Headcrab- Facehugger, Braincrab, Latcher
Zombie- FUBAR, Ghoul, Z-Sec (For zombie security) Z-Sci (For zombie scientist)
Houndeye- Boomer, Soundwave, Squealer
Bullsquid- Spitter
Barnacle- Choker, Grappler
Gargatua- Mech, Titan
Alien Grunt- Muton, Berserker, Tracker (Cause the bees track you)
Vortigaunt- Battery, Shock Trooper, Buzzkill
Tentacle- Claw, Hammer
Houndeye-“Sonic the bulldog”
Absolutely love these two! Perfectly corresponding to military-like abbreviations as well.
Maybe even using the NATO phonetic alphabet in that case would further sell it (as Zulu Sec or Zulu Sci).
Let’s not forget this
In 1972, a scale of measurement was established for alien encounters. When a UFO is sighted, it is called an encounter of the first kind. When evidence is collected, it is known as an encounter of the second kind. When contact is made with extraterrestrials, it is the third kind. The next level, abduction, is the fourth kind.
Headcrab - Headbiter, Lunger, Jumper, Brain-eater
Zombie - Zombie, Deadite, Limper
Bullsquid - Octochicken, Squidduck, Squidface, Squidchicken,
Barnacle - Flytrap, Sticktongue, Ceiling-traps
Vortigaunt - Slave, Zapper, Worker
Houndeye - Shockwolf, Yeller, Yapper
Alien Grunt - Soldier, Grunt, Jarhead
Snark - Bug, Nipper, Mite
Gargantua - King, Tank, Giant, Titan, Flamer
Ichthyosaur - Fish, Shark, Jaws
Manta Ray - Dropship, Flyer, Beamer
Sorry if mine are a bit silly. :U
Headcrab- Headhunter, Spidercrab
Zombies- “Zombie bastards”, Grodies, Nasties, Romeros, Zombros, Night shift (if security guard variant)
Barnacle- Ceiling snatcher, Death noodle, Gripvine, Tonguetier, Mistletoe of death
Houndeye- Eyeclops, Hameye, Hamclops
Bullsquid- Pukeface, Dinofrog, Landsquid, Septic Tank
Vortigaunt- “Bracelets”, “Shackles”, Tesla Troop, ET’s uncle
Alien Grunt- Jabba the Buff, Frank, Hardhead, Hivetracer, Crabhand, Hornetfist, My Ex-Wife
Gargantua- Fire lobster, Space crab, Flame broiler, Bigfoot/Sasquatch
A lot of these have been said before but:
Headcrab- mind fucker
Houndeye- Eyes
Vortigaunt- Shocker
Bullsquid- Squid-face
Gargantua- BIG MOTHER FUCKER
Manta Ray- Manta Ray (makes sense)
Alien Grunt- Steroids
Snark- bugs
Barnacle- tounge
zombie- zombie (who wouldn’t just say zombie?)
I feel like the HECU wouldn’t come up with elaborate names for these things, but instead just go with what the first thing that came to their minds was.
I am amazed at the consistent flow of good ideas from you folks…
In fact, this has become a much larger collection of ideas than I had imagined.
Is there anybody out there that would be willing to compile these in a web-based spreadsheet?
Any other ideas for organizing this info would be appreciated.
I have created a document hereand filed in indentifications from the first response. Anyone can participate and continue my work
That’s great, thanks for taking the initiative on that.
One thing that will be important to this document is assigning the names to the community member that suggested them… We’ll want to give proper credit once we round out our final list!
I think spreadsheet is done
- Headcrabs: “Head humpers!”, “Face huggers!”, “Latches!”
- Zombie: “Corpse!”, “Mawman/men!”, “Undead!”
- Snark: “Buggers!”, “Roaches!”, “Bugs!”
- Barnacle: “Tongues!”, “Ropes!”
- Houndeye: “K9s!”, “Lil’ Boomers!” , “Three Legs!”
- Bullsquid: “Cthulu dog!”, “Cthulu Jr!”, “Acid launcher!”
- Vortigaunt: “Zappers!”, “Charges!”, “Chains!”, “Collars!”
- Alien Grunt: “Tank!”, “Hive men!”, “Armour!”, “Jacked Up!”
- Gargantua: “Hulk!”, “Giant!”, “Godzilla!”, “Holy shit!”
Not really good with military terminology. Just based these off of my first experiences / thoughts when I first played Half-Life.
If we assume that Opposing Force is canon, the soldiers were sent into Black Mesa without actually being told what they were getting into. What this means to me is they wouldn’t have “official” names for the aliens and would instead call them as they see them. L4D2 did that when the survivors meet at first, call thing the Special infected things like “It’s one of those leaping-on-your-back bitches!” and “It’s that spitting thing!” My impression of military personnel is they don’t want to be poets in battle and would usually pick a simple, descriptive, easy-to-say name for things, so usually one word. With that in mind…
*Headcrab: Headcrab - that’s literally what it is. It looks like a crab and it jumps on your head. That’s how I’d describe one if I saw it.
