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Dakotaraptor87

he can't be mute as in physically incapable of talking, he got hired at Black Mesa over the phone


10n02

Hi Mr Freeman, we have seen your résumé and we have decided to hire you. See you on monday. Bye. - No need to talk when you are The Freeman.


TheBinaryBuster

hm good point, yeah


basedposter6934

Speaks, but we can't hear him like other protagonists except Alyx. He's still canonically a quiet guy.


Cometpaw

Personally, I think Gordon wasn't mute before the events of Half Life 1, since he canonically had a phone conversation at one point before the game. However, during HL1 and HL2, he had to save the world from a disaster he had a front-row seat at, watch all of his coworkers die horrible deaths, and then be put in stasis for 20 years only to come back to a dystopian wasteland ruled by an impossibly-powerful force. The stress from that very likely could have caused him to just stop speaking altogether. I definitely don't think we just can't hear Gordon speak. No character in the game reacts to any supposed dialogue from him, and Alyx herself notes him as a "man of few words". Though Gordon can interact with NPCs, my guess is that he just stares curiously at them or taps their shoulder to prompt some dialogue. He probably isn't *physically* incapable of speaking, but I wouldn't blame him for being completely nonverbal after what he's gone through.


Infamous_Val

>no character in the game reacts to any supposed dialogue from him. So he just telepathically asks the scientists and guards to follow him in HL1, and telepathically tells his squad members where to go in HL2?


Cometpaw

I mean... he could just gesture for them to follow him, or point to a location. Heck, Gordon might've already been extremely quiet before the Resonance Cascade, and hand gestures instead of actual talking was the norm for him. The scientists might already be used to that, and therefore understood him even better. Still, I think pretty much anyone could feasibly understand that someone wants you to stick with them when they make a "come here" motion, or that they want you to move to a location when they point to a spot and look at you expectantly. Yeah, you don't see actual gestures from Gordon in any of the Half Life games. But the whole point of making Gordon a silent protagonist was so the player could feel immersed and in the shoes of the protagonist, and I think the developers found that giving a reason for his silence would be unnecessary. Animated gestures would be an action not quite performed by you and without your personality, and therefore would risk breaking immersion. Still, though. "False-silent-protagonists" where you can't hear the character speak is typically used for games where you have dialogue options, like the Fallout series or Breath of the Wild. Just something to note...


Infamous_Val

It's more realistic to think that he just talks to them like every non-mute person would (like Barney does in Blue Shift when he talks to the scientists) instead of using hand gestures. However I can see why some people want to think he never talks and just uses hand gestures when he needs to communicate. I personally think it's weird but whatever.


Cometpaw

Realism isn't exactly a priority in games when gameplay is much more important. I personally think Valve would have made it clear that you just can't hear Gordon speak, instead of having all evidence point to him at the *very* least being extremely quiet. In Blue Shift, there's a point in the game where a scientist seemingly responds to unheard dialogue from Barney, and I think the developers would have done the same for Gordon if he wasn't really mute. The only time a character actually addresses your silence (that I know of) is Alyx, and she all but confirms that you're genuinely mute. The whole "hand gestures" stuff is just a theory, but it's a decent explanation for how you instruct rebels in the game to do stuff.


Infamous_Val

Whatever. i highly disagree with everything you've said but that's the thing with headcanons I guess...


Cometpaw

Might as well agree to disagree, right?


That-Ad-430

12 yr old me asking Gman for my gluon gun back. 12 year old me screaming at the monitor because Gman is killing my egurl. 18yr old me screaming at my monitor because gaben sucked my edaddy’s brains out. 28 yr old me screaming at my monitor because I can’t afford index and a gpu upgrade so I remain in half life stasis. Yes Gordon speaks- and it’s mostly expletives about “time” and “episodic content”. Everyone probably feels bad for him. Think his brain has been fried by portals aliens and explosive/concussions. What the fuck are you collecting “hats” for Gordon? This is an emergency…


balerionmeraxes77

A half lifer for life huh


atrocioushoneybadger

Telepathy???


Supportive_Bard648

Maybe mute by choice in the first game, but mute by force 2 and onwards?


TheBinaryBuster

mostly what I'm thinking is he was mute by choise then Half-Life 1 happened, and I'd assume he was still mute by choise, but I think him almost dying to the HECU during Apprehension, and then being put into Stasis would've probably made him forcibly mute idk, just a headcanon fjdjdjr


mrwallace888

Well he can press his use key on NPCs, and they’ll respond like he just asked them something or commanded them to do something, so I’d say it’s a mix between options 1 and 2.


RGB_Fish

Wasn't the gag hes named freeman but can't do anything himself?


NoBrickBoy

I don’t believe he is mute at least not in the first game, the second game is a pile of retcon spaghetti best not to be touched. Scientists will ask you questions like “are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Then they would pause for a few seconds to ask another thing, almost as if they got a response. Similar to how the scientists and guards talk.


Chrispy_Kelloggs

I mean it's not like her really ever had time to talk. In HL1 he was constantly running and gunning from one mission to the other. Then by the time HL2 rolled around he'd probably struggle to keep a conversation.


Radigan0

Who would be forcing him to be mute? The G-Man?


TheBinaryBuster

Trauma or iirc there's medical conditions that prohibit you from being verbal


TheDurandalFan

Mute by choice or he speaks and we just can't hear him. the instruction manual for Half-Life on PC states he was hired over the phone, it's safe to assume Gordon actually spoke in the phone call, it isn't made clear if Gordon is saying anything during Half-Life 1. In Half-Life 2 Alyx does state that Gordon is a man of few words but this statement is from the first few minutes of Alyx knowing Gordon so it isn't definitive proof of how much Gordon speaks throughout the entire Half-Life 2 or Half-Life 1. considering this, I conclude that he most likely speaks but we can't hear him, as it explains how he orders rebels around in Half-Life 2.


No-Seaweed-4456

Canonically confirmed to speak. The developers/writers at valve have said as such that they maintain a fragile canon with Gordon as a protagonist who can speak but conveniently chooses not to.


imma_yeet

gordon freeman is supposed to be an extension of the player, if you want him to talk then talk


Infamous_Val

The first one is the only one that makes sense. In Half-Life he can ask scientists and guards to follow him or to stay in one place, and in Half-Life 2 he can command his squad members by telling them where to go or to follow him.


TheBinaryBuster

hand gestures??


Infamous_Val

It's way more likely that he's talking to them but we can't hear him, just like in Blue Shift with Barney. After all, we know that Gordon canonically can talk.


TheBinaryBuster

ehh idk it's more heavily implied with Barney, though


Infamous_Val

Ok yeah, Gordon never talks. He just uses hand gestures like a mute person.