you at one time, as many adults as are normally spread around the entire map.
- Extra Eyes: Possesses four eyes, like many creatures on the planet.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: The way they are angled and how they are simulated makes it give off the vibe they are giving you a constant Death Glare.
- Hitbox Dissonance: As with other long-bodied creatures in the game, only its head is vulnerable to any damage.
- Killed Off for Real: The ones living in the Crater will not respawn if killed.
- Meaningful Name: Much of its body is translucent with a more solid body structure inside, giving it a ghost-like look◊. The way its mouth opens also closely resembles a Ghostly Gape.
- Monstrous Cannibalism: The Juvenile Ghost's data bank entry posits that they feed on anything they can get their jaws on, including unfortunate members of their own species, until they grow too large for their nursery grounds, leave for open waters and turn into filter feeders. Doesn't affect their in-game behavior in any way, but it should tell you all you need to know about what to do when you encounter these creatures.
- Ramming Always Works: Unlike the other aggressive Leviathans, which have limbs of a sort, the only weapon a Ghost has is its armoured head, which it can use to devastating effect.
- Sea Monster: It's the fourth Leviathan-class creature in the game, and just as deadly as the Reaper and Sea Dragon. It's also the third-largest creature in the game after the Emperor and Sea Dragon. Disturbingly, unlike the Reaper and the Sea Dragon, the Ghost doesn't attack to eat you, since it's a filter feeder; it attacks to ward you off from its territory.
- Use Your Head: Due to its eel-like build and lack of teeth, Ghost Leviathans attack with headbutts.
Reaper Leviathan
- Ambiguous Situation: While the other leviathan species have explicit reasons for living in the environments they are found in Specifically, it's never explained why the Reaper Leviathans can be found in and around the Dunes, the Mountains, and Aurora Crash Site. The trailers offer a hint regarding the Crash Zone (it's implied that Bart Torgal made a base there and that they might have come to associate habitats with food), but Dunes and Mountains are still left unexplained. The presence of the Quarantine Enforcement Platform and the Precursor Cache in the Dunes indicate that they might be a security measure by the Architects, but this doesn't match up with their usual modus operandi.
- Angry Guard Dog: Not technically a guard dog, but this monster likes to hang around the Aurora at the Crash Zone and the Quarantine Enforcement Platform at the Mountains more than any other creature. The Dunes entrance to the Inactive Lava Zone was closed off, but the Reapers there now have a meteor impact crater with an Architect Cache and a sinkhole containing a Cuddlefish Egg to patrol around.
- Artificial Stupidity: The Reapers in the Dunes biome aren't the most intelligent of the Reapers in the game. They'll often ignore you even when you're close by, and when they do move in to attack more often than not they'll straight-up miss, especially if you're on the sea floor inside or outside the Seamoth/PRAWN. By contrast, the ones in the Crash Zone and the Mountains will see and chase after you relentlessly if you get in range. Though even the former can have a massive brain fart and get their faces stuck in the half-melted girders around the prow of the Aurora, roaring in place at nothing in particular.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Notable for being one of the few species on the planet to greatly downplay this. The red parts of their body do exhibit a very faint glow, but because it is barely noticeable, they are practically invisible at night until they're right in your face. They used to have Sickly Green Glowing Eyes of Doom but that changed once they received a new model.
- Drone of Dread: They make a rather eerie drone as their bodies cut through the water. In the darkness, this may be your only warning that one is about the area.
- Dumb Muscle: If you can manage to scan one, the results claim that it has very little brains or morality, "just muscle, synapses and teeth."
- Eaten Alive: If it catches you outside a vehicle at below 80% health, it'll just stuff you in its mouth whole. To add insult to injury, it first roars in your face.
- Extra Eyes: Like so many creatures, it has four eyes instead of two.
- Extreme Omnivore: It'll munch on your Seamoth or other vehicles as well as you or any other lifeform.
- Foe-Tossing Charge: Reapers will move their prey a considerable distance away from where they initially grabbed it during their attack animation, which can be more annoying than the damage they deal upon the vehicle you're in. It can also end in them smashing your ride against the sea floor or some other large obstacle for a One-Hit Kill, although it's more likely they'll glitch you through the map instead.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: As their scan data explains, a Reaper's roars act as echolocation, so "if you can hear it properly, the Reaper can see you." While this wasn't initially true, the feature was later patched in, so Reapers can now hone in on your position if you linger too long in their hunting grounds.
- Hero Killer: Reapers were responsible for the deaths of 2nd Officer Keen, CTO Yu, and the unnamed occupant of Lifepod 4. One also destroyed the third Degasi seabase ten years ago, leaving Paul Torgal stranded underwater and Marguerit Maida presumed dead fighting it.
- Hitbox Dissonance: As with other long-bodied creatures in the game, only its head is vulnerable to any damage.
- Jump Scare: The most likely deliverer of them in the game. Reapers are the only creatures that don't just attack but have an actual, prolonged, almost inescapable grabbing animation when they do so. You're cruising around in your Seamoth, minding your own business, when suddenly one of these beasts appears out of nowhere, grabs your sub, turns it around so you're face to face, emits a bone-chilling roar, and proceeds to do unpleasant stuff to your poor ride. You can be forgiven for needing a change of pants the first times you witness this (especially while playing in VR), and it doesn't really get less scary afterwards. Keep in mind that the Reaper's constant roars announce their presence from quite some distance away, and still their attacks are scary as hell.
- Killed Off for Real: As with other Leviathan-class creatures, if killed, they will not respawn.
- Light Is Not Good: They are mostly white in color and this albinoism actually allows the Reaper to blend into the open water. Well, until it gets in your face that is.
- Lightning Bruiser: Swims faster than the Seamoth, and treats it like a chew toy.
- Nothing Is Scarier: A Reaper's echoing roars are scary enough. Even scarier, though, is when the roars stop — that generally means it's found you and is circling around to attack you from behind.
- One-Hit Kill: It can destroy your Seamoth in one hit if it gets to perform its smash-against-obstacle attack. Absent that, as long as your Seamoth is fully repaired, odds are it will let you go rather than crushing you like an egg.
- Red Is Violent: It has red markings on its body that make it look almost like a Blood-Splattered Warrior. Considering just how aggressive they are, they might as well be one.
- Roar Before Beating: You'll likely hear the Reaper Leviathan before you see it. Once you do, get to safety.
- Sea Monster: One of the few monsters that can attack and kill you if you get spotted by it.
- Shout-Out: Possibly to Slattern, with the tentacles attached to the torso with arms. The movie did come out before the game was initially released in Early Access in 2014.
- Slasher Smile: The thing always looks like it's sporting one hell of a nasty grin. One could think it knows you're browning your briefs whenever you realize it knows you're there, but seeing how Reapers seem to lack any brains whatsoever, it's probably just evolution playing one of its mean jokes.
