open/close all folders
Original characters:
Sgt. Mitchell
Sgt. Mitchell Shephard
Voice Actor: Mick "Ricepirate" Lauer
Our main protagonist and playable character. He's one of the HECU marines that were deployed to Black Mesa to "silence" the scientists there. A chance meeting with Freeman (actually Adam) has him getting beaten down rather brutally. He later on tries to survive throughout the Seven-Hour War and later on becomes a Captain of a ship and now has his own Army.
- Asshole Victim: Sure, Mitchell got beaten nearly to death with a crowbar, and has a bunch of scars on his face to show for it. However, he was an officer in the HECU Marines, whose overall mission was to kill all the Black Mesa scientists and security guards to cover up the Resonance Cascade incident. While the game itself doesn't show Mitchell personally kill anyone at Black Mesa (besides a masked Black Ops in the prologue cutscene who attempted to assassinate him) he doesn't deny HECU's role when Adam states they killed more than half of all Black Mesa personnel before any Black Ops ever showed up.
- Badass Longcoat: Later on wears a coat after basically being one of the only people left that could lead the surviving military.
- Badass Normal: Aside from his training as an HECU Marine, he's just a normal guy with a lot of guns on hand, and he doesn't even have access to the HEV suit Gordon does. This actually comes across in gameplay, see Glass Cannon below.
- Barbarian Longhair: Pre-Time Skip. Which is against regulation, mind.
- Baritone of Strength: Mitchell's go-to tone of voice, which is hardly surprising considering his actor.
- Berserk Button: Crowbars of any shape and size, and the mere mention of Gordon Freeman's name.
- Captain Obvious: He is rather prone to being this. In fact one of his first reactions upon entering a room full of obviously-KIA marines is to immediately reiterate that yes, all of them are dead.Mitchell: Oh fuck! They are all dead.
- Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: Is this to Captain Roosevelt, with Mitchell being slightly gruff and foul-mouthed and Roosevelt being pleasant and nice. Unfortunately, this isn't explored further, as like every other figure of authority during the Seven-Hour War portion of the game, Roosevelt bites it after about five minutes.
- Custom Uniform: Barring a very tiny handful of HECU troopers seen in the game, next to nobody in the entire US military have the same uniform as Mitchell. Not even the recruits he's bunked with during the newly-added tutorial, who wear the standard cadet tee top and cargo pants, while Mitchell himself still rocks the white-and-blue camo he has during the prologue.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Was raised by a single parent with his brother Adrian until the parent committed suicide. He then stayed in a foster home, witnessing the adoption of his brother and being left behind. He grew up to be a homeless drunk until he saw a Marines poster and decided to enlist.
- Disproportionate Retribution: He tries to find and kill Gordon for seventeen years out of revenge for injuring him. (Not for his dead squadmates mind you). However, by the start of the second Time Skip he tries to angrily back out of the deal he made with G-Man by claiming he never wanted all this death to follow after him when he made the deal, though he ultimately goes through with it once G-Man reminds him what's at sake. Subverted by the end of the game, as Adam (who is the true perpetrator, with Gordon being a Red Herring) betrays Mitchell by framing him for Sasha's murder, therefore giving much more justification for his grudge.
- Doom Magnet: Not entirely his own fault, but commanding officers above him have a disturbing tendency to die horribly whenever they're tagging along with him. The G-Man is revealed to have orchestrated, or at the very least facilitated said deaths in order for Mitchell to attain his "authority" as per their agreement, presumably with the help of Adam as well, given his role in the conspiracy.
- Expy:
- Early on, he looks a bit like John Wick with even more noticeable scars or Geralt of Rivia with black hair or maybe the Point Man from FEAR 3. Later on he becomes an expy of Venom Snake, with him rescuing orphaned children, having a base in the ocean and being a heavily-scarred melancholic commander.
- He also speaks with a grizzled, guttural voice à la Duke Nukem after the Time Skip, complete with corny one-liners. Whether the impression was intentional or not is up to debate, however.
- Field Promotion: With practically everyone who has a higher rank than him dead (including a ship captain) he's pretty much promoted to Captain almost immediately.
