The G-Man

[Magnaflame]

I think (and I know it isn't original) he's an extremely powerful extradimensional being that is actually low compared to his employers, he collects people who can change events and they buy them. It's basically a big gambling game for them, they want to interfere in human events to see what happens for the fun of it. Oh, and he just chooses to be human, his true form couldn't be interpeted by us because it's so dimensionally messed up that it wouldn't be conjured up even by imagination.

 

[Dorian]

Then why was he helping Gordon in Black Mesa.

I'unno.

Maybe he was bored?
Or he can foretell the future and needs Gordon to survive?
Or he's trying to get on his good side to get his help to rebuild/restore/work for Aperture Science?

We can only speculate, as no one outside of Valve knows.....

 

[TheGreatCoolEnergy]

a vortigaunt who, by his business expertise was able to amass enough power to bend reality to his will (he looks human to throw off this suspicion). to do this he showed other aliens a glimpse of the future that lay ahead and promised that he would find someone to save their planet... for a price, as much power as they can offer. some alien wins the bidding and he is granted near-infinite power, he uses this power to pose as the head of black mesa and hires gordan freeman and orders the antimass spectrometing of the Xen crystal, which sets into motion what he showed the other aliens. now he needs to make it look like gordan freeman is the hero he promised, he influences the surroundings of gordan so that he is never in a 0% survival situation and puts him into stasis for 10 years so that the catastrophe can take full effect, then he revives him and helps him stop it so that his deal can be complete. the vortigaunts realize that as soon as the combine are gone, the g-man will take over the universe, which is why they try to stop him.

to sum it up:
he's a vortigaunt (or some other alien) who used incredible marketting skills to obtain almost limitless power to try and use an alien invasion to take over the universe. the combine invasion and black mesa are all just small steps in his ultimate plan.

Not a bad theory, but who are his "employers"? It is quite apperant he is working for someone else, as many things point to this. One of the expansion packs, the main protagonist(I believe a shock trooper) is detained by the G-Man at the end, where he says something along the lines of "Well you wern't supposed to make it, but you have show that you are quite tricky to kill. So I have been instructed to detain you".

EDIT: Also, if he could stop time and pull the strings and all that fun stuff, why is the combine capable of challenging him? The only ones who have ever had a shot were the Vortigans, and even then they needed superior numbers to merely free Gordon, let alone challenge the G-man.

 

[Robert632]

he's a co-worker with someone, who may or may not be as powerful or more powerful then he is, and hand picked the people he knew were perfect for the job, and makes sure they don't stray of the track he's created for them.

 

[TheGreatCoolEnergy]

Well, I myself tend to dwell on the name as a hint, but considering the "G" part, I'd rather not go into what the first thing that pops into my head is.

Other random idea: He is based off one of the main devs or someone else off the team who created the game, someone with a G in his name.

Quick addition: Maybe he's Garry?

Actualy, the term "G-man was derived from the fan base, as he looks like on of the Government Suits often described in urban legends and other media. They never actualy refer to him as the G-man in game.

 

[TheNumber1Zero]

Well, I myself tend to dwell on the name as a hint, but considering the "G" part, I'd rather not go into what the first thing that pops into my head is.

Other random idea: He is based off one of the main devs or someone else off the team who created the game, someone with a G in his name.

Quick addition: Maybe he's Garry?

Actualy, the term "G-man was derived from the fan base, as he looks like on of the Government Suits often described in urban legends and other media. They never actualy refer to him as the G-man in game.

I've already been informed, a while ago.

 

[Emperor Inferno]

Never played before, which makes me sad, but based on reading what you've written, I can draw only these answers to your questions:

1) He is evil. EEEEEEEVIIIIILLLLLLL! (/Mermaid Man reference)

2) His employers are the devil and his closest demons.

 

[0p3rati0n]

It's his fathers ghost!!!!! It's always the dead father!!!! His employers are the other ghost!!!!! O_O or he's god....................

 

[TheGreatCoolEnergy]

To be honest I really have no idea why he or his employers would be interested in Gorden Freeman in the first place, I mean you really arn't anyone special in the BIG picture. And why would a alien enity care about the human population on earth?

edit

I'd say many watching forces would be interested in Gordon Freeman. It's hard to deny he is a special figure. Almost single-handedly pushing back a pan-dimensional empire is not exactly a simple matter. Walking straight into their capital on a planet and blowing it the hell up, before stealing the codes to the combines homeworld, before getting out of the blast consuming city 17, before surviving the combines every attempt (and they get quite severe) to kill you specifically.... Remember this is a force that overpowered earth in 7 hours and Freeman walks into wherever they're strongest and somehow, walks out again victorious.

Yes but one must remember, many of these things only happened because the G-Man pulled the strings behind them. The only reason Freeman made it to city 17 is because the G-man placed him there. The only reason he survived the tower's destruction is because the G-man pulled him out of there. The only reason he survived the invasion of earth is because he wasn't there when it happenned, the G-man had him in stasis. Hell, according to Eli, the only reason the Black Mesa event even occurred is because the G-Man put his influence in and had the project started.

In short, yes Freeman is of major importance, but it is because the G-man makes him important, not the other way around.

 

[RdDan]

He's Simon Cowell.

He wants to recruit Freeman to take part in the next series of Britains got Talent, and i know what you're all thinking - "but Dan, surely Freeman is a Yank".

