Lamarr

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

- Isaac Kleiner

Lamarr, sometimes referred 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, attempts to couple with Barney's head, and, after being removed, 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 directly 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, but like Gordon she may have been caught in a temperal displacement and went to several other places before returning to Kleiner's lab.

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. 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 whilst the door to it is open. Prior to launch, Kleiner notices a "payload anomaly of eight and a half pounds", but not realizing the significance, he and Magnusson dismiss this and decide to launch anyway, sending Lamarr into space. It would seem unlikely that Lamarr survived.

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 infect 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 find 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 originally was the character to own a female pet alien, who was to be named "Skitch".


 * In the beta files, Barney asks Kleiner how he can keep "that pest", after "what it did to your buddies". It is unknown if he is referring to Lamarr directly as harming people, or headcrabs in general.

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 the Half-Life 2 chapter A Red Letter Day, Lamarr can be killed by using the "Impulse 101" cheat. It will reveal red blood instead of yellow. In addtion, Kleiner will still talk to her, as if she was still alive.
 * In Episode Two chapter Our Mutual Friend you can see Lamarr lunging into the special rocket, you can close the hatch to trap Lamarr inside, however, if Lamarr actually was launched with the rocket is unknown.

List of appearances

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