- First-Name Basis: An odd example; he's always called Mitchell, even when he's addressed as Sergeant or Mister or Captain, as if it were his surname. His actual surname, Shephard, is only revealed in the end credits.
- Foil: To Freeman. While Freeman is part of the staff at Black Mesa, Mitchell is part of the HECU; Freeman doesn't speak, but Mitchell is quite chatty; Freeman is constantly working on the whims of others, while Mitchell is a leader with his own goal (or so he thinks); and so on.
- Gas Mask Mook: Before getting his face redecorated with a crowbar, he was wearing an HECU gas mask and helmet just like Adrian Shephard. Although he has the decency to wear full-fingered gloves and not roll up his sleeves.
- Glass Cannon: How he plays in comparison to those familiar with Gordon. Mitchell has an impressive armory of guns and occasional melee weapons at his disposal, but he lacks Gordon's more exotic weaponry like the gravity gun, the HEV suit for extra defense, and he's more limited in movement (he can only sprint forward and his accuracy suffers greatly as a result, unlike Gordon being able to sprint in any direction without affecting his current weapon's accuracy). One reviewer noted that the story itself seems to take note of this
when Gordon trounces Mitchell at the beginning.Tehsnakerer: It's like a monster truck slamming into a tuk-tuk. It's no competition. - Good Scars, Evil Scars: Courtesy of Gordon (actually Adam) redecorating his face with a crowbar. Whether he's good or evil is up for interpretation, though he definitely sees himself as evil.
- Hand Cannon: Gets a revolver that looks like a blend between a S&W Model 500 and a pimped-out Model 629, as it has visual features of both while using the latter's caliber. He seems to have taken a liking towards it.
- Hypocrite: He chews out Adam during their first encounter for murdering his comrades along with the Black Mesa staff, despite the entire reason for the H.E.C.U. being there in the first place was to silence the latter following the Resonance Cascade, and the Black Ops were only sent in later when the Marines failed. When Adam retorted that he was Just Following Orders, Mitchell got even more riled up, before being stunned silent when the former pointed how the nature of both of their missions were exactly the same, and the latter had no moral high ground to stand on.
- It's All About Me: He spends the entire game trying to kill Freeman for acting in self-defense. Nevermind the fact that he's humanity's last hope and the only reason they have a chance against the Combine. He raises what amounts to a brainwashed army of child soldiers and turns them over to the Combine just for a shot at killing Freeman. When it's revealed that Adam was his true attacker, Mitchell drops his vendetta against Freeman entirely, despite Freeman still being responsible the deaths of many of his brothers-in-arms, making it apparent that Mitchell was more outraged that he was personally humiliated than the loss of his teammates.
- It's Personal: Subverted with Freeman. By the time the events of Half-Life 2 kick in, Mitchell completely abandoned the idea of actually going after him. The only reason he even agrees to do this is because G-Man forced him to.
- On the other hand, played completely straight with Adam. The second Mitchell finds out about him being the culprit behind his infamous facial scarring, a "permission to die" is given.
- Ironic Name: As noted by Cpt. Roosevelt his first name Mitchell means "Gift from God" but the things that happen to the people around him are the complete opposite of what a "Gift from God" would bring.
- Machete Mayhem: Can use a machete with a wooden handle and saw-like back.
- Made of Iron: The amount of crap Mitchell is put through is absolutely impressive to say the least.
- Meaningful Name:
- Another meaning Cpt. Roosevelt reveals about Mitchell is 'Who is like God', which were probably how the brainwashed child soldiers saw him after he rescued them.
- Also "Mitchell" is usually a surname but it's his first name, just like how Freeman's first name "Gordon" is also a surname but used as a first name instead.
- Minor Injury Overreaction: A tiny handful of relatively small, shallow cuts are apparently enough for Mitchell to harbor murderous grudge against his attacker for decades.
- Moral Myopia: His grudge against Gordon Freeman hinges on his being willfully ignorant of the fact the H.E.C.U. were sent in to murder the Black Mesa survivors as part of a cover-up, meaning that the former only acted in self-defense and not out of malice.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Gives one to Adam after finding out the truth and shooting him a bunch of times point blank. He actually borrowed it from G-Man.You have my permission to die.
