who is gman?

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who is gman?

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who is he?

i just love the mystery that surrounds gman - he is an excellent adition to the games.
 
Smartest character ever invented. A mysterious "agent" of Gordon's that allows Valve to theoretically place Gordon in any story or situation in any place or time rather than other game series that are forced to have their characters in a completely sequential storyline in game after game. But who he is... who %*$# knows?!
 
Maybe he is a designer's tool, but I don't think that he doesn't fit in somehow, the designers are too good for that.
 
He's not a deus ex machina, that's for sure.
 
Definitely not the smartest character ever created, merely the most frustrating one. I guess he's just a middleman for cross-dimensional dealings. Someone you go to to find the inter-universal equivalent of the A-Team.
 
Possibly, but who would want to employ him to employ Freeman to destroy the Combine on Earth? And anyway, about the whole destroying the combine thing, I thought the Combine had almost limitless resources?
 
The g-man is many things. First, he is a mystery. He is there to arouse the players' curiosity and make them wonder what is going on. His constant watching eye and his ability to, seemingly, appear where ever the hell he pleases is there to give the player a sense of wonder. On another level he is a Deus Ex Machina and a plot device. Half-Life and Opposing Force need and ending. You kill the end boss and what happens? The g-man takes you away and ends the story for you. You need a way for Gordon to get to City 17 so the g-man drops him there. He is also, of course, a character in his own right. A, if not the, primary character aswell. He appears to be behind everything (If he is or not is unknown though) and he observes everything. He makes things happen and is always present (Except EP1, where there is a plot reason, and BS and Decay because, presumably, he didn't give a damn).
 
He's gordon from the future....

only kidding before i get flamed of course.
Seriously, he's the only NPC of any substance in hl1, thus he is indeed a special man, i for one, reckon he is just a salesman of special agents, an intergalatic pimp in a way, after all, he has the suit, he has the hi tech briefcase bling.

On another note judging by the lockage war path, i dont see this thread hanging around much longer.
 
My own theory on the g-man:
He's an alien and a mercinary. In HL1 he is hired by an outside group (Current favourite: Combine) to help them sieze Xen (They could not do so themselves, possibly due to Nihilanth's interferance). He does this using the resonance cascade to both distract and weaken the Xenians. He also uses the opertunity to hire Gordon Freeman. In HL2 he is hired by the Vortigaunts/resistance to remove the Combine from Earth. With that job done, he decides to auction off Gordon, who has become quite well known, even on interdimentional terms. The Vortigaunts dislike this and 'liberate' Gordon.
 
Ah, that'd be me.

One problem with the mercenary thing is that mercenaries always look for the highest bidder. What has the resistance got to give compared to the Combine???
 
I'm not completely sure if anyone will figure this out. . they leave enough clues to make theories sound feasible. . but not enough to prove it. . .

i think it's going to be a crazy plot twist.
 
who is gman? said:
Ah, that'd be me.

One problem with the mercenary thing is that mercenaries always look for the highest bidder. What has the resistance got to give compared to the Combine???
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Technology? The loyalty of a planet? The Vortessence?
 
He could merely be the most sadistic entity in the universe, out for some sport and with his own interests at heart. Why the Combine wouldn't make a bid for Freeman is beyond me, seeing as he does what he's told.
 
who is gman? said:
What is the Vortessence?
Click to expand...
It's not entirly clear. It's a Vortigaunt thing. It seems to be the name they give to their connection between each other (Allowing for their telepathic sharing of information) but there also seems to be almost religious belief surrounding it. They also seem to think that it connections all things, or perhaps only all living or sentient things.
"Communion of the vortessence. And that other: a deeper mystery. No deeper than the void itself."
"While our own lay scattered at your feet, you severed the vortal cord that bound the Nihilanth to life, and to us."
"We are a tapestry woven of vortessence. It is the same for you if only you would see it."
 
Alrighty. And we think this plays a major part in the plot of Half Life 2?

And what's Deus ex Machina or whatever.

Sorry about all the questions my game crashed just after I'd completed ravenholm :-[
 
No confirmation, but we're inclined that way, what with all these vortigaunts running around.

A Deus ex Machina is a litteral 'god from the machine', or a neat plot device that will solve a conflict or problem in a highly improbable, impossible or artificial way (I.e. "It was all a dream" "Then god came down and made everything right")
 
It IS a major plot point, because Gordon Freeman keeps falling into it like some kinda pit. Everytime that dude steps into/out of a portal, "WHOAAAAAA, vortessence!"

And he's apparently the only one who can do it that we've seen. The vortigaunts when they first saw him were like, "WTF? What's this guy doing here breaking up our meeting?" And since then you've kept on doing it, three times already.
 
Darkside55 said:
It IS a major plot point, because Gordon Freeman keeps falling into it like some kinda pit. Everytime that dude steps into/out of a portal, "WHOAAAAAA, vortessence!"

And he's apparently the only one who can do it that we've seen. The vortigaunts when they first saw him were like, "WTF? What's this guy doing here breaking up our meeting?" And since then you've kept on doing it, three times already.
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3? I count 2. And TBH, I think that the thing in EP1 was shown to you intentionally by the Vortigaunts.
 
i bet you ANY MONEY that he turns out to be gordens dad. and then alyx will become engaged to barny, but leave him at the alter and run of with dog.then barny wil shoot himself AT LAST!!

maby
 
dumba$$ said:
i bet you ANY MONEY that he turns out to be gordens dad. and then alyx will become engaged to barny, but leave him at the alter and run of with dog.then barny wil shoot himself AT LAST!!

maby
Click to expand...

