Markers

“

We see you. The dead are waiting. Make us whole. Make us one.

”

“

Give yourself to the Marker, be armored in its words, and make the brethren whole again.

”

Markers are enigmatic double-helix shaped obelisks found throughout the Universe. The purpose of these artifacts is to reproduce through intelligent civilizations and generate Necromorph outbreaks until a Convergence Event is triggered, finally forming a Brethren Moon.

Markers possess their own language in the form of symbols which they use to communicate.

Nature

"God speaks through the Marker. It needs to be heard."

—Brant Harris

The Red Marker designated "Marker 3A" on Aegis VII.

The appearance of the Markers echoes their basic philosophy: all things intertwine at the end to become one. The concept of universal Convergence and "unity after death" is reflected by the Marker's shape, which echoes the strands of a DNA helix and features two spires twisting around each other upwards to become one. The stone-like surface of every Marker is also covered in symbols that use the circle form to represent "circle of life" themes.

"Dead or living, we all feel the Marker's true purpose."

—Dr. Challus Mercer

Two types of Markers exist: Black Markers and Red Markers. Black Markers originate from extra planetary sources, traveling through space until they impact a planet where a civilization will eventually rise. Red Markers are copies of these Black Markers, created by intelligent civilizations. Despite their cosmetic differences, both types of Markers are identical in function - receiving and re-broadcasting the same signal - although Red Markers require the death of their makers and subsequent absorption of their bodies to complete a Convergence Event.

Signal

"The Marker signal doesn't just reanimate the dead. It manipulates us into spreading the Markers. And now we too have been unwittingly spreading this galactic virus from planet to planet. The propagation of our species has only served to create a source of food and the means of finding it for these moon-sized entities."

—Dr. Earl Serrano

The Brethren Moon network as seen in Isaac Clarke's hallucinations.

By design, all Markers emit the same highly concentrated electromagnetic signal which is capable of affecting both dead and living matter. It is believed that the ultimate source of the signal is the Brethren Moons, with the Markers receiving the Moons' "master signal" via carrier wave and re-broadcasting it. Through this carrier wave, the Markers can communicate with each other across incredible distances, as was observed when the Red Markers on Aegis VII, Aspera and Kreemar were able to coordinate and act as one despite being separated by several thousand light-years of distance.

A Marker firing a powerful pulse as seen in a SCAF recording.

The Marker signal is also known to cause interference with advanced technologies such as communications equipment, and will manifest a powerful EMP blast whenever the Marker goes through an extreme state change. Though all Markers contain the same properties no matter their form, the intensity of the signal and its pulses appears to correlate with the size of the Marker and can be strengthened by certain catalysts, such as by augmenting the Marker with a signal-amplifying pedestal - as was the case with Marker 3A - or even through contact with individuals whose brains are highly compatible with the signal.

Intelligence

"Oh god. I can see... The Marker's codes! It's been trying to show me... They're hungry. They're coming. They'll make us whole. Doctor. I see it now. The Marker speaks... and we can answer..."

—Brant Harris

Through their pulses, Markers are able to reanimate the dead into new forms and communicate with the brains of the living.

The Markers display a sentient ability to control what they transmit through the signal as well as shift their pulse vectors, leading to different effects depending on what is being broadcast at the time; this sentience appears to be the result of the Brethren Moons manifesting some form of their consciousness through the Marker signal and thus the artifacts themselves, even when the Moons themselves are in hibernation. The Markers' "consciousness" is more clearly perceived by living beings who possess a higher intelligence or a brain that is stronger and more responsive to the signal, allowing them to better "understand" the Markers, which in turn develop a special interest in these individuals for their ability to "see" and carry Marker knowledge in their brains.

A close-up of a Marker's surface adorned with symbols - the Markers' "language".

Though the goal of the Markers and the Brethren Moons is ultimately that of reproduction, they describe their existence as a divine and inevitable force of "fate" and the Universe itself, granting themselves the status of "God", along with referring to the death and Convergence of a species as their "ascension". The Markers display a seemingly religious reverence for death, with worshipful chants being emitted and religious messages about embracing death being transmitted through the signal.

Effects on the Living

Main article: Marker Dementia

"The signal projected by the Markers permeates everything and everyone. We are all affected differently. Some are driven to rage. Others suffer hallucinations. And still others fall into a gibbering dementia."

—Dr. Earl Serrano

John Carver encounters a Red Marker and his dead wife in a hallucination created from his memories.

