Bill

"...Portraying Bill as a once heroic army veteran, who though older and wiser, can still excel at physical combat."

- Ariel Diaz, Valve.

"Eyes and ears, people. Eyes and ears."

- Bill

William "Bill" Overbeck is one of the four playable Survivors in Left 4 Dead, a Vietnam veteran who served in the US Army 1st Special Forces Group. His combat skills have helped to keep him alive. He is also the oldest of the group. In official media, he is usually seen wielding the Assault Rifle, probably to complement his back story. He often has a lit cigarette in his mouth that only extinguishes when he dies.

Bill is killed sometime prior to the events of Left 4 Dead 2's The Passing when he sacrificed himself to raise the bridge for the other three Survivors. Louis's sound files hint that Bill was possibly killed by a Tank.

Relationships with other Survivors
Out of the other three Survivors, Bill stands out most prominently as the leader of the group.

In The Passing, Francis is sometimes not happy that they have to lower the bridge since it was probably due to Bill's efforts that it was raised in the first place. Also, Francis may be heard saying that they lost a good man getting the bridge up, showing he may secretly respect Bill. In The Passing, Louis is sad that Bill is gone, having sacrificed himself for the others, but is resolved more than ever to stay with Francis and Zoey. When killing a Tank, Louis may proclaim the kill in Bill's name for revenge. In The Passing, if Louis and Francis joke about Bill, Zoey may look away or look very sad, hinting that she is the one that misses him the most.
 * Francis: Bill appears to have some sort of rivalry with Francis, though the reason for this is unknown. It's possible that Bill and Francis knew each other prior to the outbreak. Another cause could be Francis' supposed hatred of the military (since Bill was once a soldier), or simply Francis' gruff personality rubs Bill the wrong way. Alternatively, what is said could simply be friendly teasing between the two.
 * Louis: As far as the Survivors' relationships go, Louis and Bill do not have much evidence hinting towards each other's dispositions. Bill will, however, seem genuinely upset to see Louis die. ("Louis didn't make it... Agh Christ!") Oddly, this is in contrast to how unsympathetic Bill can be when Louis is incapacitated outside of the safe room. ("How well do you really know Louis?") However, he'll usually follow this by saying he was joking.
 * Zoey: The relationship between Bill and Zoey appears to be fairly strong. Bill is openly sorrowful when Zoey is killed. ("Aghh.. not [tearing up] Zoey.") When Zoey is incapacitated on the other side of the safe room ("I can't leave Zoey out there!"), Bill verbally refuses to leave her behind. ("Zoey can't stay out there! We have to help her."). Perhaps Bill looks at her as a sort of daughter or grand-daughter, given her youth.

Unfortunately, Bill did not live long enough to meet the Survivors of Left 4 Dead 2, although Francis and Louis joke that Bill probably would have shot Nick within a very short time frame due to his personality. Rochelle also shows understanding and sympathy to Bill's passing in certain lines to the original Survivors.

Quotes and Captions
"See: Bill/Quotes and Captions"