The All-Knowing Vortigaunt is an Easter Egg featured in Half-Life 2.
Overview
The All-Knowing Vortigaunt singing.
Near the end of the chapter Water Hazard (in the map d1_canals_13), Gordon Freeman must destroy a Hunter-Chopper that has been following his trail. After this is completed, a large, sliding metal gate must be opened to proceed further (the one directly after the hunter chopper fight, not the one over the dam). After going through the gate, on the left, there are two visible drainage tunnels set into the face of the rock. The grate on the left tunnel is shown to be peeled back. Inside this tunnel, beyond a stretch of radioactive waste is a large, underground cavern, home to a character referred to by fans as the "All-Knowing Vortigaunt". Due to his voice, some fans jokingly refer to him as the "Sore Throat Vortigaunt".
The Vortigaunt in question is shown roasting a Fast Headcrab over an open fire while chanting, eventually pausing to hack and wheeze for a moment. When triggering him with the "USE" key, the player may hear many cryptic statements pertaining to the Black Mesa Incident, Xen, the G-Man, the Nihilanth, and Gordon's deep connection to the Vortigaunts, among other topics. However, given enough prompting by the player, he appears to say every possible Vortigaunt sentence, spoken by the other Vortigaunts in Half-Life 2.
Trivia
- The Orange Box achievement "Vorticough", worth 13 points, requires the discovery of the All-Knowing Vortigaunt.
- Some players think the Fast Headcrab makes its first appearance in the All-Knowing Vortigaunt cave. This is untrue, as it first appears at Station 6: if one goes back to Arlene after leaving with the Airboat, it appears a Fast Headcrab killed her, but without turning her into a Fast Zombie.
- If a Vortigaunt is spawned through the console command and the player press the USE key, the spawned Vortigaunt will say the quotes used by the All-Knowing Vortigaunt.
- The Vortigaunt who installs the gun on the Airboat says all the same things as the All-Knowing Vortigaunt if questioned before leaving. Similarly the Vortigaunt found in the basement of the building where Odessa Cubbage can be found in New Little Odessa, recites the same lines. This can be attributed to the vortigaunts' use of telepathy, which causes them to share mannerisms.
Gallery
List of appearances
- Half-Life 2 (First appearance)
 Xen
| |
|---|---|
| Creatures | Alien Aircraft • Alien Controller • Alien Grunt • Archer (cut) • Armored Headcrab • Barnacle • Boid • Bullsquid • Charger (cut) • Chumtoad • Fast Headcrab • Fast Walker (cut) • Flocking Floater (cut) • Gargantua• Gonarch • Headcrab • Houndeye • Ichthyosaur • Kingpin (cut) • Leech • Lightning Dog • Mr. Friendly (cut) • Nihilanth • Panther Eye (cut) • Poison Headcrab • Protozoan • Prrobot (cut) • Quiver Creature (cut) • Sand Barnacle (cut) • Snapbug (cut) • Snark • Sphere (cut) • Standard Headcrab • Stukabat (cut) • Tentacle • Unidentified Quiver Creature (cut) • Vortigaunt • Zombie |
| Weapons | Black Hole Gun (cut) • Ceiling Turret • Grenade • Hivehand • Sentry Cannon • Snark • Snark Mine |
| Technology | Healing Shower • Thumper |
| Other | Crystal • Fungus • Healing Pool • Light Stalk • Trampoline • Tree |