Isaac Kleiner

"Therefore, I repeat, evacuate City 17 at once, if not sooner! I cannot state this without enough undue emphasis!"

- Isaac Kleiner

Doctor Isaac Kleiner is one of the main characters of Half-Life 2 and its episodes. An archetypal 'absent-minded genius scientist', he is a prolific author of several works on teleportation and interdimensional travel, and one of the few survivors of the incident that took place in the Black Mesa Research Facility. Later on, he becomes a key (if somewhat self-conscious) leader of the Resistance against the Combine, and a prime member of the Resistance science team.

Background
Kleiner first appears in the Half-Life  PC and PlayStation 2 instruction manuals where it is learned he recommended Gordon Freeman for employment at Black Mesa. It is also said he was one of his professors at MIT. He is also mentioned by Richard Keller before the Resonance Cascade at the start of Half-Life: Decay, where the latter states he does not understand what Isaac Kleiner sees in that Freeman. Before the Half-Life 2 events, he manages to survive the Resonance Cascade, though exactly how is unknown.

Half-Life 2


Along with colleagues (and fellow survivors) Alyx Vance, Eli Vance and Barney Calhoun, he makes up the core of the Resistance against the Combine. Dr. Kleiner has set up a lab in City 17 in an old abandoned warehouse. A teleportation system, developed jointly by Kleiner and Vance, allows for near-instantaneous transportation between Kleiner's Lab and Vance's facility, several miles distant. As a pet, Dr. Kleiner keeps a debeaked Headcrab he calls "Lamarr". When Barney informs him that Gordon Freeman has arrived, Kleiner tells Barney to send Gordon on his way - although he forgot that Gordon would not know the way to the lab. Alyx eventually has to rescue Gordon and show him the way to the lab.



Kleiner then reintroduces Gordon to his HEV Suit which he has upgraded before sending him on his way to Black Mesa East, outside the limits of City 17. Unfortunately, Lamarr interfers with the teleportation process. Gordon is thrown through several locations before finally rematerializing outside the window behind Dr Kleiner. He is then required to leave Kleiner's Lab on foot and will not return until the City 17 uprising.

During the rebellion, Dog turns up to Kleiner who keeps him safe in his lab. Kleiner is apparently alone during most of the uprising (save for Lamarr) as Barney is leading on the rebellion fronts, so he protects himself with a shotgun. When Gordon and Alyx teleport in from Nova Prospekt a week into the rebellion, Kleiner is very optimistic about the Resistance's odds and tries to convince Alyx of this, at which he fails. He is not seen for the rest of the game but manages to escape City 17 at some point between when Alyx leaves to find Gordon and the start of Episode One.

A depiction of Kleiner's younger self can also be seen in the lab, appearing on the cover of Popular Scientist, a fictional magazine (and spoof of Popular Science magazine). In it, he sports sideburns and has more hair, which is seen as brown in color. Although this is a somewhat 1970s/80s look, the picture likely dates from around the Black Mesa Incident, thus in the 2000s. Below the magazine cover is a young Alyx's drawing of him, with the affectionate words 'Uncle Kleiner' on it. A book by Kleiner, From Here to There in Under a Second, can also be found in Eli's lab at Black Mesa East.

Half-Life 2: Episode One


In Half-Life 2: Episode One Kleiner is not seen in person and is only spoken to directly once in a video transmission with Alyx during the first chapter. However, he is frequently seen during the later chapters on video screens and televisions previously reserved for Breencasts. This message is recorded and looped, simply instructing survivors to make their way to the nearest train station to evacuate City 17. Kleiner also amusingly informs people that the Combine's Suppression Field is no longer in effect so that "those so inclined should give serious consideration to doing their part for the revival of the species" to which Alyx comments, "is Dr Kleiner really telling everyone to... get busy?". The messages also include some vague information to try and rally people in the face of the fact that the Rebellion is only really beginning and will likely get worse before it gets better.

Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Kleiner reappears once again in Half-Life 2: Episode Two. First, he is seen beside Dr. Eli Vance and Dr. Arne Magnusson on the first video communication with Alyx and Gordon; he is not seen again until later on when Alyx and Gordon reach White Forest (except during the G-Man's speech). He spends most of his time working with Dr. Magnusson on his rocket. Before the launch, Kleiner briefly notes Magnusson that there is an eight and a half pound anomaly, but Magnusson declares it is within tolerance and the rocket should be fired anyway. Unfortunately for Kleiner, the anomaly was Lamarr who had snuck onto the rocket while the nose cap was open earlier.

