History Characters / HalfLifeSupportingCharacters

** It's implied that, with [[ZombieApocalypse the state that the combine has left his flock in]], he sees his role as the one responsible for their "salvation" as having morphed into a duty to give every last one of them a MercyKill. For what it's worth, he can still be heard giving conventional sermons to the zombies even while he blasts them to pieces.

[[caption-width-right:206:''"I should've aborted that test, but... I didn't. The whole world went to hell that day."'']]

* ArtificialLimbs: Eli apparently lost his left leg during an [[NoodleIncident incident involving a Bullsquid.]] He has a makeshift prosthetic now.

* CassandraTruth: Was very uneasy about the Anti-Mass Spectrometer running at high levels in ''Half-Life 1'', and says as much in the immediate aftermath of the Resonance Cascade.

%%* DeadpanSnarker
* DistressedDude: One of the major goals driving the plot is Alyx's quest to rescue her father, twice. This isn't exactly a new thing, as ''Half-Life: Alyx'' shows.

* ItsAllMyFault: The quote above from ''Episode Two'' implies that Eli at least partially blames himself for the Resonance Cascade and the subsequent Combine invasion.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The personal cutscene between Gordon and him in ''Episode Two'' pretty much made him admit [[spoiler:he was doing oversight for the test leading up to the Resonance Cascade.]]
-->''"When he came in, I knew I should have aborted that damn test. [[ForWantOfANail But I didn't]]. The whole world went to hell that day."''

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Episode Two'', right before Gordon and Alyx were to board the helicopter to find the Borealis, he is killed by a Combine Advisor by having his brain sucked out right in front of Gordon and Alyx.]]

-->'''Eli:''' Can you blame me for [[IWantGrandkids wanting Grandkids?]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: He only appears two times in ''Half-Life 1'', but him sending Gordon to the surface to radio for help ends up putting Gordon on his arduous journey through the Black Mesa facility.

A major character in ''Half-Life 2'', Isaac was the man who recommended Gordon Freeman to Black Mesa Research Facility's Civilian Recruitment Division. Also a survivor of the Resonance Cascade incident at Black Mesa. [[RuleOfThree Was also]] Gordon's theoretical physics teacher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

''"Ah! Gordon Freeman! I couldn't have asked for a finer volunteer!"''

* EarlyBirdCameo: He is one of the many scientists overseeing Barney Calhoun during his training.

* AnimalMotifs: Sort of. ''Half-Life: Alyx'' seems to give him a virus motif, likely playing into his modus operandi of subverting worlds from the inside.

An eldritch and enigmatic character, looking like a blend between a government worker and a businessman, who apparently possess a degree of control over space and time. All we know is that he's been observing the events of the entire ''Half-Life'' series. And that he is possibly not entirely human. He apparently answers to some higher authority which he simply refers to as his "employers". He has, however, on a couple of occasions hinted that he does not necessarily obey these "employers".

* AllPowerfulBystander: {{Downplayed}} because of his occasional interference, but it's implied that he's capable of doing ''a lot'' more than popping in randomly and giving cryptic speeches. Notably, when he refuses to [[spoiler:remove the Combine from Earth at the end of ''Alyx'']] he doesn't say that such a drastic move would be beyond his abilities, he simply says that it would be "a very large nudge." Could he? Could he not? We may never know.

* BigBad: He's definitely the big...something. However, there's just as much to suggest that he's this (his employers are unknown; the Vortigaunts don't support him; and as noted above, Eli suggests that [[spoiler:he's the one from whom Black Mesa got the crystal that caused the Resonance cascade, and by extension, the events of the entire series]]; and [[spoiler:claiming Alyx as his new agent, stealing her away from her father and friends while throwing Freeman aside]]) as there is to suggest he's the BigGood.
* BigGood: He's definitely the big...something. However, there's just as much to suggest that he's this (saving Freeman and Shepard from their doom; ''seems'' to oppose the definite villains, the Combine; saving [[spoiler:Alyx Vance]] despite his employers objecting; and [[spoiler:letting Alyx Vance save her father from the Combine]]) as there is to suggest he's the BigBad.

** While he remains a source of ambiguity and it's hard to tell his loyalties, [[spoiler:at the end of ''Alyx'', he does at least show a shade of his true colors by cruelly abducting Alyx and abandoning Gordon to fend for himself after the end of ''Episode Two'']].
** He's always supportive when talking to Gordon, but [[spoiler:his conversation with Alyx reveals that he's extremely dismissive of his performance. As soon as he finds a suitable replacement, he fires Gordon without a word.]]

* TheChessmaster: He's either this, or the world champion of XanatosSpeedChess. Best exemplified by [[spoiler:the ending of ''Alyx'']].

* ConsummateLiar: If the Nihilanth is to be trusted (which is a dubious condition, to be sure).

* CreepyBlueEyes: In Half Life 1. [[DependingOnTheArtist In Half Life 2, he has green eyes.]]
* CreepyMonotone: He rarely shows emotion.

