Emil's melting mutation was inspired by the 1977 science fiction film "The Incredible Melting Man". Bottin designed and fabricated Emil's prosthetics, creating a foam latex headpiece and matching gloves that gave the appearance of Emil's skin melting "off his bones like marshmallow sauce." A second piece depicting further degradation was applied over the first. Dupuis painted each piece differently to emphasize Emil's advancing degradation. The prosthetics were applied to an articulated dummy to show Emil being struck by Boddicker's car. The head was loosened so it would fly off, and by chance, it rolled onto the car's hood. The effect was completed with Emil's liquified body (raw chicken, soup, and gravy) washing over the windscreen. The same dummy stands in for RoboCop when he is crushed by steel beams (painted wood). Verhoeven wanted RoboCop to kill Boddicker by stabbing him in the eye, but it was believed the effort to create the effect would be wasted because it would likely be censored.