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Vortigaunts possess their own method of vocal communication, which, in ''Half-Life 2'', they can be heard using and referring to as "flux shifting". This method of communication involves both speakers vocalising at the same time, which separates it from all known human languages. According to the Vortigaunts, flux shifting cannot be understood by "those whose Vortal inputs are impaired", which may suggest that auditory components other than the ones humans already possess are required to hear their language. Another explanation is that the senses of humans are not quite as 'advanced' as theirs, as standard Vortigaunt speech may include an element of telepathy, of which they appear to be capable. |
Vortigaunts possess their own method of vocal communication, which, in ''Half-Life 2'', they can be heard using and referring to as "flux shifting". This method of communication involves both speakers vocalising at the same time, which separates it from all known human languages. According to the Vortigaunts, flux shifting cannot be understood by "those whose Vortal inputs are impaired", which may suggest that auditory components other than the ones humans already possess are required to hear their language. Another explanation is that the senses of humans are not quite as 'advanced' as theirs, as standard Vortigaunt speech may include an element of telepathy, of which they appear to be capable. |
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In the first part of ''Half-Life'', the Vortigaunts use scattered English words they heard from the humans to taunt them in combat ("''Die!''"). By the beginning of ''Half-Life 2'', however, Vortigaunts have learned to speak at least the [[English language]] fluently (in international versions of ''Half Life 2'', the Vortigaunts speak the appropriate language for the country). The Vortigaunts' use of English is slightly strange, however, as they use archaic |
In the first part of ''Half-Life'', the Vortigaunts use scattered English words they heard from the humans to taunt them in combat ("''Die!''"). By the beginning of ''Half-Life 2'', however, Vortigaunts have learned to speak at least the [[English language]] fluently (in international versions of ''Half Life 2'', the Vortigaunts speak the appropriate language for the country). The Vortigaunts' use of English is slightly strange, however, as they use archaic, even [[William Shakespeare|Shakespearian]], [[vocabulary|words]] and [[grammar|grammatical structures]], much like the Jedi Master, [[Yoda]] or the Gungans, such as [[Jar Jar Binks]].which are largely obsolete amongst present-day human speakers, such as referring to people as items rather than people (Instead of saying something like "we must protect [[Alyx Vance]]," they will refer to her as ''The'' Alyx Vance and although the Vortigaunts normally use both the first and last names, when refering to someone, the vortigaunts almost always refer to [[Gordon Freeman]] as The Free Man). It is not known whether this is a lack of understanding or a deliberate choice on their part. While the subtitles for ''Half-Life 2'' show their own language phonetically, in ''Episode Two'' it is subtitled as "[Vortigese]," which is possibly the in-universe name for their language. |
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The Vortigaunts believe in a binding life-force which they call the "Vortessence", which could be a religion or a popular belief. They believe the Vortessence is the fabric of the universe, made of "vortal cords", [[M-theory|of which everything is woven]] (and therefore everything is connected). Due to their use of this force, which remains untapped by the human species, the Vortigaunt species is capable of a form of [[telepathy]], at least amongst their own kind. The Vortigaunts are able to read and control this force for their electrical powers, nearly hive-mind telepathy and, likely, their ability to take power from objects. The Nihilanth's powers and enslavement of the Vortigaunts were also gained through control of the Vortessence. |
The Vortigaunts believe in a binding life-force which they call the "Vortessence", which could be a religion or a popular belief. They believe the Vortessence is the fabric of the universe, made of "vortal cords", [[M-theory|of which everything is woven]] (and therefore everything is connected). Due to their use of this force, which remains untapped by the human species, the Vortigaunt species is capable of a form of [[telepathy]], at least amongst their own kind. The Vortigaunts are able to read and control this force for their electrical powers, nearly hive-mind telepathy and, likely, their ability to take power from objects. The Nihilanth's powers and enslavement of the Vortigaunts were also gained through control of the Vortessence. |
Revision as of 01:51, 24 February 2008
Vortigaunts (sometimes known as alien slaves) are a fictional species from the Half-Life video game series. They made their first appearance in Half-Life, in which they serve as frequently encountered enemies. In the sequel, Half-Life 2 they become allies and join the human resistance against the Combine empire which has enslaved both races.
