Gonome

"Can you imagine what the next stage of mutation looks like?"

- Black Mesa scientist

The Gonome  is the next stage of mutation for a Zombie. It appears only in Half-Life: Opposing Force.

Overview


A standard Zombie is created when a normal Headcrab attaches itself to a viable human host by latching onto the head, and using its 'beak' to open the skull and expose the victim's brain. The Headcrab causes mutations in the host, such as rapid growth of finger nails, increased physical strength and increased resistance to harm. Another aspect of the mutation is a cavity (sometimes referred to as a 'maw') in the torso spanning from the neck to the waist. Whether this injury is due to the parasite devouring the flesh, or by neglect is unknown.

If a zombie is not killed and the headcrab is still attached mutations continue and a gonome is created. They're stronger, faster, and gain a ranged attack ability which consists of their throwing chunks of a damaging (possibly acidic) mucous-like substance at the player.

Behavior
Gonomes generally stay with groups of lesser zombies and Headcrabs. If they observe any threat, they will first use their ranged attack. Should the enemy get closer, they will resort to manually attacking with their claws. They can sprint if they spot a distant target. In many ways, the Gonome's behavior is similar to that of a Bullsquid.

Gonomes seem to prefer dark areas near other zombies, as this gives them both a physical (darkness, other zombies) and a psychological advantage over the player.

Near the beginning of the game where Adrian Shephard finds his P.C.V. on a table near some headcrabbed bodies, two scientists talk about headcrabs, saying they can take over the host's nervous system like a parasite, and one of them asks the player, "Can you imagine what the next stage of mutation looks like?" This is a hint to what a Gonome is.

It should be noted that the frequent zombies of Marines and Security Guards were also created only by Gearbox. It could be assumed that Gonomes are only critically mutated scientists, since they're only depicted with plain white scientist pants as seen in the standard-definition models.

Trivia

 * The Gonome model has an unseen dancing animation named "veryhappy" in the original model, while it is "sohappy" in the Steam version. It was reused for the scientist model under the name "sohappy" in the original model, and "hambone" in the Steam version, for a dancing scientist seen at the start of Blue Shift through a security camera.


 * On Easy mode, it is possible to kill a Gonome with a single shot with the Desert Eagle when aiming for the head.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life: Opposing Force