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FileEli Vance talk HL1.jpg|thumb|150px|right|The retconned Eli in ''Half-Life''.
Over the years, several '''WikipediaRetroactive continuity|retcons''' have been applied to the Half-Life and Portal universe|''Half-Life'' and ''Portal'' series' storyline. Most of them are minor and were made by the developers to accommodate the subsequent games' storylines. They do not affect gameplay or the main plot.
==Characters==
FileC0a0 barney.jpg|thumb|150px|right|The retconned Barney Calhoun in ''Half-Life''.
FileD1 trainstation 010003.jpg|thumb|150px|right|''"Now... about that beer I owed ya!"''
FileCasserole my god.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Magnusson's meal exploding in ''Half-Life''.
*In ''Half-Life'' and its expansions, scientists and security guards are generic NPCs with only a few variations. Later, Valve Corporation|Valve and Gearbox Software|Gearbox based actual characters on these NPC types, sometimes also reusing their nicknames as the new character's name
**The bald scientist model wearing thick framed glasses ("scientist01", or "Glasses") was turned into the character Walter Bennet for ''Half-Life Blue Shift|Blue Shift'', a reference to ''http//planethalflife.gamespy.com/View.php?view=PHLFanFic.Detail&id=1 Walter's World'', a popular fan fiction set in the ''Half-Life'' universe created by Kevin "Fragmaster" Bowen on Planet Half-Life. Later, for ''Half-Life 2'', the "Glasses" scientist was again turned in a character, this time into Isaac Kleiner, although it was not made clear if he was ever seen in person in ''Half-Life''. Kleiner's first name was also retconned in old documents from the ''Half-Life'' period, he is referred to as Alex,{{IA|20070222101319/http//planethalflife.gamespy.com/View.php?view{{=}}HLGameInfo.Detail&id{{=}}5&game{{=}}4|The ''Half-Life'' Story|Planet Half-Life}} but in ''Half-Life 2'' he is called Isaac.
**The African-American scientist model ("scientist03", or "Luther") was turned into the character Eli Vance for ''Half-Life 2''. Eli is said to have lived at the Black Mesa Research Facility with his Azian Vance|wife and Alyx Vance|daughter, although they are not seen or mentioned in ''Half-Life''. Eli was retconned in ''Half-Life'' as being the scientist who sent Gordon for help right after the Resonance Cascade.''Half-Life 2 Raising the Bar'' In Black Mesa East, Eli tells Gordon after meeting him again "The last time I saw you, I sent you up for help after the Resonance Cascade. I never thought it would take you this long to get back to me!"
**The Holographic Assistant and ''Half-Life Deathmatch''’s player model, "gina.mdl", was turned into one of ''Half-Life Decay''’s two main protagonists, Gina Cross. In-universe speaking, that also made Gina Cross the woman who gave her likeness to the hologram.
**The generic "Barney" Black Mesa Security Force|security guard model was turned into ''Blue Shift''’s main protagonist, Barney Calhoun, and was established to be the security guard pounding on a door along the Sector C Line at the beginning of ''Half-Life'', although ''Blue Shift'' retconned the fact that he already had his vest and helmet. He was later brought back for ''Half-Life 2'' and its episodes as one of the main protagonists.
**The generic overweight "Otis" security guard model introduced in ''Half-Life Opposing Force'' was turned into the character of Otis Laurey. However, he is only mentioned in the ''Half-Life'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual. Whether or not he is seen in-game is unknown.
*Barney says at the beginning of ''Half-Life 2'' that he owes Gordon a beer. This is one of the random security guard sentences said prior to the Resonance Cascade in ''Half-Life''. In ''Half-Life 2'', it is implied that Barney actually said this at least once to Gordon back then.
*In an interview with series writer Marc Laidlaw and in The ''Half-Life'' Audio Script, the Administrator alluded to by the scientists is revealed to be the G-Man, suggesting he is the one overseeing the experiments.{{IA|19990819111720/http//pcgamer.ign.com/interviews/mlaidlaw.shtml|Interview with Marc Laidlaw|PC Gamer Online}}http//www.gamefront.com/files/20242965/Half_Life_Audio_Script ''Half-Life'' Audio Script For ''Half-Life 2'', the G-Man was retconned to be an independent entity, and Wallace Breen|Dr. Breen was created to retroactively fill the Administrator's role.
