Citizen

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Citizens
Biographical information
Homeworld	Earth
Function(s) / Belongings
Weapons	MP7 AR2 Shotgun RPG
Physical description
Species	Human
Health	40
Chronological and political information
Era(s)	Combine occupation
Affiliation	Combine Resistance
Game information
Voiced by	Mary Kae Irvin (females) John Patrick Lowrie (males) Adam Baldwin (males [Episode Two])
Designer(s)	Dhabih Eng (early gas mask version) Moby Francke (blue/Rebel outfit) Ted Backman (Rebel outfit)
Entity / spawn codes	npc_citizen

 

"I can't remember the last time I had, well, anything."

―Rebel

The term Citizen designates any human living under the Combine rule in a "City" of Earth, as opposed to a Rebel or Refugee, who defected from the Combine rule to join the Resistance. The status was established after the Seven Hour War and the subsequent Combine occupation. Citizens are introduced in Half-Life 2's first chapter, Point Insertion.

Background

After a successful invasion, the Combine began to establish their dictatorship over the Earth, creating Overwatch Soldiers from human soldiers captured during the Seven Hour War. The remaining population was rounded up into the still-standing cities, which were re-designated with numbers instead of names (14, 17, etc.). These new "Citizens" of the Combine's empire are provided with accommodation, rations and protection from the alien fauna that infest much of the world. The Combine also erected a Suppression Field, to prevent procreation.

The Combine also established the Civil Protection force. Staffed by unmodified humans, as opposed to the transhuman Overwatch, Civil Protection acts as the Combine's police force and handles the affairs of policing and monitoring the populace in the cities. Civil Protection officers are feared for their brutality, as they often bully Citizens and administer beatings at the slightest provocation. As seen in Half-Life 2's first chapter, Point Insertion, Civil Protection officers sometimes stage raids on residential buildings to arrest and imprison alleged rebels and sympathizers. Comments made by Citizen onlookers seem to suggest this is a regular occurrence. Citizens are encouraged to join Civil Protection by promises of better rations, and accommodations. Civil Protection officers themselves are encouraged to undergo trans human surgery to join the ranks of the Overwatch.

In an attempt to prevent tightly knit communities and organizations of any kind from forming, the Civil Protection authorities transfer Citizens from one city to another as many as three times a year. Citizens are also apparently forced to wear identical blue denim boiler suits, and women have their hair cut short.

The penalty for Citizens who choose to disobey the Combine (or are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time) is summary execution, forced conscription into the Overwatch or Stalker transformation, conducted at Nova Prospekt.

Oppression

Citizens are granted the minimum they need to survive, such as a standardized diet and home, and are subject to frequent transfers from city to city.

Citizens constantly complain about the quality of their meals, which they get in packages dispensed by machines found in public places, such as the City 17 train station. For drinking, Citizens have access to free water, dispensed through vending machines, among other ways. Some Citizens believe, however, that the Combine put something in the water that wipes memories, suggesting that the Combine use the water itself as yet another method to brainwash Citizens. Civil Protection officers are given far better meals, which becomes yet another incentive for the Citizens to become one.

Citizens are assigned to simple flats in apartment buildings which are all categorized into blocks. They are kept under constant surveillance by Civil Protection officers through the medium of City Scanners and Security Cameras. Raids and arrests are frequent occurrences throughout the apartments.

Most Citizens live in rather poor living conditions. In the apartment block in Point Insertion it can be observed that most apartments lack doors (from the constant CP raids), are littered with old furniture and debris, and are just generally dirty and cramped living quarters. Most homes have a small TV, which is always shown displaying Wallace Breen's Breencasts.

Citizens are able to apply to be part of Civil Protection. Those who do have generally better lives, and work on shifts patrolling areas all around the city where they then take place in raids and crackdowns or just beat up and arrest other Citizens for many different reasons, or even without any reason at all. These Citizens are generally hated by non-civil officers, because these Citizens choose to be a part of the Combine, beating and arresting Citizens at their own discretion, rather than their Combine Overwatch counter-parts, who have had their memories wiped.

