History Characters / HalfLifeOtherAntagonists

** Many times, the HECU troopers refer to themselves as "soldiers", which is a huge BerserkButton for US Marines, who [[InsistentTerminology insist to be called "marines" rather than a "soldier"]]. Even the drill sergeants, who are supposed to literally drill the corp's internal culture into the new recruits, refer to them as "soldiers". Oh, and the Marine Corps doesn't use drill sergeants either. They use [[InsistentTerminology drill instructors]]. Like many other terms used by the Marines, this one is a holdover. The USMC used to allow corporals to be junior drill instructors which are a rank lower than your bog standard Sergeant.

* EvilHero: Technically, their main goal is to stop an alien invasion and keep Earth safe. However, they are still sociopathic brutes who have no problem ordering the execution of all the Black Mesa staff just to cover-up the incident, and they are absolutely ruthless, merciless, and amoral in their methods. They have no problems torturing others for information, and they are ready to execute the Hazardous Enviornment Combat Unit troopers still present as punishment for [[YouHaveFailedMe failing to cover-up the incident themselves]] and because they now consider them a liability. Unlike the HECU, they display no real redeeming traits. The best that can be said about them is that they are still ultimately ALighterShadeOfBlack compared to the Race X and Xen aliens.

* TakingYouWithMe: When critically injured, Marines will often drop a live grenade at their feet, presumably in an attempt to do this. Often, they just end up blowing themselves up instead of letting you finish them off, though it doesn't seem to be a case of BetterToDieThanBeKilled because they do make an attempt to run away from the grenade if you don't kill them immediately.

->-The G-Man

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: They're heavily implied to be the U.S. Government in the original Half-Life, given that their underling is called "The G-Man" and he calls Gordon's weapons at the end of the game "government property". Needless to say, ''Half Life 2'' and onwards push them more into MysteriousBacker territory.
* ForWantOfANail: They let the G-Man "nudge" things with this kind of effect.

* ArmiesAreEvil: ZigZaggedTrope. On one hand, many of them remorselessly massacre unsuspecting Black Mesa personnel. Others, however, openly question as to why they're engaging unarmed civilians as opposed to dealing with the aliens, and by the time they pull out of Black Mesa, are more concerned with getting out the facility together.

** Although they're identified as marines, HECU soldiers deploy various types of military hardware that are not used by U.S. Marines in real life, including U.S. Army's M2 Bradley [=IFVs=] and AH-64 Apache helicopters, as well as U.S. Air Force F-16 fighters (real-world Marines use LAV-[=25s=], AH-1W Super Cobras and AV-8B Harrier [=II=] fighters, respectively). Their individual equipment also ranges from heavily outdated (such as using the [=Mk2=] Grenade, which had been replaced by the ''1960's'') to never fielded by a real-world military force (such as the [[HandCannon Desert Eagle]]). Their main weapon (the [[GunsOfFiction/SubmachineGunsAToL H&K MP5]], ''is'' a part of the US arsenal, but is not used as a primary service weapon [[note]]The HD pack replaces the [=MP5=] with a more appropriate Colt Model 727 assault rifle, but because it's simply a change of model it still fires an incorrect 9x19mm round instead of the actual 5.56x45mm [=NATO=] round it fires in real life[[/note]]. A [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Watsonian approach]] might justify this, since - as noted elsewhere on this page - the HECU may actually be a multi-branch effort that pulls equipment on its own terms, while a [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist explanation]] is that they are Marines because [[SemperFi Marines means they are more elite]].

* CavalryBetrayal: You rather quickly find out that they are not at Black Mesa to help the employees and especially not Gordon.

** Although they're identified as marines, HECU soldiers deploy various types of military hardware that are not used by U.S. Marines in real life, including U.S. Army's M2 Bradley [=IFVs=] and AH-64 Apache helicopters, as well as U.S. Air Force F-16 fighters (real-world Marines use LAV-[=25s=], AH-1W Super Cobras and AV-8B Harrier [=II=] fighters, respectively). Their individual equipment also ranges from heavily outdated (such as using the [=Mk2=] Grenade, which had been replaced by the ''1960's'') to never fielded by a real-world military force (such as the [[HandCannon Desert Eagle]]). A [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Watsonian approach]] might justify this, since - as noted elsewhere on this page - the HECU may actually be a multi-branch effort that pulls equipment on its own terms, while a [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist explanation]] is that they are Marines because [[SemperFi Marines means they are more elite]].