*The meal ruined in the microwave oven at the start of ''Half-Life'' was later said to belong to Arne Magnusson|Dr. Magnusson.''Half-Life 2 Episode Two'' commentary
==Dates==
*While older sources state that Gordon started work at Black Mesa May 5|only shortly before the incident,''Half-Life'' instruction manual''Half-Life'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual ''Half-Life 2'' and ''Episode One'' indicate that Gordon had been working at Black Mesa long enough for Barney to owe him a beer and to race against him in the air ducts to open Kleiner's office whenever the doctor locked himself out of it. During a Breencast, Dr. Breen describes Gordon's time at Black Mesa as being a "brief tenure."
*Several changes made to the dates pertaining to Aperture Science originally given in the ApertureScience.com timeline were given by http//gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/03/24/Aperture-Science_3A00_-A-History.aspx Game Informer in 2010 (they were written by Erik Wolpaw) "1978", the date for Cave Johnson|Cave Johnson's mercury poisoning, was changed to "1974". "1979", the date for Johnson's kidney failure, was changed to "1976". "1975", the date when Aperture Science ceased to produce only shower curtains, was changed to "1973". The last paragraph of the timeline was also expanded, stating that GLaDOS was activated in 1998 instead of the original "Several Years Later", at that a few days later the Black Mesa Incident occurred, thus placing ''Half-Life'' during the same year as its release,http//gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/03/24/Aperture-Science_3A00_-A-History.aspx Aperture Science A History on Game Informerhttp//www.valvetime.net/threads/marc-laidlaw-vault.114535/page-6 Facts about the date issue on the ''Marc Laidlaw Vault'' on the ValveTime.net Forums while it was known as "200-" in every source (in-universe documents featured in the instruction manuals). It was however stated later by Marc Laidlaw that "1998" was incorrect and that "200-" was indeed the proper date. The original ApertureScience.com timeline was further altered in ''Portal 2'', for instance changing the cause and era of Johnson's illness to poisoning due to Conversion Gel instead of mercury.
==Enemies==
The Combine being involved in the events of ''Half-Life''. Even though some entity was behind the Nihilanth|Nihilanth's actions, it was likely not defined as precisely as it is today.http//www.valvetime.net/threads/marc-laidlaw-vault.114535/ ''Marc Laidlaw Vault'' on the ValveTime.net Forums
==Location design==
FileC1a0 lobby.jpg|thumb|150px|right|The lobby in ''Half-Life''.
FileEp2 outland 020014.JPG|thumb|150px|right|The redesigned lobby in ''Half-Life 2 Episode Two''.
The design of the Sector C|Anomalous Materials lobby featured in ''Half-Life'' was changed for the G-Man|the G-Man's "heart-to-heart" in ''Half-Life 2 Episode Two''.
==Misc.==
*The ''Portal'' ending was changed (or rather, extended) in the Portal ARG|March 3, 2010 update to the game. Instead of the original fadeout, Chell is now dragged away by the Party Escort Bot who tells her "Thank you for assuming the party escort submission position." It was made to "re-energize" ''Portal'' and bridge the gap between it and its sequel.http//gameinformer.com/mag/portal2.aspx GameInformer, April 2010 issuehttp//gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/03/10/opening-the-portal-exploring-portal-s-creation-and-its-ties-to-half-life-2.aspx Exploring Portal’s Creation And Its Ties To ''Half-Life 2'' on Game Informer
*''Portal 2'' features several retcons, aesthetic and factual. As for the aesthetic aspects, some elements of the Enrichment Center featured in the first ''Portal'' have been redesigned (other than being in a state of disrepair), such as the Vital Apparatus Vent, the elevators, the doors in the original Test Chambers, the corridors leading to GLaDOS' original chamber, and GLaDOS' design itself. As for the factual aspects, they mostly affect the history of Aperture Science, for instance the reason and era of Cave Johnson|Cave Johnson's poisoning.
==See also==
*Canon
*Timeline of the Half-Life and Portal universe|Timeline of the ''Half-Life'' and ''Portal'' universe
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*WikipediaRetroactive continuity|Retcon on Wikipedia
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CategoryStorylineCategoryReal world