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Nihilanth is the final boss character in the computer game Half-Life. It is sometimes referred to as "The Nihilanth", making it unclear if this is the being's name or its title/rank. Hovering silently in its enclosed cavern dozens of stories tall, it has been commanding the forces of Xen, and holding open a dimensional rift from the world of Xen to Earth, enabling the Xen creatures to attack.
Physically, Nihilanth resembles a gigantic, oddly-proportioned fetus, with its head alone outsizing the rest of the body, and its brain cavity forming most of the head's bulk. Its legs, miniscule in relation to its body, appear to be vestigial. It sits on some sort of mechanical levitating contraption consisting of a large base with spikes underneath. Like the rest of the intelligent Xen races, it has a third appendage protruding from the middle of its pectoral chest region. Its unusually long arms end in disproportionately huge hands and fingers. The presence of surgical scars over his torso is a subject of much debate for fans.
Nihilanth attacks by launching energy orbs which teleport living things they come into contact with (similar in appearance to the portals constructed in the Black Mesa Research Facility). Those struck by these orbs are teleported to sections of its lair which are populated by Xen aliens. Nihilanth's chasm also provides defense. A series of glowing lights orbit around Nihilanth's head, rendering it immune to damage. As these lights bleed off, specialized crystals within the upper portion of its chamber replenish them. If some determined invader destroys these crystals, and the remaining lights, Nihilanth's head opens up like a flower, revealing a shining, vulnerable brain. Sufficiently damaging its brain destroys Nihilanth.
Transcript of Nihilanth's speech
There are several cryptic phrases either spoken or telepathically broadcast by Nihilanth once you reach Xen, but are difficult to understand in-game. Below are several of its translated speech files extracted directly from the HL1 data packs, followed by an interpretation of their possible meaning:
- "You are man...he is not man...for you he waits...for you...": Most interpret this as a reference to the G-Man, who Nihilanth implies is not human.
- "The last...you are the last...you are..." / "The last...I am the last...": It is unknown what is meant by Gordon Freeman or Nihilanth being "the last".
- "Done...what have you done...": Possibly blaming Gordon for the resonance cascade that merged Xen with Earth, which resulted in chaos for both sides. This could be him talking about your destroying of the Gonarch, due to its timing.
- "Die...you all die...you all die..." / "Now die...now die...now...": Probably spoken out of anger, may be related to above phrase.
- "Their slaves...we are their slaves...we are...": Possible reference to the Combine in Half-Life 2. In that game, one of freed Vortigaunt's phrases implied that their former master (Nihilanth) was itself a slave.
- "The truth...you can never know...the truth...": Seems to suggest that the overall plotline will remain filled with unanswered questions.
- "Thieves...you are all thieves...you are...": Similarly vague. Possible reference to one of the crystals from Nihilanth's chamber that was taken back to Earth, along with countless Xen specimens for zoological study.
"Deceive you... he'll deceive you": Quite possibly this is a reference to the G-Man and the way he employs(and uses) Freeman.
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