Otis

Otis was a security guard in Black Mesa. He assisted Adrian Shephard during his escape, and was a friend of Barney Calhoun. He appears in Half-Life: Opposing Force and Half-Life: Blue Shift.

History
Otis only got his job at Black Mesa because his cousin pulled strings to get him in. Otherwise, he would have been a mall security guard. It is hinted at that he was in a worse financial situation than other guards, because instead of saying "There's one to put above the fireplace!" after killing an enemy, Otis would add, "You know, if I had one." He was a lazy guard, though good natured and friendly, and would usually eat donuts on the firing range instead of practicing his aim.

The day of the Black Mesa Incident, while Otis was checking in his friend Barney Calhoun, he remarked that they had a long day ahead of them, unaware of the impending irony. He then went to the firing range to eat donuts instead of shooting, as usual.

After the Resonance Cascade, Otis stayed with scientists who were studying headcrab zombies. He opened a door for Adrian Shephard using a retinal scanner and asked Shephard if the HECU teams were really there to help the Black Mesa personnel, and not just kill them. He got no answer.

Otis soon left the area (probably because it was overrun by zombies) and wandered through the halls with no goal other than survival in mind. While looting a candy machine, he found Adrian Shephard and assisted him in combat with Xen wildlife.

He helped Adrian carve a path to an elevator where other HECU troops were fighting Vortigaunts. Despite his laziness on the firing range, he was a fantastic shot and would often kill Xenian creatures faster than Adrian could.

He witnessed the first sighting of a Race X Shock Trooper as it killed a fellow guard and abducted a scientist. When they reached the elevator, Otis elected to stay with a frightened scientist, and Adrian ascended alone to find all HECU troops dead.

While it is unknown how he died, Barney found Otis's dead body thrown into a sewer by two HECU troopers who were obeying their original orders to kill all Black Mesa personnel.

Class
Since he is the only named one, Otis has become a name to describe all overweight Black Mesa guards in the game, which are only found in Opposing Force. They, like the character Otis, are slightly dimwitted though good natured, and all wield Desert Eagles.

Trivia
Otis's name comes from the name of a character on the Andy Griffith Show, like Barney.

A cheat in the Dreamcast version of Half-Life that provides the character with invincibility is "Otis loves Dreamcast".