Wallace Breen

## Evil-Doer

**Dr. Wallace Breen** is the secondary antagonist of the *Half-Life* series, serving as the main antagonist of *Half-Life 2*.

Wallace Breen was the former administrator of Black Mesa prior to the Black Mesa Incident and the Seven Hour War. Following the Combine's subjugation of Earth, Wallace managed Earth's surrender in exchange for immunity from the Combine, but at the cost of human enslavement.

He was voiced by the late Robert Culp.

## Biography:

### Background:

#### The Black Mesa Incident:

Wallace Breen was the administrator of the Black Mesa Research Facility in New Mexico, and frequently collaborated with the Anomalous Materials research team in Sector C. Here, Breen worked alongside several colleagues, including Isaac Kleiner, Eli Vance and Gordon Freeman, all of whom would later oppose him. It is hinted that Breen in some part was responsible for the Incident, as he had supplied the sample for the Anti-Mass Spectrometer; Xen crystals, found next to many deceased Survey Team members, indicating a great human cost and the "lengths" he had to take to find them. The G-Man, also present at Black Mesa, is revealed to have been stealing one of the crystals, revealing a connection between him and Breen.

#### Earth's Administrator

Following the incident, after the Seven-Hour War, Breen negotiated an agreement with the invasive force, the Combine, agreeing in exchange for immunity to be Earth's administrator and the Combine's human representative at the expense of humanity's freedom, although in actuality the Combine were using him as a puppet and a face for the higher forces in the organization. Breen had been criticized for their action, although he defended himself.

Breen was seated in power in City 17, a Combine-occupied city in Eastern Europe, to which he ruled with complete control over its citizens, enforcing an oppressive, fascist government. Breen had fortified himself above ground in the Citadel, where he had set his primary base of operations establishing a communication with the Combine. It is implied that Breen helped spread Combine propaganda across City 17, issuing Breencasts which establish a second connection between Breen and the citizens of City 17. This is seen in various points of City 17, prominently in the train station, where Breen is welcoming the citizens.

By the events of *Half-Life: Alyx* (although never making a direct appearance), Breen continued to be seated in power, and continued to oversee Combine operations in City 17. Later, according to Breen's remarks in the final chapter *Dark Energy* in *Half-Life 2*, it is implied more than ever that Breen was aware of the G-Man and his employers. It is strongly inferred due to the Scientist's knowledge of the G-Man, that Breen oversaw the G-Man's imprisonment in the Vault above the Quarantine Zone, and knew what he was capable of.

Breen is first seen in the prologue welcoming newly arrived citizens to City 17 in one of his many Breencasts, commenting that "It's safer" in the apparent capital city of Earth. He additionally tells the citizens why

#### Chapter 2: "A Red Letter Day"

Following Gordon Freeman's deployment into City 17, Breen is alerted by his arrival, and his past as a scientist who was a part of the test which caused the Black Mesa Incident. Breen and Freeman meet in the flesh when the latter's teleporter malfunctions, accidentally transporting him to Breen's office. Breen recognized Freeman in the encounter, issuing a manhunt in City 17.

#### Chapter 4: Water Hazard

When Gordon arrives to APC Garage in the river of City 17, Breen sends a message via Breencast, addressing both Citizens and Combine forces.

#### Chapter 9: Nova Prospekt

While Gordon is raiding Nova Prospekt with the Antlions, Dr. Breen can be heard over the intercom berating the Combine on their inability to stop Freeman.

#### Chapter 9a: Entanglement

Breen is seen speaking with Judith Mossman, discussing about capturing Eli. This reveals that Judith was working with him.

#### Chapter 11: "Follow Freeman!"

Gordon manages to infiltrate the Combine Citadel to pursue Breen.

#### Chapter 12: Our Benefactors

While Gordon navigates the Combine Citadel, Breen attempts to convince Gordon to surrender and to join him. He gets increasingly desperate and irritated as Gordon moves on until Gordon is taken directly to Breen's office.

#### Chapter 13: Dark Energy

Breen manages to capture Gordon Freeman who willingly delivers himself to Breen's office in his headquarters the citadel, where he is holding Eli Vance hostage and also his daughter Alyx.

