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"A shepherd must tend to his flock, especially when they have grown…unruly."
―Father Grigori[src]
 

Father Grigori is the only known surviving occupant of Ravenholm during the events of Half-Life 2. He is a mentally unstable but friendly priest. In Half-Life 2, he helps Gordon Freeman survive his trip through Ravenholm and escorts him to the mines on the far side of the Zombie-infested town.

Biography[]

Appearances[]

Half-Life 2[]

The presence of a survivor in the town of Ravenholm is first hinted at through ominous, cryptic phrases heard in the vicinity of the first propeller trap encountered by Gordon Freeman. These phrases, which are reminiscent of biblical language, serve to foreshadow the eventual revelation of Father Grigori. Following a series of encounters with zombies and headcrabs, Gordon comes into visual contact with Grigori above a pile of burning zombies corpses. Grigori greets Gordon, offering him the use of various traps present in the area and cautions him to take care not to fall victim to them himself. He later shoots a Fast Headcrab that was about to attack Gordon from behind and advises him to be vigilant in Ravenholm. This encounter serves to introduce the character of Grigori, who subsequently provides Gordon with aid in the form of weapons and combat support. Later on, Grigori demonstrates his proficiency in combat by shooting a Fast Headcrab that was about to attack Gordon from behind. Grigori subsequently throws Gordon a SPAS-12 shotgun and offers the advice to "Aim for the head," emphasizing the importance of effective tactics in surviving the dangers present in the town.

Upon meeting Grigori on-foot, Gordon is informed by the character that they must traverse a nearby graveyard in order to reach the mines. Grigori advises Gordon to "tread lightly," as the graveyard holds a sacred significance, and accompanies him through the graveyard, providing assistance in the form of combat support against the zombies, before ultimately allowing him to proceed into the mines.

The ultimate fate of Grigori remains uncertain in the narrative of the game. After assisting Gordon in opening a gate at the graveyard, Grigori offers the cryptic advice to "look to his own salvation" before breaking into maniacal laughter. The player is then given the option to continue on their journey or remain in the vicinity. In the latter case, Grigori continues to engage in combat with the zombie, urging Freeman to depart and remarking that "No one wants to stay in Ravenholm." Eventually, Grigori employs a desperate measure, detonating nearby fuel tanks in an attempt to fend off the zombies. He is then seen running through the resulting inferno, laughing and firing his weapon, before taking cover in a crypt and continuing to battle the undead. He subsequently disappears inside the crypt, leaving his fate open to interpretation.

The circumstances surrounding Grigori's last encounter raise questions about his potential survival in the aftermath of the Citadel's destruction. Given that Gordon's journey from the site of the Citadel's explosion to Black Mesa East took approximately 2 to 3 hours, it can be estimated that Ravenholm is situated approximately 20-40 kilometers from City 17. Despite the destruction wrought by the explosion, the forests outside of City 17 remain relatively untouched, leading to the possibility that Grigori may have escaped the blast. While it cannot be definitively determined whether he evaded the explosion through cautious retreat or if, due to his instability, he chose to remain and fight, it is worth noting that the character's ultimate fate was left open to interpretation. Furthermore, the developers have stated that they do not intend to revisit the character in future installments of the series, despite initial plans to include him in the now-cancelled Half-Life 2: Episode Four developed by Arkane Studios.

Appearance[]

Father Grigori is a middle-aged man with a bald head and portly build; he dresses in traditional embroidered clothing and red Converse sneakers covered with Headcrab ooze.

Around his neck, he wears a gold crucifix, signifying his religious position and outlook. He has a cross pierced into the skin of one of his hands.

Personality and skills[]

Grigori is quite possibly religiously insane and can be heard ranting, uttering various disjointed biblical references and laughing maniacally while hunting zombies in Ravenholm. It is unknown if his laughter and religious references are symptoms of insanity or merely aspects of a dark sense of humor; most likely, they are both. 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. His ability to move around Ravenholm quickly and inconspicuously suggests he is fast on his feet and agile despite his portly build, or that he has set up many escape routes that the player never uses.

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.