- Revenge Before Reason: True, Adam was responsible for pretty much every bad thing Mitchell has gone through over the past two decades, though at the very least he could have taken the time to listen to his excuses instead of immediately shooting the crap out of him with his Hand Cannon over incredibly petty reasons. Nice work, Mitchell, now there's no way of knowing the true motive behind this "deal".
- Revolvers Are Just Better: He takes a liking towards the game's revolver. He puts Adam on the receiving end of it.
- Serious Business: Humanity's future be damned, hunting down the Freeman is extremely serious business to Mitchell.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Uses a shortened pump-action shotgun and later on a double barreled shotgun. He makes use of the pump-action more often in cutscenes, in one particular trailer scene he actually "stabs" it into a Headcrab Zombie and shoots two others while using its body to pump it.
- That Man Is Dead: Mitchell's experiences before, during and after the Combine invasion caused him to adopt a grim and cynical worldview in place of his hopeful and idealistic self. Discussed
perhaps not in the most graceful of ways when Sasha called him a hero during their reunion after the second Time Skip.Mitchell: Hero? Huh. You're talking to a villain, my dear. The hero inside of me died...many, many years ago when I was young. - Unknown Rival: Due to the fact that it was Adam who "fucked up his face" back in Black Mesa. Gordon Freeman doesn't actually know who he is or even if he exists.Mitchell: He doesn't even know... I exist...
- Villain Protagonist: As the tagline for the game itself states, "You are the villain." He's part of HECU that was sent to kill some innocent scientists in Black Mesa. There's also the fact he's pretty much dooming humanity by hunting down Freeman who is humanity's last hope at this point. He even goes out of his own way to call himself a villain at some point.
- Also later on, he actually collaborates with the Combine to kill some Human Rebels who were just waiting for Freeman. After it's revealed that it was Adam who almost killed Mitchell, it basically means he just murdered a bunch of innocent human rebels that didn't really have anything to do with his problem.
- There's also the fact that the orphans that he was adopting were pretty much just adopted so he could have more soldiers for his army. He also uses a suicide bomber as part of his plan to get past the main Combine checkpoint in City 17.
- Walking Armory: Mitchell can carry an absurd amount of weapons, with the complete loadout being just as large as (if not larger than) Gordon's or Shephard's.
- Wrench Whack: He is given a wrench as a weapon by Boston Joe, much like Adrian Shephard from Opposing Force. Appropriate, considering he is Adrian's brother.
- You Are in Command Now: One of the benefits of his "deal" with the G-Man is "power", which is granted to him by everyone of a higher rank than him biting it regardless of what he does, leaving him the only high-ranking soldier left to lead the surviving soldiers.
Adam
Adam
Voice Actor: Vincent "IamCyr" Cyr
- "And you must be... Mitchell?"
Part of the Black Ops group and a survivor of the Black Mesa incident, he meets up with Mitchell due to being interested in their escape plan. He later on becomes one of his followers and is one of his second in commands alongside Nick.
- Ambiguously Evil: A backstabbing bastard, certainly, but the story doesn't explain what his deal and terms with the G-Man are or why he was explicitly pretending to be Freeman. It seems like his deal was to effectively get Mitchell into all the right places to build up the Avalon Vale, then let him meet the G-Man so they both leave him to die to take it all for Adam's unanswered goals, but then the G-Man allows a surviving Mitchell to dispose of him so readily that it's hard to gather whether Adam was actually being evil or just hit a pragmatic contract.
- Boom, Headshot!: His ultimate fate, with a Hand Cannon no less.
- Cold Sniper: Fits this role before and after meeting Mitchell face to face, sniping a lot of the enemies he faces.
- Crowbar Combatant: While under the guise of Gordon Freeman, he uses one to fuck up Mitchell's face.
- Dirty Coward: Runs for it when Mitchell comes for his head, and spends his last moments pathetically pleading for his life.
- The Dragon: For the G-Man. He was the one who assaulted Mitchell under the guise of Gordon Freeman and kept tabs on him after the Seven Hour War.
