Tons of Questions regarding the Story (Full Spoiler)

[Left 4 Savage]

After playing through all of the half life games recently from start (original HL) to finish (Episode 2). A lot of questions have popped in my head that need some detailed explanation ok here we go!

1 - Who is G-Man? Why is he named "G-Man"? What is his real name?

2 - I read in a few articles that Xen is not an actual alien planet but rather a some kind of a planet that is mixed with different life forms from other planets/universes and its where they co-exist and teleport to different places

3 - Where did Headcrabs come from originally?

4 - We still have headcrabs and barnacles and zobies but what happend to the Bullsquids and the hound eyes? Did they all of a sudden die out, or stopped teleporting??

5 - Where did the tentacles go? You fought them in the Blast Pit chapter in Half Life 1 but they never mentioned or made an appearance in any of Half Life 2

6 - What do Combine truly look like? We've seen the dropships, and striders adn are those 100% organic creatures or are they bio-tech? (Technology mixed with Organic?)

7 - Are the Advisors are a real form of pure 100% combine or are they also "made" by combine?

8 - How did Combine manage to come to City 17? Why are they never mentioned in the original half life?

9 - Do vortiguants have their own planet , and how did Gordon Freeman free them in Half Life 1? Who was Nihilianth, and what was his purpose?

10 - Why did G-Man got pissed off when Vortiguants saved Alyx at the end of Half Life 2?

11 - How did G-Man knew that Eli Vance was going to die? or was it his intention to make it happen?

12 - Is Judith Mossman actually a antagonist or a protagonist (at this point?)

13 - When you launched the rocket in Episode 2 , did you do it to close off the portal access so the combine won't come in? I got a bit confused with that part why they were trying to launch it, I figure to close off transmissions?

14 - What is Borealis and how did Apereture Science came into play?

15 - Is the game "Portal" actually linked with Half Life Story?

16 - What happend to the guy from Opposing Force (Adrian Shepard)?

17 - How come Eli Vance knew who G-Man was and what exactly did he mean by "Our Mutual Friend"?

18 - Where did Barney go in Episode 2. he never shows up or not even mentioned?

19 - Since your off now to Borealis , what can we expect to see there? Is it possible that while were going to travel there in Episode 3 that we might teleport to Xen due to unstable Portal conditions?

20 - What exactly is a portal storm?

I know its a lot of questions and some of them may be unknown to everyone but if you can answer them I will appreciate it. Please do not send me links to story articles, I want straight up information from person who knows the story perfectly.

Thanks!

 

[jet_porkins]

I'll give my answers for a few of them.

1.) It is my understanding that G-Man is only named G-Man because they, Valve, needed to give his character model a name for coding's sake. It's my belief that it's shorthand for "Government Man," but nothing is confirmed.

8.) I'm pretty sure the combine aren't mentioned in HL1 overtly because Valve hadn't event dreamed up the concept of the combine quite yet.

9.) It's my understanding that Vortigaunts came from Xen (someone correct me if I am wrong please). Nihilianth enslaved the Vortigaunts and they are freed upon Nihilanth's termination. I believe that the green binds around their arms and necks bend them against their will, or at least physically restrict them SOMEHOW to denote that they are enslaved:

12.) At this point, it is understood that Judith is a "good guy."

17.) It is revealed in episode 2 that G-Man has actually made appearances to people other than Gordon, evidenced by Eli's conversation with you. He is referring to the G-man when he says "Mutual Friend."

10.) G-man I think is more "pissed off" that Gordon is no longer under the direct influence of G-man (we are suddenly revealed that the Vortigaunts evidently possess powers on-par with the G-man to the point that they can block off G-man's ability to keep Gordon in stasis in the intro sequence to episode 1).

Edit: most of those other questions are either questions that have no substantive answers which only delve into theoretical lore, or are questions that I can only half-answer.

 

[Grodan Freechman]

10.) G-man I think is more "pissed off" that Gordon is no longer under the direct influence of G-man (we are suddenly revealed that the Vortigaunts evidently possess powers on-par with the G-man to the point that they can block off G-man's ability to keep Gordon in stasis in the intro sequence to episode 1).