G-man'll turn out to be Alma's dad, damnit! If he'll also be Gordon's dad, Gordn'l have to baby-sit The FEAR Point-Man.
And no, Alyx won't get engaged to Barney. She'll pick Nathan Hail.
 
Sadly, I think that the g-man is more of a plot device than a real, believable character. That was cool in half-life 1, but I think that in the future he should be treated more like a character. I want to see him doing stuff, talking to other characters. Not just popping out of portals, stopping time, and delivering end-game speeches.

I don't mind the mistery surrounding him, though.
 
He IS talking to Odessa Cubbage and appearing on the TV, you know.
 
yes I meant seeing and listening him interacting with other characters. The apparition on tv is just a simple g-man sighting\appeareance.
 
riomhaire said:
3? I count 2. And TBH, I think that the thing in EP1 was shown to you intentionally by the Vortigaunts.
Click to expand...

The first time was in the test chamber, which was a complete accident.

The second time is after you destroy the Nihilanth, which you don't see because you black out. "You leap, you fall, you flash before our eyes. For a moment you are one, between the worlds." That's not quite verbatim but you get the picture. It's interesting too because if you think about it, either you ported into the vortessence really briefly or the G-man came and pulled you out before the vortigaunts could get to you, a reverse of the Episode One intro.

So that's the second time, and it was also probably a complete accident that it happened, what with being so close in proximity to an actual EXPLOSION of teleport energies. It could also have been the vortigaunts pulling you away from the blast at the very last moment, though.

Third time is in EpOne. That one, personally I think it's Gordon tapping into it than the vortigaunts showing it to you. It's just how I like to think of it, though, with Gordon having a nightmare of Breen and his thoughts going out to Alyx (who as far as he knew was caught in the blast), and unintentionally seeing through the eyes of a vortigaunt. Could've been an image transmitted to him though, making him the receiver. I like it the other way though, personally.

It also correlates with how I see this whole vortessence thing panning out. He's been to it a few times, the vorts have told him he's sib to them even though his mind is (at the moment) closed to their thoughts, and that if he only looked hard enough he would see the connections between people in the vortessence. Having him will himself into seeing what the vortigaunts see, even unintentionally, takes it another step further.
 
ShadowJustice said:
Sadly, I think that the g-man is more of a plot device than a real, believable character. That was cool in half-life 1, but I think that in the future he should be treated more like a character. I want to see him doing stuff, talking to other characters. Not just popping out of portals, stopping time, and delivering end-game speeches.

I don't mind the mistery surrounding him, though.
Click to expand...

He works better the less human he is; emphasises his alienesquenessnessness... ness.
 
Darkside, that Vortessence thing is disturbingly familiar to "The Matix" in a rethorical sense. The fact that Gordon would have such habilities would make him a kind of a "Neo".
Of course the analogy isnt the best nor accurate, but I hope you get my idea.
 
ShadowJustice said:
Sadly, I think that the g-man is more of a plot device than a real, believable character. That was cool in half-life 1, but I think that in the future he should be treated more like a character. I want to see him doing stuff, talking to other characters. Not just popping out of portals, stopping time, and delivering end-game speeches.
Click to expand...
You're going to love Episode Two ;)
 
OK, new theoriezz:

The G-man may just be a normal person who somehow learned to control the Vortessense. He uses the Vortessense to control Gordon and Shepard and get... What does he get for making us do something anyway?!.Also, apparently, his use of the Vortessense pisses Vortigaunts off.
Yeah... I don't actually believe that myself.
 
Hmm, Vortessence theory could be nice thing. OMFG GMan shooting electric beams :D

I believe he is somekind of Black Mesa guy. He was talking to scientists in HL1 and such.

But in real-life he must be some hippie behind the number 867-5309.
 
You know, the idea that Vortessence as a marketable commodity really got me thinking... but, for a being with the technological capacities as the Gman, what would he gain from the Vortessence? In short, what do you get the man that has everything?

Has anyone really thought about this and come to any epiphanies? The only thing that has occurred to me so far is that the Vortigaunts were able to challenge the Gman on his own turf, they were able to reach out and find "the Freeman" in whatever cold storage locker the Gman had put him, and they were able to snatch Gordon away while also seemingly keeping the Gman at bay for all of Episode One (Unless the Gman is just biding his time until all the pieces are right and his revenge will be ever more crushing and absolute - he does seem the type to play the long game). Perhaps that power that can be yielded from collective purpose is what the Gman wants?


...Assuming, of course, that he ever wanted the Vortigaunts and their Vortessence for his own in the first place.
 
Gman=Not Gordon or related to Gordon in ANY way (that includes from the future)
Gman=Not any physical being (because you'll notice that he walks on air in the end of HL2 and can manipulate time so that Gordon doesn't age at all)
Gman=The creepiest, mos creative, awesome, mysterious, character who (as some one mentioned) give Valve an easier time getting Gordon to an fro about the world of Half-Life.
Gman=One of the biggest contributors to the story line because it leaves the immersive 'unanswered questions' feel you may get when you work(ed) for a top secret research base.
Gman=A/The grestest video game character of all time.
 
The G man is an alian creature beond human comrehention who puts himself in that form for Gordons conveinence.

the Vortessence theory would explain why the vortigaunts took freeman from him, but i've always thought that his powers are just attributes of his species.
 
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