- Hand Cannon: Uses the game's revolver to kill Sasha before she could reveal too much information.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Adam was modeled after his voice actor, IamCyr.
- Just Following Orders: This is his way of excusing the Black Ops' slaughter of both H.E.C.U. troops as well as the Black Mesa survivors when confronted by Mitchell. When Mitchell expressed anger at this seeming Lack of Empathy, Adam pointed out how the H.E.C.U. were sent in under orders to do the very same thing, which stunned the Marine into silence. He would later repeat this excuse after the revelation of him being on the G-Man's payroll all along. Needless to say, Mitchell didn't buy it the second time, either.
- Karmic Death: Killed by the very same type of weapon in the exact same way he killed Sasha, by the man whose face he fucked up.
- Made of Iron: All things considered, he took those point blank shots from the game's resident Hand Cannon surprisingly well. Granted, he was wearing body armor when all of this was going down, but his vocal reaction to eating several high-caliber magnum shots to the stomach sounded like he merely stubbed his toe instead.
- Older Than They Look: In stark contrast to Nick (see below on that), he did not age that much.
- Pretty Little Headshots: Surprisingly, his head is intact after he was shot point blank by Mitchell's Hand Cannon.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Before fucking his face up, he shoots Mitchell point blank with a SPAS-12 shotgun, making him fall over the railing.
- Walking Spoiler: He's actually the one who beat the crap out of Mitchell under the guise of Gordon Freeman.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once the G-Man's plan for Mitchell is realized, he abandons Adam to Mitchell's (nonexistent) mercy when he survives the Combine and makes it back to the Avalon Vale. Granted, Mitchell wasn't expected to survive, but since the G-Man got what he wanted, he couldn't care what happened to Adam either way.
Nick
Nick
Voice Actor: Alex "I Hate Everything" Horton
Before and after the timeskip.
- "Hey Mitchell... Welcome to Albuquerque."
A member of the National Guard and probably the last one. He becomes a close ally of Mitchell's and is basically his second in command after becoming their leader.
- But Not Too Foreign: He's part of the American National Guard but of Asian ancestry. His accent on the other hand...
- Cassandra Truth: He's the only person to note that almost every higher-ranking soldier than Mitchell always dies (Colonel Cue and Lieutenant Harvey) to Captain Roosevelt in order to warn him. For all the good it does.
- Exact Words: Takes exactly fifteen minutes for him to come save Mitchell during the final Hold the Line segment.
-
Fake American: A few of his lines are delivered with a fake American accent. This is actually unintentional: he was originally intended to have an American accent, but at some point they chose to go with Not Even Bothering with the Accent instead and some of the original lines were accidentally left in instead of being replaced by the rerecorded ones. - Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Compared to his other National Guardsmen (barring Col. Cue) he doesn't wear a helmet.
- Hypocrite: He claims that Mitchell is cursed because every higher-ranking soldier than him always dies... but he's saying this despite the fact Colonel Cue and Lieutenant Harvey were also his and Adam's superior officers, so by that logic they could be just as easily "cursed" too.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: As noted in the main page. His voice was provided by Alex of I Hate Everything fame, but the voiceover provided is in his natural English accent, although some of it is him attempting to do an American accent.
- Only Sane Man: When Mitchell orders them to reach the Combine so that they can all hunt down Freeman, he vocally disagrees pointing out that the Combine is practically hunting them down as well.
- Younger Than He Looks: He did not age gracefully during the Time Skip, looking 40 years older than before even though only 20 years have passed.
Colonel Cue
Colonel Cue
Voice Actor: Michael Green
"That's where you're wrong, kiddo."
- "That's right, we do have a plan... We'll run away."
The leader of the National Guard (what's left of it anyway) and is the one that creates the plan to escape from the Combine by pointing out that while they have taken over the Land and Air, they haven't taken the sea yet.
- Cool Shades: Wears some pretty cool aviators.
- Colonel Badass: Manages to live long enough through the Seven Hour War and is fondly remembered by Nick and Lt. Harvey after he dies. Nick calls him "the toughest son of a bitch I ever knew."
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Gets killed rather abruptly when the Combine assault the train that they were using to escape towards California.
