Tropes that apply to the characters of Entropy : Zero and its sequel.
open/close all folders
Introduced in Entropy : Zero
Bad Cop
Bad Cop / Unit 3650 / Aiden Walker
"I'm feeling pretty good about myself today."
"The sheriff's back in town!"
Voiced By: Kelly Bailey (Archive audio), Sam "Trivvy" Pearson (Entropy : Zero 2)
"I only had one thing to give up for this job: my humanity. Some would say... I never had it anyway."
The player character, a misanthropic Metrocop who sets out to free City 10 from Resistance control after becoming the only remaining Combine operative in the City.
Entropy : Zero 2 follows his adventures as an Overwatch Elite who is tasked with capturing Judith Mossman and locating the secret project she and her team have been searching for.
- 0% Approval Rating: The prologue for the sequel shows that nobody in Bad Cop's old precinct liked him, with the majority of the Metrocops in the level insulting him to his face when talked to. It culminates in a scene where a group of Metrocops finds out that he is trying to use his perk to find his daughter, and they decide to intentionally fudge the numbers so that he is denied his perk out of spite. It does not end well for them.
- All for Nothing: All his efforts to find out about Ava during the two games go to waste when the Advisor betrays him at the end of Entropy : Zero 2.
- Artifact Name: Retains the out-of-series nickname of "Bad Cop" in E:Z2, even though he’s no longer a Metrocop.
- Bond One-Liner: Dishes them out to his victims left and right. His one-liners are far more specific (and scathing) in the sequel.
- Brain Uploading: As a commendation for his efforts in stopping the City 10 insurrection, the Combine upload his consciousness into their mind repository in the Overworld to be used as a template for creating an elite breed of Overwatch soldiers. The sequel has you playing as the last remaining one of these soldiers.
- Breakout Mook Character: He incarnates two of the enemy types that you go up against in Half-Life 2 and its Episodes: a Metrocop in the original mod and an Overwatch Elite in the sequel.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite his irreverent personality, he's a viciously effective commander whenever he's able to establish contact with Overwatch, wiping out entire rebel enclaves with just a few orders.
- Character Development: Clone Cop's disparaging remarks about him being a pawn eventually rub off on him, and he comes to understand that the Combine see him as a disposable asset like the rest of the Overwatch forces, stringing him along with false promises to coerce him to do their bidding. He also starts to have some introspective moments with Wilson that would be out of place for a thuggish meathead like him. This can culminate in his Heel–Face Turn against the Combine if you choose, which subsequently causes him to renounce using his missing daughter as a Freudian Excuse, finding solace in the fact that he's at least not guilty of killing her.
- Characterisation Click Moment: His voice lines in the original mod consist entirely of scrapped Metrocop conversation lines from Half-Life 2's development, and as such he's given little characterization outside of "psychopathic Civil Protection officer". The sequel, however, casts an actual voice actor for his role and expands upon his character, providing a backstory for him and demonstrating that he's capable of sympathy despite his disdain towards everyone around him.
- Cyborg: In E:Z2, per his status as an Overwatch Elite. He tells Wilson that he doesn't feel anything on his lower torso and it seems rather likely he can't remove his helmet. Judging by Half-Life: Alyx's reveal of what a Combine Transhuman is like beneath their helmet and that Bad Cop has only one eye, whatever there is beneath the mask, it isn't pretty.
- Cyber Cyclops: He obtains a Elite's body in E:Z2, as a reward for his efforts in pacifying City 10. This means he gains their armor and battle dress, which includes a helmet with a single crimson optic. Wilson notes that Aperture's turrets mistake him for one of them, as they share this similarity in appearance.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His wife passed away, his daughter was kidnapped, and because of his unwell mental state and mounting pressure on the local police to convict someone, the kidnapping was pinned on him and he was sent to a mental asylum for it. He claims that these are the major contributing factors to his unhinged personality in the present day.
- Deadpan Snarker: He seems to not take almost anything seriously, at least at first, frequently mocking allied Metrocops, Transhumans and enemies alike (even if to his fellow cyborgs he seems less scathing).
