Shock Trooper

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General information
Type	Soldier
Affiliation	Race X
Individual information
Health	50 (Easy/Normal) 80 (Hard)
Attacks / Weapons	Shock Roach Spore Grenade Punch
Game information
Designed by	Stephen Bahl
Entity name	monster_shocktrooper

 

"I've never seen that species before!"

―Black Mesa scientist

 

The Shock Trooper is the most intelligent and dangerous of the Race X Aliens. Physically, they are bipedal with four arms and have a posture that makes them vaguely resemble Vortigaunts, but with many key differences which show that they behave more like Alien Grunts. Their bodies are covered in plate-like sections, similar in appearance to insect exoskeletons. Their skin is pale blue, and is not mottled or patchy like the skin of Xen creatures.

Their eye is apparently part of a common morphology between Race X creatures - every Race X Alien with a large eye (including the Pit Worm) has two eyelids which regularly blink horizontally across the eyeball and what appears to be "tentacles" surrounding their mouth (which is under the head).

Weaponry

Shock Trooper in Black Mesa.

Their primary weapon is the Shock Roach; a living creature, similar to the Alien Grunt's Hivehand. The Shock Roach fires bolts of electricity, which it constantly recharges on its own just like the hivehand. The Shock Roach cannot survive without a living host for very long; if its Shock Trooper dies, it will detach itself and pursue a new host. If it nears a player that already has a Shock Roach, it will attack in a similar way to a Headcrab before dying.

Shock Troopers also have the ability to regurgitate and throw spore grenades, which they tend to use against distant or concealed enemies. Infant Shock Troopers will forcibly launch the same type of spore when squeezed, and can thus be used as a Spore Launcher weapon. Their 3rd, least used attack, only when approached, is scratching Shephard with their 3 remaining arms, much like what Alien Grunts do to Freeman when touched.

Infant version

The Spore Launcher being reloaded.

Baby Shock Troopers (named Spore Launchers in-game) are effectively tadpoles, an earlier stage that is only a head and torso, with tentacles trailing behind. Beyond the small size, Baby Shock Troopers are also notable for having gills, one or two stubby arms, thin spikes, and two small eyes instead of the adults' single large one.

They are amphibious, although immobile outside of water. Baby Shock Troopers are first found kept in a tank in the Sector E Biodome Complex of Black Mesa. How they appeared there is unknown, but given the design, it appears that the Black Mesa Science Team had been in slight interest with Race X in addition to Xen creatures. However, this leaves questions for why the scientist who saw an adult Shock Trooper claimed that he had never seen anything like it. It might be that they were only recently acquired, or that the scientist simply never worked in the labs which studied alien wildlife.

These aliens can actually be used as a weapon, with a small pair of legs used as a handle, capable of only firing spore blobs collected from around the rest of the Black Mesa Facility in small buds, both used as "bullets" and grenades, both very toxic to enemies. Adrian Shephard seems to have some fondness for this creature, as during one of its idle animations, it emits an amphibious purr, which is followed by Shephard's hand stroking its back gently to and fro.

Ironically, the Spore Launcher is very effective against Shock Troopers despite it being one of their own.

Behavior and skills

Shock Trooper abducting a scientist.

Shock Trooper engaging in battle with a restrained Gargantua.

Shock Troopers are usually encountered in small groups, and often fight together with other Race X aliens, whom they seem to be allied with. Shock Troopers also possess a verbal form of communication, uttering strange electronic-sounding noises to each other.

Shock Troopers have mastered teleportation technology and use it to travel in and out of combat. It is interesting to note that at one point, the player observes a Shock Trooper grab a Black Mesa scientist prior to teleporting away; effectively kidnapping him. One of the security guards, if Adrian chooses for him to follow, observes this and mutters, "Those poor bastards."

At another point in the game, after witnessing The G-Man holding a cell phone in front of a sprite-powered portal, Shock Troopers teleport to a caved-in wall at the end of a hydroelectric dam and shoot at the Gargantua instead of the player and his soldiers.

Trivia

• During development, Shock Troopers had a dark green color.
• It is possible to dodge the Shock Roach's electricity bolt at long range by strafing constantly, but it would be almost impossible to dodge up close.
• The name shock trooper refers to the military tactic of being trained for sudden attack.

List of appearances

• Half-Life: Opposing Force (First appearance)

References

The Half-Life Wiki has more images related to Shock Trooper.