- A Father to His Men: Has shades of this, however he also treats his men like he has reserves when it comes to dangerous situations that a common assault rifle couldn't easily solve.
- Plotline Death: No matter how well Mitchell handled the train defense section, Colonel Cue along with most of his men still somehow manage to all die by the time the party reaches Nevada.
- Sacrificial Lion: He's the leader of what's left of the National Guard and is the one to make the plan to escape the Combine via boat, but he gets killed rather abruptly.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: His plan in a nutshell when it's clear the Seven Hour War is lost.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Is a comic relief character who perishes halfway through the Act 1 along with most of his squad.
- We Have Reserves: When he wants that train powered up and ready to go, he wants it. Doesn't matter how many men he chucks at it, some of them might die, but that's a sacrifice he's willing to make.
Larry
Larry
Voice Actor: Sky Williams
"My mother's dead!?"
- Butt-Monkey: Is "volunteered" for what's basically a suicide mission. Even when Mitchell offers to undertake the task, Colonel Cue still sends him to tag along.
- Camp Gay: Listen to him talk.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: All things considered, Larry can hold his own against the zombies, and later the Combine with his comrades.
- Hypocrite: Exclaims that he "never voted for" the president after hearing his surrender speech, yet he was joining with his commanding officer in deserting the war effort before he even knew about said surrender.
- Mistaken for Flirting: If you bump into him multiple times, he will take that as Mitchell coming on to him."Sorry, Sarg, I'm taken."
- Plotline Death: Dies on the train to Nevada along with Colonel Cue.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Is even more of a comic relief than his commanding officer and yet still perishes halfway through the Act 1 along with most of his squad.
President of the United States
President of The United States
Voice Actor: Daniel "Keemstar" Keem
"Yet the fact and hard truth remains that we lost this battle. For now. And believe me, we will live to fight another day."
- Emergency Presidential Address: The prez's first and so far only appearance in the plot is a public speech delivered via radio announcing the United States' capitulation.
Corporal Alex "Crew"
Corporal Alex "Crew"
Voice Actor: Niall "Pyrocynical" Murphy
"Colonel... We are so fucked!"
- The Faceless: Due to wearing a balaclava, sunglasses and a helmet. Makes his appearance rather indistinguishable.
- Large Ham: His brief lines of dialogue are all spoken in a loud, clear voice that shows off his British accent...despite wearing a mask that should logically muffle his voice, all things considered. Something lampshaded by Pyrocynical himself.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: He is voiced by Pyrocynical, whose British accent is even thicker than that of IHE's despite the character he's playing being an American.
- Plotline Death: Dies on the train to Nevada along with Colonel Cue and Larry.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Provides an unintentionally comical scene in his sole appearance, then dies on the train to Nevada off-screen.
- This Is Gonna Suck: The above quote indicates that he knows how screwed they are, and has more or less accepted it.
Lieutenant Harvey
Lieutenant Harvey
Voice Actor: Jonathan "UberDanger" Benlolo
"Rangers! Lead the way!"
The leader and commanding officer of (what remains of) the US Army's 5th Ranger Company.
- Artistic License – Military: "Lieutenant" by itself is a Navy and/or Coast Guard rank. The proper Army equivalent would either be First or Second Lieutenant.
- Killed Offscreen: No matter how well you do the truck escort mission, he will somehow die before Mitchell gets to the Avalon Vale, going by Nick's words.
- Sacrificial Lion: Is the commanding officer of the remaining US Army's Ranger Company, which is enough to tell you that he's pretty experienced but unfortunately gets killed.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He only gets like a minute of screentime at most before he dies offscreen.
"Boston" Joe
"Boston" Joe
Voice Actor: Joe Connors
"Remember: no weapons."
- Action Survivor: He is more or less a civilian, but is more than capable of fending off Headcrab Zombies.
- Buffy Speak: Calls Headcrabs as "Spiders with Huge Vaginas".
