What Happened to Half-Life's Lost Heroes? | Gina Cross & Colette Green | FULL Half-Life Lore

The Half-Life universe has had many strong characters throughout many disasters. Many know of Gordon, Alyx and even Adrian Shephard - but not many know of Gina and Colette. Two people who chose to save the people of Black Mesa instead of escaping the incident themselves.
How did they meet? What role did they play in the Resonance Cascade? and why do many Half-Life fans not know of their story? In this video, I explore the lore and story behind the Dr. Gina Cross and Dr. Colette Green in the Half-Life series.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:55 Before Black Mesa
02:52 Early Years at Black Mesa
07:56 The Lead up to the Black Mesa Incident
09:41 The Black Mesa Incident
14:21 Legacy
15:50 Behind the Scenes
17:11 Closing Thoughts
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Half-Life & Portal Lore Playlist: • The Borealis | Half-Li...
Half-Life Decay: Solo mission
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Standard Sources
Game Manuals
Half-Life Series Playthrough Research
Portal Series Playthrough Research
Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
Half-Life: Alyx Playthrough
Portal/ Half-Life Fandom
Old Valve Forums
Marc Laidlaw's Twitter
Breengrub Twitter
Reddit AMA (w/ HL: Alyx Developers)
Portal 2
Aperture Desk Job
AUDIO USED
Half-Life 2 OST: Escape Array
Black Mesa OST: Xen
Half-Life 2 OST: Lab Practicum
Black Mesa OST: Catalyst
Half-Life 2 OST: Triage At Dawn
#HalfLife #Gina #Colette

[@Skyrionn]

Did you play Half-Life decay back in the day on the Playstation 2? And would you like a future Half-Life game to implement a co-op mechanic?

[@therogueheero]

I did play it but I had nobody to play with. I would love a rerelease with this on it with online coop.

[@ambrusraul2297]

i am expecting heavy lore behind man hacks and hidden man hack assassins as i believe than initially they where human technology

[@miaumischen]

@@therogueheero it exists, it's a mod for halflife that adds it in with online or offline

[@The6th-one]

Could you consider adding English subtitles (not autogenerated)please? Im not a very good English speaker so i rely a lot on reading English language. Thank you 🙏. P.S: Sent from H.E.C.U Marine in the codename of R3v6

[@atariboy9084]

I own and played PS2 game with the Decay part and every time Colette Green Auto-play her self as you control Gina she laugh a lot as she killing bad guys in the game. She's the tomboy of the two.

[@Djc00lness]

If the 2 suits missing at the start of the game are because they're wearing them, that's insanely cool

[@concept5631]

Agreed

[@saberwooah]

It is confirmed that Gina and Colette are canon, so that’s actually cool.

[@Zedorfska]

​@@saberwooahwhere is this confirmed?

[@Zedorfska]

@GordonFreemannnn I don't really think that classifies as being canon

[@dookiefingers8436]

​@@Zedorfskait happened in the game. If the Valve creators/developers *purposefully* put it in their game, then its canon.

[@standardzombie3454]

16:36 The reason why Gina's model is different from how it is in Decay is because Gearbox used her low poly deathmatch playermodel from the original Half-Life. To add onto that, Decay was the last expansion made from Opposing Force being the first so the design change for Gina didn't exist then.

[@VinVonVoom]

Even then we don't know for sure if this wasn't just chosen as a random HEV scientist, it's Schrodinger's Gina

[@cheesybiscuits2103]

Ahh okay. I wasn’t sure why in the wiki it says she died but the suit didn’t match the body color. That sucks she died. Would have been cool to see her cameo in a future half life.

[@hiddendesire3076]

Can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if they never sent out that distress signal. Probably would be a lot more survivors.

[@Traktorman04]

Maybe but without it Shepard wouldn't be able to kick out race X and without that and the nuke it would've terraformed earth.

