Dr. Fetus

Treasure Room Treasure Room   (page 1, column 11, line 3) (page 1, column 1, line 6)   Defeat Mom's Heart 9 times A Fetus in a Jar

Dr. Fetus is a Special unlockable passive item.

Effects

• Tears are replaced with bombs that explode approximately one second after being fired.
  • Each bomb deals 3 times the character's normal tear damage.
  • Each bomb deals 5 times the character's normal tear damage plus a flat 30 damage. The flat 30 is not affected by damage multipliers.

Notes

• Dr. Fetus overrides multiple tear effect items but benefit from some (but not all) bomb-enhancing effects like Mr. Mega

  Gives Isaac 5 bombs, and makes all dropped bombs larger, which have an increased blast radius and increased damage.

  .
  • In Afterbirth, many more synergies have been added.
• With Dr. Fetus, the range and shot speed stats both affect the velocity at which the bombs are fired out. Delay before explosion is not affected by either.
• Dr. Fetus is one of the items that directly affect tear delay.

Synergies

• 20/20

  Grants double shot.

  / The Inner Eye

  Grants triple shot but decreases tears.

  / Mutant Spider

  Grants quadruple shot but decreases tears.

  : Fires multiple bombs at the same time.
• Angelic Prism

  Grants a prism orbital with a large orbital radius. Tears that pass through the prism split into four multi-colored tears.

  : When bombs pass through the prism, they will be quadrupled.
• Blood Clot

  Increases damage by 1 and range by 5 for tears fired from the left eye.

  : Bonus damage applies on every shot. Also turns bombs red.
• Bob's Bladder

  Leaves a pool of green creep under all bombs Isaac places, which damages enemies that walk over it.

  : Creep is left along the path that the bomb travels.
• Bobby-Bomb

  Gives Isaac 5 Bombs, and causes all dropped bombs to home towards the closest enemy.

  : Bombs slowly home in on enemies.
• Bomber Boy

  +5 bombs. Isaac's bombs will now explode in a large cross-shaped pattern (roughly 5 bombs explosions wide). This also affects troll bombs.

  : Bombs explode in a large cross pattern.
• Butt Bombs

  Gives +5 bombs and makes all bombs Butt Bombs that fill the room with gas, damaging and confusing all enemies.

  : Bombs confuse enemies, and deal minor damage to the entire room, regardless of impact.
• Chocolate Milk

  Grants charged tears that deal greater damage when fully charged.

  : Slightly increases fire rate; no effect on damage.
• Cricket's Body

  Grants -1 Tear Delay and reduces Range. When tears hit an object or deplete their range, they spawn 4 smaller tears, whose Range and Damage scale with Isaac's.

  : Bombs split outwards into 4 tiny bombs, which detonate almost immediately.
• Fire Mind

  Grants flaming tears that deal burning damage over time. Tears have a chance to explode on impact with an enemy, which creates a fire at the location of the explosion.

  : Bombs leave behind a fire like Hot Bombs

  Grants 5 bombs. Isaac's bombs leave behind fire that damages enemies upon contact.

  .
• Fruit Cake

  Isaac's tears gain a random effect that changes every shot.

  : The random tear effects are instead applied on bomb explosion. Some of the normal effects are replaced with bomb-specific effects, like Glitter Bombs

  Gives Isaac 5 bombs, and makes Isaac's bombs have a chance to drop random pickups or charm enemies when they explode.

  .
• Glitter Bombs

  Gives Isaac 5 bombs, and makes Isaac's bombs have a chance to drop random pickups or charm enemies when they explode.

  : Each bomb fired has a chance of dropping a random consumable or trinket (rarer) after exploding. This synergy theoretically gives you an infinite supply of consumables.
• Haemolacria

  Tears are now fired in an arc. Upon hitting the floor, an obstacle, or an enemy, they burst into many smaller tears in all directions. Increases tear delay.

  : Significantly increased tear delay. Isaac fires a large arcing tear reminiscent of a bomb that scatters into 3-5 bombs that explode simultaneously.
• Holy Light

  Isaac has a random chance to fire a Holy tear, which, when it hits an enemy, will spawn a Crack the Sky-style light beam on the same enemy, dealing damage.

  : No effect.
• Host Hat

  A host familiar that sits on Isaac's head and has a random chance to block enemy shots and retaliate with 3 tears. Grants immunity to explosions.