When coming into contact with the minds of living beings, the Marker signal is able to induce a form of dementia that manifests itself in different ways depending on how the brain responds to it. Affected individuals experience hallucinations, in many cases visions of their dead loved ones or illusions fabricated from other memories, which always push them into aiding the Markers' agenda in some way. Most of those afflicted are simply deemed to be Necromorph fodder, with the signal driving the victim into a state of paranoia or even rage, making them carry out homicidal or suicidal actions and thus create corpses for the Necromorphs.

"Dementia and codes and blueprints are all caused by the same signal from the Marker. It's the people that are different. Smart people "see" codes and blueprints, but to everyone else, it's just noise."

—Dr. Bonnie Worthington

Marker 3A imprints Isaac Clarke's mind with a self-replicating mental blueprint, turning him into a vessel for Marker propagation.

However, for the aforementioned individuals who can more clearly "understand" the Marker, such as in the case of Isaac Clarke, the dementia will instead manifest more complex hallucinations to guide them and imprint specific codes and blueprints in their brains - seeding in them the plans for a new Marker - and compelling them to share this information and build more. The Markers display an apparent obsession with finding these suitable hosts and implanting them with their replication instructions, ensuring that their influence is spread elsewhere.

Effects on the Dead

"The Marker's signal changes us. Recombines us. But there's a dead space in that signal, around the Marker itself. The eye of the storm. They can't stay in it for long."

—Marker 3A speaking through "Nicole" about the Marker signal and the Necromorphs.

Various types of Necromorph.

When a Marker pulses, it broadcasts the genetic code of the Necromorph infection out into a given environment, which can trigger changes in the genetic code of deceased beings. Eventually, this will alter dead tissue within a certain radius on a cellular level, reanimating it into Necromorph tissue and initiating a Necromorph outbreak.

Typically, in order to ensure that the contagion spreads faster, a specialized creature known as the Infector is created, which has the ability to more quickly infect corpses by injecting Necromorph biomatter directly into the deceased being's brain. All Necromorph cells are animated by the Marker's carrier wave; without the Marker signal, the creatures cease to exist and degenerate into an organic sludge of their former host's DNA.

During an outbreak, the signal also creates a "dead space" around the Marker that keeps the Necromorphs from getting close to the artifact by forcing them into dormancy; this allows the Marker to protect living beings of interest to its plans by drawing them to its base where they will be protected from Necromorph attacks, while their close proximity to the Marker ensures that it can easily influence their minds and bend them to its will.

Nexus organisms, also known as "Hive Minds", relay the Markers' directives and serve as Necromorph ground commanders.

While the Markers create the Necromorphs by recombining dead flesh through their signals, the creatures largely behave as little more than animals with an insatiable drive to hunt and gather biomass. However, the Markers can send out general commands through their pulses to a type of Necromorph known as a Nexus or "Hive Mind", large creatures that telepathically control the rest of the Necromorph horde and serve as conduits for the Marker's control signal, receiving and broadcasting orders to the smaller forms.

Purpose

"Do not fear death for it is the ultimate journey. A necessary step to new life. Convergence awaits. Let go, and be made one."

—Marker messages.

The gigantic Site 12 Marker after initiating a Convergence Event.

The ultimate purpose of the Markers is to trigger a Convergence Event and create a Brethren Moon. This is achieved by spreading the Necromorph infection, which gathers biomass for Convergence, as well as by transmitting the Markers' replication codes and instructions to compatible individuals, who will then propagate the infection should they survive the current outbreak.

Earth as seen in a vision from the Brethren Moons.

The "birth" of a Brethren Moon begins with a Black Marker being sent to a hospitable planet. There, the Black Marker emits an electromagnetic signal that appears as a source of limitless energy, and it is believed that this signal guides a specific species to evolve into intelligent beings capable of replicating the Marker - such as the case with humans on Earth.

Red Marker formulas.

After the intelligent species on the host planet discovers the Black Marker, they are compelled by the signal and its insidious influence on their brains to study the artifact and learn how to replicate it, eventually leading to the creation of the first Red Markers. Though the individuals themselves may believe this to be for the purpose of creating new energy sources for their overpopulated civilization, the true purpose of this Marker replication is to spread the coming infection and limit said civilization's ability to quarantine it.

"Now I know how the holy man must feel when he is called by God. The intense rush of infinity, the pure exhilaration of it is almost too much! It's like a chorus of thousands! My friends, shipmates... everyone who has been called up to God speaks to me now! They want me to know everything. They need me to know everything! What secrets will they share? I go now - a vessel waiting to be filled. Share with me the secrets of the Universe!"