- Death of Personality: Loses his memories and faculties at the hands of his Advisor handler at the end of E:Z2, should he allow it to happen.
- The Dog Bites Back: The reason he was so willing to join the Combine, on top of wanting to find his daughter, was because he felt betrayed by his fellow man who tossed him into a cell despite him being innocent simply because the police bowed to Convicted by Public Opinion when they failed to find said daughter. As he sees it, this is just getting payback. The Advisor learns this the hard way at the end of E:Z2 if he resists getting mind-wiped, as Bad Cop is very pissed off to finally realize the Combine just strung him along this whole time.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He has said that he loves his wife and grandma, and hasn't given up hope that he'll reunite with his daughter. He also says he likes Unit 28, one of his fellow Metrocops. In one of the endings, Wilson joins into that small category as well.
- Evil Is Petty: If the player stands close to the radio at Gatehouse and Workshop after killing all enemies present, he can give a sarcastic remark to the Radio Guy when he radios in to ask what's happening.
- The Faceless: Naturally, given that he's a grunt for the Combine. The only glimpse provided of his actual face is from a blurred photo in his Civil Protection records.
- Given Name Reveal: Revealed in the sequel to be Aiden Walker, an ex-prison guard from Arizona.
- Gun Twirling: Twirls the Magnum when drawing and reloading it in E:Z2.
- Heel–Face Turn: He defects from the Combine in one ending of E:Z2.
- The Hero Dies: In the "There Will Be Darkness" route of the sequel, he gets killed by Gordon when the Resistance launch an assault to take the Borealis.
- Lack of Empathy: His circle of friends and loved ones is very limited by the time of E:Z2. He doesn't get along or care for what happens with fellow officers, doesn't bat an eye when killing people en masse, and doesn't even seem to notice the deaths of the Combine Soldiers, mostly reacting with a "better him than me" attitude.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Bad Cop cares little for the well-being of his fellow man because of how they deprived him of his livelihood. When the Combine took over Earth he jumped at the chance to join their ranks because of how they share his lack of regard for the human race.Bad Cop: You know, I don't really hate everybody. Just... I haven't been given much of a chance not to.
Wilson: You killed a guy earlier and I swear he just wanted to run.
Bad Cop: Well, I mean, I... he could still be a threat. Right? I don't hate everyone.
Wilson: Name someone you like, then.
Bad Cop: I like my grandma.
Wilson: Oh boss, everyone likes their grandma. - Missing Child: His daughter Ava. He applies for the Civil Protection perk of Family Cohesion in the hopes of finding her and continues working towards earning it after being promoted to Overwatch.
- One-Man Army: Takes down the rebel and Vortigaunt presence in City 10 without any backup whatsoever, which earns him a promotion to Combine Elite when the Combine recover him. During his assault on the Arbeit facilities, he has the Combine Overwatch at his beck and call, though he’s still given many chances to kick ass on his own and is considerably better at it this time around thanks to said Overwatch Elite status. It's also pointed this is why the Advisor has allowed him to keep his mental faculties rather than get the usual mind-wipe, as it's felt his irreverent personality and out-of-box thinking while still being loyal to the Combine will make him dangerous to the enemy. Of course, once they get proof that his free-thinking template is capable of going rogue on them regardless, well...
- Pet the Dog:
- Bad Cop will develop respect for Wilson if he's brought along for the ride, to the point he'll admit he doesn't hate him. Even if he gets annoyed about Wilson often, he'll still talk to him about his life, something that with others he would rather not.
- He can also detain rebels during E:Z2 instead of killing them outright. One amusing easter egg has him asking a rebel on the other side of a locked door if Mossman is there and then sparing said rebel for cooperating with him.
- Pop-Cultured Badass: As evidenced by a bunch of his lines.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: As a Metrocop he was a suck-up to the chief of his Civil Protection unit, much to the ire of his co-workers. It's all but stated this was more because he wanted to get access to his perk as quickly as possible than genuine sycophancy, though.
- Psychopathic Manchild: His irreverent personality, anger problems and overall antisocial behavior would be more fitting for a teenager than a family man. The fact that he laughs like a kid in a candy store when using the APC, alongside rubbing it in the Rebels' faces, shows a lot of immaturity. This contrasts heavily with his level of actual skill with firearms and overall fight savviness.
