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"Oh god. I'm sorry... I didn't know what I was doing. I placed my faith in the Church and trusted them. What an idiot... Now there's something loose on the Sprawl and the Church has abandoned me here."
—Karrie Norton recording an audio log.

Karrie Norton, also known as Vandal, was an engineer who was unintentionally responsible for unleashing the deadly Necromorph infection on Titan Station.

Biography[]

Karrie Norton mentioned that she was born in space on a colony ship to Borealis. She had never been to planets such as Earth or Mars.

Sprawl Sabotage[]

Karrie Norton was a recent convert to the Church of Unitology prior to being selected for a secret assignment by the Church aboard Titan Station. Shortly after arriving in the Government Sector, Karrie was told by Tyler Radikov, her contact, that her code name was "Vandal" and that under no circumstances should she tell anyone her real name. Her voice filter would keep her anonymous should she meet anyone during the mission.

Shortly after, Karrie was given the task of vandalizing several power boxes in multiple rooms throughout the core system of the station which would disable communications and cut the power off in certain areas throughout the Sprawl. While doing so, Karrie asked Tyler why he had her doing her particular objectives. Tyler told Karrie that she was "not authorized to know that."

Necromorph Outbreak[]

"Maybe I can make this right. Director Tiedemann asked me to repair the quarantine seal on Crossover Tube A. I don't know if I'll even make it there, but... it's my fault these things are loose in the first place. I have to try."
—Karrie
400px-IMG 0041

Karrie hallucinates due to the Site 12 Marker's influence.

Upon the completion of the task, the first Necromorphs began to appear. Karrie was directed to a tram and told to get to another Sector. On the way, Karrie received a RIG message from Daina Le Guin, telling her that she just unleashed the Necromorphs aboard the Sprawl and her death would be "glorious." Karrie told Daina that the Church would pay for what they did.

Karrie received a message from an outraged Director Hans Tiedemann, telling her that he traced several acts of sabotage to her RIG. Karrie apologized and explained that she was unaware that completing the tasks given to her by the Church would cause harm to the Sprawl, and told Tiedemann that she would attempt to fix the mess that unfolded. Tiedemann ordered Karrie to restore the power to the quarantine seals on Crossover Tube A which Karrie hesitantly agreed to do.

Afterward, Karrie received a message from Tyler. Karrie was hesitant to trust him, believing that he had left her for dead, but Tyler explained that he was unaware about the Church's plans and that they should work together to get off the Sprawl. Karrie agreed to continue working with him, and Tyler told her to continue through the Government Sector Underbelly to get to the Mines.

With both Tiedemann and Tyler helping her, Karrie was given the task of locking the doors to the Sprawl down, but in order to do so, Karrie had to make her way through several Sectors. Karrie finally arrived at her main objective and shut the power off. Upon doing so, she learned that she had been tricked by Tyler into locking the doors in the open position across the Sprawl so the Necromorphs could reach the Public Sector. Karrie cursed Tyler before receiving a message from an outraged Tiedemann telling her to make her way to the reactor core to prevent a meltdown. When Karrie arrived, she found a giant Necromorph wrapped in and around the core.

IMG 0088

A wounded Karrie.

Near the end of the battle with the creature, Karrie was wounded when it tried to pull her down below the core. Karrie, now without her helmet, managed to escape. Too injured to move, she slumped down to the ground. She tried contacting Tiedemann with the news of her success and to request help, but received no reply. Some time later, only Karrie's helmet was seen on the ground with a trail of blood from where she had originally been lying down.

Personality and Traits[]

Tyler: "I've been thinking. Maybe I need a codename too, to go with "Vandal". "Vandal and the Russian". What do you think?"
Karrie: "I think you're crazy. But in a good way."
Tyler Radikov and Karrie.
DSMvandalWallpaper

Karrie wielding a Plasma Cutter.

As a recent convert to the Church, Karrie initially appeared eager to prove her loyalty to the religion. However, she was quick to renounce her position as a Unitologist once she realized what the Church had tricked her into doing, even stating that she intended to tell everyone about what they had done and declaring that she was willing to testify against them to Hans Tiedemann. Although she repeatedly mentioned how exhausted she was and how slim her chances of survival were, Karrie was remorseful and completely determined to fix her mistakes and prevent the Necromorphs from spreading even if it cost her own life.

Despite her headstrong nature, Karrie also appeared to be somewhat naive and easy to manipulate, as she easily trusted Tyler Radikov when he claimed to have been unaware of the Church's true intentions. Karrie accepted Tyler's help and was friendly with him throughout the incident, appreciating his humor and even showing curiosity when asking him about where he was from and what life on Mars was like. Upon being betrayed one final time, however, she quickly showed her anger and told Tyler that she would kill him.

Trivia[]

Vandal DS2

Karrie's audio-log #1 in Dead Space 2.

Vandal2 DS2

Karrie's audio-log #2 in Dead Space 2.

  • Anna Vocino provided the voice of Karrie. Anna Vocino was also credited in Dead Space 2 as an additional voice talent.
  • In Dead Space 2, Isaac Clarke is able to find two audio recordings made by Karrie Norton. The first log that can be found was recorded by Karrie while en route to the overheating reactor core, while the second log relays the statement made by Karrie at the beginning of Dead Space (Mobile).
  • To date, Karrie is the first and only known female protagonist of a third-person Dead Space title.
  • Karrie's RIG number was 438642 as it was stated early in the game.
  • It is only revealed at the end of Dead Space (Mobile) that Vandal is a female. Her name is also only revealed at the end of the game.
  • Karrie creates several audio recordings throughout the game, often expressing her sorrow or just detailed situation reports.
  • Karrie is seemingly unaffected by the Corruption as she can walk and run normally as if it is not there. This was probably just an oversight by the developers.
  • After Karrie defeats The Boss, one can notice that if the player conserved enough health, Karrie's RIG will be in normal health. Ironically, she will relay to Tiedemann that she is badly injured.
  • Karrie Norton shares the same last name as Dead Space 3's Robert Norton. They also share similar physical characteristics (skin color, hair color, eye color). However, it is currently unknown if the two are related as neither has made reference to the other.
  • Vandal is similar to Samus Aran of the Metroid series as they are both female protagonists of games set in space and both wear a powered suit to hide their true identities and gender until the end of their respective games, at which point they will remove their helmets (whole armor in Samus' case) to reveal their faces.

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