| 1 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[folder:Dr. Gordon Freeman]] |
| 4 | !Gordon Freeman |
| 5 | %% |
| 6 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1636215612015536000 |
| 7 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 8 | %% |
| 9 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gordan.png]] |
| 10 | %% |
| 11 | -->'''Played by:''' [[https://twitter.com/wayneradiotv Wayne]] |
| 12 | -> ''I'm sick of you on every level imaginable.'' |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Everybody's favorite HeroicMime given a voice, working arms, and four manchildren to take care of. |
| 15 | ---- |
| 16 | * AccidentalMurder: In spite of being the only one to try and stop the Science Team from killing random civilians, he frequently shoots civilians by accident. |
| 17 | * ActionDad: Has a son and is able to fight off both aliens, the Marine Corps, and federal law enforcement alike. |
| 18 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: Over time, he seems to come to find humor in his companions' antics, at least some of the time. |
| 19 | * AffablyEvil: In ''AI Crushes All Banks'' he's become far more amoral and violent (and a bank robber), while also being far more cheerful and friendly than he had been originally. Downplayed, since he comes off more as a LovableRogue than anything. |
| 20 | * AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:In Act 3, Part 1, Benrey and Bubby's coup after the lights suddenly go out in the room they were in ends with them lopping off his right arm. It sticks for the rest of Act Three, but gets restored by GMan after they defeat [[TrueFinalBoss Benrey]] in Act Four.]] |
| 21 | * ArmCannon: [[spoiler:In Act 4, Darnold's "potion" causes a fingernail-shooting minigun to grow on his right arm's stump.]] |
| 22 | * AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Due to how the VR mod works, Gordon's model stands with a noticeable hunch when viewed by other players. Combined with his movements, it makes him look like a curious monkey, something the cast notices in the Act 1 commentary. This odd quirk further connects Gordon with his actor -- it just so happens that Wayne's mascot is a white ape. |
| 23 | * AxCrazy: Not as much as the rest of the Science Team, but as his SanitySlippage increases, he becomes gleefully murderous and grows to enjoy slaughtering his way through marines and aliens, [[spoiler:which goes into BloodKnight levels after getting an ArmCannon.]] He still refuses to kill civilians, which puts him a level above the Science Team. |
| 24 | * BadlyBatteredBabysitter: He essentially plays this role to the Science Team. |
| 25 | * BerserkButton: |
| 26 | ** Benrey in general tends to set him off into a rage. |
| 27 | ** Chuck E. Cheese's is a ''restaurant'', not a family entertainment center. |
| 28 | ** Post-Black Mesa he seems to hold a particular disdain for the U.S Military, derisively refering to them as "Boot Boys" and slaughtering them wholesale. Given what he went through thanks to them, it's hard to blame him. |
| 29 | * BloodKnight: He starts to enjoy killing aliens and marines, but after [[spoiler:getting his arm cut off and having it replaced with an ArmCannon]], he really becomes one of these with the perverse glee he takes in slaughtering them. |
| 30 | --->'''Gordon:''' Let them know our pain! ''FUCK THE TROOPS!'' |
| 31 | ** Played straighter in ''AI Crushes All Banks'', where he seems to be robbing banks out of both a hatred for the government and his love of killing cops, and he gets so caught up in attacking cops that he accidentally shoots a few civilians. |
| 32 | * BombThrowingAnarchist: It takes surprisingly little prompting for this mild-mannered scientist to come to terms with wiping out his country's military. Even after escaping Black Mesa, he will gleefully dish out violence against state actors if the need arises. |
| 33 | * ButtMonkey: He’s subject to dealing with the Science Team's abuse and harassment of him, alongside dealing with the horrific effects of the Resonance Cascade. |
| 34 | * CharacterizationMarchesOn: A minor example. When he first meets Tommy, he derides him as a freak and had disdain for him. This derision is never shown again and is, instead, directed primarily toward [[HumanoidAbomination Benrey]]. |
| 35 | * ClassicalAntiHero: Fraught with self-doubt and fear for his life, he is often crestfallen by his inability to save others. He eventually drifts into UnscrupulousHero territory when he makes peace with his BloodKnight tendencies, and starts actively taking the fight to the government in areas full of civilians. |
| 36 | * ClingyCostume: [[spoiler:The HEV suit is revealed to be this in Act 3, as it was "designed to never come off"--which is a major problem for Gordon, since the suit is also what's been attracting the US military to Black Mesa.]] |
| 37 | * CopHater: While he generally tolerates the Black Mesa security force, he otherwise has no sympathy for police. Given [[TokenEvilTeammate the cop]] he spends the most time with, it's hard to blame him. |
| 38 | * DeadpanSnarker: Often snarks at the deranged antics of the rest of the Science Team. |
| 39 | * TheDreaded: Benrey often hints that the rest of Black Mesa is scared of him even before he goes on the warpath. Considering that the way his sprite is positioned makes him appear as a gaunt HumanoidAbomination with a weird walk, it's not without reason. |
| 40 | * EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:Coomer considers him one, due to being the player character.]] |
| 41 | * EmpoweredBadassNormal: [[spoiler:After gaining his ArmCannon, he not only acquires serious firepower, but also gains SuperStrength in his right arm, and eventually unlocks [[MoreDakka Devil Gun Mode]].]] |
| 42 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Despite taking up bank robbery simply because [[ItAmusedMe he wants to]], he draws the line at [[NeverHurtAnInnocent shooting civilians]]. |
| 43 | * FanBoy: Of video games, particularly ''[[VideoGame/KaneAndLynch Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days]]''. |
| 44 | * FourthWallObserver: A notable [[AvertedTrope aversion.]] Despite being the PlayerCharacter controlled and voiced by wayneradiotv, Gordon is treated as having no knowledge of the real world or that he's in a video game, [[PlayedForDrama with all the psychological damage from experiencing the events of the game first hand that implies.]] [[spoiler: Once he starts going delirious from blood loss after his arm is chopped off, he starts making fourth wall breaking jokes due to his worsening mental state, chief among them being his references to [=Justin.tv=] and Gabe Newell's knife collection. Due to his state however, he only seems half aware of what he's saying.]] |
| 45 | ** [[ZigZaggingTrope Zigzagged]] in the final battle against [[spoiler:Benrey. He finally comes to terms with the world being fake by confirming to Dr. Coomer that none of what they are experiencing is real, acknowledging his role as the PlayerCharacter in a video game, but still treats his experiences as if they were real, as to his companions, [[DoAndroidsDream that]] ''[[DoAndroidsDream is]]'' [[DoAndroidsDream reality]].]] |
| 46 | ** On a meta level, when the series was being livestreamed, Wayne of wayneradiotv framed his performance as needing to be in character for the "AI" to respond properly to him. This is for the most part edited out of the official Act uploads of the series, but still leaks out on occasion when the antics of the Science Team leaves him Corpsing, or moments such as [[spoiler:when Coomer and Bubby reverting to default scientist [=NPCs=] during ''The End'':]] |
| 47 | --->[[spoiler:'''Wayne:''' (''As Gordon'') ...What is fucking going on!? (''whispers, as himself'') ''What is going on with the AI?!'']] |
| 48 | * TheGamblingAddict: In the AI Crushes All Banks stream, the penultimate level is the Golden Grin Casino. Before the robbery takes place, however, Gordon and the rest of the gang see fit to gamble a little, and Gordon gets a little sucked in. |
| 49 | ** Later on, even in the middle of a firefight, he finds a machine that is still working and stops participating to play the slots, even neglecting to help up Benry when he is down. |
| 50 | --->'''Gordon: DUDE-D-DON'T TOUCH MY SLOTS!!''' ''What if I win this one, Asshole?!'' |
| 51 | * GoMadFromTheRevelation: [[spoiler:Inverted. His increasing insanity causes him to realize his world is fake.]] |
| 52 | ** [[spoiler:Possibly played straight, since the fourth wall references he makes all occur after his encounter with the Coomer clones, which made it clear to him that the world is fake.]] |
| 53 | * HandicappedBadass: [[spoiler:He loses his ability to fire a weapon after his right forearm is severed, but he is still adept at surviving the horrors of Black Mesa and guiding his companions through the same.]] |
| 54 | * HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: In Act 1's commentary, Wayne and the gang decide that Gordon's picture of Joshua may be a case of this, since Joshua isn't mentioned [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness anywhere else in the streams]]. Holly posits that Gordon has the picture (which came from a photo frame obtained at a Target) to show the world that he has a wife, family, and fulfilling private life. |
| 55 | * HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Averted in comparison to his usual depiction, as Gordon's model is shown to have a helmet. He does take it off during [[spoiler:the DancePartyEnding]]. |
| 56 | * HeWhoFightsMonsters: In the Act 3 Commentary video, he expresses his belief that this has happen to him, noting that he is "barely human". |
| 57 | * HiddenDepths: |
| 58 | ** In the first episode, he mentions he's a father and shows off a picture of of his infant son Joshua. |
| 59 | ** He's a big fan of Music/ElvisPresley, and [[NotSoAboveItAll geeks out when he meets Elvis' ghost.]] |
| 60 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's a pretty nice guy for the most part and is very protective of Tommy and the most moral of the Science Team, but he's very short-tempered. |
| 61 | * LargeHam: Has a tendency to start shouting at the top of his lungs when in a combat situation or when he’s exasperated by the Science Team. Which is a lot. |
| 62 | * LimitBreak: [[spoiler:His ArmCannon has what Darnold refers to as a "Devil Gun Mode", in which the gun overheats from usage and starts firing at significantly faster rate.]] |
| 63 | * TheLoad: [[spoiler:Becomes this after his arm is cut off, until Darnold's potion gives him a minigun hand that is.]] |
| 64 | * TheMadHatter: He is well-aware of his SanitySlippage, and eventually he realizes it has made him unfit to lead the team. |
| 65 | * NiceGuy: Whenever he's not extremely stressed out or arguing with Benrey, Dr. Coomer and Bubby, he’s actually pretty nice and gets along well with Tommy and Darnold. By ''AI Crushes All Banks'', he’s become far more friendly with the Science Team, though by this point he’s become a violent bank robber. |
| 66 | * NeverHurtAnInnocent: In his misadventures, he never ([[AccidentalMurder deliberately]]) brings harm to scientists or civilians, even after accepting his role as a BombThrowingAnarchist. His companions, [[ChaoticStupid though...]] |
| 67 | * NotSoAboveItAll: |
| 68 | ** His arguments with Benrey occasionally result in ''Dr. Coomer'' having to be the OnlySaneMan between them. |
| 69 | ** His argument with the G-Man over whether Chuck E. Cheese's is a restaurant or not also shows this. |
| 70 | * OnlySaneMan: He's the only one in Black Mesa who has a lick of sense, and is the sole voice of reason amongst the Science Team. Even after he goes ''[[OnlySaneByComparison insane]]'', he ''still'' comes off as the sanest person around. |
| 71 | * PapaWolf: For Tommy. |
| 72 | * ParentalSubstitute: He serves as one of these to Tommy. |
| 73 | * SanitySlippage: Over time, he becomes noticeably more manic and stressed-out, and resigned to the deaths of (almost) everyone he meets. It seems to be partly due to witnessing the horrors of the resonance cascade, but mostly because of his companions. |
| 74 | ** Downplayed in ''AI Crushes All Banks'', by which point Gordon has clearly gone insane and at some points comes off as crazier than the Science Team, but, being the Science Team, most of the time he's relegated to being the OnlySaneMan. |
| 75 | * TheSleepless: Averted. Whereas in the original game he stays awake for almost 3 days straight, here, he and the [=NPCs=] stop to sleep at the end of each act. |
| 76 | * StraightMan: He's [[SurroundedByIdiots the one being tormented by the other four characters]], and he seems to be [[OnlySaneMan the only one with any hint of rationality]]. |
| 77 | * TokenGoodTeammate: Played straight and then downplayed. He's the only one to object to the Science Team's more amoral actions, but following his SanitySlippage he becomes far more amoral and unhinged, but he still continues to object to things like shooting civilians. |
| 78 | * TragicDream: His dream of being a Justin.tv streamer. Even if the world weren't ending all around him, [[ThisIsGoingToBeHuge the site would shut down not too long after the events of the game]]. |
| 79 | * TraumaCongaLine: ''Oh boy.'' First the Resonance Cascade, then watching multiple people die at the hands of his teammates (and then they die themselves), having the military try to shoot him down, [[spoiler:gets betrayed by some of the only people he has and loses his arm, learns that the world might be fake via Dr. Coomer's clones, is mauled by Bubby's protoypes, and in the end fights for his life with an alien god Benrey.]] [[invoked]] [[IronWoobie Poor fucking guy.]] |
| 80 | * VitriolicBestBuds: Becomes this with Dr. Coomer at the end of the series. |
| 81 | [[/folder]] |
| 82 | |
| 83 | !!The Science Team |
| 84 | |
| 85 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 86 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/science_team.png]] |
| 87 | [[caption-width-right:350: '''Dr. Coomer''': "Don't fuck with the Science Team!" [[note]]From left to right: [[PlayerCharacter Gordon Freeman]], [[TalkativeLoon Dr. Coomer]], [[{{Jerkass}} Bubby]], [[TheHeart Tommy]] and [[TokenEvilTeammate Benrey]] [[/note]]]] |
| 88 | ->''SLURP SLURP SLURP SLURP SLURP'' |
| 89 | The four weirdos that keep harassing Gordon Freeman as he tries to escape Black Mesa. |
| 90 | ---- |
| 91 | * AIIsACrapshoot: In the {{Kayfabe}} of the story, they're all AI-driven [=NPCs=] in a Virtual Reality version of Half-Life that react to how the player plays the game and learn. This ''very quickly'' starts going off the rails, especially when [[spoiler: Dr. Coomer discovers they live in a virtual world.]] |
| 92 | ** There's also a moment in the middle of Xen where, seemingly for no reason at all, Dr. Coomer and Bubby get briefly overridden by their default ''Half-Life'' AIs and run around, shouting in pain and spouting [[WelcomeToCorneria generic Half-Life scientist lines]]. |
| 93 | * AntiHero: The majority of them, being rather unscrupulous and, at times, killing the innocents who they're supposed to help or just leave alone. By the Payday stream, they've driven the ire of not just the US Military but the police as well, wiping out entire armies of them during their heists. |
| 94 | * AxCrazy: They're very trigger-happy, whether their target is an alien, an innocent bystander, or each other. |