Their only known home is the Xen border world, from which they travelled to Earth during the Black Mesa Incident and Portal Storms.
Overview
Physiology
In appearance, a Vortigaunt is somewhat humanoid with two legs and two arms, but has an additional arm protruding from its chest. This extra limb is a feature also found in the other bipedal, sapient species from Xen, including the Alien Grunt and Nihilanth. This similarity, along with other shared features such as red eyes and digitigrade legs, suggests a common ancestry with other intelligent Xen lifeforms. Apparently, this third arm is used for feeding, as both Vortigaunts and Alien Grunts are often seen bending over slain victims while feeding off of it. Vortigaunts have a mottled green-brown skin, sharp teeth, and clawed hands. Vortigaunts have a slightly hunched posture, and their faces are dominated by a large, single red eye, surrounded by five smaller eyes. In Half-Life 2, only two of these eyes are noticeably visible, but closer inspection of a Vortigaunt will reveal the other three. It is noted in Half-Life 2: Episode Two that their physical appearance has undergone several different changes in each game. In Episode Two, their skin is smooth and reflective, giving them a slug-like appearance; this is a stark contrast to their original reptilian appearances.
Intelligence and culture
Vortigaunts are intelligent and social creatures, and often display these traits. Throughout the entire Half-Life series they are capable of developing intelligent strategies. When faced with a superior enemy, Vortigaunts will often run away from the scene, and, if possible, will group together with others to form a stronger force.
Brief glimpses into Vortigaunt culture can be gained by occasional speeches given by them in Half-Life 2, and in scenes in the original Half-Life. In the original game, Vortigaunts were an enslaved species to the Nihilanth, used as factory workers and drone soldiers. Based on comments made by the "All-Knowing Vortigaunt", it seems that the species has endured slavery for many generations, and enforced servitude appears to have formed the bedrock of Vortigaunt history and culture up to the events of the first Half-Life. In Half-Life 2, the free Vortigaunts make occasional references to their species' culture. Vortigaunts have many traditions, including an apparent oral tradition of passing down poetry and songs from generation to generation. One particular comment made by a Vortigaunt — "We have lost all dear to us" — suggests that the Vortigaunts have lost their homeworld and civilization, yet are determined to start again alongside the human race on Earth. There also seems to be a possibility, based on phrases uttered by the "All-Knowing Vortigaunt" that Vortigaunts have a collective consciousness through time and space, and that each moment (Gordon killing the Nihilanth, Gordon's arrival at Black Mesa East, etc.) through time appears to them as one. he also states that Gordon has brought the Vortigaunt's "Grief and jubilation beyond measure" Meaning that while they are eternally grateful to Gordon for freeing them from the Nihilanth, They mourn the large number of Vort's he killed at Black Mesa and Xen.
It is also worth mentioning that there seems to be a sort of practical afterlife available for Vortigaunts. This is suggested by one of the statements of the All-Knowing Vortigaunt: "What seems to you a sacrifice is merely, to us, an oscillation. We do not fear the interval of darkness." The statement implies that, whenever a Vortigaunt dies, it passes into "the interval of darkness", from which it may be able to emerge anew, possibly reincarnating in a new body.
In Episode Two, it is revealed that the Vortigaunts turn purple whenever they do something that requires a great deal of power (restraining the G-Man in Episode One or resurrecting Alyx Vance in Episode Two, for example): "Deep submersion in the Vortessence", as they put it. However, it should be noted that the purple Vortigaunts in Episode One have blue eyes, while the eyes of the ones in Episode Two stay red.
Communication and the "Vortessence"
Vortigaunts possess their own method of vocal communication, which, in Half-Life 2, they can be heard using and referring to as "flux shifting". This method of communication involves both speakers vocalising at the same time, which separates it from all known human languages. According to the Vortigaunts, flux shifting cannot be understood by "those whose Vortal inputs are impaired", which may suggest that auditory components other than the ones humans already possess are required to hear their language. Another explanation is that the senses of humans are not quite as 'advanced' as theirs, as standard Vortigaunt speech may include an element of telepathy, of which they appear to be capable.