- Crowbar Combatant: When fending off some Head Crab Zombies (as firearms were a no go, due to a gas leak) he holds on to crowbar because he has no intention of giving it away, which is fine with Mitchell due to bad experiences with crowbars.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: He claims there's a gas leak and he and Mitchell will have to use melee weapons if they don't want to get blown up, but Mitchell and he can fire off guns afterward like there's no tomorrow. Lampshaded by Mitchell if he fires off a shot after the cutscene.Mitchell: ...Wait a minute, I thought you said 'no weapons'?Joe: About the shotgun... Yeah, uh, it was the other room that had the gas leak, not this one, so you're fine.Mitchell: Really?Joe: I mixed it up, yeah...
- Nervous Wreck: He's very high-strung and prone to panic, and tends to misremember things. Considering his situation, it's pretty understandable.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Mostly exists to provide comic relief in the factory scene, yet unlike Colonel Cue and his team, he isn't even mentioned to have died; he just disappears after the first Time Skip and is never brought up again.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Uses a shotgun against the Headcrab Zombies... Despite him saying that there's a gas leak and that no firearms should be used.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He straight-up vanishes after the Time Skip.
Captain Roosevelt
Captain Roosevelt
Voice Actor: Colossal is Crazy
"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2."
The Captain of the Avalon Vale, the ship Colonel Cue and Lieutenant Harvey intended to board with their men.
- As the Good Book Says...: Captain Roosevelt is introduced as he quotes Hebrews 13:2. He also understands the biblical significance of Mitchell's name.
- Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: Is this to Sergeant Mitchell, with Mitchell being slightly gruff and foul-mouthed and Roosevelt being pleasant and nice. Unfortunately he doesn't stay for very long.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Almost the moment he's introduced he's killed almost abruptly.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: The poor captain gets bisected in an explosion as his tanker ship is assaulted by the Combine, which then flung his upper half all the way down onto the deck in full view of Mitchell and allies. Amazingly, he survives this long enough to deliver one last sentence.
- Nice Guy: The moment we meet him he has smile in his face and he's a surprisingly pleasant person all around, unfortunately he doesn't stay long.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Yet again, another presumably-American character played by a British actor. Colossal's accent does help sell Roosevelt as an Officer and a Gentleman, however.
- Officer and a Gentleman: His Nice Guy attitude and British accent certainly fulfills the requirements. A shame he doesn't stay for long.
- Tempting Fate: When Nick points out that almost every superior officer that is in Mitchell's vicinity gets killed. His response is "We'll see about that." and gets blown in half a few minutes after he leaves the screen.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: As per usual, he dies shortly after being introduced.
Boris
Boris
Voice Actor: Vincent Fallow
"I know he sent you. Our mutual friend."
An Alaskan local of Slavic origin who was put in charge of an Immolator factory some time after the Seven Hour War. Boris and Mitchell met three years after the war, during the latter's search for more weapons to better fight the Combine. Despite Mitchell torching the factory shortly afterwards and relieving the place of its workforce, Boris and his daughter are saved through the machinations of the G-Man, and by the second Time Skip had already been installed as Dr. Breen's second-in-command in City 17.
- Affably Evil: Despite being a Combine collaborator, he's impeccably polite and friendly whenever he talks to Mitchell.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: The reason he runs the cremator factory is because the Combine threatened his daughter.
- Deal with the Devil: He made a deal with the G-Man.
- Enemy Mine: He makes a brief alliance between the Combine and Mitchell's renegades.
- Exact Words: When Mitchell finally comes face to face with Boris after the Time Skip to offer his services to the Combine, the latter excuses himself for a little while. And he means it, as Mitchell will be practically stuck inside his office for several real-time minutes until Boris returns to inch the plot along.
- Foil: Pretty much the Shadow Archetype and Evil Counterpart for Eli Vance. Both of them are motivated to protect their respective daughters, and they've also been directly involved with the G-Man, but while Eli builds the world-wide Resistance network and raises his daughter to be a top rank Rebel figure, Boris instead collaborates with the Combine and sends his daughter as The Mole in the Resistance. This is further by the fact that both Eli and Boris have personally interacted with G-Man and both refer to him as "our mutual friend". On a side note, while Alyx's life is saved as a part of G-Man's plan, Sasha is killed as a part G-Man other plan.
- Forced into Evil: He collaborated with Combine to save his daughter's life. In fact, he's even grateful that Mitchell destroys his Cremator factory.