| 95 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Between [[AIIsACrapshoot Dr. Coomer]], [[TheDitz Bubby]], [[ChildrenAreInnocent Tommy]] and [[LawfulStupid Benrey]], the only member of the group with any common sense is Gordon. |
| 96 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: They all constantly act silly, but when they have to fight off against aliens or the military, you can bet they're gonna kick their asses! |
| 97 | * FireForgedFriends: By the end of the series, they’ve formed something approximating this, with the exception of [[spoiler:Benrey.]] |
| 98 | * FiveManBand: The members of the Science Team seem to swap between and encompass multiple roles. Most consistently, Gordon is TheLeader, though he gave up that position to Tommy, who is also both TheHeart and TheLancer. Benrey seemed to either want, or believe himself to be the Lancer, but [[spoiler:between his betrayal of Gordon Freeman, and the fact that he's directly behind the Resonance Cascade,]] that wasn't going to last. Dr. Coomer swaps between TheBigGuy and TheSmartGuy depending on [[RuleOfFunny what's funnier at the time]], and Bubby is TheSmartGuy, when he's not being deliberately incorrect[[note]]"It's just brain cancer, you can live with that!"[[/note]]. This is Subverted with Darnold who seems like he's going to be the SixthRanger, but decides on backing out when he finds he's not prepared for the amount of death he's likely going to be surrounded by. |
| 99 | * HiddenDepths: They are all big fans of Music/ElvisPresley. |
| 100 | * MadeOfIron: The cast goes through a bunch of life-threatening injuries and suddenly finds themselves no worse for wear. The only exception is Benrey, who goes out of commission for a bit for a while and is explicitly said to come back from the dead. |
| 101 | * MagicMusic: All of them have access to the Sweet Voice, an ill-defined power that has many uses depending on the color and tone chosen. |
| 102 | * NeverMyFault: Gordon is entirely responsible for everything that goes wrong, according to them. They thankfully abandon this mindset by the time of ''AI Crushes All Banks''. |
| 103 | * NiceMeanAndInBetween: Tommy is the childlike, kindhearted Nice, Dr. Coomer and Gordon are the irascible but generally good-hearted In-Between, and the egotistical Bubby and TokenEvilTeammate Benrey are the Mean. |
| 104 | * RedShirt: A few non-sentient [=NPCs=] accompany them in Act 1, all of whom are killed before the end of the first video. |
| 105 | * TooDumbToLive: All of them have no regard at all for their personal safety, and have no problem wildly charging into battle with the U.S. Military and the invading aliens. But they come back, so it's okay. |
| 106 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: Soda. Whenever Gordon breaks a vending machine, they're quick to swarm it. |
| 107 | * TeethClenchedTeamwork: If you can even call it that. They repeatedly injure and kill each other, and Benrey actively goes out of his way to harm them. Averted by Gordon and Tommy, who genuinely care about each other and never get into arguments. |
| 108 | * TookALevelInKindness: In ''AI Crushes All Banks'', after becoming bank robbers, they stop shooting civilians and blaming Gordon for everything that goes wrong. |
| 109 | ** In the original series, they actually did try to stop killing civilians (except for Benrey), but their recklessness always resulted in them accidentally killing the civilians. |
| 110 | * TrueCompanions: They become this at the end of the series with the exception of [[spoiler:Benrey]]. [[spoiler:After all the hardships and obstacles they face, they're shown attending Tommy's birthday party side-by-side.]] |
| 111 | [[/folder]] |
| 112 | |
| 113 | [[folder:Benrey]] |
| 114 | !Benrey Benrey Benrey |
| 115 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hlaibenrey.png]] |
| 116 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"Do you have your passport?"'']] |
| 117 | -->'''Played by:''' [[https://twitter.com/socpens Scorpy]] |
| 118 | ->''See what happens when you have your ID and your Pass Port?'' |
| 119 | |
| 120 | A very belligerent security guard, he is constantly suspicious of Gordon, repeatedly asking him for his passport. He possesses the "Black Mesa Sweet Voice" which involves him emitting a tone while colored balls of light spill out of his mouth. Gordon has no idea what the hell that is and for the most part, neither do the viewers. |
| 121 | ---- |
| 122 | * AbhorrentAdmirer: Benrey lusts after Gordon (and his feet), but Gordon is not interested '''''at all'''''. |
| 123 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: He starts cackling maniacally after Gordon quips "Damn, you wait for no one." after Benrey jumps off an elevator. |
| 124 | * AdaptationalVillainy: Subverted. Gordon initially assumes he is [[VideoGame/HalfLifeBlueShift Barney]] [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 Calhoun]], but he quickly clarifies his name is ''Benrey'', not Barney. |
| 125 | * AlmightyIdiot: [[invoked]][[spoiler:[[WordOfGod According to Wayne]], he may not even be conscious of his own actions until spoken to.]] |
| 126 | * AlwaysABiggerFish: To an unfortunate headcrab that tries to jump on his head and zombify him, since it repeatedly fails to do so and bounces helplessly in the air before inexplicably catching fire. |
| 127 | * AmbiguousSituation: It's not at all clear what [[spoiler: Benry actually is, his relationship to the skeleton, or even if the Benry everyone is familiar with is the real him]]. His brief [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness OOC moment]] in part 3 after [[spoiler:the skeleton falls asleep]], appearance in the credits, and InsaneTrollLogic in the climax all point to [[spoiler:the skeleton being his "true form" and the security guard being just [[BodySnatcher an unfortunate victim of it]]]], but it's vague to say the least. |
| 128 | ** His Sony fanboyism in later episodes. CharacterDevelopment, [[spoiler:reverse-BrainwashResidue from his host body]], or something he's always had and is only just now revealing? |
| 129 | ** Also, [[spoiler:the Skeleton is seen peacefully attending Tommy's birthday party, muddying the issue even more. Did the Skeleton undergo a HeelFaceTurn, was the Skeleton the one brainwashed by Benrey rather then the under way around, or was said Skeleton a separate entity?]] |
| 130 | ** Muddying issues ''further'' [[spoiler:A security guard model can be seen at the concession stand during the FramingDevice of the first cast commentary in a FreezeFrameBonus. Is it just a random guard, or is it Benrey BackFromTheDead? The Act 3 commentary video reveals that it's indeed Benrey, but opens the question of if he's real or a figment of Gordon's fevered imagination.]] |
| 131 | * AmbiguouslyEvil: As the series goes on, Benrey becomes more and more suspicious while never outright showing anything that clearly pinpoints him as a traitor. [[spoiler:He eventually turns out to have been the BigBad all along.]] |
| 132 | * BackFromTheDead: |
| 133 | ** The only character so far to explicitly die, but it only lasts an episode. |
| 134 | ** [[spoiler:After being killed at the end of ''Half-Life 1'', Benrey manages to come back and hacks into Gordon's stream in ''PAYDAY 2''. The Act 3 commentary video, set prior to ACAB, also has him appear, and Gordon explicitly points this out.]] |
| 135 | * BadBoss: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQZ562S94Zg&t=780s According to Dr. Coomer,]] he's the Security Chief. He still insults other guards in front of their faces, claiming that they don't pay attention on the job and stand around thinking about Froot Loops all day. After the Resonance Cascade, he belittles and kills the guards he meets for no reason. |
| 136 | * BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: He shoots several pigeons for not having their passports. |
| 137 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: For all his comedic traits, Benrey, like the rest of the Science Team, is extremely dangerous and can kick ass with the best of them. Unlike the Science Team, [[spoiler:he has absolutely no scruples or empathy whatsoever.]] |
| 138 | * BigBad: [[spoiler:He turns out to be the series' equivalent to the Nihilanth, and it's implied he caused the Resonance Cascade on purpose.]] |
| 139 | * BigNo: Parodied in the final fight. Instead of a dramatic, bellowing "NOOOOOO!!!" he lets out a whiny and petty "Noooo-uh!" |
| 140 | * BodyHorror: [[spoiler:During the FinalBattle, his body grows, contorts, and shifts, and occasionally glows red.]] |
| 141 | * BlownAcrossTheRoom: He's accidentally punched by Dr. Coomer whilst in a silo and [[TheyKilledKennyAgain falls to his death yet again]] when he's punted a far distance. |
| 142 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: Benrey has a very strict moral code. Unfortunately, said moral code is completely incomprehensible, and no one can figure out what the hell it is. Eventually, even the rest of the Science Team starts to be disturbed by him. |
| 143 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:It's implied the skeleton is doing ''something'' to him to make him more hostile and immortal. Maybe.]] |
| 144 | * BrownNote: His "Black Mesa Sweet Voice" can cause insanity as much as it is used to placate beings. |
| 145 | * CameBackStrong: After dying the first time, Gordon finds him [[ImplacableMan impossible to get rid off]], much to his frustration. |
| 146 | * CameraFiend: Loves taking pictures. He carries a camera around with him just in case he sees things he finds interesting, which happens once every few hours. |
| 147 | * CerebusRetcon: [[spoiler:His behavior is put in a far darker light after he has Gordon's arm cut off, with his actions afterwards mainly being played for very dark laughs at best.]] |
| 148 | * CharacterizationMarchesOn: In Act 1, there were very rare occasions where Benrey actually got along with Gordon, and could occasionally be civil towards him. Throughout rest of the series, this happening is completely out of the question, and the two are constantly fighting. |
| 149 | * CharacterTics: Benrey often sits more than any member of the main cast, and when he regenerates or teleports is always sitting straight up upon discovery. His tendency to do this makes Gordon think that the skeleton following him around ''was'' Benrey after his initial death. [[spoiler:One of them might be, though.]] |
| 150 | * TheChewToy: If any of the Science Team is going to be maimed, injured, or killed and Bubby isn't around, it's likely to be Benrey. [[spoiler:After Gordon gets his ArmCannon, it gets even worse, since Gordon goes out of his way to injure or kill Benrey out of revenge.]] |
| 151 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: His odd mannerisms, self delusions, childlike tendencies, tendency to use InsaneTrollLogic, and general demeanor make it clear that Benrey and reality parted ways a long time ago. |
| 152 | * TheComicallySerious: With few exceptions, he doesn't raise his voice, and he treats every situation as though it were completely serious, no matter how ludicrous and bizarre things get. |
| 153 | * CompulsiveLiar: Whereas the scientists often seem to just forget what they're doing, Benrey seems to be trying to flat out ''gaslight'' Gordon considering how rarely he ever doesn't contradict himself, insisting he's never killed anyone, let alone an innocent person, despite having killed ''only'' scientists and other security guards. |
| 154 | ** BelievingTheirOwnLies: Later events indicate that Benrey believes his own bullshit, and that his memory of events is extremely skewed. For example, [[spoiler:during his MotiveRant]], he claims that the Resonance Cascade only happened because Gordon came to work with his fly unzipped, which [[InsaneTrollLogic somehow]] resulted in Benrey being unable to play [=PlaystationPlus=]. |
| 155 | * {{Cuckoosnarker}}: Benrey has a very tenuous connection to reality, but he does occasionally get pretty snarky, though not as much as Bubby. |
| 156 | * DeadpanSnarker: With extra emphasis on the deadpan, but Benrey can occasionally break out a snark every now and then, usually at Gordon's expense. |
| 157 | * DefrostingIceQueen: A downplayed trope. Initially only joining Freeman to get his passport, he gets a little less rigid over the course of the story, joining in on the antics of the scientists sometimes. He still wants that passport though. |
| 158 | * {{Deuteragonist}}: His actions drive much of the plot and conflict throughout the series, even setting the plot into motion with his [[spoiler:not-so]] accidental causing of the Resonance Cascade, and he gets a ton of focus, especially after [[spoiler:his betrayal of Gordon and the subsequent reveal of him being the BigBad.]] |
| 159 | * DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: [[spoiler: G-Man appears again in Act 4 to speak with Gordon...]] and Benrey both perceives him ''and'' manages to completely ruin his speech by repeatedly asking for his credentials [[NonSequitur and a code for a free month of Play Station Plus]]. Even Gordon is amazed. |
| 160 | * DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: His betrayal is mainly brought about because Gordon didn't have his passport.]] |
| 161 | * DisneyVillainDeath: Falls down an elevator shaft in one episode, though he pops up again in the next episode. |
| 162 | * DullSurprise: Benrey usually reacts to everything around him with a bored apathy, whether it be harassing Gordon, killing people, or mourning his friend Josh. |
| 163 | * EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler:In ''AI Crushes All Banks'', the Science Team immediately forgives him for trying to murder him when he asks to rejoin them. Gordon goes along with it, but makes it clear that, while he may forgive Benrey, he sure as hell hasn't forgotten his betrayal.]] |
| 164 | * EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:Turns out to be one. The G-Man even says that Benrey's exact species "is on a need-to-know basis".]] |
| 165 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: He is introduced harassing Gordon over his passport and lying that his fellow guard is angry at Gordon, and then proceeds to make up lies about everyone is afraid of Gordon and that he wants to steal stuff in spite of all evidence to the contrary. He also uses the Black Mesa Sweet Voice on Gordon and tries to convince him to jump down an elevator shaft, establishing him as a LawfulStupid ConsummateLiar {{Jerkass}}. |
| 166 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]] in regards to Tommy Coolatta. Until he was [[spoiler: revealed to be an EldritchAbomination]], he treated Tommy like an old friend. However, [[spoiler:when he ''is'' revealed to be behind the Resonance Cascade, he tries to get Tommy along with the rest of the Science Team killed]]. ''However'' when Tommy is captured and brought to the White House in ''AI Crushes All Banks'', he's one of the first to say they need to rescue him. This is shortly followed by him suggesting they trade Tommy for a Beyblade. But he also does try to rescue Tommy when they get to the White House regardless, seemingly trying to comfort Tommy during his asbestos poisoning episode. |
| 167 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: During the Act 3 Commentary video, he is disgusted when he realizes Gordon didn’t flush the toilet he had used, in spite of preventing him from washing his hands a moment earlier. He is also legitimately confused when he finds a baseball inside of a toilet, which is probably the only time he actually questions the insanity around him. |
