Gordon Freeman

"Man of few words, aren't you?"

- Alyx Vance

Doctor Gordon Freeman is the silent protagonist of most titles in the Half-Life series. He is a theoretical physicist who is forced to defend himself and the human race against hostile aliens and other enemies following an experiment gone wrong. In the process, he becomes an almost mythical resistance hero, eventually becoming one of the leaders of an uprising against the alien invaders.

Background
Gordon Freeman was 27 years old at the time of the Black Mesa Incident. He has no dependents and is a graduate of MIT, having earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics. His thesis was titled Observation of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement on Supraquantum Structures by Induction Through Nonlinear Transuranic Crystal of Extremely Long Wavelength (ELW) Pulse from Mode-Locked Source Array (essentially about the teleportation of matter through extremely dense elements). A native of Seattle, Washington, Freeman harbored an early interest in theoretical physics, such as quantum mechanics and relativity. His earliest heroes were Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking and Richard Feynman. After observing a series of teleportation experiments conducted by the Institute for Experimental Physics in Innsbruck, Austria, applications of teleportation became Freeman's obsession.



Eventually, he became disappointed with the slow pace of teleportation research in academia and began to search for a job outside the education sector. By coincidence, Freeman's MIT mentor Dr. Isaac Kleiner had taken charge of a research project at a top secret, integrated research facility known as the Black Mesa Research Facility and offered Freeman a job. He accepted, hoping that at least part of the immense funding would go towards civilian applications of astrophysics and quantum computing.

At the start of the first game, Freeman is employed at, and lives in, the Black Mesa Research Facility, located somewhere in the New Mexico desert. He started quite recently, but it is unknown how long before the incident, although he had been there long enough to be elected "Employee of the Month" during or before the month during which the Black Mesa Incident takes place. At Black Mesa, he is assigned to the Anomalous Materials department doing nuclear and subatomic research. Despite having obtained a Ph.D from the prestigious MIT, the laboratory work that the player actually does as Freeman (pressing a button and pushing a cart) does not require any intellectual expertise at all. Barney Calhoun pokes fun at this in the beginning portion of Half-Life 2, when Freeman performs similar "technical" assistance (pushing a switch and attaching a fallen plug back into a socket). Barney then goes on to state that Gordon's MIT education "really pays for itself".

In Half-Life, a picture of a baby can be found in Freeman's locker. Although this was officially explained as being an Easter egg placed by the level designer, Marc Laidlaw offered the idea that it could be an infant relative of Gordon's, such as a niece or nephew. The books "The 37th Mandala" and "The Orchid Eater" by Marc Laidlaw can also be found in the locker.

According to dialogue by Alyx in Half-Life 2: Episode One, Freeman and Calhoun would compete with each other to be the first to retrieve Dr. Kleiner's keys whenever he locked them in his office in Black Mesa (apparently a fairly regular occurrence) without resorting to conventional means. This is reputedly where Freeman learned to make use of ventilation shafts to infiltrate buildings. Indeed, Gordon and Barney crawled through numerous ventilation shafts in Half-Life and Half-Life: Blue Shift respectively.

Half-Life


On May 16, 200- [sic], Freeman and his team perform an experiment that goes horribly wrong (possibly intentionally, due to outside manipulation ) As a result, the space-time continuum is ruptured, allowing alien lifeforms to enter the Black Mesa facility. They immediately start killing any humans they can find. Freeman finds himself hunted by two groups: the invading aliens and the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, a military cleanup team that has been sent to contain the situation, silencing aliens and surviving personnel alike. Against all odds, the untrained theoretical physicist manages to survive the chaos (thanks in no small part to the HEV Suit he wears in his duties), impressing the few surviving scientists and security guards with his heroic acts while quickly becoming the HECU's top priority target.

After numerous challenges, and after eliminating countless aliens and soldiers, Freeman is eventually transported by a few surviving Lambda Team scientists to the alien home world of Xen, where he manages to eliminate the alien "leader," Nihilanth. Upon recovering from his final encounter, Freeman is finally confronted by the mysterious G-Man, who has been observing Freeman from a distance throughout the entire game and perhaps even manipulating his fate. The G-Man shows Freeman several locations throughout Earth and Xen, before finally offering Freeman a choice: either agree to work for him and his mysterious "employers," or be left to die on Xen without any weapons and surrounded by hostile lifeforms. Half-Life 2 assumes that Gordon chooses to accept G-Man's offer of employment.

