Brute

Brute
Description:	Reminiscent of an animal rather than a human, they are the largest of the standard Necromorphs. Brutes' movements resemble those of gorillas, as they both rely on their massive fists for locomotion.
Attack(s):	Brutes will attempt to charge and pummel prey with their large, muscular arms and hardened foreheads. They are also able to produce ranged attacks consisting of explosive organic bombs, provided that an arm or leg has been dismembered.

"And Isaac - I heard something up there, something big. Watch your back."

—Zach Hammond

The Brute is a large Necromorph composed of multiple human corpses. It has heavy organic armor in its front and possesses extreme physical strength, making it a deadly foe in combat.

Overview

A normal variant of a Brute in the original Dead Space.

Dead Space Brute Necromorph Sounds HD

Concept art of the Brute in Dead Space (2023).

The Brute is almost entirely encased in an armored, spiked exoskeleton made from bone and calcified skin. Its posterior is relatively unarmored, and from it sprouts a pair of vestigial arms used for support if one of its main arms is cut off. The chest is a sack where the Brutes produce highly explosive organic material, made from the similar material as the yellow weakspots as well as a hole in the middle of the chest. The Brute bursts out these projectiles when its limbs are severed, not being able to attack properly.

Despite its heavy armor, the Brute is also quick for its size, able to even acrobatically leap through objects such as on the roof, similar to a gorilla or any ape. The Brutes use this tactic to silently approach its prey and take them by surprise, usually just landing on top of them, crushing them, but most of the time just landing to the ground and attempting to smash them with their strong paws. The Brutes appear to be so strong that they can even carve a long tunnel into solid metal, as seen in Dead Space 2.

The Brute attacks up close with a devastating punch and a headbutt that can easily knock Isaac Clarke off his feet. There are, however, specific weak spots just before the shoulder joints, and towards the back along both rear legs. They are easily identified by their comparatively bright yellow coloration. When attacked on the weak spots, the Brute will contract within its armored plates to protect itself. This can be used as an advantage, for the back of the creature is still exposed and ripe for being blasted, and when combined with Stasis, serious damage can be done before the creature recovers. If one or both of the legs are severed, the Brute will be rendered completely immobile, but will actually resort to lobbing organic bombs from an otherwise rarely exposed hole in its belly.

Like many Necromorphs, the Brute has an Enhanced form. It appears black, and is much stronger, requiring more ammunition to take down.

Variants

"Normal" Brute

Isaac being knocked down by a standard Brute.

Normal variants of the Brutes are the most common ones to be encountered in the Dead Space games. They also get a slight appearance change in Dead Space 2, with their textures changed to be a bit darker and parts like the head being more symmetrical. Despite their size and strength, they can be easy to put down by targeting the yellow weakspots in the armpit or the back when the creature stops charging or retracts into a defensive ball.

Three normal Brutes appear in Dead Space. One is confronted in the Main Atrium, the second one in Ship Systems, and the final one in the East Grow Chamber. In Dead Space 2, four of them are encountered. The first one in the train before the crash and it is unusually weak, the second one in the Transport Hub and the third and fourth one in the tram tunnel of the USG Ishimura.

Enhanced Brute

An Enhanced Brute.

Enhanced Brutes, like every other Enhanced Necromorph variant, are dark in their appearance with glowing red-yellowish eyes. They are much stronger than their normal counterparts and can take more damage, but still can be easy to put down with the right choice of weaponry and planning. A Contact Beam puts down the creature in just 4-5 shots to the armpits.

Only 4 Enhanced Brutes are encountered between Dead Space and Dead Space 2 (including one in Severed). One on the USM Valor (which is responsible for killing Zach Hammond in the original game), one on the Aegis VII Colony once bridge power is restored, one in the Government Sector of Titan Station, and finally one in the hospital docking bay of the Sprawl.

Death Scene

Brute Death Scene - Dead Space Remake

• If Isaac fails to evade the melee attack of a Brute with his vitality at critical, it will knock him to the floor. Isaac attempts to crawl away from the behemoth, but the Brute crushes and picks him up. It bites his head off, then slams his corpse onto the floor, ripping Isaac in half. It looks at Isaac's remains for a moment, then rears up and roars in triumph.
• If a Brute rushes Isaac when he is in low health, he will be split in half in mid-air.
• In Dead Space 2, if Isaac fails to drive one off at the end of the sequence where he is hanging from the crashed train, it jars the train loose, causing it to fall and crush Isaac.

Strategy

"There's a gap in its armor - shoot it in the back!"