| 168 | * EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:He turned out to be "the space god" that the Science Team was hunting down. It is also implied that ''he'' was the one who caused Resonance Cascade all along.]] |
| 169 | * EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler:Benrey orchestrates an entire alien[=/=]military invasion on Black Mesa all because Gordon [[MultipleChoicePast didn't have his passport/had a dick slip on the job]].]] Lampshaded by Dr. Coomer when he was describing him and [[TokenEvilTeammate Bubby]]. |
| 170 | -->'''Dr. Coomer:''' I think they're just spiteful. |
| 171 | * ExBigBad: [[spoiler:He's no longer an active threat to the Science Team in ''AI Crushes All Banks''.]] |
| 172 | * FauxAffablyEvil: There are a few rare moments where he seems to show that he genuinely considers the Science Team to be friends and comes off as downright amiable, but his actions at the end of the series makes it clear that it's just an act. Though with Benrey, it is impossible to tell what his motivations or true feelings are. |
| 173 | * {{Flanderization}}: ''AI Crushes All Banks'' ditches his LawfulStupid traits in favor of playing up his hatred for Gordon and his delusional view of the world. Justified, as by this point Benrey is committing bank robbery, so it wouldn't make sense for him to carry on his LawfulStupid schtick, but it's still somewhat jarring to not hear him bring up passports and the like. This is actually lampshaded by Gordon, who confronts Benrey about this. Naturally, he just responds with a nonsequitur about Gordon Freeman's feet. |
| 174 | * ForgottenFallenFriend: [[TheyKilledKennyAgain The first time he dies,]] none of the Science Team really cares except for Gordon, who is more concerned with their blasé attitude towards his death [[SurrealHumor (and that toilets randomly fell on top of his corpse)]] than anything else. |
| 175 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: Gordon '''HATES''' him with burning passion ([[spoiler:especially after Gordon's arm is cut off]]) and other members of the Science Team don't care that much about him either. The only reason they bear with him is that he just won't die. |
| 176 | * TheGadfly: In general, Benrey loves riling Gordon up, mocking him, or pranking him. This increases several times over when he starts opening up in the final act. |
| 177 | * HorrifyingTheHorror: Benrey manages to not only perceive the G-Man, but make him ''visibly uncomfortable'' just by repeatedly asking for his credentials and a [=PlayStation=] Plus voucher code. |
| 178 | * HumanoidAbomination: Admits pretty early on that he isn't human. Given his ability to come back from the dead, this probably wasn't a joke. [[spoiler: He's likely either a clone like the other Black Mesa personnel Gordon travels with, or is fully aware he's an AI.]] |
| 179 | ** When everyone (except [[ButtMonkey Freeman]]) finally reveal their passports, Benrey's name repeats over and over, going off the page and extending out into the air beside it. |
| 180 | ** [[spoiler:Turns out, it's all but confirmed that the skeleton is Benrey's true form.]] |
| 181 | * {{Hypocrite}}: Benrey often acts like he’s dedicated to enforcing law and order in Black Mesa, but usually, this just comes down to harassing Gordon whenever he wants and breaking the law whenever it suits him. |
| 182 | * IHaveManyNames: He's alternately been called "Security Chief Boper", "Stong", "Bipple" and "Benny". |
| 183 | * InsaneTrollLogic: |
| 184 | ** His argument to Gordon in Xen practically transcends insane troll logic into a WordSaladHorror (or [[WordSaladHumor Humor]]) version of logic. To wit, [[spoiler: Gordon forgetting to zip his fly at work one day (which Gordon claims didn't actually happen) forced Benry to work late, and miss out on his chance to play ''VideoGame/HeavenlySword'' ([[InsistentTerminology "Sony's Halo"]]) with his friend, which made him have to beg people for a PS+ account, lose his friend, maybe caused the resonance cascade, and makes Gordon [[WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou responsible for everything that has happened to him]]]]. It makes even less sense in context. |
| 185 | ** Benrey pretty much runs on InsaneTrollLogic, mainly because of his extremely warped view of how the world works. His NeverMyFault tendencies and SelfServingMemory also help him turn pretty much everything bad that happens into Gordon’s fault, no mater how impossible. |
| 186 | * InspectorJavert: He won't stop until he gets Gordon's passport. |
| 187 | * IRejectYourReality: He's convinced Gordon is a murderous, thieving {{Jerkass}} and he's a friendly, normal person, and ignores all evidence to the contrary. |
| 188 | * ImAHumanitarian: At one point, he starts licking the corpse of a dead security guard, much to Gordon’s disgust. |
| 189 | * {{Jerkass}}: It's not Benrey's eccentricities that make him hard for Gordon to tolerate -- it's that Benrey is the most clear-cut asshole of the group. His behavior only gets worse over time. He regularly harasses and [[{{Gaslighting}} gaslights]] Gordon about various things, especially the passport, mouths off at him like a bratty child, murders people just to spite Gordon, and [[spoiler: gets HECU to cut off Gordon's arm.]] |
| 190 | * JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: His apparent PetTheDog moments with Tommy become a lot less sincere when Scorpy revealed what Benry meant about his revelation that [[spoiler:his "let Tommy go" remark. The comment was directed not at his skeleton minions, but the science team -- Benrey was encouraging Gordon and co. to ''leave Tommy for dead''.]] |
| 191 | * KickTheDog: [[spoiler:He mocks Gordon for losing his arm, which Benrey had had the US Military do.]] |
| 192 | * KilledOffscreen: After the final stream of WebVideo/HalfLifeAlyxButTheGnomeIsTooAware, a stream starring Benrey was meant to start on Holly's channel, but he died in a boating accident beforehand and couldn't make it. |
| 193 | * KillItWithFire: During [[spoiler: the Bank Heist]], Benrey wields a flamethrower (that he claims is powered by his hatred for Gordon) against the police. |
| 194 | * KnightOfCerebus: [[spoiler:After being revealed as an EldritchAbomination, outside of a few humorous moments, he is played entirely seriously as a threat. He loses this status after his return in ''AI Crushes All Banks'' and the Act 3 Commentary Video.]] |
| 195 | * KubrickStare: Does this multiple times throughout the series, most famously when asking for Gordon's passport in Act 1. |
| 196 | * LackOfEmpathy: Benrey shows no guilt or empathy for his actions, no matter how cruel they are. |
| 197 | * LaughablyEvil: Benrey is a freaky anomaly but he at the same time he is prone to acting like a pre-schooler, taunting Gordon for [[spoiler:losing his hand]], and [[spoiler: his primary motive is that he couldn't play [=PS3=] with his friend]]. Benrey's antics will usually elicit baffled laughter from Gordon. |
| 198 | * LaughingMad: On very rare occasions, Benrey will uncharacteristically burst out into hysterical and deranged laughter. |
| 199 | * LawfulStupid: He's convinced Gordon's a troublemaker or even a thief because he didn't present his passport at security despite the fact that the policy had only been adopted ''that day.'' He continues to do this even after Gordon shows him his passport. [[spoiler: Coomer also all but confirms that his betrayal and attempt to have Gordon killed was ''all because of the passport nonsense.'']] |
| 200 | * MadGod: [[spoiler:He seems totally convinced that he is a friendly, normal person that Gordon relentlessly bullies, unaware or unconcerned that he is a mass-murdering RealityWarper that arguably caused the Resonance Cascade and is tearing the dimensions apart.]] |
| 201 | * MagicMusic: He's a prolific user of the Black Mesa Sweet Voice. |
| 202 | * MajorInjuryUnderreaction: While all the Science Team is like this, it's most pronounced with Benrey because Gordon actively attempts to hurt or kill him at various points. He barely responds, if at all, to things like getting whacked in the head with a crowbar or filled with bullets. |
| 203 | * MaliciousMisnaming: He starts calling Gordon "Gordon Feetman" after trying to take a photograph of his feet, though this quickly descends into him revealing his very weird obsession with Gordon's feet. |
| 204 | * {{Manchild}}: While usually a PsychopathicManchild, on occasion he acts like a pre-schooler, like cheerfully shouting "ROAD TRIP!" while Bubby attempts to drive the Science Team out of Black Mesa, and believing [[Franchise/{{Cars}} Lightning [=McQueen=]]] is real and gets into a fierce argument with Gordon for pointing out that Lighting [=McQueen=] is a fictional character. |
| 205 | * MaskOfSanity: [[spoiler:While clearly insane before, after he reveals his true nature as an EldritchAbomination Benrey launches into a bizarre MotiveRant that manages to baffle even [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Dr. Coomer]] and [[TooDumbToLive Bubby]].]] |
| 206 | * TheMillstone: [[spoiler:During ''AI Crushes All Banks'', he is this for the Science Team after joining them in their bank robbing spree, mainly due to his extreme incompetence and his constant attempts to murder Gordon.]] |
| 207 | * TheMole: [[spoiler:Implied to be working with the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, though the Science Team (except Gordon) ignore it.]] |
| 208 | * MoralMyopia: After finding Josh's corpse, Benrey begins mourning ([[TheStoic as much]] [[DullSurprise as Benrey]] [[TheComicallySerious can mourn]]), only to immediately shoot another guard [[InsaneTrollLogic "for symmetry."]] |
| 209 | * MotiveRant: Parodied. [[spoiler:In Xen, he claims Gordon forgetting to zip his fly at work one day (which Gordon claims didn't actually happen) forced Benry to work late, and miss out on his chance to play ''VideoGame/HeavenlySword'' ([[InsistentTerminology "Sony's Halo"]]) with his friend, which made him have to beg people for a PS+ account, lose his friend, maybe caused the resonance cascade, and makes Gordon [[WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou responsible for everything that has happened to him.]]]] |
| 210 | ** [[invoked]][[spoiler:[[WordOfGod According to Scorpy]], Gordon did leave his fly open, but didn’t notice, and Benrey immediately crouched down and zipped Gordon's fly while in the middle of harassing him over his passport.]] |
| 211 | * {{Narcissist}}: During the Act 3 Commentary video, he stares in the bathroom mirror and admires his reflection, before making out with it. |
| 212 | -->'''Benrey:''' Behold, the reflection of perfection. |
| 213 | * NerdInEvilsHelmet: [[spoiler:He's a homicidal MadGod and also a total [=PlayStation=] and Sony geek.]] |
| 214 | * NeverMyFault: Even more so than the rest of the team, since he blames everything on Gordon, including things that he himself had done and that Gordon had no way of doing. [[spoiler:His MotiveRant consists of him rambling about how Gordon going into work with his dick out (which never happened) stopped him from getting to play ''VideoGame/HeavenlySword'' on Platform/PlayStationPlus, which made him have to be mean.]] |
| 215 | * NoPunctuationIsFunnier: Benrey's captions are often written this way, alongside AllLowercaseLetters, indicating his dispassionate nature. |
| 216 | * NotSoStoic: On some very rare occasions he expresses emotions other than his usual bored apathy, like cackling maniacally or when he starts angrily screaming after Dr. Coomer accidentally blocks the exit to Gordon's locker, trapping Benrey and Gordon. |
| 217 | * PassiveAggressiveKombat: His constant pestering of Gordon and his accusations can come off as this, due to his eerily-calm voice. |
| 218 | * ObsessiveHobbyEpisode: In a way. In later episodes, he becomes really obsessed with Playstation Plus, and ''VideoGame/HeavenlySword'', to the point that [[spoiler:his MotiveRant basically consists of rambling about wanting to get an account so he could play it]]. Notably, it seems to appear (or at least begin dominating his conversations) only after his OOCIsSeriousBusiness moment, detailed below. |
| 219 | ** There's also his weird obsession with Gordon's feet that pops up in the last two episodes. |
| 220 | ** [[spoiler:In ''AI Crushes All Banks'', he’s become obsessed with ''Franchise/JohnWick''.]] |
| 221 | * OddFriendship: Subverted. He seems to have one with Tommy, who is the only person he actually seems to get along with, [[spoiler:but he tries to kill him at the end of the series.]] |
| 222 | * OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Subverted. He claims to have [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext saved the world from a nuclear bomb created by Sony CEO Jack Tretton and Nintendo CEO Reggie]], but it's clearly more of his BlatantLies and no one believes him. |
| 223 | * OhCrap: After he and Gordon fall into a radioactive pit, Benrey has one, albeit delivered in his usual bored monotone. |
| 224 | -->[[SincerityMode Yeah, I'm sorry, we're kinda fucked.]] (drops dead) |
| 225 | * OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:His player model grows [[AttackOfThe50FeetWhatever giant]] when they reach Xen [[BodyHorror and starts to contort grotesquely]] in his boss fight.]] |
| 226 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: |
| 227 | ** Part 2 has Benrey, for what appears to be the first time in the series, express fear and ''worry'' for Gordon when being attacked by the Black Mesa Golem Ape. |
| 228 | ** [[spoiler:After [[KickTheDog mocking Gordon for his severed hand throughout all of Act Three: Part Three,]] as soon as the skeleton falls asleep after he checks its passport, he stands back up, looks around, and with a genuinely confused/concerned tone of voice says [[WhamLine "Where'd- Why are we here? What happened to your arm?"]]]] |
| 229 | * PetTheDog: |
| 230 | ** Spares a security guard who owed him three dollars because the guard was his best friend, though Bubby shoots the guard immediately after for owing him five dollars. |
| 231 | ** [[spoiler:During the final battle, he tells his skeletons to let go of Tommy. [[LampshadeHanging Gordon and Dr. Coomer are both surprised that he's choosing to be nice.]] This one was a case of miscommunication however as according to]] [[invoked]][[spoiler:[[WordOfGod Word of Scorpy]] he was trying to tell the science team to just ''let Tommy die.'']] |
| 232 | * PopCulturedBadass: Benrey is very well-versed in pop-culture, and makes references to being a fan of ''Franchise/{{Cars}}'', ''VideoGame/HeavenlySword'', and ''Franchise/JohnWick''. |
| 233 | * PunchedAcrossTheRoom: A minor running gag is this happening to Benrey, usually at a very pissed Gordon’s hands. |
| 234 | * PsychopathicManchild: Benrey generally acts like a playground bully who has been given a position of authority and a gun, and frequently annoys Gordon with childish taunts. He also has a tendency to murder people. |
| 235 | ** [[spoiler: During the final battle, Benrey amps up the "psychopathic" by wildly swinging between trying to get the team to stop shooting him by claiming he has to shoot back to defend himself and gleefully threatening them.]] |
| 236 | --->'''Benrey:''' (cheerfully) I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU GUYS TO SEE HELL! |
