Does Gordon Freeman Wear a Helmet? | Cascade

Ending the debate.
Discord: / discord

[@PurpleColonel]

Hey, I'm working on a follow up to this video that answers questions and such, what would you like to see covered? I'll be going back over some of the more controversial points, the zoom, the idea of a retractable helmet, but what else? edit: I'll probably include it as part of an overall follow-up to all of my half-life videos so far, the script really doesn't work.

[@denalischopp]

8 minutes ago on a 4 month old video? I wonder if youtube bumped this in the algorithm because of the new pinned comment.

[@PurpleColonel]

@@denalischopp Nah, it was already doing that. No clue.

[@vos6434]

Where did you find the earlier version of HLA ending?

[@The_Butt_Cracker]

For the counterargument regarding the zoom, point to the widely-accepted notion of imagery (such as the HUD) being projected by the suit onto his glasses. If his HUD is being projected onto his glasses, there's no reason the suit couldn't also capture what Gordon is looking at, project it as imagery onto his glasses, and then magnify that imagery. It's also possible he wears specially-designed glasses that were issued by Black Mesa and interface with the HEV suit, which would not only explain those same things but _also_ explain why he's managed to hold onto the same pair of glasses from the start of HL1 to the end of Episode 2 (as confirmed by Half-Life: Alyx). The idea of a retractable helmet really makes no sense at all to me, imo. Unless the HEV suit is made of nanotechnology like Iron Man's suit in Infinity War (which would be ridiculous), nothing about the helmet's design suggests it's retractable. Gordon having a helmet that he takes on and off to see his HUD and protect him also doesn't really make any sense considering his HUD never disappears during the course of the games. For the counterargument that Gordon uses his helmet to breathe underwater, point out the fact that a helmet would contain enough air to last for at least a few good minutes, yet he drowns just about as quickly as somebody with no gear at all. Also point to the fact that the suit doesn't tell Gordon that his suit is running out of air, but rather that the blood oxygen levels are dropping (this implies that, rather than feeding him air, it provides him with oxygen by way of directly oxygenating his blood using the same technology it uses to inject morphine and healing agents). For the counterargument that Gordon's suit would be flooded with all the toxic waste he swims in, point out that the interior lining of the suit's neck is likely airtight. Also point out that Gordon could likely swim in toxic sewage without too much worry, as his suit can filter out toxins to at least some significant extent. This can be seen in HL2 whenever poison headcrabs bite him, as the suit will audibly detect the neurotoxins and begin fully reversing their effects. On a semi-related note, the likely reason why Gordon can survive deadly radiation without a helmet is that his suit dampens radiation to a sizable extent. It is a "hazardous environment suit," after all. As a final note, you can point out that Gordon gets swiftly knocked out by the HECU at one point during HL1, and the only way that the grunts could've realistically pulled that off is by bonking him over the head. That wouldn't have exactly worked if he was wearing a protective helmet. If you see this comment and end up using any of these explanations in the video, you don't have to credit me in any way, shape, or form. Most of these ideas have been out there for many years.

[@kcelej]

1:26 I think there was a time at the beginning of half life 2 when a headcrab latched onto a civilian behing a fence I don't remember when exactly but it was in the level with toxic water

[@puppet4978]

He doesn't need a helmet because he's a *highly trained professional*

[@ceptemzorpus]

*Gordon doesnt need to hear all this he is a HIGHLY* *TRAINED* *PROFESSIONAL*

[@dedmemes.]

Oh so the entire alien race is taking over the earth along with an army that only needs 7 hours to destroy the earth’s government? Dont worry i got a H I G H L Y T R A I N E D P R O F E S S I O N A L

[@dedmemes.]

Gordon with a crowbar:

[@joannatoja408]

"Profesionals have standards"

[@BrickBusterVideo647]

@@ceptemzorpus correction *Gordon doesn’t need to hear all this he’s a highly trained professional*

[@commodore7331]

"Stalkers are running around in there naked and they seem just fine" Dude.. did you even look at them?

[@Templarfreak]

Stalkers are decidedly NOT fine but whether it's caused by radiation in a weird dark energy generator, being brutally disfigured, or they're just having a bad day, whose to say

[@commodore7331]

@@Templarfreak I don't think their state is because of the radiation but I do think the combine doesn't give a shit whether they "expire" and will just make new ones since they'll jump at any opportunity to kill or completely fuck up a human. So I personally think they are damaged by the radiation (but that's not why they look like that obviously).

[@no-iv1hf]

They are humans afterall, but heavily modified

[@aaronmartinez-dq5zj]

"You can't have lung cancer if you don't have lungs" -Any smoker fish, but stalkers can also relate

[@PurpleColonel]

Hey, you don't know how they feel...

[@The_Drewid]

The best piece of evidence for a lack of a helmet is the fact that most everyone recognises Gordon on sight.

[@avatariroh0543]

He could have a visor that can be polarized and unpolarized at will, or when exposed to large amounts of UV radiation and the like. Halo did this with the ODSTs, so their faces could be seen, even with their helmet's on. It is a good way of getting the best of both worlds. If I was making the canon for the Half-Life franchise, this is what I would do.

[@TheManinBlack9054]

Maybe he put a sticker on his armor that says "Gordan"

[@totallynoteverything1.]

my theory is he just carries it and only puts it on when dealing with radioactive substances

[@teopazdrijan1008]

I mean, in Half life 2 he's like the only person known for wearing that suit hahaha, so everyone would know who he is regardless. In HL1, there were lots of other scientists with the suits, but as the time passes on, he was the only one that survived and people found out who he is

[@theugliestbarnacle816]

Well I mean, helmet on or off, you’re gonna recognize a mute in black and orange power armor

[@leminh2659]

Who needs a helmet when you have PLOT ARMOUR

[@Hazgoblin]

Or even better, quicksave

[@elwaspa6137]

And gman

[@giorgioantonaci7097]

Cuz it's badass

[@papabasar]

he got shot in the face by combines, yet his glasses didn't even move

[@zeniththetoaster9712]

Basically gman

[@ZarHakkar]

Plot twist: he does have a helmet, but keeps it in suit hammerspace where all his other weapons are and wears it only when necessary

[@TheNonsenseGuy]

Exactly what I was thinking. It just makes the most sense.

[@templarhelmet3844]

I had an idea of a mod that would 'add' the helmet, the helmet would help with protection against hazards, and would decrease damage against headcrabs and hits on the head, it also would decrease visibility and have a loud breathing sound to it, so it's more of a toggle.

[@floppaquest4916]

Pretty sure the Black Mesa remaster of HL1 does this.

[@legrang.archives]

@@floppaquest4916 it doesnt :(

[@asdawasda]

I think this is true

[@ninjadude183]

As someone who wears prescription glasses, I love that Gordon is one of the only badass action game protagonists to wear them.

[@wall4818]

Well I mean, there's a pretty buff and badass antagonist in metal gear who wears prescription glasses. He's also a senator.

[@CastleAliens]

as someone who wears glasses, i think gordon and kleiner are pretty based.

[@dimsum3329]

@@wall4818 my new head cannon is that both freeman and Armstrong are brother that took "brains and bronze" to entirely different level

[@capperbuns]

I need to use some of those too. I am becoming blinder each day.

[@ketaminepoptarts]

@@dimsum3329 its brains and BRAWN, not brains and bronze

[@CyntaxPC]

Gordon was breathing asbestos his whole career, so cancer doesn't scare him. He gels his hair rock-solid so headcrabs can't penetrate his luscious mane. He's mastered the art of holding his breath while lunging and running like an Olympian. Lastly... He has Google Glass

[@arx3516]

this is the only reasonable on why he can get away with not wearing an helmet

[@botondzoltannagy8849]

AND MORPHINE

[@UNSCPILOT]

Or AR contact lenses, or The HUD is litterally just on his glasses

[@elizataylor1726]

@@UNSCPILOT The HUD is just some stickers he has on his glasses and he just halucinates the numbers changing.

