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. He is a Vietnam veteran who served in the US Army 1st Special Forces Group, and is also noticeably 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 prior to the events of Left 4 Dead 2's The Passing during the (canonical) events of The Sacrifice. In the latter he sacrificed himself to raise the bridge for the other three Survivors. According to The Sacrifice comic, Bill died after being attacked by multiple Tanks when he went down to reactivate the lift bridge at the finale so the rest of his team of Survivors may be safe from the oncoming horde.

Bill's facial features are portrayed by Bernard Fouquet and he is voiced by Jim French.

Background
Bill served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War. U.S. Special Forces involvement in the war that ended in 1972. Sometime during the war he had shrapnel bore into his knee causing permanent damage. Two days after the first infection, Bill was in a veterans hospital waiting for an operation, possibly relating to his knee injury. When a resident staff attempting to make small talk in regards to Bill's missing family along with his smoking habits, Bill tells him to go practice somewhere else. As he undergoes anesthesia and slowly blacks out for the surgery, one of the nurses becomes an Infected and kills the operation room staff. Bill staves off his oncoming unconsciousness through sheer force of will as he simultaneously fights off the Infected nurse, disabling her momentarily. Finding a bonesaw and a knife to defend himself with, Bill fights the sudden rise of Infected outside the hospital to make it back home, where he dresses up in his old military clothing which had been put away for safekeeping. Equipping himself with his trusty assault rifle, Bill heads outside to fight the Infected on his own.

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 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, 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 appear very sad, hinting that she is the one who misses him the most.
 * Francis: Bill appears to have some sort of rivalry with Francis, though the precise reason for this is unknown. It's possible that Bill and Francis knew each other prior to the outbreak, and Francis's in-comic comment about knowing Bill the past few weeks suggests this too. Another cause could be Francis's supposed hatred of the military (since Bill was once a soldier), instinctive alpha-male rivalry, or simply Francis's gruff personality rubs Bill the wrong way. Alternatively, what is said could simply be friendly teasing between the two. In the Sacrifice comic, while Bill still doesn't particularly get along with Francis, he considers Francis as 'his own', and will desert any newcomer if they have a chance of endangering his group. Francis, despite all his insults, knows Bill well enough to know even when Bill doesn't do the right thing, he does it for the right reasons. When Bill leaves the group to sacrifice himself and does not return, Francis is the first to attempt to go down to bring him back, but is stopped by Zoey as the reality of the situation sinks in, and they mourn for his death.
 * 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 enough, 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. In the Sacrifice comic, Bill is able to see when Louis is planning something (such as ramming a jeep leaking gasoline into a Tank) and react according, and shows surprise at his intuitive thinking. Similar to how he treats Francis, Bill prioritizes the safety of Louis as one of his group above others, even if it means their deaths, Bill also told Louis once they make him to the Keys he'll make him a fishing pro.
 * Zoey: The relationship between Bill and Zoey is 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, Bill verbally refuses to leave her behind. ("Zoey can't stay out there! We have to help her." and "I can't leave Zoey out there!"). Bill seems to view her as a daughter or granddaughter figure. This is strengthened in part one of "The Sacrifice" comic as Zoey is seen resting closest to Bill on the evacuation vehicle, and in that he mentions her name first when he's reflecting on sacrificing himself to save the others. To further illustrate this, he attacks a soldier who hits Zoey with his gun when demanding she show the doctor her wound, and when she reflects on how her parents died, she hugs Bill, finding comfort in his arms. Their relationship is strained deeply in The Sacrifice comic when he refuses to stop the train to allow the other newer Survivors onboard due to his need to protect his group, of which Zoey is a part of. Later on, Bill sacrifices himself to save the other Survivors, leaving Zoey with sadness, as they never really made up prior to their separation. She takes up Bill's conviction to "look after their own" in his place. During his initial jump down the bridge, Bill mentally vents his anger at the infected, thinking how everytime he thinks "she's" safe and he can rest, they're there again like a bad nightmare. "She" in this case most likely refers to Zoey.

Unfortunately Bill did not live long enough to meet the Survivors of Left 4 Dead 2. However Francis and Louis joke that Bill would probably have shot Nick within a very short time frame due to the latter's disagreeable personality. Rochelle shows understanding and sympathy to Bill's death in certain lines to the original Survivors. Both Coach and Nick have multiple lines regarding the loss of Bill if his death is mentioned.

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