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Gary

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This subject is related to the Combine era.
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This article is about the hermit Vortigaunt. For the Aperture Science Personality Construct under the witness protection program, see Grady.

HLA-Gary-Portrait.png
Gary
Function(s) / Belongings
Weapons
  • Green electrical attack
  • Claws
  • Gravity manipulation
Species

Vortigaunt

Eye color

Red

Chronological and political information
Era(s)

Combine occupation

Faction

Resistance

Game information
Voiced by

Tony Todd

Designer(s)

Karen Prell (animation)[1]

"I have a brain injury. My brain is injured! Ow."
― Gary[src]

Gary[2][3] is an eccentric Vortigaunt and former captive of the Combine who appears in Half-Life: Alyx.

Overview[edit]

Using his powers to explain the situation to Alyx.

While traveling through the Quarantine Zone on her mission to rescue her father Eli, Alyx Vance comes across a number of strange occurrences while passing through a canal. She finds various Headcrab traps, pieces of floating cardboard apparently charged by a green electric energy, and a number of cryptic glowing murals painted on the walls seemingly depicting events of both the past and future. Following the clues left by these phenomena, she discovers the hideout of a lone Vortigaunt named Gary. Living as a hermit, he traps and cooks Headcrabs for food. He bears many scars on his body, the Combine insignia with the letters "CP" stamped on his chest, and has leftover restraints on his arms and head from Combine imprisonment. He reveals to Alyx that he has suffered a "brain injury" the result of the Combine having drilled into his brain to sever his connection from the Vortessence, cutting off his contact with other Vortigaunts and impairing his perception of time.

Upon the mere mention of Eli, Gary guides Alyx to a different section of his hideout. There, he solemnly warns her that her father has already passed away or is destined to meet this unfortunate fate. He emphasizes that she alone cannot change the course of events. Gary then motivates her to undertake a mission to rescue the imprisoned Vortigaunts held captive inside prisoner pods by the Combine, urging her to head towards the Northern Star. As she prepares to leave, Gary tosses her a lifeless Headcrab, declaring it proudly as "sustenance."

Later at Fairview Junction, Gary makes a dramatic appearance, arriving just in the nick of time to save Eli from a perilous plunge into a pit. With his extraordinary powers, he effortlessly levitates Eli to safety. Before departing with Eli to Russell's lab, Gary earnestly reminds Alyx once again to "follow the Northern Star" as crucial guidance.

Related Achievements[edit]

Half-Life: Alyx
Achievement Sustenance.jpg Sustenance
Receive a tasty treat.

Behind the scenes[edit]

The Vortigaunt consumption of headcrabs is introduced in Half-Life 2, when Gordon gets a glimpse of Vortigaunt chefs working in the kitchen of Black Mesa East. It can also be observed earlier in the den of the Singing Vortigaunt.

The idea of a Vortigaunt who had been forcibly severed from the Vortessence was conceived by the Half-Life: Alyx story cabal early in development. In an early version of the meeting with Gary, Alyx would be sent by Laszlo (the early name for Russell) to find a Vortigaunt who had a message for her. She discovered that Gary was near death and squeezed 'nectar' from several Headcrab hearts into his mouth to give him sustenance. This sequence was observed in a build dated October 15, 2018, but the development team eventually decided from playtesting feedback that the repetitive interactions and Gary's low energy slowed the flow of the scene, which led them to add more humor and energy to his character and reduce the number of interactions required to progress. To compensate for these reductions, the team added more optional interactions in his surrounding environment instead.[3]

Although his name is neither said in-game by Alyx nor the Vortigaunt himself, the game files confirm the Vortigaunt's name as "Gary", as seen in multiple commands. The name was confirmed as his official name in The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx.

Some Half-Life: Alyx team members referred to the sequence in Gary's hideout as the "Swedish Chef Vort Sequence" after the Muppet of the same name.[3] This may be because Karen Prell, a Valve animator who works as a puppeteer for the Muppets, did most of the animations for Gary.

Gallery[edit]

Half-Life: Alyx[edit]

Pre-release[edit]

Retail[edit]

Murals[edit]

Other[edit]

List of appearances[edit]

Gary
Combine OverWiki has a list of quotes for Gary.

Main games[edit]

Other[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Twitter favicon.png Matt Scott on Twitter
  2. Half-Life: Alyx game files, script name teleport_gary_introductions and animation name @gary_scratch_arm
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx, Chapter 8: Sea Otters and Soapboxes