- Stealthy Colossus: Their limited bioluminescence makes them hard to spot in the murky waters they call home, and all but undetectable at night. Reapers are also smart enough to stop roaring once they lock onto prey, and like to circle around and attack an oblivious target from behind.
- Super-Persistent Predator: One of the only animals that will actively chase you, instead of opportunistically snapping at you. They still give up after a while, but that threshold is much higher than most hostile wildlife. The Reaper that lives directly behind the Aurora is an especially vicious example, as it can sense you when you're in the kelp forest on the other side of the ridge separating it from the Crash Zone and will come barreling over the ridge and into the forest after you, especially if you're in a vehicle. If you're brave enough to enter the Crash Zone with it, its time between attack attempts is a lot shorter than all the other Reapers in the game, meaning it will be after you almost constantly.
- White and Red and Eerie All Over: These brutes have white skin with red accents which definitely helps with their intimidating nature.
- The Worf Effect: There are several Reaper skeletons in and around the Lava Zones. What killed them? The Sea Dragon Leviathan!
Reefback
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its fins and eyespots glow.
- Gentle Giant: Despite their massive size, they're one of the least hostile creatures - namely that they never attack you, ever. The only way one can be a threat to you is if a Tiger Plant takes root on its back, and even that can be mitigated by wearing a Reinforced Dive Suit.
- Extra Eyes: See those six green bulbs? Those are its eyes.
- Helpful Mook:
- The glowing blue barnacles on their backs can be smashed apart to get copper or silver, both of which are extremely valuable resources.
- In a less direct way, a Reefback's presence indicates the absence of leviathan-class predators that would feed on it. So if you can hear one's whale-like groaning, you're in (relatively) safe waters.
- Token Good Teammate: Nearly every species of the Leviathan class you meet in either game are aggressive. Yet on the contrary, Reefbacks, along with their arctic cousins the Glow Whales, the Sea Treaders and the Sea Emperor, are completely passive. Not only that, but the breakable barnacles on their backs can give you common materials.
- Turtle Island: Big enough that entire ecosystems have taken residence on their body.
Sea Dragon
- Always a Bigger Fish: You thought Reapers were bad? These guys are much, much worse. Plus, they quite literally eat Reapers for breakfast!
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its eyes, the tips of its nose horns, and several little spots along the sides of its body and tentacles glow.
- Dying Race: According to the PDA they are at risk for extinction, possibly due to the Kharaa wiping out most of their larger food sources.
- Eaten Alive: A very real possibility, if you happen to cross its path. Unlike the lesser Reapers, these guys are big enough to just swallow you whole for an instant kill.
- Extra Eyes: Like many of the animals, it has four eyes.
- Expy: It seems to be heavily inspire by the Leviathan from the Book of Job.
- Extreme Omnivore: It'll munch on your PRAWN or other vehicles as well as you or any other life form.
- Fireball Eyeballs: Upon closer examination◊ of their Glowing Eyes, it seems that these beasts actually have bright white pupils with veins that resemble flames. Almost as if they were burning suns.
- Giant Squid: The back half, at least. Like most fictional giant squids, it's vicious.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: They glow a bright firey orange. Just pray that you don't see them looking at you.
- Irony: The mother Sea Dragon destroyed the Disease Research Facility in an effort to save her eggs, unknowingly releasing the Kharaa, who went on to decimate the local ecosystem. Given that the Sea Dragon Leviathan has an extremely low population density and is implied to be nearing extinction, it's likely that the mother's efforts to save her young ended up dooming them to be the last Sea Dragons in existence.
- Kaiju: It is absolutely huge! To give you an idea of just how big it is, the PDA lists its length as 112 meters. (For reference, your Cyclops submarine is only 54 meters long.)
- Kraken and Leviathan: In this case, it is a little bit of both.
- Magma Man: Just like the Lava Lizards, they too are able to utilize the natural lava and weaponize it.
- Mama Bear: The mother of the eggs that the Architects had grabbed attacked and breached the Disease Research Containment Facility, causing the Kharaa virus to spread throughout 4546B.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Its front half clearly resembles typical dragons, while the back half is a squid.
- Monster Is a Mommy: The Sea Dragon that started the apocalyptic infection of the planet wanted her eggs back and attacked the Disease Research Facility to free them.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: It has the crocodilian "smile" to its jaw structure, making it look like it's grinning as it comes after you.
- One-Hit Kill: It doesn't matter how much health you have. A single bite from this beast will always be fatal.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Despite its name, it does not resemble a leafy seadragon. Instead, it resembles a European Dragon but with Extra Eyes, glowing antenna, and many tentacles.
- Playing with Fire: It breathes fire. Yes, underwater. Though instead of actual fire, it spits red-hot rocks and molten materials from its mouth; the PDA data mentions that it consumes such material for that purpose as well as making itself resistant to heat.
- Posthumous Character: The mother Sea Dragon passed away hundreds of years ago. However, her three descendants are alive and hungrier than ever.
- Recycled In Space: It's a fire-breathing dragon, UNDER THE WATER!
- Sea Monster: Even meaner than the Reaper. How much meaner? There are several Reaper skeletons and skulls laying in the huge chamber of the Inactive Lava Zone that holds the Lava Castle, connects to the Lost River, and where two Sea Dragons patrol. The Sea Dragon EATS REAPERS. And not quickly either, they chase or drag the Reapers from their home waters down into the deep, where the Reaper is boiled alive by lava and superheated water. Also, it has ties to the Lost River's skeleton.
- Shout-Out: The colossal reptilian and the clawed serpents it feeds on are both very similar to sea monsters from The Phantom Menace, and have a very similar dynamic.
- Threshold Guardians: They guard the Lava Caverns that mark the final test the player must overcome in order to find the Primary Containment Facility and cure their infection.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Some time in the past, the Architects took in some Sea Dragon eggs for study, angering the mother who proceeded to attack the Disease Research Facility housing them. This caused a breach that would spread the Kharaa to the rest of the planet.
Sea Emperor WARNING - SPOILER ALERT!!!
"A game played alone... cannot be won. Those that took my freedom played to live... forever. Such games can only be lost."
—The first of the decoded cries from the Emperor
Voiced by: Lani Minella
The largest creature in the game. One specimen was captured by the Architects and held in the Primary Containment Facility by the Lava Lakes and is the Last of Its Kind. As it turns out, the species produces an enzyme that cures The Plague covering the planet. However, global administration cannot happen with only one producer, and thus the Architects forced it to breed in order to create more specimens and produce more of the cure. As a sapient species, it was able to develop the common traits of the cries of the planet's fauna into a language that it uses to speak to the player.
