Any organism in Subnautica 2 that exceeds a certain size threshold is classified as leviathan-class by the PDA. Leviathans range from a docile roamer to the largest hostile threats in the ocean. In keeping with the game's no-weapons philosophy, none of them can be killed; the player evades, lures, or outruns them rather than fighting. You survive a leviathan, you do not kill it.
Confirmed Leviathans at Launch
The clearly confirmed leviathan-class organisms in the Early Access build are the Collector Leviathan, the Shiver Leviathan, the stationary Great Jaw, and the docile Deepwing Brooder. They are listed together below.
Leviathan | Habitat | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
Reported to lurk in and near the Sparse Plains and an alien facility | The apex leviathan and effectively invulnerable. It acts as a story gate that cannot be fought, and it is described as the only leviathan you really have to worry about during Early Access. It reacts to the player with a stimulus-driven AI rather than a fixed script. | |
The Void boundary | A pack-style, dimorphic hunter that guards the out-of-bounds Void boundary. It will attack submersibles that cross past the map edge. Some coverage also refers to it as the "Void Leviathan," but it is the same creature. | |
Near a wreck, not far from the start area | A sessile, clam-like trap leviathan. Touching it is dangerous, since its shell can snap shut on anything that comes into contact with it. It is associated with lithium farming, which gives the player a reason to approach it carefully. | |
Roams open water (hedged) | A large but non-aggressive, egg-laying leviathan that roams rather than holding a position. It is effectively no threat to the player and is the docile member of the launch roster. |
Disputed and Borderline Cases
A few large organisms sit on the edge of the leviathan-class definition and should not be presented as confirmed leviathans:
The Coral Crab is a large crustacean tied to the Coral Gardens. Some launch-era lists label it leviathan-class, but that classification is disputed, so it is treated here as a large crustacean rather than a confirmed leviathan.
The World Tree is referred to as a dormant titan, but it is not a fightable creature in the current Early Access build. It functions as a world feature rather than as a leviathan the player engages with.
The Void's Leviathan
The Void at the map boundary is the Shiver Leviathan's domain. Some pre-launch coverage treated a "Void Leviathan" as a separate species, but in the launch build the Shiver Leviathan is the Void's leviathan. There is no separate Void Leviathan creature in the live build.
No-Weapons Philosophy
Leviathans in Subnautica 2 cannot be killed. Design Lead Anthony Gallegos described lethal solutions as "boring" and confirmed the game has "no weapons, only collection tools." The Scanner and other equipment are classified as collection items rather than weapons, and the knife from previous franchise entries is not present. Player tactics rely on flares, stealth, vehicle positioning, and biome avoidance rather than direct combat.
Deferred and Unconfirmed
Several leviathan candidates discussed during the pre-launch run-up do not appear in the launch build under those names:
Wakemaker Leviathan: the Wakemaker is the player's handheld propulsion device, not a creature. No confirmed source supports a leviathan by this name.
A second cut leviathan was removed from the Early Access scope during pre-launch development. Its identity has not been disclosed. See Cut Content.
Additional leviathans are planned for future updates as described in the Early Access and Development Roadmap. Coverage of new leviathans will be added to this page as each one is confirmed in the live build.