Grigori

"A shepherd must tend to his flock, especially when they have grown…unruly."

- Father Grigori

Father Grigori is the only known surviving occupant of Ravenholm during the events of Half-Life 2. He appears to be mentally unstable, but is generally friendly. In Half-Life 2, he helps Gordon Freeman survive his trip through Ravenholm, granting Freeman permission to use the various traps he has made throughout the town, giving Gordon the SPAS-12, and escorting him to the mines on the far side of the zombie infested town.

Half-Life 2
The presence of a survivor in Ravenholm is first revealed with ominous phrases heard quietly near the first propeller trap encountered by Gordon. These phrases sound Biblical, and Gordon finally sees the face of Father Grigori well after he has battled through several groups of zombies and headcrabs. Above a flaming mound of zombie corpses, Grigori greets Gordon, telling him that he is free to use his traps, but to be careful not to fall into them himself. He later shoots a Fast Headcrab that was about to attack Gordon from behind, and advises him to be vigilant in Ravenholm. Later, he also throws Gordon a SPAS-12 shotgun, giving him the advice to "Aim for the head".

When Gordon finally meets Grigori on-foot, it is near the church mentioned earlier by Grigori. From atop a roof, Grigori can be seen below, telling Gordon that he is moving a tram to the rooftop to allow him to come down. After Gordon has gotten into the tram and is face to face with Grigori, he informs him that they will have to travel through the graveyard to reach the mines. He tells Gordon to "tread lightly", as the graveyard is "hallowed ground." Grigori then accompanies Gordon through the graveyard, helping him to fight off the zombies before allowing him to escape into the mines.

Grigori's eventual fate is left ambiguous; once he has opened up the gate at the graveyard, Gordon is free to go, with Grigori telling him to "look to his own salvation" before then laughing in a crazed manner. if the player remains at the gate after having been "escorted" to the mines, Grigori continues shooting at zombies, and tells Freeman to "Get going," and that "No one wants to stay in Ravenholm." Eventually, Grigori will detonate some nearby fuel tanks as zombies break out of a crypt; he runs through the flames laughing and firing before taking cover in the crypt entrance and continues killing zombies for some time, then disappears inside.

Given the circumstances of his last encounter, even if he survived the large zombie horde that he and Gordon stirred up, the destruction of the Citadel could have obliterated Ravenholm. The time and distances involved are sketchy, but as Gordon manages to reach Black Mesa East in about 2 to 3 hours or so, and Ravenholm is just outside Black Mesa East, it can be judged that Ravenholm is around 20–40 km from City 17. Seeing as the forests outside City 17 are relatively untouched, it can be reasoned that Grigori escaped the Citadel explosion. It is not impossible that he escaped by waiting out the fire and running away, but being slightly insane, he may have fought to the end anyway. In Raising the Bar they say his eventual fate was left up to the players to decide and that they did not plan to re-use the character in the series.

Appearance
Father Grigori is a middle-aged man with a shaven head; he dresses in traditional embroidered clothing and black Converse sneakers covered with Headcrab ooze.

Around his neck, he wears a crucifix, signifying his religious position and outlook, which seems to have taken a turn for the extreme as he tries hard to return his "congregation" to their human state, or relieve them. He has a cross pierced into the skin of one of his hands.

His canny ability to move around Ravenholm quickly and inconspicuously suggests he is fast on his feet and agile, or that he has set up many escape routes that the player never uses.

Personality and skills
Grigori is mentally unhinged, and can be heard ranting, uttering various disjointed biblical references and laughing manically while hunting zombies in Ravenholm. Grigori probably has a form of chronic reactive psychosis, which is not a mental disorder in itself, but psychosis brought on by the experience of a severely traumatic or stressful event.

Grigori appears at various points in Ravenholm, generally standing at a high vantage point from which he proceeds to kill the various zombies in the areas below. Zombies seem to prefer to attack the player when given the choice, except during the final sequence leading up to the mine entrance. Because of the limitations of his weapon, he has to reload frequently, so he is vulnerable to the zombies that can reach his position, such as Fast Zombies, in significant numbers or when operating at ground level.

Like Alyx Vance, Grigori seems to have rapidly regenerating health, making him very hard to kill, so players shouldn't generally need to concern themselves if he is attacked, unless the numbers get too large or explosive weapons are used. He will cry out in anguish when he is overwhelmed and requests the support of the player.