—SCAF scientist

A Unitology poster about the Markers' promise.

The signal from a Marker gradually causes most of those around it to experience hallucinations and dementia, sending the living into madness. Many become obsessed with protecting the Marker and may even begin to worship it, while others enter a paranoid and delusional state, causing homicidal and suicidal actions. These deaths ultimately pave the way for the next event by creating dead bodies, while those who are more intelligent or possess a stronger brain may instead be made to "see" codes, blueprints and instructions for the creation of new Markers.

Eventually, the signal begins the next stage: the Necromorph infestation. This contagion's genetic code is written in an alien language on the Markers themselves and is transmitted through their signal, which will reanimate the cells and tissue of deceased lifeforms within a certain range in the Marker's area of influence, twisting their corpses into nightmarish, monstrous creatures that are built solely for the purpose of killing other living beings and infecting them.

"I used to think I was an individual with my own life and my own problems. But now I realize we are all just pieces of a bigger puzzle. Alone we are nothing. It's this lack of... completeness... that complicates our lives. Make us whole. That is what I hear when I close my eyes. Make us whole. That is what we all must do. We just have to get over the first step. We just have to die. It will do the rest."

—SCAF Sergeant Richard Lumley

A Convergence Event in progress.

Once a sufficient amount of biomass has been accumulated, the Necromorphs will gather around the base of a Marker to prepare for the ultimate stage of Convergence. This event can be triggered by a Black Marker or by the Red Markers, although the latter require the absorption of their creators' bodies in order to complete Convergence. During this event, several powerful energy bursts are released before the Marker begins to pull every single Necromorph and dead creature into the stratosphere, along with fragments of the planet.

Brethren Moon variations.

The resulting biological slurry gathers in the stratosphere, merging the necrotic flesh and the rocky fragments to create a Brethren Moon. The Moon then feeds upon any remaining life on the surface of the planet before traveling to other worlds the Markers have affected, where it continues to feed and grow in size. When it is done, it joins its kin in a vast mental network spanning the stars, where it will seemingly fall into a state of torpor: asleep, but at the same time alert for any sign of potential prey.

History

"I remember telling my college professor I wanted to study xenoarcheology. He laughed right in my face. "There's nothing to study," he said. "It's all dead space. No alien life exists out in the universe." In a way, I guess he was right. There is no life beyond our system, only a trail of extinction, wrought by the Moons. And now it's right on our doorstep."

—Dr. Earl Serrano

A Black Marker on Tau Volantis two million years ago.

When the original Marker or Brethren Moon was created is entirely unknown, but it is known that a Convergence Event has happened countless times to countless other civilizations throughout the Milky Way galaxy and beyond, likely across the entire Universe, since time immemorial. The only recorded event prior to humanity's discovery of the Marker occurred when the native species of Tau Volantis discovered a Black Marker on their own planet two million years ago, a process which is currently repeating itself with the humans on Earth and other inhabited colonies in space where the man-made Red Markers have spread.

Aliens of Tau Volantis

"They must have been trillions-strong before falling to the Markers. And perhaps that is the point. Allow a species to thrive until they are so many in number that they can no longer sustain themselves… then descend upon their worlds to feed."

—Dr. Earl Serrano

The remains of a Tau Volantis native next to one of their Red Markers.

By the year 2311, Tau Volantis, now an ice ball of a planet, had been settled by a military expedition of the Sovereign Colonies. After extensive research, Dr. Earl Serrano discovered the events that had plagued the planet two million years prior: apparently, Tau Volantis was not originally a frozen deathworld, but rather an aquatic planet full of life. Eventually, a sentient alien species evolved and built a rising civilization. The aliens soon found a Black Marker on their planet and discovered its limitless energy. Worshiping it, the aliens created duplicates across the planet to harvest its power.

The aliens were deceived, and the Black Marker and its copies released the Necromorph contagion among their species. Eventually, the infestation reached its limit and activated a Convergence Event, forming the Necromorph Moon from the dead aliens. During the event, several living aliens realized the impending doom of their species and built a machine that would freeze the planet and the Moon, halting Convergence in its tracks. The machine was also built to bring down the Moon, crashing it into the planet to destroy it completely before it could link with the wider network, but the alien species died out before they could fully activate this feature.

The Brethren Moon over Tau Volantis.

Since this event, for two million years, the Moon remained frozen in orbit around Tau Volantis, though its mind was fully formed and the creature itself was perfectly aware of what had happened, calling out through the Markers to any species that found them, telling them to make the Moon "whole" and "turn it off", meaning to turn off the machine and resume Convergence.

