Alyx Vance
From Combine OverWiki, the English Half-Life Wikia
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [Source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alyx Vance is a prominent figure in the Resistance against the rule of the alien race called the Combine and their human representative, Dr. Breen. She is a human woman in her early to mid twenties. Like many of the human Resistance leaders based at Black Mesa East, she is a former resident of the original Black Mesa Research Facility. Alyx was a child at the time of the Black Mesa Incident.
She first appears in Half-Life 2.
Contents |
[edit] Family
Alyx is the daughter of Dr. Eli Vance, who appeared briefly in the original Half-Life.
Alyx's mother, Azian Vance, can be seen in a family photograph in Black Mesa East with the face of Alyx's voice actor, Merle Dandridge. Azian lived in the facility's dormitories with Alyx, but died during the Black Mesa Incident.
[edit] Personality and skills
Alyx wields an electronic multitool that uses an electric charge in order to bypass security systems, open locked doors and, in Episode One, re-program Rollermines to attack Combine Troops and Stalkers. She is also very proficient with a pistol and in unarmed combat, and helps fight alongside Gordon briefly during both the Entanglement and Anticitizen One chapters of Half-Life 2. In Episode One, Alyx accompanies the player for most of the game and demonstrates fighting skills previously unseen, such as kicking a headcrab zombie in a fight.
Despite Alyx's friendly nature she shows some hostility towards Dr. Mossman because of Mossman's somewhat patronizing attitude towards her, as well as Mossman's interest in her father. At the end of Half-Life 2, this hostility has seemingly vanished, when Dr. Mossman helps to free Alyx and her father from the clutches of Dr. Breen.
At several points during Half-Life 2 it is suggested that there is a growing relationship developing between Gordon Freeman and Alyx. Continuing this theme, Episode One contains many situations where this relationship is developed. Alyx hugs Gordon when her robot, Dog, finds him (and becomes clearly embarrassed afterwards), and at one point she jokingly asks Gordon if there is room for two in Gordon's H.E.V. suit when confronted with sewage like sludge. Barney Calhoun additionally mentions that Gordon is a "lucky dog" to travel alongside Alyx. Their possible relationship is pushed on by her father, who states that everyone should "do their duty", playing off of Dr. Kliener telling everyone to concieve, and him telling her "could you blame an old man for wanting grandkids?" The game commentary that is given during the "elevator scene," in which Gordon waits for the elevator that would take him down to the core, verifies that such a relationship was intended. Alyx also has a good sense of humour, as evidenced by the jokes she makes about various things, including the Combine and Gordon's silence. An example of this can be seen in the Lowlife chapter of Episode One, where she and the player navigate a series of zombie infested tunnels. During lulls in combat she makes noises like a zombie to scare the player, upon finding out it's her she will say "Hah, gotcha!".
[edit] Appearances
Alyx helps Freeman more frequently and directly than any other character in Half-Life 2. In the first chapter (Point Insertion), Alyx saves Gordon from Civil Protection forces when he is unarmed and not yet wearing his protective HEV suit. Later, in Black Mesa East, she gives Gordon a gravity gun and demonstrates its use. During the chapter titled Entanglement, she helps search Nova Prospekt for her captured father. She fights alongside Gordon through a section of City 17 during the armed uprising in Anticitizen One, and provides indirect assistance to Gordon during the final confrontation with Dr. Breen in the final areas of the Citadel in Dark Energy.
In Black Mesa East, Alyx argues heatedly with Dr. Judith Mossman. Alyx's hostility towards Mossman is seemingly justified: Freeman and Alyx learn in Entanglement that Mossman has betrayed the resistance and given away the location of their hidden facility. Nevertheless, in Dark Energy, Dr. Mossman explains her actions and the two women finally make peace.
In the ending scene of Half-Life 2, Alyx is with Gordon Freeman at the time of the dark energy explosion. While the G-Man saves Gordon from the enormous blast, Alyx is apparently left behind, frozen in time with one arm shielding her eyes.
Alyx manages to survive, being rescued by Vortigaunts, who also free Gordon from the influence of his employer, the G-Man; after being teleported away to just outside the Citadel and briefly revisiting it, Alyx and Gordon stick together for most of Episode One, finally getting to the exit from City 17 and jumping on the last resistance train wagon heading out of the City just as the Citadel explodes.
Alyx once again rescues Gordon at the beginning of Episode Two by using the gravity gun to free him from the remains of a crashed train, which fell off a bridge destroyed the citadel explosion at the end of Episode 1. Early on in Episode 2, Alyx is wounded severely by a Hunter, but quickly rejoins the player in combat after she is healed.
[edit] Weapons
In Half-Life 2 and most of Episode One, Alyx is seen with her unique weapon, an automatic pistol which, in appearance, resembles a pistol from the Glock range, known simply as "Alyx's Gun" (from its entity name, weapon_alyxgun). This gun is not available to Freeman, although the player can obtain it via the cheat console, and it is also an available weapon to the player in the Japanese made Half Life 2 modification "Smod". However, late in Episode One, Alyx grabs a shotgun (identical to the one available to the player, which resembles a Franchi SPAS-12) and wields it throughout the hospital in Chapter 4. At one point, she also uses an Overwatch sniper rifle, although she is not actually seen when sniping (neither are Combine snipers), and twice in the game she uses mounted Combine machine guns to provide cover fire for Gordon.
[edit] Episode Two
Alyx appears in Episode Two throughout the game, and is almost always with the player. At one point, she is severely injured by a Hunter, but is later healed by several Vortigaunts with the player's assistance. She then accompanies the player on their journey to get to White Forest, a large resistance base. Throughout the journey, she helps the player at many points, including providing sniping support for the player using a mounted Combine sniper rifle (this is the first time such a weapon can be seen by the player) as he makes his way through a zombie infested industrial complex under a bridge.
[edit] Notes
Actress Merle Dandridge provides Alyx's voice, while her face and body are modeled after Jamil Mullen. At the beginning of Episode One, Alyx gains a small scar above her right eyebrow; presumably inflicted from the blast of Half-Life 2 and having been dug "out of the rubble".
It is worth noting Alyx's appearance, importance to the story, and mannerisms in comparison to those of NPCs in the original game. All Half-Life NPCs were interchangeable within their "class" (e.g., scientist, guard, soldier) and most were completely expendable. Every guard looked, sounded, and acted exactly like every other one; there were a few different "scientist" models, but they all shared the same voice files. It is quite likely, however, that this was attributable to limitations inherent in the Quake engine used rather than a deliberate design decision. In Half-Life 2, there are several unique NPCs including Alyx, Dr. Eli Vance, Barney Calhoun and Dr. Isaac Kleiner.
Unlike other games which feature extremely vulnerable mission-critical characters, Half-Life 2 gives Alyx the ability to absorb a large amount of damage before death (due to the fact that her health regenerates extremely rapidly). It is still possible for her to die during combat however, and at several points the player is required to protect her from taking damage. Her death will result in a black screen fade and failure message, then game will reload from a previous checkpoint.
While it is possible for Gordon Freeman to fire on friendly NPCs, this causes no visible reactions and it appears that it is impossible to injure Alyx even indirectly with the Gravity Gun. This applies for all "friendly" characters. This is a switch from Half-Life, in which any and all NPCs (except the G-Man) could be easily killed by the player. It is mentioned in Half Life 2: Raising the Bar that friendly NPCs could be killed at one point, but this was removed because an NPC needed for an important trigger could be killed.