- Rabid Cop: As his name suggests, he's particularly murderous. He says to himself that becoming part of the Civil Protection arm is the best career choice of his life in the midst of killing rebels.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: E:Z2 reveals that before the events of the original mod, he was exiled from City 17 to Outland patrol duty as a punishment for killing a group of his fellow officers and that the raid he was taking part in during the prologue occurred during his exile. It's made clear the two reasons he wasn't terminated himself was because he's a Professional Butt-Kisser and he's very good at killing.
- Significant Birth Date: October 10th, the release date of the original Entropy : Zero.
- Sole Survivor: Of his Civil Protection squad in the original mod, following a train crash.
- Surrounded by Idiots: In the sequel, he's often exasperated by the performance of the other Combine troopers, especially after they repeatedly fail to apprehend Mossman. Understandable though, considering he's the only one of them who still retains his higher mental faculties while most of the rest have been stripped down to near-unthinking drones.
- Team Killer: After overhearing a group of his fellow Metrocops scheming to sabotage his records and deny him his Civil Protection benefits, he guns them all down in cold blood. The only reason he's let off easy for it is because he's the chief's pet and like most of Civil Protection everyone he killed was terrible at their jobs.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He doesn't get along with most Metrocops, as he sucks up to the chief and acts recklessly, disregarding protocol because "it gets results." They call him "Teacher's Pet" and other similar names often, wishing him ill in a near-unanimous fashion in the intro flashback, culminating in a group of them not only having No Sympathy for his Dark and Troubled Past, they think he really did abduct his daughter and decide to mess with records to deny him the "Family Cohesion Perk" he wants. Even with Wilson, who he tolerates the most, he gets annoyed with him.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Towards Wilson in the sequel, if he's brought all the way to the final chapter. He's initially annoyed by Wilson's antics but eventually warms up to him and admits that he doesn't hate him. When Wilson shuts down after the battle with Clone Cop, he's devastated.
- Transhuman: As stated in Half-Life 2, the Combine Overwatch human units are modified both cybernetically and biologically into loyal killing machines. Unlike some examples of this trope, Bad Cop and his fellow soldiers aren't much stronger or more agile than a regular human. They just can live longer without the need for sleep or food for an unknown period of time. Their eyes are replaced with cybernetics in their helmet, they can communicate via radio and can have their memories extracted. They are also less likely to be put in shock because of bleeding, to the point that Scar Zero, a fellow soldier, is functioning perfectly well after being tortured. This level of pain tolerance should apply to Bad Cop as well (if not more so because he is an Elite).
- Uniformity Exception: Overwatch Elites who bear Bad Cop's memory imprint in the sequel have blue badges, as opposed to the standard grey.
- Villain Protagonist: As a Civil Protection officer (and later an Overwatch soldier), the Resistance is his sworn enemy. Even disregarding that, he's a Misanthrope Supreme and Jerkass to nearly everyone else who enjoys killing, to the point if it weren't for his Dark and Troubled Past he'd be near wholly irredeemable aside from his snark.
Zil
The leader of the Vortigaunts who have taken control of City 10's Citadel, Pillar 10.
- All There in the Script: His name can only be glimpsed in the mod's script and caption files.
- The Beastmaster: Brainwashes a Combine Hunter and sics it on Bad Cop.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: The one thing that distinguishes him from his underlings is his ability to tank massive amounts of damage before going down.
- Final Boss: He and his posse are Bad Cop’s last obstacle in reclaiming City 10.
The Advisor
Voiced By: Sam "Trivvy" Pearson (Entropy : Zero 2)
A Combine Advisor who acts as Bad Cop’s handler.
- Big Bad: Despite its role of Mission Control for Bad Cop, it's made abundantly clear that it won't honour any of its promises and is just using Bad Cop for its own ends. At the end, it reveals itself as the true main antagonist of the game by announcing its intention to wipe Bad Cop's memories and strip him of his faculties. The moment Bad Cop defies it, it attempts to kill him.