[@UNSCPILOT]

@@elizataylor1726 well, with all the weird stuff he got exposed to even before the resonance cascade, I wouldn't be shocked if he was hallucinating a bit XD

[@Scanntraxx001]

Gordon doesn't need a helmet he's a highly trained professional.

[@Her_Imperious_Condescension]

@@atari-7corners96 top voted comment was 6 months ago, this one was 5 months ago Also, I detest the notion that comments can be "stolen". It's far more likely that multiple people made the same joke in their heads, independantly.

[@Bruh-pj6dc]

Mans covered wars, ya know.

[@TheBloodyBros]

@@Her_Imperious_Condescension How do you know he didn't steal it? If it was a top comment, wouldn't he have seen it? Not saying he did it. But most likely he did.

[@gorbonfree8245]

@@TheBloodyBros why does it matter man, it's a line of text

[@snuggyox8896]

Ah yes, because a professional can survive a missle launcher

[@sodadrink8363]

My personal headcanon: Gordon wore the helmet during the Xen crystal test, but he took it off after it was damaged by falling debris in the test chamber. When G-Man said Gordon “earned” the HEV suit, what he meant was that he would leave it with Kleiner for future use. The HEV suit from HL2 is the same one from HL1, albeit heavily upgraded. It doesn’t have the helmet because, again, Gordon left it in the test chamber at Black Mesa

[@swintuss9670]

Yeah exactly what I was thinking

[@DanteKG.]

Its not the same suit between HL1 and HL2

[@sandlesman]

​@@DanteKG. while true, the Mark V is heavily inspired by the IV just with minor upgrades for more maneuverability.

[@Myuutsuu85]

I remember seeing a comic that depicts those events as you describe them, with the helmet being worn in the test chamber but getting damaged after the resonance cascade.

[@Ouinstonn]

bonus: what if Gordon put a new helmet back on in the lambda lab before the xen portal. even if you don't need to bring oxygen into xen, I feel it would useful to obtain.

[@agena6594]

I chuckle at the thought of Freeman trying to mute the HEV voice while hiding behind some crates in a wearhouse.

[@joshuamalte6762]

@@Subcinerar [>: ( ]

[@Awfulfeature]

MORPHINE ADMINISTERED

[@ketaminepoptarts]

(gets hit by headcrab whIle hiding from combine) MINOR LACERATIONS DETECTED

[@androide_t5322]

A whole squad of HECU chasing him and he's hiding behind some crates. *Headcrab noises * *Gunshot sound effect * *MORPHINE. ADMINESTERED.*

[@dutch_asocialite]

*Coughcough* ear buds *coughcough*

[@doruksega]

half-life is gonna end with Gordon getting cancer from all the tech and radiation

[@Zapy__]

He's gonna get cancer, wear a fedora and cook xenian crystals

[@clawzx1195]

@@Zapy__ yeah, I can see freeman and white being either cousins or in laws

[@codemancz798]

It's why G-Man had to keep him in stasis, Gordon has less than two months left to live.

[@lolkinlol7242]

oh, that's sad

[@Gwestytears]

Gman can move Gordon through time, but he can't cure cancer, that's just too much

[@GridDweller77]

Alt theory: The hud comes from gordons smart glasses being compatible with the HEV suit

[@sevenjaguar9595]

That’s what I’m thinking

[@HACKER-ct6hd]

or the suit connects to his brain via the spinal cord and manipulates his brain into displaying the hud

[@irradiance_]

​@@HACKER-ct6hdor he's just hallucinating from all of this "fighting against every extraterrestrial horror man has ever devised" kinda thing

[@HACKER-ct6hd]

@@irradiance_ no

[@irradiance_]

@@HACKER-ct6hd well okay then

[@reiisenarchive]

Finally, someone asks real questions.

[@rockhound3.14]

Bro right?!

[@rockhound3.14]

This video was major let down. He has no idea what hes talking about and should stick with call of duty

[@rockhound3.14]

Why has nobody mentioned the fact you can fucking ZOOOM! Does Freeman have Eagle eyes

[@Megajaybreaker4]

@@rockhound3.14 zoom because it’s a game

[@turaychu]

@@rockhound3.14 you can zoom but you cant shoot

[@Storyteller543]

"if I road a motorcycle wearing only that suit I would be breaking the law in 20 states." -Gordon Freeman

[@Otto_Von_Beansmarck]

Ahh i see you are also here from door monster

[@wheatleythe_bigmoron_1179]

wtf

[@ryancrazyrhino8976]

Thank you for making me feel old because I got that reference

[@Jobsih]

Can somebody explain, please?

[@dongzhengyuan2788]

@@Jobsih the quote is from a half life skit by door monster

[@ThePCguy17]

It's possible that Gordon's suit simply lacked a helmet but he couldn't say anything about it so he just sort of soldiered on and everyone else just assumed he had a good reason for not wearing one. Then by the second game it was so iconic that he was the badass that didn't even bother with a helmet that no one even considered putting a helmet on the suit they gave him, they just assumed he didn't want one. Meanwhile, poor mute Gordon is just internally griping about how no one has proper safety standards.

[@Bolitadewien]

Ok, this is perfect

[@VikingBrave]

It's not only about cancer. Swimming in toxic waste will have more immediate problems.

[@lizardlegend42]

Yeah, radiation sickness is no joke

[@ediodimacaroni]

Gordon probably has cancer now

[@pauldeddens5349]

Nah the suit is made out of lead, he is fine. Until he gets lead poisoning.

[@lizardlegend42]

@@pauldeddens5349 The suit is, but his head isn't. No helmet

[@cheatsykoopa98]

well canonically gordon didnt swim in the toxic waste because canonically he doesnt suck like first time players

[@sbraypaynt]

There is no way in hell the team at black mesa would let him interact with *checks notes* an "Anti-Mass Spectrometer" without head protection

[@MK-rw1on]

EXACTLY. I have worked with scientists and they want everything to be exactly after the book. Gordon would have never been let in the chamber without a helmet.

[@xalier7382]

maybe he lost the helmet in the chamber

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

Not even the secrecy of Black Mesa can keep OSHA guidelines away.

[@lambdasignal2065]

I mean yeah, it's a game logic.

[@someguy9175]

to be honest if black mesa was going by the book the "Anti-Mass Spectrometer" would have shut down, i do think gordon owns or owned a helmet but he just doesnt wear cause he's a dumbass

[@gastenoise]

I think we actually have the helmet on for the entire game, or at least that was the initial idea of ​​the developers with the HUD. Although clearly the ideal was to leave the 3d model, advertising posters and any appearance of Gordon without a helmet, as a benefit when marketing the game, giving the main character more personality.

[@Pacman009]

The hud could be a hologram at the the collar of the suit that moves with him or something

[@teopazdrijan1008]

It would have been cool if they did give him some personality tho. Not so much in your face, but something to have at least about the character you are playing

[@Pacman009]

Or just the HUD does not exist and is instead just a representation of the suits voice lines for the player

[@Ouinstonn]

@@Pacman009 holy crap that actually works. i was out here trying to think of the hud, but yeah i think this is the best option. gordon could've worn the helmet in the test chamber, helmet be damaged after the resonance cascade and abandoned, hologram hud activated. then maybe he grabbed a new helmet in the lambda lab before leaving for xen for just protection purposes and not oxygen.