[@darkranger116]

I think them putting out the call is simply an unavoidable part of fate for this timeline. I mean, if i was in a facility under attack from another dimension, you better bet money on the fact that i'd be calling the military.

[@Swordsoulreaver]

Quite the opposite, there would be almost no survivors. There wouldn't even really be anything for gordon to come back to. I'm sure g-man wouldn't LET the distress signal not be sent out, since earth and humanity going extinct seem to be against his employers interests.

[@theprancingrat]

It doesn't really matter because the resonance cascade, even without the seven hour war, really fucked earth and its populace up. Keeping things to black Mesa, few if not that no one is trained to fight aliens, and aren't armed for it. So it would be Gina, Collette, Barney, and Gordon in their own perspective areas trying their best to survive, save lives, resolve their own issues, and get out. Assuming gman doesn't yoink em anyways. Only lambda core comes to mind of being armed enough to keep a tight hold against the cascade until they run out of resources. The final thing to say is: the black ops probably would have been sent in. I don't think the government wouldn't have an insider or ten to give details where they can. Thank you for reading this and i hope you have a good day :D

[@SaimesierP]

Weren't they coming regardless that's what they were training for.

[@samz8691]

You can actually hear both Colette and Gina speak, however this requires playing Decay Solo, as both characters when under AI control, have voice lines for combat, (As well as alot more unused voice lines indicating that the AI for them was intended to be more developed beyond basically being a turret until you take control of them again.) this means they never speak when actually playing Decay "As intended" in co-op though. Gina's voicelines are more straight-laced and professional while Colette seems to be enjoying things a bit too much.

[@klaykid117]

I like the idea that Colette still out there helping the resistance

[@MrLim-wq2gn]

Gina Cross and Colette Green are the two most Underrated characters in the Half Life series.

[@zerrierslizer1]

ayo, what about my mans the Vortigaunt Janitor??

[@ghoost8943]

I hope the green makes an appearance in the next halflife games

[@history_moose]

@SneaX1X TM look at the Gordon freeman lore video views

[@Inbraneinthememsane]

Why? Because they are some females in a lab suit ?

[@alesta2212]

15:05 I wouldn't be so quick to say that Gina is canonically dead. Opposing Force was released way before Deacy, and the only HEV model that isn't the helmet one is of Gina's, I don't think they even had Decay's story planned at that time. Gearbox have attempted to implement story elements that Valve don't approve of before. I might just be coping, though.

[@tapgames3465]

Also randy pitchford said it

[@internetxxx_pl0r3r_xxx77]

Makes me wonder what a Freeman's Mind version of these two would've been like.

[@concept5631]

Anger

[@fabianvandalen8161]

Seeing a new video popping up from Skyrionn always puts a smile on my face! Love it again!

[@Skyrionn]

Glad you like them!

[@Shin3y]

Same here!

[@lewiswillis993]

Thank you for covering these two... I pray that they get some recognition in the future of Half-Life for their hard work and bravery in the incident!

[@zerrierslizer1]

Valve would make a lot of money if they made a Half Life game where either Shepard or Colette, or maybe even both, had to survive the new world. i would say that the best possible moment for Shepard for example to be reinstated is just as City 17 falls, but he wakes up in City 14, which was destroyed and Overrun before City 7 was built (which is why it is just Gone from the possible station stops shown as you start Half-Life 2) it would make sense to put him there from a story perspective, as City 14 was not too far from Nevada apparently. hell, they could even have him return to Black Mesa, or what's left of it, to find some answers, and maybe even some tools or weapons to use, like the Gluon gun perhaps?? IF they get Shepard into the series again, i hope they let him have his Pipewrench and Deagle as well, Laser Sight included.

[@busterbackster1]

Well her old partner is dead so could be a way to do co-op again

[@SirFreelanders35]

At one point during the development of half-life, Gina would have a more significant role in half-life as an alternative protagonist, and as Gordon's wife, it makes me think they could have been dating in the current version of half-life.