—Zach Hammond

Dead Space (2008 and 2023)

• Brutes serve as mini-bosses in Dead Space; they are resistant to damage and can kill careless players with ease.
  • Brutes are often fought alone, so all attention should be paid to the creature and not the player's surroundings, unless looking for ammo and health.
• When the Brute charges, use Stasis on it and at the right time, run behind it and shoot at its weak spots as much as possible with heavy-hitting weapons like the Contact Beam.
  • In Dead Space, shooting it in the back enough will kill the Brute outright without needing to sever any limbs, though this will be more than likely ammo inefficient depending on the weaponry.
  • If you sever just one leg or arm, it will no longer run at you and instead start shooting organic bombs, which are relatively easy to catch and to fling back using Kinesis. This tactic can save on Stasis energy and ammo if needed, though simply severing one or two additional limbs will also likely kill the Brute unless the weaponry you have available is particularly weak.

    

    A Brute contracting itself into a ball in defense.

• If a Brute sustains enough hits to its frontal armor plating, it will proceed to huddle into a ball. They remain in this position for a long time, leaving an opening to use Stasis, get behind them, and unload your ammunition into their weak spots.
  • Although it is relatively simple to provoke this response in Dead Space, it is significantly harder to do so in Dead Space 2, leaving it as more a waste of ammunition.
• Weapons that can bypass the Brute's armor plating can be very effective to utilize. This usually applies to explosives such as the Line Gun mine, though it also includes the Flamethrower variants.
  • The Flamethrower is one of the most effective weapons to use on a Brute without needing too much precision. Applications of flame coupled with Stasis should be enough to get the maximum damage possible.
  • Force Bombs can simultaneously be used to keep the Brute stun locked while inflicting massive damage on it. One Stasis shot and some Force Bombs are enough to kill the Brute without you having to evade it even on Impossible Mode.
    • If used as an impromptu launcher, it will have the same staggering effect. However, keep in mind that it takes quite a few applications even on Normal difficulty to kill a Brute, so only use it to disorient them if the need arises.
• With precision and a steady hand, one can simply shoot the Brute in its unarmored spot by its shoulder without having to get behind it at all. Even if it seeks cover in its shell, its frontal weak spots will still be slightly exposed, though in this case it's usually better to simply get behind it and try to sever its legs instead unless you're confident in your aim.
  • This is best done with weapons that can be fired rapidly, though it can be done with precision weapons such as the Seeker Rifle or Contact Beam for an easy kill.
  • In the Dead Space remake, the shoulder weak spots have been moved farther back, making this strategy unwise due to only a small portion of the weak point being exposed on the front.
• A Ripper, even when not upgraded, can be effective against a Brute. Although the Ripper's range is short, it can easily shred a Brute's weak points. This is also effective when the Brute goes into its shell, considering its legs are open to attack.

Dead Space: Extraction

• Players will have to fight a Brute as Dr. Karen Howell during Chapter 7: Life and Death. The strategy here is the same as in the original game: use Stasis to slow it down when it charges at you and then use your weapons (ideally the Pulse Rifle) to shoot at the yellow spot on its back and then the weak spot on its arm/shoulder once exposed to dismember it. Once it has lost an arm, use Kinesis to hurl its explosive pods (which it will continually fire at the player) back at it until it dies.

Dead Space 2

• The Detonator can be used to deny a Brute the ability to charge, if the player lays mines beforehand. The planted explosives can stun the Brute for a few seconds with each mine (when fully upgraded) and save Stasis; if enough are laid out close to each other, a single explosion can also result in an instant kill.
• An easy way to defeat the two Brutes in the Ishimura's tram tunnel is to lure them to the end of the hallway you have just entered through. Enter the doorway and move back and forth between one room and the next quickly; due to an AI bug, the Brutes will quickly turn away from you and walk away, allowing you to assault its weak points with your weaponry.
  • Keep in mind that you will have to be very quick when doing this as the Brutes turn around about a second after you come back in the room.
• Though hard to achieve, it is possible to kill the Brute with just 2 shots from a fully upgraded Javelin Gun: use Stasis, shoot the javelin in one of its shoulder weak points, then activate the alternate fire. If the explosion effect activates when the Brute is just about to charge at you, it will kill it instantly even on Zealot. Even if it doesn't though, the Brute will be left with extremely low health, to the point where a single Kinesis impale will finish it off.
• The final Brute of the game in Chapter 13 can be killed without firing a shot if you saved a severed Exploder arm from the previous floor in the Thermal Conduit Access; upgraded TK is recommended for the greatest chance at an instant kill.

Dead Space (Mobile)

• In the mobile game, the strategy is exactly the same. Use Stasis and circle around it, then let loose with your weapons.
  • Unlike the console versions, however, you cannot use Kinesis to redirect the bio-bombs the Brute fires at you, so your only choice is to either dodge them or use an indestructible object as a shield to block the bombs (such as an oxygen tank or a metal crate).
• The Core Extractor's secondary fire is incredibly lethal against the Brute, taking just around 2 to 3 continuous shots to put it down.

