Wallace Breen
Wallace Breen is a male video game character who features in Half-Life.
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Biography
Wallace Breen was a male human who lived in the modern age where he came to be the administrator of the Black Mesa Research Facility at the time of the Black Mesa Incident. After the Seven Hour War, he "negotiated" a peace agreement with the Combine that saved humanity, but at the cost of enslavement. Doctor Breen was appointed as ruler of Earth — a puppet of the Combine, who have little physical presence on the planet. Breen is alerted to the return of Gordon Freeman when Gordon is temporarily teleported by accident to his office in the Citadel. Doctor Breen informs the Combine and immediately dispatches the forces at his disposal to capture Freeman and break the associated Resistance movement in City 17. During Gordon Freeman's raid on the Citadel, Freeman is temporarily in the custody of Breen, until Judith Mossman turns against the administrator. During this period, Breen makes a very notable statement: he mentions while in the presence of Alyx Vance and her father, Eli (who are also in his custody) that Gordon "has proven a fine pawn to those who control him." He also comments that Gordon's services are "open to the highest bidder," and says he would understand if Gordon doesn't want to discuss it in front of his friends. These remarks imply that Breen may be aware of the mysterious G-Man and his influence over Freeman. It was also mentioned in one of the "Breencasts" to the Sector Seventeen Overwatch in Nova Prospekt; "I have good reason to believe that in the intervening years, he was in a state that precluded further development of covert skills." When the human resistance begins to loosen the Combine's hold on Earth, Doctor Breen attempts to flee using a Combine teleporter. Gordon Freeman manages to stop him by destroying the Citadel's dark fusion reactor, which destroys the teleporter in a massive explosion, presumably consuming Breen in the process. Afterwards, Alyx Vance states the last thing she remembered after the explosion was "Breen falling".
Breen is alerted to the return of Gordon Freeman when he is accidentally teleported to his office in the Citadel for a few seconds. Breen informs the Combine and immediately dispatches the forces at his disposal to capture or kill Freeman and break the associated Resistance movement in City 17. During Gordon Freeman's raid on the Citadel, Freeman is temporarily in the custody of Breen, until Judith Mossman turns against the Administrator. During this brief time, Breen makes a very notable statement: he mentions while in the presence of Alyx Vance and her father, Eli (who are also in his custody) that Gordon "has proven a fine pawn to those who control him." He also comments that Gordon's services are "open to the highest bidder," and says he would understand if Gordon does not want to discuss it in front of his friends. These remarks imply that Breen is aware of the mysterious G-Man and his influence over Freeman, something only Eli Vance seems to know about. Another possible reference to the G-Man is in one of the Breencasts broadcast in Nova Prospekt: "I have good reason to believe that in the intervening years, he was in a state that precluded further development of covert skills.", suggesting Breen knows about Freeman having remained in stasis between the Black Mesa Incident and his comeback around 20 years later. When the Resistance begins to loosen the Combine's hold on City 17 and Gordon Freeman infiltrates the Citadel itself, Breen attempts to flee using a Combine teleport. Freeman manages to stop him by destroying the Citadel's dark fusion reactor, which then destroys the teleport in a massive explosion. After the player destroys the reactor at the top of the Citadel, the platform that Breen is seen riding up to the portal collapses, and he is seen falling to his apparent death, his last words being "You need me!".
Overview
Personality and attributes
Dr. Breen often praises himself as the savior of humanity, a claim not entirely unjustified as it was he who negotiated the peace treaty with The Combine. Breen is very prideful in these achievements, showing traits of narcissism in his manner of speech, how he interacts with other people, and the way he manipulates Judith Mossman. Betraying a promise to leave Eli alone and unharmed during the raid on Black Mesa East, claiming she waited too long to green-light him for an attack. He is often smug, especially when the odds are in his favor such as when he captured Eli and Alyx Vance along with Gordon Freeman himself. His cruelty backfires on him when Judith Mossman turns on him, and he is forced to retreat to a teleport. Gloating to Freeman while he tries to get to the top of the spire, before eventually trying to reason with him when he attacks the Citadel's reactor. Offering a feeble "you need me!" before plummeting to his supposed death.
Despite his supposed selfish reasons for doing so, Breen truly believed he had saved mankind when he ended the Combine invasion by negotiating Earth and humanity's surrender, as the only alternative result would be their complete extinction. As such, he believes that complying with the Combine is necessary for the survival of the human race, even stating that this may bring about benefits such as immortality, despite the Combine's harsh treatment and synthetic augmentations to its soldiers. During the Uprising, he repeatedly implored Freeman and the Resistance to stand down, stating that their actions would doom the human race. His messages became increasingly more desperate when the Combine began to view even him with suspicion, and he is even heard berating the Overwatch for their repeated failures to apprehend Freeman.
Powers and abilities
Notes
- Wallace Breen was created by Marc Laidlaw where he was voiced by actor Robert Culp and featured in the setting of the Half-Life universe..
- The Half-Life 2 art book, Raising the Bar, has information that indicates Breen used, at least at one point of the planned story if not in the final version, a radio transmitter tower on the surface (i.e., not in Black Mesa) to communicate directly to the Combine and negotiate a surrender. Draft scripts for Half-Life 2 indicate that this would have been shown in a introductory segment to the game carried out through a series of projector slides. One of the slides would have shown Breen at the foot of a tower wearing a headset linked directly to it, with arms held wide and speaking to the skies.
Appearances
- Half-Life 2:
External Links
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