- Aliens Speaking English: Subverted. Despite being able to "talk" to the player, the PDA implies that it is a rudimentary language shared among Planet 4546B's fauna.
- Ambiguous Gender: Its voice sounds female, but it's suggested to be a simultaneous hermaphrodite like the rest of the life on the planet.
- Benevolent Abomination: It's just as alien as any other sea monster in the crater and the largest sea creature in the game, but also perfectly non-aggressive to the player and wants to end a plague going around.
- Big Good: It's been working to stop the Kharaa for centuries by giving Peepers the cure.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Like the Sea Dragon Leviathan, it eyes, horn tips, and body spots all glow.
- Extra Eyes: Like many of the animals, it has four eyes.
- Face Death with Dignity: The Emperor is very much aware of its situation as a captive and that it doesn't have long to live. Knowing that you will release its offspring and cure the Kharaa bacterium, though, it seems content to pass on.Sea Emperor: My young are swimming for the shallows. I thank you. Their freedom is my end.
- Foreshadowing: In Bart Torgal's final log, he mentions that "the visions are getting worse". It seems likely that the Emperor was trying to speak to him as it does the player, but he died before figuring it out.
- Gentle Giant: The Sea Emperor is the largest creature in the game but, unlike the Reapers and Sea Dragon, does not actively try to hurt you. In fact, when you first encounter it, it telepathically communicates with you about saving its eggs.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: Surprisingly averted. The poor thing has been alone in a comparatively tiny aquarium for well over a millennium, but this isolation doesn't seem to have had any negative effects on its psyche. It's implied it can talk to the other fauna in its tank, so hopefully, its loneliness only extended to its own species.
- Hidden Depths: It's very philosophical for a giant sea monster. It's difficult to tell if this is a trait of its species or if its a by product of its extremely long life.What is a wave without the ocean? A beginning without an end? They are different, but they go together. Now you go among the stars, and I fall among the sand. We are different. But we go together.
- Interspecies Friendship: Clearly considers you a friend. Its final speech even implies it believes the two of you are two parts of a greater whole, perhaps making you a platonic version of soulmates in its eyes.
- Last of Its Kind: After the destruction of their planktonic food supply from the asteroid impact and Kharaa left the rest of the Emperor's species dead, it's the only one left and is being held captive in the Lava Lakes so that it can breed and re-populate its species, since they produce an enzyme that cures the virus on the planet (child Emperors are implied to produce the enzyme at around four times faster as aged specimens and in a more concentrated form, hence the need to produce them.)
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In much of its dialogue. It refers to life as a "game", and to living as "playing".
- MacGuffin Super-Person: To the Architects, as its species was capable of producing a cure to the Khara bacterium that was ravaging their empire and it was the Last of Their Kind. It becomes this to the player too for the same reason.
- Miles to Go Before I Sleep: The Sea Emperor was already ancient by its species' standard when it was caught, and it's endured for another 1,000 years past that point when you meet it, only so it can make sure its young hatch, its species survives, and with it the rest of the planet. True enough, it collapses barely a minute after its babies have left for the shallows, and it's implied it finally passes on after its last telepathic conversation with the Player Character.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Looks like a hybrid mix of various sea creatures. Starting from the head: it has lures like that of an angler fish. A head resembling a hammerhead shark’s. Arms like the legs of a crab. And a tentacled lower body like that of an octopus.
- Nothing Left to Do but Die: Once its young hatch, it can finally allow itself to die in peace.
- Purple Prose: The Sea Emperor's dialogue is quite flowery, speaking almost entirely in metaphors about its time in captivity and what the Architects were doing to it.
- Readings Are Off the Scale: The PDA mentions having to adjust its scale when measuring the Sea Emperor, implying that it exceeds the previously established limits on the size of living organisms in the Subnautica universe. This would make it the largest living organism in the game's universe.
- Reincarnation: it apparently believes in it:Perhaps next I will play as an ocean current, carrying seeds to new land... or a creature so small it sees the gaps between the grains of sand.
- Sealed Good in a Can: The Sea Emperor species is the only thing that can stop the Kharaa.
- Sea Monster: Albeit not necessarily aggressive.
- Telepathy: It can communicate with certain other lifeforms this way. The Player Character is one of them, but unfortunately for everyone, it couldn't contact the Architects back when they captured it. If it had, the situation on 4546B would've taken a completely different turn ages ago.
- Time Abyss: It was over 1,600 years old (well past the peak lifespan for its species) when the Architects captured it. That was more than 1,000 years ago.
Sea Treader
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Its antennae glow, as do some of the orange patterns around its body.
- Giant Crustacean: It's carcinal in appearance, though without claws.
- Gentle Giant: It won't attack you out of malice or predation, but if you get too close it will take a swing at you.
- Helpful Mook: They kick up an unlimited amount of shale deposits as they walk, giving you an easy, safe supply of diamonds and lithium. Plus, their droppings make excellent fuel for a bioreactor.
- Tripod Terror: Two legs in the back, a very elongated beak in front. Not very terrible, though, unless it kicks you.
Extinct Species
Alpha Peeper
Alpha Ray
Gargantuan Leviathan
An absolutely gigantic creature that once lived on Planet 4546B, the remains of this beast take up an entire section of the Lost River.
- Always a Bigger Fish: While its never encountered alive, the PDA notes indicate it died of starvation due to the Lost River lacking prey sources that were large enough to support an animal of its size. As this leviathan was obviously a predator, it can be surmised it ate animals in the size range as the other leviathans in the game, making it fit this trope when it was alive.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: From how its skeleton was arranged unless its skull was reoriented some time after it died, then its spinal column is apparently located along its chest and stomach area. This seems to be a trait it shares with the Sea Dragon Leviathan.
- Hope Spot: The notes in the Disease Research Facility imply that it might have been able to cure the Kharaa Infestation, but the Architects didn't have enough genetic material to create a live specimen.
- Kaiju: The biggest creature encountered in the game, even if it is long dead. In fact, given the PDA Notes on the Sea Emperor, this is probably the single largest creature in the entire Subnautica universe. To put this into context, its skeleton is over a kilometer in length,
- Kraken and Leviathan: The largest creature in the game, and possibly the largest creature in the Subnautica universe. For context, concept art shows a ghost leviathan swimming through its rib cage with plenty of room to maneuver, something that can be replicated in-game.
- Mascot Mook: Its skeleton is the same one visible on the cover of the game.
- No Name Given: As it is never encountered alive, it is only referred to by the designation given to it by the PDA (Gargantuan Fossil) and the Architects (Large Carnivore Theta).
- Posthumous Character: It died before any of the plot events happened, with only its skeleton as a reminder that it existed. However, it's implied to be the reason the Disease Research Facility was built.
