The Reaper Leviathan is an aggressive leviathan class fauna species usually found swimming in large open areas, such as the Crash Zone, Dunes, and Mountains. It is the third-largest aggressive creature in the game and fifth largest overall.
There are a total of twenty-five Reaper Leviathans in Subnautica.
Spoiler alert: The following section contains story related material.
The Reaper Leviathan is a massive creature. Fins and mandibles included, the creature is just a little longer than a Cyclops submarine.
The Reaper Leviathan possesses a long, slim, muscular body with four caudal fins and two pectoral fins. It also has two dorsal fins running along the length of its entire body, and two ventral fins taking a small portion of its belly. Most of its fins, along with its back, are red in color. The fins and other red areas of the body possess slight bioluminescence.
Its head features a horn (most likely used for ramming its prey), a large mouth, as well as two pairs of eyes with grey sclera. It has two maroon mandibles on each side of its face which slowly get darker, tipped with black claws, four in total. Multiple scars can be seen on the body, particularly around the facial area, and the blueish-white skin appears similar in texture to human skin.
The Reaper Leviathan emits loud, echoing roars audible from great distances. According to the data bank entry, this roar is a form of echolocation, though it does not function like this in-game. It also seems to circle its prey (or more commonly the player) for a few moments before attacking and often strikes from behind by surprise.
The Reaper Leviathan often swims deeper down but not quite at the seafloor. The player can use this advantage and swim on the surface to avoid detection. It is also less likely to notice the player if they use a Seaglide instead of a submersible.
When the Reaper Leviathan is exposed to damage, it will flinch and roar shortly after being hurt. They won't respawn if killed.
The Reaper Leviathan is capable of inflicting 80% damage on the player if attacked outside their vehicle. Wearing a Reinforced Dive Suit will reduce damage taken by half, taking 40% damage instead of 80%.
If the Reaper Leviathan attacks the player at 80% health or lower and without a Reinforced Dive Suit on, the creature will hold its victim in its mandibles, pause for a second while roaring, and then proceed to pull the player into its mouth, killing them instantly.
It is also capable of grabbing the Seamoth and shaking it around. Doing so will deal about 40 - 60% damage over about ten seconds until it lets the vehicle go. However, if hit with its Defense System, it will let go instantly. The Reaper Leviathan will also grab the Prawn Suit. If it succeeds, the damage incurred will only be around 15-25%.
The Reaper Leviathan has been observed to grab a Seamoth and a Prawn Suit and smash it down to the seabed, destroying it completely afterward.
Data Bank Entry
Leviathan class species are vast organisms at the top of their respective food chains. This species is a streamlined hunter, with highly developed senses.
1. Powerful Mandibles:
Motivational note: Congratulations on getting close enough to scan it and living to see the results!
Assessment: Extreme threat - Avoid in all circumstances
- The Reaper Leviathan's eyes used to emit bright green bioluminescence, but in the Ghost Update, it was given a new model that no longer gives off any bioluminescence from the eyes.
- The Reaper Leviathan's body, as well as color scheme, resemble that of the oarfish, a real-life creature. Whether this is intended or not is unknown.
- The Reaper Leviathan was originally modeled at a similar size to the Boneshark and Sand Shark. Later on, it was made much larger than what had been previously planned.
- A Reaper Leviathan used to spawn in the Mushroom Forest near the Aurora.
- The Reaper Leviathan is one of the only two Leviathan Class organisms on Planet 4546B whose eggs are never seen, even with the aid of console commands, with the other being the Sea Treader Leviathan, suggesting they may reproduce through other means, as opposed to egg-laying.
- The Reaper Leviathan appears on the cover art for the Subnautica OST, along with the Seamoth.
- Its face and head area appears to have multiple scars, suggesting they often fight each other or other leviathans.
- The Reaper Leviathan used to be able to fly in the air due to a glitch.