What follows is a list of the minor Black Mesa employees who are not directly involved in the games' plot.
Lockers
Anomalous Materials Lab lockers
Retail
In the locker room of Sector C's Anomalous Materials Lab visited in Half-Life, each locker bears the name of a Valve employee. The names include:
- Casali, a nod to Dario Casali.
- Coomer, a nod to Greg Coomer.
- Birdwell, a nod to Ken Birdwell.
- Jones, a nod to Chuck Jones.
- Guthrie, a nod to John or Mona Lisa Guthrie. Before the Resonance Cascade, the Black Mesa Announcement System in Sector C mentions him in the message "Dr. Guthrie, report to Inspection Lab 6 immediately.". After the Resonance Cascade, his locker is open; inside can be found two Glock 17 magazines on what appears to be an ammo box, as well as a US flag.
- Riller, a nod to Dave Riller. Riller's name can also be found hidden in the Materials Transport, under a HECU outpost in the map "
c2a2c".[1][2] - Teasley, a nod to Harry E. Teasley. A name tag for Isabel Teasley is also featured in the game files only. She is Harry's daughter.
- Bailey, a nod to Kelly Bailey.
- Johnson, a nod to Brett Johnson. The next locker is not listed as it is Freeman's.
- Wood, a nod to Douglas R. Wood.
- Bond, a nod to Steve "Wedge" Bond.
- Backman, a nod to Ted Backman.
- Laur, a nod to Karen Laur.
- Stelly, a nod to Jay Stelly.
- Laidlaw, a nod to Marc Laidlaw.
Cut
The following name tags were not included in the final game but can still be found in the Half-Life texture files.
- Bernier, a nod to Yahn W. Bernier.
- Caughley, a nod to Ian Caughley.
- Cook, a nod to John Cook.
- Donaldson, see Louis Donaldson.
- Lundeen, a nod to Randy Lundeen.
- Mark, a nod to Yatsze Mark.
- Mennet, a nod to Lisa Mennet.
- Myers, a nod to Cade Myers.
- Theodore, a nod to Stephen Theodore.
- Walker, a nod to Robin Walker.
Area 3 Security Facilities lockers
In the security guard locker room of Sector C's Area 3 Medium Security Facilities visited in Blue Shift, the lockers bears the name of Gearbox employees. The names include:
- Jones, a nod to Steven Jones.
- Trock.
- Kooy.
- Phillips.
- Lombardi, a nod to Doug Lombardi, the only non-Gearbox employee nodded to there.
- Veevaert, a nod to Jim Veevaert.
- Hood, a nod to J. Mark Hood.
- Pobst, a nod to Jeff Pobst.
- Dunn, a nod to Amanda Dunn. The next locker is not listed as it is Calhoun's.
- Cassello.
- Fase.
- Bass.
- O'Conner.
- Beier.
- Pauly.
Level 3 Dormitories
In the personnel dormitories of Sector C's Level 3 Dormitories visited in Half-Life: Decay, each room except two is occupied by two people, all named after Gearbox employees (except Gordon Freeman). The names include:
South Wing
- 301: Selitto / Heironimus, a nod to Robert Selitto and Rob Heironimus.
- 302: McArthur / VanDolen, a nod to Christopher McArthur and Matthew VanDolen.
- 303: Montague, a nod to Michael Montague. Him and Freeman are the only residents who don't share their room.
- 304: Reardon / Luna, a nod to Sean Reardon and Eli Luna.
- 305: Cavanaugh / Armstrong, a nod to Sean Cavanaugh and Matthew Armstrong.
- 306: Martel / Jones, a nod to Brian Martel and Steven Jones.
North Wing
Room 309 is not listed as it is Freeman's, where he lives alone.
- 307: Jones / Reardon, a nod to Steven Jones and Sean Reardon.
- 308: Palmer / Bahl, a nod to Stephen Palmer and Stephen Bahl.
- 310: Landon / Hess, a nod to Landon Montgomery and Brian Hess.
- 311: Mertz / Pitchford, a nod to David Mertz and Randall "Randy" Pitchford.
- 312: Wardwell / Deupree, a nod to Mike Wardwell and Patrick Deupree.
Announcements
Several announcements directed to scientists and security guards are made in Half-Life, most of the time before and after the Resonance Cascade in Sector C. Half of them are nods to Valve employees.
