Monday, August 4, 2008

The Gman... Who is he & what's so great about him?

You might be wondering who the guy is on the top right of my website.  I'd figure I'd clarify since I've had a few people ask me about him.  If you're one of those people that instant message me, or checked out any of my online profiles I have, you'll notice that I use the 'Gman' as my avatar.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="230" caption="Comparison of the Gman models from Half-Life 1 to Half-Life 2"]Comparison of the Gman models from Half-Life 1 to Half-Life 2[/caption]

The Gman is one of many characters from a popular first person shooter game on the PC called "Half-Life" developed by Valve.  Gman got this name because the developers at Valve didn't give his character any real identity, (or yet released an official name to us).  The name originated from the name of the model associated with his character.   Valve even refer to him as the Gman in the voice credits.  Gman can be considered a term often referred to 'Government Man.'

I would go so far to say that the Gman is definitely beyond a 'Government Man'...   From playing the game, it's clear that the Gman definitely isn't normal like any other character within the Half-Life story.  It seems he has the ability to travel between worlds and/or dimensions.  Throughout various cut scenes in the game, you can see the Gman entering through rooms where doors don't exist.

Ok so you're probably saying "That's great, but why use him?" I don't have a definite answer I could give you, it's basically comes down to these facts:

  • The Gman is one of those characters that drive me crazy in a way where I want to know what his identity & true motive is in the Half-Life saga.  Half-Life 1 released Nov. 1, 1998 and for 10 years I've always wanted to know who this guy was, not much has been explained about him, but it's my understanding in Half-Life 2 Episode 3, he'll explain his role, and hopefully something about himself.

  • Only character in Half-Life 1 that was un-killable.  For whatever reason the devs made him bulletproof.

  • One of the most sophisticated models (CG Model) out there in the gaming industry today.   Capable of doing virtually any facial expression you or me could do.  Below is a demonstration showing off the new engine Valve developed using the Gman to show off its capabilities.

  • Not even sure if he's actually human or not, when he speaks to you, it sounds like he's struggling to speak your language.  When he speaks, he pauses unexpectedly between words in a way that doesn't seem human.

  • His voice is very irregular.  This is especially noticeable in the Half-Life 2 intro; very basey and modulated, no other character in the story has those traits.

The mysterious story behind the Gman has always intrigued me.  No other game has been able to spark this much interest to me as Half-Life.

There seems to be some kind of underground Gman fan club because the number of YouTube videos featuring him are astounding.  One of my favorite videos is the Gman "serving" Gordan Freeman.  I find this video hilarious because this is totally not his style.

If you'd like to know more about the Gman, I would suggest reading up on his wikipedia article: Wikipedia - Gman