Combine

"Their slaves...we are their slaves...we are..."

- Nihilanth

The Combine is a powerful alien race, empire, and the primary antagonistic organization in Half-Life 2. They are also referred to as the Universal Union and "our benefactors" in propaganda.

Introduction


The Combine is a vast empire spanning multiple parallel universes. The empire is inhabited by an unknown number of sentient species, and appears to be governed by a race of bizarre, artificially evolved Advisors. The Combine expands its empire by invading worlds and enslaving the dominant species to be exploited as it sees fit. By manipulating these inhabitants through methods including bioengineering and implantation, the Combine creates a race of super-soldiers uniquely adapted for the environment of that particular world. This process results in a highly mobile and adaptive military force which is able to respond to any threat and crush any opposition. The reasons behind the Combine's imperialism remain unknown throughout the game.

Vocal stress is placed on the first syllable. The name is pronounced as the noun COM-bine, as in combine harvester, as opposed to the verb form com-BINE, as in "to join together or unite." Dr. Breen refers to the Combine Soldiers and Civil Protection as The Transhuman Arm of the Combine Overwatch in Nova Prospekt, verifying that "Combine" is an accepted name of the empire, even by the empire itself.

Until recently, many players speculated that the Combine may have possibly controlled Xen, based on the similarities to some practices and technologies used by the Nihilanth. However, Valve Software marketing director Doug Lombardi has stated that the Combine had, in fact, invaded a different homeworld from which Nihilanth's race was forced to escape. The defeated Nihilanth sought refuge in Xen, where the Combine could not (or would not) follow.

"We had a glimpse of the larger threat when we were working on Half-Life. In other words we knew that once you cleared out the Nihilanth, you were going to discover something worse beyond it. We knew that some immense threat had chased the Nihilanth and its creatures out of their own world and into Xen, from which location [i.e. the world beyond Xen] they were all too glad to seize the opportunity to continue on to Earth with suppression through the citadels. But the exact nature of the threat was left to be solved in Half-Life 2. "

This does, however, establish that Nihilanth and the Combine are former enemies who would have had knowledge of each other. When contacted, Marc Laidlaw provided more information:

"I'm pretty sure Doug was restating something I'd told him; I [am not] clarifying it, since it's the foundation on which the series continues. What we saw in HL1 was the very end of a long struggle between the Combine and the last of the Nihilanth's race ... The Nihilanth's "world" (if it could be said to have) was long since in the past as far as the Nihilanth was concerned; Xen was their final retreat, and they had their back to the wall, as it were, when the fissure appeared that let them spill into our dimension. Xen itself is sort of a dimensional transit bottleneck--an area of continual contention. "

Subsequent to the invasion of Nihilanth's unnamed homeworld, Earth is the Combine's most recent known annexation, acquired following Earth's surrender at the end of the Seven Hour War. Following the standard Combine process, members of Earth's dominant species have been modified to form a new arm of the Combine military. Whilst these soldiers are primarily used as a permanent Combine garrison on Earth, in-game dialogue suggests that units of the Transhuman Overwatch are used across the Combine Empire. One such line of dialogue supporting this theory is the threatening of soldiers with "permanent off-world assignment" should they fail to complete their objective.

Combine Teleportation
Despite the advanced level of the Combine race, it seems to be lacking considerable skill in teleportation. Dr. Mossman explains that the Combine can only teleport from one universe to another, but not to different locations in the same universe. The teleportation method used by Dr. Kleiner and Dr. Eli Vance (and indeed by the other Black Mesa scientists and even the Nihilanth before and during the Black Mesa Incident) can do this, though, which is why the Combine wants the technology. Dr. Mossman was actually helping the Combine build a teleporter capable of doing this in Nova Prospekt, but as Nova Prospekt was destroyed during Alyx and Gordon's escape, it seems that the Combine gained little in the end.