  : The item grants invincibility from explosions, preventing self-damage.
• Hot Bombs

  Grants 5 bombs. Isaac's bombs leave behind fire that damages enemies upon contact.

  : Bombs leave behind fire that damages enemies on contact after exploding.
• Homing Tears: Bombs home in on enemies.
• The Inner Eye

  Grants triple shot but decreases tears.

  : Shoots 3 bombs instead of 1, but decreases fire rate.
• Ipecac

  Replaces tears with explosive and poisoning projectiles fired in an arc from the mouth.

  : Isaac is immune to his own bomb shots (not explosives or placed bombs) and damage is massively increased, as the +40 damage from Ipecac is run through the damage multiplier of Dr. Fetus. Shots will also explode immediately on impact with enemies, rocks or walls. If this synergy is mixed with Sad Bomb, Isaac will remain immune to the bomb itself, but not to the explosive tears. Mixing this synergy with Monstro's Lung

  Increases damage and grants a charged shot that fires multiple tears in the same fashion as Monstro.

  renders Isaac no longer immune to his own shots, also they will explode as soon as you shoot.
• The Ludovico Technique

  Instead of firing tears, Isaac controls one floating tear that hover over obstacles. This tear deals constant damage when held in place over an enemy.

  : Bomb can be controlled before exploding, similar to Epic Fetus

  Isaac's tears are replaced with guided missiles, like those used by the Doctor's Remote.

  .
• Monstro's Lung

  Increases damage and grants a charged shot that fires multiple tears in the same fashion as Monstro.

  : Same effect as 20/20

  Grants double shot.

  , except retains fire rate.
  • Shoots 6 bombs which need to be fully charged before firing. The bombs detonate simultaneously.
• Mr. Mega

  Gives Isaac 5 bombs, and makes all dropped bombs larger, which have an increased blast radius and increased damage.

  : Adds 30 flat damage to bomb explosions.
• Mutant Spider

  Grants quadruple shot but decreases tears.

  : Shoots 4 bombs instead of 1, but decreases fire rate
• Poison Tears: Poison effects will give bombs a flat +50 damage. This is guaranteed by Ipecac

  Replaces tears with explosive and poisoning projectiles fired in an arc from the mouth.

  , Bob's Curse

  Gives 5 bombs and grants all bombs poison effect.

  , and Scorpio

  Grants poison tears, which deal damage over time when inflicted.

  , and can also proc from The Common Cold

  Adds a chance to shoot poison tears, dealing damage over time when inflicted.

  or Pinky Eye

  Adds a 10% chance to shoot a poison tear, dealing damage over time when inflicted.

  .
  • No damage increase from poison.
• Nose Goblin

  Chance to fire a booger that sticks to enemies and deals damage over time.

  : Each bomb fired has a small chance to home in on enemies.
• Ouija Board

  Grants spectral tears that travel through obstacles (but not enemies) instead of breaking on impact with them.

  : Bombs will become spectral and pass through objects just like spectral tears do.
• Polyphemus

  Makes Isaac shoot one huge tear. Also reduces Tears to minimum. Damage increased . If tear does more damage than an enemy's life, the tear continues to travel with the extra remaining damage.

  : Bombs increase in size and do increased damage.
  • Bombs become Mr. Mega

    Gives Isaac 5 bombs, and makes all dropped bombs larger, which have an increased blast radius and increased damage.

    bombs. After they explode, they leave behind a regular-sized bomb.
• Proptosis

  Tears start out massive with high damage, and then shrink down and become weaker over a short range.

  : Doubles damage with no penalty for distance.
• Pyromaniac

  Isaac heals 1 heart instead of taking damage from an explosive source. Adds 5 bombs.

  : Bomb explosions heal Isaac, granting infinite health as long as Isaac has more than one heart container.
• Remote Detonator

  Bombs you place explode only when you use this item. Gives 5 bombs.

  : Bombs can be detonated early, making it easier to hit moving enemies.
• Sad Bombs

  +5 Bombs. Upon exploding, bombs shoot 8 tears off in every direction, similar to Tammy's Head. The tears are affected by any tear modifiers Isaac has on his own tears.

