What IS the Gene Worm?

[Sulkdodds]

Pretty simple, really: this thread does what it says on the tin. Wghat is the Gene Worm, aka the big green thing, the boss at the end of Op4 or "Stupid mother**cker! Die already!". It seems to be just a big green random monster but considering that A. Shock Troopers come from it's belly, B. It's the final boss, and C. according to what I like to call 'The Freeman Archetype' it is the Race-X equivalent of Nihilanth. Is this true? Is it just a big monster or some sort of ruler of the Race-X? Or maybe some huge Primarch creature.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

[SARCASM]The RaceX trooper's motivation for attacking was that the scientists captured some of their children (The spore launchers.)
So, like Xen, they took advantage of the chaos of the resonance cascade to implement a military strike against Black Mesa, or even the entire earth.
But, unlike Xen, the troopers use entirely living organic weaponry.

The pit drones were like attack dogs, and the voltigores were almost like living tanks to them. Even their rifles were alive. So, in the same way that those guys were used, I'd guess that the gene worm was a troop transport of sorts, bringing additional forces directly into the base.

By stopping it, Shephard may have prevented a wide-scale RaceX invasion, as the worm was very tough (being only hurt by special lasers to the eyes) possibly even enough to withstand the nuke..[/SARCASM]
Note: the sarcasm tags work well for speculative comments.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Could be. This is the only HL mystery that has me stumped so far...

Tough enough to withstand the nuke? I doubt that somehow.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

He was underground, in a relatively stable part of the base though.

And plus, Aidrian's entire arsenal wasn't enough to take him out without the lasers.

I'm more wondering what the lasers were doing there, actually.
They used Xen crystals, so could the gene worm's portal be a teleportation experiment gone wrong?

 

[Sulkdodds]

Yeah, in a relatively stable part of the base that's actually very close to where the nuke was...and a man with satchel charges, a rocket launcher and grenades (which was basically all that could harm it - and event hen only when it's stomach opens up) would find it hard to take out a couple of M1 tanks...but a nuke could do it.

 

[Brian Damage]

I think the lasers could have been some sort of test or mining devices...

The Gene Worm puts me in mind of a large mobile teleporter... notice that when its chest opens up, there's a teleportal inside? I think it just had to be transported itself via that huge portal, then it could start teleporting in the Troopers...

I do wonder why it seems to bear a resemblance to the Xenian Tentacles, though... or is my memory fading?

 

[chimpmunk]

I thought race x was bringing the gene worm just to, hmmm, i don't know, for support? anyways, he looked way dumb, like an animal, i dont think he can be compared to nihilianth IMHO, anyways,
my theory about RaceX is that they are part of the alien combine, so were the Xenians, but gordon fred them by killing nihilianth (remember when he said "their slaves, we are their slaves..." ?) and the combine wants to enslave humanity as well...

This is just my crazy theory...

 

[The Dark Elf]

I think the lasers were placed there from earlier to perhaps try close the portal thing. The geneworm was probably some kind of group leader or something that would take command of the forces already there

I'm just guessing heh.

 

[Darkside55]

The Gene Worm had to be a tank. It was big, tough, spewed poison and transported Race-X shocktroopers. So I think it's just a big creature that's there for supporting the ground troops.

Question is, did they make it, or is it just a regular creature? What gets me is the fact that it could create portals...the only other being who could create portals at will was the Nihilanth, and I am certain that Nith was a construct of the controllers' design. But the Gene Worm looks pretty "natural" to me, so was creating portals out of its chest just something that it could naturally do? If so, why would it even have that there?
And as I said before in the, "Factions, Organizations, and Loners" thread, that portal the Gene Worm is trying to come through was likely being built by the Shock Troopers way in advance for it to come through. So it couldn't generate its own massive portal in which to come through.

I think it must've been made by the Shock Troopers. I can't see any way the thing could've evolved to be a transport like that, or even why it would want to be such a thing...must've been built.

BTW, Mechagodzilla, the Xenians used living weaponry. Hive hands, for instance. The grunts themselves were creations of the controllers, not a naturally occuring race. And I'm sure the Xenians used houndeyes as guard dogs, much like the shock troopers used pit drones. I don't agree with the, "Voltigore = tank," statement, though. I can't remember seeing them work in concert with the shock troopers--that's not to say they didn't, though; I just can't remember seeing that. I think the voltigores were just some native creature that got teleported in.

