Who Is Nicole in Dead Space Remake? Explained

Nicole Brennan is the key driver for the plot of Dead Space Remake, serving as Isaac Clark’s motivation to overcome the horrific events brought on by the Marker and the Necromorphs. But if you’re someone whose first exposure to the series is the modern-gen interpretation, you’re likely a little unclear on Who Nicole Brennan is in Dead Space Remake and why she’s so important to the larger narrative.

Fortunately, we’re here to help clear things up. Do be warned though: There are *Massive Spoilers Ahead* for the main story, and specifically moments Nicole plays a large part in.

Nicole Brennan from Dead Space Remake: Identity and Story Explained

Nicole Brennan is a senior medical officer for the USG Ishimura in both the original game and Dead Space Remake.

She is also Isaac Clarke’s girlfriend, and the reason he signed on for the repair mission in the first place. The two met when Nicole was providing psychological treatment to Isaac’s mother, who was lured into the Church of Unitology and gradually driven insane by their beliefs and practices.

She was one of the leading minds fighting against the Necromorph outbreak before the main story kicks off, but rather than hack-and-slash her way through the monsters like Isaac, her efforts were focused on discovering a cure. It was her experiments and autopsies that reveal the Necromorphs were mutated humans, and that there was some outside influence causing the initial madness among the ship’s crew.

Nicole even figures out the truth behind the outbreak, uncovering how Dr. Mercer was studying the Marker and the effects the signal has on people around it with the help of Dr. Kyne. Though she wasn’t able to stop the Marker, she was able to slow its effects slightly by communicating with it and leaving clues for Isaac to use in order to stop it.

Is Nicole Dead in Dead Space Remake? Answered

As you might have guessed from our wording though, Nicole doesn’t make it to the end of the Dead Space Remake alive. Even worse, she wasn’t even alive by the time Isaac arrived on the Ishimura.

This is revealed right before the game’s conclusion. Though Isaac thought he was seeing Nicole aboard the ship and that he was actively working together with her to stop Kendra Daniels from taking the Marker, the Marker was manipulating his perception to make Elizabeth Cross appear to him as Nicole. Cross never corrected him either, as she saw Isaac as her partner Jacob Temple.

It’s a slightly different reveal than the original game, which had Nicole be a fully-fledge hallucination rather than two people feeding off of each other’s deteriorating minds. What did stay the same is that Nicole ultimately committed suicide, long before Isaac reached the USG Ishimura. Isaac was aware of this well before arriving too, but couldn’t bring himself to face the truth until Kendra Daniels made him do so.

With that, you’ve got all the details on who Nicole is in Dead Space Remake. It’s a heartbreaking story, and explains much of Isaac’s desperation in trying to find her. He was, after all, the one who insisted she board the USG Ishimura. At any rate, if you’re looking for more content on Dead Space, take a second to check out some of our related articles down below.