The Resistance

Among the oppressed inhabitants of City 17 there is a significant underground movement; even Citizens who are not actively involved in the resistance are usually sympathetic. As survivors' accounts of Gordon Freeman's heroic feats during the Black Mesa Incident reached a wider audience, Freeman came to be considered a legendary figure in the minds of many people, being one of the few that fought both the Xen aliens and the military and survived.

In the cities, the Resistance operates underground networks (such as the Underground Railroad in City 17) to escape the attention of the Civil Protection. Citizens seeking to escape the oppressive atmosphere in the cities use these networks to escape and join the Resistance forces.

After Gordon Freeman's return and subsequent feats against the Combine, which eventually culminated in his leading a swarm of Antlions into Nova Prospekt and destroying it, an all-out rebellion sparked in City 17 in which many Citizens joined the Resistance and formed armed militias, dramatically boosting the Resistance numbers.

Behind the scenes

• Originally, Citizens were to be dressed in green with an apron and gas masks, since the Air Exchange was replacing the air with toxic gases at this point of the game development. An early "Consulcast" also refers to this by "The true Citizen conserves valuable oxygen." In the end, the gas mask concept was only kept for the Combine humanoid units.

"We designed the Citizens of Half-Life 2 to look oppressed and downtrodden. Their costumes reflected the location and environment they lived in using standard issued clothing to give it a prison-like atmosphere. Half-Life 2 spans three days, and we wanted the Citizens to correspond with the time and location of events throughout the game. Citizens appear in almost every map of the game, but couldn’t overpower the player visually. We wanted them to compliment the world and not stand out."

―Moby Francke

• The Citizens were originally to include children, to be seen working in the Cremator Factory in the Combine Factories area and as corpses in Ravenholm. Indeed, children are not present in Half-Life 2 and its episodes, which was canonically explained with the Suppression Field.

• Friendly fire was also originally to be authorized on Citizens and Vortigaunts, like the Black Mesa Personnel in Half-Life. The feature can be experienced in the playable Half-Life 2 leak; upon being hit, Citizens will answer things like "Freeman! We're on your side!", "Watch what you're doing!", "We trusted you!". These sound files can still be found in the retail Half-Life 2 files.

Citizen list

• Technically, the Citizens are a mix between the Half-Life scientists and security guards, to which they succeed.

• While the body models and textures are the same (one female and one male), only the heads change (although the model build can change from a model to another, making a Citizen slimmer or fatter).

• Most Citizen face textures bear the first names of the people who were used as reference models.

• Nine male Citizen models exist, while the females count only six. There were originally nine women as well, although a tenth man also existed. The face textures for these four cut Citizens can be found in the playable Half-Life 2 leak files.

• Most people used as character models for Half-Life 2 come from the Seattle area, and include actual models, actors/actresses, people picked on the street, people working in the area, Valve employees, friends or relatives of Valve employees, etc.

• All reference model images featured in Raising the Bar are the actual pictures used for the face textures. For instance, parts of Daniel Dociu's black and white striped shirt can still be found in Father Grigori's textures.

• While all the Citizens have the same brown eyes, several reference models actually have blue (such as Ted Backman or Erdin Grcic) or green (such as Joey Paresa) eyes.

• The NPCs come in three types: "downtrodden", which is the normal blue outfit (a possible reference to the blue overalls worn by the Outer Party in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four); "refugee", the same blue outfit, but in lesser condition and sometimes with a shirt beige instead of blue (the one featured in the Classic Zombie); and "rebel", classic or medic, appearing during the Uprising, although some still use the two previous types. Through these types, their face tend to change a bit: different hair color, shaving, beard, goatee and moustache variations (for the men), different skin details on the face, different mouths or eyebrows, etc. Of note is that Gordon Freeman himself arrived in City 17 dressed in Citizen attire, "downtrodden" or "refugee".

• In the playable Half-Life 2 leak files, the file "halflife2.fgd" contains several alternate nicknames, accompanied with the warning that they should not be included in the final version ("don't ship with these names"). These nicknames are listed near their related Citizen when they exist.