Edit: Forgot to say that I think the area beneath the parking lot where the Gene Worm was coming out of might've been a secure loading/receiving area for BMRF. Hence the security lasers.

 

[AzzMan]

I remember one part where the voltigores and shock troopers worked together. The part where you get out of the sewers where the voltigore nest it and youve got 3 other marines with you.

As for the gene worm, I think it may be a naturally occuring creature, just modified by the race-x aliens somehow, so it can teleport them. I don't think the xen grunts were created by the controllers, I just think they were modified and stored in that xen factory (I guess thats what you could call it). Seems the thing is to take already living organisms and modify them for use somehow (hivehands, those weird manta ray ships they flew, snarks). Then again, who knows, they're aliens!

 

[Mechagodzilla]

The hive hands were one of the few non-artificial things the Xen guys used though.
They seem to have used lotsa technology, like on Nihilanth's chair and the slave collars, as well as most of their architecture.
Even the grunts were genetically manufactured.

The shock troopers, on the other hand, seem to work entirely through symbiosis. Every weapon at their disposal appears to be a living creature that they hang out with, rather than manipulate into use. Also, they don't have any non-living technology that has been shown yet.
So, the Xen guys used modified biology along with technology, while the Race X were purely biological.

Anyways, the voltigores did fight alongside the troopers, without killing them, in at least three sections of the game. Like the final pre-boss OP4 fight. They actually worked together more than the pit drones did.
I've only seen pit drones and troopers work together in concept art.

I've never seen a houndeye working with a Xen guy either. They're never even in the same levels as one another. Originally they were meant to be the only non-violent xen guys, and were changed only because everyone killed them anyways.
They never really struck me as guard dog-like.

The Xen snark-tripmines and the hivehand were the only real cases, that I can think of, where they used other animals to fight. Even the snark example is combined with technology though. And, if the grunts are engineered, it would imply that the hivehand is too. They don't appear to be natural occurences.

 

[Darkside55]

Hm, I see what you mean. That's a good point; even though the hivehands were living they were still modified. Shock roaches aren't, though. But if shock troopers aren't in the habit of modifying other creatures, did they make an exception modifying the Gene Worm, or did it just naturally evolve like that? 'Cause I really can't see that happening. AzzMan brings up a good point about the manta rays, though; maybe the Gene Worm is something like that...obviously modified. Alternatively, I was thinking that perhaps prolonged exposure (or experimentation) with the Xen crystals could suddenly give a creature the ability to teleport. Hm...that suddenly opens up a question about the G-Man, but I'll save that for a later post/thread.

And yeah, houndeyes never work with the Xen aliens in game, but I think that they could. They're like wild dogs, and you can tame wild dogs on earth, so maybe the same is true for taming houndeyes. Seems like they'd naturally make good guard dogs, emitting loud sonic waves whenever an intruder is around (and possibly killing them in the process).

 

[chimpmunk]

Is it me or does the geneworm look like the tentacle somehow???

 

[Sulkdodds]

It's just you. It doesn't really look anything like the tentacle.

Tentacle: Long, tapered and very thin plant stalks.
Gene Worm: Giant blob with lots of octopus-like tentacles,

 

[Mechagodzilla]

They do have similar beaks though, and they are both the same lovely shade of green.
Beyoud that, though, they're completely dissimilar.

 

[Brian Damage]

Don't they have similar mouth/sucker things too?

 

[chimpmunk]

They have the same beak and colors, and they look somehow related...

 

[Brian Damage]

Maybe, maybe not. Maybe we'll see soon...

 

[Jackal hit]

well it's like, DUH, people. didn't you all know that "Gene Worm" is slang for penis. like, i need to pee = gotta drain the gene worm. or masturbation = i just choked the gene worm

 

[Chainer]

Anyone know anything about the pit worm?

 

[Dsty2001]

Yeah, the big question is, what is the purpose of the Pit Worm? They stay in one spot, can easily be fooled. Maybe their just there to scare you or something?

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Anyone know anything about the pit worm?

We know less about the pit worm than we do about the gene worm.

Let's see...
-Only killed by toxic waste.
-Lives in a hole, like a tentacle.
-Hangs out near pit drones.
-Hitting its eye irritates it.
-Shoots lasers from its eye, naturally. (Not too far-fetched, but still pretty out-there as far as HL aliens go.)