Half-Life 2


Half-Life 2 begins with the G-Man speaking to Gordon. Like the ending of the original game, the scene is somewhat inexplicable and psychedelic, with the G-Man's face in extreme close-up fading in and out of visibility over backgrounds representing scenes from the original Half-Life as well as scenes Gordon will visit in the course of Half-Life 2. The G-Man delivers a typically cryptic speech, commenting that "the right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world." and concludes by telling Freeman to "wake up, and smell the ashes". According to the Half-Life 2: Episode One story page, the G-Man kept Freeman "in stasis far from Earth, thought, and time itself" for "nearly two decades." It is also implied by Eli Vance that Freeman didn't physically change during his stasis. Freeman then wakes up on a train with two citizens being "relocated" to City 17. Freeman quickly learns that Earth has been conquered and occupied by the trans-dimensional Combine empire. He soon meets up with Barney Calhoun and Alyx Vance, and joins the Resistance against the Combine.

During the course of the second game, Freeman battles the forces of the Combine in order to free humanity from its grasp. Already famous for his role in the Black Mesa Incident, Gordon quickly develops a legendary reputation among Earth's surviving human populace, who begin to refer to him by messianic titles such as "The One Free Man." Shortly after his arrival, and having killed a significant number of Civil Protection troops whilst attempting to escape City 17, the Combine designated him Anticitizen One, a title that indicates the individual posing the greatest threat to their empire. After slaying scores of Combine soldiers and leading an assault against the Combine stronghold of Nova Prospekt, Gordon eventually sparks a full-scale rebellion against the Combine domination, in which he becomes a prominent combatant. Gordon infiltrates one of the Combine's footholds on Earth, the City 17 Citadel, and destroys its teleport core by detonating the dark fusion reactor, rendering the Citadel inoperable. Although caught in the reactor's explosion along with Alyx Vance, Gordon is rescued by the G-Man, who tells Freeman that he is impressed with his work and has "received several tempting offers for his 'services'." The G-Man finally informs Freeman that, rather than offering him "the illusion of free choice," the G-Man has taken the liberty of choosing for him, and deposits Freeman back in stasis until he is needed once again. Thus, Half-Life 2 "concludes" just as cryptically as its predecessor did, with perhaps even more questions unanswered.

Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
In this cut level, Lost Coast, Gordon is dispatched by someone, possibly the G-Man or resistance leaders (this is never clarified in the game), to clear a Combine staging area being used to shell a nearby town, St. Olga. Gordon starts off the map appearing at a dock and talking to an old man who explains what is needed of him. Gordon proceeds to fight his way up a mountain path, engaging Combine forces as he goes. After considerable fighting, Freeman makes it to a former monastery where the artillery platform is located. After destroying the mechanism, he is ambushed by multiple Combine soldiers and a pair of Hunter-Choppers. After clearing the area, he rides an elevator back down to the dock where he started. The old man congratulates him and the mission ends (the old man states that Gordon is turning fuzzy around the edges, just moments before the mission ends).

Half-Life 2: Episode One


Half-Life 2: Episode One rejoins Freeman and Alyx Vance as they attempt to escape from City 17, doomed by the destruction of the Citadel's dark fusion reactor at the end of Half-Life 2. At the beginning of the game, the G-Man appears once more to Gordon, but this time, he is interrupted by the appearance of a group of chanting, purple-glowing Vortigaunts, who take Gordon away while blocking the G-Man's path. The G-Man appears most displeased by this development, and responds by scowling and darkly stating "We'll see... about that!"

Gordon regains consciousness under a pile of rubble and is found by Alyx and Dog. It is quickly revealed that the only way to escape the Citadel's explosion, which would obliterate virtually all of City 17 and then some, is to contain the Citadel's core which would stall the structure's detonation long enough for an escape. Gordon and Alyx attempt to do so, discovering in the process that the local Combine forces were deliberately trying to overload the Citadel's reactor in order to send a distress message to the Combine Overworld since the teleport core had been destroyed in Half-Life 2. The Combine apparently consider this an acceptable outcome, considering the damage the Citadel had already taken; the subsequent explosion would destroy all of City 17 and much of the surrounding countryside which has been all but lost to human Resistance forces. Gordon and Alyx avert the destruction for a few hours and manage to escape the Citadel with a copy of the distress message and meet up with Barney and other survivors.

