The Corruption is an evil biome with a dark purple wasteland, death, and decay theme, with an evil forest design to it, in contrast to the red gore theme of its counterpart, The Crimson. Every world will contain one of the two, generated randomly (with the Corruption having a 45% chance of generating and the Crimson having a 55% chance of generating) or chosen by the player upon world creation ( only after the Wall of Flesh has been defeated in any world). Both contain similar hazards and feature their own unique enemies, items, and blocks. The tools, weapons, and armor obtained via Corruption materials are generally faster, but slightly less powerful than those obtained via Crimson materials. Corruption enemies tend to have slightly lower stats, such as health, defense, and damage. Water here is also purple.

The Corruption contains multiple chasms, underground extensions of the biome. Chasms lead downwards in a straight line, some crossing a horizontal connector, ending with a Shadow Orb. Demon Altars generally line the chasm's passages, appearing inside and around it. Chasms consist of Ebonstone, which can be blown up by explosives, mined with a Nightmare/Deathbringer Pickaxe or higher, or purified to Stone by using Purification Powder or the Clentaminator.

The Corruption spreads, meaning it slowly converts adjacent tiles to their Corruption variants. See below for details. Chasms, Demon Altars, and Shadow Orbs will only appear upon world generation, and will not spawn in a Corruption area that has formed through spreading. If enough Corruption manages to take over a new area, then that area will eventually adopt the Corruption's theme music, background, and water color. For an area to be considered a Corruption biome, at least  300 / 200 tiles of Corrupt grass or Corruption blocks must be present.

Contents[]

Spread[]

The Corruption spreads itself, similar to the Crimson and Hallow biomes. This means that it slowly converts certain susceptible tiles, which are in the vicinity of existing Corrupt blocks. While its spreading capabilities are very limited during pre-Hardmode, it spreads much faster and more aggressively after defeating the Wall of Flesh. Defeating Plantera for the first time reduces the speed of the Corruption's spread by 50*1/2 (50%).

Corrupted Desert[]

In Hardmode, Corruption spreads through Deserts, transforming them into Corrupted Deserts. A Corrupted Desert is fairly similar to a regular patch of Corruption: The theme music and enemies are the same, with the addition of Dark Mummies on the surface and Dark Lamias, Vile Ghouls and Desert Spirits in the underground with Bone Biters During a Sandstorm.

Sand is replaced by Ebonsand. Cacti drop ordinary cactus when cut, even though they have a different color. Waterleaf is unable to grow in Corrupted Deserts.

Notes[]

• Corruption can be created or spread artificially using Corrupt Seeds, Unholy Water, or the Clentaminator with Purple Solution (obtained from the Steampunker during a Blood Moon in Corruption worlds. In a Crimson world, she sells Red Solution instead).
• It is possible to create an artificial Crimson biome in a Corrupt world without the use of another world. To do so, one must buy Crimson Seeds from the Dryad while in a Graveyard in Hardmode, and vice versa for Corruption in Crimson worlds.
• Artificially creating a new Corruption biome requires at least 200 Corruption blocks. Although Crimson might replace Corruption at world generation, it does not prevent Corruption from being artificially created in a Crimson world (and vice versa); nor does it prevent the alien biome's spread.
• Any enemy in the Corruption or Underground Corruption (during Hardmode) has a 0.04*1/2500 (0.04%) chance to drop a Corruption Key / Corruption Key Mold
• The Archaeologist's set can be hard to obtain in a world with Crimson. The Hat can be dropped by Doctor Bones, which can spawn in any world, but the Jacket and the Pants can only be crafted with Leather, which is crafted using Rotten Chunk, an item exclusive to the Corruption. However, this limitation can be overcome using the Corrupt Statue which can spawn in both Crimson and Corruption worlds, and can be used to farm Rotten Chunks. Alternatively, you can create an artificial Corruption biome with seeds purchased from the Dryad in Hardmode allowing you to farm Rotten Chunks.

Tips[]

For elaborate strategies on surviving in the Corruption, including detailed gear recommendations, see Guide:Surviving in the Corruption.

• Early on, determining whether a world contains Corruption is possible in the following ways:
  • The Guide will tell the player to break a Shadow Orb (Crimson Heart in Crimson worlds).

The tree in world selection (on the right: during Hardmode)

• During world generation, one half of the progress bar will be green, and the other half purple (red for Crimson worlds). Additionally, the bar on the inside will be lime green (yellow for Crimson worlds), representing Cursed Flames (Ichor in Crimson worlds). The step in the world generation process in which the Corruption is created is called "Making the world evil" ("Making the world bloody" for Crimson worlds). Also, a tree at the side of the world name in the world selection has one green/normal side and one purple side (red for Crimson worlds).