In the first part of Half-Life, the Vortigaunts use scattered English words they heard from the humans to taunt them in combat ("Die!"). By the beginning of Half-Life 2, however, Vortigaunts have learned to speak at least the English language fluently (in international versions of Half Life 2, the Vortigaunts speak the appropriate language for the country). The Vortigaunts' use of English is slightly strange, however, as they use archaic, even Shakespearian, words and grammatical structures, much like the Jedi Master, Yoda or the Gungans, such as Jar Jar Binks.which are largely obsolete amongst present-day human speakers, such as referring to people as items rather than people (Instead of saying something like "we must protect Alyx Vance," they will refer to her as The Alyx Vance and although the Vortigaunts normally use both the first and last names, when refering to someone, the vortigaunts almost always refer to Gordon Freeman as The Free Man). It is not known whether this is a lack of understanding or a deliberate choice on their part. While the subtitles for Half-Life 2 show their own language phonetically, in Episode Two it is subtitled as "[Vortigese]," which is possibly the in-universe name for their language.
The Vortigaunts believe in a binding life-force which they call the "Vortessence", which could be a religion or a popular belief. They believe the Vortessence is the fabric of the universe, made of "vortal cords", of which everything is woven (and therefore everything is connected). Due to their use of this force, which remains untapped by the human species, the Vortigaunt species is capable of a form of telepathy, at least amongst their own kind. The Vortigaunts are able to read and control this force for their electrical powers, nearly hive-mind telepathy and, likely, their ability to take power from objects. The Nihilanth's powers and enslavement of the Vortigaunts were also gained through control of the Vortessence. In Half-Life the electricity power came from a green "slave collar" of sorts.
In Half-Life 2, the Vortigaunts are voiced by Louis Gossett, Jr.. It is mentioned in Raising the Bar that Gossett was chosen partially due to his role as the alien in the film Enemy Mine. In Episode Two, he is replaced by Tony Todd.
Offensive and defensive abilities
In Half-Life and its expansion packs, Vortigaunts are common enemies in both Black Mesa and Xen. While they usually attack aggressively, they often become timid when injured, preferring to run away rather than risk further combat and possible death. They have two modes of attack: an energy attack in which they fire fairly powerful green lightning-like energy beams that require a vulnerable period of "charging-up" before being unleashed, and when close to opponents, they attack with their claws; in Half-Life 2, when faced with Headcrabs, they will attempt to kick them. Significantly, all of the Vortigaunts in Half-Life wear green collars and wrist bands. In Half-Life: Decay, it is shown that the green collars and bands can be "activated" to fire a burst of energy identical to normal attack used by the Vortigaunts. Vortigaunts often act as support for the tougher Alien Grunts in Half-Life, as the player will be concentrating on killing the tougher Grunts while the Vortigaunts can attack freely. Also, they can claw or slap an enemy for a melee attack.
In Half-Life 2, their electrical attack is far more devastating, tending to kill whatever it hits immediately, and quite often knock back its target at considerable distance. Only objects with significant mass can resist being knocked back, such as the Strider (which can only be damaged by explosives) and Antlion Guards. These attacks occur only twice during the singleplayer game both when Gordon's view is restricted by rubble or other blockages, and the only way to see a Vortigaunt in combat is to spawn it with enemies using the console. It is also suggested that Vortigaunts can siphon an opponent's lifeforce with their energy beam attack, as they are heard saying phrases like "Give over your essence!" or "Empower us!" during some of their attacks in Half-Life 2. In the Half-Life expansion Decay, the player plays as a Vortigaunt in a bonus mission, and the beam attack does indeed 'steal' lifeforce from enemies. The Vortigaunts can also charge Gordon's HEV suit if its energy is low, but will only raise it to about 55 to 79%.