  : Fires tears as normally placed Sad Bombs would. If this synergy is combined with Ipecac, the tears from the bomb become explosive, which Isaac is not immune to. Note: tears fired from previous Dr. Fetus bombs can collide with other Dr. Fetus bombs (can be negated with spectral tears).
• Scatter Bombs

  Adds 5 bombs. Isaac's bombs explode into 2-4 tiny bombs

  : Each bomb splits into 2-4 small bombs, each of which is also affected by Isaac's bomb modifiers.
• Serpent's Kiss

  Tears now have a random chance to apply a poison effect, causing 4 or 6 damage per tick to enemies (Similar to The Common Cold item). Isaac now deals poison damage on contact with enemies similar to The Virus item (Damage over time 4 or 6 per tick). Enemies that were poisoned have a chance to drop a black heart when killed.

  : Causes your bombs to randomly be transformed into poison bombs.
• Spoon Bender

  Grants Isaac homing tears.

  : The bombs are purple and act as if Isaac had Bobby-Bomb

  Gives Isaac 5 Bombs, and causes all dropped bombs to home towards the closest enemy.

  .
• Tech X

  Tears are replaced with laser rings that pierce through enemies and deal damage to enemies within them. Can be charged to increase the size of the ring.

  : A laser circle forms around the bomb and kills occasionally drop black hearts.
• The Wiz

  Tears simultaneously fire out of both eyes diagonally, similar to the effect of the R U A Wizard? pill. Isaac's tears also travel above all obstacles.

  : Shoots two bombs diagonally.

Interactions

• A Lump of Coal

  The more distance tears travel, the more damage they will do.

  : No damage increase.
• Anti-Gravity

  -2 Tear Delay. Tears float in position until firing ceases, after which they will fly off in the direction they were shot in.

  : Tears up, but no anti-gravity effect.
• Brimstone

  Tears are replaced by a laser beam that pierces through all enemies and obstacles in its path and deals high damage. Can only be fired after a short charge-up period.

  : Overrides Brimstone.
  • : Isaac continuously fires bombs while charging the blood laser. Overrides Azazel's blood laser.
• Cricket's Body

  Grants -1 Tear Delay and reduces Range. When tears hit an object or deplete their range, they spawn 4 smaller tears, whose Range and Damage scale with Isaac's.

  : Slight tears up and greatly reduced range, but bombs do not split.
  • : Upon exploding, bombs split into four small bombs that are not affected by Isaac's bomb modifiers.
• Compound Fracture

  Increases range. Tears turn into bones, which shatter into 1-3 bone shards upon hitting an enemy or obstacle.

  : No effect beyond slight range increase, bombs do not split.
• Dark Matter

  Increases Damage by 1 and adds a chance to shoot fear tears.

  : Grants a chance for bombs to inflict Fear on enemies
• Death's Touch

  Increases Damage by 1.5, reduces Tears by 0.3 and increases tear size. Grants piercing tears. Tears are replaced by Death's scythes, which is a cosmetic effect only.

  : Tear size and shape don't apply, but all other effects apply.
• Epic Fetus

  Isaac's tears are replaced with guided missiles, like those used by the Doctor's Remote.

  : Overrides Dr. Fetus.
• Explosivo

  Isaac's tears have a chance to stick to enemies and explode.

  : Bombs fired have a chance to stick to an enemy, much like Sticky Bombs

  +5 bombs. Bombs stick to enemies and spawn 2-4 blue spiders if they kill an enemy.

  .
• The Forgotten: The charge attack is replaced by a live bomb in the Forgotten's hand. It is thrown on release, but may also explode in his hand if it's held too long. The range of the throw doesn't depend on length of charge, unless the bomb explodes mid-air. The melee attack is unaffected.
• Guppy: Dr. Fetus Bombs exploding do not spawn flies.
• Keeper: Decreases Keepers tear rate but he shoots 3 bombs.
  • Keeper + The Inner Eye

    Grants triple shot but decreases tears.

    Decreases Keepers tear rate even further but he shoots 6 bombs.
• Kidney Stone

  Randomly while firing tears, Isaac will stop firing and turn red, where he will charge and release a lot of 'tears' in one go. In the burst of tears is a kidney stone which deals a lot of damage.

  : Not recommended. Bombs spawn directly in front of Isaac making self damage very likely.
• Lachryphagy

  Isaac's tears decelerate as they travel. Upon stopping or hitting an obstacle, they burst into 8 tears in all directions. Tears can be fired into other tears to feed them, increasing their damage.