Honestly, I feel like everything is falling perfectly into place for the G-man and that his slight aggrivated demeanor is just a ply. I think the G-man is 10 steps ahead of everyone's actions and only concerns his own goals. Whatever annoyance the vorts cause will just be pointless overall.

My fav. ending for the whole saga of HL would be roll credits, show G-man smile, laugh, and flick a cig before turning and walking off, onto his metaphysical tram.

 

[Grodan Freechman]

1. G-man is simplya name found in the game code. Someone figured that since he didn't have a character name, they'd go and see what he's labeled as or whatever.

4-5. I think Valve just dropped some species for no reason. We have new pests to deal with anyhow. However, in order to comply with story, maybe the headcrabs/antlions were the only to sustainably survive?

6. I was under the impression that the combine are biotech and that the bio- part was of actual humans that have been "combined"?

7. 100% Combine...makes no sense. Combine = combination. I believe that the advisors are another race that the combine succumb to. I also think that the advisors are not very high in the chain of command either, some being sent to Earth and all. The most important of the kind would stay at home.

8. I think Breen struck a deal to being Earth's overlord in exchange for opening the portal?

2/9. Perhaps Xen was the Vorts planet with the Nihilanth enslaving them.

10-11. Gman got pissed cause they intervened with his plan. I assume he wanted Alyx dead so Gordon could concentrate on his "freely chosen" mission. So, for that, he decided to **** with Alyx and Eli's heads with the "mutual friend" message. Punishment for them interfering was probably the indirect killing of Eli as well. The G-man is omnipotent. In the words of the Genie, he has attained "omnipresent, supergalactic one-ness" imho.

12. Judith = pro

13. I believe yes to the portal closure. It's been a while though.

14/15. I didn't play portal/blue shift/opposing force. I don't know which, besides portal, apply, but I'm shady in this area. All I know is they were Black Mesa's competition.

17. Eli met the Gman when he delivered the Xen Crystal, but he didn't know that he was more than just a delivery government guy. I believe he only just resurfaced in Eli's mind when the whole "mutual friend/unforseen consequences" shenanigans came about.

18. Barney is probably off being a sub-par Gordon Freeman.

 

[ríomhaire]

After playing through all of the half life games recently from start (original HL) to finish (Episode 2). A lot of questions have popped in my head that need some detailed explanation ok here we go!

1 - Who is G-Man? Why is he named "G-Man"? What is his real name?
We have no substatial information on the g-man other than what you see of him in the game, what he says to you, and what Eli says to you in EP2. He's called the g-man because all his files in the code are "gman" so it's just what the community calls him. G-man means "government man" and it's just a slang term for a government agent. He's called that because of his appearance.

2 - I read in a few articles that Xen is not an actual alien planet but rather a some kind of a planet that is mixed with different life forms from other planets/universes and its where they co-exist and teleport to different places
Xen is some form of dimentional bottleneck. When teleporting between different universes going through Xen is the path of least resistance. Therefore many creature have made their way there from other worlds and that's why Nihilanth fled to there.

3 - Where did Headcrabs come from originally?
We don't really know. They came to Earth from Xen but their origin is unknown. Some believe their original prey is Vortigaunts and they came from the same world as Vorts. Could be they originally fed off of Race-X or something else entirely.

4 - We still have headcrabs and barnacles and zobies but what happend to the Bullsquids and the hound eyes? Did they all of a sudden die out, or stopped teleporting??
We just haven't seen them or they aren't around City 17. There's no reason for them to be omnipresent. Bears exist in the US but not in the UK and there are no snakes in Ireland. Just so there simply may not be any Houndeyes or Bullsquids around City 17 or maybe there are and we just haven't seen any. I've never seen a badger even though I live right next to a wood where they live.

5 - Where did the tentacles go? You fought them in the Blast Pit chapter in Half Life 1 but they never mentioned or made an appearance in any of Half Life 2
As above.