He tries to make a deal with Gordon Freeman, and shows signs he is aware of Freeman's control by the mysterious G-Man. But Breen's agent Judith Mossman turns on him and frees Gordon along with Alyx and Eli. Breen attempts to escape using a teleporter to the combine world. Realizing that he cannot survive in the Combine world's atmosphere, he reluctantly agrees to have his mind placed in a host body, which is a Combine Advisor, a strange grub-like creature and the apparent rulers of the Combine.

But before he could escape through a Combine teleporter, the platform Breen was standing on collapsed when Gordon destroyed the teleporter in a massive explosion, dropping Breen down the Citadel to his presumed death.

### *Half-Life 2* - Episodes One & Two

Breen appears in *Episode One*, first in the opening in a flashback/dream sequence questioning Gordon via video screens, and then later on in a pre-recorded message talking with the Combine Advisor about him being placed in a host body. When Alyx first sees this footage, she first believes Breen survived, until realizing that it is just an old recording. Alyx confirms Breen's fate prior to the teleporter explosion, that he did indeed fall off the Citadel.

In *Episode Two* when The G-Man has his "heart to heart" with Gordon Freeman and at the moment he mentions "naysayers" against him rescuing Alyx Vance from Black Mesa, Breen's face briefly flashes up on a screen behind him.

### *Half-Life 2: Episode Three*

In a leaked draft by Marc Laidlaw concerning the unreleased game, it is revealed that early memories of Breen was transferred into the body of a Combine Advisor, which is confronted by Freeman and Alyx. Breen is shown to be in misery over his existence and asks to be killed, a choice which was supposedly up to the player to carry out.

## Gallery:

Propaganda scattered across City 17, establishing Breen as the oppressive ruler of Earth.Breen welcoming the passengers entering City 17.Breen meets Gordon Freeman in the flesh, and offers him a valued deal.Breen mocks and threatens Alyx Vance.Breen, featured on the front cover of an issue of Tech Impact magazine - "The Mind of Breen: How the Right Man in the Right Place Could Save Us All".A newspaper entailing Breen's negotiations surrender to the Combine.
## Trivia:

* Breen was originally going to be known as the "**Consul**", as seen in the *Half-Life 2* behind the scenes book "*Raising the Bar*".
* Originally, the enigmatic G-Man was intended to be the Black Mesa administrator who had been overseeing the experiments. A hidden audio file confirms this. But by *Half-Life 2*, Valve had changed this and created Wallace Breen and established him as being the unseen administrator for *Half-Life 1*, making him and G-Man separate characters.
* In the *Half-Life 2: Episode One* and *The Orange Box* prima guide, Breen's character profile states his current whereabouts are unknown since he was stopped by Gordon Freeman on the Citadel, possibly hinting he survived.
* A cryptic Twitter account named BreenGrub was run by *Half-Life* writer Marc Laidlaw centering around Wallace Breen, who is apparently a Combine Advisor (a plot point which was possibly going to be explored in *Episode Three*). The account hasn't been active since 2014, and its canonically to the *Half-Life* lore is up to debate.
* Wallace Breen has appeared in other Half-Life 2 mods and spin-off web comics, including *Dayhard*, *Gorgeous Freeman* *The Citizen* and *Concerned: The Half-Life and Death of Gordon Freeman*.
* In the acclaimed third-party remake *Black Mesa*, Breen is still indirectly referred to as the Administrator by several scientists throughout the game and like the original goes unseen by the player. In an jokey Easter Egg that can be found by the player, a sheet of paper on a board by Breen details his plans to takeover the world (although done in a childish way with drawings and misspellings), which involves befriending aliens and then building his own tower. This serves as a humorous foreshadowing to his actions in *Half-Life 2*.
* An updated model for Wallace Breen exists in the files of *Half-Life: Alyx*. In an early build he was originally going to appear, in which a propaganda video had him defend the Combine and depicted archived footage of him signing the peace treaty resulting in the Combine enslaving earth and appointing him as administrator. The only use the new model had was Breen's depiction in a magazine, which can be found as an Easter Egg in the game.