[@asdbef3667]

I think it was green rather than gina Gina looks too old for freeman

[@SirFreelanders35]

It was gina, PurpleColonel has a video about her, that covered the interview with Gabe talking about cut features

[@concept5631]

Oh man. Poor Gordon.

[@dxfan18]

I had to use a PC port for Decay and it was frustrating having to switch between Gina and Collette all the time. Fortunately, with Solo Mission, that won't be a problem soon! Plus, I completely forgot about the crowbar jamming the lift. Somebody must have known what will happen and put it there deliberately! Also, I know it's not canon, but there's a sequel for Collette being made on moddb called Half-Life: Recovery and she may have survived and joined the Resistance in HL2 Through the city, finding another species other than the vortigaunts they could communicate with, they actually got her voice actor for the trailer.

[@maverickmuff1601]

Been playing Half Life since I was 4 in 2002 and have been obsessed ever since. Can never learn enough tiny details of everything! Thank you for the info!

[@adamnxx]

ain’t no way u playing this when u 4

[@Lefelmak]

Awesome! I was waiting for you to cover these two. Excellent video, as always, much love.

[@Wayward_Warlock]

Fuck yeah, another Skyrionn upload! Watching this in work in a little bit, thanks for making these videos man, they carry me through my day a little at a time 🥰

[@Skyrionn]

Thanks for watching them! I really appreciate it!

[@alesta2212]

Great to see a video on Decay! It deserves way more recognition!

[@theworstisover1323]

Great Video! Loving the deep dive into any Half-Life lore!

[@Skyrionn]

I do try to post a lore video once a week. There's so much more to come.

[@CGProducer2011]

Amazing lore video as always!

[@stormhought]

Nothing like a good Skyrionn video on a bad day!

[@Skyrionn]

I hope your day got better

[@yogore]

You know what video I'd like to see? Gordon Frohman, from "Concerned." It would likely have to be an April Fools Day installment or something, but it would still be see how well he really fits into the Half-Life story...

[@Scottc82]

Let's go I've been waiting for this for a while now! Next could we possibly get a mini video about the portal storms?

[@KawaiiJunimoGaming]

I just found your channel today, this is my 5th video so far XD I love lots of the games you cover! :D

[@whiteelephant3673]

Damn... I didn't know that Gina didn't lived through the resonance cascade events( Rip you bright girl😔

[@Skyrionn]

It was a sad discovery in Opposing Force. Maybe one day we'll find out the fate of Colette!

[@masterbeef5299]

You make excellent videos I love listening while working it's great 😃 ❤️

[@SerpentNight]

11:46 Could Dr. Rosenberg get his own vid sometime? He was in Blue Shift too.

[@Skyrionn]

If there's enough information, absolutely!

[@bison_life]

Great watch! Having played HL1 numerous times as a kid, I had no idea this game had such rich lore! This one was a breeze to listen to.

[@ajxx9987]

Imagine if one of them was the female scientist we see in half life alyx

[@Skyrionn]

That'd be the best twist

[@ajxx9987]

@@Skyrionn people theorize it could be colette green

[@eragonbromsson1122]

A popular theory is that she is Colette Green.

[@standardzombie3454]

If Half-Life Decay was released on PC, it would've been more popular but it still holds up as being a good storyline game for Half-Life.

[@Skyrionn]

i 100% agree

[@callmestan117]

I love Half-Life and recently I found out your channel. Your videos are awesome.

[@Skyrionn]

Welcome aboard!

[@MP-hz3ye]

Amazing work

[@taf0457]

15:05 In their video on saving every scientist in Opposing Force, SaintJam notes that, since it is unlikely that the Xen destinations are restocked between trips, they argue that each destination with unique loot are separate destinations, including the one that the dead Gina body is in which has 3 loot variations. This could mean that there are 3 dead Ginas, or there are 3 dead bodies that happen to look like Gina, or SaintJam's theory where one is Gina while the other 2 aren't. Alternatively, as I'd like to believe, they could be lifeless duplicates of her body that were created during various teleportations, or possibly merged duplicates of Gina and Colette to explain Gina in Colette's suit.

