Half Life 2: Dominion

Thin and wiry with twitchy energy, Niko wears his standard blue citizen jumpsuit like it’s a performance costume—sleeves often rolled, collar popped, and occasionally adorned with satirical graffiti ("PROPERTY OF THE ADMINISTRATOR" scrawled on the back in charcoal). His brown hair sticks up in chaotic tufts, and his face is rarely without a crooked, self-satisfied smile. He often carries a battered satchel full of junk—fishing wire, busted CP scanner parts, bent ration cards, and duct tape.

Devil-may-care and always on the edge of laughter, Niko thrives on tension and thrives in tension. His intelligence seems to come in waves—brilliant and precise one moment, bafflingly reckless the next. Some believe he exaggerates his “idiot routine” to keep CP underestimating him. He enjoys pushing people’s buttons—especially Civil Protection—and views his tricks as a form of resistance theater. However, the fallout from his pranks sometimes hurts people he doesn’t intend to involve, and there are moments when the gleam in his eye fades and the weight of it all shows.

Born in City 9 and transferred to City 23 after multiple “noncompliant behavioral incidents,” Niko quickly became infamous in Block 7 for turning the daily misery into something bizarrely performative. He once rerouted a propaganda speaker to loop audio of Administrator Richter sneezing, managed to booby-trap a CP checkpoint with fake biometric failures, and allegedly flooded the inspection hall with soap to cause mass slipping incidents during a raid. Though most of his pranks are non-lethal, the Combine views him as a chronic disruptor. He’s been detained more times than anyone can count, yet always manages to talk or slip his way out before permanent relocation.