- Undignified Death: How did this thing die? Based on the available information, it became trapped in the Lost River and starved to death due to being unable to sustain itself on the native fauna.
Guardian Leviathan
Skarkbiter
Fauna of Sector Zero
Herbivores
Arctic Peeper
A polar version of the peeper.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: It also has glowing blue tips on their fins.
- Boring, but Practical: It's found in the starting biome, but makes the best food and bioreactor fuel of any edible fauna.
- Fragile Speedster: Like its temperate counterpart, it is fast for an edible fish. Best to go hunting at night.
- Glowing Eyes: Like it more tropical relatives, it has glowing eyes.
- Underground Monkey: It's a polar version of the peeper.
Arrow Ray
A small, fast-moving, triangle-shaped fish that spawns around the Lilypad Islands and the Tree Spires. Unlike most the other small prey fish in the game, this one is capable of fighting back.
- Ramming Always Works: The points of the triangle are pretty sharp, and the Arrow Ray uses these to attack.
- Spectacular Spinning: It spins the triangle to outmaneuver most predators.
Discus Fish
An unusual cylindrical fish with vertically-positioned fins and a single eye.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Its body is laterally compressed, like its swimming on its side all the time.
Feather Fish
A small, brightly colored fish with two large fins on the top and bottom of its body that gives it a feather-like shape.
Lily Paddler
A seahorse-like creature that primarily makes its home in the Lilypad Islands. They defend themselves by hypnotizing the player and temporarily disorienting them.
- Interface Screw: Like the Mesmer, this creature can hypnotize the player with their bioluminesence. Unlike the Mesmer, it uses this power defensively, causing the player to follow them momentarily while scrambling beacon locations. Better hope you remember where you parked or have enough oxygen to get back to your senses.
Red Feather Fish
A black-and-red variation of the Feather Fish found in deeper waters.
- Palette Swap: Of the Feather Fish.
Sea Monkey
A medium-sized herbivore that takes great interest in the tools Alterra uses while on Planet 4546B.
- Bandit Mook: Prior to meeting AL-AN, Sea Monkeys will attempt to grab your currently-held tool and swim off with it. This is why their nests are full of scannable parts.
- Helpful Mook: Their nests in the Arctic Kelp Caves can contain fragments that will be useful to the player, provided they can be reached. After meeting AL-AN, their Bandit Mook behavior changes and they'll instead occasionally swim up to you to offer ore samples they've fetched.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Annoying as their kleptomaniac behaviour may be, they do look rather cute. Especially when you take some ore they can present to you.
Spinner Fish
A star-shaped fish that spins to swim. It too was originally planned for the first Subnautica, but removed in the final product.
- Bizarre Alien Locomotion: Despite its starfish-like shape, it doesn't crawl or swim. Instead, it spins.
- Refitted for Sequel: It was originally meant for the original Subnautica, but was cut and added to Below Zero.
Titan Holefish
A huge cousin of the Holefish that coexists alongside the Symbiote. Players that can get past the Symbiotes defending it can swim through its hole for some bonus oxygen.
- Helpful Mook: If you can get past the Symbiotes, the holes in their bodies can give you some oxygen. It's a matter of whether it's worth braving the swarm for the extra air.
Trivalve
A three-eyed pet-type creature that can only be found by hatching one of six eggs hidden throughout the game's world. Basically, it can be thought of as Below Zero's answer to the Cuddlefish.
Carnivores
Arctic Ray
A mid-sized, four-winged ray found in various locations. Although a predator, it feeds solely on small fish, and is thus harmless to the player.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: Despite what is mentioned below, this creature is very much a carnivore and has been seen many times hunting smaller fish.
- Informed Ability: The PDA designates the Arctic Ray as a herbivore, but its teeth are better suited for preying on smaller fish.
Brinewing
A small predator found only in the Sparse Arctic that can shoot a freezing brine liquid at its prey to encase them in ice, which means that they even though they can't eat the player, they can still be quite the nuisance.
- An Ice Person: The Brinewing has the ability to spit a super cooled brine from its mouth that can freeze its prey. In other words, it is more or less a living Freeze Ray.
- Controllable Helplessness: If Robin is hit by its brine attack, she'll be frozen solid in a block of ice for several seconds. The player can only watch and wait, and hope that they still have time to swim for the surface when it wears off...
- Harmless Freezing: As the PDA notes, the brine it shoots at you won't cause any harm by itself and melts off after about ten seconds. The real danger is that you're paralyzed and at the mercy of any nearby predators, not to mention at risk of running out of air.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: It looks like the head of a seahorse planted on a flying fish. Plus, the spitting attack is the exact same as the real-life archerfish.
- Super Spit: It can spit a sub-zero liquid at prey and predator to freeze it. And yes, this includes you.
Brute Shark
A large but slow-moving predator found in the Twisty Bridges, the Tree Spires, and the Lilypad Islands.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: In addition to having shark traits, its head also vaguely resembles a crocodile. Unlike the Stalker, though, it isn't capable of being tamed.
- Threatening Shark: Resembles a ray, but is just as aggressive and hungry as any shark.
Cryptosuchus
A crocodilian creature that is most at home in the Purple Vent and Thermal Spires of Sector Zero. Its intimidating appearance belies a surprisingly cowardly nature.
- Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: The Cryptosuchus is incredibly aggressive, going after any prey in its vicinity with reckless abandon. However, if the target fights back in any way, it will turn tail and swim away.
- Dirty Coward: Their bark really is worse than their bite.
- Meaningful Name: Their name translates to "hidden crocodile". This fits well since they are crocodilian in appearance, and both hide for ambushing and fleeing.
- Minor Injury Overreaction: Even one hit from a dinky little Survival Knife is enough to send it packing.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: Downplayed, as while they are very threatening looking crocodilians that will charge at anything that enters there territory, they will quickly retreat once they themselves are attacked.
Noot Fish
A small fish that makes its home near the Lilypad Islands. Although it resembles a typical small prey fish at first glance (and can be caught and eaten like one), it is actually a predator that hunts other small fish using its deceptive appearance.
- Flower Mouth: Its "beak" — actually a giant lip — can open wide to engulf small fish, which it then digests over the course of several weeks.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: The item description for the Cooked Noot Fish reads: "It does noot taste good." For the cured version: "Cured and nootricious."
- Mugging the Monster: It looks like a herbivore to lure would-be predators into swallowing range.
- Shout-Out: Its name, and the shape of its head and mouth, are one to Pingu.
Pengwing/Pengling
An alien penguin that can be found all over the ice or swimming in the surrounding seas.
- Mama Bear: As tempting as it is to snuggle the Penglings, you might not want to with the parents around.