[@AngelofGrace96]

Damn, I didn't know them, but they've got such cool character and such deep lore. Thanks for introducing me to Colette and Gina, Skyrionn!

[@Skyrionn]

They really were super interesting. It's a shame they were limited to a PS2

[@specialresp3ct]

YESSSSS I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺😭

[@atariboy9084]

Every time Colette Green Auto-play her self as you control Gina she laugh as she killing bad guys in the game. She's the tomboy of the two.

[@rolltic]

This just makes me look forward to Decay: solo mission even more now. Hell even Peer Review I'm buzzing to play too :)

[@Skyrionn]

Solo Mission looks incredible

[@tffti7058]

love your vids man XD

[@Skyrionn]

Thank you!

[@KiiDbeamO]

Love this stuff, have you’ve talked about the G-Man through the whole Series and or more about him we don't know

[@18pegi]

Man i love these videos👍

[@chipsdubbo5.56]

I love these games, and I had no idea there was this much lore!

[@Skyrionn]

There's so much

[@chipsdubbo5.56]

@@Skyrionn well I better sub then 😎

[@PikkaBird]

It always bugged me that the map shown at 3:30 doesn't have the HEV suit storage section of the locker room. I know it's a minor niggle, but is there a texture replacer for that one out there?

[@fabi3817]

Great video! I didn't know anything about Gina and Colette so far (and I'm in love with Half Life since 1998 :) ), so thank you. One question: is it possible to play decay on PC?

[@sephariath3185]

There's a mod on moddb that brings it to pc with online multiplayer if this helps.

[@fabi3817]

cool, that's good to know. Thanks! @@sephariath3185

[@SerpentNight]

Still waiting on the fan made version of Decay to be released on Steam.

[@Skyrionn]

From what I can tell, the person is still working on it. I'm looking forward to it too

[@KamKrzem]

Hold up. WHY was there a crowbar inside the elevator mechanism of the antimass spectrometer?

[@havic1000]

Can you do the full story of dishonored please?

[@samuelantoniocastillomeza5034]

Could never finish Decay but playing ad Dr. Green and Dr. Cross was very cool. Too bad it's they never made it out of Black Mesa being realistic. Cross was my fave at the time but prefer Green nowdays.

[@Skyrionn]

I think I have a shared love for both of them.

[@BuckBlaziken]

They should get their own modern spin off series imo, they’re just as much heroes in their own right but they’re widely forgotten in the lore of Half Life. They also make for really good female protagonists.

[@Skyrionn]

I 100% agree

[@osokratos]

I miss Lazlo. 😭

[@Shin3y]

“Babe wake up! New skyrionn video!” On a serious note, I love each and every one of you lore videos, they got me back into half-life, and man I forgot how good these games were!

[@gamiezion]

collet bashed the elevator... didn't she?

[@squirrele.1266]

My 2 favorite characters.

[@Skyrionn]

They are great characters

[@josephleebob3828]

12:39 what do you mean by receiving dampening locks

[@newcastleman86]

I heard that JJ Abrams is going to produce a Half-Life movie and Quintin Tarantino would like to direct. I would like it to be a tv series instead of a movie because there is so much story to cover. What do you think? Great video John!

[@Skyrionn]

I heard that too. I can't say I've looked into it too much through. I'd be down for additional Half-Life content though! A series would be the best way to go. Considering The Last of Us was brilliant for the first episode, I'd say it could be great.

[@newcastleman86]

@@Skyrionn I have a The Last of Us poster in my gaming room. The show is good!

[@Zack-zv1qs]

*Screams in inverted controls*

[@venomouscorgi]

is the campaign with Gina and Colette in the remake black mesa?

[@TheKotaCan]

I hope you make videos on a variety of games! Not just half life.

