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The Nihilanth – 5 Mysteries Surrounding Our Ancient Foe

Discussion & Analysis Half-Life

Nihilanth is shrouded in mystery. Our first and only encounter with him doesn’t reveal much. We know very little about him – but he is key to the Half-Life story.

The Nihilanth – 5 Mysteries Surrounding Our Ancient Foe

Half-Life series writer Marc Laidlaw stated that, the relationship between Nihilanth, the Xen forces and the Combine is “…the foundation on which the series continues.” In other words, we’re missing a vital link that could potentially tie everything together into one neat knot.

Everything surrounding the Nihilanth is an enigma. Here are five things warrant investigation:


1. His Strange Physiology

Nihilanth shares physiological traits with other Xen lifeforms. Could he have been some kind of experiment or attempted hybrid being? Take a look at him here:

Hl_nihilanthcrystal

Firstly, he has three arms – each with bracers. The majority of the fauna we encounter on Xen have three arms. This suggests a relationship between him and the other intelligent creatures of Xen on a biological level. Marc commented on this:

“The vortigaunts were related to the Nilhilanth, as indicated by their vestigial chest-arms, which is why it had a particular ability to control them. The Nih., the alien grunts and the vorts were all from the same world. “
– Marc Laidlaw (Source: Steam Forums – Episode 2)

Vortigaunts, Alien Grunts and Controllers all have this staple, central arm with bracers and the Vortigaunts even have collars.

The most glaringly obvious thing about the Nihilanth is that he looks ‘stalkerfied’. He almost exactly resembles a human Stalker. Amputated legs, evident vivisection and missing eyes. His mouth is intriguing. In older concepts, Stalkers had metal bands wrapped around their faces to assist with being force fed. Even without these kind of restraints, the Nihilanth clearly resembles the Stalkers we have seen.


2. His History

But he can’t have been Stalkerfied. The interesting thing about his similarities to the Stalkers is that according to Marc Laidlaw, the Nihilanth was never caught by the Combine.

“That particular Nihilanth was the last of its kind, and had never been captured, but some of its predecessors might have been.”
– Marc Laidlaw (Source: Steam Forums – Episode 2)

So who or what mutilated him? It’s left to be known if this will be retconned or explained. It’s worth noting that the contraption the Nihilanth appears to be sat on bares some resemblance to a very old piece of concept art, with Breen in a ‘host body’. We can only question what may have happened to him.

consulnih

Over the years Marc has come forward with information pertaining to the Nihilanth. He has briefly touched on events that lead him and his followers to Xen.

“What we saw in HL 1 was the very end of a long struggle between the Combine and the last of the Nihilanth’s race … The Nihilanth’s “world” (if it could be said to have) was long since in the past as far as the Nihilanth was concerned; Xen was their final retreat, and they had their back to the wall, as it were, when the fissure appeared that let them spill into our dimension.”
“…some immense threat had chased the Nihilanth and its creatures out of their own world and into Xen”

– Marc Laidlaw (Source: Steam Forums – Episode 2)

The Combine invaded the Nihilanth’s home realm and went about their business. Some kind of war took place which resulted in the Nihilanth and his followers retreating to Xen. They adapted to survive in Xen but were under pursuit by the Combine. The rift created at Black Mesa became an exit strategy for them and they poured through.

“The Resonance Cascade was not harnessed by aliens; it was an opportunity they exploited. First the Nihilanth and its kind came through, under desperate pressure of pursuit by the Combine; and eventually, more leisurely, the Combine tracked them and followed them through.”

– Marc Laidlaw (Source: Steam Forums – Episode 2)

Earth was the Nihilanth’s last hope. Aside from Freeman, he is the only entity in the Half-Life universe we know of who has successfully evaded capture and suppression.


3. His Ability to Teleport Himself and Others Locally

It’s easy to understand why the Combine were so interested in the Nihilanth. The Nihilanth was an organism capable of teleporting himself and others locally. The Combine are extremely interested in the concept of local teleportation. They had already failed once, by allowing the Nihilanth to escape. This explains why they were so desperate to secure Eli Vance’s research. It also explains why the Borealis is so important to them.

Borealis_Ep2

Vortigaunts appear to be able to teleport locally without the assistance of the Nihilanth. This was witnessed at the start of Episode 1. It’s currently unknown how this was achieved, but judging by the similarities between the Vortigaunts in Episode 1 & 2, it could be argued that they were able to obtain another larval extract to perform the rescue of Gordon and Alyx.