- Papa Wolf: Threatens to kill Mitchell should he harm Sasha, and also sends an entire battalion of Combine troops after him, thinking he killed her.
- Wicked Cultured: During the factory scene, he's seen playing piano before Mitchell comes in.
Sasha
Sasha
Voice Actor: Eli Walker
"Isn't every villain a hero in their own story?"
Boris' daughter and later spy for the Combine within the Resistance.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Follows in her father's footsteps as a Combine collaborator.
- His Name Is...: She was just about to spill the beans regarding the G-Man's "deal" before Adam kills her with a single shot to the head.
- The Mole: She infiltrated the resistance on behalf of the Combine.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: She has a distinctly American accent, while her father Boris has a Russian accent that sounds appropriate for someone of Slavic origin. Granted, one can argue that she was only a little girl when the Combine first invaded and she simply didn't have time to develop it, but considering the fact she's been around her father all her life...
- Pretty Little Headshots: Gets shot in the head at point-blank range by the game's resident Hand Cannon, that somehow leaves only a shotglass-sized exit wound despite the gun's caliber (.44 Magnum) being one the most powerful in the world, and could blow her head clean off. And the bullet stops very shortly after that, rather than pulverizing the next thing in a straight line, which in this situation would have been Mitchell.
- She Knows Too Much: She was about to spill the beans on G-Man's "deal" before Adam silences her.
- The Smurfette Principle: Is the only female character in the game.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: She only has about a minute of screen-time before dying.
William L. Beck
William L. Beck
Voice Actor: J. W. Riddle
Mitchell: "Now it's your turn, Will. Goodbye, old friend."
The soldier designated to commit suicide by bomb at the train station security checkpoint to give Mitchell the diversion he needed to infiltrate the city.
- Remember the New Guy?: His first and only appearance in the game is the scene of his death, and yet Mitchell refers to him as an "old friend", as if he's a long-time comrade that the player somehow was never shown or told about.
- Suicide Attack: The plan involves him strolling up to the Combine security checkpoint and blowing himself up with a bomb, taking as many Civil Protection officers with him as possible to open up a path for Mitchell to infiltrate City 17.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: William gets maybe five minutes of screentime before unceremoniously blowing himself up.
Half-Life characters:
The G-Man
The G-Man
Voice Actor: Rick
"And since our agreement is finished. You have our permission to die. Farewell, Mr. Mitchell..."
- Accidentally-Correct Writing: The G-Man's Adaptational Villainy turns out to be not so far off from his canon characterization in Half-Life: Alyx.
- Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: As per usual.
- Adaptational Badass: The G-Man has never been shown to be capable of predicting the future in canon. In fact, the only reason why the events of the Half-Life 2 episodes even happen is because the Vortigaunts throw a wrench in his plan. In this game, the G-Man can make a convoluted plan that would be impossible without complete omniscience and knowledge of the future.
- This does end up being a bit Hilarious in Hindsight in Half-Life: Alyx where it's shown the G-Man has more power over time than previously thought, but it still seems to be limited compared to what's on display here.
- This does end up being a bit
- Adaptational Villainy: He is far more ruthless compared to his canon counterpart. He is willing to arrange things from behind the scenes so that every man who is higher-ranking than Mitchell gets killed, even if they are innocent. He also uses people and discards them when they outlive their usefulness, as both Mitchell and Adam find out the hard way, and threatens them with the lives of their loved ones if they don't agree with his deals, like with Boris and his daughter. This is a far cry from the same man who would disobey orders to save Alyx Vance and spare Adrian Shephard.
- Affably Evil: He's sinister and manipulative, but impeccably polite.
- Batman Gambit: With Mitchell now having some of the Combine coming after him and his forces. Gordon now has less Combine to worry about.
- Big Bad: Of the game. Practically everything bad that's happened to Mitchell was a result of the G-Man's machinations.