6 - What do Combine truly look like? We've seen the dropships, and striders adn are those 100% organic creatures or are they bio-tech? (Technology mixed with Organic?)
There is no true Combine. The Combine is an empire comprising of various creatures and machines, hence their names. The Advisiors (the psychic giant slugs) seem to be the brains of the operation though. At least on Earth.

7 - Are the Advisors are a real form of pure 100% combine or are they also "made" by combine?
Raising the Bar suggests that they are the original species behind the empire. Their appearance is supposed to be a vision of what happens when a species become overdependant on their technology. They are the modern man taken to the extreme. The modern man cannot get around without mechanical transport due to underdeveloped legs and overdeveloped guts. We wear glasses to augment our vision. We take drugs to keep us healthy. The Advisors are just a vision of us in the future, 100% dependant on technology. Just one step from the humans in Wall-E to be honest.

8 - How did Combine manage to come to City 17? Why are they never mentioned in the original half life?
They invaded the Earth by suprise and teleported citadels into the middle of cities and poured out troops. The fighting lasted 7 hours before Dr Breen surrendered the Earth.

9 - Do vortiguants have their own planet , and how did Gordon Freeman free them in Half Life 1? Who was Nihilianth, and what was his purpose?
Vortigaunts were being held slaves by Nihilanth and the Controllers. When Gordon Freeman killed Nihilanth it freed the Vortigaunts. They have no world of their own.

10 - Why did G-Man got pissed off when Vortiguants saved Alyx at the end of Half Life 2?
I don't think they were pissed off at the Vortigaunts saving Alyx, just for them stealling you away. He never says anything to indicated he was pissed off by them saving Alyx.

11 - How did G-Man knew that Eli Vance was going to die? or was it his intention to make it happen?
He never says anything about Eli dying. You're just making an assumption.

12 - Is Judith Mossman actually a antagonist or a protagonist (at this point?)
Protagonaist. She's working for the resistance.

13 - When you launched the rocket in Episode 2 , did you do it to close off the portal access so the combine won't come in? I got a bit confused with that part why they were trying to launch it, I figure to close off transmissions?
The idea is that it should completely block the Combine from accessing Earth. I suppose we'll have to wait and see if that'll actually work.

14 - What is Borealis and how did Apereture Science came into play?
All we know about it is what's said in EP2. It's some sort of science vessel that had some form of teleportation technology that accidentally caused it to disappear with part of the dry dock.

15 - Is the game "Portal" actually linked with Half Life Story?
Yes. Doesn't the Borealis kind of prove that? Aperture were competators with Black Mesa for government contracts.

16 - What happend to the guy from Opposing Force (Adrian Shepard)?
Opposing Force was not actually made by Valve, but my a developer called Gearbox. Marc Laidlaw has said he generally doesn't consider the Gearbox games much when writing the continuing story for Half-Life, so don't hold your breath for any BS, OP4 or Decay stuff to make it's way back into any new games. Adrian's still in statis and likely to stay there for a while

17 - How come Eli Vance knew who G-Man was and what exactly did he mean by "Our Mutual Friend"?
Both Eli and Breen were aquainted with the g-man. He provided the crystal for the experiment in HL1 that caused the resonance cascade. He just called him "our mutual friend" because there was nothing else to call him. He doesn't have a name. Would should he have said? The guy in the blue suit?

18 - Where did Barney go in Episode 2. he never shows up or not even mentioned?
Why do you think we know?

19 - Since your off now to Borealis , what can we expect to see there? Is it possible that while were going to travel there in Episode 3 that we might teleport to Xen due to unstable Portal conditions?
We don't know.

20 - What exactly is a portal storm?
Well there was that shockwave thing in EP1 that Alyx calls a portal storm, but it's also a term gerenally used to refer to uncontrolled random portals opening and closing, more specifically the portals between Earth and Xen that can be seen best teleporting stuff randomly into Black Mesa at the start of HL1.

I know its a lot of questions and some of them may be unknown to everyone but if you can answer them I will appreciate it. Please do not send me links to story articles, I want straight up information from person who knows the story perfectly.

Thanks!

There you go.