[@Pacman009]

@@Ouinstonn well J don’t think people understand this: he doesn’t need the helmet in the chamber since the chamber is not radioactive and the cascade was not meant to happen

[@HaronYoungerBro]

I think the canonical Gordon doesn't wear it for the sake of being recognizable, same as with lots of movie characters. But the "real" Gordon would absolutely wear a helmet, and the Hazardous Enviroment suit wouldn't make sense without a helmet. So in my headcanon he does wear it as I like games being more realistic

[@leojwolfhouse8746]

This is correct. The MIT-trained character of Gordon absolutely wears a helmet in-game, regardless of how he is portrayed in game or promotional art.

[@jakewizard4432]

agreed 100% ^

[@Namespyk]

In canon, He probably takes off the helmet sometimes. He's using it in battles and radioactive stuff but when he's not fighting he takes off.

[@BananaMana69]

Canonical Gordon must wear a helmet as everytime you go underwater the suit uses auxiliary power to let you have a supply of oxygen.

[@BananaMana69]

@@coinflipburp1565 That's kind of insulting to valve honestly, they dont just put mechanics into their games without thinking them through lol obviously they put a ton of thought into the mechanics of the HEV suit and how it interacts with he world. Theres even prerelease models of Gordon holding his helmet, that proves that he does have one and is wearing it. From what I can see online they originally had a mechanic where you could take off and put on the helmet but since the game was in first person only they scrapped it.

[@acemagalor2519]

2:07 also keep in mind that at the end of the first game after the G man teleports Gordon he may have also "decontaminated" him to insure he'd be in perfect condition for his next assignment, I seriously doubt he'd take the chance of his biggest client succumbing to radiation poisoning during an important mission

[@RadekCrazy1]

The healing pools in xen could also have a great effect curing him.

[@randomtexanguy9563]

@@RadekCrazy1 as well as the health chargers and medkits

[@MakusinMeringue]

I'd like to imagine headcrabs aren't as dangerous as they really are for gameplay reasons. Who wants a fast and small target killing things in one hit or with damage over time? For a beginning-of-the-game enemy.

[@wall4818]

Although HL:Alyx does take a more realistic approach. It was definitely like that for gameplay reasons in HL1, 2 and the episodes because it was Source and Goldsource, but the VR of Alyx does a better job showing of what a headcrab is actually like. There's more struggle involved, but it honestly doesn't even look like they can really even grapple with your head very well (at least in the clip shown), and are only able to jump more at your chest. Gordon's chest is also covered in a thick (and presumably slippery) metal armor, meaning headcrabs not being able to attack your head very well in most of the games is amplified by it.

[@teopazdrijan1008]

Yeah, and you are Gordon Freeman with a helmet on, so it wouldn't make sense to get killed that easily

[@LiilYogurt]

In universe they are probably much more like the headcrabs from Boneworks. Once they jump at you and grab you, you have a limited amount of time to rip em off before you die

[@noizepusher7594]

Also, why would the combine use the crabs in shellings to take down settlements when they arent that much of a threat

[@thefunnyweegman]

Face huggers in alien isolation

[@CheezLoord]

Countertheory: it could be like the suits in Dead Space, meaning a retractable helmet.

[@lucianganea3034]

I was thinking about the same thing

[@Dargonhuman]

That's my theory as well.

[@srntnjl523]

Considering the design (and of course the purpose) of the HEV suit, this is very likely the case.

[@dutch_asocialite]

Likely, though I take it less a mechanically collapsing, multi-component helmet and more a rapidly expanding/contracting airbag, a-la the Gas Mask in Death Stranding or the Hovding.

[@cheatsykoopa98]

this reminds me who would win in a fight, isaac or gordon?

[@Funnel2TV]

for gordon, the glasses are his hud (cmon its black mesa of course they have high tech glasses) for adrian, the gas mask is his hud, and for barney his helmet is his hud. good video.

[@poweringaccounttermination4026]

@@hueghh3775 the Security gaurd's helmets may probably have some holographic hud that is projected infront of their face. Or there is some surgical implant in theyre eyes

[@poweringaccounttermination4026]

@@hueghh3775 what I meant is a hologram being projected near their face

[@KhalifahAnimation122]

Hud in Blue Shift are non canon

[@poweringaccounttermination4026]

@@KhalifahAnimation122 so its just barney imagining things?

[@KhalifahAnimation122]

@@poweringaccounttermination4026 just like counter strike the hud aren't canon. It just for player too see their ammo and health

[@slorbin]

I definitely think it's a retractable helmet. After all, the 'official' helmet model seems mostly some sort of fabric-like material, with possibly a plastic-like visor so it probably can just come and go at will.

[@Pacman009]

But no seems to disconnect therefore again no helmet.

[@FireOutOfMonkeysHead]

Good video always so entertaining and informative

[@PulspitUeuhe]

@@Pacman009but you are wrong lol so therfore retractable helemet

[@Pacman009]

@@PulspitUeuhe ah yes because the third person model totally has a chance to change to the helmet randomly

[@PulspitUeuhe]

@@Pacman009 ah yes because mark laidlaw the co writer said he had a helmetS

[@IndieLambda]

My head cannon is that his helmet works like in Dead Space, when needed it swoops in, when not needed, it hides away, the hud is in his Black Mesa Smart Glasses, Shephard's gassmask probably has built in hud, Barney's hud's probably just for consistency with Half Life and Opposing Force.

[@medinaalangabriel]

I solved that in my headcannon by just assuming Barney is hallucinating it.

[@IndieLambda]

Barney hallucinating the hud would be a funny solution. Maybe he can tap in the vortessence just a tiny bit? He's voiced by GMan after all.

[@Pacman009]

The hud in hl1 totally could be a hologram that is conveniently right in his face

[@pixelraster9588]

No, no, Barney just has that much control over his own body that he can quantify his health like that

[@ΒασίληςΒλάχος-τ3κ]

godamit i just made a comment with the same points and then saw this one

[@Cushla-np4pt]

Plot twist Everyone in black Mesa was injected with anti radiations juice

[@sirmount2636]

Rad-Away

[@-innutendo-9712]

@@sirmount2636 more like Rad-X

[@Cushla-np4pt]

@@sirmount2636 rad X

[@gilzineto]

Poor Cave Johnson... couldn't get a break and even died ot moon dust cancer!

[@sirmount2636]

@@-innutendo-9712 “Why not both?”

[@hbsvictor]

“Unless the radiation is extremely strong…” while Gordon takes life damage from stepping on it No, it’s not strong at all

[@SrGreen02]

And yet you won't get any damage from being an inch from it...

[@DiamondFireball]

that could mean that its heavily corrosive, but not as much radioactive

[@PelinalWhitestrake36]

Word of God says that he wears “schödinger’s helmet” . Basically for promotional material and generally the look they kept gordon helmet less because they felt that looked more iconic but say that he does wear one since the hud is considered canon. As for barney and adrian shepard, sheoar wears a gasmask that is pretty modifed so it also having a health bar and visor isn’t out of place with the only odd one out being barney. Radiation is also a problem and sure as you pointed out radiation won’t kill him instantly, but waking around in radioactive sludge like its a fucking backyard pool ain’t exactly healthy. As for the Stalkers....bruh they are stalkers, they barley look human and I feel like if they did die the combine would just replace them instantly. There’s also a Zoom fuction in half life 2, that would only make sense since according to the devs the huds are canon (atleast in half life 1 and 2) , so since tge HEV suit had been modifed to be more combatitive, a zoom fuction for the helmet would make more sense Basically Valve thinks that he logically wears a helmet but they think it looks cooler without it. My head canon is he wears one during battle/escapes but takes it off when talking or when there is no need for one.

[@dutch_asocialite]

>Word of God says that he wears “schödinger’s helmet” And where does it say this?

[@PelinalWhitestrake36]

@@dutch_asocialite Half Life wiki and Quora.

[@dutch_asocialite]

@@PelinalWhitestrake36 I can work the wiki well enough, but I'll need a little direction to the quora article.

