Laszlo

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Laszlo
Biographical information
Homeworld	Earth
Died	202-; day 2 after Gordon's arrival
Functions / Belongings
Rank / Occupation	Rebel
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Brown
Chronological and political information
Era	The Uprising
Affiliation	The Resistance
Game information
Modeled over	Art Min
Designed by	Marc Laidlaw Moby Francke
Entity name	npc_citizen (male 05, group 02)

 

"Dear God! Poor Laszlo! The finest mind of his generation, come to such an end!"

―Sandy

 

Laszlo is a Rebel seen briefly during the Half-Life 2 chapter Sandtraps. He was apparently considered by his friend Sandy to be "the finest mind of his generation".

Appearances

Half-Life 2

While Laszlo and his friend Sandy were traveling from Lighthouse Point to the Vortigaunt Camp to get some Bugbait, they were attacked by Antlions, leaving Laszlo severely wounded. Some time later, Gordon Freeman arrives on the scene, only to see Antlions attack Laszlo a second time, killing him. Gordon then proceeds to help Sandy in defeating the remaining Antlions. Subsequently, Sandy tells Gordon to stay off the sand, as it is walking on it that attracts the Antlions. He then tells Gordon that there is no point for him to continue to the Vortigaunt Camp now that Laszlo is dead. He then acknowledges Gordon's effort to help, and that he will stay with Laszlo for a while, because there is "something [he] has to do" (though if one waits or comes back to the spot after leaving, it appears that Sandy never actually does anything, or disappears entirely). He finally tells Gordon he hopes he has better luck than them. Gordon then leaves and continues his journey to the Vortigaunt Camp. During the brief encounter, Sandy never elaborates as to why he considers Laszlo to be "the finest mind of his generation".

Behind the scenes

• According to Marc Laidlaw, the scene with Laszlo and Sandy was created to tell the player to stay off the sand, and keep to the rocks to avoid being swarmed. It went through many iterations before the final version: At first, it simply consisted of a Rebel standing on the rocks, telling the player "Stay off the sand or the Antlions'll hear you!". The next version, slightly more elaborate, added a dead body on the sand, and had the surviving Rebel saying: "Poor Tobias, he forgot the Antlions could hear him if he stepped on the sand." (Laszlo's model animations still bear the name "Tobias") The team continued to iterate, eventually leading to a scene where Laszlo was still alive, but would still inevitably die. This also showcases that while Laszlo's death is not important to the player, it is to Sandy; other NPCs do not necessarily share Gordon's goals, and care about other things besides Gordon's journey and the death of the final boss.

Trivia

• Laszlo will still die even if the player is quick enough to dispatch all the Antlions Laszlo startled. As his death is scripted, Laszlo will suddenly jerk and fall over dead as if hit.

• If the player does not kill the startled antlions in some time or refuses to kill them after Laszlo moves then Sandy can die by them. Sandy can also die if the player triggers an antlion ambush near Sandy and one proceeds to attack him.

List of appearances

• Half-Life 2 (First appearance)