Shock Trooper



Shock Troopers are the most intelligent and dangerous of the Race X aliens. Physically, they are humanoid with four arms and have a posture that makes them vaguely resemble Vortigaunts, but with many key differences from Vortigaunts suggesting that they are not of the same lineage. Their bodies are covered in plate-like sections, similar in appearance to insect exoskeletons. Their skin is pale blue, and is not mottled or patchy like the skin of Xen creatures. They have a single large eye, whereas Vortigaunts have six. This eye is apparently part of a common morphology between Race X creatures - every Race X alien with a large eye (including the Pit Worm) has two eyelids which regularly blink horizontally across the eyeball and what appears to be "tentacles" surrounding their mouth (which is under the head).

Their primary weapon is the Shockroach; a living creature, similar to the Alien Grunts' hive-hand. The Shockroach fires bolts of electricity, which it constantly recharges on its own. The Shockroach cannot survive without a living host for very long; if its Shock Trooper dies, it will detach itself and pursue a new host. If it nears a player that already has a Shockroach, it will attack in a similar way to a headcrab before dying.

Shock Troopers also have the ability to regurgitate and throw spore grenades, which they tend to use against distant or concealed enemies. Infant Shock Troopers will forcibly launch the same type of spore when squeezed, and can thus be used as a Spore Launcher weapon. (The Spore Launcher is listed as "baby strooper" in the game's files.)

Baby Shock Troopers are effectively tadpoles, an earlier stage that is only a head and torso, with tentacles trailing behind. Beyond the small size and lack of limbs, Baby Shock Troopers are also notable for having gills and two small eyes instead of the adults' single large one. They are amphibious, although immobile outside of water. Baby Shocktroopers are first found kept in a tank in the Sector E Biodome Complex of Black Mesa.

Shocktroopers are usually encountered in small groups, and often fight together with other Race X aliens, whom they seem to be allied with. Shocktroopers also possess a verbal form of communication, uttering strange electronic-sounding noises to each other. A skilled player can learn to recognize certain "phrases" muttered by a Shocktrooper prior to an attack and react accordingly.

Shock Troopers have mastered teleportation technology and use it to travel in and out of combat. They also control the teleportation of Pit Drones and Voltigore. It is interesting to note that at one point, the player observes a Shock Trooper grab a Black Mesa scientist prior to teleporting away; effectively kidnapping him.