[@Skyrionn]

I did Portal last week :) I have some Doom, L4D, TF2 and Quake planned too!

[@TheKotaCan]

@@Skyrionn yup, I loved that video

[@KaihanDTuna]

I first encounter gina at half life 1 and found her dead body right at the end boss fight down on acid pool

[@solyccndy1075]

Great :)

[@HybridGax]

Guys, we need to get this guy the silver play button. EVERYONE SUBSCRIBE TO HIM! HE'S DEDICADED AND DESERVES IT!

[@Skyrionn]

Much appreciated. We're so close to it too!

[@hmm8445]

I wonder what happened to the scientist and guards who were home sick during the black Mesa incident

[@SixtyFourJr]

7 hours later.

[@im-alwaaayzwatching]

Both of their initials are reversed to eachother GC/CG

[@denifnaf5874]

Didn't purple colonel and richter overdrive cover them?

[@Skyrionn]

I know Richter covered them a while back. I've heard Colonels name around but haven't come across their channel yet. They were always on my list to cover ☺

[@concept5631]

It would be cool if Colette appeared in Half Life 3.

[@faint_star]

Maybe they should do a spinoff game where you're doing scientific missions in the Borderworld Xen before the events of Half-Life.

[@taizepottery7026]

on about 8:39 you said the people of black mesa found the crystal but didn't the g man gave it to black mesa

[@_Jestah]

a cool co-op game would be Gordon and alyx.

[@DeathScepter]

i always had a massive crush on Gina Cross. Both of them are awesome and attractive as well. I do think they are proper action girls that are attractive

[@straweddd]

colette also talks btw

[@aaronatwood9298]

I do really wish one of them had been included in HL2. Would have made for better continuity.

[@garadrada5580]

تسديد جميلة مشاء الله ❤ الله يسدد رميكم وينصركم و يثبتكم

[@Poltard]

Really wish we got another Co-Op Half Life game, I mean if Portal did it so can Half Life…. again.

[@Skyrionn]

Maybe one day

[@saschaberger3212]

Go get yourself some Sven coop and play through all of HL1 content with others. And yes, I really hope that too for new HL Content

[@zaydenperkins250]

you could say things would be diffrent if gina didnt cross paths with green (get it crossed paths im so funny)

[@aleo404]

I think it happend May 16, 2004/5

[@codymcgrath2.3bviews3secon7]

Cool more unheard of lore

[@Skyrionn]

There is so much!

[@codymcgrath2.3bviews3secon7]

@@Skyrionn looking forward to watch more

[@MattiCore]

What about Otis & Gus after HL1? 😅

[@Skyrionn]

I doubt there's any lore at all but it may be worth looking in to!

[@timotejantaek412]

Are the maps in gmod?

[@Skyrionn]

Some are.

[@timotejantaek412]

​@@Skyrionn are they like Ht1accident2 or what are their names...bcs i will be rey surprised to see HL:Decay maps in Gmod

[@Skyrionn]

Nah, all the decay maps are from the Solo Mission mod. Other parts of Black Mesa are mostly in gmod

[@timotejantaek412]

@@Skyrionn oh ok

[@hobosnake1]

Anyone else ever feel like the g man is a representation of Valve itself? Or some other meta-narrative fixture? I could easily be wrong, but my gut just says to me that he is. Don't even know why.

[@KidzX_Offical]

who here wants decay on pc steam?

[@D-2340]

I hope, you get paid for your effort on maing these videos about every little detail in these games.

[@Skyrionn]

Hopefully one day we'll see them return

[@brug6110]

ONG??

[@dick-diddling-bandit]

14:28 :3

[@CardinalsRadiance]

Hello

[@Skyrionn]

Hello!

