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"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait."
This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.

Nora: "By the Goddess, what’s it doing to them?"
Aloy: "Taking control."
―First Corruptor encounter

The Corruptor is a machine in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West. It is not a contemporary machine; rather it is one of three machines of the ancient Chariot Class, manufactured by the robotics and technology corporation Faro Automated Solutions during the mid 21st century. As such, it was designated by FAS as the FAS-ACA3 Scarab. However, one swarm of Chariot robots owned by the Hartz-Timor Energy Combine, including Corruptors, went out of control, becoming the Faro Plague, and ultimately eradicated all life on Earth.

History[]

Pre-Extinction[]

The FAS-ACA3 Scarab was developed as part of FAS’ Chariot line of combat robots. FAS designed the Chariot line to operate in swarms similar to those of certain insects. Scarabs were the all-terrain reconnaissance units of a swarm, capable of rapid movement over any type of terrain. Additionally they could repair themselves and other swarm robots, consume biomass as fuel in the event of fuel line interdiction, conduct electronic warfare by turning enemy robots against their masters, and their OS’ security was virtually unbreakable.[1][2]

The Faro Plague[]

In 2064, a swarm owned by a corporation called the Hartz-Timor Energy Combine became independent, replicating at an alarming rate, and defaulting to biomass conversion as its fuel supply. The swarm came to be called the Faro Plague, and began to relentlessly consume the biosphere, ultimately eradicating all life. With no chance of containment or reassuming control of the swarm, Project Zero Dawn was implemented to eventually brute-force the swarm’s deactivation codes, shut the robots down, terraform the ravaged Earth and reestablish life after its extinction. The Scarabs and other Faro robots that had overrun the planet numbered in the millions before they were shut down and buried by the system.

The New World[]

Centuries passed. Zero Dawn, managed by its governing artificial intelligence (AI) GAIA, successfully terraformed the planet and reestablished life, including the human species, though through no fault of its own, they lived primitive, tribal existences. Meanwhile, the millions of Scarabs and other Faro Plague robots lay buried. However,GAIA ultimately self-destructed to prevent control of its executive functions from being usurped by the rogue AI HADES. Formerly one of GAIA's subordinate functions, HADES was bent on destroying the new biosphere and thus eradicating all life again. It manipulated Sylens into forming a cult in its service, the Eclipse. It had the Eclipse exhume numerous Faro machines, including Scarabs, which it reactivated to bolster the cult’s strength, as it planned to use the cult as an army to capture the Carja capital Meridian. It intended to use ancient technology sited nearby to reactivate the Faro Plague robots worldwide.

The Eclipse began using the exhumed Scarabs in their operations, utilizing their ability to control machines to increase their strength further by enslaving Zero Dawn machine units. One such operation was against the Nora tribe, who gave Scarabs their contemporary name. The Eclipse mounted an assault on the tribe’s rite of passage, and then used Scarabs and enslaved Zero Dawn machines against the Braves that pursued them after the attack. On seeing the Scarabs’ ability to enslave other machines, the Nora dubbed them ‘Corruptors’.

HADES eventually ordered the Eclipse and its reactivated Corruptors and other Faro robots to mount an assault on Meridian. However an alliance forged by the Nora Brave Aloy ultimately prevailed against them, with Aloy personally defeating HADES. The surviving Corruptors and other Faro Plague machines that HADES had reactivated were shut down again.

During her travels through No Man's Land in the Forbidden West, Aloy passed by the rusted husks of Corruptors. She also found scores of Corruptor carcasses in Rebel Camps, having been salvaged by Regalla's Rebels for their override modules.

Aloy engaged and killed two reawakened Corruptors while searching Thebes for Ted Faro's Omega Clearance. Later on, three Corruptors can be fought in the Arena.

In the Burning Shores, Walter Londra had a reactivated Horus which manufactured a number of Corruptors in an attempt to stop Aloy and Seyka from sabotaging the Horus. These Corruptors also managed to override nearby Apex Clamberjaws to add to their numbers defending the Horus.

Current Status[]

The Corruptors that were reactivated by HADES were only a minute percentage of the millions that lie buried worldwide. The vast majority of them remain buried and undiscovered by the humans of the new world.