[@wta1518]

My theory is that the helmet pops out of the HEV suit, so it can be activated or deactivated.

[@ducksi1]

zoom glasses

[@saxshton]

"We saw a Headcrab attach to one guy's head in the entire series in Half-Life 1" The Civilian that got a Headcrab attached to their head in Half-Life 2: Am I a joke to you?

[@Qtoyghs]

I was hoping someone would point out that scene from Route Kanal.

[@sourpusstv7984]

We don't see the headcrab jump the guy in route kanal that doesn't count

[@saxshton]

@@sourpusstv7984 he was still alive though, proving that they do, in fact, aim for a head

[@sourpusstv7984]

@@saxshton I already know that headcrabs aim for the head

[@saxshton]

@@sourpusstv7984 yes, so you just proved my point

[@TylertheCC1010fan]

My take: Gordon had it from Anomalous Materials to Apprehension, during the ambush the HECU pulled it off to have his face and head vulnerable to knock him out, and since he got dragged away he couldn't retrieve it, and also explains why Barney sees him without the helmet, same with Gina and Colette in the scrapped Decay mission, and much later Shephard, so from Residue Processing to to Alyx post-credits he doesn't have a helmet.

[@GingeyBoi57]

Gina and Cross are entirely helmetless (we can quite literally see from eachother's playermodel) and heaccrabs hardly do jack to them.

[@PurpleColonel]

Yep but the gearbox games might not count, so I tried to find other points as well.

[@fanaticaldandelion3991]

Gina and Colette

[@TranscendentLion]

@CuckooCoins FidgetSpinner She probably is cross after the Black Mesa Incident.

[@k96man]

Head crabs seem kind of clumsy if you ask me

[@getouttahere.4649]

Yeah because you can just have your arms up and they can't do anything

[@iplyrunescape305]

You forgot one small argument from the pro helmet side: the practicality of it. How does Gordon prepare himself for the most dangerous task he has to ever face by wearing a full suit for radiation protection, but not a helmet? Let me protect myself with the highest tech suit that comes with the helmet, but just skip on the helmet? Makes no sense to me

[@falcononpc9845]

Probably because the devs didn't think of it during the designing. The reasons for it don't really matter when he's been shown to not wear it.

[@Edward256]

"Oh great. Now someone's stolen my helmet! This day just keeps getting better." --Ross Scott

[@jairiske]

Nice pfp

[@ebikyeet3876]

Personal headcanon is that he lost it in the test chamber, and the hud is again just gameplay decisions, could explain why it’s not shown in game or art

[@wafflcoptr]

Well the suit didn't have a helmet with it when you first get it, it's nowhere near the suit in the beginning of the game.

[@benceklock4831]

Counterpoint; A fully charged HEV suit can take a point blank RPG and Gordon doesn't die. If he truly doesn't have a helmet, an explosion like that would either burst his head into a fine red mist, or sudden nerve trauma from being close to an explosion would fry his brain.

[@botondzoltannagy8849]

He also has high tech earbuds. And he is a main character bruh of course he survives.

[@caiseric]

none of the combat ingame is canon, in hla he has minimal wounds so its safe to assume he avoided most encounters.

[@Freezorgium]

@@caiseric > in hla he has minimal wounds bro the HEV suit is in tatters

[@caiseric]

@@Freezorgium its got one large gash and 2 pulse round burns

[@ragadoodle]

He can also take high-explosive anti-tank munitions to the chest or have a grenade blow up 2 metres from him

[@gromblereal]

hl1 Gordon smiling is the most wholesome thing I’ve seen ever

[@misterredintong]

you pfp is worse

[@winicjusz8827]

@@misterredintong Your English is worse.

[@gamejunk1e]

Gordon :D

[@JustLetMeUseNPC]

Yes. But stop shooting the D-Class when they give you a gun

[@ryderr4702]

@@winicjusz8827 you’re English is worser

[@yigityllmz]

2:32 ''the stalkers are running around and they seem just fine'' yea dude i bet they are fine...

[@tanybrachid]

To add to your point about the HUD, in HL2 the player also gets prompts such as "Press E to pick up objects" or "Press G to switch to the gravity gun" if hints are on, further driving the point that the HUD is only there to aid gameplay and isn't canon. (And btw, we see the object pickup prompt in point insertion, well before having the suit) Also, as a nitpick, there is one other scene where we see a headcrab coupling with someone's head in HL2, towards the end of Route Kanal

[@temporal_timelord1293]

" headcrabs aren't dangerous " Ravenholm citizens : am I a joke to you?

[@carriespencer4305]

That's what I was thinking, almost everyone in ravenholm has been infected with headcrabs, the only ones left is father gregori, and whoever is screaming in the backround somtimes.

[@Phagastick]

And literally every headcrab zombie in the games

[@wall4818]

they just got skill issue'd man

[@paulssss5463]

Most of your arguments are viable except for the radiation one. Its not him getting cancer which is the main cause for concern. Its him getting radiation poisoning and dying. Radiation sickness is extremely deadly and can happen to anyone when exposed to high doses. Gordon swimming around in radioactive waste would definitely give him radiation poisoning.

[@lizardlegend42]

@Alex Luca You can't really compare the HEV suit and spartan armour, different franchises have different logic

[@eintorpid9101]

Supposedly the hev suit has morphine and antidote supplies for broken limbs and poisons, so maybe it heals gordon's stem cells form radiation by pumping the green shit from medical bays through him?

[@SuperTf2fan]

@@eintorpid9101 Good point, the Black Mesa Green Goo (tm) heals literally anything and everything

[@paulssss5463]

@@eintorpid9101 That seems to highly advanced tbh considering they're just discovering teleportation

[@buttons9627]

@Alex Luca I like to think of the hev suit health as a kind of over shield, like in halo. This shield protects him from gunfire and radiation more effectively than the suit alone. When the hev suit health drops to 0, this shield is no longer available, and therefore Gordon’s head is susceptible to radiation. The suit still protects him partially from gunfire at this point though.

[@chippychop4690]

The HUD in HL: Alyx only appears on the screen that's mirroring the view inside de HMD instead of the player's actual view. In Alyx we have in-game ways to check ammo, weapons and health. This could mean that Gordon's suit has in-game ways to show Gordon the guns and items he has and the HUD is just for us, the player, to know how he's doing.

[@Pacman009]

And the in game way is the voice messages

[@TheDezedez]

Good point

[@ExternalDialogue]

You forgot that the suit supplies him with air though, as it drains aux power. Also the alyx thing proves nothing as that's just a vision of him, it would make little sense to Alyx and the audience if he had a helmet on.

[@BananaMana69]

Yeah to me thats the biggest mistake of this video. I always thought it was weird Gordon couldn't really hold his breath long after the suit ran out if power, but if hes wearing a sealed helmet with no oxygen tank then it makes sense he could only breath as long as the suit has auxiliary power.

[@BenoHourglass]

Or, as someone else pointed out, he just finished a major battle and wasn't expecting the Advisors to be there. So why not take off the helmet? It's probably a bit stuffy to keep on constantly.

[@Killicon93]

@@BenoHourglass Yeah. Gas masks and the like are pretty handy for the whole 'not dying' thing. But they're anything but comfortable.

[@littlechickeyhudak]

He avoids citing OF or BS because of their vague canonicity which I respect a lot, but then proceeds to cite a cut, non-canon scene as his ultimate proof...

[@yerk55]

Headcrabs alone destroyed the population of Ravenholm. I don't think they're meant to be as incompetent as you say. The Combine seem to think headcrab shells are an effective weapon. I like to think the collar of the suit prevents proper latching-on for headcrabs.

