Combine Assassin

For other uses, see Assassin (disambiguation).

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	The subject matter of this article contains in-development information that was cut from the final version of an official and/or canonical source and appears in no other canonical source. It may also contain incomplete information since not all cut material is publicly known.

Combine Assassin
General information
Faction	Combine
Type	Assassin
Individual information
Weapon(s)	Rifle Dual pistols Kick
Game information
Entity	npc_assassin
Designer(s)	Ted Backman

 

The Combine Assassin, also known as the Female Assassin, the Robot Assassiness, or simply Assassin, is an enemy cut from Half-Life 2 and the spiritual successor to Half-Life's female assassin. Its model and a working NPC entity can be found in the Half-Life 2 leak.

Overview

The Combine Assassin is a female soldier class of the Combine, one of the few seen throughout the series. She wields two automatic pistols (and originally some kind of rifle) and lets loose a variety of acrobatic kicks when in melee range. She is shown to be a quick and nimble enemy, moving swiftly and performing flips, rolls, and other athletic feats to evade and outmaneuver foes. Her outfit's armor and padding is considerably sparse compared to other Combine units, likely aiding her unmatched speed and agility. Her boots have heel springs that allow her to land gracefully from great heights. The eye on her helmet emits a bright, trailing red glow, and when an Assassin is killed, this light slowly shuts off.

Behind the scenes

The model's texture folder contains an unused sheet with an alternate outfit and a helmet with an iridescent green eye. Like most later developed models in the game, this is a single combined texture sheet while the default model in the build utilizes several individual textures, akin to the models that are known to have been created early on in the project. The original model intended to use this combined texture sheet was first found in the 2023 repository leak. This repository also revealed yet another unused set of textures. The chest in it appears darker, while the rest of the body textures are unfinished.

The WC map pack map d3_borealis_06 features five NPCs using the entity npc_assassin frozen in tanks aboard the Borealis. However, these may actually refer to the Alien Assassin rather than the Combine Assassin, as ropes used in the map use the prefix breederrom_rope, pointing to this alternate name for the Alien Assassin. Due to the Alien Assassin and Combine Assassin both using the npc_assassin entity name over the course of Half-Life 2's development, the Combine Assassin having overwritten the Alien Assassin at some point, it is unknown if the Combine Assassin was ever placed in any maps before it was cut.

Fate

While the Combine Assassin had been cut from the final game, some parts of her model were recycled: the helmet is used by the Combine Elite in Half-Life 2 and its Episodes, while the heel springs served as the basis for the Advanced Knee Replacement in Portal and the Long Fall Boots in Portal 2. The female Combine Sniper in Half-Life 2: Survivor was also based on the Combine Assassin with some changes to the model's appearance, namely in the vest and heel design.

Gallery

• 

  Concept art.

• 

  Model, run animation.

• 

  Ditto, reference pose.

• 

  Detail of the Combine Assassin's heel springs.

• 

  The Combine Assassin's red eye glow.

• 

  Head texture, showing a hidden face and Ted Backman's stylized signature at the bottom left.

• 

  Alternate version, texture from the HL2 leak and model from the 2023 repository leak.

• 

  Ditto, run animation.

• 

  Ditto, reference pose.

• 

  The female Combine Sniper in Survivor using the Sniper Rifle.

• 

  Ditto, on the right with a Shotgun.

List of appearances

• Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar (Non-canonical appearance)
• Half-Life 2: Survivor (Non-canonical appearance)