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This subject is from the Black Mesa Incident era.This is a featured article.

The Gargantua is a large and powerful species of Xen alien featured in Half-Life, Half-Life: Uplink, and Half-Life: Opposing Force.

Overview[]

The Gargantua is approximately six meters (20 feet) tall, mostly blue in color, and has one orange eye that glows red when it perceives a hostile unit. Instead of hands, it sports two massive pincers that can be opened to emit jets of intense heat (the Alien Grunt hands are also similar), as well as a pair of vestigial legs below the trunk,[1] a common trait in most bipedal Xen creatures.

The creature has a thick shell or carapace that renders it completely bulletproof. It requires a large amount of explosive, electrical, or energy damage before being destroyed and it can rarely be defeated with conventional methods.

It is unknown if the Gargantua is a natural species or if it is manufactured like the Alien Grunt, though its integrated weaponry and bio-mechanical appearance suggest that it is an artificially engineered monster.

It is first introduced in Sector E Track Control during the Half-Life chapter Power Up. A Gargantua is fighting against two HECU soldiers while the G-Man is watching from the control room, and soon turns to Gordon Freeman upon noticing him. To defeat it, Freeman has to bring back power to the tracks leading to the Sector E Materials Transport network and the small power station located nearby, where the creature will be destroyed by electric discharges.

Power Up Garg

Two HECU soldiers fighting a Gargantua in Sector E Track Control.

It is seen again in the chapter Surface Tension, where it throws Black Mesa SUVs at HECU soldiers in an underground parking lot of the Topside Motorpool, leading to the Waste Processing Area 3. Upon noticing Freeman, it chases him in a tunnel leading to Waste Processing Area 3, where Freeman has to use a Tactical Map set up by the HECU to destroy it with airstrikes

The Gargantua is next seen on Xen (in what may be its natural habitat) during the chapter Interloper, where it can simply be avoided or destroyed by luring it near the Xen trees.

The last time the Gargantua appears in Half-Life is in the chapter Nihilanth: when being teleported by the Nihilanth in the third chamber for the fourth time, a Gargantua appears instead of Alien Controllers.

A Gargantua also appears during the final sequence of the Uplink, where it kills several Black Mesa employees while the G-Man watches, before slowly heading towards the cornered player, at which point the demo ends.

In Opposing Force, a Gargantua can be seen tied up on top of the Hydro-Electric Dam (If not defeated fast enough, it will break loose and the player must find a way to outrun it), in the chapter Foxtrot Uniform, while HECU soldiers and Shock Troopers fight around and against it. Dynamite has been installed around his feet, and Adrian Shephard must quickly detonate it in order to destroy the creature. Alternatively, the player can ignore the shock troopers nearby and allow them to defeat the Gargantua.

Behavior and skills[]

Garg hand detail

Detail of a Gargantua "hand."

  • Its pincers are equipped with powerful flamethrowers, burning enemies with massive damage.
  • It can perform a melee attack with its arms that does heavy damage.
  • It can stomp the ground to generate a slow shockwave (represented by a speeding red dot). This attack does massive damage.
    • When the attack hits Gordon Freeman, the HEV Suit detects "internal bleeding".
  • The Gargantua moves quickly (slightly faster than the player) for its size with immense strength.
  • It does not take damage from bullets.
  • It can perform a seismic roar which destroys structures. It is never seen in action and all of the resulting destruction are scripted.
  • Gargantuas are very determined pursuers, and have been known to wait patiently for their target to come out of an area they cannot reach for a considerable amount of time before moving on to something else.
  • When idle, the Gargantua stretches its neck, shakes its head, seems to look for something on the ground for a few seconds, or seems to yawn.

Tactics[]

Garg dam boom

The Gargantua being destroyed by the dynamite on top of the Hydro-Electric Dam.

  • While it is difficult to do and not required in most of the Gargantua encounters, the creature can be destroyed with conventional weaponry when having enough of the right kind of ordinance. Explosive weapons such as the RPG and energy weapons such as the Gluon Gun are effective against it (the Tau Cannon in Half-Life deals "BULLET"-type damage with direct fire, to which the Gargantua is immune, but in Half-Life: Source, the weapon's damage has been changed to a type to which the Gargantua is vulnerable.) Satchel Charges or grenades are also effective, as is the grenade launcher found on the MP5 and M4. However, it takes about nine thrown grenades to destroy it.
  • It is possible for the Gargantua encountered on Xen to become stuck next to or against a Xen Tree, at which point the tree can be coaxed into attacking with any weapon, eventually destroying the Gargantua with no loss of ammunition.

Behind the scenes[]

  • Several suggested behavior and skills and physical traits were not included into the final creature. They include telescoping jaws reacting quickly to prey, then biting and impaling (similar to that of the Xenomorph in the Alien film series), no visible eyes, back fins flipping up and down "for expression," and a three-pronged tongue for small prey grabbing. It was also originally to usually stand squatting, then stand up like a grizzly bear to attack.[1]
Gargantua versions

Texture color tests for the Gargantua (minus the arms).

  • Much like with the Chumtoad, several texture colors were tested for the Gargantua. They include a pink skin with green stripes, and orange skin with blue stripes, and a purple skin with green stripes. The final model also had to have yellow stripes.[1]
  • One unused scientist sound indicates that a Gargantua was apparently to be fought on the Topside Motorpool helipads instead of later in the parking lot / Waste Processing Area 3.[2]
  • The Gargantua was originally to appear in Half-Life: Decay, but was ultimately cut.
  • During the original train ride at the start of Half-Life 2, the player was to see from their train "something that resembles the old Gargantua" lunging at a nearby train from a crevasse before being destroyed on contact with the train.
  • The Gargantua is named after the character from the 16th century series of five novels "Gargantua and Pantagruel" by François Rabelais.

Trivia[]

Audio[]

Action Audio
Gargantua breathing
Gargantua damaged
Gargantua roar
Gargantua dying

Gallery[]

Pre-release[]

Retail[]

List of appearances[]

References[]

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