[@curple3]

Well yes, but Ravenholm was only a bunch of farmers and priests. Gordon has training and the HEV, he will obviously survive more than Ravenholm's population

[@curple3]

@LimeAngel Yes, and with the firearm training, he knows how to deal with risky stuff through shooting. And again, the HEV suit is the most advanced armor on Earth, definitely most of Gordon's feats are thanks to the suit

[@curple3]

@LimeAngel Wtf are you talking about, Gordon had expensive weapons and hazard survival training. Have you even played the game?

[@Eldrich09]

What if the HUD is actually on Gordon’s glasses, and maybe the HEV suit connects to them via Bluetooth or something. That could make sense.

[@bermado808]

damn, i theorized that the suit would somehow connect to gordons body and make him see the HUD with all the info and shit

[@Ravenwest19]

How does he breathe under water then? And what protects his head from bullet in the face :)

[@Eldrich09]

@@Ravenwest19 First of all, he doesn’t breathe underwater. He has limited oxygen, AKA: he holds his breath. Secondly, as for how he tanks bullets to the face, that’s just game logic. Unless you’re playing Superhot, it wouldn’t be fun to die to a single bullet in every gunfight.

[@Ravenwest19]

@@Eldrich09 and when you get bullet in head, it spends armor points if the suit

[@lancejensen9750]

So you're telling me Gordon dies of cancer a few months after the events of episode 2?

[@jockeyfield1954]

@@PhartingFeeting sadly, only gman donated barney would've donated but he wasted all his money on beer, the resistance have no way of making any money, kleiner's the one using the money from the page to make a cure for cancer, and shepherd could care less

[@marksantiago9841]

If he is not maybe we are. I have been waiting forever for a next real installment of the half life series...

[@rockhound3.14]

It is silly NOT to wear a helmet with ionizing radiation. Especially radiation

[@kiffy00]

is there ionizing radiation without radiation?

[@josephhatfield6237]

@@kiffy00 not as far as I know.

[@kiffy00]

@@josephhatfield6237 exactly xd

[@TheEmeraldSword04]

Well even then, he never got one because Kliener didn't add one for the Mk. V and something unknown happened to the one on the Mk. IV.

[@Scoutaro_gaming]

A really good piece of evidence that he doesn't wear a helmet is that you never see a helmet when you actual go to put on the HEV suit.

[@humankerbal3623]

you see headcrabs latch on twice. There was a scene in HL 2 where a citizen got attacked

[@reimuhakurei2123]

was gonna say...

[@MrSuperstargamer]

sooooo are we still gonna ignore the headcrab zombies ooorrr...

[@CourierSiix]

@@MrSuperstargamer what about them? We never see a zombie victim when it got turned into one, we just see them after a headcrab getting them

[@MrSuperstargamer]

@@CourierSiix What does it matter if you see it or not? The point is that there's proof that headcrabs can be extremely dangerous if anyone there is caught off-guard, even some combine soldiers got turned into zombies. It's ridiculous of PurpleColonel to argue that Gordon doesn't need this because they "aren't that much of a threat". I mean, wouldn't seeing his fellow scientist co-workers and countless civilians and others who have even been armed to death only encourage gordon to wear a helmet or explain how he survived? And using in-game damage is kind of a stupid excuse just to highlight his argument. Not to mention how he apparently fails to comprehend radiation poisoning but I won't get into that like others.

[@jpettltd]

@@CourierSiix potted plant

[@Wignut]

Therapist: Talking Gordon Freeman doesn't exist and can't hurt you Talking Gordon Freeman: 0:08

[@Espartanica]

HLVRAI

[@itsmant3]

Freeman's mind

[@saturn21207]

@@Espartanica No.

[@saturn21207]

@@itsmant3 Yes.

[@Espartanica]

@@saturn21207 HLVRAI.

[@c0ntriL]

3:24 "Defensive Weapons selection system" Is just a fancy way of saying "When you scroll your mouse to select weapons and the UI pops up showing all the icons for the weapons and you get to see what you have and whats active"

[@matthewjones39]

Except Gordon doesn’t have a mouse to scroll.

[@c0ntriL]

@@matthewjones39 I mean yeah, but its a way to show what weapons are available in your inventory.

[@matthewjones39]

@@c0ntriL And how would Gordon see it?

[@c0ntriL]

@@matthewjones39 the heads up display in the helmet.

[@matthewjones39]

@@c0ntriL The video proved that Gordon doesn’t wear a helmet.

[@serioussponge6416]

I agree with your conclusion except on one part. Radiation exposure doesn't just have a risk of cancer and it's dependent on not just the length of the exposure but the intensity. Exposure to hazardous levels of radiation WILL inflict you with radiation sickness, which is where your body is polluted with ionizing particles that aren't just messing with your DNA but are outright destroying your cells. No person can be exposed to the kinds of radiation that Gordon encounters without complete protection from head to toe and not suffer any radiation poisoning at all that wouldn't just carry a risk of cancer but a risk of outright death if it's high enough. The Citadel reactor is heavily implied to be bathed in radiation so potent that an unprotected person would die in moments from the massive amounts of cell death it would cause. Gordon not having a helmet to protect his head would have had his brain turned into scrambled eggs as his neurons are practically vaporized from the radiation. I can see two possibilities to explain why he may not need a helmet to protect from radiation: 1. The HEV Suit can somehow treat the most massive, most instantly lethal levels of radiation poisoning at such an incredible rate that it keeps him alive through sheer force of neutralization power. 2. The HEV Suit has some form of energy shielding that can screen radioactive particles from the atmosphere, (and possibly blocking head crabs and bullets as well perhaps) acting like a helmet that is protecting his head.

[@Zelousmarineinspace]

Given how many combine bullets and damage he can tank, plus with the suit needing power, I’m assuming the latter is true.

[@captainszasz5836]

@@Zelousmarineinspace Or he wears a helmet

[@TheHunt890]

"Defensive weapon selection system monitoring" Is quite literally the weapons menu. So yeah I agree "high tech pockets" are spot on. Especially considering the weight of all the weapons Gordon holds and yet, not a single one of them are visible unless he's holding them.

[@ТайныйЯ-к3ь]

01:26 Well, there actually was the time in Half-Life 2, where headcrab infests one of citizens, with similar setup, but the ability to shoot him off was present as well, by which, however, you would instantly kill the guy too.

[@wta1518]

He was also completely aware of the headcrab attacking him.

[@beancan2752]

3:20 you say that the "defensive weapon selection system" could be anything. However this could give an explanation to the weapon tabs Gordon sees when changing weapons

[@tudorcozma4144]

yeah this is the same thing I was thinking when I heard that voice line

[@flareonguy7922]

When he says it could "be anything like high tech pockets" that's exactly what he means. Do you think your helmeted Gordon carries all of his weapons in his big muscular arms.

[@AuroraAustralis_]

@@flareonguy7922 No but you’d probably need a display so you can pick out what you want from those high tech pockets. For that, you need a heads up display, and for that, you need a helmet.

[@flareonguy7922]

@@AuroraAustralis_ Honestly who gives a shit? I think Gordon is helmetless and you think he has a helmet. You'll never convince me that he has a helmet, and I'll never convince you that he doesn't have one. Trying to explain the HEV suit is like trying to explain how valve weapons work. "The HL2 SMG has a grenade launcher on it! It is just invisible!" kind of stuff.

[@tatotaytoman5934]

maybe he has strong magnets everywhere on the suit which he could stick weapons onto, and the weapon selection simply turns off the electromagnet for the specific weapon.

[@evdestroy5304]

The suit in HL2 is a different suit from HL1, a later model to be specific.