  : Overridden by Dr. Fetus.
• Lead Pencil

  After every 15 tears fired, Isaac will fire a high-damage cluster of tears.

  : Overridden by Dr. Fetus.
• Loki's Horns

  Gives a random chance for projectiles to fire in all 4 cardinal directions.

  : Grants a chance to fire four bombs in the cardinal directions.
• Marked

  Isaac will now fire tears automatically directed at a red target on the ground which is controlled by the player. This allows for a full 360 degree tear firing radius. Can be overridden by other tear modifiers such as Mom's Knife or Brimstone.

  : Overridden by Dr. Fetus except for stat effects which are applied.
• Mom's Eye

  Allows Isaac to fire tears from the back of his head.

  : Grants a chance to shoot an extra bomb from the back of Isaac's head.
• Mom's Knife

  Isaac's tears are replaced by a knife that pierces enemies, can travel through obstacles, and can hurt enemies while Isaac is holding it. Holding down the fire button before firing increases its range and power.

  : Overrides the bomb.
  • : Isaac continuously fires bombs while charging the knife.
• My Reflection

  Gives Isaac's tears a boomerang effect, and increases range and shot speed.

  : Bombs lose momentum and slide back towards Isaac.
• Mysterious Liquid

  Tears leave a small, short lasting pool of creep on impact or when their range is depleted.

  : Exploding bombs leave behind a large pool of creep.
• Number One

  +1.5 tears, -15.77 range

  : Reduces range, increases tear rate, and tints bombs yellow.
• The Parasite

  Isaac's tears split in two when they hit something.

  : No effect.
  • Bombs split into two bombs upon exploding.
• Piercing Tears: Bombs travel through enemies.
• Pop!

  Replaces Isaac's tears with eyeballs that can bounce off of each other. The eyeballs are not limited by range, and will instead dissipate when they stop moving or when hitting an enemy or obstacle.

  : Overridden by Dr. Fetus.
• Pulse Worm

  Shots pulse in size.

  : No effect.
• Soy Milk

  Tears shrink and do much less damage, but fire in very rapid succession.

  : Rapidly fires low-damage bombs.
• Tammy's Head

  Shoots 10 tears in a circle around Isaac, which retain the damage, shot speed, and special effects (such as poison) of Isaac's tears.

  : Shoots 10 bombs in a circle around Isaac.
• Technology

  Replaces tears with a piercing laser with unlimited range.

  : Overrides Technology.
  • Both bombs and lasers are fired.
• Technology 2

  Decreases damage and replaces right eye tears with a unlimited range, piercing laser which fires continuously.

  : Both laser and bombs are fired. If playing as Cain, the ability to fire bombs is removed, leaving only the laser.
• Technology Zero

  Connects Isaac's tears with electricity that can damage enemies.

  : Overridden by Dr. Fetus.
• Tiny Planet

  Range up and makes shot tears revolve around Isaac until they drop.

  : Bombs fly uncontrollably around the player. This is very dangerous and not recommended.
• Tough Love

  Adds a chance to shoot a tooth instead of a tear, which deals greater damage than regular tears.

  : Applies damage and radius bonus, however bomb appearance remains unchanged.
  • Tears that would have fired a tooth shot instead become a bomb with the Mr. Mega

    Gives Isaac 5 bombs, and makes all dropped bombs larger, which have an increased blast radius and increased damage.

    effect, dealing more damage and shaking the screen.
• Trisagion

  Tears are replaced with piercing white blasts of light.

  : Overridden by Dr. Fetus.

Gallery

• 

  Dr. Fetus in Ending 9.

Bugs

Bug! The black ring generated from the synergy of Dr Fetus and Tech X behaves as a Maw of the Void ring and causes black hearts to drop.

Trivia

• The Dr. Fetus and Epic Fetus items are based off of Dr. Fetus, the main villain in Super Meat Boy which is a game by Edmund McMillen (the creator of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth).
• This item is used in Challenge #9 (Demo Man).

Seeds

 PC  KP6M WZAJ (treasure room adjacent to spawn) (normal and hard mode)

 PC  9LCJ RQG8 (treasure room adjacent to spawn) (normal mode only)