The Combine's method of teleportation, as limited as it is, still requires a large amount of power and huge machinery to perform, as seen at the end of the game, where Dr. Breen was attempting to escape from the Citadel using a Combine teleporter. This teleporter required an entire reactor, called the "dark fusion reactor," to power it, while the teleporters designed by humans require only small amounts of power, and very little machinery in comparison. (Xen teleporters seem to require even less machinery - sometimes even none at all - and even less power. However, this could do with the nature of Xen rather than Xen technology.) The reason for this is because they use Xen as a "dimensional slingshot," bouncing off of one universe to another, and from one location in a certain universe to another in the same universe, while the Combine don't, instead having to "tunnel" straight through dimensions to the target universe. One advantage this could give them is the ability to jump to any universe they wish, instead of only be able to go into an adjacent universe (or possibly even only in and out of Xen) like humans and Xen creatures.

Invasion of Earth


Following the Nihilanth's demise, the Combine were able to use the portal storm that was occurring at the time to continue on to Earth, where it launched a massive invasion that culminated in the Seven Hour War. Statements made by the G-Man suggest that the human race was unable to mount any effective resistance to the Combine armies, and that Earth's military forces were almost instantly overwhelmed. Former administrator of the Black Mesa Research Facility, Dr. Wallace Breen, negotiated a surrender on Earth's behalf and was therefore appointed the administrator of the Combine's forces on Earth - the Overwatch.

Combine Dominance on Earth
The Combine rules Earth from giant towers known as Citadels, the most important being in City 17 where Dr. Breen runs his administration. At the end of the game, as Doctor Breen attempts to teleport off of Earth using the dark fusion reactor, a massive portal is created and, through it, several buildings that resemble Citadels are visible.

At the start of the game, the Combine appear to have almost complete dominance of the remaining pockets of civilized Earth, and do not identify who Gordon Freeman is. However, Doctor Breen immediately informs a Combine Advisor of Freeman's appearance during a teleport accident, in which Gordon Freeman appeared in Doctor Breen's office for a brief amount of time. Only a few handfuls of rebels, loosely organized in a ragtag resistance, are secretly opposing the Combine. Gordon Freeman's actions after his return eventually inspire a massive insurrection against the Combine in City 17, which results in a full-scale street war between the citizens and the Combine forces.

The reasons behind the Combine's desire to control the Earth are unknown, other than the absorption of Earth's resources, the use of human teleporter technology and the enslavement and exploitation of its dominant species - the humans - for either menial work or military service, considering that "permanent off world assignment" is threatened to soldiers who fail in their attempts to kill/capture Freeman throughout the game.

Suppression Field


The Combine, since gaining dominance on Earth, has imposed something known as a suppression field. The suppression field's main effect is to bring the human birth rate down to zero by prohibiting certain protein chains important to embryonic development from forming, effectively ensuring that the humans currently alive will be the last generation. Doctor Breen addresses this issue to the people via a broadcast during the early levels of Half-Life 2, as the response to a letter written to him by a "concerned citizen," and claims that the field will be deactivated once the humans prove they no longer need it. During the game, resistance members occasionally make humorous remarks such as: "When this is all over, I'm gonna mate," about the suppression field. It was initially thought that the suppression field somehow prevented human sexual urges, mainly due to Dr. Breen's statement that it was suppressing "the urge to reproduce". Though this statement may in fact be referring to the suppression field's physiological effects causing human "urges" to diminish, instead of stopping outright. In the end combine propaganda, may actually reflect the Combine's thoughts about human reproduction. They may indeed actually believe that they are there to help humans.

In Half-Life 2: Episode One, it has been revealed by Dr. Isaac Kleiner during his transmissions throughout the city, that with the near destruction of the Citadel, the suppression field has been disabled. He suggests that everyone "should do their part" in the re-population of the human species if they have escaped City 17, "before the Combine attempt to restore their dominion."

Mind Control and Memory Replacement


Comments at the train station at the start of the game suggest that the Combine have been drugging (if not outright poisoning) the populace through their water supply. One citizen remarks "Don't drink the water...they put something in it, t-to make you forget. I don't even remember how I got here." This is not mentioned outside this one piece of dialogue; but the idea is reinforced by the numerous soda machines stocked with "Dr. Breen's Private Reserve", which freely dispense water in a standard 12-ounce can.