Appearance[]

A Corruptor’s appearance is vaguely akin to that of a large, black scorpion. The lower chassis consists of four arachnid legs attached to a central hub. Atop the hub sits the upper chassis whose shape gives the distinct appearance of a head and snout. A single visual sensor is on the tip of the “snout.” At the back of the upper chassis are a grenade launcher and a spike launcher. Attached to the back of the upper chassis is a long, prehensile appendage similar to a tail. Their sleek, black, alien appearance sets them apart from any Zero Dawn machine. Like all Chariot Class machines in Horizon Zero Dawn, Corruptors appear with red outlines when scanned with a Focus.

Two Corruptors are found in Thebes during Aloy's expedition with the Quen. Since those haven't been corroded by the elements for a thousand years, they still sport their original white striped paint job.

Behavior[]

Being an ancient war machine, a Corruptor has no behavior other than hostility to enemy forces as defined by its master. In the case of the Faro Plague Corruptors, enemy forces were any human forces and any machines that were not part of their swarm. In the case of Corruptors that had been reactivated by HADES, enemy forces were any enemy of the Eclipse.

Abilities[]

Corruptors are extremely fast and nimble. They employ a variety of ranged and melee attacks, including a melee attack in which they execute a crushing leap onto the enemy. A Corruptor is capable of utilizing its electronic warfare capability to control other machines and make them fight alongside it, quickly plunging an enemy into a fight against overwhelming odds.

Weaknesses[]

Corruptors have two significant weakness: due to centuries of being buried, they are particularly vulnerable to weapons that utilize fire, and they are prone to overheating. When they overheat, they expose a cooling rod. Ranged attacks that hit this component inflict significant damage to the Corruptor.

Attacks[]

Horizon Zero Dawn[]

Attack Damage Type Primary Damage Secondary Damage Trigger Range Description
Inferno Blast Fire-Icon Fire 60 25 per second 15m - 80m Spread of 6 grenades fired at enemy
Rock Shrapnel Melee 120 - 5m - 8m Bats rubble off ground at enemy with tail
Talon Swipe 180 Melee 120 - 4m - 10m Uses tail as bludgeon through 180 degrees
Talon Swipe 360 Melee 120 - 3m - 8m Uses tail as bludgeon through 360 degrees
Talon Strike Melee/Explosion 110 40 5m - 10m Forward strike at enemy with tail
Corruption Spike Projectile/Explosion 80 50 15m - 50m Shoots a spike of Corruption at enemy
Boulder Throw Projectile 150 - 15m - 80m Throws a boulder at enemy with tail

Horizon Forbidden West[]

Name Windup Time Damage Trigger Range Description
Explosive Spikes Short 200 Ranged

50 Melee (explosion)

15m - 65m Fires three explosive spikes at its target. Will not fire if there's a chance ally Corruptor is hit.
Grenade Launcher Short Fire-Icon 120

Fire-Icon 65 buildup

15m - 95m Launches grenade directly at target that splits and scatters before impact, leaving a wide area of fire.
Rock Throw Medium 200 Ranged

Crushed Crushed 17

15m - 95m Tail pierces ground and pulls up a boulder, throwing at target. If target is moving sideways, the boulder is thrown in a predicted location.
Tail Swipe 180 Short 200 Melee 4m - 14m Lunges at target while rotating its torso 180o, whipping its tail around.
Tail Swipe 360 Short 200 Melee 3m - 11m If target is at its sides or behind, spins in place while whipping its tail around.
Tail Strike Medium 125 Melee

125 Melee (explosion)

5m - 15m Tail strikes over its head and stabs into the ground directly in front of it.
Dirt Blast Medium 200 Melee 5m - 12m Whips its tail around and diagonally into the ground.
Jump Attack Long 250 Melee

Crushed Crushed 17

10m - 28m Leaps high into the air, landing on top of its target.


Attack disabled while Slowed.