The pair escape City 17 via an evacuation train as the Citadel goes critical. Evidently, the Combine message is successfully transmitted while several Combine Advisor pods escape from the Citadel at great speed. The train carrying Freeman and Alyx is still close by and is hit by the shock wave as the Citadel is destroyed. Their subsequent fate is revealed in Episode Two.

Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Episode Two begins almost directly where the previous episode ended. The train Gordon and Alyx were escaping on was caught in the shock wave from the Citadel explosion and derailed. Gordon and Alyx crawl out and make their way to White Forest, the Resistance base where Eli Vance, Dr. Kleiner, and Dr. Arne Magnusson are waiting for them, encountering many obstacles on route.

Early in the journey, Alyx is severely wounded by a Hunter and only survives through the aid of several Vortigaunt allies. Alyx is saved through the use of a miraculous larval extract that Gordon retrieves from the Antlion hive. The G-Man briefly reappears to Gordon revealing that Alyx was under his watch as well - that he had "appraised" her and "plucked her from Black Mesa". He requests that Gordon safely escort her to White Forest as repayment for his own survival without explaining the reasons. He then proceeds to whisper to the unconscious Alyx an instruction to relay the message "Prepare for unforeseen consequences" to her father. Once Alyx recovers, they make their way to White Forest.

The journey is far from smooth, as Gordon is required to travel through a Headcrab-infested industrial complex that was used as a rebel outpost in order to retrieve a car. Then, on the road, the two encounter a radio tower and Alyx decides to send a warning about Combine forces they had witnessed heading in White Forest's direction. They linger for too long however and are ambushed by Hunters. They later encounter a Combine Advisor in incubation who almost kills them when they destroy its life support and escape through sheer luck before being chased by a Hunter-Chopper into another rebel outpost. Gordon is then required to deal with a Combine Autogun while Alyx and the rebels repair their car. The Combine then set up a force shield ambush at the White Forest Inn where Gordon and Alyx are outnumbered and surrounded but manage to fight through.

Finally upon arrival at White Forest, Alyx gives Dr. Kleiner the data packet she retrieved from the City 17 Citadel before its destruction and Gordon is enlisted to help defend the base from a unexpected Combine infiltration. The data reveals the existence of the Borealis, an Aperture Science vessel thought to have been lost and containing some sort of advanced portal technology that Dr. Kleiner insists should be used against the Combine while Eli, haunted by the Black Mesa Incident, insists upon its destruction.

After Gordon destroys a Hunter/Strider assault force in order to protect Dr. Magnusson's rocket launch, Dr. Magnusson is able to use the data in his satellite which, using the old Black Mesa Array, is able to shutdown the Combine superportal before it could open fully, which would have allowed a second Combine invasion. As Gordon and Alyx prepare to depart for the Borealis, two Combine Advisors sneak into the base and kill Eli. Fortunately Dog reappears in time to rescue Alyx and Gordon from the same fate. The episode ends with Alyx weeping over her father's body, with the possibility that the Combine have now learned everything about the Resistance through Eli.

Half-Life 2: Episode Three
Episode Three will most likely detail Alyx and Gordon's attempt to rescue Judith Mossman, possibly involving the Borealis and other yet unknown locations.

Appearance
Freeman is bespectacled, of good build, has a goatee, and is quite athletic. Freeman's HEV Suit model (used in Deathmatch Classic and seen in Opposing Force) sports a small ponytail (and sunglasses in Opposing Force), while its white coat scientist model (seen in Blue Shift) has no ponytail and no glasses. While Gordon wears glasses most of the time, the ponytail is likely not canon, the Deathmatch Classic models being quite different than the storyline games' models.

Personality and skills
Since Gordon does not say a single word during the entire saga, it is not clear to what extent he exists as a separate character outside of the player's influence. Since the start of Half-Life, Valve has made sure that the player's and Gordon's experience are one and the same. An example of Valve's player strategy is shown during the scene in Eli's lab. Investigation of certain props (most notably the newspaper board) triggers Eli to give some explanation to their meaning and history, thus indicating that Gordon presents emotions that the non-player characters can detect.