- Toothy Bird: Their beaks are lined with razor-sharp teeth they use to rip apart prey and anyone bold enough to cuddle the Penglings with the parents around.
-
Ugly Cute: The baby pengwings, being four-armed, toothed aliens that are also small, friendly, fluffy critters that you can pick up and hug because they are so completely adorable. - Vagina Dentata: Their beaks take up the entire front of their face, with their eyes alongside them. These beaks open parallel to their line between their belly and back, rather than perpendicular like terrestrial birds.
Pinnacarid
A creature that fills a similar niche to seals on Earth. Like Earth seals, it is a friendly and curious piscivore at home on both land and sea.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: As their name suggests, they're a fusion of Pinnipeds (seals/sea lions) and the ancient arthropod Anomalocaris.
- Sweet Seal: They may not look it, but the Pinnacarid acts very much like a seal.
- Tastes Like Friendship: The Pinnacarid will sometimes swim up to the player, hoping for a meal.
Rock Puncher
A lobster-like creature with huge powerful front limbs it uses to smash the seafloor in search of Rockgrubs to eat. It was originally going to be in the first game, but was shelved until the release of Below Zero.
- Giant Crustacean: It’s a big crustacean that is about the same size as a cow.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Its front pair of limbs are thick powerful arms ending in spike-covered clubs of chitin that it can lash out with at lightning speed to deter predators and the player.
- Stone Wall: Despite their small size, the data readout shows that its shell is so tough, only Leviathan-class beasts pose any threat.
Snow Stalker
A terrestrial relative of the Stalker that inhabits the ice floes and is just as fierce as its cousin from The Crater.
- Bears Are Bad News: Its overall design and habits are based on the polar bear, and it even has bear-like animations such as its run cycle, swiping with a paw to attack, and standing on its hind legs to both see better and attack with a bear hug.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: The tip of its tail, markings above its eyes, and tongue glow with a bright cyan light.
- Cub Cues Protective Parent: Interacting with the juvenile Snow Stalker will likely result in Momma Snowstalker coming for you.
- Finishing Move: If the player's health is low enough, the Snow Stalker will pin them to the ground, straddle their prone body, and take two swipes at the chest, before finishing them off with a bite to the head.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Snow Stalkers (usually) aren't willing to attack a Prawn Suit, and will just follow it around until you've moved out of range.
- Light Is Not Good: Its fur is white with slightly darker stripes, and it's a dangerous and persistent predator.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: Like the Stalker it has a crocodilian head, though its snout is shorter and wider like a crocodile's as opposed to its relative's long thin gharial-like snout.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: The juvenile Snow Stalker looks incredibly cuddly, and the player can even feed them and give them a pat. Just mind their teeth.
- Spikes of Villainy: Its spinal scales are notably much sharper than regular Stalker scales. Subverted since it's an animal, which has no real concept of good or evil.
- Tastes Like Friendship: The player can feed the baby Snow Stalkers fish or nutrient blocks, while the adult Snow Stalkers can only be fed with Preston's Delight. Downplayed, as it doesn't turn them friendly, only keeps them from attacking you momentarily.
- Weakened by the Light: As of the Frostbite Update, adult Snow Stalkers will retreat when the player holds up a flare.
Spikey Trap
A plant-like ambush predator that makes its home in deeper waters, striking at anything that gets too close and pulling them towards its maw to be consumed. Like the Rock Puncher, it was intended to be in the original Subnautica, but was cut.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Its tentacles are very similar to the local flora populating its biome, and can easily startle inattentive players.
- Planimal: Its design has both plant and animal elements. It was originally classified as flora, but upon its addition to Below Zero, it was reclassified as fauna.
Squidshark
A large deep-water predator that in some ways can be seen as a dwarf form of leviathan, although it can also disable vehicles with an EMP attack.
- EMP: The Squidshark uses the glowing tentacles on its underbelly to disable the player's vehicles, much like the Crabsquid's EMP attack.
- Nested Mouths: When it attacks, it opens the flaps on its face and extends a spike-tooth-lined mouthpart to seize prey by either spearing it with the teeth or catching them in an interlocking tooth cage and drawing them into its throat.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: The PDA scan data says that it is a leviathan-class predator, albeit one on the small end of the scale. However despite this, the PDA does not list it as a leviathan with the others.
- Swallowed Whole: If it grabs you when you're above 40 health, Robin will hold onto the teeth then kick at its inner mouth to make it let go of her. If you're at 40 health or less, Robin is unable to muster the strength for a kick and you get to watch yourself be pulled into its throat.
- Threatening Shark: In behavior and somewhat body design.
Symbiote
An aggressive, swarm-hunting predator that lives in harmony with the Titan Holefish. Anything else is chow.
- Piranha Problem: They live in swarms, and their bites hurt.
- The Symbiote: It has a symbiotic relationship with the Titan Holefish. The symbiote lays its eggs in the Titan Holefish's gills, and protects them from predators.
Leviathan Class
Chelicerate
Void Variant
A leviathan-class predator resembling a cetacean-shaped crustacean with massive mandibles. They can be found in the Tree Spires, the Purple Vents, and the East Arctic.
- Border Patrol: A special kind of Chelicerate, known as the Void Chelicerate, serves this purpose. They operate similarly to the Ghost Leviathans of the previous game and will chase you until you’re either dead or back in the play area should you wander too far on the map.
- Extra Eyes: Has four eyes like most of the planet's inhabitants. The larger pair are black and have white glowing irises, while the smaller pair are completely black.
- Giant Crustacean: It resembles a shrimp in terms of appearance. Or at least, partially.
- Mix-and-Match Critter: The shape of its body resembles a dolphin including flipper-like translucent fins, it's covered by a shrimp's multi-jointed shell with a shrimp's fluke-like tail fins, and its mouth is hidden in-between two massive pairs of jagged-edged black mandibles resembling a camel spider's mouthparts.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction: Their databank entry basically says that not a lot is known about the Chelicerate, and many on Planet 4546B would like it to stay that way. Given what it can do, we can't say we blame them.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Void Chelicerates have glowing, blood-red eyes. In the darkness of the waters they call home, the eyes are about the only part of them you can actually see.
- Sea Monster: Like most of the rest of its classification, it is a frightening and dangerous beast.
- Swallowed Whole: Only if Robin is at less than 80 health, similar to the Reaper Leviathan. Between 100 and 81 health it does a powerful snap with its mandibles dealing 80 damage. Any less and you get to watch Robin be gripped by the mandibles, pound on one futilely as the mouth opens, then tumble helplessly into its throat as its mandibles release.
Glow Whale
A cetacean found in the East Arctic and Lilypad Islands. Like Earth whales, they are completely docile, even allowing the player to ride and pet them.
