Necromorphs are a collective of undead creatures in the science fiction horror multimedia franchise Dead Space by Electronic Arts, introduced in the 2008 comic book series of the same name. Within the series, the Necromorphs are constructed from reanimated corpses and come in multiple forms of various shapes and sizes. They are violent creatures driven to murder and infect all life within their vicinity by a signal emitted from mysterious alien artifacts known as Markers.
The Necromorphs' creation and design were led by Ben Wanat, who served as production designer on the first Dead Space and creative director of Dead Space 3, though the team did not initially settle on the Necromorphs as the main antagonistic threat. Wanat's wife came up with the term "Necromorph" at a whim later in the development of the original Dead Space; the team found it useful as an internal reference, but decided to limit its usage to a minimum as it does not match the serious tone of the video games series' narrative.
The artistic direction on the various strains of distorted Necromorph monsters drew inspiration from seminal works such as John Carpenter's The Thing, System Shock, and Resident Evil 4. The Necromorphs are intended to instill a sense of unease from the player's fleeting glimpses of their former humanity, though later games introduce other variants made from non-human biomass like dogs and alien lifeforms. Each Necromorph form is intended to have an improvised aesthetic, with body organs crudely repurposed or modified to increase its capacity for grievous bodily harm of its victims. For example, a Necromorph form may have bone shards that have broken into teeth-like protrusions which are not literally teeth, or possess wings which are organs that have been bent backwards and stretched.
The design process involved with creating a diverse variety of Necromorph forms posed some unique challenges for the team, with some forms requiring a redesign in order to function practically within certain levels and environments. The limitations of the in-game engine also presented a major influence over the design process, requiring team members to come up with solutions which work around these restrictions or discard certain Necromorph monster concepts altogether. The audio design of the Necromorphs, which involves a layering technique that combines human and animal sounds, is an important element of their portrayal as horror-themed antagonists.
A staple antagonistic force across all franchise media, the Necromorphs of Dead Space have been recognized by critics as one of the most influential and memorable video game depictions of horror themes.