Architects

The Architects (called Precursors in community terminology) are an advanced alien civilization central to the Subnautica universe. Their abandoned facilities, technology, and the consequences of their experiments drive the plots of both Subnautica and Below Zero.

Civilization

The Architects maintained an interconnected civilization spanning multiple worlds, linked by technologies including consciousness transfer and teleportation gates (called Alien Arches). The Kharaa bacterium killed over 143 billion Architect individuals, effectively collapsing their civilization. Their core worlds were quarantined, and they established research outposts across the galaxy to find a cure.

Facilities on Planet 4546B

The Architects built four major facilities on 4546B approximately 1,000 years before the events of the first game.

Quarantine Enforcement Platform

Located on Mountain Island, partially above sea level. A planetary-scale weapon designed to prevent spacecraft from leaving or approaching the planet. It shot down the Degasi, the Aurora, and the Sunbeam rescue ship. The main structure extends from 20 meters above the surface to 130 meters below, with the cannon adding 110 meters of height. Contains an anti-gravity elevator, three Ion Cubes, and the control terminal that Ryley must deactivate to escape.

Disease Research Facility

Located in the Lost River at approximately 800 meters depth, suspended at a crooked angle in a cavern. Originally the Architects' primary research base on 4546B, used to infect native creatures with Kharaa and study the reactions. This is where the Warpers (bio-mechanical organisms designed to contain Kharaa spread) were assembled. A Sea Dragon Leviathan attacked the facility to recover its stolen egg, destroying it and triggering the Kharaa outbreak. The Sea Dragon's skeleton can be found near the ruins.

Alien Thermal Plant

Located in the Inactive Lava Zone inside the Lava Castle formation at approximately 1,100-1,300 meters depth. The power source for all Architect technology on the planet. The smallest of the four main facilities. Contains the Blue Tablet needed for the Primary Containment Facility and blueprints for the Ion Battery and Ion Power Cell.

Primary Containment Facility

Located in the Lava Lakes at approximately 1,200-1,700 meters. The deepest biome. Built to contain the last Sea Emperor Leviathan and its five eggs. Contains a massive aquarium, the Egg Hatching Laboratory (with 43 eggs from various native species), the Incubation Device, and Alien Arches connecting to four distant biomes. This is the final major story location in the original Subnautica.

Warpers

The Architects created Warpers (also called Self-Warping Quarantine Enforcers) as bio-mechanical organisms designed to contain the Kharaa outbreak. Their brains were augmented for increased processing power and fitted with remote communication systems allowing them to share tactical data with each other. Warpers teleport through space to attack infected organisms, including the player. Partially constructed Warpers can be found in the Disease Research Facility.

Al-An

The most developed Architect character is Al-An from Below Zero. He was a lead scientist whose unauthorized experiment triggered the Kharaa outbreak on 4546B. His consciousness survived in digital storage for centuries before being accidentally downloaded into Robin Ayou's brain.

Robin eventually constructs a new body for Al-An using three components from scattered Architect Caches. The Architect body has a centaur-like form: four legs with a humanoid upper body, crustacean-like pincers for hands, horns on a featureless head, and three free-floating telekinetic arms hovering outside the main body. The body is bioengineered from 27 different species.

In Subnautica 2

The Overgrown Ruins biome on Planet Zezura suggests the Architects had a presence on the new planet. Whether they built the ruins, what they were researching, and whether Al-An's departure at the end of Below Zero connects to Subnautica 2's plot remain open questions.