* AssholeVictim: All of the ones that feel no remorse or hesitation in killing the staff. When they themselves end up being betrayed and marked for assassination, it's very satisfying.

** Many times, the HECU troopers refer to themselves as "soldiers", which is a huge BerserkButton for US Marines, who [[InsistentTerminology insist to be called "marines" rather than a "soldier"]]. Even the drill sergeants, who are supposed to literally drill the corp's internal culture into the new recruits, refer to them as "soldiers". Oh, and the Marine Corps doesn't use drill sergeants either. They use [[InsistentTerminology drill instructors]]. Like many other terms used by the Marines, this one is a holdover. The USMC used to allow corporals to be junior drill instructors which are a rank lower than your big standard Sergeant.

** Many times, the HECU troopers refer to themselves as "soldiers", which is a huge BerserkButton for US Marines, who [[InsistentTerminology insist to be called "marines" rather than a "soldier"]]. Even the drill sergeants, who are supposed to literally drill the corp's internal culture into the new recruits, refer to them as "soldiers".

** Played with in their individual uniforms, the HECU uses a white-and-grey camouflage with a black vest. While the US Military never used that kind of uniform [[note]]At the time the game was made, they used the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Woodland M81 Woodland]] or the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Camouflage_Uniform Three-colour desert]][[/note]], this gear was a prototype developed in the 90s for urban warfare program called [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/0c4d2cd86fab7915df487ad47160658b/tumblr_plgqev3qbK1rt826bo6_540.jpg Operation Urban Warrior]], showing that Valve [[ShownTheirWork did a little bit of research]]. That begin said, US Marines don't wear berets. A Maroon beret, used by one of the models, would indicate they are from the Army's airbone troops.

** Played with in their individual uniforms, the HECU uses a white-and-grey camouflage with a black vest. While the US Military never used that kind of uniform [[note]]At the time the game was made, they used the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Woodland M81 Woodland]] or the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Camouflage_Uniform Three-colour desert]][[/note]], this gear was a protype developed in the 90s for urban warfare program called [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/0c4d2cd86fab7915df487ad47160658b/tumblr_plgqev3qbK1rt826bo6_540.jpg Operation Urban Warrior]], showing that Valve [[ShownTheirWork did a little bit of research]]. That begin said, US Marines don't wear berets. A Maroon beret, used by one of the models, would indicate they are from the Army's airbone troops.

** Although they're identified as marines, HECU soldiers deploy various types of military hardware that are not used by U.S. Marines in real life, including U.S. Army's M2 Bradley [=IFVs=] (real-world marines use LAV-25) and AH-64 Apache helicopters (real-world marines use AH-1W Super Cobras), as well as U.S. Air Force F-16 fighters (real-world marines use AV-8B Harrier [=II=] fighters). Their individual equipment also ranges from heavily outdated (such as using the [=Mk2=] Grenade, which had been replaced by the ''1960's'') to never fielded by a real-world military force (such as the [[HandCannon Desert Eagle]]). A [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Watsonian approach]] might justify this, since - as noted elsewhere on this page - the HECU may actually be a multi-branch effort that pulls equipment on its own terms, while a [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist explanation]] is that they are Marines because [[SemperFi Marines means they are more elite]].

The Hazardous Environment Combat Unit is a special forces branch of the United States Marine Corps who was sent to Black Mesa to clear up the aliens, it is soon discovered that they are also under orders to silence all the Black Mesa personnel... with bullets. They end up having to pull out, leaving behind dozens of their own troops in the process, while the Black Ops took over the operation.

* AchillesHeel: The Marines in the original ''Half Life'' and its expansions [[DoNotRunWithAGun couldn't move and shoot at the same time]], so they were vulnerable when repositioning or coming around corners, though they normally had a squad providing covering fire for them when they advance to compensate for this.

* {{Jerkass}}: The soldiers who are happy they get to kill people, find it annoying that the staff don't put up much of a fight, feel no remorse for their actions, and hate Gordon for killing their men despite it being completely justified.

* MoreDakka: Many of their weapons, such as the M249 and Flash missile launcher. Hell, even their standard issue sub machine gun has a 50 round magazine.

"Science Team? You think he was responsible, sabotage, maybe?"\\
"Yeah, maybe. But one thing for sure is he's been killing my buddies."\\

"Government cover-ups were ''not'' in my job description!"\\
"I killed 12 dumbass scientists, and now one of 'em fought back! This sucks!"

-->"I killed twelve dumbass scientists, and not one of 'em fought back. This sucks."