- Backman, a nod to Ted Backman, he is a security guard Lieutenant mentioned in the message "Lieutenant Backman and cleanup team to Sub-Level 3".
- Bailey, a nod to Kelly Bailey, he is a security guard Sergeant mentioned in the message "Sergeant Bailey to Topside Checkpoint Bravo.".
- Birdwell, a nod to Ken Birdwell, he is a scientist mentioned in the message "Dr. Birdwell reports superconducting interchange is activated.".
- Black, scientist mentioned in the message "Coded message for Captain Black, Command and Communication Center.".
- Coomer, a nod to Greg Coomer, he is a security guard Agent mentioned in the message "Agent Coomer, report to Topside Tactical Operations Center.".
- Guthrie, a nod to John or Mona Lisa Guthrie, he is a security guard Sergeant mentioned in the message "Sergeant Guthrie, report to Topside Motorpool immediately.".
- Johnson, a nod to Brett Johnson, he is a scientist mentioned in the message "Dr. Johnson, please call Observation Tank 1." in Sector C.
- Victor, scientist mentioned in the message "Dr. Victor, report to Supercooled Laser Lab please.".
- West, scientist mentioned in the message "Dr. West, please report to Lambda Reactor Complex.".
Other
- Louis Donaldson, a scientist involved in the research of creatures found on Xen prior to the Black Mesa Incident. During his work, he became the discoverer of the Barnacle creature, but unfortunately also its first victim. The Barnacle's full name, Cirripedia donaldsonia, was subsequently named after him.[3] His name is a nod to Louise Donaldson, thanked in the Half-Life credits.
- S. Jones, a nod to Steven Jones, he is a scientist whose corpse is seen in Opposing Force, lying near his desk on which is name tag is seen. He was presumably working on the Displacer Cannon with his nearby colleague S. Reardon, also dead. He also appears to own or have been using a Glock 17, as one is seen on his desk.
- Newell, a nod to Gabe Newell, he is a scientist who occupied an office in Sector D, visited during the Half-Life chapter Office Complex. At the time of the Black Mesa Incident, the office is flooded and electricity is running through the water. A Headcrab can also be found.
- Peters, mentioned by another scientist in the Advanced Biological Research Lab during the chapter Half-Life chapter Questionable Ethics, Peters[4] is said to have switched on the surgical unit and apparently died in the process. In Half-Life, only blood stains and gibs remain of Peters' corpse. In Half-Life: Source, his body was added as a retcon.
- Smithers, a scientist who appears in the Half-Life level Blast Pit. During the Black Mesa Incident, Silo D-02's power generator has to be started up to defeat the Tentacles in Silo D-01, and Smithers is sent to restart it. It is likely he encounters some Xen aliens on the way there, because instead of restarting the generator, he decides to hide on top of the generator until the crisis ends. Having failed to start the generator and failed to return, Smithers' colleague met below by Freeman assumes he has been killed and states he did not attempt to restart the generator himself. Later, Gordon comes down to restart the generator. Upon stepping onto the device, he encounters Smithers, who refuses to move until the situation drastically improves. Freeman restarts the generator and leaves. Smithers' fate remains unknown, though it can be presumed he stayed in that spot until Black Mesa was destroyed.
- S. Reardon, a nod to Sean Reardon, he is a scientist whose corpse is seen in Opposing Force, lying near his desk on which is name tag is seen. He was presumably working on the Displacer Cannon with his nearby colleague S. Jones, also dead. In Blue Shift, the same name tag can be found on the desk in the office where Harold has retreated.
- Tolman, a scientist who worked with Doctors Rosenberg and Keller at the time of the Resonance Cascade. During the experiment on GG-3883, he was to power up the secondary magnetic charges. He was killed by the surge of destruction immediately following the incident. Rosenberg was frightened and alerted by his death, but Keller brushed it off in the face of the disaster.
- Van Buren, a nod to Bill Van Buren, he is a scientist who occupied an office in Sector D's Administration Offices. Left of the office door is a sign with his name, with "Diplomatic Relations" under it. When Gordon Freeman reaches the office, a scientist jumps through the window; this may be him. Inside the office are a shotgun, ammo for it and two Medkits.
Gallery
Isabel Teasley's name tag.
Peters' gibbed corpse.
Peters' visible corpse in Half-Life: Source.