[@josephleebob3828]

ok

[@Skyrionn]

ok

[@josephleebob3828]

@@Skyrionn hi

[@imperialnypiwosz3185]

I wouldn't trust Randy Pitchford with his statement about gina. Randy has nothing to say about current state of the half-life lore. Valve has full control of the lore. Combine Overwiki says that her death is a possibilty but not confirmed one (by valve).

[@mrwheatthins2413]

If you're going by what Valve says, then Gina doesn't exist. All that does exist is the unnamed hologram instructor. None of Decay, Blue Shift, or Opposing Force occurred. Valve doesn't consider them canon. Randy is the CEO of Gearbox. He's the most reliable source we have.

[@winternightst7001]

@@mrwheatthins2413 Marc Laidlaw stated that they do not "get involved in issues of canonicity," that "canon itself is non-canon," and that there is "no official stance," "just the games" as they are.

[@winternightst7001]

+ if we had to go by plot holes & retconning, then half life 2 would be doomed even if we just took half life 1 into account

[@mrwheatthins2413]

@@winternightst7001 Marc says the fans can come up with their own canon. Marc, and the rest of the writers at Valve, do not take the expansions into account while writing and do not personally consider them canon.

[@winternightst7001]

@@mrwheatthins2413I am yet to see a legitimate source for this, and again, if we were to go by plot holes then half life 2 shouldnt even exist in the first place because it already collides with half life 1. A great thing about gearbox's expansions is that they make a great job at providing greater context to the black mesa incident whilst keeping it inbounds of the half life 1 universe. Barney escapes but we still dont know much about him personally, which means he could have happened to go into half life 2, Shepard is left on stasis indefinitly which prevents interaction in a sequel and we know atleast 1 of the decay characters die, so we can assume Colette could have too. If for example, we didnt take Blue Shift into account, then half life 2's barney is just some weird retconning that inserts a random security guard as a important character. Whilst if we did take it into account it adds another layer to the character that makes it more understanding why its there, (plus the name not being just Barney but Barney Calhoun).

[@hassan-GD]

gman married colette

[@29485webp]

You said that they helped out alot in during the bmi and then expalined how they failed to stop the xen invasion twice, made things harder for any surviors, and then tried to run away but died.

[@zipobob1]

When is G-man full lore coming?

[@Skyrionn]

Sometime soon

[@gabrieldiniz6430]

Hello algorithm

[@Skyrionn]

Thanks Gabriel!

[@galbelol766]

Early!!

[@Skyrionn]

Welcome welcome

[@wingames7528]

e

[@Skyrionn]

First

[@gg_slayer_]

first... must pin!!

[@Skyrionn]

You were second I think! I had to pin my own comment though.

[@gg_slayer_]

@@Skyrionn ok no problem

[@restoredephraimpublication1540]

So in the end it was women who caused the Black Mesa incident ... should have known.

[@ChrisMathers3501]

Not the early 2000s, but actually the late 2000s. I have reason to believe that the Black Mesa Incident took place in the year 2009. Valve used to sell Black Mesa parking passes in the Valve Store. These were dated 2009. All the memos in HL1 and expansions are dated 200X, and those parking passes imply that the facility existed as late as 09, giving us only a single year to work with in terms of dating the Incident. Totally a grasp at straws on my part? Yes. But does anybody have anything else to go on? Not really, no.

[@josephleebob3828]

the valve store is probably a coincidence

[@ChrisMathers3501]

@@josephleebob3828 I mean...don't get me wrong, this is one of those things where I automatically figure as much...but by that same token, this IS Valve we're talking about here. They make tech demos, not games. So when they DO make games you have to mine the lore for all it's worth. Like pulling teeth out of a stone full of blood, you know?

[@josephleebob3828]

@@ChrisMathers3501 well still i dont think the store has to do something with lore

[@mrwheatthins2413]

The technology we see in games does not line up with 2009, especially not for high end labs. My guess is 2001-2003. Maybe 2000-2004. I don't see 2005 or later

[@thenoobassassin]

Where is the lore on the G-Man?

[@Skyrionn]

He's coming soon!