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
In Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Gordon is accompanied by a Vortigaunt in some portions of the game. The Vortigaunt's electrical attack has its charge-up duration decreased considerably, while the attack itself usually kills an enemy in a single shot, with the exception of Antlion Guards. Other attacks include a melee attack, where the Vortigaunt knocks the enemy down and kills it with a punch, and a shockwave attack, where the Vortigaunt punches the ground creating a shockwave which damages and usually kills nearby enemies. When fighting a headcrab zombie the Vortigaunt knocks them down and stomps on the headcrab as a melee attack. They also possess regenerative powers, being able to keep a badly wounded person alive using some kind of power, probably the Vortessence, and the ability to seemingly heal near-dead beings, using extract found in the deepest parts of an Antlion hive. Some of their attacks also stun Antlions, allowing the player to kill them.
Tactics
In the original Half Life, Vortigaunts are against the player.
- The standard MP5 sub-machine gun is highly effective.
- Vortigaunts go down after a few shotgun hits.
- Snarks will chase down Vortigaunts and usually kill them.
Expanded role
Half-Life 2
In Half-Life 2, Gordon Freeman meets up with the creatures again. This time, however, they are eager to assist in overthrowing the Combine. In the time between the two games, the Vortigaunts have been freed from their former master, and most remaining on Earth have joined the human Resistance against the Combine. The game also reveals that the Vortigaunts are capable of using their electrical attack productively, in the form of a blue energy stream that can recharge batteries, power electronic circuits and weld objects together. The Vortigaunts credit Gordon Freeman with their freedom, and hold him in high esteem as "The Free Man" (as it was Freeman who slew the Nihilanth and freed the Vortigaunts), though they also seem to mourn all those "whose cords [Freeman] cut."
However, not all Vortigaunts have been freed. In the first chapter of Half-Life 2 — "Point Insertion" — it is possible to catch a brief glimpse of a Vortigaunt working under the Combine. Wearing a collar and armbands similar to those worn in Half-Life (with an additional band around the waist), the Vortigaunt is shown slowly and meticulously using a push-broom to sweep dirt and garbage in the City 17 train station. An unshackled Vortigaunt is seen in a similar role in a human-controlled silo in Episode Two. When exploring Nova Prospekt, the player comes across a dead Vortigaunt, wearing collar and armbands, sitting in a restrained chair. It appears that the Vortigaunt has died during electrical torture by the Combine, which would explain Alyx Vance's comments that the Resistance's only knowledge of Nova Prospekt is through telepathic communications from Vortigaunts taken there for torture or interrogation. Also, the device that seems to torture the Vortigaunt seems to be a double-beam electrical device, using the same technology as the plugs and barriers the Combine use to restrict foot travel.
Episode One and Episode Two
In the beginning of Half-Life 2: Episode One, a group of purple-colored Vortigaunts free Gordon from the G-Man and save Alyx from certain death after the explosion of the Combine Citadel's interdimensional portal, teleporting both of them to the relative safety of the center of City 17, just outside the Citadel — this shows that the Vortigaunts may be more powerful than previously speculated, even to the point of challenging the might of the G-Man (whose mysterious power has seemed unmatched and unstoppable up to this point), albeit only as a group (the G-Man does not seem concerned with just one).
In Half-Life 2: Episode Two, it is confirmed that the Vortigaunts are purple-colored because they are operating on some other plane of existence, namely, the Vortessence. This happens when they use the Antlion larval extract to "dissolve the false barriers that divide them from the Vortessence." However, how they would have known that Alyx and Gordon were in trouble at that time is a mystery yet to be answered. Apparently, they have the power to interrupt G-Man's plots, because in the vision Gordon receives shortly after the Vortigaunts don their purplish form, the G-man makes mention that he had to wait for Gordon's "friends" (the Vortigaunts) to become too busy so he could talk with Gordon. It should also be noted that the failure messages in Episode Two are given from the Vortigaunts' point of view (e.g. "Inescapable doom clouds the Vortessence"), rather than from the G-Man's, as was the case in Half-Life 2 and Episode One.
