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the Half-Life 2 character. For his predecessor, see Odell. This article is about. For, see

Colonel Odessa Cubbage Biographical information Homeworld Earth Functions / Belongings Rank / Occupation Resistance leader - "Colonel" Weapons RPG (Suggested) Equipment Radio Physical description Species Human Gender Male Hair color Red Eye color Blue Chronological and political information Era The Uprising Affiliation The Resistance Game information Voiced by John Patrick Lowrie Designed by Marc Laidlaw Entity name npc_citizen

"Colonel Odessa Cubbage at your service!" ―Odessa Cubbage[src]

Colonel Odessa Cubbage is a Resistance leader situated at the eponymous outpost, New Little Odessa. When Gordon Freeman passes through on his journey along the Coast, Cubbage can be seen in the main building's basement explaining the use of the RPG to a group of gathered rebels, before handing the weapon to Gordon for use in an ensuing Gunship battle.

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Biography

Background

Judging from his distinct Received Pronunciation accent, Cubbage is likely British.

His status of being an actual "colonel" is questionable, as it seems unlikely that twenty years prior he held that rank as an army position. Creating further doubt is the fact that his jacket reads "Security" on the back, and also features the University of Rochester Security Services crest on the shoulder. More than likely he was appointed the position of Colonel after the Seven Hour War, later becoming an important military leader for the Resistance.

Appearances

Half-Life 2

Odessa Cubbage leads a small Resistance base, named after him as New Little Odessa, in a coastal region outside of Ravenholm. Cubbage is first mentioned near the end of the chapter "We Don't Go To Ravenholm...", when Leon tries to contact him from Shorepoint. When Gordon Freeman arrives at New Little Odessa en route to Nova Prospekt, he is directed by a Resistance fighter into the basement of a building, where Cubbage is briefing members on the use of the rocket launcher against Combine Gunships. Looking for a volunteer to test it, and spotting Gordon, Cubbage hands him the weapon and gives him a quick tutorial on using the launcher's laser guide and how it can allow for the rockets to be steered past the defenses of a Gunship.

After the Gunship fight, with the base saved from defeat, Odessa Cubbage sends Freeman on his way, telling members of his team to open the gate allowing Gordon to travel further along the coast. He also warns Freeman that since a base near the bridge on the way to Nova Prospekt, Bridge Point, has maintained radio silence, it is probably under Combine control. Cubbage can be last seen communicating via radio to Lighthouse Point, another Resistance base on Gordon's journey to Nova Prospekt. His fate after Gordon's visit, and after the events of Half-Life 2, remains unknown.

Before arriving at New Little Odessa, Cubbage can be seen speaking with the G-Man by looking towards the base through Combine Binoculars on the opposite end of the bay. This has sparked theories that the G-Man may have aided the resistance team in some way, in the form of a warning prior to the attack, or even by supplying rocket launchers. However, the G-man's visit is never mentioned whilst Gordon is there, and there is no conclusive evidence supporting his assistance.

Half-Life 2: Episode One

In Half-Life 2: Episode One, Alyx refers to Odessa by sarcastically claiming that he is her father after a rebel asks "You're Kleiner's daughter, right?".

Later, some rebels can be overheard talking about how they once met Odessa and that they've come to the conclusion that he's an idiot. Other rebels will occasionally refer to him by asking Gordon if he was there when Cubbage took down the first Combine gunship.

Personality

Cubbage's mannerisms resemble the stereotypical "British army officer." Despite being something of a joke among members of the Resistance, he is a loyal soldier and holds a great deal of respect for leaders of the organization, notably Gordon Freeman and Eli Vance. Before Gordon leaves New Little Odessa after destroying the gunship, Cubbage asks him to give his regards to Eli, regretting not being able to participate in the rescue mission.

Behind the scenes

Cubbage's model, based on the martial arts instructor for one of the game's developers, was originally intended for Odell, the cut Borealis engineer.[1][2]

The image preview for the retail Odessa model shows an early model with a "refugee" Citizen body, and a beige shirt, changed to his Rochester jacket seen in the final game.

With Barney, Odessa Cubbage fills the military leader role originally intended for Captain Vance.

In the playable Half-Life 2 Beta, a generic citizen named "RPGGuy" appears at New Little Odessa. Interestingly, three extremely early voice clips for Odessa can be found in the sound/vo/coast/ folder, but there is no model for him as its just a placeholder. In these clips, he has a much younger, nasal voice.

There are several obvious similarities between Cubbage and Colonel Rodney Crittendon from the sixties television show Hogan's Heroes. Besides sharing their rank and British nationality, both possess a comically inflated self-image. Cubbage's appearance is also remarkably similar to Crittendon's, most notably the shared curled mustache.

Originally, Odessa Cubbage was to pick up the RPG when the gunship arrived, show the player how to fight it, before being killed. But this proved to be a sticky tangle, and the team instead decided to have him remain in the basement the entire sequence. However in the game files, there is still a sound path called: cubdeath1.wav [3]

Series' writer Marc Laidlaw originally found the name Odessa Cubbage in his spam filter, and thought that it carried quite a character with it, leading him to replace the RPG guy with a standalone character named Odessa Cubbage. He also stated that Cubbage exists solely to give the player a rocket launcher.[3]

When discussing the fan fiction The Adventures of Hercule Cubbage with its author, Marc Laidlaw revealed that Odessa Cubbage, at one point, was to have a son, Cody Cubbage, who hated his name.[4]

Gallery

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List of appearances