- Complexity Addiction: The G-Man's "plan", so to speak, hinges on the random H.E.C.U. grunt he set up to be wounded by "Gordon Freeman" to survive the assault, actually believing his attacker to even be Gordon, then brew up a huge enough grudge against the physicist to eat out of the G-Man's hand to obtain "authority, power, and time", just so he can be utilized as a pawn two decades later as a minor distraction for the Combine. Given what we knew at the time (and certainly now with the expanded lore provided by Half-Life: Alyx) of the extent of the G-Man's canonical powers, the entire plan comes across as needlessly complex and relies heavily on manipulating numerous pawns against each other, only to achieve what appears to be a simple goal.
- Evil Brit: His new voice actor gives off a slight accent that makes him this.
- Mythology Gag: Literally half of the things he told Mitchell are the exact same (or paraphrased) things he has said to Gordon in the original games.
- Spell My Name With An S: As explained further in the main page. His voice actor completely messes up the pronunciation of "Black Mesa" and instead just calls it "Black Messa".
- Villain Respect: It's implied he has a certain amount of respect for Mitchell despite using him and planning to discard him, judging by his smile when Mitchell asks what happens if he survives the Combine assault.
Dr. Wallace Breen
Dr. Wallace Breen
Voice Actor: John "Johnny Stone" Sutton
"I've been proud to call City 17 my home."
- The Ghost: Never seen in the game, only heard in the trailer.
Dr. Gordon Freeman
Dr. Gordon Freeman
Voiced by: Nobody
Mitchell: "Where's Gordon?! Where is the Freeman?!"
This is actually in the trailer and promotional images only.
The eponymous Freeman that Mitchell is hunting down throughout most of the game.
- Adaptational Villainy: The game tries to paint him as a crowbar-wielding serial killer. Subverted, that it actually isn't him.
- Crowbar Combatant: Where would Gordon be without his trusty crowbar? Mitchell and his squadron get to be on the receiving end of it.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Comes considering his Adaptational Villainy. Though only in the trailer and demo, since in the game proper he - or rather Adam posing as him - wears a helmet.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: In the official games he doesn't wear a HEV helmet, in this game he actually wears it fitting his Adaptational Villainy. It's actually Adam hiding his identity.
- Impersonation-Exclusive Character: In the plot of the game itself, at least, as the one who fucked up Mitchell's face was Adam in a helmeted HEV suit.
- Mythology Gag: He sports the same small ponytail his old HEV model had in the original Half-Life.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Wears a helmet, which he usually doesn't wear in the official games. This because it actually isn't him.
- Red Herring: He actually isn't the one who attacked Mitchell. The one responsible for fucking up Mitchell's face? It's Adam.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Shoots Mitchell point-blank with the famous Half-Life shotgun.
- Silent Antagonist: Well it's Gordon Freeman ain't it?
- Slasher Smile: Sports a pretty tame one in the trailer for Hunt Down The Freeman and in a promotional image while beating Mitchell's face in with a crowbar. Subverted in the actual game where he has a helmet that hides it.
- Walking Spoiler: While not his existence or actions per say but rather the fact that the one that beats Mitchell up isn't actually him but rather an impostor.
- Wolverine Publicity: Despite the game's title being "Hunt Down the Freeman" and that the entire premise of the plot hinges on Mitchell's desire for Disproportionate Retribution against him for supposedly killing Mitchell's men and messing up his face, he doesn't appear in the plot proper outside of certain cutscenes and offhanded mentions.
- In fact, his character has nothing to do with the plot itself, as the HEV-suited assailant who struck down Mitchell and co. was in reality one of his newfound followers, whom he hastily assumed to be Gordon Freeman. The G-Man's out-of-character lies about the identity of the attacker didn't help.
Corporal Adrian Shephard
Corporal Adrian Shephard
Voiced by: Nobody
Mitchell: "Adrian?"
The main protagonist and Player Character of Half-Life: Opposing Force and is Mitchell's brother.
- The Cameo: Makes an appearance during Mitchell's hallucination at the end of the game.
- The Faceless: Just like the source material, he wears a helmet and gas mask like most HECU marines
- Gas Mask Mook: Also just like in Opposing Force.
- You Don't Look Like You: He doesn't have the same things his original model had in the original Opposing Force (rolled-up sleeves, backpack, and fingerless gloves), due to how the HECU in this game themselves don't look like their namesake in the official canon.