In Episode Two, Vortigaunts play a much larger role in actual gameplay, replacing Alyx for a short time as Gordon's companion. The aliens are now shown to have larger eyes and a less scaly appearance, with a smoother texture similar to a slug or frog. Their roles have been expanded from burdened slave labor and fellow refugees from the Combine into Rebel fighters, mystical martial artists, and even a lab assistant for Dr. Magnusson (see "Uriah", below). Their A.I. and attacks have been expanded to allow more freedom in combat with them than shown in 3rd party mods such as Garry's Mod. For instance, instead of attacking and destroying enemies they utilize stunning techniques that halt attacking enemies and allow the player to finish them off. It is also revealed that, long before their several past enslavements, their race were once herders and farmers who raised Antlions, indicating that if not from Xen then the Antlions were from the same planet or dimension as the Vortigaunts. They use Antlion larvae for healing as used on Alyx in the beginning of Episode Two; however, to perform the technique on a human they need a proxy to bind the wounded's "Vortessence", a role Gordon assumed. These altered Vortigaunts are voiced by actor Tony Todd, replacing Louis Gosset Jr in the role.
It is also known that the Vortigaunts are now actively pursuing the Combine Advisors. When the player leaves the Antlion Tunnels and the base there, he is told by the Vortigaunts that they are going to resume hunting the Advisors. Due to the electrical attacks of the Vortigaunts, they would be the prime choice to dispatch the Advisors, since their electrical pulses could destroy Advisor life support systems, and Vortigaunts may also possess resistance or outright immunity to the Advisors' telekinetic attacks. It is unknown how many Combine Advisors have been slain by the Vortigaunts, or how many Vortigaunts are on this task.
Miscellaneous Half-Life titles and mods
In the official co-op expansion Half-Life: Decay, players who manage to obtain an A rank on all of the regular missions with at least one character may unlock a bonus mission titled "Xen Attacks", where both players play as Vortigaunts. Although short on story, the mission gives some unique insight into the Vortigaunts' role in the Black Mesa incident. The players control "Drone Subjects" X-8973 and R-4913, two Vortigaunts sent to Earth by Nihilanth. The mission Nihilanth has assigned them is the retrieval of crystals stolen from Xen by the Black Mesa science team. Both Vortigaunts are able to regain health by damaging objects or enemies.
Notable Vortigaunts
Uriah
Uriah is a Vortigaunt first appearing in Half-Life 2: Episode Two. In Episode Two Gordon is introduced to the Vortigaunt when he reaches White Forest Rocket Facility. Gordon is instructed by Magnusson to head into the Silo 2 complex. Uriah lets Gordon into Silo 2 and reappears with Alyx when Gordon has closed the Silo Access. Uriah is later seen at the Magnusson Device training scene helping control the Strider test dummy. He even appears to hold a Doctorate title, or is at least knowledgeable enough to assist Dr. Magnusson.
Uriah is notable for being the only Vortigaunt with a name, and one of the few seen wearing human clothing. The developer's commentary reveals that this particular Vortigaunt acquired a name because of the special relationship it had with play testers. Uriah's original nickname was Heep, based on the character Uriah Heep from Charles Dickens's novel, David Copperfield. This is because the Vortigaunt species is known for it's "heaping" posture. He is voiced by actor Tony Todd.
"The All-Knowing Vortigaunt"
In what appears to be a carefully hidden Easter egg, Half-Life 2 introduces a unique member of this species during the course of the Water Hazard stage.
The Vortigaunt in question is shown roasting a headcrab over an open fire while chanting, eventually pausing to hack and wheeze for a moment. By talking to the Vortigaunt, the player may hear many cryptic statements pertaining to Black Mesa, Xen, the G-Man, and the Nihilanth, among other topics.
However, given enough prompting by the player, all of the information imparted by the "All-Knowing Vortigaunt" is also spoken by other Vortigaunts encountered in Half-Life 2. The exact (and complete) collection of quotes can be heard from the Vortigaunt which equips the Pulse Cannon on the airboat during the Water Hazard chapter.