Lamarr

"Blast that little... where did she get to? Lamarr? Come out of there!"

- Isaac Kleiner

Lamarr, sometimes reffered to as Hedy, is a "debeaked" pet Headcrab belonging to Isaac Kleiner.

Half-Life 2
Lamarr's first appearance is in the chapter A Red Letter Day. Kleiner gives Barney the honor to give Gordon his famed HEV Suit. While Barney is opening the door to the suit, Lamarr jumps down from the holder and crawls around, observing the area. She then jumps up on a locker and then into a vent. Kleiner remarks that "it will take weeks before I can coax her out of there". Later, while Gordon is about to teleport to Eli's lab, Lamarr jumps out of the vent and into the teleport, causing Gordon to teleport to various areas around City 17 and eventually outside Kleiner's lab. This forces Gordon to get to Black Mesa East on foot. Lamarr can be seen briefly in one of the various teleport locations, in what looks like a sandy wasteland with a destroyed car. Lamarr jumps away from Gordon (apparently escaping the reflux) after some crows. Gordon then teleports away, Lamarr being too far away to teleport with him.

Later in the game, Lamarr makes another appearance after the teleport is used at Nova Prospekt. Dr. Kleiner opens the lab door, shotgun in hand, with Lamarr beside him.

In her last appearance, she drops from the top of the screen after the ending credits and jumps at the player.

Half-Life 2: Episode One


Lamarr is safe and sound in Episode One, where she makes a brief cameo appearance, causing further mischief to Dr. Kleiner during his live and unedited evacuation broadcast in City 17 (though the question of how she found her way back to Dr. Kleiner is left unanswered). In this cameo, she is wandering aimlessly around Kleiner's lab, while he warns her to stay away from hot lamps. In Episode One it is revealed that many Resistance troops are full of disdain for Lamarr (and Kleiner), as one states: "We're all starving, and Kleiner's headcrab is probably eating grade-A head!".

Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Sadly, in Half-Life 2: Episode Two Lamarr goes to sleep inside Arne Magnusson's rocket a few minutes before firing. Kleiner notices that the rocket is eight and a half pounds heavier than it should be, but not realizing the significance, he and Magnusson dismiss this as an anomaly and decide to fire anyway, sending Lamarr into space. It would seem unlikely that Lamarr survived the Superportal's explosion, however, she is seen in the end credits of Half-Life 2 falling from the top of the screen and jumping at the player.

To accomplish the Little Rocket Man achievement, the gnome found in the first chapter of Episode Two must be placed in the rocket next to Lamarr, so that (according to the Prima guide) "she can have a companion on her voyage."

Debeaking
Lamarr demonstrates that it is possible to disable a Headcrab's capability to couple with and infest a host. Lamarr is said to be "debeaked" by removing the sharp "beaks" surrounding her mouth, removing her ability to cut into a victim's head and assume control (indeed, the model shows the typical black "teeth" seen in the standard Headcrab model are missing). Lamarr's behavior may also be proof of the ability to "tame" a headcrab. Simply being debeaked does not suppress the aggressive, parasitic nature found in all headcrabs. Lamarr does still run around as shown when she is first met: lunging at Barney, then attacking a bird on the rafters, and then escaping into ventilation shafts. Kleiner also states that she may attempt to "couple with your head...fruitlessly, of course". Lamarr is seen walking beside Dr. Kleiner and peeking curiously around a corner, showing she is tame to an extent. Although Kleiner refers to Lamarr as a female, whether headcrabs actually have a gender remains unknown.

The general consensus seems to be that unable to draw nutrients from a host, Lamarr is able to subsist on a diet of fruit – as indicated by a post-it note posted on a board in Kleiner's laboratory serving as a reminder to buy more watermelon (presumably a favorite for its general resemblance to a human head).

Behind the scenes



 * Lamarr was named after the late 1930s actress and scientist Hedy Lamarr, who co-invented an early form of spread spectrum communications technology.
 * Alyx was originally the character to own a female pet alien, who was to be called "Skitch".

Trivia

 * In Kleiner's Lab, if one looks at the notes on one of the walls, one says "Find more watermelons for Lamarr.", which not only states Lamarr's diet but also indicates that Headcrabs are omnivores. However, Headcrabs may be herbivores and it is only the Zombies which need to eat meat as no Headcrab is ever seen eating in the game, save for a moment when Lamarr is seen leaping at a flock of birds, presumably how a dog barks at noise.
 * In the Episode Two menu screen for White Forest, Lamarr can occasionally be seen.
 * In Half-Life 2, chapter "A Red Letter Day", Lamarr can be killed by the player, using the "Impulse 101" cheat.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life 2
 * Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
 * Half-Life 2: Episode One
 * Half-Life 2: Episode Two