Ha! - ever wonder why he never speaks - It's 'cause he has such a thick Glaswegian accent that Valve would have to provide subtitles.

It's obvious Freeman is actually Scottish.

Just like all the best Engineers.

 

[TheGreatCoolEnergy]

Well, I myself tend to dwell on the name as a hint, but considering the "G" part, I'd rather not go into what the first thing that pops into my head is.

Other random idea: He is based off one of the main devs or someone else off the team who created the game, someone with a G in his name.

Quick addition: Maybe he's Garry?

Actualy, the term "G-man was derived from the fan base, as he looks like on of the Government Suits often described in urban legends and other media. They never actualy refer to him as the G-man in game.

I've already been informed, a while ago.

Yes sorry about that, I noticed the correction after I corrected you myself.

 

[QuirkyTambourine]

to explain the whole "he's gordan" thing:


G MAN
G(ordan) (free)MAN


EDIT:
If I recall correctly, he is never reffered to as "G Man" in the game. this is his unofficial name given to him due to his appearance, a man who looks like he works for the government.

It was also in the credits for the voice acting.

I'd always subscribed to the "future Gordon" idea, but I like the idea of him being a non-Xen alien...and it explains his odd speech pattern. As does the fact that Gordon never talks.

 

[TheGreatCoolEnergy]

Side thought: Anyone notice a relation between Gandalf(LotR) and The G-Man? They are both super powerful entities, clearly able to crasp and pull the strings behind certain events, choosing "Investments" seemingly randomly, knowing they will serve an important purpose further on, and their motives are largely unclear.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

He's Gordon Freeman's father, a bit like Darth Vader was for Luke, except more succesful at bending his son to his will.

 

[Ph33nix]

He obviously is not the one in charge. he makes references to a hierarchy that he is not at the top of but is near the top. He mentions "clients" meaning that their appears to be other being like him in the Half life universe who want to change the course of human or universal affairs. And while he is powerful a group of vorts can take him so he isn;t all powerful implying that their are even more powerful beings in the universe.

so final conclusions: he is an agent working for another agency. It could be even what is left of a Human government, Most likely the united states based on some of his lines and actions at the end of the first game, based on some of the events in the first game part of the united states government/armed forces maybe living in exile on another world the gman is most likely part of these forces

 

[thatstheguy]

I always thought of the G-Man as that of an omnipotent being. Like a god. He seems to be in control of everything and never gives himself out. I don't think he's an alien since you can actually see him in the original Half-Life before the resonance cascade. I really think that the G-Man's character is supposed be symbolic. The only problem is that if that's true, I don't know what it's supposed to be symbolic of.

 

[Daveman]

G-man = Gordan Freeman from the future. You ever heard GF speak? No. That's because of his weird-ass speech impediment that makes him speak like, well, the G-man. Also they look similar minus glasses and beard. (also G-man... Gordan.... it's obvious!)

seriously though, who gives a fuck, I bet nobody at valve even has a clue what's going on.

Side thought: Anyone notice a relation between Gandalf(LotR) and The G-Man? They are both super powerful entities, clearly able to crasp and pull the strings behind certain events, choosing "Investments" seemingly randomly, knowing they will serve an important purpose further on, and their motives are largely unclear.

read teh silmarillion, makes fuckloads of sense. (gandalf = semi-god turned human.... (basically he is kratos from god of war(though I never played that game)))

 

[bakonslayer]

G-Man works for Aperture Science.

 

[Nova5]

Given his speech never quite sounding... human... My guess is that he's an envoy from another alien race, working with some shady time police organization in the future. Or something like that.

Christ, that sounded less cheesy in my head.

Haha it did indeed. But I have to agree with you on the alien race bit, not to sure about the time police thing though. Lets hope we find out and that they don't pull another Firefly on us.

A-men to that. Episode 3 had best offer some explanations, or... Hmm, not quite sure what the alternative is, but it won't be pleasant for- someone!

 

[Daedalus1942]

As many of you probably know, the Half Life series is a FPS developped by Valve. Recently, I beat Half life 2 and Half Life 2 Episode 1, and am currently in the process of beating Episode 2. And there is one question that keeps reacurring in my mind: Who, or what, is the G-man? If you don't know what I mean by the G-man, here is a picture from Wikipedia:

Spoiler: The G-man

Now, if you have played the games in the series, you will have noticed some things, perticularily:

Spoiler: Things he does

-He seems to be monitering Gordon Freeman, as well as other characters(such as Alex Vance) at almost all times
-He seems capable of physicic communication
-Able to halt time at will
-Able to traverse dimensions
-Ablility to disappear
-Seemingly invincible
-Obviously the puppet master behind many events

But thats not all. Something I found perticularily strange is how the Vortigans(who are phsycic) are able to not only interact with him, but hinder his actions(at the start of Half Life 2 episode 1 the Vorts' Free Gordon from the interdemension where the G-Man was holding him). Also, The G-man is constantly refering to his "Employers", who apparantly have an agenda that concerns Gordon, Alex, and other characters.

So here is my question to you: What do you think the G-Man is? Is he good? Evil? Who are his "employers"? Why does he see the need to intervene during certain events? What are his motives?

Personnaly, I realy have no idea who(or what) he is, or why he does what he does. Which is why I came here: Who is the G-Man?

I believe he's ultimately on Gordon's side, and has Freeman's best health in mind, but he needs Freeman in order to accomplish some great plan and free Earth of the Combine.