Towards the game's ending, when it is discovered that Judith Mossman found the Borealis, Kleiner is enthusiastic about the research contained on the vessel's use against the Combine, but Eli disagrees and states it could be responsible for another disaster on par with the Black Mesa Incident. After the rocket launch, Kleiner remains inside to help Magnusson with destroying the Combine Superportal while Alyx, Eli, Dog and Gordon go outside to see the Superportal dissipate.

Gordon Freeman
Gordon Freeman was taught by Kleiner at MIT. He then recommended Gordon's position to the administration of Black Mesa, after which they became coworkers. At Black Mesa, Kleiner had apparently a habit of locking himself out of his office and Gordon would race Barney to "break in" to it. Gordon became Kleiner's assistant again as a part of the human Resistance on Earth. He holds Gordon in the highest respects, even though he admits his heroic acts tend to cause trouble.

Barney Calhoun
Dr. Kleiner probably knew Barney well through Gordon. Barney would later aid Kleiner in the human Resistance in various ways, though mainly by spying on keeping the Combine at bay as a Civil Protection officer.

Alyx Vance
Dr. Kleiner knew Alyx when she was an infant at Black Mesa, and they were close enough for her to call him "Uncle" in a picture she made. In Half-Life 2 they both work together in his lab, and on sending refugees on foot through the canals.

Eli Vance
Eli is almost the polar opposite to Isaac. He is laid back and confident, whereas Kleiner is reserved, logical, and cautious in most situations. Coincidentally, this is probably why they make such a good team. They have both known each other and worked together since the days of Black Mesa. Kleiner is also affectionately nicknamed "Izzy" by Eli on various occasions.

Arne Magnusson
While Eli is the opposite to Isaac, Arne is simply headstrong with a very short temper. He has no patience for most of Kleiner's input and at times appears to give him many tedious and long tasks.

Behind the scenes



 * Kleiner is voiced by Harry S. Robins, the voice of most of the scientists in the original Half-Life and its expansions.


 * "Kleiner" is a German and Hebrew surname. Related to "klein", "small" in German, it has several translations, most of the time related to "reduce" or "inferior". "Isaac" is also Hebrew, and comes from "Yitzchaq", meaning "he laughs". In the Old Testament, Isaac was the son of Abraham, which God asked to sacrifice to test his faith, though an angel prevented the act at the last moment. As an English Christian name, "Isaac" was occasionally used during the Middle Ages, though it was more common among Jews. It became more widespread after the Protestant Reformation. Kleiner shares his first name with physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton, and the science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov and the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.


 * Kleiner is basically the Half-Life bespectacled scientist model ("scientist01", or "Walter") turned into a real character, as it happened for Walter Bennet. Kleiner's Half-Life 2 appearance was based on Ted Cohrt, an accountant working in the firm about Valve's office. Kleiner's face originally depicted him as much older man, but the team changed his mind when they came across Ted Cohrt in an elevator. It is also said that team members sometimes ran into him at Starbucks and the ones who did not know he was Kleiner's face were staring at him, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar. After Cohrt was taken as the model, the older Kleiner face was recycled into the elder Counter-Strike: Source hostage. Although the old Kleiner model has nothing to do with Ted Cohrt, it is named "cohrt.mdl", while the final model, based on Ted Cohrt, is simply called "kleiner.mdl".


 * The current model originally had a green shirt and black tie.


 * As suggested by the Half-Life strategy guide, Kleiner's first name was originally "Alex", which was probably changed to avoid confusion with "Alyx".

Trivia

 * At the end of the Half-Life 2 chapter Entanglement, Kleiner is shown poking his head through a door in his lab while holding a shotgun in a possible nod towards the original Half-Life. A scientist at the end of the chapter Lambda Core is shown holding a shotgun in a similar, scared fashion, and is spawned as the scientist model that Dr. Kleiner is based on. It is possible that that said scientist actually is Kleiner.

List of appearances

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