A Fate Worse Than Death | Stalkers | FULL Half-Life Lore

Becoming a Stalker in the Half-Life Universe is probably one of the worst things that could happen to a human, and over the wasteland, The Combine Empire created them and sent them to work in Combine controlled regions to work as mindless synths. For Halloween, I chose to look into the creepiest part of Half-Life - these unfortunate souls.

Who did The Combine chose to become a Stalker? What were they used for? and what physical transformation did they go through? In this video, I explore the lore and story behind the Stalkers in Half-Life.

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:55 Background & Overview
03:00 The Creation of The Stalker
08:12 The Uprising
11:17 Legacy
11:56 Behind The Scenes
14:19 Closing Thoughts & Ending

Thumbnail Stalker model by TheParryGod & Sterling Thompson

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Standard Sources
Game Manuals
Half-Life Series Playthrough Research
Portal Series Playthrough Research
Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
Half-Life: Alyx Playthrough
Portal/ Half-Life Fandom
Old Valve Forums
Marc Laidlaw's Twitter
Breengrub Twitter
Reddit AMA (w/ HL: Alyx Developers)

AUDIO USED
Half-Life 2 OST: Escape Array
Half-Life 2 OST: Lab Practicum
Black Mesa Xen OST: Resonance
Half-Life 2 OST: Triage at Dawn

#Stalkers #Lore #HalfLife

[Skyrionn]

What is worse?
Becoming a Stalker or a Headcrab Zombie?

[NoahGooder]

I always believed killing these things was a kind of mercy kill.

[tylerpham]

And yet somewhere in an underground facility a woman is doing puzzles for an AI to get cake.

[NTNoble]

These creatures are tragic and horrifying at the same time. But having a creature that is pitiable makes them more compelling than something that just attacks the player indiscriminately and it makes the combine that much more of an oppressive force. Man, it’s freaky.

[The_Horse-leafs_Cabbage]

That scene where you and Alyx are trapped in a train full of screaming stalkers... That's still one of the most haunting images in Half Life.
I'd almost rather be a headcrab zombie -- because at least there's the hope of death, either by the headcrab or by the merciful hands of a passerby with a gun or crowbar. I wouldn't be surprised if the Combine pulled a page out of "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, " and perpetually kept the stalkers alive--a monotonous, agonizing hell.

[VeryRareEgg]

In episode one (I think it was that one) where you crash in a train full of stalkers, when the stalkers started moving and groaning I got really frightened. I was even more frightened after I took a minute to really think about what they were. I don’t care what anyone says, half-life is definitely a horror game.

[rift]

I think I read this from another comment:

Imagine a campaign where you play as a ragtag group of rebels. During an ambush, one of your teammates, who pulled you out of wreckages and punched combine like they were sandbags, gets captured. Later near the end of the campaign, you find a stalker with the same tattoo as him

[bizarrou]

Damn, half life's lore is DEEP. I could listen to people speaking about it non-stop

[Duspende]

It is worth mentioning that the reason their legs were removed was not to limit mobility directly, but specifically to bolt their peg legs to the bone so that they would feel pain with every step they took, to make them suffer for their "crimes" against the Combine for the rest of their lives. Which limits their mobility, but indirectly. Just thought it was worth adding.

[jnev]

Completey agree that we missed out on the stalkers not living up to their name, would've been extra creepy if we came across some that weren't fully transformed that could still get a few garbled words out or something too.

[combinecommando]

Let's bear in mind that originally, Half-life 2 was meant to have even more implications of the horrors of what the Combine has done ever since the 7 hours War. What we were given as the final product was a much tamer version of that plot. So let that sink in for a moment.

[missingindy]

I don’t remember who said the quote, but the Stalkers remind me of a quote I once heard, but this is gonna be kind of extrapolated since I mostly forgot it: “True horror is not strong, it is weak. It is something you want to kill out of disgust.”

[findingfuji]

The existence of the stalkers really reminds of the novel, "I have no mouth and I must scream"

[Crustle]

This video showcases why I often consider HL a horror game above other genres. Horrific to imagine being turned into a stalker 😬

[patrlim]

I always forget how lovecraftian the combine are.

[Dunkskins]

I hated the train crash scene in Episode 1 where they're all going mental and poor Alyx has that one right in her face.

[oodie]

I always thought the Stalkers were mechanical beings with pinkish bodysuits to protect their inner workings.

I wish I still thought that.

[Hyperion-]

For this reason resistance members should carry cyanide pills since they probably can't be turned into stalkers once they're dead. As always good video skyrionn.

Also on prey they have mutilated humans which are similar to the stalkers and they're probably inspired from the stalkers too.

[sninctbur]

"God, I hope you don't remember who you were..."
-Alyx to a Stalker

[subject]

I always wondered: "Who are the Overlords of the Combine? Advisors are also species that were enslaved to plan the attacks."