The insinuated reason for this supposed mind control is so that humans forget why they hate the Combine, and will willingly accede to their (and Breen's) demands, and to create a fresh new template (the human's mind) for forced re-education.

In addition, a Combine radio transmission to Civil Protection officers states: "Reminder, memory replacement is the first step to rank privileges." This could explain why none of the CPs are able to join the resistance after the uprising; their memories may either forbid them from harboring any negative thoughts toward their Combine overlords or program them to believe that the Combine must be protected. However, Barney Caulhoun suggests the opposite when, during Episode One, he states that "it looks like we'll have to fight our way through every chickenshit Metrocop who might have second thoughts about defending City 17". What this could mean is the Combine presents an illusion of free will by promising privileges to CPs willing to give up their memories, despite their loss of humanity, and the possibility that the Combine just takes CPs into Nova Prospekt without their knowledge.

Information about forced memory replacement can be found in the games data files, in this specific model named "soldier bed", seen later inside the Citadel during Episode One. This model closely resembles that of concept art in Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar. The machine itself consists of Combine emitters and equipment, attached is an arm-like device holding a human body. Lastly, a shell-like apparatus envelops the head; containing three different screens and panels. Accompanying this model is a small group of sounds resembling harsh subliminal messaging; this video/audio messaging system explains the military training used by normal post-human individuals.

This model, in addition to several bizarre sounds of voices in the data files, suggests that this "brainwashing" memory replacement is an important part of the transhuman operation. The process of erasing memories, Combine propaganda, and eventually, memory replacement results in a soldier incapable of rebelling against the Combine influence, as well as enabling transhumans with no military background training to become part of the Overwatch forces.

Killings
There are many evident acts of genocide or at least random killing perpetrated by the Combine throughout the game. The town of Ravenholm was shelled with the intention of killing all the residents, and throughout the Highway 17 chapter, the player encounters numerous bodies in the houses of the coast including some that have been burnt by the Combine in a bonfire (though these may also have been zombified humans - while the Combine uses headcrabs as a form of attack, they apparently cannot control them and the Combine Soldiers can become zombies themselves). Towards the end of the game, Eli Vance explains to Breen that he has witnessed "genocide [and] indescribable evil." That being said however, the Combine may not want to completely exterminate the human race, but rather enslave it. If they wanted to exterminate humanity they would have done it already, and as such may want to preserve the human population in major urban areas.

The Absence of Children
It is obvious that the children are missing in Half-Life 2 and its episodes. The main reason is the placement of the Suppression Field by the Combine right after their victory at the end of the Seven Hour War. Given that the Combine have been occupying Earth for nearly twenty years, the humans that Gordon sees throughout the game are possibly the last humans born naturally.

Evidence such as the ghostly laughs and screams of children that can be heard in the playground outside one of the apartments in the first chapter, a crying couple that can be seen shortly thereafter, the fact that the player doesn't see any children in the most human-populated areas, remarks by resistance members such as "I'm glad there's no kids around to see this," and the presence of discarded toys such as baby dolls can be seen during the game, but they are only reminders of the past. There are no children any more.

According to Half-Life 2: Raising The Bar, the children were present in the early stages of the game development, in an area of City 17 called the Combine Factories. Adults and children were to work in this area closely watched by Metrocops and Combots. In an area called the "Child Factory", children were building Cremators. As the concept of human reproduction being disabled by the Suppression Field evolving, children finally got cut with the whole area, along with the Cremator.

Depletion of Earth's Resources


It is evident at several points in the game that the Combine are depleting Earth's natural resources. One of the official Half-Life 2 descriptions details how Gordon Freeman must return to "an Earth infested with aliens and being picked to the bone." One of the most noticeable signs is that Earth's ocean levels have dropped dramatically. This can be seen during the coastal chapters Highway 17 and Sandtraps, and the waterways of City 17 in Route Kanal and Water Hazard. The coastline is littered with boats and ships resting on what was previously the seabed, and there are various docks and piers that are no longer standing in water, but instead jut out of the old seabed. At the beginning of Highway 17, Gordon arrives at a harbor which is now a considerable distance from the water's edge. Indications of the previous sea level can be judged by moss which had previously gathered on harbor structures at the edge of the water, but which now lie several meters higher than the ground level. It is mentioned in the book Raising the Bar that this massive, planet-wide water drainage is accomplished through the presence of a giant Combine "drain," actually a teleporter, which sends the water to other Combine-enslaved planets.

