How old are the characters? Anyone know?

[Skaadi]

I've just been reading throught the post 'Alyx just doesn't work' and someone said that Gordon is 27 and Alyx is 22, they may have been guessing but does anyone know how old anyone else is? Oh, and about that post, I'm not sure but I think I may have offended someone by saying that Gordon and Alyx getting together would be disgusting because of the age difference. Truth be told I didn't mean it would be disgusting because of the age difference, I just sort of pegged Alyx to be quite a bit younger than she actually is, and Gordon to be a lot older than he actually may be. I thought she was about 19 or 20, and Gordon to be nearly 50. Apologies to that person. Anyway, I was a bit surprised to find that good old Barney may be older than Gordon, well, he does have a bit of white in his hair but I thought that was probably brought on by extreme stress or something. Kinda strange since Barney seems to be the eternal child, and good on him for that. I also wonder how many years there were between Half-Life1 and Half-Life2.

 

[sinkoman]

I thought she was about 19 or 20

UGH. Have you seen the wrinkles on "her" face?

Blech.

 

[Skaadi]

Ewwwww, she has wrinkles?!? I guess I never looked closely at her face. But still, she can't be that old. Her father said (I'm not sure where I read this) "The only things I managed to carry out of Black Mesa were that photograph and Alyx." She must have been quite young or he wouldn't have been carrying her. And I read somewhere that Half-Life2 was set about 10 years after Half-Life1. She can't be too old....

 

[gabriel]

yes there is 10 years between hl1 and hl2.
i thought i heard somewhere that alyx was 22 also. so lets just assume she is for the following:
during black mesa, gordon was most definitley 27 (unless the game just lies to you at the very beginning for some reason). alyx would have been like 12 around that time.
at the beginning of half life 2, we assume gordon is still 27 because he's been locked away in suspended animation for 10 years and hasn't aged. alyx would then be 22 though, so the age difference is acceptable at that time.
as for barney, i just always assumed that he was about the same age as gordon or possibly younger during black mesa. say he's like 20-something during half life 1, so he'd be 30-something in half life 2, which isn't that old at all.

 

[Skaadi]

Truth be told, I didn't know that Gordon was locked away in suspended animation. I haven't even finished the original, embarrasing as that is. I was under 10 years old when the original was brought out, I remember having a go at it and then giving up. I did watch my brother play all of it though, but that was a long time ago. I'll get around to it. Hmmm, so it must have been extreme stress that brought on the white bits in Barney's hair. Another question arises, why is Barney so chummy with Gordon? Did he know him before the original? As far as I can remember (and that's not much) the only thing that Barney said to Gordon was "Come by later I'll buy you a beer." I'm suprised that ten years on he still remembered that he owed Gordon a beer. Can't help but feel sorry for Barney though, his wife being dead and all. (at least I'm 90% sure she is dead.) I suppose a relationship between Gordon and Alyx wouldn't be all that bad.....

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Remember what Eli says? 'Gordon Freeman! you haven't changed on i-ota' (or something said like that).

Gordon helps Barney out a few times in HL1 i think, shooting aliens, zombies and stuff with him, which is why they are quite good mates, but yeah i'd guess previous to Half-life as well, Gordon worked there so i guess he saw Gordon and other scientists daily, if it were real life

Anyway a relationship is possible but i wouldn't like it.

 

[Skaadi]

I suppopse if a relationship between Alyx and Gordon did happen it would just be one of those things that everyones going to have to get used to, as annoying as it will be.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Erm, for Eli to have to carry Alyx out of Black Mesa she'd have to have been less than four years old. Alyx is almost certainly early twenties, which puts at least 16 years between HL1 and HL2. I'd estimate around 19 years or maybe slightly less. Which would make Barney a fortysomething.

Which has also reminded me of the baby photo in Gordon's Black Mesa Llocker, and made me wonder if that's Alyx and Gordon was her godfather or something.


ALSO: "You are Gordon Freeman."

