Snark (Half-Life)
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- This page is on the alien species and weapon from the computer game Half-Life. For other uses of snark, see snark (disambiguation).
The Snark (a reference to Lewis Carroll's mock-epic poem "The Hunting of the Snark") is a fictional alien species from the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life. Snarks are small, red, and bulbous, with a large (in relation to body porportion) single green eye and a large pincer-like mandible. Snarks are normally calm creatures that show little signs of intelligence, but if they see any living creature other than another Snark, they immediately begin to attack it. Hence, all other creatures are hostile to Snarks as well.
Snarks seem to colonize in the form of an egg sac and much like social insects, will only emerge to attack. They attack aggressively, persistently, and erratically, leaping and biting at their target. Once they begin their attack, they have about a 20 second life span before exploding in a spray of acid. It is unclear whether this behavior is intentional (as a last effort to kill) or natural. Despite their size, they are very dangerous, doing as much as 10 damage with each quick bite (a player can normally take 100 damage). At each bite they release a squeak, which becomes progressively higher in pitch as the time they have left to live shortens. At the end of their 20 seconds, they release a last squeak before exploding.
[edit] Snarks as a weapon
Gordon Freeman can obtain a Snark egg sac with 5 Snarks in which the Snarks can be used as weapons. Snarks have an unlimited lifespan while held and still can show an aggressive nature (as two idle animations show: one with the Snark struggling to get free and the other with it snapping at Gordon as he teases it with his finger as if saying "No!"). Once thrown, the Snark's 20 second life span begins. If there is nothing for the Snark to attack, they will return to attack Gordon. As Snarks are often killed before reaching their target (such as HECU grunts who wield automatic weapons against them), releasing several at once is generally a good strategy.
Each Snark is relatively fragile, and a single swing of the crowbar can kill one easily. However, when attacked by snarks, most players will begin to spray wildly with whatever weapon they have at the moment. Given time and experience with Snarks, players begin to develop their own strategies of dealing with them, including running backwards and constantly swinging the crowbar to stop any attacks, using the shotgun to kill large groups at a time, or even using explosives such as the MP5/M4 grenade launcher. In multiplayer deathmatch games, Snarks provide a useful way of distracting other players (particularly multiple players), facilitating escape or a more leisurely kill. It is not at all uncommon for a player to be seen running through the map chased by a pack of snarks.