[@ChaseMC215]

But the Mark V never had a helmet also

[@Nombrenooriginal]

@@ChaseMC215 the mark V is more sci-fi so my theory is: he have a retractable helmet or he have a invisible shield in their head

[@sourpusstv7984]

The mark 2 had a helmet but that model is old as dirt

[@caligulawellington3171]

It makes sense that a helmet is included to the suit. But he's shown without it so that he can be recognised. It's like when important characters in movies are shown without helms, or wear helmets without face protection. The face is shown for easier story telling purposes, even though the character should really have a helmet. Real armour is replaced with plot armour. Sometimes just pieces. Like a helmet.

[@igi1225]

this is my opinion: -the headcrabs not laching onto other npcs heads is probably because valve didnt want to program it (have never programmed in my life but i guess it would be hard and a bit unnecesarry to add that) -gordon without a helmet in opfor and bshift was probably there to remind you what the main character of the franchise looks like (you may think why would they do it but if you think about it why would they not) -barney having a hud without a sick sci fi helmet was most likely not canon but put in the game anyways because an fps without a hud is just unplayable

[@alphenex8974]

yup, i agree

[@nuclearsummer7796]

Well, actually it would be extremely easy to program such a thing in, though excessive. Source-am programmer

[@alphenex8974]

@@nuclearsummer7796 Why bother to complicate an NPC that is just added there to clear some stuff up.

[@mane8246]

@@alphenex8974 they have ai for a cockroach so....

[@indianaliam1]

King Kong and kinda Far Cry 2 want words.

[@unbearablysmug2437]

Honestly I believe yes he does. For example in the radiation example you brought up I would like to point out that the amount of radioactive material he swims through the skin on his face should have literally melted off. On top of that 3rd person was never actually meant for players to use and so certain key features aren't there. Also head crabs can easily overpower a person, have you seen that one resistance trooper with a gun on high alert get jumped by one and almost immediately get taken over. Also Gordens face is iconic, so the reason why it was put on the promotional art is cause it looked good.

[@mwbgaming28]

I consider the armor system to act more like an energy shield than "reactive armor" since you lose suit energy from environmental sources (radiation, electricity, fire.etc) so that could explain why headcrabs cannot attach to the player I did make a mod to fix the miniscule damage though, it makes headcrabs do way more damage, enough to one shot the player if he has no suit energy, but they only take 1 shot to kill instead of 2, same with zombies, vorts, and explosives, they do a lot more damage than in vanilla Half-Life

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

I always assumed that the HUD was projected onto Gordon's glasses. He works for Black Mesa, so high tech glasses are hardly out of the question. As for surviving radiation and never getting latched onto by a Headcrab, my assumption is that Gordon's HEV suit projects some kind of protective energy field around his head when needed. Sure, it's silly, but it'd actually give Gordon tremendous advantages over wearing a helmet in terms of peripheral vision and freedom of movement. Plus, these kinds of energy fields are probably how the suit becomes more protective when you charge it with electricity, so it's a double explanation. Frankly, though, the nail in the coffin is that he is NEVER seen with a helmet in canon, and when he puts on his HEV suit, there's no helmet in sight on the damn model. This is the kind of thing that never even needed an "explanation" to begin with.

[@shookengie370]

And then the last one gets countered with "The helmets appears when activated"

[@scorfilestudio]

I'm sure it really useful for a scientifist to have ammunition display on his glasses On my smart glasses, i can see the health of each party of body and select them for attack :)

[@T._rtlI]

Everybody gangsta until Gordon freeman from the 1998 hit game half life starts talking like a 2 year old

[@Ari-sh5bq]

don't think I'd ever describe the stalkers as "doing fine"

[@drpompo]

My explanation is that the helmet we have seen in promotion and such for the first game is sort of just a convenient placeholder, and the actual helmet he uses is built into the suit and just retracts. The fact that the suit is required to enter the test chamber kind of shows that a helmet would be required. Why protect your entire body but leave your most vital organ vulnerable? The devs would have had no real reason to touch on this or bother modeling it for the occasional time where you actually see Gordon or the suit.

[@IamNCortex]

My headcannon is the same with the reason why the Doom Guy has exposed abs In Half Life Alyx Gordon's hev suit is actually damaged so it is safe to assume that even if Gordon had a helmet he lost it during his travels but it wasn't necessary so he continued without it

[@Julio_Tortillia]

To explain G-man saying "i think youve earned it" for the HEV suit, you could just say that he preserved the suit for a later date, not that he actually let Gordon keep it. Thats how they got access to it in HL2.

[@MyUsersDark]

Considering we never see the rest of his HL1 arsenal again, this is how I interpreted it aswell

[@demogeymidge2997]

Gordon wears a helmet it’s just the a perfect recreation of his head .

[@wall4818]

its like that scene from the end of the first Halo where Master Chief takes his helmet off but they never actually made a helmetless model of him, so its just another helmet spawning in his hand and clipping through the one he already has on.

[@HypnoStellar]

The “defensive weapons detection system” was a removed feature where the suit would narrate any time you were out of ammo, picked up a new weapon, or switched to a new weapon.

[@glork3202]

Isn't it "Defensive weapon **selection** system"?

[@wta1518]

The game still says "ammunition depleted"

[@dr.cheeze5382]

I'm suprised no one has considered that maybe the hud is on the collar of Gordons suit and is simply always visible for gameplay reasons, just like in hl:alyx where alyx has the hud on her arm but spectators always see it.

[@NiCoNiCoNiCola]

His helmet is made from the same materials as nanosuits from Crysis and he made the helmet look like his face with glasses

[@prismaux5168]

Chuck Jones (designer of the HEV suit) said it himself that Gordon does indeed have a helmet. Nice video nonetheless!

[@PurpleColonel]

I looked into that, and it comes from one impossible to verify post on stack exchange, which was a reply to another post. That account was created the same day, and the only evidence that he is who he says he is is that Chuck is listed as the designer on the Half-Life wiki. That account hasn't made a single post since, and Chuck had long left valve when that post was made. I don't really believe it.

[@prismaux5168]

@@PurpleColonel Oh, ok then. On question though- Can you explain the zoom function? I thought about maybe binoculars attached to his arm, or maybe it's just a non canon gameplay element. In the end I just decided he wears a helmet and takes it off when talking to other people (like in the end of Episode 2) and that they draw him in promo art without one just so he's recognizable.

[@PurpleColonel]

@@prismaux5168 I think that's just non canon. Nobody ever mentions it, never necessary. In the beta, Gordon had binoculars as a separate item so I'm guessing it's a holdover from that. It is pretty odd though, I honestly forgot about it while I was making this.

[@The_Butt_Cracker]

@@PurpleColonel Everything HUD-related can be easily explained as the suit projecting imagery onto Gordon's glasses.

[@BananaMana69]

@@The_Butt_Cracker Except the fact that when you're underwater Gordons suit uses auxiliary power to presumably filter or generate oxygen to breath and when it runs out of power Gordon suffocates.

[@megakiller999]

I swear, I remember hearing something along the lines of , "sorry we still can't find the helmet" in Half Life 2 when I got the HEV suite. I first played it on orange box for 360. Also as a counter point, it does still sound like all of the voice lines are coming through an earpiece, which Gordon doesn't have, and playing these lines through speakers seems like a tactical mistake. Maybe bone conduction, or maybe just developer oversight lol.