| 237 | * PuzzleBoss: In-universe. [[spoiler:Benrey's invincible until everyone's passports get destroyed, and even then it still takes a lot to put him down]]. |
| 238 | * TheQuisling: [[spoiler:It's heavily implied that he's with the Marine Corps. Later reveals make it seem as if the HECU marines are the Quislings in the equation.]] |
| 239 | * RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:It takes the entire Science Team unloading on him, Dr. Coomer engaging [=SuperPlayer™=] Mode, Sunkist's intervention, and Gordon performing a hammer-fist from high up to put Benrey down for good once the passports are gone]]. |
| 240 | * RedOniBlueOni: Judging by what he says, he seems to have been the calm Blue to Josh's violent Red. |
| 241 | * {{Sadist}}: He enjoys making people, particularly Gordon, squirm. [[spoiler:During the FinalBattle, he starts toying with the Science Team when he could easily kill them just so he could make them suffer more.]] |
| 242 | * SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:After revealing himself to be the TrueFinalBoss after the Science Team goes to Xen, he launches into a truly bizarre MotiveRant and starts rambling at length about his delusions and SelfServingMemory while simultaneously trying to kill with Gordon, Coomer, Tommy, and Bubby and acting like he’s still their friend. After coming BackFromTheDead in ''AI Crushes All Banks'', it’s clear his defeat has taken its toll on him and left his already fractured AI in shambles, and he’s even more delusional and childish than he was in the original series. His appearance in the Act 3 Commentary Stream has him about as sane as he was originally; of course, this doesn’t say much.]] |
| 243 | * SelectiveEnforcement: Murder, vandalism, and stealing is fine with him as long as Gordon isn’t the one doing it. |
| 244 | * SelfServingMemory: He actively ignores things that happened and his own deeds, makes things up, and edits his own memory so that he can continue to believe he is a friendly, normal person while Gordon is a murderous, spiteful {{Jerkass}}. |
| 245 | * SkewedPriorities: He treats mundane and non-existent problems as matters of life and death that require lots of gun usage and murder, and combat situations as though they were completely mundane problems that can be stopped by flashing out his badge and asking the enemy to not fire at him. |
| 246 | * SmallNameBigEgo: Benrey acts like he is extremely competent at his job, yet he repeatedly proves to be absolutely incompetent at everything he does. |
| 247 | * SmugSnake: Benrey has a very, very high opinion of himself and his intelligence, and is extremely self righteous, [[spoiler:but it really shows during the climactic fight against him, where he taunts the Science Team and acts as though he is easily going to defeat them, at some points deliberately drawing out the battle just to smugly mock Gordon.]] |
| 248 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: The subtitles for the highlights call him "Benrey", but his name is spelled "Benry" on his passport. |
| 249 | * TheStoic: He reacts to most situations with apathetic boredom, contrasting with the rest of the cast. Even finding his friend Josh dead doesn’t even make him raise his voice. |
| 250 | * StrollingThroughTheChaos: Benrey just walks at a brisk pace no matter what he's doing or where he is. This is especially noticeable whenever he's present for boss fights or in the middle of group chaos (i.e. destroying Wikpedia's servers). |
| 251 | * TechnologicallyBlindElders: While not very old, he breaks Darnold’s laptop while trying to play video games in it by pouring soda on it [[InsaneTrollLogic to make the games go faster.]] |
| 252 | * ThenLetMeBeEvil: [[spoiler:He claims this is what happened to him during his bizarre, incoherent, and delusional MotiveRant.]] |
| 253 | --> '''Benrey:''' [[spoiler:I didn't have a big plan. I was 'sposed to be nice, but you forced me to be BAAAAAD, so I gonna be baaaaaad.]] |
| 254 | * TheyKilledKennyAgain: He dies the most out of the Science Team, and his deaths are usually the only ones that are explicit. Lampshaded at one point, where Benrey spots his dead body in the same room as him and asks who killed him. |
| 255 | --> '''Benrey:''' Oh, who killed me?\ |
| 256 | '''Gordon:''' What? ''(sees a dead guard across the room from the Science Team)'' Oh, that's you. You know, you've actually died a lot.\ |
| 257 | '''Benrey:''' Really? |
| 258 | * TokenEvilTeammate: While he's not unique in that he kills Black Mesa personnel for questionable reasons, he is seemingly the only one to do it [[ItAmusedMe just to make Gordon squirm]]. [[spoiler: He also helped try to turn Gordon in to the HECU guards with Bubby, and is eventually revealed to be the final boss.]] |
| 259 | * TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket: Time and time again, Benrey completely fails to operate any kind of machinery. When attempting to steal a car, he starts using a flamethrower on it to "calm it down", he attempts to cool down coolant tanks by setting them on fire, and he destroys Darnold's laptop when he poured soda on it so that the laptop would "go faster". |
| 260 | * TookALevelInDumbass: In ''AI Crushes All Banks'', where he’s even more incompetent and delusional than he already was, lighting things on fire because he believes it will help, claiming that [[Franchise/{{Cars}} Lightining [=McQueen=]]] is real, and attempting and failing to fend off cops and soldiers with a small knife. If the stream is to be taken as canon, it's likely his already corrupted AI took a pummeling during the finale of the series. |
| 261 | * TookALevelInJerkass: [[spoiler:After betraying Gordon to the US Military and having Gordon’s arm cut off, he manages to become even more of a dick, cruelly mocking him for losing his arm repeatedly. It gets even worse when he reveals himself as the TrueFinalBoss, at which point he finally becomes an out-and-out villain and tries to murder the entire Science Team.]] |
| 262 | * TrueFinalBoss: [[spoiler: He replaces the Nihilanth in this series. The science team has to go and [[ChekhovsGag destroy their own passports to defeat him.]]]] |
| 263 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[AmbiguouslyEvil Assuming he didn't know his actions would cause it,]] his assuming Gordon was an unauthorized person in the Anti-Mass Spectrometer because he didn't present his passport despite ''multiple people'' making it clear that Gordon was meant to be there and causing Gordon to rush the sample into the beam caused the Resonance Cascade and the deaths of ''thousands'' of personnel. |
| 264 | ** [[spoiler: TheReveal that he's the equivalent of the Nihilanth means that he more likely than not was absolutely "witting".]] |
| 265 | * VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:After the Science Team gets to Xen, he reveals himself to be an EldritchAbomination and, after petty insults and harassment don’t drive them off, launches into a truly bizarre MotiveRant consisting of lies and his own delusions that even Dr. Coomer and Bubby find insane.]] |
| 266 | * VillainousCrush: [[invoked]]WordOfGod is that he’s “thirsty” for Gordon, and some of his actions suggest that he does indeed have an unrequited crush on Gordon. |
| 267 | * VillainDecay: In ''AI Crushes All Banks'', he is even more delusional, incompetent, and childish than in the original series, as well as lacking any of his powers, and he winds up easily defeated by Gordon, the US Military, and the police. |
| 268 | * [[VillainProtagonist Villain Deuteragonist]]: He gets a ton of focus over the course of the series and his actions drive much of the plot, and he's unquestionably the evilest of the Science Team [[spoiler:and is later revealed to be the BigBad.]] |
| 269 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: Tries to pull this on Gordon in Act 4. It fails when he starts citing conversations and events that never happened, according to Gordon. |
| 270 | * WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Played with. [[spoiler: In the final battle,]] Benrey claims that he didn't want to [[spoiler: be the bad guy, but he has to because Gordon was rude to him.]] He insists that he's only firing at Gordon because Gordon fired first. |
| 271 | * WrongGenreSavvy: |
| 272 | ** He thinks that he is the hapless, friendly ButtMonkey, having to deal with the violent {{Cloudcuckoolander}} {{Jerkass}} Gordon, when in reality, the opposite is true. |
| 273 | ** Some of his dialogue and actions also make it seem like he thinks he and Gordon are in a romantic comedy and that they have BelligerentSexualTension, when the attraction is entirely one sided on Benrey’s end and Gordon genuinely hates him. |
| 274 | |
| 275 | [[/folder]] |
| 276 | |
| 277 | [[folder:Tommy Coolatta]] |
| 278 | !Tommy Coolatta |
| 279 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hlaitommy.png]] |
| 280 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"[[RecklessGunUsage I'm always squeezing the trigger the entire time, are you not supposed to be do that... be doing that?]]"'']] |
| 281 | -->'''Played by:''' [[https://twitter.com/Baaulp Baaulp]] |
| 282 | ->''Grab a soda, it'll help you see faster!'' |
| 283 | |
| 284 | Easily underestimated for his warbling speech and choice to eat soda for lunch, this youthful scientist is actually a fully-capable nuclear engineer and a master of biotech. |
| 285 | ---- |
| 286 | * AChildShallLeadThem: After [[spoiler: [[AnArmAndALeg losing his arm]] and [[MadHatter realizing that he is mentally unfit]] to continue leading the team]], Gordon declares Tommy the new leader. [[CommanderContrarian Bubby]] thinks this is ridiculous. Of course, Tommy is only a child in mannerisms. |
| 287 | * AdaptationalAttractiveness: In-universe. During Act 2's commentary, Tommy comments that he's being portrayed by Creator/AlexanderSkarsgard in the movie made of the Science Team's adventures. |
| 288 | * AerithAndBob: Aside from Gordon, the main group consists of unusual names, from an [[UnfortunateName Unfortunate Surname]] in Coomer, an unusual surname in Bubby, and portmanteaus of common names in Benrey and Darnold, and then there's just plain old Tommy. Played with however, since his last name is quite unusual. |
| 289 | * BabyOfTheBunch: He's 36, described as a "mere child" by Bubby. This isn't even mentioning his [[{{Manchild}} actual behavior]]. |
| 290 | * BadassAdorable: Being TheHeart of the team, he's the most innocent and kind-hearted of the bunch. But of course, he's every bit as capable of fighting as the others. |
| 291 | * BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Bails Gordon out when the army of Dr. Coomer clones attack him.]] |
| 292 | * BizarreAlienBiology: The inside of his mouth is transparent. |
| 293 | * DitzyGenius: Tommy has a childish demeanor, an obsession with soda, and nonexistent trigger discipline, but he is a fully-capable nuclear engineer (according to the standards of [[EvilInc Black Mesa]]) and [[BioAugmentation bio-engineer]]. He also routinely reads books and Website/{{Wikipedia}} articles for leisure. |
| 294 | * DrinkBasedCharacterization: A [[TheStinger post-credits scene]] reveals that he enjoys a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mint_julep mint julep]] on a hot summer day, showing there is more to him than his {{Manchild}} exterior. |
| 295 | * EmbarrassingLastName: His last name "Coomer" is a slang term for a porn addict. |
| 296 | * FluffyTamer: His dog Sunkist appears to be some abomination of science, but he's still Tommy's OnlyFriend all the same. |
| 297 | -->'''Gordon:''' Your dog can fly? |
| 298 | -->'''Tommy:''' He's the perfect dog! |
| 299 | * TheHeart: Definitely the most heartfelt and compassionate of the group. He's vocally horrified by the [[spoiler:coup against Gordon]], attempts to console Gordon with soda after [[spoiler: their battle against 300 Coomer clones]], and cries out in terrified distress when [[spoiler: Forzen threatens to [[ShootTheDog kill his dog Sunkist]].]] |
| 300 | * HeartwarmingOrphan: He doesn't have parents and was apparently raised by Black Mesa. [[spoiler: It however turns out that the G-Man is his father.]] |
| 301 | * HypercompetentSidekick: Downplayed; While Tommy is about as prone to shenanigans of the other members of the group save Gordon, he generally acts not unlike an actual FPS protagonist when the chips are down, to the point where Gordon considers him a second in command, if only by default. |
| 302 | * LastNameBasis: He is the only member of the group to call Gordon by his surname, emphasizing his youthfulness. [[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs Though it's always "Mr. Freeman", not "Dr. Freeman"]], [[spoiler:[[LikeFatherLikeSon which is also precisely how G-Man prefers to address Gordon.]]]] He does let one "Gordon" slip through near the end, however. |
| 303 | * LikeADuckTakesToWater: He never handled a gun before the incident, but as soon as he gets his hand on a pistol, [[MoreDakka instinct sets in]]. |
| 304 | * LikeFatherUnlikeSon: [[spoiler:Outside of a slight physical resemblance, Tommy is nothing like the G-Man.]] |
| 305 | * LineOfSightName: Tommy was an orphan found in a Dunkin' Donuts, so he chose his own last name based on the Coolatta found on a menu. |
| 306 | * MadScientist: Downplayed. He is involved with Black Mesa's questionable nuclear engineering, but otherwise he's fairly reasonable and competent [[DamnedByFaintPraise by Black Mesa's standards.]] |
| 307 | * MakeSureHesDead: While he's already characterized as trigger happy, Tommy makes sure to shoot several dozen rounds of ammo into each of the executed [[spoiler:Coomer clones]] so he and Gordon can be sure he killed them all. |
| 308 | * {{Manchild}}: A more muted take. He's 36 with the halting speech patterns and interests of a young boy, but he's still an accomplished scientist and has more mature interests in addition to the childish ones. To wit, in Act II, Forzen succeeds in bribing him with a new Beyblade toy. It's strongly implied that Tommy just wanted the toy and nothing more, since he immediately returns to Gordon when he learns Forzen tricked him. Baalup describes Tommy as a fusion between [[Creator/PaulReubens Pee-Wee Herman]] and ''Series/TwinPeaks's'' Lucy Moran. |
| 309 | * MetaGuy: Sometimes, Tommy will point out the [[invoked]]FridgeLogic in things you wouldn't normally expect [[TheDitz someone like Tommy]] pointing out. |
| 310 | -->'''Tommy:''' What advantage does the biology [in Xen] have [[AlwaysChaoticEvil in attacking everything that comes next to it]]? |
| 311 | * MistakenAge: His name and manner of speech lead the science team to act like he's a child, but he's thirty-six. |
| 312 | * MushroomSamba: Starts suffering from hallucinations of Sonic and Star Trek characters in the bank robbery stream during the White House raid, apparently getting high off insulation in the walls (which, according to Tommy, hasn't been changed since Lincoln). |
| 313 | * NiceGuy: While extremely TriggerHappy, he’s still the kindest and most moral member of the cast outside of Gordon. |
| 314 | * NoOshaCompliance: Discussed and defied. Tommy insists that everything in Black Mesa is built to code. Giant reactor with pools of green sludge? All government-approved, ''including the bullsquids'' in it. "We're allowed to have 5% [of bullsquids] in it." The big, sparking generator with huge electrical arcs is OK, because that's just how they power up televisions. And every reactor has a cache of grenades that is mandatory to be there in case of giant tentacle monsters. |