The Nihilanth appeared to be able to interact with the Xen crystals found in his chamber. The Nihilanth himself was even meant to have one of the crystals in his head. Marc explains:

“That crystal sample in the opening, for instance, should have been clearly echoed in the Nihilanth’s chamber—and even down inside its gaping cranium. That was the plan. But we ran out of time to make the clear visual association.”
– Marc Laidlaw (Source: Steam Forums – Episode 2)

It could be speculated then, that the Nihilanth was ‘modified’ to allow him to teleport himself and his allies at will.


4. His Followers

The intelligent races that accompanied the Nihilanth were more than just followers. This takes us back to his vestigial third arm. As Marc, stated, the Nihilanth was able to control the Vortigaunts, Controllers and Grunts because he was related to them.

C1a0e_chamber

The Vortigaunts were almost certainly slaves to the Nihilanth. In Half-Life 1 the Vortigaunt NPC name was ‘Monster_Alien_Slave’. In Half-Life 2, the ‘All-Knowing Vortigaunt’ explains how their kind was freed when Freeman killed the Nihilanth:

We see you still in Black Mesa. Clearly we see you in the Nihilanth’s chamber. We bear witness to the bright eternity of the Nihilanth’s demise. You leap, you fall, we see you flash beyond the barriers…
We are there still, in observance of your final stroke. While our own lay scattered at your feet, you severed the vortal cord that bound the Nihilanth to life, and to us.

– The All-Knowing Vortigaunt (Source: Quotes – Combine Overwiki)

The Nihilanth also has shackles around his wrists. The Vortigaunts also have these in Half-Life 1 along with a collar. Enslaved Vortigaunts retained them in Half-Life 2. These have never really been explained but, we could assume they are/were a method of dominating and enslaving the Vortigaunts.

Vortigaunt sweeping in Half-Life 2

Vortigaunt sweeping in Half-Life 2

The concept of this slavery has been reinforced throughout the series. It’s interesting to note that both the Vortigaunts and the Nihilanth himself acknowledged a greater force controlling them. The all-knowing Vortigaunt states:

“…for once the lesser master lay defeated, we knew the greater must also fall in time.”
– The All-Knowing Vortigaunt (Source: Quotes – Combine Overwiki)

In an unused quote from the final encounter with Nihilanth, he tells Freeman:

“Their slaves… we are their slaves… we are…”

– The Nihilanth (Source: Quotes – Combine Overwiki)


5. His Contract

The Nihilanth knew of the G-Man and it is likely he had some kind of deal with him.

Ep2_outland_020012

During the final encounter, the Nihilanth says several things pertaining to the enigmatic entity. Much speculation can be drawn from his comments.

“The truth… you can never know… the truth.”
– The Nihilanth (Source: Quotes – Combine Overwiki)

The Nihilanth knows more about the situation than we do. This ‘truth’ is intriguing as it pertains to an unseen twist or reality within the universe that remains to be revealed. What is the ‘truth? And what damage could said truth do if it were known by us?

Whilst teleporting the player around, the Nihilanth briefly mentions deception:

“Deceive you… will deceive you…”
– The Nihilanth (Source: Quotes – Combine Overwiki)

It has long been thought this was an allusion to the G-Man. However, the same can be applied to the Vortigaunts, as the Nihilanth withholds the pronoun ‘He’. This comment could relate to any party. The initial relationship between this comment and the G-Man was solidified by the next comment, which was unused in the game:

“You are man… he is not man… for you he waits… for you…”
– The Nihilanth (Source: Quotes – Combine Overwiki)

The Nihilanth was most likely working with the G-Man in the past. Given the Nihilanth’s abilities, he would have been a valuable asset. Of course, we can only speculate as to what the pair were involved in. It is likely the Nihilanth was betrayed – probably when the G-Man realised Gordon had greater talent.

The G-Man congratulating Gordon Freeman at the end of Half-Life.

The G-Man congratulating Gordon Freeman at the end of Half-Life.

To consumers, speculation is an important to any story. Through speculation, plausibilities can be found. So, what if Nihilanth was talking about the Vortigaunts? Much like the comments made by Breengrub, it raises questions about their motives. Perhaps this is all a charade and they are merely waiting on ultimate revenge. Couple this with the G-Man’s suggestive nod in Episode 2:

” …I had to wait until your friends were otherwise occupied. Hm.”
– The Gman (Source: Quotes – Combine Overwiki)

With all of these pieces combined, we can start to build a case against the Vortigaunts. Speculatively speaking, of course…


This article is the third instalment of our Half-Life Lore series, written by Half-Life fanatic and Source mapper Jonathan Richardson aka Breadman.

If you found this interesting, you can read all of the articles in this series here. You can also follow us on Twitter for future content @Lambdagen.

Article Sources

Images and some quotes sourced from Combine Overwiki.
Information and other quotes from Marc Laidlaw Vault on Steam User’s Forums

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