Arne Magnusson

"Oh-oh, excuse me if I'm interrupting tea time! I'll just step out until you've finished, if that's more convenient!"

- Arne Magnusson

Doctor Arne Magnusson is the Resistance leader of White Forest. He is a grey-haired stocky Caucasian man who looks to be in his early sixties. He is a former member of the Black Mesa science team and one of the few survivors of the Black Mesa Incident, and an important orchestrator of the Resistance. He is voiced by John Aylward.

Characteristics
Arne Magnusson has a fussy, petulant nature. He makes constant complaints about the completion of his satellite rocket, an object that he dotes upon. Verbose, egotistical and authoritarian, Magnusson thinks highly both of himself and his inventions, to the point of naming them after himself. He finds shows of emotion distasteful, particularly when he feels it comes at the cost of industry. He despises Isaac Kleiner's pet Headcrab Lamarr just like Barney Calhoun does. Magnusson is not, however, without a softer side; he grudgingly thanks Gordon Freeman for saving his rocket during the events of Episode Two, and his joy at the rocket's successful launch is palpable. His dedication to the resistance comes above all else.

History
Before the Black Mesa Incident, Magnusson worked at Black Mesa as a scientist. His personality made him clash with many other members of the Science Team and thus he developed grudges against some prominent members of it. Arne used to compete for grant money with Isaac Kleiner, and took grievance with Gordon Freeman when the latter destroyed his microwave casserole (this can be done in the opening level of Half-Life). He was one of the few survivors of the Black Mesa Incident, and after the Combine invasion he came to head a major Resistance base, White Forest, and used his scientific expertise to make technological advances to aid the Resistance. Most notable amongst these were the rocket he constructed to tap into the old Black Mesa/Xen satellite array and the Magnusson Device, a deadly anti-Striderweapon.

He was aided in these endeavors by a Vortigaunt, whom he named Uriah. The regard with which the Vortigaunts hold Magnusson has led to his mannerisms spreading throughout their hive consciousness.

Behind the scenes



 * In a February 2008 interview posted on ComputerAndVideoGames, Marc Laidlaw explained why Valve felt the need for a new character: "'In early drafts of the episode, Eli and Kleiner had warmed up White Forest all by themselves, somehow, in the brief time after fleeing City 17. This seemed ridiculous, so we developed a backstory in which Black Mesa had acquired an extremely cheap Cold War bunker and developed some projects in response to budgetary and oversight problems associated with basing all work in North America. Again, all the explanatory matter bogged down the game, so we ditched it. There may still be some old lines hanging around in the .wav files, but I haven't looked...'"


 * Magnusson was introduced in Episode Two. His character and temperament were designed to counter the cosy relationships between Alyx Vance, Eli Vance and Isaac Kleiner.


 * According to the games files, Magnusson was to appear older and balder.

Trivia

 * Considering his name, he is probably Swedish or has Swedish ancestors. Or is at least Scandinavian, given neither first nor last name are particularly uncommon in several of the countries.
 * Just after Gordon has tested the Magnusson Device, Magnusson tells him that he might forgive him "microwave casserole" debacle at Black Mesa if he succeeds in protecting the rocket from the Striders. This might be a reference to the beginning of Half-Life, when the player can turn on a microwave and explode the meal inside it. The scientist waiting for his food to be ready yells at the player "My God! What are you doing?". The scientist model is of course incorrect, which means that this reference could be a retcon.
 * Magnusson looks almost identical to Dr. Wernher von Braun. In addition, von Braun's middle name was Magnus, making a name relation; also, both are rocket scientists.