Characters of Choice:
Gordon Freeman - Half Life 1, 2 and…
Chell – Portal 1 and 2
Gordon freeman is the protagonist in the half-life games. He
is a silent yet iconic hero. Maybe because he is quiet, or possible because
he’s a badass! Unlike a lot of video game characters Gordon doesn't have a rich
back-story that backs up his personality/traits. It the opening scene of the
game, Gordon is traveling to his workplace via tram, during the journey text
fades onto the screen to establish the time, location and brief back-story to
Gordon Freeman. We learn that he is 27 years old and is a Theoretical
physicist. This is totally different to most FPS game characters that start the
game as a badass (master chief, Duke Nukem), instead Gordon becomes a “badass”,
and the player gets to witness the transformation of a scientist into a hero.
Almost all game protagonists have a “standout” feature like a weapon or piece
of clothing. Gordon is no exception. He wears the iconic HEV suit and wields
the famous crowbar. This thing that sets Gordon Freeman aside from most other
game characters is the fact that throughout all the games he never says ONE
word. He is completely quiet, yet he has such a strong presence. Throughout the
game you fame within the crumbling Black Mesa grows, other scientists recognize
you, and rejoice at you presence. It’s because of the interactions that you
have with scientists and bosses/scenarios that ultimately create the character
of Gordon Freeman, after all not everyone is able to take on a 200ft three
headed, beaked alien!
Chell is the main character, and the person the player
controls in the Portal games. She is a text subject within an empty science
complex. Her actions are in response to her enemy GLaDOS, an AI robot.
Throughout the game she shows to be a very capable test subject, she completes
the whole test chamber and finally goes beyond GLaDOS expectations. Chell uses
one of the most iconic weapons in gaming history, the portal gun. Her gun allows
her to traverse difficult obstacles by splitting loopholes within the
environment. You don’t really learn much
about her back story, but you do know that she is the LAST surviving human in
the complex after GLaDOS killed everyone. Although she isn't a speaker, you can
tell Chell is determined to leave the facility, the player’s controls push her
to extremes to escape, from crossing fire pits and poison holes and avoiding
dangerous traps.
Gordon and Chell are very similar characters, neither of
them talks, and both of their stories are told through the environment and
their own actions. Gordon and Chell are both in similar situations within their
games. Their lives are in danger and they fight their way through levels to
escape it. In a lot of other games, the hero comes in to “save the day” or
rescue others, but these two characters are saving themselves, and in Gordon’s
case saving himself and indirectly saving the other scientists. The main
difference between the two characters, is that unlike Gordon Chell only ever
interacts with the enemy, not often is she accompanied with allies (with the
exception of Wheatley in Portal 2). A similarity both characters have is that
they have no helpers, or at least anyone that is component enough to last 5
minutes, this causes both characters to act very bravely and to be very
dependent, thus making them a stronger willed character. All in all they are
both hardened people, shaped by the scenarios they happen to be stuck in.
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