Hold on:
Pit worm...
Pit drones...

It's the same pit!!!1!

 

[Sulkdodds]

The same...but different. I reckon the pit-worm is just indeginous Race-X flora/fauna (after all, who knows?) either that or it's some kind of sentinel to stop anything getting further. I assume it's not that it can only be killed by toxic waste but that Shepherd has nothing else strong enough to kill it.

 

[Brian Damage]

That Half Life site that was linked to on here a couple of days ago thinks that the Pit Worm is some sort of living resource collector...

 

[AzzMan]

Personally I think it's just some native creature of some other world that got teleported in here. It does seem to be related to the shock troopers, to me anyways, because of the similar looking eye and mouth.

 

[63]

http://website.lineone.net/~wingerden/theincident.htm

that explains a bit about the Geneworm, and the lazers (its the 4th para from the bottom)

 

[Brian Damage]

Wher is it, Six Three? I can't see it.

I wonder why it's called the Gene worm, though... maybe it's both a troop transport and some kind of genetic storage unit? Or if Race-X and the Combine really are the same bunch, and they clone/assimilate creatures like some people think, maybe it can copy any creature's genetic code?

Maybe that explains the resemblance to the tentacles...

 

[Darkside55]

Maybe it isn't actually transporting shock troopers, but rather creating them...has their genes stored in itself and makes a perfect copy of an adult shock trooper.

 

[Brian Damage]

Maybe, but doesn't it bring them in from an internal teleportal?

Can someone who's got a saved game from around that point give us a screenshot?

 

[Darkside55]

It does look like a teleportal, one of those orange and green balls of light, but maybe that's just the sprite that was used, and was not necessarily meant to indicate they're teleporting. Maybe it's just a ball of light that they come out of when they're created. Or maybe Gearbox just didn't want to have a big empty hole there and have shock troopers coming out of it. That'd look funny.

Besides, why should shooting a teleportal hurt the creature? Seems a little odd.

 

[Brian Damage]

Because the shots don't actually hit the teleportal most of the time, but instead hit the sensitive internal flesh that the opening door reveals, I'd imagine.

When the door's not open, shots are just absorbed by the creature's apparently indestructable skin...

 

[Chainer]

Because the shots don't actually hit the teleportal most of the time, but instead hit the sensitive internal flesh that the opening door reveals, I'd imagine.

When the door's not open, shots are just absorbed by the creature's apparently indestructable skin...

I'm telling ya I think Race X and the Combine are closley tied.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Also, only explosives seemed to work. And I doubt, with the level of consistency shown in both HL and OP4, that they'd just make do with using a teleport sprite unless it was a teleport.

 

[63]

With the opposition disposed of, through the portal came a “Gene-Worm”, a giant creature capable of creating small portals between its home world and our own, and it has been theorised that this was a sort of biological war machine - within it was a displacement field that was a link to its own dimension, allowing the alien species to create a foothold on Earth despite the fact that there was no longer a dimensional breach. The miniature portals that the creature created could have allowed a small army to arrive within Black Mesa, which could have prevented the detonation of the thermonuclear warhead. The situation would have been a reversal of that between Earth and Xen – the Gene-Worm would have brought armies of Shock Troopers into our world and as of yet we had no real means of reaching their world, the young Shocktroopers having been retrieved by the displacement beacon by chance.

Fortunately, Corporal Adrian Shepard took control of the experimental energy weapons and fired them into the Gene-Worm’s vulnerable body areas, its eyes and then the interior of its body, which opened whenever the creature tried to create portals to bring in reinforcements. The dying being retreated into the portal but lost control of its enormous dimensional energies and exploded.


Corporal Shepard had killed the black operators who had been arming a thermonuclear warhead, but shortly before Shepard reached the Gene-Worm the Administrator re-armed the device. Soon after the destruction of the Gene-Worm and the chamber that contained Race-X’s dimensional portal, the surface of the Black Mesa Research Facility was vaporised in a thermonuclear explosion, and the underground complexes were smashed and forever buried beneath the radioactive crater. The Administrator then sent Corporal Shepard to be detained in a Special Projects Executive facility in another dimension.

There you go Brian...

 

[Brian Damage]

Ah, thank you. I hadn't seen that bit... I think that my computer doesn't load the whole page, for some reason... it seems to stop mid-sentence...