Trivia

• The Alien Necromorph somewhat takes the role of the Brute in Dead Space 3, though it is significantly different in both appearance and behavior.
• Although the normal Brute variant received a new model in Dead Space 2, the Enhanced variant retains its appearance from the first game. The Enhanced Brute is a rare example of a model being ported from the original game rather than remade like the majority of returning assets found in Dead Space 2.
• Despite the Brute's massive size and apparent weight, its corpse can be easily moved by merely running into it without much effort. Kinesis however does seem to obey the Brute's apparent mass.
• Only one Brute appears in Dead Space: Extraction, knocking Lexine into a wall and attacking Dr. Howell. This Brute is unusually acrobatic, as it swings from the support beams on the ceiling of a room and flips to the ground before the fight. The first Brute encountered in Dead Space (mobile) also displays this unusual athleticism by swinging down from an overhead catwalk.
  • The Brute in Dead Space: Extraction also has a yellow bulb weak point, which none from the rest of the series have. The inclusion of the bulb might have been made in order to compensate for the rail-shooting nature of the game, as the constant moving of the player character would make aiming and shooting at a particularly small weak spot like the ones under the Brute's shoulders almost impossible.
• There are several portions of the Brute that can be severed aside from its arms and legs, including the head, the head 'antennae', and the small arms on its back. Severing these parts damage the brute slightly, but not as much as the main limbs.
  • Its head is armored like the rest of its body and is only able to be severed if an explosive is used.
• In very rare instances, a Brute can survive having both of its arms severed, much like the Puker. This usually occurs when a very weak weapon is used such as the Rivet Gun, and the only damage done to it is to its arms.
• In Dead Space, although the first one is encountered in Chapter Four, a Brute's roar can be heard as early as Chapter One, just before the player gets the Stasis Module.
• The Brute in the Tram at the end of Chapter 2 of Dead Space 2 is unusually weak; 2-3 shots, even on Hard Core mode, from the Plasma Cutter can dismember its arm.
  • This is likely the developer's choice of giving the average player a fighting chance; at this point in the game, the only highly damaging weapon available is the Javelin gun, and even then, players still would have been hard pressed to take down the Brute in the harder difficulty settings if it had a more consistent degree of health.
• Only one (Enhanced) Brute appears in Dead Space 2: Severed, in the area where Isaac fights his first Tripod. Next to the Stasis Recharge Station, it will smash through the door. Crawlers will come to its aid.
• In Dead Space (mobile), whenever there's a boss fight with a Brute, the Dead Space song "The Leviathan" plays until the Brute is defeated or you are dead.
• In Dead Space 2, before Isaac first fights a Brute in the Transport Hub, a large hole is seen in the wall with a dead body in it. Then the player will hear the Brute's roar, just like in Dead Space when Isaac goes into tram hallway.
• Even though no Brutes are physically encountered in Dead Space 3, their roars are sometimes heard in the later chapters while on Tau Volantis.
• When the Brute's armor is shot at, the bullets can be seen ricocheting off the armor and flying away.
• In rare occasions, a Brute can still charge at Isaac with one of its arms dismembered.

Gallery

Concept Art

Concepts for the Brute in Dead Space (2023).

Very early look of a Brute.

Brute concept art.

"Brute Corruptor" concept art.

Ditto

Ditto x2

More Brute concept art.

Ditto

Brute concept art.

Brute concept art overview.

Concept art of a "normal" Brute.

A picture of a Brute.

The finalized picture of the Brute in-game, opening up its chest to reveal its "bomb"-spewing hole.

Concept art of the Brute's face.

Isaac Clarke looking over his shoulder to find a Brute.

Screenshots

A Brute in Dead Space (2023).

Isaac fighting a Brute in the 2023 remake.

A Brute killing Isaac in the remake.

A Brute after ripping Isaac apart.

A Brute punching through a security window in the remake.

A Brute from the original Dead Space.

First appearance of the Brute in Dead Space.

Enhanced Brute in Dead Space 2.

Brute charging.

An Enhanced Brute killing Zach Hammond in the original game.

Enhanced Brute in Dead Space 2.

Brute leaping on the rooftop as seen in Dead Space Mobile.

Brute as seen in Dead Space Mobile.

Brute under stasis in Dead Space: Extraction.

Brute leaping on the rooftop in Dead Space: Extraction.

A Brute about to attack Lexine Murdoch in Dead Space: Extraction.

A Brute's yellow weakspots in Dead Space: Extraction.

"Normal" Brute render.

Videos

Dead Space - death by Brute