[@glork3202]

I mean, maybe there is something in his suit that captures these transmission, and sends them to him? Remember, his suit audio is independent of the military audio

[@MrJoeyAQ]

Don't forget you can use the zoom feature only when you obtain the suit in Half-Life 2

[@FrostyFoxDrake]

Given that the suit immediately warns the player to evacuate radiation sources in Halflife (some of which even have dead npcs with either PCV’s (in the case of the marines), or HEV suits with helmets), I would say that the main danger posed by the radiation in HL is NOT cancer, but actually acute radiation poisoning. Even with shielding, you can be exposed to a lethal dose of radiation in milliseconds. Also, I would like to point out that the green glow of hazardous waste is not directly caused by radiation, but actually caused by phosphorescent/fluorescent chemicals reacting to the alpha decay of whatever radioactive material your HEV suit is detecting; TL;DR radiation isn’t the only toxic thing in that waste you wade through in HL Third, the scientist getting jumped by a headcrab isn’t the “only evidence” of the danger of headcrabs: I’d say that if they can turn a. BM security guards b. fully kitted-out HECU soldiers c. the HEV SCIENTISTS with HELMETS in Xen d. the combine soldiers into zombies, I’d argue that the danger of headcrabs is sufficient reason to wear a helmet, even just for a little advantage

[@radium6962]

To be fair, A, B, and C only appear in the fan made black mesa. D is real though.

[@OverTheTaco.]

@@radium6962 point B the HECU Grunt Zombie is in Opposing Force Edit: The Zombie Security guard is also in Opposing Force

[@radium6962]

@@OverTheTaco. We can argue that OP4 isnt canon, even if i see it as such, but i think ignoring op4 for something like this works well for an objective tone.

[@zatoka08]

Headcrabs are clearly one of the primary ways of dealing with human rebels. Sure, regular headcrabs are weak, but still fairly mobile. The Combine have modified the headcrabs to produce the fast - very agile, able to climb walls and roofs - and poisonous - tanky and seemingly "breeds" off the host - variants. I mean they have a whole system of shelling enemy positions with headcrab capsules. Headcrabs take over hosts and zombify the population, rendering these places uninhabitable. Everything we witness in HL2 - the destruction of the railway outposts in Route Kanal, the aftermath of Ravenholm's shelling, the capsule launcher in Lost Coast, as well as shellings during the Uprising in Anticitizen One/Follow Freeman, supports the fact that headcrabs are effective in combat.

[@Pacman009]

I think the HEV zombies had no helm since the suit things have no where to store one so the scientists had no helmets to use in a emergency

[@gladyssawyers8261]

The HUD display is Gordon Freeman's glasses and maybe the helmet morphs from the suit onto Gordon Freeman's head when he's swimming in radiation or a headcrab is trying to latch on his head

[@PurpleColonel]

That's a decent explanation but I'd consider that tech too advanced for HL. It's more like, what 90s people imagined a secretive corporation would be like, not full-on Iron Man stuff.

[@Kaplar87]

@@PurpleColonel really? they were kind of making teleportation devices in there

[@PurpleColonel]

@@Kaplar87 yeah but on a stylistic level you just don't see that kind of modern look that you would in an iron man movie or something.

[@evdestroy5304]

@@PurpleColonel That's really only because after HL1's opening all we see is constant destruction, ruin, and poverty for the rest of the series. There's no telling what was made in BM before things got bad.

[@kiwipete642]

@@evdestroy5304 “enhanced” donuts - by the look of it 🤣

[@alphenex8974]

This is why I think Gordon actually wears a helmet: Headcrabs cant latch on Gordon's head(Headcrabs cant latch onto NPCs because why would they bother to make Headcrab latching system, it is more simple to just have Headcrab hurt the NPCs) Gordon can survive a shit ton of headshots(Normal Citizen NPCs can just easily die by getting headshot by a pistol 4 times) so uh, his helmet is probably protecting him about that. Barnacles can't chew on Gordon's helmet so basically, Barnacles can't 1 hit Gordon, if he wasn't wearing the helmet he would be just dead(Barnacles can basically kill NPCs without trying to chew them, etc) He can see underwater pretty easily (It is hard to see underwater without actually wearing a mask or googles or smth like that) He dips his head under toxic waste and survives?????? How can Gordon see under Toxic waste without getting his eyes fucked up (He would need to open his eye)????? He survives explosions and waaaay more stuff and his glasses are still fine, check HL:A's ending. He is probably wearing his glasses while also wearing the helmet. Players cant see the hud without wearing the suit (and the helmet). Alyx uses his Gravity-Gloves to check her health because she doesn't have the helmet. Also, the hud texts look like they are being projected by something. Suit zoom, Gordon basically can zoom???? It is not OOC, it is made to look like you are using the helmet to actually zoom (sorry for my bad explanation for this one) I have a feeling that this video is literally made to annoy people that think Gordon wears a helmet. EDIT: I FOUND A BIG FAT PROOF: "Vital signs monitoring activated." "Munition level monitoring activated."

[@asdawasda]

My theory is his helmet only comes out when necessary like during radiation, combat, underwater, etc

[@k.okirbe]

i think its because the suit constantly injects morphine into gordon causing him to ascend to being a god

[@anomalocarislover7254]

This is a good argument but somebody having a different opinion doesn’t mean they are trying to get on your nerves.

[@Hemostat]

@@anomalocarislover7254 the narrator does have a smugness to their voice tho lol

[@ace0071000]

I especially love that moment, where he talks about HUD, gives his point about health/ammo being a representation of suit voice lines (plausible) but then "weapon selection system" comes up, he acknowledges its existence... And says "we'll just ignore it" or somesuch. That's... not a convincing argument. If anything, most points were mental gymnastics.

[@letsgame9740]

1:11 thay probably have the helmets because the scientist didn’t want to take the chances and didn’t want to go in there and find out it has no Air

[@WonderlandWarGaming]

You can still drown in hl.

[@Loopy1330]

(Coming from someone who always thought Gordon doesn't wear a helmet), the answer I always came up with for the suit's heads up display is that the suit projects the HUD onto Gordon's glasses. I later found out years later that when Marc Laidlaw was once asked about Gordon wearing a helmet or not, he provided the exact same answer about the HUD that I happened to come up with on my own. Marc Laidlaw also mentioned that the reason why Gordon doesn't wear a helmet is because it gives him a bad case of helmet-hair. For Adrian Shepard, Adrian wears a special vest and gear called a PCV which was made by Black Mesa, so Adrian's HUD could easily show up inside his gasmask. As for Barney, Dr. Cross, and Dr. Green, their HUDs still appear for sake of gameplay regardless. None of them wear any kind of helmet, mask, or anything that could possibly show a HUD.

[@Leitis_Fella]

My points of contention: -If headcrabs posed little threat, then how do you explain Ravenholm and other zambie-infested areas? -If the HUD and immunity to headshots is simply a gameplay feature, then Gordon's face being visible can also be argued as a purely aesthetic choice. I argue that like how Gordon is the player's avatar, you get to decide whether or not he's wearing a helmet.

[@scorfilestudio]

For the infested zombie area i will assume the headcrab was just "built different"

[@thefatpikachuchannel7672]

People are dumb, that’s how

[@hopscotchoblivion7564]

Yeah I don't know why we even bother asking these questions. Does Sam Fisher's goggles really glow in the dark?

[@sw4g465]

Also that the model in half life 1 is a place holder never meant to be seen, which is why gordon doesnt have a ponytail anymore but his model still does

[@TylertheCC1010fan]

zombie infested ares, ESPECIALLY Ravenholm i'd attribute to numbers.

[@Black_Mesa_Facility]

3:38 Years of training, implants, and stripping away my humanity just to be bested by some idiot with bug balls

[@ethanlivemere1162]

There's still the matter of the zoom fuction, which could be another player-aid thing that isn't ACTUALLY there, but it is presented in a way that it definitely looks like it's part of a helmet display. Also, judging by the insane amount of zombies throughout the games, I'd say headcrabs are actually pretty damn effective.

[@PurpleColonel]

A group of pannicking rebels and elderly scientists are going to be easier for a headcrab to attack than somebody like Gordon who's more aware and capble. And has guns and stuff.

[@alfo2804]

I'd like to think that in the canon, he has a helmet but only wears it when absolutely necessary because he can't wear his glasses and the helmet at the same time - or maybe he can, but it causes them to steam up very quickly. That way, he has to choose between visibility and protection. He dons the headgear whenever 20:20 vision isn't necessary, or when the situation is so hazardous that he needs to prioritise staying alive over seeing properly.

