| Isaac Clarke | |
|---|---|
| Dead Space character | |
 Isaac Clarke as depicted in promotional material for Dead Space 2 | |
| First appearance | Dead Space (2008) |
| Created by | Glen Schofield |
| Voiced by | Gunner Wright |
| Motion capture | Gunner Wright |
Isaac Clarke is a fictional character in the survival horror media franchise Dead Space, owned and published by Electronic Arts. He was introduced as the protagonist of Dead Space (2008) developed by EA subsidiary EA Redwood Shores, which later became Visceral Games. A starship systems engineer, he is initially contracted by the Concordance Extraction Company (C.E.C) to join the crew of its maintenance ship Kellion on a search and repair mission for USG Ishimura, which is the last known whereabouts of his ex-girlfriend Nicole Brennan who had sent a brief transmission to him. Once on board the derelict vessel, Isaac finds himself beset by Necromorphs, horrendous undead creatures unleashed by a mysterious alien artifact known as a Marker. Subsequent sequels follow Isaac's struggle to cope with the alteration of his mind by the Marker in the first game, as well as his journey to uncover the origin of the Markers and the source of the Necromorph outbreaks.
Named after eminent science fiction writers Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Clarke is the central character of the main series video games in the Dead Space franchise, which form a trilogy from the titular 2008 video game to 2013's Dead Space 3. Isaac's engineering spacesuit is originally designed around the concept of immersing the player in the character's experiences, with the UI of the video games deliberately integrated behind the suit as part of the developers' diegetic design philosophy. Initially a silent protagonist, Isaac is fully voiced from Dead Space 2 onwards by American actor Gunner Wright, who also provided his likeness and motion capture performance for the character. He has featured in several other video games, from minor easter egg references to fully playable crossover appearances in video games such as PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Fortnite Battle Royale.
Isaac has been received positively, with placements on several top characters lists by video game publications for the best or most popular characters in the video game industry. Both iterations of the character have received positive commentary: an engaging player avatar in the first Dead Space, and a compelling character in his own right as depicted in its sequels & its 2023 remake. The character is also the subject of discussion in academic papers which explore and analyze the series' underlying themes.