A 'relationship' wouldn't really work without cutscenes, scripted dialoge or at least conversation trees. Definetly not possible with the Half-Life style.
Not to mention that because Alyx doesn't know he's been in suspended animation for all this time; for all she knows, he's forty years old.

 

[Skaadi]

Hmmm, I still wan't to stick with what i've got. And it has been confirmed that there was 10 years in between HL1 and HL2. Maybe Eli was a helluva lot fitter 10 years back (before he lost his leg)and he carried a wounded Alyx out of Black Mesa....

 

[Dr. Freeman]

at the start of the first Half Life game, it tells u Gordon's age and other vital information.
just load up the original and play about 3-5 minutes into the game and u should see.. i believe its the part where u get to Gordon's locker and about to put on the HEV suit.

anyway i think he was 27 years old in that first one.
now there is belief that the Gman had Gordon in "stasis" status...just like Adrian Shepherd is now...so make what u will of this.

 

[Skaadi]

Wait a minute! Adrians in stasis? Oh,god I've got to go and play the originals...

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Wait a minute! Adrians in stasis? Oh,god I've got to go and play the originals...

yes he is.
there is also an expansion for Half Life called Blue Shift in which u play as Barney
im sure, that being a Barney fan...that bit of info was valuable

 

[Skaadi]

Oh, indeed I have Blue Shift. It's one of those originals I never played at the time if its release because I was too young. I was reading the booklet that came with it a couple of nights ago, and I found out what Barney's wife's name was. That name really creeped me out, never mind why.

 

[Sulkdodds]

PRO BARNEY CALHOUN

Well...who isn't?

Who 'confirmed' that HL2 was around 10 years later anyway? It seems a mighty short time, and a mighty effort by frail scientist Eli to carry a tweenage Alyx out of BMRF...

 

[Skaadi]

I really don't know who confirmed it. A lot of people are saying so and I found a link which led me to a website and it was said there as well. I'm to tired to put up much of an arguement....

 

[ríomhaire]

Depending on how you look at it Gordon is either 27 or 37. It is 10 years, there is a few references to 10 years in Raising the Bar. I think Alyx is about 22.

 

[Skaadi]

Damn straight! Oh nuts! It's nearly 4:30am. I'm going to bed. I'll see you all in 13 hours. Untill then....

 

[Cypher19]

UGH. Have you seen the wrinkles on "her" face?

Blech.

It's called lack of makeup.

 

[A True Canadian]

If Gordon is 27 when he was put into stasis, would he be 37 if ten years have passed? Yes he hasn't aged at all, but it would be weird to have your 28th Birthday 10 years after the 27th. So let's say that he's technically 27, but is considered to be 37.

Alyx is not that old, but if she was about 4 during the Black Mesa incident, she would be 14 now and that doesn't make sense. Judging by her looks and how she acts, she's around 20, making her around ten years old in the first game.

Barney would likely be around the same age as Gordon because they get along so well. Probably a few years older because Barney already had recieved a promotion by the start of the first game. Let's say Barney is 30 in Half-Life, and around 40 in Half-Life 2. The subtle gray hairs (which usually start to come in for men around 40) suggest so.

Kleiner and Eli are open to interpretation. I'd say they were in their 40's in Half-Life and in their 50's in Half-Life 2. This means Eli and his wife welcomed Alyx as their daughter in their 30's. Kliener is likely to be the younger of the two.

Judith doesn't look that old, but she complains that she should have been the one given the opportunity to work in the test chamber instead of Gordon. If this is the case, then she would have been around Gordon's and Barney's ages in Half-Life. Making her age somewhere in the late 30's early 40's.

Dog was built after the Combine invasion to protect Alyx, making it no older than 10.

Breen, as Administrator of Black Mesa was likely the same age as Eli and Kleiner. In the game he hints that they used to hang out, and thus was disappointed when they didn't want to join him as allies to the Combine. So in Half-Life 2 he would be in his 50's or maybe even his late 40's.

G-Man doesn't appear to have aged at all, and trying to guess his age would seem almost useless since we don't even know if he is human. And both Grigory and Cubbage aren't inportant, so I won't do them either.