- Evil Laugh: Gives a brief one when Bad Cop informs it that Arbeit Communications belongs to Aperture Science.
- Final Boss: Of E:Z2, if you choose to fight it.
- Meaningful Echo: "Now die...
now die... now die..." - Mind over Matter: It makes full use of its telekinesis if you fight it at the end of E:Z2, using it to fling debris and even massive shipping containers and cars (with complimentary alarm sounds as well) at you and form a self-protecting barrier.
- Mission Control: To Bad Cop during E:Z2.
- Not So Stoic: Despite its mostly monotonous voice, it occasionally loses its temper.
- Optional Boss; You don't have to fight it, but whether you do so determines the ending you get. If you want the Good ending, defeating the Advisor is mandatory.
- Telepathy: How it communicates with Bad Cop. While in the first installment its speech takes the form of gibberish and can only be inferred from the subtitles, it's fully voiced in the sequel.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Even after everything Bad Cop has done for it across both installments, remaining loyal in spite of retaining his higher mental faculties, the Advisor opts to "reward" him by erasing his memories and reducing him to little more than a drone not unlike the other Combine soldiers. Bad Cop even calls it out for its lack of gratitude as he kills it.Bad Cop: I GAVE EVERYTHING FOR YOU!
- Villainous Breakdown: If the player chooses to fight it, it completely drops its soulless, sinister nature and shouts insults at you as it aggressively tries to kill you.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: When introduced in Nova Prospekt's nerve centre in E:Z2, it shocks a Stalker to death after the Stalker opens the way for Bad Cop. This is also what it intends to do to Bad Cop by the end of the game, although it "just" wants to mind-wipe him so that he and any future clones no longer get any ideas for rebelling.
Introduced in Entropy : Zero 2
Clone Cop
Clone Cop / Rogue 3650
"Just stay out of my way!"
Voiced By: Sam "Trivvy" Pearson
"You're a willing slave. That's the difference between us: you've been tweaked. I enjoyed the power, but I've always been in this for ME."
A rogue copy of Bad Cop who’s dead set on undermining the Combine’s goals by killing Mossman and taking the secret project at Arbeit for himself.
- Arch-Enemy: To Bad Cop. His goals come into direct conflict with those of his newer copy.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With Mossman and the Advisor in the sequel. In the struggle between the Resistance and Combine, Clone Cop is an independent party with no regard for either side who aims to hijack the secret project for his own ends.
- Body Horror: He removed part of his skull to remove his transponder leaving his brain exposed, several of his limbs are torn to the bone and part of his ribs are poking through his chest.
- Clone Angst: Upon discovering that another privileged unit like himself is being dispatched to Arbeit, he comes to realize just how expendable he really is, since the Combine can just make more copies of him whenever one copy fails.
- Disc-One Final Boss: He outlasts Mossman, but can become this as well if you decide to fight the Advisor.
- The Dog Bites Back: The Combine wrote him off and left him for dead after his initial assault on the Arbeit facility. He's been out for revenge ever since.
- Dying Vocal Change: After Bad Cop fights him off at the entropic control facility, his vocoder slowly breaks down and his real voice emerges, allowing him to speak as his true self before meeting his demise.
- Electronic Speech Impediment: Because the Gonome at Arbeit test chambers damaged his voice box, he speaks with an occasional stutter and a wavering pitch.
- Evil Is Petty: Shuts off the power in Arbeit #1's offices and forces Bad Cop to backtrack and reactivate it, for no reason other than to annoy him.
- Evil Counterpart: He's a copy of Bad Cop who defected from the Combine and acts with only his own interests at heart.
- The Heavy: Is consistently the greatest threat to Bad Cop's mission.
- I Will Find You: Like Bad Cop, his overarching goal is to find Ava, though his plan to get her back involves using the project as a bargaining chip against the Combine rather than handing it over to them outright.
- It's All About Me: Says this is his motivation for going rogue when verbally sparring with Bad Cop.
- Manchild: Averted. Even though they are both clones with the same memories, Clone Cop is not at all immature like Bad Cop and voices disdain towards the latter for this.