Humans of Earth

"Cannot stop the ideas are coming so fast now I see them so clearly. The abyss gazes into you but it doesn't end there. Observer effect. A child can understand it. When you are seen you change - it's so clear. When you're seen truly you change truly. They know us better than we could ever know ourselves because they shaped us. Our DNA is touched by the Black Marker and is our sacred inheritance! We are the great ones, we will be made one but cannot be whole until all is converged because it was taken from us. Praise the Markers which draw us close for true Convergence for they point the way."

—Note found on the USG Ishimura's Medical Deck.

"A little trivia, Isaac, to put things in perspective. Fact: The original Marker, the Black Marker found on Earth, predates the rise of mankind. Are you listening to this? Fact: The Marker exerts a field of influence that guides and grows biological organisms, evolving them over time towards some greater purpose. Do you see where this is going? Isaac, as you can personally attest, man is naturally compelled to create Red Markers, duplicates made in the image of the original. They are as much a part of us as the planet that birthed us, perhaps even more so. We must all act our part in the natural evolution of the Universe, Isaac..."

—Jacob Arthur Danik

Footage of Earth's Black Marker being pulled to the surface above the Chicxulub crater in 2214.

65 million years ago, a Black Marker arrived on Earth via an asteroid which struck the Gulf of Mexico, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs and leading to the rise of Mankind, with human evolution likely being directly influenced and guided by the Black Marker itself.

In 2214, a research team that included the geophysicist Michael Altman discovered the Black Marker and recovered it from a crater off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico. Initial studies revealed that the Marker's signal appeared to be a source of unlimited energy, and harnessing the Marker's power became a priority for the researchers.

However, the signal's capacity to create Necromorphs and induce dementia was also discovered. The details of the original Black Marker disaster were buried in government cover-ups and conspiracies, but Michael Altman's mysterious death after going public made him a martyr and a figure head of a newly formed religion based on the Markers, the Church of Unitology. Secretive government research into the Black Marker continued over the following decades; the danger of the experiments eventually prompted the decision of the Sovereign Colonies administration to move the Marker research away from Earth in order to avoid the risk of a larger outbreak.

The Black Marker and its copies seen in a SCAF briefing video.

By studying the Black Marker, the Sovereign Colonies wished to not only study the Marker signal's effects, but to safely harness its energy and solve humanity's resource crisis. In the 2290s, they successfully constructed several Red Markers based on the Black Marker, which were located on classified distant planets such as Aegis VII, Aspera and Kreemar. However, outbreaks eventually commenced around the facilities and they were ultimately forced to shut down.

Dead Space 3- Tau Volantis Mission Briefing (CMS Roanoke)

Dr. Earl Serrano recounts the history of humanity's encounters with the Markers up until 2311.

In 2311, the Sovereign Colonies and Dr. Earl Serrano wished to find the source of the energy the Markers received, tracing the signal back to Tau Volantis where its source was believed to be. There, the team uncovered the thousands of Markers made by the Tau Volantis natives and another outbreak was brought upon the humans, with Dr. Serrano discovering that the Brethren Moons were behind the Marker signal. After receiving Serrano's reports, the Sovereign Colonies Council and General Spencer Mahad soon issued Scenario Five to bury and eliminate everything and everyone involved in this mission and in the Marker test sites scattered throughout the galaxy, saving mankind from the Markers' influence for a time.

By the 25th century, humanity had grown to inhabit countless colonies across the galaxy, but overpopulation and energy issues persisted despite the advances in technology and resource extraction. Deep-space mining eventually became a reality with the CEC's flagship, the USG Ishimura.

By the 26th century, the Church of Unitology had grown to be the most influential religion in human space.

In 2508, with the support of the Church of Unitology, the USG Ishimura was sent to recover Marker 3A on the restricted Aegis VII after it was accidentally uncovered by an illegal mining colony. After the unearthing of the Marker, a Necromorph outbreak began in the planetside colony before spreading to the Ishimura. After the USG Kellion and Isaac Clarke arrived on the Ishimura, Isaac's objective became returning the Marker to its pedestal in the hopes of stopping the local Hive Mind. However, he was in reality being used by the Red Marker, as it imprinted a self-replicating signal in the engineer's brain in order to use him to build more replicas. Isaac escaped Aegis VII as the continent-sized chunk of rock mined by the Ishimura crashed into the planet and destroyed the Marker.

