Antlion Guard

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Antlion Guard
General information
Faction	Antlions
Type	Insect
Personal information
Health	500
Attack(s)	Charge (20) Headbutt (10) Launch objects
Game information
Entity	npc_antlionguard

 

Antlion Guards, referred to as a Myrmidont by the Vortigaunt Shepherd, or as a Myrmidont giganticus, are a high-ranking variety of Antlion encountered in Half-Life 2. Guards possess a pheromone that attracts and directs Antlion Soldiers.

Overview

Antlion Guards are considerably larger than Soldiers, and lack the ability to fly. The exoskeleton of the Guard is a reddish yellow, with small blue feather-like growths on the back of its thorax, which is oriented vertically to the ground, giving it a slouching appearance. Guards walk on four insectoid legs, the front pair situated at the prothorax and possessing lengthened coxae so as to reach the ground, while the shorter hind legs are located near the metathorax. Their two smaller forelegs are specialized into round, intumescent "claws". Guards are distinguished by a protruding “nose” composed of hard chitin. This growth acts as a battering ram and is the Guard’s primary form of offense.

Antlion Guards possess an organ known as a Pheropod, which produces a pheromone that attracts Antlion Soldiers. Vortigaunts are familiar with the process of removing and repurposing the Pheropods, which they call Bugbait.

Guards are similar in appearance and behavior to Antlion Guardians, but are distinct in that Guards lurk closer to the surface of Antlion nests, while Guardians defend the Antlion Grubs deep underground.

Behavior and skills

Antlion Guards are highly aggressive and territorial, and will attack any intruder to the Antlion nest ecology. Guards prefer to charge at their target, striking them with their elongated, chitinous “heads,” with which they can perform an upwards sweep that flings foes into the air. This ability is also used to strike nearby objects in an attempt to fling them at enemies with surprising accuracy. Antlion Guards demonstrate a degree of control over other Antlion varieties due to the pheromones they secrete. When overwhelmed, a Guard can unleash a bellow that summons Antlion Soldiers for assistance.

Either due to them also possessing pheromones, having a higher level of intelligence, or reacting aggressively to an unfamiliar scent, they're unable to be controlled by individuals carrying Pheropods and will continue to attack them regardless, as seen in Nova Prospekt when a Guard attacks Gordon despite him carrying pheropods.

Antlion Guards can remember and single out humanoid individuals that it has encountered before. The Antlion Guardian in Episode Two demonstrates this by pursuing Gordon Freeman far outside the bounds of its nest as vengeance for disturbing the Grubs in its charge.

Tactics

Nova Prospekt Guards fighting an Antlion Guard in the Nova Prospekt cafeteria.

Antlion Guards do not respond to bugbait. The pheromones released by Guards are also much stronger than that of bugbait, so any Antlion Soldiers in the vicinity will ignore bugbait while the Guard is alive. Soldiers can be momentarily confused by bugbait, however.

The Antlion Guard is limited only to melee attacks, so attacking from the range is the best way to down it. Baiting a Guard into ramming a solid wall will stun it, buying time to shoot it. High-damage weapons like the Crossbow, Shotgun, .357 Magnum, and the SMG's grenade launcher work best.

During the encounter in Sandtraps, the player can run around the large rock in the center of the area, avoiding the Guard's attacks. In the bathroom in Nova Prospekt, they can do the same thing around the wall just near the exit.

The Gravity Gun can inflict a lot of damage through thrown objects. Explosive drums, which are found in all areas where the player has to confront a Guard, are the best choice. Regular physics objects have a chance of stunning Guards.

The Guard in the Nova Prospekt bathroom can be shot from a safe position by jumping onto the catwalk railing rather than over it, then going back to the fence overlooking the room.

Related Achievements

Half-Life 2: Episode Two
	Twofer (5G)
	Defeat both Antlion Guards outside the White Forest.

Behind the scenes

• The Antlion Guard's skin was dark brown at one point before release. The image preview for the current model still has this brown skin, although the regular, red version was shown in the official E3 2003 demonstration prior to the leak.
• Like the Bullsquid, the Antlion Guard was originally going to throw small, noxious pods at the player. This concept was reused for the Pheropod and the Antlion Worker.
• The Antlion Guard sounds appear to be slightly modified wolf sounds. The Half-Life series uses many stock sounds heard in many other video games and films.
• Early in the Antlion Guard's development, it was intended to be entirely bulletproof.
• The Guard has several unused animations, including sprinting, sneaking, covering, crawling, and even one for a cut-breath attack.

Trivia

• When idle, the Guard moves its head left and right and surveys the area. This can be seen at the end of the Nova Prospekt chapter if the player escapes the second encounter without killing the Guard; they can look into the room and see it in the corner and even creep up behind it, only being noticed if they get very close.
• The security guards in the second Guard battle in Nova Prospekt will completely ignore the player and focus on the Guard instead. In the Guard battle in Episode One, the soldiers will ignore the player unless they get close.
• In Nova Prospekt, a Guard can be seen on a monitor fighting Combine, killing many soldiers before being overwhelmed and dying. Its dead body can be seen later in that level.
  • On Hard difficulty, the Guard will survive long enough for the Soldiers to stop spawning. When this happens, the Guard just stands idle. However, when the player reaches the area later, the Guard will be dead.
    • Although it is rare, the guard can still be killed on hard by the Soldiers.
• The Antlion Guard's charge attack will instantly kill a Hunter. Conversely, Hunter's charge will instantly kill a Guard.

Gallery

Pre-release

• 

  The Antlion Guard leak skin.

• 

  Antlion Guard attacking Houndeyes in the test map guard3.

• 

  The old model on an early Point Insertion roof, used as a benchmark demo shown at Alcatraz in 2003 for the release of the ATI graphic cards Radeon 9800XT and 9600XT, titled "Source DirectX 9.0 Effects Trailer".

• 

  Ditto.

• 

  Ditto.

• 

  Early official screenshot, including several Coast elements.

• 

  Antlion Guard fighting Alyx Vance and Combine Soldiers.

Retail

• 

  Antlion Guard attacking Gordon near the Vortigaunt Camp.

• 

  Vortigaunt retrieving Bugbait from an Antlion Guard near the Vortigaunt Camp by shooting it with lightning.

• 

  The dead guard on one of Nova Prospekt's monitors. This screenshot was taken on hard, showing a rare occurrence.

List of appearances

Main games

• Half-Life 2 (First appearance)
• Half-Life 2: Episode One
• Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Other

• Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar