Lamarr

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

- Isaac Kleiner

Lamarr is the pet headcrab belonging to Dr. Isaac Kleiner. She is named after the late 1930s actress and inventor, Hedy Lamarr, though her first name is only spoken in the A Red Letter Day and Entanglement chapters.

Half-Life 2
Lamarr's first appearance is in the chapter "A Red Letter Day". Kleiner gives Barney Calhoun 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 breifly 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 pigeons. 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.

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!".

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 is unlikely that Lamarr survived the Superportal's explosion.

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. 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. He may simply refer to Lamarr as a female simply because of the name he gave it.

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).

Trivia

 * In Kleiner's lab, if one looks at the notes on one of the walls, one says "Find more watermelon 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
 * The last appearance of Lamarr in Half-Life 2 is at the very end of the credits. She drops down from off-screen and then jumps at the player.
 * Originally, Alyx was the character to own a pet alien, who was to be called "Skitch".
 * In the Episode 2 menu screen for White Forest, Lamarr can occasionally be seen.

Hedy Lamarr