Eli Vance



Dr. Eli Vance was a physicist and researcher, apparently in his late fifties or early sixties with short gray hair, a beard, and a mustache. He wore a prosthetic leg to replace his left leg beneath the knees.

He is also the father of Alyx Vance and one of the main characters from Half-Life 2 and its episodes.

Personality
Eli is warm, good-humored, and charismatic, holding everyone around him in the aura of his personal charm. A skilled scientist, he designed the Gravity Gun and Dog, "put together" the Shorepoint Scout Car with his daughter (adding the Tau Cannon to it himself), and was able to rebuild a teleport with the aid of the other key Resistance Members. Eli may also have had previous experience with a melee weapon, seeing that his fight against the Combine Advisor did some damage. But, it was futile, seeing as the Advisor plunged its "tongue" into the back of Eli's neck, killing him.

History
By 200-, Vance is employed at the Black Mesa Research Facility, working in Sector C's Anomalous Materials. As a full-time employee of Black Mesa, he lives in the facility itself with his wife Azian and their young daughter Alyx.

Although he was never named during the game or featured as a full character, he is seen on two occasions. First, when Gordon Freeman is making his way into the test chamber: Dr. Vance and another scientist voice their concerns that their computer equipment is being damaged due to the heightened strains of the morning's experiment. Second, when Gordon retraces his steps through Sector C after the Resonance Cascade, he encounters Vance and the scientist he had been with earlier, who is now badly injured. Vance informs Gordon that the telephone network has broken, and sends him up to the surface to seek help. His last act in Half-Life is to operate the retinal scanner that starts Gordon on his long quest through the facility.