*Headcrab Zombies: Zombie - again, that’s literally what they are. They walk like zombies, sound like zombies and act like zombies.
*Houndeye: Dog - they look and act like small alien dogs. We used to call them “the three-legged dogs” when I was a kid.
*Bullsquid: Spitter - while it’s tempting to go with “squid,” the Black Mesa version of these things has SUCH a trademark and unique spit as to be defined by it.
*Barnacle Creature: Tonge - that doesn’t necessarily describe the Barnacle Creature itself, but it’s what you see to know they’re on the ceiling and what gets you killed.
*Vortagaunt: Freak - of all the aliens in Half-Life, the Vortagaunt is the most difficult to sum up, so it would make sense that the soldiers would just call them “freaks” or “alien freaks.”
*Alien Grunt: Big Guy - not necessarily very descriptive, but I can imagine ever HECU marine would know EXACTLY who the “big guys” are.
*Snark: Bug - that’s what they look like. They’re giant, fast, aggressive “damn bugs.”
*Gargantua - That Thing - the Garg shows up twice in the entirety of Half-Life and not once in Opposing Force or Blue Shif. It’s safe to assume it’s very rare and something that the soldiers it kills haven’t seen before. “What the hell is that thing?!?” “How are we supposed to kill that thing?!?”
Headcrab: “Leaper” “Head Muncher” “Brain Sucker” “Chomper”
Zombie: “Former Human” “Zombie” “Shambler” “Puppet”
Snark: “Flea” “Pest” “Cricket”
Barnacle: “Licker” “Snare”
Houndeye: “Sonic Dog” “Barker” “Tripod” “Rover”
Bullsquid: “Acid Squid” “Spitter” “Tentacle Chicken”
Vortigaunt: “Shocker” “Jolter” “Charger”
Alien Grunt: “Grunt” “Brute” “Hive Soldier” “Bee Keeper”
Gargantua: “Goliath” “Flamer” “Flame Ogre” “Titan” “Colossus”
Just a heads up folks, f-bombs and other strong curse words will not be used in game. But keep these coming, you guys have some awesome ideas!
Let me try for some tongue-in-cheek ones, in the spirit of soldiers trying to laugh about the absolute hell they’re going through.
Houndeye: Flashbang, Cockroach Spaniel, Fleabag, Mongrel, Bugeye, Nickelback
Bullsquid: Vomit Bag, Vomit Comet, Bad Mayo, Hangover, Glowin’ Blower, Retchin’ Randy, Pukin’ Peter, Belchin’ Bobby
Headcrab: Ex-Wife
Zombie: Vivi/Vivian, Ribeye, GIblet
Vortigaunt: Taser, Hunchback, Tesla, Zappy Dan, Shock Jock
Snark: Piranha, Flea, Nibbles
Alien Grunt: Chrome Dome, Lineman, Seahawk/Packer/Patriot/etc, Ex-Con
Gargantua: Laxative, Ex-Lax, Game Over
Tentacle: Cyrano, Banger, Cleaver, Boner*
Controller: Poindexter, Brainiac, Smarts, Balloon, Flying Fuck*
Barnacle: Frenchie, Groper, Licking Lesbo*, Slurp
Bounce Pad: Bloat, Toad, Airbag, Waterbed, Bouncy Castle
Manta: Raymond
*I forgive you for not using these.
I’m glad to hear that. Although that kind of language is nothing all of us haven’t heard before, HL always had a tradition of downplaying language, and to my mind, seems more mature in doing so.
It also makes Barney’s line right before the Citadel all the more powerful and exciting. 
HEADCRAB…Crab, Latcher
ZOMBIE…Walker
BARNACLE…Fly Trap, Victims are called Flies
HOUNDEYE…Boomer
BULLSQUID…Spitter
VORTIGANT…Tesla Bitch
AGRUNT…Grunt
GARGANTUA…Big Blue
CONTROLLER…Floater, Melon Head
GONARCH…Charlotte
ICHTHYOSAUR…Fish Lizard
TENTACLE…GMO (This is probably what all the GMO fear groups imagine in real life)
MANTA RAY…Devilfish (This is the common name for them anyway)
SCIENTIST…Einstein
SECURITY GUARD…Rent-a-Cop
Headcrab- good ol headhumper would do
Zombie- Cadaver, Mutilated, Converted, Nine Inch Nails (or something more laconic that will emphasize the nails), MUTANT
Houndeye- screamer, screaming pet, flashbang
Bullsquid- Spitting Pete, Crocodile, Croc
Barnacle- The Tongue, choker, gallow monster, gallows, gallow noose, noose, Slipknot
Gargatua- dino, t-rex, tank, big daddy, daddy, alien queen, cyclops, Odin
Alien Grunt- quarterback, gorilla, jarhead
Vortigaunt- zap fiend, zap troop, Cyclops (again)
Tentacle- knocking daisy, thumping daisy,