Half Life 2: Dominion

Victor is a stocky man in his late 50s with a completely shaved head and bushy salt-and-pepper eyebrows that stand out against his pallid complexion. His hands are rough and chemical-stained from years of working with purification compounds. He has deep-set brown eyes that appear almost black in the dim lighting of the hallways. Victor wears the standard blue citizen jumpsuit, but his is noticeably worn at the knees and elbows, with several patches made from scavenged fabric. He keeps a small Combine-approved ID badge clipped to his chest pocket.

Victor maintains a carefully calculated public persona of a beaten-down, compliant citizen—speaking only when spoken to, keeping his eyes downcast during CP patrols. This act disappears in the relative privacy of trusted transactions, revealing a shrewd businessman with an encyclopedic memory for debts, favors, and neighborhood gossip. Though not officially affiliated with the resistance, Victor's water business serves as a critical information hub. He's not particularly idealistic—he's motivated primarily by survival and the small power his operation grants him in an otherwise powerless existence. Victor is pragmatic to a fault, willing to deal with anyone from resistance sympathizers to low-level collaborators as long as they have something to trade and keep their mouths shut. Despite his calculated approach to survival, Victor harbors deep resentment toward Administrator Richter, whose scientific experiments allegedly claimed Victor's wife years ago.

Unlike many residents, Victor is City 23 born and raised. Before the Seven Hour War, he worked at the municipal water treatment facility, giving him intimate knowledge of the city's infrastructure and water systems. When the Combine took over, they recognized his technical skills and initially assigned him to Water Processing Plant 2, where he witnessed firsthand how they began contaminating the residential water supply. After making the mistake of questioning these practices, he was reassigned to menial factory work and relocated to the deteriorating Block 12. Using knowledge from his former profession and components slowly pilfered from his factory job, Victor assembled a crude but effective water purification system hidden inside what appears to be a malfunctioning Combine heating unit. What started as a personal solution evolved into a small enterprise when desperate neighbors offered credits for clean water.