- Gentle Giant: Is the polar equivalent of the Reefback, being a leviathan-class organism that is completely harmless to the player.
- Emote Animation: Swimming next to one gives Robin the opportunity to gently pat the creature.
- Space Whale: While it doesn't live in space, it is an extra-terrestrial cetacean.
Ice Worm
Think you're safe from leviathans by staying on the land/ice? Think again, because this titanic creature calls those areas its home.
- Dynamic Entry: In several terrifying ways. It can burst just its head out of the ice and snap its jaws closed around you if it happens to do it beneath you, if not then directly in front of you. It can erupt completely out of the ice with its leaping attack. It can rise up and give a loud ear-piercing shriek then attack you by either trying to spear you with its horn or doing a half-circle slash with it. And it can charge straight for you under the ice then explode out directly under you and send you flying up into the air then back down right into its open mouth.note
- Playing with Fire: Its massive horn/blade snout reaches very high temperatures, allowing it to melt the ice and move through the tunnel with its rows of spines. Its databank entry cites this bizarre growth as a result of its horn containing raw alkali metal deposits, which cause a violent exothermic reaction on contact with water (which is channeled into the horn by small tubules).
- One-Hit Kill: If it manages to hit you with any attack aside from the half-circle swipe, it will devour you whole with one bite. How you watch yourself be munched depends on which attack it made.
- Sand Worm: It's enormous, it burrows through the ice like sand, it can detect your footsteps, and it's quick to attack.
- Shout-Out: The devs admitted that it's a blatant shout-out to Dune, right down to using a Thumper to distract it.
- Worm Sign: It has this now, creating and leaving a ridge of cracked ice and steam bursts from its horn melting and vaporizing the ice below. It also leaves them in two ways: one that's slow and relaxed as it travels around; and one that's incredibly fast and comes straight at you if it starts charging your location after detecting you.
Shadow Leviathan
A massive polar predator roughly equivalent to the Ghost and Sea Dragon Leviathans in many aspects. This hyperaggressive monstrosity hunts in the Crystal Caverns and the Fabricator Caves.
- Belly Mouth: Its mouth is on its chest instead of its head and is surrounded by arms to grab prey and drag them in. It pulls prey directly into the creature's stomach, bypassing any sort of throat structure.
- Creepy Centipedes: Its long, black legs and shape of its body give it a very strong resemblance to a house centipede.
- Dark Is Evil: Not evil per se, but it is mostly a dark gray/black color and is the most dangerous predator in the game.
- Living Motion Detector: It won't attack you if you are inside your Seatruck and not at the controls (i.e. the engine is off) when it swims past, implying that it identifies prey by motion or sound.
- Patrolling Mook: Rather than swim aimlessly around a general area like all other fauna, the Shadows deliberately trace distinct paths over and over, right down to passing through the same gaps in the crystals at predictable intervals.
- Sea Monster: It's the biggest predator that dwells in the crystal caves. It should be obvious by now.
- Slippery as an Eel: Its body resembles that of the knifefish, with single dorsal and ventral fins that extend along most of its body.
- Super-Persistent Predator: It's aggressive even for a leviathan, with a larger aggro radius than normal, and it moves frighteningly fast in pursuit of prey. Better hope your turbo jets don't fail you when you try to outrace it.
- Swallowed Whole: If it grabs you below 75 health, it does this to Robin.
- Super Spit: Since its mouth leads directly into its stomach, it can spray you with powerful digestive acid.
- Throat Light: Its light not only serves as an indicator to where it is in the morganite cavern, it also draws in light-seeking phytoplankton that in turn draws in prey.
- Vagina Dentata: Has a roughly oval-shaped mouth, which is ringed with sharp spines used to grasp prey.
Ventgarden
An absolutely gigantic creature that anchors itself over thermal vents and collects the nutrient-rich water to nourish the ecosystem living inside its body. It is found only in the Tree Spires and players can enter its transparent bell to collect certain plants.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Essentially a living greenhouse: the bulk of its body consists of a mostly hollow chamber sheltering several plants, served by an opening large enough for the player to enter, with no ill effects for the creature.
- Gentle Giant: Despite its truly gargantuan size, it is a completely non-aggressive creature that feeds on the nutrients being emitted from undersea vents.
- Kaiju: This thing is enormous, the second-largest creature in the games at 110 meters in height, surpassed only by the adult Sea Emperor.
- Planimal: Subverted. At first, it looks like the plants growing inside of it are a genuine part of the Ventgarden, but the scanner shows that the plants inside are their own entities.
- Token Good Teammate: Along with the Glow Whale, the Ventgarden is one of the very few non-hostile Leviathan-class entities.
- Turtle Island: Played with in that it's underwater, and a jellyfish instead of a turtle, but it still fits the spirit of this trope; the dome on its back contains an entire ecosystem.
Scavengers and Parasites
Eye Jelly
Peaceful but eerie-looking jellyfish that tend to congregate in groups in the freezing depths of Sector Zero. Unfortunately, these groups are often in the way of Alterra submersibles, making certain routes difficult to navigate due to their stinging tentacles.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Downplayed. The tips of its tentacles are a flashing purple colour.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Apart from the single articulated eye inside its bell, these things are otherwise just like Earth jellyfish.
- Electric Jellyfish: The tips of its tentacles seem to spark and crackle. If you touch them, they zap you.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: The Eye Jelly has one eye within its bell. If the player gets close enough, it'll turn to look at you.
- Lamprey Mouth: Has a rather scary-looking toothed mouth hidden on the underside of its tentacles.
- Paper Tiger: The creepy eye-head, ominously glowing tentacles and unpleasantly toothy mouth give the impression that, even if it's not outwardly aggressive, maybe it should be avoided. However, it's extremely passive. The tentacles can still sting you, but only if you swim into them.
Hivemind
A strange but harmless plant-like creature that clusters en masse in the depths of the Lilypad Islands. They change color in the presence of other creatures using chemical signals transmitted through their interlinking root-like bodies.
- Planimal: Like the Spikey Trap, its appearance combines features of plants and animals. In fact, it was originally designed as a type of Flora before being ultimately implemented as Fauna.
Triops
A small fish with three massive eyes and three fins, giving it a roughly bullet-shaped appearance.
- Extra Eyes: The positioning of its iconic three eyes lets it see in 240 degrees.
Extinct Species
Frozen Leviathan WARNING-SPOILER ALERT!
A frozen leviathan-class organism found in the Phi Excavation Site. Following the birth of the Sea Emperor Leviathan Juveniles, it is the last repository of the Kharaa Bacterium on Planet 4546B.
- Amphibian at Large: This creature can best be described as a tusked macropedatory salamander, and it is in the same size category as the Sea Emperor Leviathan. While never encountered alive, it is by far the largest animal in Sector Zero.
