"Why- why is this my life? Why does it have to be this way?" - Dr. Gordon Freeman.
| For protagonist of Half-Life: Alyx but the Gnome is TOO AWARE, see Alyx, for actor and creator of series, see wayneradiotv. |
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Dr. Gordon Freeman is the main protagonist of Half-Life VR but the AI is Self-Aware. A scientist and theoretical physics major, working at Black Mesa, Gordon serves as the sole voice of reason in the insanity around him. His role in the series is akin to that of an almost unwilling hero, especially towards the end, being dragged along up until the climax of the show and eventually succeeding.
He is played by WayneradioTV.
Description[]
In-game, Gordon Freeman is a pale man with short brown hair and a goatee. He wears a full-body Hazardous Environment (HEV) suit throughout the entire series. During Act 3, he loses his right hand and temporarily has an opening in his suit. In Act 4, he receives a gun-like appendage to replace his hand. At the very end of the series, he gets his hand back- though it's unknown if it's his real hand or a prosthetic.
Personality[]
Gordon is a generally friendly person throughout the course of the series, but loses his patience quickly and becomes aggravated easily. He serves as the "straight man" of the group, reacting with confusion and horror to the rest of the casts antics. Gordon tends to regard people with a level of sass and is quick to panic when things take a turn for the worse or chaotic. Despite being the serious and sensible one, Gordon enjoys acting silly at times, such as spinning before attacking a creature and hyping himself up by saying his name before his next action. Initially, he is against The Science Team's often senseless killing and is distressed by his accidental murders of other scientists. Later in the series, he becomes desensitized to it, willingly killing many people himself.
Wayne says that Gordon is actually dumb and essentially "fucked up" his way into Black Mesa, and doesn't actually know anything about science. RTVS also describes Gordon as "the jock in a group of nerds."
Relationships[]
Benrey[]
Gordon's relationship with Benrey begins positive but quickly deteriorates. When the two first meet, Gordon finds Benrey's antics amusing and eventually dismisses himself to continue his work. Benrey then insists on following him everywhere, deeming certain places unauthorized for him to be and constantly pestering him for his passport. This results in Gordon growing frustrated and lashing out at Benrey, which prompts Benrey to continue antagonizing Gordon throughout the series. In Act 3, Benrey teams up with Bubby and has soldiers attack Gordon due to the two of them believing he is the reason the group hasn't yet escaped Black Mesa. This results in Gordon losing his right hand. Gordon's opinion on Benrey worsens after this, and there are multiples instances of him attempting to kill Benrey, but he fails every single time. At certain points, Benrey acts flirtatious towards Gordon, with him reacting in confusion and not reciprocating. In the finale, Benrey becomes the main antagonist who Gordon and the rest of the Science Team must defeat. At this point, Gordon is afraid of Benrey and seems to fully despise him.
Scorpy, the actor of Benrey, once commissioned a friend of his to draw a picture of Benrey and Gordon getting married as a gag. In a Q&A stream with RTVS, Wayne states that Benrey is lusting over Gordon the entire series before he and Scorpy decide that lusting probably isn’t the best word to use.
Tommy[]
Gordon treats and views Tommy as an aloof child for the majority of the series, referring to him as "kid" frequently, despite Tommy being almost 10 years older than Gordon. Gordon initially refers to Tommy as a freak due to him drinking soda for lunch, but later acts kindly towards him. At times, Gordon grows tired from Tommy's nonsensical claims and instincts, but never lashes out at him the way he does with the other scientists and Benrey. When Gordon was attacked by soldiers during the betrayal in Act 3, Tommy reacted with horror at the scene before being given a Beyblade and told by the others to not pay attention. After this, Tommy becomes one of the only people Gordon can trust, despite his own suspicious behavior. Tommy is thanked by Gordon for always being a loyal friend before the final boss fight. At the end of the series, Gordon is forced to attend Tommy's 37th birthday party.