More generally, parts of the game world are flooded with parasitic headcrabs and toxic waste, making them generally inhospitable to human life. Infrastructure is either decaying (as with Highway 17, which is in a state of incredible disrepair and littered with old rusting cars) or rendered completely useless (as with Nova Prospekt, where the traditional prison area is mostly flooded and run down, if not outright destroyed by the explosion at the end of the chapter Entanglement). Judging by the state of the wastelands outside of the city, agriculture and farming is completely nonexistent; farm animals and implements are never seen in game suggesting that the animals are either extinct or at least critically endangered, except, strangely, for the birds. The Fisherman in Lost Coast comments that there's no fish left to eat, only leeches which devour anyone who steps into the ocean, posing a further threat to humanity.

Additionally, City 17 itself is being devoured, as Combine Walls spread outward from the Citadel, consuming the city's buildings. It is unknown whether the Combine are purely using this method to destroy the city, or whether they're actually gathering raw materials from the city's structures. Because of all of the above factors, even if Combine rule ends, extensive rebuilding, cleanup, and xeno-extermination would have to take place to make the planet habitable again.

During the development of the game, the Combine originally had a huge industrial facility which was referred to as the Air Exchange, which gradually absorbed Earth's air and replaced it with chemicals and other murky gases which were harmful to humans, but most likely ideal for an environment that the Combine master race could inhabit. It was up to Gordon Freeman to travel to the Combine Air Exchange after the prison levels. Gordon's actions at the Air Exchange were to trigger the human insurrection against the Combine in City 17, but as the level was dropped, this was instead made to happen due to Gordon's actions at Nova Prospekt. Even though the Air Exchange may still exist in the Half-Life universe, it is quite unlikely, since no Citizens are seen wearing gas masks, as seen in other related early concepts.



Propaganda
"We made periodic attempts to create and scatter Combine propaganda throughout City 17. It was eventually decided that most of the posters detracted from the atmosphere, and were doing the work of a sledgehammer where tweezers were required.  Also, it was fairly obvious that the Combine didn't need to rely on subtle messaging to achieve its ends." - Randy Lundeen

Symbols
Two prominent symbols of the Combine can be identified. They can be seen throughout the game on Combine structures, propaganda posters, as well as insignia on various Combine forces. The first symbol depicts a circle encased in some sort of claws. It is probably to symbolize the Combine enslavement of other races, through, among others, the Suppression Field. The circle would be therefore symbolizing an egg encased in metallic claws, so symbolize the Combine control over fertility, and life itself. The second symbol reads "CMB" in the Latin alphabet, perhaps the origin of the name "Combine".

Poster gallery
Here are some examples of Combine propaganda posters spread through City 17. Some are earlier concepts and are not included in the final product.

Many posters include the two prominent symbols of the Combine.

Humanoid Combine
The primary military force of the Combine on Earth is the humanoid Combine Overwatch (referred to by Doctor Breen as the "Transhuman arm of the Combine Overwatch"): humans who have been modified into "transhuman" (or "post-human", as referred to by Dr. Kleiner) cyborgs. They are the most frequently encountered foes throughout Half-Life 2. This could also be another possible reason why they are called the Combine, because they are a "combination" of humans and alien technology. It is important to note that the Civil Protection foes are not hybridized and are in fact, human.


 * Civil Protection: The thoughtpolice that patrol the cities, monitor the public airways and conduct randomized raids. Since little modification is involved, some Resistance members, such as Barney Calhoun, join Civil Protection in order to go under cover to investigate Combine activity and tip off would-be victims.


 * Overwatch Soldier: The main military of the Combine on Earth. Soldiers patrol and enforce Combine law outside of the city boundaries. It includes the Shotgun Soldier and the Nova Prospekt Prison Guard.