So in summary, my thoughts as to their ages in Half-Life 2:
- Gordon Freeman: Age 37 (technically 27 or vice versa)
- Alyx Vance: Age early-20's
- Barney Calhoun: Age late-30's, early-40's
- Isaac Kleiner: Age early-50's
- Eli Vance: Age mid-50's, late-50's
- Judith Mossman: Age late-30's, early-40's
- DOG: Age 10
- Wallace Breen: Age late 40's, early-50's

Any disagreements?

 

[ríomhaire]

What age size would someone guess Alyx's hoody to be? That would help narowing down her age based on what age she was in BM(ie, when the hoody fit her)

I always imagined Dr. Kleiner to be the older 1 BTW. And Breed may be older that the rest seeing as he was Administrator, the highest rank in BM. So what age is Farther Gregori?

 

[gabriel]

yeah, kleiner seems to be older than vance.
as for gregori, he looks late 40s to 50s.

 

[Shodan]

What age size would someone guess Alyx's hoody to be? That would help narowing down her age based on what age she was in BM(ie, when the hoody fit her)

I always imagined Dr. Kleiner to be the older 1 BTW. And Breed may be older that the rest seeing as he was Administrator, the highest rank in BM. So what age is Farther Gregori?

Black Mesa hoodies were unlikely to be made for children, as BM was a science lab/decomissioned silo.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Black Mesa hoodies were unlikely to be made for children, as BM was a science lab/decomissioned silo.

Very true.

Also, there's the distinct possibility that the sweater belonged to her mother.

 

[15357]

Erm, for Eli to have to carry Alyx out of Black Mesa she'd have to have been less than four years old. Alyx is almost certainly early twenties, which puts at least 16 years between HL1 and HL2. I'd estimate around 19 years or maybe slightly less. Which would make Barney a fortysomething.

Which has also reminded me of the baby photo in Gordon's Black Mesa Llocker, and made me wonder if that's Alyx and Gordon was her godfather or something.


ALSO: "You are Gordon Freeman."

A 'relationship' wouldn't really work without cutscenes, scripted dialoge or at least conversation trees. Definetly not possible with the Half-Life style.
Not to mention that because Alyx doesn't know he's been in suspended animation for all this time; for all she knows, he's forty years old.

]


you can carry 10 year olds around.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Who 'confirmed' that HL2 was around 10 years later anyway? It seems a mighty short time, and a mighty effort by frail scientist Eli to carry a tweenage Alyx out of BMRF...

i think Doug Lombardi mentioned the 10-15 year gap between the games during an interview in the first week of HL2's release.
theres also a reference to this in the "Raising the bar" book.

 

[Skaadi]

Hmmmm, interesting

 

[Sulkdodds]

you can carry 10 year olds around.

1. Why would you bothere? They can walk for chrissakes.
2. Yes you can...for short distances....pretty hard to carry a ten year old through the entire of Black Mesa.

Think of how much jumping, climbing and general atheletics Gordon had to do just to get to the surface.

 

[Shodan]

Think about the picture in Eli's lab, it must of been fairly close to the 'Incident' and Alyx was a small baby on there.


Alyx = 18 or 19.

 

[Skaadi]

It may not have been taken close to the incident. I wish the game would allow you to rip open the frame and check the date...

 

[clairelovestlc]

i think when he says" that photo and alyx were all i carried out of black mesa "is more a metaphore, maybe he didnt physically carry her, but he just means that thats all he managed to save.

just my opinion tho

 

[Skaadi]

i think when he says" that photo and alyx were all i carried out of black mesa "is more a metaphore, maybe he didnt physically carry her, but he just means that thats all he managed to save.

just my opinion tho

Hey, you've got a really good point there! That just might be it. It would support the theory that Alyx is around 22 now....Interesting..

 

[sinkoman]

Hey, you've got a really good point there! That just might be it. It would support the theory that Alyx is around 22 now....Interesting..

Yeah, that's what I figured too. Not sure what he was speaking of metaphorically, but I knew that he didn't PHYSICALLY carry her out of the building. I just thought "Why in gods name would a young girl be hanging around a top secret millitary facility?".