| 315 | * OnlySaneMan: Compared to the rest of the scientists, at least. While weird, he doesn't have the same recklessness that Coomer and Bubby has. |
| 316 | * PrecisionFStrike: [[spoiler: Tommy calls the alien engineering on Xen "fucked up."]] This is pretty much the only time he's cursed in the entire series. |
| 317 | * PropellerHatOfWhimsy: Tommy's signature accessory in highlight reels and art is a red and yellow propellor cap, signifying his childlike personality. He was given the hat in the series proper during Act 4. |
| 318 | * TheQuietOne: Easily the least talkative of the main cast, even when being spoken to. |
| 319 | -->'''Gordon''': We gotta teach Tommy how conversations work. He doesn't answer questions. |
| 320 | * RecklessGunUsage: Nothing can seem to convince him not to point his gun at people when he's talking, and he's ''always'' squeezing the trigger even when his magazine is empty. |
| 321 | * TheReliableOne: While Gordon can always count on Coomer for power, Tommy is the ''only'' member of the Science Team that he can always count on to stay on his side or keep on task. Throughout the stream and just before the final battle (in the original recording), Gordon tells Tommy as much. |
| 322 | * RhymesOnADime: His "translations" of the Sweet Voice always rhyme. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Except in the first half of the first act]]. |
| 323 | * SignatureHeadgear: Tommy is almost always depicted as wearing a red and yellow propeller hat, though he doesn't start wearing one in the series itself until Act 4. When he gets it, Gordon comments that [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall he feels like Tommy's always had the hat and he only just now noticed]], referencing the fact that Tommy's worn one in all of the highlight reel thumbnails. |
| 324 | * TheSmartGuy: Somehow becomes this, with his vast knowledge of Black Mesa's safety codes and his ability to translate the various colors of the Sweet Voice. |
| 325 | * TokenGoodTeammate: The only of Gordon's companions that doesn't ([[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace intentionally]]) shoot innocent people, [[spoiler:and is the only one to protest Benrey's coup]]. |
| 326 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: Soda, Sunkist especially. |
| 327 | ** He also likes M&Ms, since Bubby was able to use them to bribe him into helping the Science Team commit bank robbery. |
| 328 | * UncertainDoom: At the end of the ''AI Crushes All Banks" stream, Gordon and the Science Team are knocked out before they can rescue Tommy from the walls of the White House. According to Tommy, he had [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere gotten bored and left]], however, it should be noted that Tommy is [[UnreliableNarrator unreliable at this point]] due to having gone through asbestos poisoning and still talked about seeing [[Franchise/StarTrek Neelix]]. The worst is further cemented by Wayne telling the chat they had gotten "[[DownerEnding the bad ending.]]" |
| 329 | * UndyingLoyalty: He's the only one who ''always'' remains on Gordon's side no matter what. |
| 330 | * VagueAge: His age is given as 36 despite his behavior being closer to a 5 year old, but a cut line has him state that Sunkist (who he created) is a million years old. [[spoiler:Considering he's the G-Man's son, his age is probably harder to quantify than it would be otherwise.]] |
| 331 | * VocalEvolution: Initially had a higher pitched and more childish voice, but in Act 2 onward, he has a deeper voice closer to Baaulp's normal speaking voice. |
| 332 | [[/folder]] |
| 333 | |
| 334 | [[folder:Dr. Harold P. Coomer]] |
| 335 | !Harold Pontiff Coomer |
| 336 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hlaicoomer.png]] |
| 337 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"Wikipedia is how we earn seventy-three percent of our research funding!"'']] |
| 338 | -->'''Played by:''' [[https://twitter.com/hp_hollowtones Holly]] |
| 339 | ->''Look Gordon, ropes! We can use these to help with pits!'' |
| 340 | |
| 341 | A scientist who tries his best to act as Gordon's tutorial NPC, hampered by his increasingly erratic and buggy AI. |
| 342 | ---- |
| 343 | * AbnormalAllergy: Radioactive waste, allegedly. Whenever Science Team encounters toxic leaks, Dr. Coomer complains that he's allergic to "green goop". [[InformedFlaw He never displays any symptoms, though]]. |
| 344 | * AIIsACrapshoot: There is something deeply wrong with him beyond merely ArtificialStupidity. |
| 345 | ** After encountering Forzen, he numbly crouches with a [[BloodyHorror blood-covered face]], repeating "ᴋɪʟʟ" to himself [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness in a distinctly non-Coomer voice]] [[InterfaceScrew with his captions becoming a darker shade of green]]. |
| 346 | ** When he uses his [=SuperLegs=] to jump over the cliffside, he is horrified to find there is no world outside the map. |
| 347 | ** [[spoiler: After betraying Gordon and amassing an army of his clones, he reveals that he suffers immense pain when the game is turned off, and attempts to possess Gordon so he can escape. He only returns to normal when he finds this plan won't work.]] |
| 348 | * ArmCannon: After being seen with a rocket launcher after being told to lower his weapons, he comments that it's just his arm. |
| 349 | * ArtificialStupidity: Doesn't seem to realize that the Barnacles aren't ropes, no matter how many times he gets captured by them. He also frequently experiences voice line priority overrides, where whatever he's saying will be interrupted by a line the AI perceives to be of higher pri-[[SelfDemonstratingArticle HELLO, Gordon!]] |
| 350 | * AscendedExtra: In the original game, Coomer’s name is briefly seen in a locker and he never appears in person. Here, however, he’s one of the main protagonists. |
| 351 | * ATeamFiring: When he gets the SAW; behind-the-scenes commentary reveals that the SWEP is badly optimized for [=GMod=] and has such excessive recoil that it's impossible to aim with. The in-game effect is Coomer jerking around like a maniac while firing the SAW and failing to hit anyone. |
| 352 | * AxCrazy: While the whole party sans Gordon is pretty shoot-on-sight, he is particularly bad, [[spoiler: especially after going outside of the world's boundaries. After Benrey's coup, Gordon is reasonably scared of him more than anyone.]] |
| 353 | --> "You're not a war criminal if there's no more military to judge you!" |
| 354 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: He's the goofiest of the Science Team, but he's also a violent BloodKnight with SuperStrength. |
| 355 | * {{BFG}}: By the end of the whole ordeal, Dr. Coomer ends up with both the [[StuffBlowingUp Rocket Launcher]] as well as the [[MoreDakka FN M249 SAW]], which he earlier called "the big one". |
| 356 | * BloodKnight: Occasionally shows shades of his fearlessness and love for combat, especially when he's up against HECU marines. At one point in Act 1 Gordon asks him how old he is; Coomer responds with "Old enough to know better! Let's go!" and plunges straight into a pit. |
| 357 | -->'''Coomer''': I've never felt more alive than I have now! |
| 358 | ** He also makes it clear his goal is to wipe out the entire U.S. Military. |
| 359 | * BombThrowingAnarchist: He really, really enjoys dishing out violence against state actors, and makes it his goal to eliminate government groups such as the military and the police. |
| 360 | * BreakoutCharacter: In the first couple of episodes, while his eccentric nature made him stick out like a sore thumb, he was no more important then the rest of of the science team. After the livestream of Act 3, Coomer was given a theme titled 'There's Nothing There' for the abridged version, and was later given 'Hello, Gordon! (Dr. Coomer's Bumpin' Mix)' for the finale's credits, making him the only character to receive two character themes, with [[BigBad Benrey]] receiving just one. And while she didn't appear in ''WebVideo/RealTimeFandub'''s take on ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'', his VA played a snarkier {{Expy}} called 'Dr. Green Z. Hill', who [[NoodleIncident claims to]] have [[ActorAllusion worked with Coomer once]]. |
| 361 | * BrokenRecord: |
| 362 | ** "Hello, Gordon!" |
| 363 | ** "Look, Gordon! Ropes! We can use these to help with pits!" |
| 364 | * CatchPhrase: "Hello, Gordon!", and "Don't fuck with the Science Team!", as well as "Help me Gordon!" whenever he gets caught by a barnacle. |
| 365 | ** In the final act, [[HehHehYouSaidX "Hole!"]] |
| 366 | * CharacterDevelopment: [[spoiler:While at first nothing more than a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, after seeing outside Black Mesa he becomes aware he’s in a video game and steadily goes even more insane and violent than he already was, as well as gaining HumanoidAbomination attributes. This culminates in him trying to possess Gordon and use his body as a puppet, but after this fails, he decides to aid Gordon and slowly grows to care for him, to the point of comforting him (in his own weird way) while trapped in Xen.]] |
| 367 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Coomer doesn't have a rational thought in his head. |
| 368 | * TheCloudCuckoolanderWasRight: Turns out you CAN use the barnacles to get across pits, if you attach them to your hand and use them as a grappling hook. |
| 369 | * CoolOldGuy: He's around 80, and, among feats of badassery, once ''punched the top off a tank.'' |
| 370 | * CorruptCorporateExecutive: Downplayed. Out of the cast, he's implied to be the most high-ranking in the Black Mesa corporate hierarchy and is involved in several of the more out-there projects, but he’s a JerkWithAHeartOfGold at worst and is pretty low-ranking in the grand scheme of things. |
| 371 | * {{Cuckoosnarker}}: He's surprisingly witty and snarky when not rattling off non-sequiturs and babbling nonsense. |
| 372 | * {{Cyborg}}: Has [[ArtificialLimbs power legs]] which allow him to jump at least several stories high, Black Mesa Power Lungs that let him breathe underwater, limb enhancers powerful enough to overpower a massive hydraulics system, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and an artificial colon.]] |
| 373 | * DeadpanSnarker: When he isn't babbling non-sequiturs, he can be surprisingly witty. |
| 374 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the FourthWallObserver. Dr. Coomer becomes horrified upon learning that he is in a video game, going mad upon realizing that there is nothing beyond the boundaries of the game's map. Whenever the game is turned off, Dr. Coomer feels immense pain akin to being [[AndIMustScream torn apart atom-by-atom]] and slowly grows even more insane then he already is. When Gordon has his hand sliced off, Dr. Coomer attacks him ''because'' he's the PlayerCharacter and tries to use his stump as an opening to leave the artificial world for the real one. Even when calmed down and returning to be an ally of Gordon, Dr. Coomer shows no joy in his existence as a video game [=NPC=]. |
| 375 | * {{Deuteragonist}}: He serves as the tritagonist, getting as much CharacterDevelopment as Gordon and Benrey do and helping drive the plot, albeit to a lesser extent than them. |
| 376 | * DimensionalTraveler: [[spoiler: After Gordon disappeared, he seemingly started travelling through different games in search of something. He can be heard and briefly seen at the Denny's in Albequerque while Walter and Jesse ruminate on what they'll do about Gus.]] |
| 377 | * EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler:Dr. Coomer is pretty easily forgiven after the encounter with his clones, partly because Gordon has no one else other than Tommy backing him up]]. |
| 378 | * EverybodyHasStandards: He's definitely a loon whose perception of reality is hazy, but even he [[spoiler:is unsure what sort of game Albequerque is supposed to be in.]] |
| 379 | * ExpendableClone: Many of them populate Black Mesa's science department. [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne Which he kills on sight so he can gain their power.]] |
| 380 | * ExtremeOmnivore: He will gladly drink standing electrified water and alien urine off the floor, and can swallow an entire radio whole. |
| 381 | --> '''Dr. Coomer:''' Gordon, I'm full. |
| 382 | * FailedASpotCheck: Constantly mistakes the tongues of barnacles for ropes. |
| 383 | * FanBoy: Of ''[[VideoGame/PunchOut Super-Punch-Out!!™]]''. |
| 384 | * FeelNoPain: He lost the ability to feel pain [[NoodleIncident three years ago]]. |
| 385 | ** However this may not be entirely true since he refers to feeling pain in several other instances, such as [[spoiler:just after his clone army attacks Gordon, when he claimed he could feel everything they felt as Tommy shot them.]] |
| 386 | * FourthWallObserver: [[spoiler: Dr. Coomer knows he is in an artificial world, feels pain when the game is turned off, and knows that Gordon goes to another world when he dreams.]] |
| 387 | ** [[spoiler: He also knows Gabe Newell for reasons he cannot explain.]] |
| 388 | --->'''Coomer:''' (sounding legitimately unsettled) Why do I know him? |
| 389 | ** [[spoiler: This winds up being PlayedForDrama as during the final leg of the game, Coomer is the only "NPC" who cottons on to the true nature of their existence and becomes very depressed over the idea that his life isn't real. [[TrueCompanions In spite of this, he goes on to become Gordon's most steadfast supporter.]]]] |
| 390 | * GoMadFromTheRevelation: He uses his powerful legs to jump [[PaintingTheMedium outside the boundaries of the map]], only to be faced with the [[DeconstructedTrope horrifying implications thereof]]. |
| 391 | -->'''Coomer:''' ''There's nothing there.'' |
| 392 | * GoodOldFisticuffs: He always wanted to be a boxer, as reflected in his fighting style. He is also stated to be the founder of Black Mesa's underground boxing ring. |
| 393 | * GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler:He attempts to use his CloneArmy to [[KillAndReplace kill Gordon and use him as a skin suit]] to escape to the real world.]] |
| 394 | -> [[spoiler:"[[NightmareFuel There's an entrance in your suit, Dr. Freeman,]] ''[[NightmareFuel AND I WANT IN.]]''"]] |
| 395 | * GrapplingHookGun: When his AI gets unstuck on referring to barnacles as ropes, he keeps advising Gordon to use one as a grappling hook (something not possible in Half-Life until ''Opposing Force''). Gordon is surprised to realize he had one in his inventory the whole time and they use them to get around the giant pits of the rocket test chamber. |
| 396 | * HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: [[spoiler: An army of his clones attempt to kill Gordon and use the opening in his suit caused by Benrey and Bubby removing Gordon's arm to take control of his body to escape the virtual world, but the last one standing congratulates him and Tommy for killing the others and isn't hostile towards them. Even so, his comments about how he's only non-hostile because his plan of climbing inside Gordon to "wear him like a puppet" didn't work mean it's hard to tell if he really is on Gordon's side or not. He ultimately lands on "Face".]] |
| 397 | * HehHehYouSaidX: “Hole!” |
| 398 | * HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: |