Retail

This table includes the Citizens included in the retail versions of Half-Life 2 and its Episodes.

Game models	Reference models	Models	Names	Comments
		male 01	Van (Van Crowder)	Has two variants. The first version is the very first Citizen seen in Half-Life 2, on the train, with a full beard. The other, more faithful to Crowder's face, is used for Matt and Leon and most of the Citizens seen in the playable Half-Life 2 leak, with only a moustache and a goatee. During the Uprising, he comes as a standard Rebel, but without moustache. Like Crowder, he originally had dreadlocks. His alternate nickname was "Morgan", a possible reference to actor Morgan Freeman.
		male 02	Ted (Valve's Ted Backman)	Originally used for the Conscripts, notably Animal. Used for instance for the Citizen seen in an interrogation room at the start of Half-Life 2 or the AR3 guy in Episode Two. The refugee variant has more brighter hair with a fuller stubble, while the rebel variant has much less facial hair and minor changes in skin color. Was originally without a moustache and with a brighter face. His alternate nickname was "Backmantis", likely a pun between "Backman" and "black mantis".
		male 03	Joe (Larry "The Count" Heard; Joe Cairo is actually the "Vance" model)	He can be seen as one of the two Citizens looking through the windows before the Civil Protection raid at the start of Half-Life 2. He was originally browner, and with only a moustache. His alternate nickname was "Shaft", a possible reference to actor Richard Roundtree, famous for his character John Shaft. Within the Half-Life community, Larry Heard is often improperly credited as the unemployed man who was used as reference for Eli Vance, while he is actually uncredited. Larry Heard is a famous musician, DJ and music producer from Chicago, also known as "Mr. Fingers".
		male 04	Eric (Valve's Eric Kirchmer)	The original reference picture, featured in Raising the Bar, was also one of the bases for Gordon Freeman's face and used for the stripped Overwatch Soldier. In both models, the reference picture is more recognizable in the older textures from the playable leak, in which he has a brighter face.
		male 05	Art (Art Min)	Originally used for Samuel. He can be seen in-game as Laszlo. The Rebel and Medic variants have a brighter skin color. The very first face texture and the retail one are very different. It is also used for a Counter-Strike: Source hostage. Art Min is a video game developer who worked for Looking Glass Studios and Ion Storm, among others.
		male 06	Sandro (Sandro Consi)	Used for Winston and Griggs. The Rebel variant has a younger looking face, while the Medic variant sports a moustache. It is also used for a Counter-Strike: Source hostage with a brighter face.
		male 07	Mike (Michael S. Smith)	Used for Joe, Jacob, Sandy or the other Citizen on the train at the start of Half-Life 2. He is also famous for being used for Gordon Frohman, the main protagonist of the fan-made webcomic Concerned, and as John Freeman in the Half life: Full Life Consequences video series. Was originally used for the Combine Factories and Borealis workers with different hair, better shaved and with a brighter face, more faithful to Michael S. Smith's actual appearance. His alternate nickname was "Climber Mike", "Mike" being the reference model.
		male 08	Vance (Joe Cairo)	Originally used for Captain Vance, from whom he kept the name. Used for instance for the Citizen telling Gordon not to drink the water at the start of Half-Life 2; Sheckley, the Citizen giving instructions near the Autogun, and the Citizen arguing with the AR3 guy in Episode Two. The Rebel variant sports a beard while the Medic variant has a moustache. Also used for a Counter-Strike: Source hostage. Was originally brighter and better shaved. His alternate nickname was "Mr. Rourke", a possible reference to actor Mickey Rourke. Joe Cairo is a basketball strength and conditioning coach, and the creator of the BEASTcamp athletic training.
		male 09	Erdin (Erdin Grcic)	One half of the Consoling Couple, the pondering Citizen sitting in the kitchen when Gordon goes through the apartment buildings at the start of Half-Life 2, Daniel and MIRT. He originally had a brighter face, with Erdin Grcic's actual eyes still present in the texture files. His alternate nickname was "Lucifer".
		male cheaple	Andrew (Warren Slough)	The low resolution Citizen model, used when Citizens are seen from afar. Each time he is seen, he walks from a point to another, re-spawning each time in a loop. He appears for instance in the screens at Kleiner's Lab, where the G-Man can be seen, and at Black Mesa East, right before getting into the elevator with Mossman. His name can be found in the playable Half-Life 2 leak files. His alternate nickname was "Cheaple Vanessa's Brother". The sister in question is Vanessa Slough, Ted Backman's wife. Warren died in 2006, at 33.
		female 01	Joey (Joey Paresa)	The other half of the Consoling Couple, as well as Arlene. The Refugee and Medic variants have brighter hair, while the Rebel variant has a dirtier face.
		female 02	Kanisha (Kanisha Patel Speyrer)	Used for instance as one of the two Citizens looking through the windows before the CP raid at the start of Half-Life 2. Kanisha Speyrer is the wife of Valve's David Speyrer.
		female 03	Kim (Kim Harris-Jones)	Sometimes seen with a headscarf in her hair (red in the Refugee variant, blue in the Medic variant). As many of the leak models, she was originally brighter.
		female 04	Chau (Chau Luu)	Used for instance for Noriko or Mary. She originally had a brighter face. Chau Luu is an actress (in theater, film and commercial), a voice actress, a model, and a television host of Vietnamese ascent and living in Los Angeles.
		female 05	Naomi (Naomi Cotton)	Used for instance for the woman asking Gordon if he and the other Citizens were the only ones on the train, near the turnstile at the start of Half-Life 2 (named "chainlinkgirl" in the map). Her model is "Female_06.mdl", although she is the fifth in Hammer.
		female 06	Lakeetra (Lakeetra Gilbert)	Used for instance for the Shorepoint medic. Her model is "Female_07.mdl", although she is the sixth in Hammer.