- And I Must Scream: While it is by all appearances dead and referred to as such by the PDA, injecting its corpse with the Kharaa cure purges the entire creature of the infection, even though this would only be possible if its circulatory system was still functioning and pumping blood through its body. Note that there is no indication Alterra did anything to mess with its circulatory system....note
- Artistic License – Biology:
- Downplayed: amphibians are found in areas that get cold weather, but they don't in locals that are below freezing year round, and those that do live in higher/lower latitudes normally hibernate through winter in warm pools, since they are ectothermic. However, this creature is so large that it could easily maintain body heat via gigantothermy, circumventing the trope. Additionally, its chubby appearance implies that it has a layer of blubber for insulation.
- PDA data reveals that the Leviathan fell through the ice (and its limb position implied it died practically instantly from being frozen to death); how did it do this, you ask? Simple. The PDA indicates it only comes on land to sleep, so it seems it slept somewhere it shouldn't have and the ice collapsed under it.
- Everyone Has Standards: Al-An indicated it was extremely aggressive alive, indicating that even the Architects would not mess with this creature. The architects were 'willing to steal Sea Dragon eggs and fight and capture a Sea Emperor, yet won't mess with this thing. That'' is how bad it is.
- Hair-Trigger Temper Al-An indicates it was extremely aggressive when it was alive, though since this thing is frozen, we only have his word to go on.
- Kaiju: It's a leviathan class organism, but unlike the other members of that group, it appears to have been capable of moving both on land and in the water.
- Kill It with Ice: The posture it was in when it died implies it was apparently flash frozen.
- Macguffin: Its corpse contains the final surviving samples of the Kharaa Bacterium, which Alterra wants to study.
- Monster in the Ice: Naturally as a kaiju popsicle. The characters are split between considering it dead or merely hibernating.
- Posthumous Character: It has been dead for a long time, but Alterra's efforts to study it drive the entire plot of Below Zero.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: A Downplayed amphibian example, but this thing has Scary Teeth, tusks, claws, armor, and eyes that all make it look rather intimidating. It also carries the Kharaa Bacterium within it, but fortunately this is the only repository of the disease still left on the planet... making it a prized research specimen for Alterra.
Others
Warning: Major story spoilers below. The Architects
Mysterious biomechanical creatures who deployed a crew to Planet 4546B. They shot down the Degasi, Mercury II, and Aurora, and later the Sunbeam as well just as it was about to pick you up from the planet.
They currently have four bases on the planet: the Quarantine Enforcement Platform, an installation on the Mountain Island predominantly consisting of a large ground-to-air weapon system designed to destroy large airborne/orbiting targets such as ships and facilitates active primary operations; the Disease Research Facility in the Lost River, used for biotech research; the Alien Thermal Plant in the Lava Castle of the Inactive Lava Zone, which is their main power source; and the Primary Containment Facility in the Lava Lakes, which houses the last living Sea Emperor Leviathan Specimen. There are also a total of ten caches dotted around the Crater, containing either arch-shaped warpgates, sanctuaries and even a field lab.
One thousand years ago, the Architects came to the planet, looking to cure the Kharaa bacterium that was ravaging their civilization. In the process, they studied the planet's indigenous fauna (and even tried to crack the mystery of the skeleton in the Lost River, but to no avail), and built the four bases we see now in the event of an outbreak of the Kharaa, designed to quarantine the planet and keep said quarantine in effect even if the Architects must leave. They also built several Caches throughout the playable area, designed to not only store Ion Crystals, but also act as a safehouse where, in the event of the Kharaa escaping, they could engage in Brain Uploading and remain safe for as long as they needed.
Unfortunately, while studying the Lost River skeleton, they took the eggs from a mother Sea Dragon Leviathan and contained them in the Disease Research Center in the Lost River, where the Kharaa was primarily being researched. Said mother Sea Dragon attacked the facility to recover her eggs and released the Kharaa bacterium onto the planet, leading to mass extinction, and forcing the quarantine on the planet. Flash-forward at least several hundred years later, and the player arrives onto Planet 4546B, who is left to fix what the Architects started to get off the planet. He does.
They currently have four bases on the planet: the Quarantine Enforcement Platform, an installation on the Mountain Island predominantly consisting of a large ground-to-air weapon system designed to destroy large airborne/orbiting targets such as ships and facilitates active primary operations; the Disease Research Facility in the Lost River, used for biotech research; the Alien Thermal Plant in the Lava Castle of the Inactive Lava Zone, which is their main power source; and the Primary Containment Facility in the Lava Lakes, which houses the last living Sea Emperor Leviathan Specimen. There are also a total of ten caches dotted around the Crater, containing either arch-shaped warpgates, sanctuaries and even a field lab.
One thousand years ago, the Architects came to the planet, looking to cure the Kharaa bacterium that was ravaging their civilization. In the process, they studied the planet's indigenous fauna (and even tried to crack the mystery of the skeleton in the Lost River, but to no avail), and built the four bases we see now in the event of an outbreak of the Kharaa, designed to quarantine the planet and keep said quarantine in effect even if the Architects must leave. They also built several Caches throughout the playable area, designed to not only store Ion Crystals, but also act as a safehouse where, in the event of the Kharaa escaping, they could engage in Brain Uploading and remain safe for as long as they needed.
Unfortunately, while studying the Lost River skeleton, they took the eggs from a mother Sea Dragon Leviathan and contained them in the Disease Research Center in the Lost River, where the Kharaa was primarily being researched. Said mother Sea Dragon attacked the facility to recover her eggs and released the Kharaa bacterium onto the planet, leading to mass extinction, and forcing the quarantine on the planet. Flash-forward at least several hundred years later, and the player arrives onto Planet 4546B, who is left to fix what the Architects started to get off the planet. He does.
- Ancient Astronauts: One of the many display cases within the Primary Containment Facility contains a fancy sword of human origin, while another holds a non-Earth artifact that suspiciously resembles the Yin-Yang symbol. While the former proves they at least visited Earth centuries ago, the latter implies they actively influenced human cultural development to some degree (although the PDA also posits an alternative theory of the Yin-Yang philosophy being a universal concept that's shared by more or less all civilizations in the universe).
- Brain Uploading: None of the crew deployed to Planet 4546B actually died. Instead, they uploaded themselves to a safe house in the Blood Kelp Zone, and inhabit the room's walls and machinery. And no, taking their Ion Crystals does not kill them.
- Bizarre Alien Biology:
- Data files obtained from their sanctuaries suggest that, in addition to lifespans measured in centuries, the Architects are grown from "seeds". note
- Also a bit of Fridge Logic since the Architects as a race are so far removed from other life forms on 4546B it's possible they couldn't grasp the concept behind the egg-hatching conditions for the Sea Emperor's babies, despite all the studies they did.
