Alyx Vance

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Alyx Vance from Half-Life 2

Alyx Vance is a fictional character in Valve Software's 2004 first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2. She is portrayed as a young woman of mixed ethnicity (apparently in her early or mid-twenties) and is a prominent figure in the human resistance against the rule of the alien race called the Combine and their "Administrator", Dr. Breen.

Family

Alyx is the daughter of Dr. Eli Vance, former colleague of Gordon Freeman at the Black Mesa Research Facility. Her mother, Azian, can be seen in a family photograph in Black Mesa East. She (Azian Vance) was a scientist at Black Mesa, but died during the resonance cascade.

Personality and skills

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Alyx Vance after Gordon's early encounter of her. Alyx's grey hooded sweatshirt bears the logo of the Black Mesa Research Facility

From her appearances early in the game, Alyx quickly emerges as a very sympathetic, likeable character. She is obviously very intelligent, working alongside three doctors in advanced physics (her father, Dr. Eli Vance, Dr. Judith Mossman and Dr. Isaac Kleiner) as an equal. She also displays a fiery, independent spirit; not only does she choose to oppose the Combine, but she refuses to be intimidated by Dr. Mossman's intimations that she is to blame for a failed experiment. Alyx also retains a youthful enthusiasm and sense of humor, referring to the "Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator" by the more memorable name "Gravity Gun" and using it to play fetch with her robot, Dog.

It has been suggested, although not confirmed, that there is a growing relationship developing between Gordon Freeman and Alyx throughout Half-Life 2. The newest installment in the Half-Life series, Half-Life 2: Episode One, contains many situations where a possible relationship is visible. Alyx hugs Gordon when her robot, Dog, finds him, and she ask if there is room for two in Gordons Hazard suit. Barney Calhoun mentions that Gordon is lucky to travel alongside with Alyx.

Alyx is very skilled at hacking into Combine computer systems, frequently subverting security to open locked doors. She is also very proficient with a pistol and in unarmed combat, and helps fight alongside Gordon briefly during both the Entanglement and Anticitizen One chapters.

Despite Alyx’s friendly nature she shows some hostility towards Dr. Mossman because of Mossman's somewhat patronizing attitude as well as her interest in her father. By the end of Half-Life 2, this hostility has seemingly vanished, due to Dr. Mossman helping her and her father free themselves from Dr. Breen.

In a trailer for the upcoming expansion pack Half-Life 2: Episode One, Alyx demonstrates fighting skills previously unseen in Half-Life 2, such as kicking a headcrab zombie in a fight.

Appearances

Alyx helps Freeman more frequently and directly than any other character in Half-Life 2. In the first episode (Point Insertion), Alyx saves Gordon from Civil Protection forces when he is unarmed and not yet wearing his protective HEV suit. Later, in Black Mesa East, she gives Gordon a gravity gun and demonstrates its use. During the chapter titled Entanglement, she helps search Nova Prospekt for her captured father. She fights alongside Gordon through a section of City 17 during the armed uprising in Anticitizen One, and provides indirect assistance to Gordon during the final confrontation with Dr. Breen in the final areas of the Citadel in Dark Energy.

In Black Mesa East, Alyx argues heatedly with Dr. Judith Mossman. Alyx's dislike of the latter is seemingly justified: Freeman and Alyx learn in Entanglement that Mossman has betrayed the resistance and given away the location of their hidden facility. Nevertheless, in Dark Energy, Dr. Mossman explains her actions and the two women finally make peace.

In the ending scene of Half-Life 2, Alyx is with Gordon Freeman at the time of the dark energy explosion. While the G-Man saves Gordon from the enormous blast, Alyx is apparently left behind, frozen in time with one arm shielding her eyes.

Alyx manages to survive, being rescued by Vortigaunts, who also free Gordon from the influence of his employer, the G-Man; after being teleported away to just outside the Citadel and briefly revisiting it, Alyx and Gordon stick together for most of Episode One, finally getting to the exit from City 17 and jumping on the last resistance train wagon heading out of the City just as the Citadel explodes.

Notes

Actress Merle Dandridge provides Alyx's voice, while her face and body are modeled after Jamil Mullen.

It is worth noting Alyx's appearance, importance to the story, and mannerisms in comparison to those of NPCs in the original game. All Half-Life NPCs were interchangeable within their "class" (e.g., scientist, guard, soldier) and most were completely expendable. Every guard looked, sounded, and acted exactly like every other one; there were a few different "scientist" models, but they all shared the same voice files. It is quite likely, however, that this was attributable to limitations inherent in the Quake engine used rather than a deliberate design decision. In Half-Life 2, there are several unique NPCs including Alyx, Dr. Eli Vance, Barney Calhoun and Dr. Isaac Kleiner.

Unlike other games which feature extremely vulnerable mission-critical characters, Half-Life 2 gives Alyx the ability to absorb a large amount of damage before death (due to the fact that her health regenerates extremely rapidly). This makes it highly unlikely for her to die during the two relatively brief sections in which she participates in combat. (Compare this approach to that of the developers of the N64 title GoldenEye 007, and its rendition of the character of Natalya.)

While it is possible for Gordon Freeman to fire on friendly NPCs, this causes no visible reactions and it appears that it is impossible to injure Alyx even indirectly with the Gravity Gun. This applies for all "friendly" characters, in fact; bullet holes appear on the wall directly behind the character should the player open fire on them, indicating that the character model does not impede or interact with the path of bullets. This is a switch from Half-Life, in which any and all NPCs (except the G-Man) could be easily killed by the player.

However, in the early sections of the game (such as in Chapter 2, "A Red Letter Day"), it is possible for the player to kill Alyx in the teleportion scene by using the "noclip" mode and moving on top of her while she is in the teleporter. Doing so disrupts the natural progression of the rest of the game and the player must load a recent saved game in order to continue.

A modification has been released that changes the character model of Alyx to a nude version. Interestingly, the creation of this mod has had little to no controversy associated with it, unlike other user-made modifications (notably the Hot Coffee mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas). The modification simply alters the "skin" of the default character model, and does not alter the behaviour of Alyx or any other NPCs during gameplay. However, using this mod in conjunction with other modifications that also alter the Alyx model (such as Half Life 2: Substance) causes a bizarre mixture of nudity and clothing, owing to a merger of the two skins.