Quotes[]

  • Iniquity’s snares are cunning, but by the light of lights; mine are greater still.
  • Woe to all, for our dwelling place, is distant, and we wander through the domiciles of Chaos!
  • My power was lost in places which were not mine. Affliction besought me, and the merciless ones attacked me without cause.
  • Although they call me crazy, I care not, for thou art my helper, my strength, and my savior.
  • Thy will be done oh light of lights, I bless the glory of thy greatness through the day and through the darkness of this night.
  • I pray do never turn away thy light, give heed to me, and spring thy traps upon mine enemies, when I cry out to thee!
  • For it was said, they had become like those peculiar demons, which dwell in matter but in whom no light may be found.
  • Turn not thy face away from me; incline thy ear and hear me! When I shall cry to thee in my affliction.
  • For the days of my life have vanished like smoke, and my bones are parched like ash, and let all my impurities be as… fuel for that fire! Until nothing remains, but the Light alone.
  • From the voice of my groaning my bone has cleaved to my flesh.
  • For my soul is filled with evil, and like this place, must be purged.
  • For the dead know no sleep in their graves, nor dost thou remember them, until they are destroyed through thy hands.
  • I have been laid down in a pit of darknesses and the shadow of death. And thy anger has pressed down upon me; and all thy cares have come down upon me. And from this bed I cry out for the kindling of thy Light!
  • And what terrible wonders are these those hast done among the dead. What shades rise to confess thee, and what specters shall know thee by thy name?
  • Oh, the light may thy name be spoken in the graves and spelled in bones and ashes.
  • Thy rages have come down upon me, and thy pains have agitated me.
  • Judge those who do injustice to me, fight with those who fight with me!
  • Take hold of a weapon, a shield, and rise to help me!
  • Draw for the sword, and sheath it in those who afflict me, say to my soul, I am thy salvation.
  • May they become like dust before the wind; may the angel of the Lord pursue them.
  • May their paths become dark and slippery; and may the angel of the Lord afflict them.
  • May the snare that they do not know come to them, and may the net they have hidden for me catch them in my place.

Weapons[]

Grigori wields a powerful lever-action rifle known as Annabelle. "Annabelle" is based on the real-life Winchester Model 1886 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 damage 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 Episode Four

Grigori model from the cancelled Episode Four game.

  • Grigori was originally going to appear in the Arkane Studios game Half-Life 2: Episode Four before it was cancelled. The game would have taken place at some point between Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode Two, in which Grigori is holed up in an abandoned children's hospital in Ravenholm. At this point he meets Adrian Shephard, the protagonist from Half-Life: Opposing Force and the player character in the game, and gives him supplies to help him escape the town. During the game it would emerge that Grigori himself is infected and trying to stave off the infection as he helps Shepard along, until the end of the game when he mutates and Shepard would presumably have to fight him.
  • "Grigori" is a variant of Grigoriy, the Russian form of "Gregory", coming from "Gregorius", from the 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.[3]

Trivia[]

  • 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 even if the enemy is not a zombie. 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 if he wields any gun, other than the pistol and RPG. Compared to most other NPCs, Grigori appears to be the most powerful human NPC in-game since he will shoot his rapid-fire weapon in full-auto rather than in short bursts. However, to compensate for this he is slightly less accurate than other Resistance NPCs, but still effective to take most enemies out at long range. Also, unlike other Resistance NPCs, should the player touch him, he will not move out the player's way due of fact the player should follow him instead of him following the player during the events of Ravenholm. Also, when he wields the RPG, he can fire many rockets without reloading until the target dies. However, he will only fire the rocket at medium range and there is sometimes delay before he actually starts to shoot. Also, he will only engage and chase the enemy if they are in his weapon range instead of his visual range (for example: if a Combine Soldier shoots Grigori with an AR2 while Grigori is armed with Annabelle or a Shotgun, he will simply stand there until the Soldier reaches a close range or Grigori is killed.), however he will be aware of the enemy if they are in the visual range, but he will not start shooting at the target until the target reaches the weapon's range. However, if an enemy reaches Grigori's weapon range but the enemy is behind a wall, he will try to find a way to reach the enemy and kill the target. Unlike Alyx and Barney, his health is 100 instead of 80. Also, he is the only NPC who is immune to the Poison Headcrab and its venom, this Headcrab being unable to damage Grigori.
  • 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 (Eastern Orthodoxy), 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 Nevka 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 are likely inflicted by Grigori himself.
  • Despite what many believe, Grigori's weapon is not a shotgun. It is a lever-action Winchester 1886 carbine, depicted as using .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.
  • Jim French, who voices Grigori, also voiced the Scientist from Gunman Chronicles, Bill from Left 4 Dead, and the Fisherman from Half-Life 2: Lost Coast.
  • In Garry's Mod, Father Grigori can only be found in the "Animals" Category, instead of the "Humans + Resistance", this is most likely a joke referencing how insane he is. His ragdoll is also called "Monk".
  • His model is used for the character "Santiago," who is the main villain in the youtube series by Pamtri.

Gallery[]

List of appearances[]

References[]

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