* DeadpanSnarker: He has some moments of very dry sarcasm.

** ''Alyx'' is his most realistic iteration to-date. Wrinkles and aged skin were added to make him look more like a skinny middle-aged businessman and he emotes at almost-LargeHam levels, though this may be due to having a different audience. His eyes returned to being green again, but much darker, and he now has a noticeable lazy eye.

* HumanAlien: It's made quite clear he is from a different world, since he has supernatural powers and speaks in a way that is described by the developers as "something trying and failing to act human".
* HumanoidAbomination: ''Maybe''. Standing still, he looks human. When he moves -- and where he appears -- it becomes disconcertingly obvious that he cannot possibly be human.

* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:It's subtle, but he seems to take an inordinate amount of pleasure in both "firing" Freeman and putting Alyx Vance in stasis after the events of ''Alyx'']].

* NotSoOmniscientAfterAll: All of the player characters are at his mercy throughout the ''Half-Life'' games. It's only ''Episode One'' where the Vortigaunts demonstrate the ability to somehow suppress the G-Man's influence, something that surprises him.

* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Downplayed; while Kleiner has managed to domesticate it to some extent and "debeaked" its ability to control a host, Lamarr still retains much of the predatory behavior of a typical Headcrab and Kleiner doesn't seem to have much control over the creature as it attacks Barney and aggressively hisses to both him and Kleiner before escaping to the airducts during its first appearance. That being said, it appears to pant like a dog when resting from hopping around, and Kleiner can hold and pet it without it struggling.

* HurlItIntoTheSun: [[spoiler:Last seen in the nosecone of a rocket launched into the Combine super-portal. If it's not dead it's in another universe.]]

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Surprisingly varies his approach to fit both schools of thought. With Gordon and Adrian the G-man remains strictly professional, teleporting only to underscore his point with relevant imagery or to put people where he needs them while otherwise standing stock still save for fixing his tie. [[spoiler: With Alyx he's significantly more animated and active deliberately flexing his powers. Showing off what he can do to someone who, unlike Gordon, probably doesn't understand the theoretical physics behind his actions. Whether he simply felt Alyx would be more easily impressed wanted to stretch his metaphorical legs after his brief captivity, or had some other motive for his actions is unknown.]]
** It could reasonably be that this is simply due to creative decisions by Valve when it comes to the G-Man and other characters. ''Half-Life'' lore and the characters in it have changed greatly over the years, and many of the writers for the older games were no longer with the company to work on ''Alyx''.

* TheResenter: According to Alyx, despite ostensibly not holding any grudges towards Gordon, Judith likes to talk about how "it should have been her in the test chamber that day" which implies that she's still jealous about being passed over for Gordon's job (thus becoming TheHero in the process) all that time ago. [[spoiler:Given her later betrayal, it's possible that Judith still holds a grudge towards Gordon.]]

* TheResenter: According to Alyx, despite ostensibly not holding any grudges towards Gordon, Judith likes to say about how "it should have been her in the test chamber that day" which implies that she's still jealous about being passed over for Gordon's job (thus becoming TheHero in the process) all that time ago. [[spoiler:Given her later betrayal, it's possible that Judith still holds a grudge towards Gordon.]]

* AscendedExtra: Remember that scientist in ''Half-Life 1'' that sent you up for help after the Resonance Cascade and opened the door for you? That's Eli. Made more obvious in ''VideoGame/BlackMesa,'' the Source FanRemake that was [[invoked]][[OfficialFanSubmittedContent endorsed by Valve.]]

* ItsAllMyFault: The quote above from ''Episode 2'' implies that Eli at least partially blames himself for the Resonance Cascade and the subsequent Combine invasion.

* TheMole: [[spoiler:Initially, but pulls a HeelFaceTurn]] later on. It's not clear if she's an example of [[spoiler:a FakeDefector]] or [[spoiler:WelcomeBackTraitor]].
%%* MyGodWhatHaveIDone

* YouBastard: In Episode 2, as G-Man is monologuing, he brings up that Freeman killed a lot of Vortigaunts during the Black Mesa incident, the same aliens that were currently saving Alyx's life. Granted, he doesn't care about Vortigaunt live, and [[KickTheDog mostly brought it up just to be a jerk]].

* UncannyValley: [[invoked]] Invoked intentionally. WordOfGod states that he's meant to hint at something only ''[[AFormYouAreComfortableWith trying]]'' to look human, but [[HughMann not bothering to try very hard]]. It's especially apparent in ''Alyx'', [[spoiler:where his eyes glow unnaturally at several points, and his face is the most visually emotive in all his appearances, cycling through a variety of emotions throughout his speech...while ''still'' keeping his cold, never-changing monotone, causing a ''massive'', uncomfortable disconnect between the emotion of his voice and the emotion of his face.]]

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's a FatSlob with a neurotic, childish personality and he's also armed with