[@ThatOneWe1rd0]

“It’s just breaking cancer you can live with it” “I don’t think you can live with that”

[@senorcheesy9661]

People tend to forget that the combine can get infected by headcrabs and their helmets are probably more stronger than the HEV suits since theirs are actual combat armor instead of just a chem suit. So that argument is out the window

[@ghurcbghurcb]

Well, HEV-suits were designed for scientists who work in Xen, so it would make sense for their helmets to be more headcrab-proof.

[@gianni50725]

@@ghurcbghurcb This and the HEV suit has a way higher quality than Combine suits. HEV suit can survive a tank missile, Combine soldiers die from a shotgun blast. You cannot compare the two. ...Which brings up another point. There is absolutely zero way Gordon could survive a point-blank tank missile shot without having a helmet. It’s not especially realistic either way, but the blast would certainly rip his head off and blow it to bits without a high-powered helmet covering his head. Which is why I’m going to keep saying he wears a helmet, even if the promotional materials try and show otherwise.

[@k9strike931]

@@gianni50725 It isn't a tank missile, it's a tank bullet.

[@gianni50725]

@@k9strike931 k, whatever. he still can survive a direct hit from aircraft strikes regardless of pedantry about tank ammunition

[@k9strike931]

@@gianni50725 I know, I was correcting you.

[@Kaplar87]

he absolutely wears the helmet with full HUD and all the benefits that comes from it. go into the game, press Z and woa-la, improved tactical zoom integrated in the helmet activates. Also, as you said: vital signs monitoring activated (HP bar appears in that moment), defensive weapon selective system monitoring (hud overview in top left corner shows up) + munition level monitoring. Scientist in the HEV suit room says that helmet is optional, meaning simply that you can take off the helmet when you want, not that it is not mandatory at all times.

[@The_Butt_Cracker]

Literally none of those things indicate that Gordon wears a helmet, and Black Mesa is not a canon Half-Life game.

[@Espartanica]

Except, he doesn't. And that's canon. At no point in the canon do we see Gordon wear a helmet, and just because there are conveniences made for gameplay doesn't change that

[@Espartanica]

@@A_Stranger2256 Half Life 2 and Portal use the same visual style, the same physics engine, the same universe, etc. They're pretty similar,

[@captainszasz5836]

@@Espartanica Its a lame exuse to just say "its for gameplay convenience" when there is a more obvious and better answer for it, like gordon wearing a helmet. Everything points to him wearing a helmet, so he is most definitely wearing a helmet.

[@Espartanica]

@@captainszasz5836 It's not a lame excuse, it's what makes sense. He has never been shown with a helmet in any of the canon.

[@dagur500]

I sorta always imagined the helmet deploying and folding like an Iron Man helmet whenever it suits Gordon.

[@st4rsh1pz]

This is wholesome 0:16 And the little happiness noise he makes awwwwwww

[@FlyboyHelosim]

I seriously just believe that Valve didn't really think too much about all the details. Sure, HL has some of the best and most subtle details in a game but then there's blatant mistakes and inconsistencies, most notably in the models and animations. Another one which always gets me is how you pick up an MP5A3 but the model you're equipped with is an MP5 SD3.

[@leojwolfhouse8746]

This is correct. There are a lot of inconsistencies. Valve just wants a good gameplay experience. In the story, Gordon is smart enough to wear a helmet. Likewise, in the in-game experience, Black Mesa would not be careless enough to let a scientist in a radiation-bathed test chamber without a helmet. That's work safety 101. I mean, we know for a fact that the HEV suits come with helmets. They are literally hazard suits. Of course the scientist wears one.

[@PurpleColonel]

Exactly.

[@purpleangel1784]

maybe another reason why he has the HUD and why his "glasses are always clean" and whatnot is because the game doesn't actually take place from your eyes, but instead from the suit himself, which would explain why the arms are so high up and why you can see the HUD, and why in Half-Life Alyx there is no HUD, there are the holographic displays on your hands, but not in your vision, meaning that in half-life Alyx thats the only game you actually play from the point of view of a a character, after-all i do believe in half-life 1 that the suit was full of tracking devices and maybe one of them was something similar to a dash-cam

[@KyryloMudrokha]

"If I rode a motorcycle wearing only this suit, I would break the law in 20 states".

[@lockelinator8967]

Little thing I noticed at 3:22, that line is referring to the weapon selection hud that shows up when you don't have fast weapon switch enabled!

[@gragerus]

I believe the reason he started half life 2 without the hazard suit is because if they saw freeman with the suit they would immediately attack him and put him in for questioning

[@Kacpa2]

I think its mainly for aesthetics and more regonizeable image of Gordon, especially in artwork and coverart.If Gordon was to wear it on all the artwork it would look more dull, without his expresions on these and looking less unique, same if they dont that in HL:Alyx it was far more striking seeing his face and him putting on the glasses in the shadows in that vision than him just idly standing there with a helmet on. Him wearing it in gameplay would mirror nicely with Combine soldiers and civil protection having their faces covered, Gordon being a counterbalance to them giving some of their own dehumanizing medicine to citizens and rebels alike. As for his face it could just show throught the eyeport with glass working like modern dimming glass on car sunroofs and rearview mirrors and....spacesuits diming and clearing on demand. HL1 didnt realy do transparency on npcs it was very limited to map entities like windows, no vehicles had transparent bits, and even in opposing force and mp model gordon sports agent smith sunglasses instead correction glasses he is shown to wear. So if it was depicted in more realistic way he would be wearing it all the time, but it isnt so he doesnt, just like other characters that we play alongside with dont bother with any protection usually, like Barney having his head uncovered not wearing civil protection mask anymorenot even backside of it.

[@harod4656]

2:37 perfect transition

[@nejkgamessk6031]

Man woke up and started asking the real questions

[@velvetsky3451]

“The Stalkers are running around, and they’re naked, and they seem just fine.” ah yes, the mentally concussed poorly fed humans without any limbs or reproductive organs are totally fine

[@jaski4022]

FUCKING EXACTLY.

[@Pacman009]

Well other than that they have no signs of damage

[@monkeyboy140]

I always thought this was a silly argument. Gameplay limitations and plot armor are a thing especially for a 1998 game, asking why a headcrab dosen't latch onto him is almost like asking how medkits can heal broken bones from a fall. Putting on a suit its clear that a helmet isn't there.

[@catsukisubaru3715]

Considering the suit itself seems to be linked with the user's organism in some way, considering it injects Morphine into Gordon when at low health, I've always assumed that what's actually "protecting" us isn't only the suit itself, but rather the backup of Health and Armor that the suit keeps and we can fill at recharge stations. After all, it's not unlike Black Mesa ti invent some medicine that stops radiation poisoning. In the same sense, maybe the same applies for Oxygen intake, and hell, maybe the HUD itself is being shown directly into the wearer's eyes.

[@crimsoncharcoal6813]

5:06 could it be argued that Gman was tecnicaly keeping his word considering Klyner had it all that time and it was ready for him. Just had to be without it while being intoduced to the chapter he was transported into.

[@sulphurous2656]

2:28 It is worth pointing out that as soon as you enter the containment chamber of the citadel reactor, the suit will inform you of hazardous radiation levels being detected as soon as you descend in the elevator from the airlock. During this your suit is also 'supercharged' along with the gravity gun. Once you lose that charge by the end of the level, the damage immediately takes effect.

[@Artcat932]

The “Defensive Weapon Selection System” is probably the menu that pops up when you scroll through your weapons.

[@r4dbro]

Alyx: C'mon Gordon crank that thing Freeman: Fuck this shit im out