"Alyx honey, you've got a haircut appointment at 4:30 today so you're comming with me to the office after school."
"Oh god, I hope that ped security guard doesn't ask me if I want some of his 'beer' again"
"I'll go run that by that odd man that we reffer to as the Gma... I mean my advisor. Just don't forget to bring your hazard suit to school with you this time. I don't want to have to go back home to get it just because you want to pet the headcrabs."

 

[Shodan]

Well its in the middle of the desert so I don't think they would be going back and forth to that town near Black Mesa (Raton, NM 87740) every day, they had full restaurants, so I don't see why they didn't have dormatories for families, creche, shops etc.


Alyx could of gone to school online or mabye they had a small school (seeing as it was a massive science lab.)

 

[pomegranate]

Shodan, what makes you say that Raton is the closest town to BM?
Black Mesa Research Facility isn't intended to be set in the real-life Black Mesa, as that is in Oklahoma, and Black Mesa in the game is in New Mexico.

 

[Shodan]

Shodan, what makes you say that Raton is the closest town to BM?
Black Mesa Research Facility isn't intended to be set in the real-life Black Mesa, as that is in Oklahoma, and Black Mesa in the game is in New Mexico.

I remember somebody posted that they had been to Raton (This is a really long time a go) and he said he noticed Black Mesa was near there, for some reason Gabe Newell said something like "I can't believe you made it out of Raton alive!"

I assume some Valve guys went there for research.

 

[Fuse Kazuki]

1. Why would you bothere? They can walk for chrissakes.
2. Yes you can...for short distances....pretty hard to carry a ten year old through the entire of Black Mesa.

Think of how much jumping, climbing and general atheletics Gordon had to do just to get to the surface.

I know right? I dont see how the hell he could get passed all that stuff, and hes never even used a gun before in HL1, until he picked them up, it tells you somewhere..

i think when he says" that photo and alyx were all i carried out of black mesa "is more a metaphore, maybe he didnt physically carry her, but he just means that thats all he managed to save.

I totally agree with you here..I dont know why he would carry a ten year old, I would just make her run along with me, trying not to go too fast :/

 

[sinkoman]

I know right? I dont see how the hell he could get passed all that stuff, and hes never even used a gun before in HL1, until he picked them up, it tells you somewhere..


I totally agree with you here..I dont know why he would carry a ten year old, I would just make her run along with me, trying not to go too fast :/

Now that I think of it, I think by "... and Alyx were all I managed to carry out..." he means that he got himself out and thus his memories and thoughts of Alyx.

 

[Skaadi]

"Alyx honey, you've got a haircut appointment at 4:30 today so you're comming with me to the office after school."
"Oh god, I hope that ped security guard doesn't ask me if I want some of his 'beer' again"
"I'll go run that by that odd man that we reffer to as the Gma... I mean my advisor. Just don't forget to bring your hazard suit to school with you this time. I don't want to have to go back home to get it just because you want to pet the headcrabs."

"Hey little girl! You want some of my beer?"

That sounds like good old Barney. It would be horrible if that man had a child, it would probably be weened on beer.

Barney: Sure we can give the little tyke beer, it doesn't screw people up. I had beer when I was a pup and I turned out great.

Sorry if that isn't funny but it speaks for itself.

And what the hell does "ped" mean? And why are there quotation marks around beer? Beer is just beer. I really hope you are not implying what I think you are implying with that ped thingy. I have a faint idea of what it means.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

And what the hell does "ped" mean? And why are there quotation marks around beer? Beer is just beer. I really hope you are not implying what I think you are implying with that ped thingy. I have a faint idea of what it means.

/me sighs

please, please...lets not go there... :|

 

[Skaadi]

/me sighs

please, please...lets not go there... :|

Alright, I'm sorry. It takes me a while to pick up on things at times. I think I've got what that means now. Oh, dear god that's disgusting!!! I owe a few nightmares to Sinkoman. Excuse me while I suppress the images...