- Below Zero reveals that they look like centaurs, have no recognizable faces or sensory organs except for arms, and manufacture their bodies in organic factories. AL-AN states that these manufactured bodies are based on what their original living bodies looked like long ago, but have been heavily modified.
- Collector of the Strange: Most of the Ancients' facilities within Subnautica have various display cases containing artifacts and items such as the aforementioned 13th Century Mongolian Sword, along with other relics belonging to other races that they had likely encountered in the past.
- Cyborg: Below Zero reveals that the Architects have passed The Singularity and exist largely as data in the form of uploaded minds. They manufacture bodies for themselves when necessary, combining living and mechanical components. They view these bodies as simple "equipment" or "tools" and not necessarily a part of their person.
- Didn't Think This Through: It's pretty clear that the Architects didn't consider the fact that eggs were meant to hatch in an environment built for the babies, not the adult. Not only that, when they took the Sea Dragon Leviathan's eggs, apparently they never considered that the mother would be angry at them.
- The former is particularly egregious, seeing how this trait is also exhibited by the Ghost Leviathan, and can be observed while travelling down to the Disease Research Facility if you take the right pathnote .
- The part with the Sea Dragon Leviathan is Subverted in Below Zero - it turns out that AL-AN broke protocol out of desperation to figure out how to manually hatch the Sea Emperor's eggs, meaning they knew (or at least had a good idea of) exactly what would happen if they took the Sea Dragon's eggs. They were just that desperate for a cure.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Despite being long gone, they are unintentionally responsible for most of the main plot. They brought the Kharaa to the planet and their attempts to cure it meant that the Sea Emperor couldn't lay its eggs in the proper environment for them to hatch, forcing it to stay alive way beyond its normal lifespan. Their research of the planet's organisms caused the Sea Dragon to destroy their base to save its eggs, releasing the Kharaa to the general population of the planet. Their attempts to quarantine the planet resulted in the deadly Warpers attacking various creatures on the planet (including the player), along with the Degasi, Mercury II, Aurora, and Sunbeam being shot down, stranding the player.
- Hive Mind: while they are individual minds, under normal circumstances they are all networked together, constantly sharing thoughts and information. AL-AN describes feeling cut off and lonely without it.AL-AN: Imagine a thousand strings, each playing its own range of notes, none louder than the others. Each one builds harmony — a constant thrum in the background of existence... I am now a lone string in search of familiar harmonies.
- Large and in Charge: Their lab equipment shows that they're quite tall for what they were doing.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Their neglect to learn about and give the Sea Emperor a proper environment to lay its eggs in and their ignorance of how the organisms would react to their actions ultimately came back to haunt them HARD, and what's more, they're now gone and failed to find a cure for the Kharaa.
- Mirroring Factions: Their abilities, intelligence and creations match the kinds humans have and can accomplish, at least in Subnautica's universe. Especially played straight when the player discovers that they're rather frugal on power despite using a gigantic volcanic formation in a place already filled to the brim with lava as their power source. There are also models for lab equipment that look exactly like the ones humans use, only more cubic and taller (which implies that they're very tall.) And the ending to Below Zero reveals that their fabricators and phasegates are quite similar to those used by humans.
- Our Centaurs Are Different: Below Zero reveals that their true forms look very similar to centaurs, albeit with horns and no recognizable faces. However, AL-AN states that these bodies are only superficially based on their original living forms, and have been heavily modified.
- Precursors: They were on 4546B a thousand years before humans arrived there, and the fact that they have a human sword belonging to Genghis Khan himself in their treasury demonstrates that they had interstellar travel when humans where still feudal societies. Additionally, they are also referred to in the drafts as the Precursor race.
- Ragnarök Proofing: They clearly build to last. The worst that happened to most of their facilities and devices after spending at least a millennium unattended and submerged under seawater is being grown over by foliage. Even in the ruined Disease Research Facility, the majority of the interior is still intact.
- It's somewhat blunted in Below Zero, where many of the Architect locations are showing signs of age, being partially-collapsed, breached by the ice, or running down the last dregs of their power.
- Telepathic Spacemen: Inverted. Despite their advanced technology, or perhaps because of it, the Architects were completely deaf to the Sea Emperor's telepathy (unlike even humans, who are not telepathic but able to receive its messages), leading them to attempt to acquire the cure to the Kharaa bacterium through force and her to withhold it in turn. They also failed to comprehend that the reason its eggs were not hatching was that they were being kept in an environment suitable for an adult Sea Emperor, rather than for a hatchling, something it's easily able to explain to Ryley.
- Volcano Lair: The Primary Containment Facility, which houses the Sea Emperor. To a lesser extent, the Alien Thermal Plant in the Lava Castle and the bio-research facility in the Lost River count as well. The latter was built near the entrance to the Lava Zones from the Lost River.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Most of their more amoral actions were caused by desperation to cure and contain Kharaa by any means necessary rather than simply malice.
- Take Up My Sword: A rather involuntary example. The player must pick up where they had left off so that by doing so, they can free the planet of The Plague that infects it; the player also ensures that the Emperor's eggs finally hatch and, in the end, accelerates the cure's production to a much-desired level and using the tech left behind, the player manages to get off the planet.
- Would Hurt a Child: A dissected Sea Emperor Leviathan fetus can be found in the Primary Containment Facility. At least they didn't intentionally kill the fetus; it died as a result of an attempt to forcibly hatch its egg and they simply tried to learn all they could from it after the fact. Though given the risks of forcing an egg to hatch outside an appropriate environment they clearly were willing to endanger it.
The Kharaa Bacterium
A bacterial organism found on Planet 4546B, responsible for a planet-wide extinction event and the collapse of the Architect's civilization. Several thousand years later, it is purged by Riley Robinson...well, except for one sample in Sector Zero, though Robin later deals with that too. But that isn't even all of the Kharaa.
- Big Bad: The main driving force of all the problems in both games.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: This infection is, per Word of God, the same one that creates the aliens in Natural Selection, with the differences being due to the two strains living in radically different environments.
- Obliviously Evil: Unlike the strain faced in Natural Selection and its sequel, this type of Kharaa isn't actively malicious — it's just a bacterium trying to survivie. The problem is that it actively mutates and kills off any hosts it uses, including humans.
- The Plague: The Kharaa is a bacterial infection that gradually kills anything it infects, though it can be cured by the enzymes produced by Sea Emperor Leviathans.
- Sickly Green Glow: Creatures with late-stage Kharaa infection start developing glowing green pustules on their skin. This differentiates them not only from normal creatures, but also the Kharaa of Natural Selection, which have an orange Color Motif.