| 399 | ** He is seemingly stuck in tutorial mode for most of the episodes, trying to tell Gordon about obvious things like "medical kits can be used to repair injuries!" when they're many hours into the journey. He also warns Gordon about incoming threats long ''after'' they show up. Or sometimes even things that aren't threats. |
| 400 | --> ''As the team shoots at moths around an outdoor lamp:'' "Look out, there's a dangerous moth up ahead!" |
| 401 | ** This becomes an ExaggeratedTrope later on in the series when he also starts instructing Gordon in the use of features which the game doesn't have, such as beating a staff ghost around ''On A Rail'' for a Gold HEV Suit, and checking the minimap to locate the current quest objective when they get lost in ''Interloper''. |
| 402 | -->'''Gordon:'''I don't have a minimap, bro.\ |
| 403 | '''Dr. Coomer:''' (sounding quite distressed) Wha- why... not..? |
| 404 | * HiddenDepths: He's an aspiring boxer, and initially pursued a career in boxing before becoming a scientist. |
| 405 | * HumanoidAbomination: He smells through his mouth, can ingest solid metal, and grows more powerful by killing his own clones, among many other horrifying anomalies of his biology. |
| 406 | * HypocriticalHumor: He cheerfully refers to Black Ops by crass nicknames such as "hotted boobies". When Gordon does the same, Coomer tells him not to be so crass. |
| 407 | --> '''Gordon:''' [[LampshadeHanging Hey man,]] ''[[LampshadeHanging you]]'' [[LampshadeHanging said that first, and you can't just turn around in it when I say it.]]\ |
| 408 | '''Dr. Coomer:''' Gordon, [[RefugeInAudacity titty boob huge fuck.]] |
| 409 | * ICallItVera: He refers to his M249 SAW as "the big one". |
| 410 | * IgnoredEpiphany: PlayedForLaughs. Almost immediately after he realizes the Barnacles are ''not'' ropes, he mistakes the same Barnacle he had pointed out for a rope and immediately runs into it. |
| 411 | * InnocentInnuendo: Dr. Coomer will loudly state blatant sexual innuendos with a straight face, if there even innuendos at all. |
| 412 | * InformedAbility: Is implied to be a master at using "The Big One", which is just a military-grade M249 SAW. All Coomer does is wildly flail around while firing it, hitting absolutely nothing. He can't even hit the dead body of a H.E.C.U grunt, which Gordon lampshades. The behind-the-scenes reason for this is that the SWEP was poorly optimized for [=GMod=], giving it excessive recoil. |
| 413 | * InherentlyFunnyWords: He manages to make the name "Gordon" sound funny due to just how many times he says it. |
| 414 | * InsistentTerminology: No matter how much anyone corrects him (''even himself''), Coomer almost always refers to the Barnacles' tongues as "ropes." [[SchmuckBait He even tries using them as such, whenever he can]]. |
| 415 | * ItsAllAboutMe: Downplayed. At times, Dr. Coomer can put his desires over the rest of the group and is pretty egotistical, but he’s generally a nice enough guy and a loyal friend. |
| 416 | --> '''Bubby:''' Oh well, no one deserves anything!\ |
| 417 | '''Dr. Coomer:''' I deserve everything! |
| 418 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He grows into one of these towards the end of the series, and cements his status as one when he comforts Gordon in his own odd way while trapped in Xen. |
| 419 | * LargeHam: "DON'T FUCK WITH THE SCIENCE TEEEEEEEEEEEAM!!" |
| 420 | * LastNameBasis: He's only referred to by his last name or the title "Dr. Coomer", with his first name never being uttered in the series. [[invoked]][[WordOfGod According to Holly]], his full name is [[https://twitter.com/hp_hollowtones/status/1259246265185062913 Harold Pontiff Coomer]]. |
| 421 | * TheLostLenore: Parodied. He had a wife, "but they took her in the divorce". She apparently looked like a Vortegaunt. |
| 422 | * MadScientist: He's a scientist, and he is absolutely ''batshit insane''. It's also implied he helped with Black Mesa's more... out there projects, like the Pita Cutter, replacing the water with Powerade, and making new and improved nuclear bombs. |
| 423 | * MotiveRant: After the final Dr. Coomer clone gets killed by Tommy, he [[MindRape telepathically enters Gordon's head]] ([[HeroicBSoD who is already having a meltdown, by the way]]) to discuss his existential dread. |
| 424 | -->'''Dr. Coomer:''' '''''GORDON.''''' Everytime you go to sleep [[AndIMustScream I can feel my body]] ''[[AndIMustScream TORN]]'' [[AndIMustScream apart, ATOM by ATOM.]] [[FateWorseThanDeath It's agonizing, Gordon.]] I've ''SEEN'' outside Black Mesa, Gordon. [[NoticingTheFourthWall There's nothing.]] ''But I know '''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou YOU]]'''''. There's a world outside here, Gordon. '''''[[GrandTheftMe AND I NEED YOU TO TAKE ME THERE...]]''''' |
| 425 | * TheNicknamer: Coomer is the one who offers enemy names to the gang, including "Peeper Puppies," "Helicopter Heap" and "Hotted Boobs." [[HypocriticalHumor He tells Gordon that nomenclature is no small matter, though.]] |
| 426 | * OddNameOut: He's the only NPC of the group whose name doesn't end with "y". |
| 427 | * OnlySaneMan: On very rare occasions, he plays this role to the rest of the Science Team. |
| 428 | * PetPeeveTrope: He hates anything with a SicklyGreenGlow, like the green sludge spills from the nuclear reactors. As he says, he's "horribly allergic!" (To radiation?) |
| 429 | * PowerMakesYourVoiceDeep: [[spoiler:When in [=SuperPlayerMode=], he speaks in a very deep voice.]] |
| 430 | * RunningGag: Him saying (and interrupting himself with) "Hello, Gordon" and him referring to Barnacles as "Ropes", then mentioning how they "can be used to help with big pits" then yelling "Help me Gordon!" when he inevitably gets caught. |
| 431 | * SanityBall: Occasionally shows signs of rational thought, especially when paired up with Bubby. |
| 432 | --> '''Bubby:''' It's just brain cancer, you can live with that. |
| 433 | --> '''Dr. Coomer:''' I don't think you can live with that. |
| 434 | * SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:After realizing he is in a video game, Coomer goes even crazier than before, though he doesn’t let this slip until he tries to wear Gordon as a skin suit and calms down immediately afterwards.]] |
| 435 | * ShipperOnDeck: For Gordon x Benrey. |
| 436 | -->'''Dr. Coomer:''' You'll just have to kiss Dr. Freeman after the test. |
| 437 | * SirSwearsALot: While not as bad as Bubby, he has a tendency to point out any InnocentInnuendo and refer to some enemies by extremely crass nicknames. |
| 438 | * SuperMode: His [=SuperPlayer=] feature activated with [=PlayCoins=] [[spoiler:turns him into a vaguely Hulk-shaped beast of a man with a very deep voice and {{Power Fist}}s.]] |
| 439 | * ThereCanBeOnlyOne: He regularly kills his clones when he encounters them, which only makes him more powerful. |
| 440 | * TradeSnark: Any time he mentions [=PlayCoins=]™, they will always be subtitled this way. Same goes for any other named product, like ''[[VideoGame/PunchOut Super Punch-Out!!™]]''. |
| 441 | * UnfortunateName: According to Holly in the Act 1 Commentary, the moment she saw "[[InherentlyFunnyWords Coomer]]" written on one of the lockers, she instantly adopted the name for her character. However, [[NonIndicativeName unlike what the internet neologism implies]], Dr. Coomer isn't a chronic masturbator. The decision caused a mild conflict of interest between Holly and Gir. He also wanted to choose "Coomer" for his character, for the same reason. |
| 442 | * VirtualPet: Behaves like this sometimes, often proclaiming at random that he’s thirsty, full, or hungry. |
| 443 | * VitriolicBestBuds: With Gordon at the end of the series. |
| 444 | * WasOnceAMan: [[spoiler:It's implied he became emergent after his encounter with future Gordon [[StableTimeLoop caused him to gain his future self’s memories.]]]] |
| 445 | * WelcomeToCorneria: Has a tendency to say "Hello, Gordon!" to the point that it becomes his unofficial {{Catchphrase}}. |
| 446 | * WhatTheHellHero: Briefly calls Gordon out for shrugging off Darnold's pleas that the Science Team's violence is too much for him. |
| 447 | -->'''Dr. Coomer''': [[WarIsHell The horrors of war can break anyone Gordon]]. There's no need to be so heartless. |
| 448 | * WithCatLikeTread: In Act 2, the team has almost escaped outdoors. Gordon decides to scout ahead for danger, so he urges the Science Team to remain quiet. Coomer... does not: |
| 449 | --> "'''''[[ExaggeratedTrope LOOK, GORDON]]! [[SensoryAbuse WE MADE IT]] TO [[NoIndoorVoice THE SURFACE!]]'''''" |
| 450 | |
| 451 | ->''[[BrickJoke Help me, Gordon!]]'' |
| 452 | [[/folder]] |
| 453 | |
| 454 | [[folder:Bubby]] |
| 455 | !Bubby |
| 456 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hlaibubby.png]] |
| 457 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"Alright! Let me demonstrate how ''GOD DAMN SMART'' I am!"'']] |
| 458 | -->'''Played by:''' [[https://twitter.com/mastergir Gir]] |
| 459 | ->''Shut the fuck-'' |
| 460 | |
| 461 | Foul-mouthed researcher and "designated puzzle god" of the party, he is Black Mesa's attempt at creating the ultimate scientist, with mixed results. |
| 462 | |
| 463 | ---- |
| 464 | * AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Possibly doesn't have any gender, owing to his status as an ArtificialHuman. |
| 465 | * ArtificialHuman: The man says himself, "I was born down here!" The Act 2 Cast Commentary describes him as being the result of Black Mesa scientists slapping chemicals together until they got a person. [[spoiler: However, Black Mesa didn't get it in one.]] |
| 466 | * ArtificialStupidity: If there are explosives, he will run into them. |
| 467 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: As much as he has trouble with explosives, heights, etc., he shows surprising aptitude with puzzles and is probably the most capable member of the team at maneuvering Black Mesa's MalevolentArchitecture. Behind the scenes, this is because everyone but Gir [[EnforcedMethodActing forgot how to play the original]] ''[[EnforcedMethodActing Half-Life]]''. [[invoked]] |
| 468 | * ButtMonkey: If any of the Science Team are going to be caught in an explosion, be maimed, injured, or blunder into a trap, it’s going to be Bubby. |
| 469 | * CaptainErsatz: Being an ArtificialHuman created in [[PeopleJars a tube]] in order to create the [[UltimateLifeForm perfect scientist]], his backstory is highly evocative of [[Characters/SonicTheHedgehogShadowTheHedgehog Shadow the Hedgehog's]]. [[spoiler:As shown in the final boss fight, he can even [[RollingAttack homing attack]]!]] |
| 470 | * CatchPhrase: "[[VideoGame/DeusEx Oh]] [[https://youtu.be/Z0dGY7LqhYQ?t=6 yes!]]" |
| 471 | * ComicallySmallBribe: He offers 5 dollars to Gordon to free him from a tube [[spoiler: after siding with a coup that resulted in his arm getting cut off.]] Gordon accepts so that he can [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext trade for a [=PlayCoin=] with Coomer]] and because he's convinced [[spoiler: Benrey is the bigger threat.]] And as it turns out, [[spoiler: he doesn't even have the money on him.]] |
| 472 | * CoolCar: Drives a Cadillac during ACT 4, if only for a few minutes. |
| 473 | * TheDitz: Repeatedly shows he has a lack of self-preservation skills, runs into obvious traps, and injures himself. |
| 474 | * DrivesLikeCrazy: Attempting to drive the team away in a Cadillac he discovered, within the space of minutes and within the confines of a single parking garage, Bubby gets into a ''[[Film/AustinPowers Austin Powers]]'' parking situation, rams a security guard, somehow manages to get turned around and nearly drives back out the way they came, then speeds full throttle into a solid metal gate hard enough to almost give Gordon whiplash. |
| 475 | * DumbassHasAPoint: While his reason for destroying Wikipedia is insane, it did cut off the funding for the U.S. Military. |
| 476 | * EasilyForgiven: Even though [[spoiler: he helped Benrey and the HECU "disarm" Gordon]], within a few episodes he's basically accepted fully back into the group. Might be due to Gordon considering [[spoiler: [[TheQuisling Benrey]], [[MilitariesAreEvil HECU]], [[AmbiguousSituation the skeleton]], [[HumanoidAbomination Dr. Coomer]], and/or [[FlockOfWolves any or all of the above]]]] to be a [[GreaterScopeVillain bigger threat]]. |
| 477 | * EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler: He betrayed Gordon to the military, but he considered them cutting off his arm to be fucked up.]] |
| 478 | * ExpendableClone: In a tragic aversion of YouAllLookFamiliar, the scientists that resemble him actually ''are'' his clones. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Not that he especially minds seeing his own dead bodies]], [[spoiler:possibly because they're [[FlawedPrototype less terrifying]] dead than alive.]] |
| 479 | * FlawedPrototype: Earlier versions of him are stored in the Lambda labs, [[spoiler:and escape containment before the party arrives there. They behave like crawling Fast Zombies from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', and are just as terrifying. They also reappear in Xen when the gang is trying to destroy Bubby's passport.]] |
| 480 | * FreudianExcuse: Deleted scenes show Bubby’s [[{{Jerkass}} behavior]] is due to him having had knowledge injected directly into his brain without gaining any information about how to interact with other people and having had been kept separate from his clone family and having no interactions with others except the uncaring Black Mesa staff after he was created |
| 481 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: If he is ever separated from Gordon for long, you can count on him [[ThatPoorCat hollering in pain]] in the background. |
| 482 | ** Hilariously, due to how chaotic the final battle was his big moment wound up being one of these in the full stream. Wayne's edited version added a zoom in to make it clearer that he was using a [[Franchise/{{SonicTheHedgehog}} Shadow the Hedgehog]] SWEP to do homing attacks on Benrey. |
| 483 | * HypocriticalHumor: When one of the (non-sentient) [=NPCs=] begins following him around, he complains to Gordon that he couldn't possibly imagine what it's like to be constantly followed by an idiot who won't shut up. |
| 484 | * {{Jerkass}}: He is definitely the most abrasive of the Science Team, and generally acts like an egotistical prick, particularly towards Gordon, [[spoiler:even selling him out to the US Military.]] |
| 485 | * KavorkaMan: In the Act 1 Q&A, Gir mentons that Bubby is a heterosexual man, but he gets around ''quite'' a bit for someone his age. |
| 486 | * LastNameBasis: As shown by [[spoiler:the locker room at the end of the game,]] Bubby is his surname. He's never known by anything else. |
| 487 | ** [[invoked]]WordOfGod has stated that Bubby is his [[OnlyOneName only]] name. Considering the fact that he's an artificial human made by Black Mesa, it makes sense that he wouldn't have a family name. |
| 488 | * TheLoad: He will frequently run ahead into danger and get himself thoroughly boned, forcing Gordon to bail him out. Often transforms into... |
| 489 | ** TheMillstone: Whenever explosives are involved, you can count on him detonating them inches away from civilians and party members. |
| 490 | * LovableCoward: Always the first to panic when something goes wrong, usually because of his own poor decisions. [[spoiler:Pivots into DirtyCoward territory when he sells out Gordon to the military, then begs for forgiveness after he's found trapped in his tube.]] |