- Man on Fire: The finishing move against him in his boss battle involves setting off the Exploding Barrels he's standing next to after both he and Bad Cop are teleported inside the Borealis. After the two of them are teleported back to the entropic control facility, he can be seen walking out of the room whilst on fire.
- Mercy Kill: A badly wounded Clone Cop asks Bad Cop to end his life after the two of them have one last conversation at the Borealis’ resting place, though he can be killed before he even asks for it.
- Mirror Boss: During his Boss Battle he fights much like the player, using strafing, ambushes, and a variety of firearms to hold his own against Bad Cop.
- Precision F-Strike: Directs one at Bad Cop after his Heel Realization towards the end, disgruntled that it took so long for him to have one."Oh, fuck you. Now you're going to listen?"
- Squashed Flat: His death at the hands of the Advisor if you don’t put him out of his misery yourself.
- There Is Another: His existence confirms that the playable Bad Cop is in fact not the last of his copies and that the Combine were quite possibly lying to him on that front.
- Villain Has a Point: He is completely correct about the Combine's deceptions, after all.
Wilson
Wilson Terrence Scott
Voiced By: Caleb "CW3D" West
"Hey! Who are you callin' weird? You're the one with two legs!"
A defective Aperture turret found in the depths of Arbeit’s laboratories. He serves as Bad Cop’s companion during the chapter "Chamber Catacomb" and can optionally be brought along as a sidekick for the remainder of the story.
- Big Damn Hero: If placed in the AI upload station, he ends up infiltrating the Combine's network and rescuing Bad Cop from being mind-probed in the "There Will Be Pain" ending.
- Brain Uploading: All but outright stated to be a human consciousness occupying a turret, as placing him in the mainframe upload station in the final chapter reveals his full name to be Wilson Terrence Scott, which matches up with the name of one of the Arbeit employees in the "Arbeit Communications Comms" logs posted on Steam by the developers.
- Buffy Speak: When asked about the purpose of the labs he resides in.Wilson: So, um... they build test chambers here. And test the... testability.
Bad Cop: For what?
Wilson: For, uh, testing. - Deuteragonist: Becomes this if the player opts to take him with them after exiting Arbeit 1's underground test chambers.
- Exposition Fairy: He'll occasionally give Bad Cop information about the things he sees during his mission, and gives periodic reminders to use the Xen Grenades to get supplies.
- Grass is Greener: Ultimately Wilson realizes that, despite his initial excitement to see the surface and away from the depths of the Aperture facility that Bad Cop finds him in, he eventually understands that the "surface" isn't as great as he once thought it was at the beginning, which he bitterly tells Bad Cop that, while it was nice at first, the world "outside" is basically just a cesspit that the Combine have turned it into since their grip on the world was established years ago, all this he reveals as he nears his permanent shutdown and barely active whilst speaking his last words before the elevator ride down when he then dies...Wilson: I-I get it... The world... sucks... and you... don't wanna face it...
- Hates Being Alone: He becomes upset about the prospect of being left by himself in the Arbeit labs after opening the way out for Bad Cop, and is absolutely overjoyed if Bad Cop decides to bring him along for the journey.
- Master of Unlocking: He’s able to open any doors in the Arbeit labs and beyond that are held shut by computer-controlled locks, though some of them give him a harder time than others.
- Morality Pet: To Bad Cop. Given how Bad Cop's change in heart can only occur when bringing Wilson along for the ride, it's arguable he's a Morality Chain.
- Only Mostly Dead: He gets heavily damaged during the one-on-one fight against Clone Cop and shuts down just before he and Bad Cop reach the upload station. Even then, he can still be successfully uploaded to the Arbeit mainframe, reviving him and allowing him to help out Bad Cop in one of the endings.
- Opposites Attract: Personality-wise, Wilson could not be any more different from Bad Cop. The latter is a Misanthrope Supreme who makes sociopathic wisecracks while serving the Combine, while the former is a shockingly chipper Nice Guy who makes appeals to Bad Cop's humanity despite being stuck in a defunct Aperture turret. Initially, their relationship is hostile; but as the two adventure together, Wilson manages to get Walker to open himself up, forming a genuine bond that lasts all the way to the very end. By the time they reach the Borealis, Wilson's breakdown leaves Walker in a remorseful state.
