Rosenberg

"Let those fools try and fight a battle they can't win! I just want to get out of here!"

- Rosenberg

Dr. Rosenberg is a scientist working at the Black Mesa Research Facility. In Half-Life: Blue Shift, Barney Calhoun helps him and two of his colleagues escape from Black Mesa. Along with Dr. Richard Keller, he also plays an important role in the events of Half-Life: Decay, standing by the side of the two main protagonists, Dr. Gina Cross and Dr. Colette Green.

Background
Rosenberg is assigned to advanced physics research in the Anomalous Materials Laboratory and Lambda Complex. He is at the front of many scientific advances, such as the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, which he designed.

His rank is unknown, but he has the highest level of security clearance, and judging by his habit of automatically issuing instructions to other advanced researchers, it would appear that he is a very senior member of the Science Team.

Rosenberg was among the first Black Mesa scientists to work on teleportation and was among those working on the experiment that eventually led to the Black Mesa Incident.

Half-Life: Decay


When Gina Cross and Colette Green first arrive at the test chamber's Control Room and are receiving instructions from Dr. Keller, Rosenberg interrupts them and voices his concern to Keller over having the Anti-Mass Spectrometer run above 90% capacity, which is past the safety buffer zone for the equipment. Dr. Keller, however, dismisses his concern and states that the administrator's orders for this are clear. Keller then tells Rosenberg that he could either stay and watch the experiment or return to his labs by the train yards. Rosenberg remains, and shortly thereafter the Resonance Cascade occurs. Rosenberg feels a huge amount of guilt over the Resonance Cascade and believes himself to be most responsible.

Immediately after the disaster, Rosenberg converses with Dr. Keller over what they should do. Rosenberg makes clear that he believes their greatest responsibility should be to maintain the safety of all Black Mesa staff. Although Keller believes that they should attempt to reset the displacement fields first, he eventually comes to an agreement with Rosenberg. They soon come up with a plan to contact the military so that they can help the staff and evacuate the facility as soon as possible. Gina and Colette escort Rosenberg through the Hazard Course to a satellite communications center on the surface, where he is able to transmit a distress signal to the military. Dr. Rosenberg elects to wait there for the army, and this is the last time Gina and Colette ever see him, as they return below to assist Dr. Keller. However, they hear him speak later on.

Half-Life: Blue Shift


Soon, Rosenberg makes the grisly discovery of the military's ulterior motives of silencing all of the facility's personnel. With the help of fellow scientists Harold, Walter Bennet, and Simmons, he tries to enact an escape plan to get out of Black Mesa. During this time, though, he is captured by soldiers and held captive in a freight car for questioning. Meanwhile, Harold is cornered and fatally wounded. Before Harold dies, Barney Calhoun discovers him and kills the two soldiers who attacked him. Harold then instructs Calhoun to find Dr. Rosenberg to help him with his plan.

Calhoun is able to overcome the military occupying the Train Yard and frees Dr. Rosenberg. The latter then informs him that their plan is to use the equipment in the disused Section A-17 Prototype Labs to teleport to safety. Additionally, he adds that the scientists have faith in a man named Gordon Freeman. Rosenberg do not share their optimism, and wonders how so many people think one man would be able to reverse the catastrophe of the Resonance Cascade.

He then leads Calhoun to the Prototype Labs where Walter Bennet and Simmons are already preparing the teleport. Rosenberg instructs Calhoun that he has to activate and align a relay device on Xen in order for them to be able to accurately set their destination. Calhoun travels to Xen and is successful in accomplishing this task, but after returning through the portal back to Earth, they discover that they need another power cell to replenish the teleport's power for their escape (it is at that point that Gina and Colette, temporarily caught in a harmonic reflux, hear Rosenberg's voice calling Calhoun through the portal). Rosenberg, again, directs Calhoun to venture into hostile territory. Though guilty about sending his savior into such danger, he notes that the rest of them are essential to complete upgrades to the teleport and lack combat training that Calhoun has. Additionally, he rallies all nearby scientists and security staff (of which there are few) to assist Calhoun so they can all get out.

Although all the men that Rosenberg rallies die, Calhoun acquires a newly charged power cell from the lab's sub-basement and delivers it to Rosenberg, Simmons, and Bennet. Rosenberg then initiates the system and brings it online. They all narrowly avoid the military's invasion of the Prototype Labs, teleporting to safety at the entrance of the Black Mesa South Access Tunnel, before escaping in an SUV towards an uncertain future.

As Barney Calhoun survived, it can be surmised that Rosenberg, Bennet, and Simmons lived as well. However their fate remains unknown to the other Black Mesa survivors.

Trivia

 * In Blue Shift, Rosenberg makes his first appearance during the Hazard Course tutorial, long before Calhoun encounters him in the train yards. He can be seen behind the observer's window during the duck-jump portion of the training. When using the noclip code and triggering him with the "Use" key, he will use the random scientists sentences with the standard voice.


 * The proper spelling for "Rosenberg" can be found in his Blue Shift texture files, as well as his sound folder. In the Decay files, his sound folder and model are also named likewise.


 * In some Decay maps, Rosenberg's entity is named "Rosencrantz".


 * Rosenberg's first name is often referred to as "Stanley". However, this is fanon, as it was coined for the defunct Half-Life mod Half-Life: Escape Velocity.


 * His name and appearance may be based on the real life American scientist Julius Rosenberg, who was executed with his wife Ethel in 1953 after having been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life: Blue Shift
 * Half-Life PlayStation 2 instruction manual
 * Half-Life: Decay