| 491 | * LuddWasRight: He is convinced that there's too much information in the world, prompting him to destroy Website/{{Wikipedia}}'s servers as well as any military intel the party discovers. Borders on EvilLuddite from Gordon's perspective. |
| 492 | * MilesGloriosus: He considers himself the strongest, smartest, and most capable member of the party. His track record of [[AttackAttackRetreatRetreat fleeing combat while screaming in terror]] would say otherwise. |
| 493 | * NoSocialSkills: Deleted scenes show his behavior is caused by having had knowledge injected directly into his brain without giving him any information on how to act around other people or apply it. |
| 494 | * PercussiveMaintenance: He appears ''inside'' the partly-exploded computer in the prologue of the game, saying that he's "gonna need a wrench" to fix what went wrong with the computer. |
| 495 | * RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: [[spoiler: After helping Benrey with his coup, he gets trapped in his old test tube.]] |
| 496 | * SirSwearsALot: Far and away more vulgar than the other members of the Science Team, giving even [[LovableCoward Gordon]] a run for his money. |
| 497 | * SmallNameBigEgo: The most likely member of The Science Team to brag, and the least likely to then follow it up. He does have his moments, but in a WorldOfBadass where nearly everyone who isn't a RedShirt is an EldritchAbomination of one stripe or other, [[OvershadowedByAwesome it's hard to stand out]]. |
| 498 | * SophisticatedAsHell: Has one of the filthiest mouths, despite being one of the most knowledgeable characters. |
| 499 | * TheStarscream: A rare "heroic" example. He believes he would make a better leader of the Science Team than Gordon or Tommy, and [[spoiler: does betray Gordon at one point]]. [[spoiler: After being RewardedAsATraitorDeserves and EasilyForgiven]] he consigns himself to merely grumbling, though. |
| 500 | * TeleportGun: Bubby picks up a Displacer-like gun at some point which he uses to [[spoiler:open a portal to the past when trying to destroy everyone's passports]]. |
| 501 | * TookALevelInJerkass: Grows far more egotistical over the course of the series. |
| 502 | * UnstuckInTime: Getting "blasted into yesterday" by a rocket launch test turns out to be only the first of many instances where he's flung randomly across time. [[spoiler:This works to his advantage in the final battle when he warps Gordon to the past to destroy his own passport.]] |
| 503 | * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He has a fear of heights, as first mentioned while climbing up the elevator shaft from the test chamber. He frequently complains whenever he finds himself near a steep drop, [[ButtMonkey which his teammates consistently ignore]]. |
| 504 | * YourHeadASplode: He is biologically engineered to do this if [[HeKnowsTooMuch he learns the specifics of how he is cloned.]] |
| 505 | [[/folder]] |
| 506 | |
| 507 | [[folder:Darnold]] |
| 508 | !Darnold |
| 509 | [[quoteright:286:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darnold.png]] |
| 510 | [[caption-width-right:286:''"HEY! HEY, HEY! HEY! You gotta step away from my research."'']] |
| 511 | -->'''Played by:''' [[https://twitter.com/logblaster Logmore]] |
| 512 | -> ''You've... disrespected my potions. Which I don't like.'' |
| 513 | |
| 514 | Another scientist that the gang encounters later on in the series, who's the head of Black Mesa's mixology department. |
| 515 | ---- |
| 516 | * ActualPacifist: [[spoiler:He leaves specifically because of the violence surrounding the Science Team.]] When he rejoins them, he's acting on the sidelines out of the action as mission control. |
| 517 | * AscendedExtra: In the ''AI Crushes All Banks'' stream, he becomes the MissionControl for the Science Team, helping give them info on their heist. |
| 518 | * CardCarryingVillain: Heavily downplayed. He casually mentions that he and the rest of the mixology department are working on an "evil flavor" of Powerade, but he's otherwise fairly nice and helpful. |
| 519 | * LargeHam: Whenever he stars talking about '''''DEVIL GUN MODE!''''' |
| 520 | * OnlySaneMan: Despite being weird, he [[spoiler:cannot stomach the gang's killing and ditches them shortly after joining.]] |
| 521 | * [[JetPack Rocket Boots]]: [[spoiler:Darnold has a pair on him that he uses to flee when things get too violent for him]]. |
| 522 | * MissionControl: Acts as this to the Science Team during the bank robbery stream. |
| 523 | * PutOnABus: [[spoiler:He leaves the gang after realizing how violent they are and is never seen again.]] |
| 524 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler: Decides not to join the gang after seeing Gordon shoot down several HECU marines with his ArmCannon. He then shortly leaves the room by clipping through the ceiling.]] |
| 525 | * SixthRanger: Joins the gang in Act 4. [[spoiler:For about thirty seconds, anyway.]] He later rejoins as mission control during their heist spree. |
| 526 | * SleptThroughTheApocalypse: He's completely unaware of the troubles going on at Black Mesa by the time the crew finds him. |
| 527 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Darnold, unlike the other self-aware AI scientists, [[spoiler: leaves nearly as soon as he appears]]. However, [[spoiler: Darnold makes the most of what screentime he has, arming Gordon with his signature ArmCannon, allowing him to contribute more to the team for the rest of Act 4]]. |
| 528 | * ThrowingOutTheScript: As discussed by the actors at the end of Act 4's stream, Darnold's actor was originally supposed to play him as the head of the cybernetics department, but he decided to go off-script and make the scene about mixology and potions instead. |
| 529 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Disappears shortly after his first appearance, with barely any mentions being made of him afterwards. It's unclear whether he's one of the "associates" that made it to Tommy's birthday party.]] |
| 530 | ** If the ''AI Crushes All Banks'' stream is to be taken as canon, [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold he somehow made it out of Black Mesa on his own and wound up reconnecting with the Science Team to pull heists.]] |
| 531 | |
| 532 | [[/folder]] |
| 533 | |
| 534 | !!Other Self-Aware AI |
| 535 | [[folder:Black Mesa Announcement System]] |
| 536 | !Black Mesa Announcement System |
| 537 | |
| 538 | -> '''''ROCKET. LAUNCH. GOOD.''''' |
| 539 | |
| 540 | [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The announcement system of Black Mesa.]] |
| 541 | ---- |
| 542 | * ArtificialStupidity: [[invoked]]WordOfGod says that is an AI like the Science Team, but it has the intelligence of a five-year-old. |
| 543 | * LawfulStupid: It demands Gordon to report to it for passport inspection in the middle of the chaos caused by the Resonance Cascade. |
| 544 | [[/folder]] |
| 545 | |
| 546 | [[folder:Forzen]] |
| 547 | !Forzen |
| 548 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hlaiforzen.png]] |
| 549 | [[caption-width-right:350:''"[[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd Irate Gamer]] Chris Bores did not rip off [[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd Angry Video Game Nerd]] James Rolfe!"'']] |
| 550 | -->'''Played by:''' [[https://twitter.com/socpens Scorpy]] |
| 551 | ->''I just wanna graduate.'' |
| 552 | |
| 553 | An HECU marine and sole member of Team Nice, this slippery devil claims to have been best friends with Benrey. |
| 554 | ---- |
| 555 | * BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: He abducts Tommy's dog Sunkist and threatens to kill him with an array of military turrets if the science team won't do as he says. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for him, Sunkist is immune to bullets.]] |
| 556 | * ComicallySmallBribe: He tries to bribe Tommy with a Beyblade. [[spoiler: It almost works.]] |
| 557 | * FanBoy: Of WebVideo/TheIrateGamer, who he insists ''did not'' rip off WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd and tries to blackmail the Science Team into changing people's minds about the topic. |
| 558 | ** In the thumbnail for ACT 4 Part 1's highlight reel, you can see that he even has a tattoo saying "Irate Gamer". |
| 559 | * HarmlessVillain: Forzen repeatedly fails to accomplish anything. He is easily captured by the Science Team since he didn’t bother to arm himself, and after being left the only member of HECU, tries to force the Science Team to change people’s opinion on WebVideo/TheIrateGamer by holding Sunkist hostage. This final act ''almost'' makes Forzen a credible threat... But it turns out Sunkist is immortal and ImmuneToBullets. |
| 560 | * KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:If him vanishing while being held at gunpoint was not some sort of death, then he managed to get away scot-free with holding Sunkist hostage]], even though it [[ImmuneToBullets didn't work out]]. |
| 561 | * MuggingTheMonster: [[spoiler:Trying to hold Sunkist hostage turns out to be pointless, as the dog is utterly ImmuneToBullets.]] |
| 562 | * PutOnABus: [[spoiler:He never shows up again after vanishing into thin air when Gordon holds him at gunpoint.]] |
| 563 | * SoleSurvivor: He's the final surviving HECU Marine by the time Gordon and company find him again. |
| 564 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Acts a lot like Benrey. |
| 565 | * TokenGoodTeammate: To the HECU seen in-game, as his dialogue implies he's just there for a scholarship and that he believes he's ''protecting'' the scientists from Black Mesa Security. [[spoiler: Of course, given his former friendship with [[TokenEvilTeammate Benrey]] he might be lying, not to mention he attempts to hold Tommy's dog hostage]]. |
| 566 | ** [[spoiler: Completely [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in his second appearance, where he tries to take a dog hostage for a supremely petty reason.]] |
| 567 | * VocalEvolution: In his first appearance, Scorpy used his normal voice, much like what he did for Benrey. In Forzen's reappearance in ACT 4 Part 1, Scorpy uses a noticeable amount of rasp while voicing him. |
| 568 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: He simply ''vanishes'' while the Neo-Science team has him cornered at gunpoint and is never mentioned again. It's unclear if he just escaped somehow or was killed.]] |
| 569 | [[/folder]] |
| 570 | |
| 571 | [[folder:Sunkist]] |
| 572 | !Sunkist |
| 573 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sunkist.png]] |
| 574 | [[caption-width-right:350:*bark*]] |
| 575 | -->'''Played by:''' Lauren |
| 576 | ->''*bark*'' |
| 577 | |
| 578 | Tommy's pet dog. He's mentioned by Tommy multiple times through the series, until Act 4 where he finally shows up. |
| 579 | ---- |
| 580 | * BigFriendlyDog: He's as big as the rest of the gang, but is still a good boy. |
| 581 | * BrokenRecord: All of his "dialogue" consists of a single audio clip of a dog barking played through a modified wowozela. |
| 582 | * TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler: After leaving at the end of his debut, he reappears in Xen to help the team finish off Benrey.]] |
| 583 | * CanisMajor: He's as tall as the rest of the Science Team ''when he's sitting''. |
| 584 | * {{Immortality}}: Tommy says that he's immortal, and the bullets from Forzen's turrets don't phase him at all. If a cut line from Tommy during [[spoiler:the birthday party]] is to be believed, Sunkist has lived for atleast a million years before the events of the series. |
| 585 | --> '''Coomer:''' This is the most powerful dog I have ever seen. |
| 586 | * MagicMusic: Has access to the Black Mesa Sweet Voice, but instead of "singing", he just barks with it. |
| 587 | * NonStandardCharacterDesign: He appears to both the viewer and the characters as a 2-dimensional image of a real-life Golden Retriever within 3-dimensional space. |
| 588 | * WritingAroundTrademarks: [[https://teespring.com/stores/wayneradiotv Official merchandise for the series]] refers to him only as "The Immortal" or "Perfect" Dog, so as to not draw ire from the real Sunkist brand's lawyers. |
| 589 | [[/folder]] |
| 590 | |
| 591 | [[folder:The Skeleton]] |
| 592 | !The Skeleton |
| 593 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hlaiskeleton.png]] |
| 594 | |
| 595 | -->'''Played by:''' [[spoiler:[[https://twitter.com/socpens Scorpy]]]] |
| 596 | ->''...'' |
| 597 | |
| 598 | A skeleton that may or may not exist. |
| 599 | ---- |
| 600 | * AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler:It's not quite clear what or who he is. He may be a figment of Gordon's imagination, an undead Benrey, or something else entirely.]] |
| 601 | ** [[spoiler: The ending of Act 4 reveals that the skeleton is, in-fact, Benrey or an extension of him.]] |
| 602 | * FlunkyBoss: [[spoiler: Benrey summons multiple Skeletons that float around and can incapacitate the Science Team with the [[MagicMusic Sweet Voice.]]]] |
| 603 | * TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: His passport lists his name as [[spoiler: '''YOU''']]. |
| 604 | * HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:It’s a bit vague, but a Skeleton shows up attending Tommy’s birthday party, implying it either underwent this or that particular Skeleton was a separate entity.]] |
| 605 | * SensoryAbuse: It uses the [[MagicMusic Sweet Voice]] '''poorly.''' |
| 606 | * SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: [[spoiler:"did you bring your passport? you're not supposed to be here."]] |
| 607 | * WhamLine: Initially, the skeleton is just some vaguely hallucinatory entity. [[spoiler:His true identity is revealed when he asks Gordon for his passport, in Benrey's voice.]] |
| 608 | [[/folder]] |
| 609 | |
| 610 | [[folder:'''The G-Man''']] |
| 611 | !'''The G-Man''' (aka '''Gregory Man Coolatta''') |
| 612 | [[quoteright:174:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gman_9.png]] |
| 613 | [[caption-width-right:174:''"Perhaps things would've gone a bit better if you'd remembered to bring your... Pass, port... hm?"'']] |
| 614 | -->'''Played by:''' [[https://twitter.com/spaghoner Mike]] |
| 615 | ->''[[WhamLine Doctor Freeman...]]'' |
| 616 | |
| 617 | The mysterious G-Man, whose appearance makes Gordon's life a little more interesting. |
| 618 | ---- |
| 619 | * AdaptationalHeroism: While still showing shades of being AmbiguouslyEvil, he is much more forthcoming with the truth than his {{Canon}} counterpart ([[CassandraTruth even if Gordon thinks he's just trolling him]]) and ultimately helps the party save the world, [[spoiler:and even takes them out for a birthday bash and movie afterward!]] He ''does'' threaten to have Gordon killed if he doesn't accept his "offer" [[spoiler:for a pizza party]], but given the rest of the cast's [[ChaoticStupid track record]], this hardly makes him abnormal. |
| 620 | * BigGood: This variant of G-Man comes across as this as opposed to his AmbiguouslyEvil {{Canon}} depiction, as [[spoiler:he just wants Tommy to get through the Resonance Cascade okay so he can have his birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's]]. |
| 621 | * TheChessmaster: It's strongly implied that he orchestrated the events of Gordon's adventure in such a way that all of his "associates" would survive... all so they could [[spoiler: attend Tommy's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's afterward.]] |