- Optional Party Member: You don't have to carry him with you after leaving the Arbeit secret labs, but bringing him along allows you to unlock extra supply caches, and if you bring him to the AI upload station in Arbeit 3 as he asks, you'll unlock a more uplifting version of the "There Will Be Pain" ending where he rescues Bad Cop from being tortured by the Combine.
- Plucky Comic Relief: His light-hearted antics and banter with Bad Cop add some levity to the situation at hand.
- Trial by Friendly Fire: He ends up teleported inside the Borealis alongside Clone Cop if he's present during his boss fight. Bad Cop is left with no other option but to shoot the explosive barrels next to them to defeat his other self, which damages him beyond repair.
- White Sheep: The remaining Aperture A.I.s are all some combination of neurotic, incoherent, or murderously insane. Wilson by contrast is remarkably good-natured, even after spending decades with nothing to do besides stare at a wall.
Mossman
Judith Mossman
Voiced By: Michelle Forbes (Archive audio)
Assistant to Wallace Breen and previously revealed to be The Mole for the Resistance, Mossman is leading the search for a top-secret project on the grounds of the Arbeit Communications facility. Bad Cop is ordered to capture her alive.
- Adaptation Expansion: She's revealed to have been formerly employed by Arbeit Communications (and possibly Aperture Science by proxy).
- Big Bad Ensemble: She's Bad Cop's primary target, whose actions kicked off the plot, and the player battles the Resistance forces guarding her throughout the mod, but she's also being pursued by Clone Cop, who has his own plans for her.
- Disc-One Final Boss: After pursuing her for most of the story, Bad Cop successfully apprehends Mossman, but Clone Cop takes over as the main threat for the remainder of the story.
- Employee of the Month: She earned such an award at Arbeit one month prior to the Black Mesa Incident. In an e-mail from one of her co-workers found in the Arbeit Communications Comms logs, they express confusion at how someone who hates the company and is applying for a position at Black Mesa as a way out could have gotten the award in the first place.
- Escort Mission: After cornering Mossman and killing all of the rebels guarding her, Bad Cop then has to escort her back to his fellow Combine soldiers, protecting her from Clone Cop and his Manhacks the whole way.
- First-Name Basis: More often than not, Bad Cop refers to her as "Judith" rather than "Dr. Mossman".
- Oh, Crap!: Her reaction to seeing Bad Cop in the airlock leading to Arbeit 3.
Radio Guy
Voiced By: Mitch Wensveen
The announcer for the Resistance fighters stationed at Arbeit Communications.
- A Day in the Limelight: The bonus map "Cold Signal" plays out from his perspective.
- Hero Antagonist: An adversarial figure with the noble intention of rallying the Resistance to repel the Combine assault on Arbeit.
- Mr. Exposition: The radio messages he left behind in Arbeit Communications explain some of what the Resistance and Mossman were doing before the Combine attacked. They also reveal that Bad Cop and his men weren't the first Combine team that arrived to try and take Arbeit Communications down, providing the first hint to the existence of Clone Cop.
- Rousing Speech: Gives one to the rebels who are cornered in the Satellite Comms control tower with him."All right, I said we had our last chance at Arbeit 2. Maybe that was our last chance. But we'll never make it out of this if we don't fight back now. We took down the Citadel in City 17 with less! Remember what we're protecting. This is for the Resistance."
- Shadow Discretion Shot: He’s shot dead by Clone Cop just out of Bad Cop’s view, with the shadows of the two of them against a nearby wall the only visual provided of his demise.
- Skewed Priorities: Invoked. He complains about rebel leaders who survived Black Mesa being focused on a single missile at White Forest coupled with their apathy towards powerful Aperture Science technology.
- Voice of the Resistance: For the Resistance chapter that’s set up shop in the Arctic. While Bad Cop and company are fighting their way through the Arbeit facilities, he can be heard on the loudspeakers giving increasingly desperate orders to hold off the opposition.