 

[FlamboyantPencil]

I'm just going to add what little I think I can.

6 - What do Combine truly look like? We've seen the dropships, and striders adn are those 100% organic creatures or are they bio-tech? (Technology mixed with Organic?)

Aren't the Striders, dropships, etc. alien races conquered by the Combine, and "modified" with thier technology into Synths?

7 - Are the Advisors are a real form of pure 100% combine or are they also "made" by combine?

Whoever the Advisors are, they definitely seem to be in charge of the Combine empire. As for if they're 100%, well, they do look like they have visual modifications.

8 - How did Combine manage to come to City 17? Why are they never mentioned in the original half life?

I haven't played HL1, but enough of it has been spoiled for me to think that Gordon was taken before the Combine's arrival, where they punched through the portals from Xen that were going crazy from Big Nilly's death.

9 - Do vortiguants have their own planet , and how did Gordon Freeman free them in Half Life 1? Who was Nihilianth, and what was his purpose?

According to the Vort we meet in Episode 2, "... Blah blah blah vortal coils blah blah blah vortescence blah blah blah antlions something something on out home world." Of course, I'm just paraphrasing, but I distinctly remember he said Vorts did something to Antlions on their homeworld.

10 - Why did G-Man got pissed off when Vortiguants saved Alyx at the end of Half Life 2?

I think it was more that they stopped him from putting Gordon back in stasis like he wanted.

11 - How did G-Man knew that Eli Vance was going to die? or was it his intention to make it happen?

According to Eli, he was referring to something dangerous happening at the Borealis, though it is certainly likely that the G-Man knew about the Advisor's impending ambush and the death of Eli and he just hadn't run the idea of that possibility through his head. As for how he knew, well, it IS the G-man after all. Dude has "voodoo magic" pretty much written across his forehead.

17 - How come Eli Vance knew who G-Man was and what exactly did he mean by "Our Mutual Friend"?

Apparently the G-man appeared to Eli just before the Black Mesa Incident and said the same warning about "Unforeseen Consequences". I believe Eli was being sarcastic about the whole "Friend" bit, actually having deep content for him. He just means they both know and are involved with him and his affairs.

 

[Noodle]

According to the Vort we meet in Episode 2, "... Blah blah blah vortal coils blah blah blah vortescence blah blah blah antlions something something on out home world." Of course, I'm just paraphrasing, but I distinctly remember he said Vorts did something to Antlions on their homeworld. Of course, their homeworld was taken over by the Combine (or the Nihilanth) long ago, and they were enslaved, only to be freed by Gordon.

He said that Vorts used to be experts and Antlion husbandry (breeding them) for various purposes, including "the eeeexxxxtract" used to save Alyx in Ep2.

Also, I think the differentiation in species in HL1 and HL2 probably has to do with location. Houndeyes and bullsquids and grunts and snarks and whatnot that appeared in Black Mesa may have only spawned into New Mexico, where Black Mesa was located. It's possible they may not have adapted, or may have froze to death near City 17, which we all agree is somewhere in Eastern Europe.

The alien grunts..., well, I'm not sure. Most people seem to have forgotten about them anyway, as well as Gargantuas aka "Gargs". Looking at pictures of them, it seems possible that they might be ther forerunning Combine soldiers, only to be replaced by more advanced human-synths, striders, gunships, etc.

...according to the planethalflife description of alien grunts...
"...The gleaming partial body armor at first appeared to be the product of an advanced weapons technology; but closer examination of the occasional moribund specimen has shown it to be a biologically extruded exoskeleton, synthesized from a diet rich in certain xenotic minerals. This suggests that long separation from the Portal Dimension, and a diet deficient in alien ores, might lead to the eventual weakening and demise of the alien troops. It is not, however, recommended that Earth rely on poor nutrition to repel the invaders."

The Gargs... well, mabye thery're similiar to alien grunts. Not sure.


As far as Antlions are concerned, they are, by far, the most adapted Xen fauna on Earth. HL1 simply didn't have any locations that might have featured Antions, and they wouldn't have had any time to create all those burrows and hives and stuff.