Dr. Coomer[]
Dr. Coomer is presented as a mentor figure to Gordon, serving as the game's broken tutorial NPC. He frequently greets Gordon and provides him with not-so-helpful (and at times, incorrect) information about their surroundings. Many times throughout the series, Gordon has to rescue Dr. Coomer from barnacles disguised as Ropes. Dr. Coomer later becomes aware that Gordon is a real person and that he exists within a video game, although it is unclear if he has a concept of Wayne himself or is simply aware that a player exists. Gordon has a positive relationship with Dr. Coomer up until the Act 3 betrayal, in which Dr. Coomer takes the opportunity to turn on Gordon. He attempts to take over the player character to become real, but eventually coincides to continue treating Gordon as a friend. After finishing the game, Dr. Coomer gives a heartfelt speech, telling Gordon to not forget or abandon him and the other AI. He even requests that Gordon someday download their data into a hard drive and place them into future games to allow them a chance to virtually see the world.
Bubby[]
Initially, Bubby and Gordon seem to not like each other, as Gordon mocks Bubby's name and Bubby claims the Black Mesa Incident is entirely Gordon's fault. He says that him and Gordon are not friends, and implies he would shoot Gordon if given a reason. After spending some time traveling with the Science Team, Bubby grows to enjoy Gordon's company. However, Bubby later believes Gordon is the reason the group hasn't escaped Black Mesa yet. Teaming up with Benrey, the two have soldiers attack Gordon, and afterwards Bubby is put back in his test tube. Despite betraying Gordon and causing the loss of his right hand, he frees Bubby from the tube and is given the chance to be redeemed. The two eventually become friendly again.
Forzen[]
Gordon, like with the rest of the United States Military, does not like Forzen. He, along with the rest of the Science Team, corner and interrogate Forzen, attempting to figure out the military's motives. Forzen ends up escaping and later appears again threatening to kill Tommy's dog, Sunkist. After being beaten by the Science Team yet again, Gordon tries to interrogate Forzen once more before he says "Wait, hold on-" and mysteriously disappears.
Darnold[]
Darnold and Gordon are on good terms. Initially, Gordon mocks Darnold's name and questions his reputation as a mixologist, which Darnold dislikes. However, Darnold holds a moral obligation to restore Gordon's right hand, which ends up being a gun-like appendage that shoots fingernails. Darnold serves as a brief secondary-tutorial character for the Devil Gun Mode held within Gordon's new arm. The Science Team gather new gear from Darnold, which Gordon appreciates, and he later invites Darnold to join the group for the rest of their journey. Unfortunately, Darnold cannot handle the constant killing the group does, so he opts to stay behind and cut all ties with Gordon, who doesn't seem very affected. However, in the AI-Crushes-All-Banks stream, Darnold contacts Gordon again, stating he thought he cut ties with the group, but he "logged into Windows 10, with the new update, and... you're there!"
G-Man[]
Unlike most characters in the series, Gordon seems to respect G-Man (though it is out of fear). G-Man seems to view Gordon as an employee and only wants to ensure his son, Tommy, is happy. After defeating Benrey, the two meet again and G-Man removes and replaces Gordon's gun-arm, stating it is "government property." It is unknown if he replaced it with Gordon's real hand or a prosthetic, as the HEV suit covers it. He and Gordon argue at the end of the series over whether or not Chuck E. Cheese can be considered a restaurant. Afterwards, G-Man forces Gordon to attend Tommy's 37th birthday party.
Trivia[]
- Being 27 years old, Gordon is the youngest member of the Science Team biologically.
- Gordon's favorite food is Popeye's chicken.[1] He also loves almonds, like Dr. Coomer.
- His favorite Powerade is Blue Powerade (Mountain Berry Blast).
- He hates Coolatta's.
- His favorite video game is Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days.
- When asked by Dr. Coomer what video game he'd choose to live in, he answers Kane and Lunch 2: Dog Days.
- He uses Head & Shoulders shampoo.
- Gordon has stated to have a son named Joshua. This is inspired by a text-to-speech voice that's been used on several of Wayne's twitch streams as a running joke.
- Joshua appears to be at the bottom of Gordon's priorities. Wayne said that he might just be the free image that comes with a picture frame.
- The famous Chuck E. Cheese argument between G-man and Gordon is a reference to multiple arguments RTVS as a group has had with each other.