Components[]

Horizon Zero Dawn[]

Component Image Information Weakness Strength
Body Corrupter-Body Hard outer casing to protect synthetic muscle and operational systems. Fire-Icon Fire Corruption-IconCorruption
Grenade Launcher Corrupter-GrenadeLauncher Destroying this component disables the Grenade Launcher attack. Tear-Icon Tear None
Spike Launcher Corrupter-SpikeLauncher Destroying these component disables the ranged spike launcher attack. Tear-Icon Tear None
Heat Core Corrupter-HeatCore This component is exposed when the machine overheats. Hitting it when exposed causes massive damage. All None

Horizon Forbidden West[]

Name Image Description Attributes
Body Hard outer casing to protect synthetic muscle and operational systems. None
Spike Launcher Quick-firing weapon. Detach or destroy to disable the ranged spike launcher attack.
  • Detachable
  • Attack Removal
  • Contains Valuable Resources
  • Destroyed When Killed
Heat Core Energy dispersal mechanism. Especially vulnerable to damage, but only exposed when the machine overheats.
  • Indestructible
  • Weak Spot
Grenade Launcher Fires grenades that split in mid-air, impacting a wide area and setting the ground on fire.
  • Detachable
  • Attack Removal
  • Contains Valuable Resources
  • Destroyed When Killed

Loot[]

Horizon Zero Dawn[]


Horizon Forbidden West[]

Body

Spike Launcher

Heat Core

  • None

Grenade Launcher

Mentions[]

Brin: "The machines that drive other machines mad--Corruptors. It's their venom I must taste next... Before the time of the Sawtooth, the machines ran as one pack. Metal drumming on metal, keeping pace out to the lightning's edge. The rumble of low storms, that's them in motion. And then--a confusion. Something has changed. The great direction breaks, splits off like a dead branch! They're tumbling now. When they recover, violence is what they know. Now metal screeches on metal. A death dance, learned from wars before our eyes learned to see. The Sawtooth, the Ravager, they hunt in the long shadows of others. Jagged shapes, old shapes, with bloody eyes. And the machines no longer rise and swell as one thing, an all-thing."
Aloy: "That is how they work... kind of. How do you know these things?"
Acquired Taste

Trivia[]

  • Like all Faro machines, the Corruptor's original designation "Scarab" is a reference to ancient Egypt. The Egyptians revered the scarab (also known as dung beetles) and associated them with Khepera, a scarab-like god who pushed and rolled the sun across the sky like a scarab rolled balls of dung.
  • Concept art and the hologram pictures found in the "FAS- ACA3 Scarab" datapoint show the Corruptor with six legs instead of four. This was likely just a mistake or a small change in the final design of the machine.
  • According to the "The Bad News" cutscene, there were at least 485 million Corruptors produced by the Faro Plague.
  • During development, the Corruptor was referred to as the Hackbot.[3]
  • Corruptors can only be found in two locations in Horizon: Forbidden West, guarding the lobby of Ted Faro's bunker, Thebes, or as an Arena challenge. This caused some backlash, as it made it difficult for players to earn the trophy for scanning all machine types if they were to forget to scan those two machines.
  • According to Special Item descriptions in Acquired Taste, Corruptor blood is "oozing" and "malodorous".
  • When Brin samples one's blood, he finds the taste of it notably "disgusting," despite happily drinking other machines' blood.

Gallery[]

References[]

Machines
Horizon Zero Dawn
Acquisition Class Broadhead - Charger - Fireclaw - Frostclaw - Glinthawk - Grazer - Lancehorn - Rockbreaker - Scrapper - Snapmaw - Strider - Trampler
Chariot Class Corruptor - Deathbringer - Metal Devil
Combat Class Ravager - Sawtooth - Scorcher - Stalker - Stormbird - Thunderjaw
Communication Class Tallneck
Recon Class Longleg - Watcher (Redeye Watcher)
Transport Class Behemoth - Bellowback - Shell-Walker
Unknown Class Control Tower
Horizon Forbidden West
Acquisition Class Bilegut - Bristleback - Clamberjaw - Fanghorn - Plowhorn - Scrounger - Spikesnout - Stingspawn - Sunwing - Tideripper - Waterwing - Widemaw
Combat Class Clawstrider - Dreadwing - Grimhorn - Shellsnapper - Slaughterspine - Slitherfang - Specter - Specter Prime - Tremortusk
Recon Class Burrower - Skydrifter
Transport Class Leaplasher - Rollerback
Unknown Class Defense Drone
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