• Due to the vertical, straight shape of the Corruption's chasms, fall damage is an omnipresent danger, should the player have not yet obtained anything that reduces or negates fall damage, such as Lucky Horseshoe (or its upgrades), Featherfall Potion, Umbrella (only works when held), or the Bunny or Bee Mount.
• Climbing out of a chasms requires certain gear as well: any hook, Climbing Claws/Shoe Spikes (or their upgrades), any Rope (though note that enemies can easily knock the player off), Slime Mount, or items enhancing the player's jump ability (see Jump Height Comparison).
  • Hooks are viable for both negating fall damage and getting out of chasms.
• It is recommended to cover all chasms with platforms to reduce the likelihood of accidentally falling into one and suffering fall damage. Placing rows of platforms inside the vertical chasms can be helpful, too.
• In Hardmode, it may be worth buying Crimson Seeds from the Dryad in a Graveyard biome and create an artificial Crimson biome.
  • This can be used to get Hemopiranhas from fishing. Even Ichor from Hematic Crates, although tedious.
  • In Expert/Master mode, this can also be used to get the Brain of Confusion.

Trivia[]

• Many Corruption enemies have rotten bodies, sometimes with green pus dripping out of them, as seen with the Eater of Souls and Corruptor. This contrasts with the Crimson enemies' abnormal cancerous-like growths.
• The lengthy chasms of the Corruption might be interpreted as worm tunnels, evidenced by its worm-like boss. Similarly the chasms in the Crimson could be neurons (cells found in the brain), relating to its associated boss, the Brain of Cthulhu.
• The horror media franchise Dead Space features an organism also called the Corruption, which spreads and terraforms affected areas, serving as habitats for the franchise's signature zombie-like creatures, the Necromorphs. Terraria's Corruption may have been based on this.
• The game Anti-Idle features an area called the Corruption, based heavily on the Terraria biome.^[1]
• The Corruption and its Shadow Orbs seem to be loosely based on "The Colour Out of Space", a science fiction/horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in March 1927. In the story, a meteorite crashed near a small fictional town. The meteorite twisted the land, drove people insane, drained the life forces of anything around it, and deformed animals into grotesque abominations.
  • This may have something to do with why meteorites begin falling after a Shadow Orb is smashed.
• During a Blood Moon, three critters turn Corrupt (the Corrupt Bunny, Corrupt Goldfish and Corrupt Penguin), a reference to the Corruption. They can also manually be turned Corrupt with Vile Powder.
• A world with the seed 5162020 will have both Corruption and Crimson.
• The Corruption having a slightly lower chance of generating when selecting the Random option was probably done by the developers to encourage the players to try out the Crimson when it was released in 1.2.
•  – According to the official game lore, the Corruption is a cancer caused by the sins of those living in the worlds of Terraria, and is strengthened by the vile actions and thoughts present in all living beings. Its purpose is to restore balance to life and then destroy it, leaving the world a lifeless abyss.

Gallery[]

Backgrounds[]

This content is transcluded from Biome backgrounds § The Corruption.

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  Classic corrupt trees without leaves

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  More detailed corrupt trees on darker purple grass

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  Plains with chasms and thorny, organic-looking structures

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  Large spike structures emerging out of a thorny landscape

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  Jagged mountains with a single ebonwood tree and chasm

See also[]

• The Hallow
• The Crimson
• Music of the Corruption
• Guide:Maintaining world purity

History[]

 PC version

• Desktop 1.4.1: Worldgen will attempt to avoid overlapping the Corruption with the Jungle during initial Worldgen.

• Desktop 1.4.0.1:
  • Added three new backgrounds.
  • Added alternative Corruption track, originally composed for the canceled Terraria: Otherworld.

• Desktop 1.3.0.1: Enemies now have the chance to drop Corruption Key instead of Corruption Key Mold. Ebonwood Trees now drop Acorns.

• Desktop 1.2.0.3:
  • Hardmode Corruption, Crimson, and Hallow spread is now slowed after killing Plantera instead of any Mechanical Boss.

• Desktop 1.2:
  • There is a chance for the Corruption biome to be replaced with the Crimson upon world generation.
  • Corruptor projectile no longer spreads Corruption.

• Desktop 1.1:
  • Corruption spreads through Sand and Stone, and will slowly turn Mud to Dirt after the Wall of Flesh is destroyed. This allows it to spread into the Cavern layer.
  • An artificial Corruption biome now only requires 200 Ebonstone blocks instead of 500 blocks.
  • Now has own specific background.
  • Now has a underground theme.

• Desktop 1.0.6:
  • Thorny bushes growing from the Corruption are now destroyed on contact with the player.
  • The Corruption's music now has its own music (as opposed to before, when it used the track "Eerie" as its background music).

• Desktop 1.0.5:
  • Corruption areas now have cave systems connecting many of the chasms.
  • Small to medium deposits of Demonite Ore can now be found when exploring the chasms.

• Desktop 1.0.4: Number of chasms generated in the world is decreased, but each chasm now has 100% chance to spawn a Shadow Orb.

• Desktop-Release: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console-Release: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile-Release: Introduced.

Nintendo 3DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced.

References[]