Isaac Clarke, along with the scientist Nolan Stross, was brought to Titan Station to revive the Marker program, now run by the Earth Government Colonial Alliance for the sake of harvesting limitless energy. Eventually creating the Site 12 Marker on the Titan shard, it resulted in another outbreak and the start of a Convergence Event as the Marker attempted to absorb Isaac's body, who managed to destroy the artifact through a grueling mental battle against its influence. Isaac, along with Ellie Langford, escaped Titan Station before it was completely destroyed.

Dead Space 3 - The Story so Far

A summary of humanity's history with the Markers narrated by Ellie Langford.

Unfortunately, the Markers had spread to nearly every major colony due to EarthGov's replication program. Seeing EarthGov's experiments as a "violation of Nature's course", a radical Unitologist group known as the Circle began unleashing the Markers among the colonies, spreading the Necromorphs to cause a universal Convergence. After Isaac Clarke, Ellie Langford and John Carver uncovered Dr. Serrano's work on Tau Volantis, they completed the alien machine and killed the Moon orbiting Tau Volantis. Ellie returned to Earth, believing Isaac and Carver dead. However, Isaac and Carver survived but their actions with the Moon awoke all of its brothers, which soon came to Earth in order to consume all of its biomass.

Notable Markers

• Black Marker on Earth
• Black Marker on Tau Volantis
• Marker 1A on Kreemar - Proxima Centauri System
• Marker 2A on Aspera - Gliese 581 System
• Marker 3A on Aegis VII - Aegis/Cygnus System
• The Site 12 Marker on Titan Station
• Red Marker on Luna
• Marker Shroud 4 on Uxor

Trivia

Dead Space Marker Sound Effect

• In both the original game and the remake, the Red Marker on Aegis VII emits what sounds like several people chanting in Latin: "Sumus hic in Morte; noster sanctus est." This would approximately mean, "We are here in Death; it is our saint."
• Markers are akin to a hologram in their architecture. If one takes a conventional holographic plate and shatters it, each piece still shows a holographic image which is identical to the original; in a similar manner, a single shard of a Marker retains the properties of the whole (i.e. it is still able to rebroadcast the Marker signal) and is enough to start a Necromorph outbreak on its own.
• According to The Art of Dead Space, the reveal in Dead Space 3 that the Black Marker was responsible for human evolution was inspired by the ideas of Swiss sci-fi author Erich von Daniken, who is best known for his proposal that extraterrestrial influence created the first civilizations on Earth. The Black Marker may also serve as a reference to the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, as in both cases it is a black monolith of alien origin that was responsible for human evolution.
• The lore of the Markers was developed by Necromorph creator and designer Ben Wanat with help from franchise co-writer Chuck Beaver, as the two developers were left in charge of fleshing out the universe for the sequels following the success of the original game. According to Ben Wanat, the development of the Marker lore and the Brethren Moons was heavily inspired by Lovecraftian horror.
  • About the Marker lore, Ben Wanat explained: "Convergence as a concept appears as early as the first game (Unitology is founded on that idea). Each game builds a little in that direction. The Moon network is a DS3 lore addition to take it to a cosmic horror conclusion." Wanat also stated: "What's interesting about the Moon is that it ends up being the fictional wrapper for the entire Necromorph race, but also the Markers in general. They have a message that runs through all three games, but it takes all three games to explore that and make it clear."

Gallery

Various early concepts for the Marker shown in The Art of Dead Space.

The Marker in The Art of Dead Space (2023).

The Art of Dead Space's page on Convergence.

Official Marker poster by comics artist Ben Templesmith from 2008.

A Marker Fragment collectible in Dead Space (2023).

A Unitologist Artifact collectible in Dead Space 3.

Drawings from the Project Telomere dementia patients in Dead Space 2. The eye imagery references the Machine used to stimulate the Marker-affected parts of the human brain.

Isaac's blueprints for Marker replication seen in his apartment on Luna in Dead Space 3.

Paper notes about Unitology and the Markers found on the USG Ishimura in the remake.

Videos

Dead Space Remake - Marker Sound Effects

Dead Space - Ambience ASMR - Marker - USG Ishimura, Central Nexus

Dead Space Remake - Marker Music Themes

Dead Space 2-3 - Marker Throb Sound Effect

Dead Space 2 Marker Convergence Initialize Sound Effects HQ

Dead Space 2 - Ambiance Final Convergence

Dead Space 2 - Nicole Boss quotes and atmosphere

Dead Space 2 - Dementia