Thankfully, not every character you encounter in Half-Life 2 is out to make you dead. Here's a few of the less hostile people you'll run across.

Gordon Freeman

In Half-Life 2, you are Gordon Freeman, a former Black Mesa researcher who somehow re-invented himself as an one man army. Half-Life 2 assumes Gordon accepted the G-Mans offer to work with him at the end of the original game, and hes been working under the G-Mans watchful eye for an unspecified amount of time.

G-Man

Technically, the G-Man is an ally, since Gordon has been working for him for awhile. But come on, do you honestly think you can really trust this guy?

Alyx Vance

Alyx is the daughter of Eli Vance (see below) and plays a prominent role in Half-Life 2. She sort of serves as Gordons sidekick, and shell apparently help you throughout the game. Not much else is known about Alyx at this time, other than the fact her mother died in the Black Mesa incident.

Eli Vance

Alyx's father. He's a former Black Mesa scientist, and he apparently helps you out early on in the game. Eli didnt escape from Black Mesa unscathed though; he left a huge chunk of his leg behind.

Barney Calhoun

Thats right, Barney Calhoun, the former Black Mesa security guard who managed to cheat death in Blue Shift somehow ended up in City 17 with Gordon. We have no idea why hes in City 17 or what his role in the story is, but he sure looks different without that helmet...

Scientists

Some former Black Mesa scientists are back, the scientist featured in the gameplay video (and pictured to the left) is referred to as "Dr. Kleiner," and he could very well be Dr. Alex Kleiner, who was Gordon's former professor at MIT and the guy who got Gordon his job in Black Mesa in the first place (this is all referred to in the employment letter at the beginning of the original Half-Life manual). Apparently, all the scientists will look somewhat unique this time around, so you won't be staring at the same four basic types. Perhaps Walter Bennett made his way to City 17?

The Administrator

The Administrator is mentioned by Valve writer Marc Laidlaw in this interview we did with him. "The Administrator was named [in the first Half-Life] but never seen until [Half-Life 2]," he says. Many people mistakenly thought the G-Man and The Administrator was the same person, but that's not the case.

Father Gregory

He's mentioned in passing in the gameplay video. Heres the exact transcript: "this part of town has been booby-trapped by a friend of yours named Father Gregory, hes kind of a survivalist monk. Hes left traps all over the place for you to make use of." Of course, most of these traps are designed to kill Combine Soldiers. Oh, that Father Gregory, he's quite the prankster!

Dog