Judith Mossman
From Combine OverWiki, the English Half-Life Wikia
| Judith Mossman | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biographical information | |
| Homeworld |
Earth |
| Physical description | |
| Rank |
Double agent |
| Species |
Human |
| Gender |
Female |
| Hair color |
Brown |
| Eye color |
Brown |
| Chronological and political information | |
| Era(s) | |
| Affiliation |
|
| Non-game information | |
Doctor Judith Mossman is a scientist who plays an integral role in the Half-Life 2 series. A cunning and manipulative double agent, she aided both sides during the Combine War. She is portrayed as a caucasian woman in her early forties, and is voiced by actress Michelle Forbes.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early History
Before the Black Mesa Incident, Mossman was a promising, up-and-coming research scientist. She applied for the same post as Gordon Freeman at Black Mesa, but lost out to Freeman's experience with the Leopold-Franzens-Universitat-Innsbruck teleportation experiments and Isaac Kleiner's personal recommendation.
Years after the Combine invasion, Mossman became an important member of the Resistance base Black Mesa East, where she partnered with Eli Vance in making scientific advances to aid the Resistance war effort. Unbeknownst even to Alyx Vance, who disliked her, she also spied for the Combine, and reported directly to Dr. Wallace Breen. How and when she took on this role is not known, but Breen's impatience with her and his remark that the Combine "could have taken (Black Mesa East) at any time in the last ten years" suggests that she acted as a double agent for some time before Freeman's reappearance. She also leaked the secret of uni-dimensional teleportation to the Combine, a technology they had previously lacked.
[edit] Half-Life 2
Upon Gordon Freeman's arrival at Black Mesa East, Mossman intended on delivering the anti-citizen directly to Breen, but the Combine attacked ahead of her signal and although they were able to capture Eli Vance, Freeman himself was able to escape in the chaos. Mossman is shown to be very unhappy with the Combine's treatment of Vance; Breen seems to have promised not to harm Vance in return for the capture of Freeman, but without the latter Breen tells Mossman that he does not feel bound to this agreement.
Freeman and Alyx Vance succeeded in trapping Mossman during the Antlion invasion of Nova Prospekt. When confronted with evidence of her betrayal, Mossman was unrepentant, saying she only ever had Eli Vance's best interests at heart. During their escape from Nova Prospekt through the Combine's prototype teleporter, Mossman succeeded in rerouting her and Eli's destination to the Citadel; stating that this "is the only way", she left Freeman and Alyx in the lurch.
Mossman was present when Freeman finally reached the top of the Citadel, trapped in a Combine transport pod. She again told Freeman that "this is the only way; there is nothing you can do until he has you right where he wants you". After Dr. Breen announced his intention of sending Eli and Alyx Vance to a distant Combine off-world, Mossman sprang into action. Threatening Breen with Alyx's EMP Device, she blocked the door to Breen's office and then freed Alyx, Eli and Gordon, but was unable to stop Breen from escaping into the Dark Energy Reactor. She stayed with Eli as Alyx and Gordon travelled upwards to finally confront Breen.
[edit] Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two
Dr. Mossman, with Eli Vance, survived the teleporter explosion and escaped the Citadel through unknown means. She was tasked by Arne Magnusson to discover the Combine Portal Code, a vital piece of data needed to close off the Superportal the Combine deliberately set into being by destabilizing the Citadel Core. She did succeed in discovering this and transmitted the data in an encrypted video recording (which was intercepted by Combine agents), however this seemed to have been a secondary issue as far as Mossman herself was concerned. The transmission was discovered and then purloined by Alyx and Gordon during their attempt to stabilize the Citadel Core in Episode One; she is shown in an arctic location, talking of a mysterious "project", before being attacked by Combine forces.
In Episode Two, Dr. Magnusson, Vance and Kleiner retrieve the Portal Code from Gordon and Alyx and use it to close off the Superportal. They also succeed in decoding the rest of Mossman's message, and discover that the "project" is none other than the mysterious Borealis, said to contain an extremely powerful secret. At the end of the Episode, Alyx and Gordon equip a helicopter with the intention of heading north to search for her.
[edit] Characteristics
Mossman has a friendly if cunning personality, tempered by a certain amount of arrogance. She does not get on well with Alyx Vance, due to what Mossman considers is Alyx's blasé attitude towards the Resistance's scientific equipment, and also possibly due to Mossman's attraction to Alyx's father, Eli. She also nurses resentment against Gordon Freeman due to his appointment over her at Black Mesa; she believes that "it should have been her in the test chamber that day". Despite her cynical manipulations of all of these characters, however, she is apparently able to reconcile her differences to defeat the Combine.
Mossman's double betrayal is open to interpretation. The most likely explanation is that she had a change of heart in aiding the Combine after seeing Breen's callous treatment of Eli. However, it is also possible, particularly through her oft-stated "it is the only way", that she planned the final confrontation in the Citadel from the beginning, as the only possible way that Breen could be toppled.
[edit] Trivia
- In Half-Life 2, Dr. Mossman wears a gold bracelet which reads "Progress".
- Originally, Judith Mossman was to be blonde, and named Elaine.