Cut

This table includes the Citizens removed from the retail version of Half-Life 2, and found in the playable Half-Life 2 leak.

Game models	Reference models	Models	Names	Comments
		male 10	Trav (Travis Dunlop)	Cut male model. It is unknown what exact number he was to have.
		N/A	Laura (Valve's Laura Dubuk)	Cut woman model. It is unknown what exact number she was to have.
		N/A	Linda	Cut woman model. It is unknown what exact number she was to have.
		N/A	Tamm	Cut woman model. It is unknown what exact number she was to have.
		child worker f1	N/A	Cut female child model, holding a Cremator head.
		child worker m1	N/A	Cut male child model, holding a Cremator head.

Gallery

Pre-release

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  Final version of the Citizen.

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  Final version of the Citizen, with tied legs.

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  Male and female Citizen outfits.

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  Male and female Rebel outfits.

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  Different Rebel outfits.

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  The Cremator Factory.

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  The Cremator Factory in the WC mappack.

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  Gas mask Citizen concept art.

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  Gas mask Citizen in Get Your Free TVs!.

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  Fleeing gas mask Citizens in the map e3_strider.

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  Gas mask face texture for the missing "Citizen 17" model featured in the two previous screenshots.

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  Gas mask texture for the missing "Citizen 17" model featured in the two previous screenshots.

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  Citizens standing in line for a chance to play in the Manhack Arcade.

Retail

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  Citizen corpse (front), featuring an old Citizen outfit, with an orange logo and straps in the back, featured in Half-Life 2's E3 2004 trailer.

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  Ditto (back).

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  A Citizen seen pacing inside the Trainstation, with two other Citizens sitting in the background.

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  A Citizen receiving a Combine provided standard ration.

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  A Citizen carrying a standard ration in the Plaza under observation of a City Scanner.

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  Citizen seen walking outside the Trainstation Plaza.

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  Two Citizens talking about Metrocops showing up in their apartment block.

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  A likely inebriated Citizen in one of the apartments.

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  Citizens watching as Metrocops prepare for the block raid.

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  Citizens fleeing and cowering during the Civil Protection block raid.

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  Ditto.

List of appearances

• Half-Life 2 (First appearance)
• Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
• Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (Non-canonical appearance)
• Half-Life 2: Episode One
• Half-Life 2: Episode Two

References

Combine OverWiki has more images related to Citizen.