Why is Gordon Freeman so popular?

[Anticitizen_Two]

I've been wondering this for quite a while now. Can someone please explain to me what the obsession with Freeman is? As a character he's about as generic as they come. I fail to see why this one silent FPS character has become so much more popular than the countless others. Is it just because the Half-Life games are good?

 

[Axeli]

Just a typical silent FPS protagnist, isn't he? Must be nostalgia or something...

It's kinda how the most iconic video game characters actually have no or very little personality. Mario, Pacman, Link...

 

[LordGarbageMan]

Maybe because he's a nerd. Never played half-life though. Maybe it's because the game is so good.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I've never played the Half-Life games. I just like him because he kind of resembles me.

 

[Smorlock]

He won Best Character on Gamespot recently. I died a little inside. The merits of Half-Life aside... Gordon Freeman is a near non-existent character.

 

[The Madman]

Because unlike other video-game protagonists, he's real!

Spoiler

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

It's not about anything Gordon does. Everything we know about Gordon Freeman, as a character, is based on other characters' reactions to the player. Alex, the Vortigaunts, Breen, Barney, the G-Man. We like Alex, Alex likes Gordon. Gordon defies breen and his rants, Breen acts like a foil for The One Free Man. Etc.

Because unlike other video-game protagonists, he's real!

Spoiler

Heh, yeah. I'm glad they sent him a crowbar.

 

[Burningsok]

because he goes against everything that a typical scientist nerd is... scrawny, nonathletic, wields a damn crowbar, dude i can go on with this. defends against head-crabs, has the hots for girls (Alex), can save the entire planet without smashing his own giant nerd glasses/bifocals, crowbar... did i say crowbar already? He gives all nerds hope

 

[Mykonos]

Because he's Gordon Freeman?

 

[Scrythe]

I think it's more so the game he represents, instead of the character himself.

That, and hitting things with a crowbar is awesome.

 

[NeoAC]

Dude, he's not that popular. Tifa kicked his ass in the GameFAQs character battle the other day.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

Dude, he's not that popular. Tifa kicked his ass in the GameFAQs character battle the other day.

Tifa. Has. Boobs. [http://images.google.ca/images?rlz=1C1GGLS_enCA301CA303&sourceid=chrome&q=Tifa&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi] /Discussion.

because he goes against everything that a typical scientist nerd is... scrawny, nonathletic, wields a damn crowbar, dude i can go on with this. defends against head-crabs, has the hots for girls (Alex), can save the entire planet without smashing his own giant nerd glasses/bifocals, crowbar... did i say crowbar already? He gives all nerds hope

Gordon is scrawny and nonathletic. His crowbar-fu is all in the suit. He can't run unless his suit's batteries are charged up.

He's the everyman. A regular guy (who happens to have an informed ability major in quantum physics) who gets his hands on a powersuit. He's the perfect player-insertion videogame character.

 

[Souplex]

The extemeness of his non-characteristic-ness is highlighted by my canned response on this subject.
Due to the lack of Cutscenes, Dialog, reflective surfaces, and legs when you look down, there is no in game evidence that Gordon Freeman is anything more than a floating pair of hands. This does explain why he never speaks.

 

[Dr Poochenstein]

It's because Gordon Freeman can't talk and annoy us with retarded shit.

 

[LeonLethality]

I sure do not like him, not if he were kirby then I would love him, kirby could replace any character really

hehe metal gear kirby

sorry trailed off there all in all I don't like gordon, never have never will.

 

[Captain Picard]

Well, Wikipedia has just about everything you could want to know about The Freeman. Take a read, if you care to, and perhaps your perspective may be changed a bit. For me, there's a certain nostalgia associated with Gordon Freeman, as Half-Life was the first real FPS game I'd ever played.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Freeman

 

[Thaius]

Because the Half-Life games are good. As for a reason based on Gordon himself... no freaking clue.

I was once told by a Halo-hating troll that Master Chief was a stupid, flat character and that he was pretty much silent the whole time (not true, but what is from those people?). He then told me to look to Half-Life for good storytelling. Not to say Half-Life doesn't have good storytelling, but... directing me to Gordon Freeman after complaining about Master Chief's lack of constant speech? Facepalm.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

He's an unvarnished, absolute science geek who uses smarts and adaptability to survive impossible odds, defeat macho military types, save the world and get the girl.

Is there some part of the collective geek dream that this does NOT cover?

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

He's an unvarnished, absolute science geek who uses smarts and adaptability to survive impossible odds, defeat macho military types, save the world and get the girl.

Is there some part of the collective geek dream that this does NOT cover?

Nail on head accurate. Plus Half Life was a bloody good game.