Although seeming to be an expert with weapons and explosives (turning into a "one man army" during the course of the games, as in many fps games), Freeman had actually not handled any weapons until some cursory training at the Black Mesa Research Facility's Hazard Course (aside from the butane-powered tennis ball cannon he constructed at age 6). What separates Gordon Freeman from other games' heroes is that he is a scientist – a rather unlikely kind of hero when compared to more traditional video game characters such as Duke Nukem, or soldier types in many other games, such as the Doomguy or the Master Chief.

Other appearances in the Half-Life series


Two expansions for Half-Life all more or less take place during the same time as Half-Life itself, and as such Gordon is seen at some points of the games.


 * In Half-Life: Opposing Force, Adrian Shephard only encounters Gordon once when he witnesses Gordon teleporting to Xen in the Lambda Complex. Attempts to follow him through the same portal will result in a "temporal paradox" which sends Shephard falling through Xen's void and ends the game.
 * Gordon is seen four times by Barney Calhoun during the course of Half-Life: Blue Shift. Barney first sees Gordon waiting for the tram on a ledge which Barney passes by. A few moments later, Gordon can be seen riding by. He is also seen heading towards the HEV storage area through a surveillance camera, and lastly being dragged to a trash compactor by a pair of HECU marines.

In these appearances, Gordon maintains his silence, even though he is not the main protagonist.

References in other media

 * In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Anna Grimsdóttír remarks to protagonist Sam Fisher that "crowbars are for geeky video-game characters", poking fun at the fact that Gordon Freeman is a scientist by profession.
 * In Call of Duty: United Offensive, two American soldiers are shown running side-by-side. On the left, Pvt. Gordon, and on the right, Pvt. Freeman.
 * In the "Stark Towers" level of the computer game The Punisher, a scientist refers to another scientist as "Doctor Freeman" and asks what a noise he heard was, to which Doctor Freeman replies (paraphrased) "maybe the quantum physics department finally opened that extradimensional portal!", with the other scientist replying "Extradimensional aliens! Wonder what they look like?", a reference to the opening scene of Half-Life.
 * In The Ship, a game developed using Source, the same game engine as Half-Life 2, the description of the crowbar weapons states it is suitable for any "free man".
 * In TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, during the level "Breaking and Entering", Cortez, the protagonist of the story, changes into a lab coat along with a name tag that reads "Dr. Freeman". He is also told, "remember, your name is Gordon, now lead on doctor."
 * In the novel A Big Boy did it and Ran Away by Christopher Brookmyre, the author makes frequent references to various video games including Half-Life; one of the protagonists takes the alias of "Gordon Freeman" while there is an SAS soldier called "Shepard" (a reference to Half-Life: Opposing Force’s Adrian Shephard). At one point the male protagonist is equipped with a crowbar and the main action takes place in a largely underground hydroelectric power station with the Gaelic name "Dubh Ardrain" which can be translated as "Black Mesa".
 * In S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, the player may find the body of a scientist named "Gordon" whose PDA makes mentions of Black Mesa and a crowbar.
 * In the game "Penumbra: Overture" the player can find a crowbar in Lake Utuqaq with "Freeman" etched onto it.
 * In the Halo 3 multiplayer map "Sandtrap", a crowbar can be found next to a computer. Sandtraps is also the name of a Half-Life 2 chapter.

Behind the scenes

 * Gordon Freeman was designed by Dhabih Eng and Chuck Jones.
 * Among other names, Gordon Freeman was originally intended to be called Dyson Poincaré, a mix between Freeman Dyson and Jules Henri Poincaré.
 * Early artwork depict Freeman with a full, wild beard that earned him the nickname of "Ivan the Spacebiker" (the model makes an appearance in the web comic Concerned ).

Trivia
The meaning of freeman: one who enjoys liberty; or who is not subject to the will of another, this is a rather ironic title to be given to Gordon, since he is 'involuntarily' serving the G-Man. On the other hand, it does make sense in that Freeman sets humanity free in both Half-Life (Nihilanth) and Half-Life 2 (Combine).