From Black Mesa: Wiki

Overview

The Gonarch is the "Queen Headcrab", the final stage of headcrab growth.

When headcrabs become Gonarchs, they become capable of birthing new headcrabs. It is unknown what a headcrab must do to reach this stage, only that they are very rare. A Gonarch's appearance is comprised of four spider- or crab-like legs, a hardened carapace which extends from the legs to the top of its shell, and a vulnerable sac which houses the developing baby headcrabs.

Behaviour

Gonarchs are protective of other headcrabs, and will fling gobs of an unidentified, corrosive fluid at their prey or any predators attacking its young. They are also capable of melee attacks, which, in Xen's low gravity, can fling their target a great distance. Gonarchs continuously give birth to headcrabs, even when in combat.

Trivia

• During Half-Life's development, the Gonarch was referred to internally as Big Mama.
• The Gonarch's original design direction is purported to have arisen when a Valve developer suggested that they "put a giant testicle on a 20-foot-tall armored spider."
• The Gonarch can only be killed by special events after which a death animation is used for the scene [2].

Redesign History

An early version of the Gonarch in testing. The "angry scribble face" in this picture was not added by post-processing in Photoshop, it was actually the Gonarch's original face in-game. [1].

This article is a stub. You can help the Black Mesa Wiki by expanding it.