Chumtoad

A Chumtoad is a small, purple creature found in the Half-Life series. It was originally designed for Half-Life, but was not included in any official game until one appearance in Half-Life: Opposing Force and two in Half-Life: Blue Shift. It has not appeared in any official game since.

Description
Chumtoads are small, amphibious creatures found on Xen. Similar in morphology to Earth's toads, they are very low on the Xenian food chain – serving as the favorite prey of many Xen creatures. The name is a compound of "chum" (i.e. shark bait) and "toad", in reference to these traits. Chumtoads are notable for their bright purple colouration, their single red, catlike eye, their spiked backs, and their long, blue tongues.

Unlike most Xen creatures, chumtoads are not inherently dangerous to humans. They tend to lounge on rocks until threatened, at which point they have the natural ability to teleport – vanishing in a puff of purple energy. Chumtoads are the only known Xen aliens whose teleportation energy isn't green.

Chumtoads maneuver with short, quick hops similar to that of a terrestrial toad. They also have the ability to swim and to leap to great heights if ever startled. Chumtoads are known to play dead at times by rolling over onto their backs and twitching violently, most likely to confuse their predators. Additionally, they are apparently able to croak, but Chumtoads were not given any sounds in Half-Life.

Habitat / Chumtoad's Lair
To date, only one environment containing chumtoads has been discovered in a Half-Life game. Its location can be found in the chapter "Focal Point" of Half-Life: Blue Shift. Very soon after arriving on Xen, the player enters a series of cramped, narrow tunnels full of headcrabs. Nearing the exit of this maze, the player passes through a large cavern with an extremely deep pool at its center.

At the very bottom of this pool, between a boulder and three Xen plants, a small crack in the wall of the cave can be seen emitting bubbles of air. After widening this hole, the player can enter a small air pocket in a cave where the title "Chumtoad's Lair" appears on the screen. In the lair, three chumtoads sit amongst Xen plants and snark nests, illuminated by Xen crystals. The creatures later vanish when approached. It is unknown whether these water-filled caverns are a typical chumtoad habitat or merely one type of lair.

Chumtoads are not fearful by nature. They seem to be content sitting on rocks and basking in the glow of Xenian crystals. They also have no fear of Xen's carniverous plants, which will not attack the Chumtoads for some unknown reason. Also, Chumtoads seem to have no fear of vicious Snarks, and will bask near a Snark nest.

Chumtoads seem to have a habit of raising up one of their front feet every now and then, and occasionaly sticking out their blue tounge. Perhaps this is a sign of contentment.

When attacked by small arms, the Chumtoads escape any injury...perhaps they emit some kind of forcefield that shields them from harm. However, explosive arms they do not like. When attacked by any explosive, the Chumtoad will vanish in a puff of purple teleportation energy.

There seems to be some kind of structured hirarcy to the Chumtoad community. There were three chumtoads in the "lair", yet when approached, the first two, show no fear and continued to bask. However, when third one is approached (which was in the middle and behind the other two), they all teleport away. Perhaps this "third one" is the leader of the small chumtoad clan...and this may tell us that when in groups, the leader stays behind the others. Due to its extensively hidden and random nature, the Chumtoad's Lair is considered an easter egg and secret place.

Appearances
The chumtoad appears in both Half-Life: Opposing Force and Half-Life: Blue Shift.

The chumtoad appears in Half-Life: Opposing Force at the start of the chapter "We Are Not Alone". If the player shoots a ventilation grille above blast doors 25 times (using any weapon), another ventilation grille nearby will break and a chumtoad will drop out if it.

In Half-Life: Blue Shift, a chumtoad is found during the chapter "Insecurity" in an unlabeled cardboard box in Barney's locker. If the box is shot 68 times with the pistol (using all of the ammo that can be acquired by the player at this point), it will break and reveal a chumtoad.

Development
The original role of the chumtoad in Half-Life was to be bait that a player could use to lure or distract enemy aliens. The bait idea was never developed, and the chumtoad was eventually cut from the game.

The unused model, however, was included in the game's files and fully coded as an item. Instead of bait, this version served as a weapon. Normally docile until picked up, the chumtoad would begin attacking anything that strayed too close – including the player or allied NPCs if no other targets were available. This AI was implemented in the final game as the behavior for Snarks.

Before settling on the name "Chumtoad", various other names were considered including "Chubtoad" and "Choad".

The source files for the chumtoad are included in the Half-Life SDK, where it is referred to as a "chubtoad". According to the textures provided, the chumtoad was once planned to have six eyes instead of one, and would have had green, orange, and blue-colored variations.

Mod applications
As the (mostly) unused chumtoad exists in the game files, it is frequently appropriated by various unofficial Half-Life modifications. In Sven Co-op, a fan-made Half-Life mod, a heroic chumtoad (dubbed "Chubby the Chumtoad") appears in various maps. In Poke646, another mod, the chumtoad is called the "explod-a-toad". It secretes a purple pool, marking its territory. If the player, or anything else, wanders into the purple fluid, the toad will explode. Also of note, in the mod Point of View, the chumtoad is included, and is very much like the Snark, only more powerful. In Azure Sheep, a single player mod that lets the user take control of Barney, the Chumtoad is used as a weapon and is also an enemy that sometimes comes out of grates and attacks the player. When used as a weapon or when found naturally, the Chumtoad explodes after a given amount of contact with the player or enemy.

Also in several other Half-Life modifications, the Chumtoad made an appearance. In the USS Darkstar Mod, after the explosion when the player wanders back to where a scientist and a guard were studying two airborne creatures, the Chumtoad is seen on top of one of the lights. And in Heart of Evil, a Chumtoad navigates the player throughout a maze.