He tends only to fire at enemies short to mid-range since his weapon, Annabelle, does not have a scope, so he will often fire while retreating back from a zombie if they reach him. Additionally, while "Annabelle" is very powerful and is capable of killing a zombie in a single shot, it must be reloaded every two shots, thus hindering its usefulness against large groups.

Grigori has also rigged a great number of traps throughout Ravenholm, ranging from spinning blades to flaming pits. These traps are able to be used by the player throughout the town to kill zombies to great effect without expending somewhat rare ammunition.

Objects
Grigori wields a powerful lever-action rifle known as Annabelle. "Annabelle" is based on the real life Winchester Model 1892 rifle, and Grigori is the only character in the Half-Life series to use it. He fires the gun with great accuracy, almost always hitting the head of the zombie that he targets. He seems to have large supplies of ammunition, and provides Gordon with his first shotgun before directing him to head to the town church. He also advises the player to aim for the zombie's head to kill them quickly. Players may either use a glitch or the developer console to obtain Annabelle. When used by a player, the rifle deals fairly low damge when the target is shot anywhere on the body other than the head, but does great damage when a player scores a headshot. Annabelle fires a "clip" of 2 shots, and has a pause in-between shots.

Behind the scenes

 * "Grigori" is a variant of Grigoriy, the Russian form of "Gregory", coming from "Gregorius", from late Greek name "Gregorios", derived from "gregoros", meaning "watchful, alert", which fits him well. This name was popular among early Christians, being borne by a number of important saints. It may also be a reference to the Grigori, the "Watchers", a group of fallen angels from the biblical apocrypha who were originally dispatched by God to watch over mankind and ended up mating with mortal women.
 * Zoey from Left 4 Dead also wears black Converse sneakers.

Trivia

 * Upon first seeing Gordon he says "What is this, another life to save?" indicating that he might have helped some of the residents of Ravenholm escape when the headcrabs first entered.


 * Grigori seems to have a quite unique A.I, as if he is given rapid-fire weapons by means of mods, console or other, he will stand still, only falling back after enemies get too close. He also will fire continuously and usually goes for the headshot. He has animations for many weapons, but only has one reload animation that belongs to Annabelle.


 * Upon entering the mines at the end of Ravenholm, running through the door, then running back out again, will show Father Grigori in the flames, infinitely laughing and fighting off zombies.


 * It is implied that Grigori misses the human inhabitation of Ravenholm. This is indicated when the player dies, as he will say "Yet again, I am alone..." in a saddened tone, and during their trek through the Ravenholm cemetery when they encounter zombies, he will say "I still remember your true face."


 * Grigori's name, nationality, religion, and somewhat eccentric personality could also be a reference to Grigori Rasputin, a Russian mystic who was known as the "Mad Monk". Rasputin was also famous for his ability to survive; the circumstances in which he finally did die becoming legendary (consuming food and wine laced with enormous amounts of cyanide, being shot in the back four times, being clubbed, and in some reports castrated, before finally drowning after being bound in a carpet and thrown into the Neva River). This reference is even more supported by the fact that in the game files his name is npc_monk.


 * There are crucifixes visible on the back of Father Grigori's hands. The crosses appear to be burnt or cut into his skin, and likely inflicted by Grigori himself.


 * Despite what many believe, Grigori's weapon is not a shotgun. It is a lever-action Winchester 1892 carbine that uses .357 caliber rounds, which explains its accuracy and deadly firepower. A shotgun would be ineffective at the ranges Grigori fires at from the rooftops.


 * If Grigori dies, the player can use his weapon, Annabelle, briefly before the "game over" message comes up. Unfortunately, it has too many glitches to be of any use, and does not even have its own view model or icon.


 * Grigori's line about his traps being "the work of a man who once had too much time on his hands and now only finds time for the work of salvation" hints to the possibility that Grigori may have crowned himself as a priest after the shelling of the town rather than already having been a priest beforehand. He may be referring to his work trying to help the population escape as his "work of salvation," however.


 * Jim French, who voices Grigori, also voiced Bill from Left 4 Dead and the Fisherman from Half-Life 2: Lost Coast.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life 2
 * Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar