The Spitter

The Spitter is a new Special Infected to appear in Left 4 Dead 2.

It makes a hacking sound before spitting out what appears to be a ball of mutated stomach acid, which, upon hitting the ground, spreads out into a large pool and changes from a sickish green gas-like substance to blood red. Any survivors within the area receive massive quantities of damage over time. This makes it exceedingly difficult to camp in one place for too long, otherwise the Survivors' health will quickly be depleted. It can be assumed the substance it shoots from its mouth has corrosive properties, although it appears unable to pass through obstructions, even bouncing off hard surfaces such as walls. This brings to mind the question of whether or not the Infected could effectively spit at a wall from an angle and divert its acid to a camping group around the corner. She apparently also possess the ability to jump high distances, as seen in one of GameTrailers videos. In that video, she is seen jumping to the height of a roof, spitting the acid at the Survivors, and then falling down.

The Spitter was designed to split up tightly packed groups of survivors to make them easier to pick off by the other Special Infected, just like the Charger's primary objective.

Extent of Mutations
The Spitter's lower jaw, cheeks and lips seem to be either gone or noticeably eroded. This is most likely due to a mutation caused by the infection, or damage from the acid it coughs up. The creature's body proportions are awkwardly stretched, including the elongated neck, and the belly seems slightly bloated, most likely to accommodate and produce the fluids.

It appears to be mutating in the same fashion as the Boomer, with its gut expanded, (probably still growing). It seems likely that, unlike the Boomer's bile, its spit can only cause damage, not attract the horde.

The Spitter's limbs are also noticeably elongated. There is no known reason for this as of yet, other than to make the Spitter more frightening in appearance.

Trivia

 * According to GameSpy, its graphics and design are still being worked on. Presumably as some find the Spitter disturbing.
 * In one of the new comic con videos, the Survivors see a dead Spitter briefly on the wooden bridge. This Spitter lacks the high heels, and doesn't have quite as long a neck. This may be in fact the new design the developers have created. But if so, it is even more likely it will have changed again when the final product is released.
 * The concept of the Spitter is very similar to a zombie of the same name from Jenny Romanchuk's The Zombie Hunters comic. However, there is no evidence that the game developers were influenced by or are even aware of this webcomic.
 * The Spitter may be what happens when the virus that affects a Boomer affects a female. Both seem to have big stomachs (Believed by some to be due to pregnancy), and both spit out some type of vomit. It could be that the Boomer virus has become even stronger, resulting in the Spitter's damage-causing attack.