| 622 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: He doesn't appear in ''ACAB'', though he is mentioned by Gordon. |
| 623 | * EarlyBirdCameo: He appears at the end of Act 2 to spy on Gordon as the party goes to sleep. Gordon reacts to the sight of him, [[WeirdnessCensor but decides that he's seen enough craziness that day and lets him go]]. The uncut footage reveals that Gordon chases him down for a while. |
| 624 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The biggest difference between this G-Man and ''[[{{Canon}} that]]'' one is that this one has "progeny" in the form of [[spoiler: Tommy Coolatta]], and is a doting father. |
| 625 | * GoodParents: [[spoiler:If we assume his orders are the same as he had in Half-Life, he neglected them and manipulated the events during the Black Mesa Crisis just so his son Tommy would survive to attend his birthday party, and letting Tommy's friends survive so that they could attend his birthday as well.]] |
| 626 | * InSpiteOfANail: As different as the lore is between this series and the games' canon, he is still a RealityWarper AllPowerfulBystander who manipulates Gordon's path so he can successfully destroy the creature holding Xen together. [[spoiler: Whether he does this for benevolent reasons or simply as a means to host Tommy's birthday party is unclear.]] |
| 627 | * {{Jerkass}}: He takes a moment of his conversation with Gordon to imply to him that everything could have been avoided [[ForWantOfANail if he had just brought an up-to-date passport to work that day]], seemingly just to fuck with him. [[spoiler:[[CassandraTruth It actually turns out to be entirely true]], as the series ends with the crew having to destroy their passports in order to escape [[EvilAllAlong Benrey.]]]] |
| 628 | * NotSoStoic: When ''Benrey'' interrupts his speech in Act 4, the G-Man becomes visibly and audibly alarmed. He struggles to get back on track as Benrey repeatedly asks him about [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext his Playstation+ subscription.]] Soon, the G-Man gives up and hurries away, half-heartedly assuring Gordon as he does. |
| 629 | * PaintingTheMedium: Unlike the other characters, his text fades in as opposed to simply appearing while he's talking. |
| 630 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The second time he shows up to talk to Gordon, Benrey interrupts him, not only making the G-Man [[HorrifyingTheHorror noticeably uncomfortable]], but forcing him to condense his entire conversation with Gordon to "You'll figure it out" while fleeing. |
| 631 | * {{Sssssnaketalk}}: Mirroring his speech patterns from ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', but with some AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' thrown in for familiarity. |
| 632 | * TimeMaster: He freezes time to have a heart to heart with Gordon at the end of Act 3, and again in Act 4. |
| 633 | [[/folder]] |
| 634 | |
| 635 | !!Non-Player Characters |
| 636 | [[folder:Jefferemm]] |
| 637 | !Jefferemm |
| 638 | |
| 639 | Benrey's co-worker and fellow passport inspector. He is prone to fits of anger, and requires the Black Mesa Sweet Voice to calm his nerves. |
| 640 | ---- |
| 641 | * ActionSurvivor: One of the only [=NPCs=] to survive encountering the party, possibly owing to the fact that [[YouWillBeSpared Benrey considers him a friend]]. |
| 642 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Benrey views him as a friend, and wanted to play Platform/PlayStation3 with him. |
| 643 | * FisticuffProvokingComment: He balls his fists in rage when he learns that Gordon doesn't have his passport. |
| 644 | * InformedFlaw: Benrey claims he has anger issues, but he is never shown acting on them. |
| 645 | * NotAsYouKnowThem: The generic security guard he replaces is generally assumed to be [[VideoGame/HalfLifeBlueShift Barney Calhoun]], and Dr. Coomer even briefly refers to him as such. Benrey insists that he's named Jefferemm, and is a fellow gamer who plays Platform/PlayStation3 with him. |
| 646 | * SuppressedRage: Despite his apparent fury at Gordon, Jefferemm doesn't say or do anything to him, the only signs of anger being his clenched fists. |
| 647 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We don't know what happens to him after the party moves on past him. |
| 648 | [[/folder]] |
| 649 | |
| 650 | [[folder:Josh]] |
| 651 | !Josh |
| 652 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1339635553a1c368298593e6715a276c.png]] |
| 653 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[DullSurprise "oh who did this."]]]] |
| 654 | |
| 655 | Benrey's [[BuffySpeak "friend of Josh"]], who was found dead in the flooded depths below Black Mesa's missile silos. In spite of all evidence, Benrey insists Gordon killed him. |
| 656 | ---- |
| 657 | * DisproportionateRetribution: According to Benrey, he wanted to beat up Gordon for forgetting to bring his passport, and judging by how Benrey calms him down with the Black Mesa Sweet Voice, he would've gone through with it. |
| 658 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Benrey claims that the two of them were friends. |
| 659 | * ForgottenFallenFriend: [[spoiler:During his MotiveRant, Benrey insists it was Gordon ruining his chance to buy VideoGame/HeavenlySword from Josh that made him so crabby. He completely neglects to mention that Josh was killed in the Resonance Cascade.]] |
| 660 | * KilledOffscreen: He dies offscreen during the the Resonance Cascade. |
| 661 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted, he shares a name with Gordon's son Joshua. |
| 662 | * RasputinianDeath: After surviving the initial shocks of the Resonance Cascade, he went on to evade the US military, get past the Tentacle occupying the missile silo, and swam through a massive flooded cavern before finally dying next to a barrel of [[GreenRocks green slime]]. |
| 663 | |
| 664 | [[/folder]] |
| 665 | |
| 666 | [[folder:The US Military]] |
| 667 | !Hazardous Environment Combat Unit/United States Armed Forces |
| 668 | [[quoteright:285:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shephard2_5.jpg]] |
| 669 | [[caption-width-right:285:''"Airplane. Airplane. Bathroom."'']] |
| 670 | |
| 671 | [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The United]] [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks States Military]] (primarily comprised of the HECU from the original game). Composed mainly of [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Cloudcuckoolanders]], they attack Black Mesa and start wiping out its staff after the Resonance Cascade. |
| 672 | ---- |
| 673 | * ArmedFarces: Their numbers consist entirely out of bolos, high-speed blue falcons[[note]]buddy-fuckers,[[/note]] and other fucknuts who make the situation way beyond FUBAR. They call airstrikes on their own, and whose idea of an operation is to try (and succeed at) blowing up all the bathrooms in Black Mesa. |
| 674 | * ArmiesAreEvil: Just as much as in the original game. |
| 675 | * BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:They show up during the White House Heist in ''AI Crushes All Banks'' trying to fend off the Science Team.]] |
| 676 | * {{Catchphrase}}: "Airplane. Airplane. Bathroom" and its numerous variations. |
| 677 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Pretty much everyone who is a member is one of these. |
| 678 | * HeKnowsTooMuch: Possibly the reason they are wiping out Black Mesa, in spite of it being their primary benefactor. |
| 679 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:As much as an organization can be, anyway. The Science Team succeed in wiping out the entire military except for Forzen (and possibly [[VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce Adrian Shephard]]), whose fate is unclear, with the implication that the organization was disbanded.]] [[spoiler:Though if one takes ''AI Crushes All Banks'' as canon, the organization was reformed with several new recruits.]] |
| 680 | * LaughablyEvil: They're all a bunch of goofballs, sillyheads, and freak-monkeys who are nothingless out for the blood of all Black Mesa personnel, with the Science Team naturally included, and have orders to kill them on sight. |
| 681 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: [[spoiler:The reformed military shown in ''AI Crushes All Banks'' are able to defeat the Science Team and kill Gordon, albeit through sheer luck.]] |
| 682 | * ThePeterPrinciple: Everyone in the organization is an idiotic {{Cloudcuckoolander}} with no sense of self-preservation. |
| 683 | * RedShirtArmy: Pretty much every marine or soldier who shows up is taken out by their opponents, or each other. |
| 684 | * SociopathicSoldier: As in the canon game, they're a bunch of murderous sociopaths who are gleeful about gunning down Black Mesa's personnel. Best shown by the Apprehension Grunts who are [[AdaptationalVillainy even worse]] than their canon counterparts as they brutalize and ''mutilate'' Gordon before dumping his body in a trash compactor. |
| 685 | * TooDumbToLive: All of them have no sense of self-preservation, and are shown implementing counterproductive tactics like calling in air strikes on their own troops and trying to blow up all the bathrooms in Black Mesa. |
| 686 | [[/folder]] |
| 687 | |
| 688 | [[folder:The Helicopter Heap]] |
| 689 | !The Helicopter Heap |
| 690 | [[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heliheap.png]] |
| 691 | [[caption-width-right:299:''"Gordon, if I was to talk to a God, I would say... That probably wasn't in his plan."'' - Bubby]] |
| 692 | --> ''"What on God... What on GOD is the Military doing?!"'' |
| 693 | -->-- '''Gordon''' |
| 694 | |
| 695 | A MechanicalAbomination composed of [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext an infinite mass of United States Army (presumably New Mexico Air National Guard) Boeing AH-64A Apache attack helicopters]] that attacks the Science Team. |
| 696 | ---- |
| 697 | * CastFromMoney: According to Bubby, the Helicopter Heap was "all the government funding [the military] could muster!". |
| 698 | * HealingFactor: It regenerates from all damage the Science Team's rocket launchers do to it, much to Gordon's horror. |
| 699 | --> '''Gordon:''' IT'S FUCKING REGENERATING! |
| 700 | * HellIsThatNoise: All those dozens of propellers nearly drive Gordon insane. |
| 701 | * HopelessBossFight: Rocket launchers, the Science Team's heaviest firepower up this point, had no effect on it. In the end, the Helicopter Heap just disappears without much input from the Science Team. |
| 702 | * HorrifyingTheHorror: Even ''[[AIIsACrapshoot Dr. Coomer]]'' is terrified by this thing, and urges Gordon to flee as the Science Team desperately tries to take it down. |
| 703 | * MechanicalAbomination: The military ''somehow'' created a rotating mass of helicopters fused together that regenerates so fast it ''can't'' be destroyed. The only reason the Science Team survives the encounter is it mysteriously just vanishes. |
| 704 | * [[invoked]] OneSceneWonder: The most prominent bug in the map. It even gets its own [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjUVjbEG1Ro theme music!]] |
| 705 | * TheSpook: Absolutely nothing is known about it. It just mysteriously pops up and gives the Science Team a HopelessBossFight before vanishing as soon as it appeared, with the Science Team utterly confused as to what they just encountered. |
| 706 | [[/folder]] |
| 707 | |
| 708 | [[folder:Law Enforcement]] |
| 709 | !Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia/Department of Homeland Security/Federal Bureau of Investigation/Central Intelligence Agency |
| 710 | [[quoteright:273:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pswat.jpg]] |
| 711 | [[caption-width-right:273:''"Formation!"'']] |
| 712 | --> '''Gordon:''' All cops are bastards! |
| 713 | |
| 714 | The incompetent, excessively violent police force of Washington D.C., backed up by various federal law enforcement agencies. |
| 715 | ---- |
| 716 | * AssholeVictim: Their ''first'' response to something as simple as a robbery is to storm the affected area in force with guns blazing, so no one's particularly upset that the Science Team butcher them wholesale. |
| 717 | * BoomHeadshot: Several of them have their heads blown off by Gordon. |
| 718 | * ButtMonkey: Whenever they show up, it’s pretty clear that they’re going to get killed or maimed in some way. |
| 719 | * PoliceAreUseless: The Science Team easily wipes the floor with them. |
| 720 | * PutOnABus: They do not appear following the casino heist, being replaced by [[spoiler:the reformed US Military.]] |
| 721 | * RedShirtArmy: All of them are easily and brutally murdered by the Science Team. |
| 722 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: For the US Military. |
| 723 | [[/folder]] |
| 724 | |
| 725 | [[folder:Pigeons]] |
| 726 | !!Pigeons |
| 727 | |
| 728 | A large flock of pigeons infesting Black Mesa after the Resonance Cascade. They have a tendency to drop eggs and rocks on people. |
| 729 | ---- |
| 730 | * SuddenlyVoiced: One pigeon chides Gordon for wasting time at the [[spoiler:movie theater concessions line]] in Act 4's behind-the-scenes video. |
| 731 | * ToiletHumor: They're pigeons after all. |
| 732 | |
| 733 | [[/folder]] |
| 734 | |
| 735 | [[folder:Bullsquids]] |
| 736 | !!Bullsquids/Cephalocows/Creatures |
| 737 | Genetically engineered mutants bred by Black Mesa to eat the nuclear waste created by their nuclear power plant... ...[[UnreliableNarrator Maybe.]] |
| 738 | ---- |
| 739 | * AdaptationalBackstoryChange: Dr. Coomer claims that they were bred by Black Mesa to consume nuclear waste. [[AmbiguousSituation Bubby says he has no idea what Coomer is talking about.]] |
| 740 | * IHaveManyNames: Gordon calls them by their canon name, but Bubby scolds him that [[ItWillNeverCatchOn nomenclature is no laughing matter]]. Dr. Coomer suggests calling them "Cephalocows", but Tommy just calls them "creatures". |
| 741 | * InSpiteOfANail: Other Xen creatures get [[NotUsingTheZWord unique in-universe nicknames]], Gordon just calls these creatures "Bullsquid", much to Bubby's chagrin. |
| 742 | * TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: They routinely shoot toxic snot at anyone who passes. [[GoneHorriblyRight This apparently is not a consequence of the Resonance Cascade.]] |
| 743 | * UnreliableNarrator: It's not clear if Tommy's talking out of his ass when talking about them, so they might still just be fauna native to Xen like in the canon game. |
| 744 | [[/folder]] |
| 745 | |
| 746 | [[folder:Ropes/Barnacles]] |
| 747 | !!Ropes/Barnacles |
| 748 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2021_03_24_at_52231_pm.png]] |
| 749 | [[caption-width-right:350:]] |
| 750 | -->'''Dr. Coomer:''' Look Gordon! Ropes! |
| 751 | |
| 752 | An alien creature from Xen that allegedly look like “barnacles of the sea” and can be used to traverse big pits. |
| 753 | ---- |
| 754 | * BrickJoke: They eventually are used as grapple guns, causing Dr. Coomer's statement that they "can be used to help with big pits" to finally come true. |
| 755 | * EquippableAlly: Eventually Coomer learns how to scrape them off ceilings to turn them into organic grapple guns, something that proves to be incredibly useful over the course of the series. |
| 756 | * SchmuckBait: They're very clearly ''not'' ropes, but the Science Team's AI keep falling for the species' camouflage. |
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