 * Overwatch Elite: The Elite soldiers of the Combine Overwatch. They've undergone extensive modifications and are seen protecting the Citadel or occasionally leading squads of regular soldiers.


 * Stalker: Mutilated, drone-like slaves that are created from dissident citizens and captured Resistance members.

Combine Synth
Synths are creatures that, over a course of imposed evolution and adaptation by the Combine, have come to fit a particular niche in the Combine military. Once self-replicating organic creatures that spread across different worlds, they were enslaved and assimilated into the Combine to become the backbone of their military.

Various types of Synth have been brought over to Earth by the Combine, but other types of Synth are likely to exist. The total number of different Synths is unknown. It is likely that Synths were the primary forces used by the Combine during the Seven Hour War, as the human-derived Combine units, as well as technology such as hunter-choppers and APCs, would have only been developed after the Combine's rule on Earth had been established.


 * Advisor Pod: The escape pods used by the Advisors.


 * Crab Synth: Never actually fought, but seen in Half-Life 2 in the Citadel. But was in the Half Life 2 Beta.


 * Dropship: Primary troop and weapon transport of the Combine.


 * Gunship: Aircraft that usually fight in groups of two for protection.


 * Hunter: A smaller version of the Strider.


 * Mortar Synth: Never actually fought, but seen in Half-Life 2 in the Citadel. But was in the Half Life 2 Beta.


 * Shield Scanner: An organic version of the City Scanner. Transports hopper mines into battlefields.


 * Strider: Large ground assault weapons used by the Combine, walks on three long legs, towering over the battlefield.

Combine Combat Technology
The Combine, since gaining dominance on Earth, has invented a large number of devices and machines, some of which are offensive, and others which are used in the day-to-day policing and surveillance of the general populace. A majority of the Combine's technology present on Earth is actually nothing more than human technology re-interpreted and manufactured by the Combine using its own materials. Helicopters, automated gun turrets and wheeled vehicles are all examples of human technology re-engineered by the Combine.


 * Manhack: A flying robot armed with a rotating saw blade.


 * Rollermine: A ball-shaped 'mine' with a rudimentary targeting system that, once activated, follows anything it identifies as a threat and subjects it to electric shocks.


 * Hopper Mine: A programmable explosive device that hops into the air and explodes when approached by anything it identifies as an enemy.


 * City Scanner: A flying security camera and scout that takes pictures of enemies and relays their location to it's command center.


 * Sentry Turret: Programmable, autonomous sentry turrets that come in a variety of configurations.


 * APCs: The main mode of transport of Civil Protection, are a common sight within the cities. They are armed with a missile launcher.


 * Hunter-Chopper: Piloted by two members of the Overwatch, this vehicle is primarily used to track down solitary members of the Resistance, or small groups of Resistance soldiers. Heavily armed and armored, it features a Pulse Cannon and can saturate an area with mines.

Static Combine Property
A common trait of Combine structural engineering seems to be making most of their creations resemble imposing, fairly featureless monolithic constructs, save for the odd irregular patterns that dot their surface. On the other hand, some seem to be unnecessarily complex, while others exhibit properties that defy conventional physics.


 * The Citadel - The large building looking after City 17 and the main Combine fortress.
 * The Depot - A Combine building looking after prisoners at Nova Prospekt.
 * The Razor Train - A Combine train that is made to transfer Combine Troops, supplies, and Prisoners to locations.

Behind the scenes

 * The name "Combine" is possibly a reference to the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.


 * Originally, the Combine were to use Earth's building materials and twist them to make their own buildings. This resulted in odd designs, such as the Citadel's interior being made out of ceramic tiles. This was cut for the familiar metal used by the Combine in the final version.


 * Some Combine units were cut from the final version of Half-Life 2 for various reasons, such as redundancy or unsatisfying gameplay. Some were recycled into other units seen in the final version. These cut enemies include the Combine Assassin, the Alien Assassin, the Cremator, the Combine Guard, Combine Synth Elite Soldier, the Alien Combine Soldier, the Combine Super Soldier and the Sacktick.

Trivia

 * In Garry's Mod the Civil Protection officers, Combine Soldiers, and Elites are all very inaccurate and relatively weak.