Welcome to "arbitrary imposition" the tfl.org approved fanlist for "the g-man", a character who appears throughout the first-person shooter games Half-Life, Half-Life: Opposing Force and Half-Life² and also briefly in Half-Life: Blue Shift, Half-Life: Decay and Half-Life: Uplink

The fanlisting is mostly on this one page: The left-hand column contains everything you need to get listed as a fan of the G-Man (This Introduction, the Rules, the Codes and the Join Form.) There is also a link to the "extra content" page of the site, where you'll find a list of the G-Man's appearances, speeches and a few websites of notes. The Middle Column will tell you all you need to know (about Fanlisting, Half-Life, the G-Man and the title of this fanlist.) The Right-hand column contains the members list.

Scroll down for some neat extras!

Arbitrary Imposition was last updated on the 9th April, 2007

(One new member - Twenty Five Unique Countries!)

The site was opened on 28th April, 2005.

50 members reached on 17th Feb 2006

100 members reached on 26th Feb 2007

Affiliates
There are currently no affiliates to this site; Want to be an Affiliate? email

1. Clearly, you must be a fan of Half-Life's G-Man... why else would you want to be listed on list of G-Man fans?

2. You don’t need a website, but you do need a valid Email Address.

3. If you wish your website to be listed, you must first link back to this site using either a graphic or text hyperlink. Sites containing pornography, hate, illegal downloads or anything else I take a disliking to will not be linked. Furthermore, it must be YOUR website.

4. No fictional countries in the country field! Claiming you are from City 17 or Xen aren’t going to work! All UK countries will be designated "UK" from now on.

5. Please use a real name or sensible alias.  "Alyx15teh1337hotgrrl69" is not a valid name: "Alyx", "Mr Pick-up the Can" and "Norma" would be perfectly acceptable.

Code Donations are gratefully accepted!

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Forum Code

[url=www.kupoartist.eclipse.co.uk/gman] G-Man Fan[/url]

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Fanlistings

The Fanlistings states that "A fanlisting is a web clique that lists fans of a particular subject. Unlike most web cliques, a person does not need a web site in order to join. Fans from around the world submit their information to their approved fanlisting and they are then listed to show their love for the subject".

Half-Life

In Physics, a Half-Life is "the time required for half the nuclei in a sample of a specific isotopic species to undergo radioactive decay."

In the world of computer and video games, Half-Life is "a game where you shoot things a lot" made by Valve Software. The first game, (released 1998) put you in the shoes of Gordon Freeman, a Ginger-Haired Scientist at the Black Mesa Research Facility equipped with a Hazardous Environment Suit who opens a portal to a bizarre world called "Xen". Aliens flooded through, and the US Marines are sent in to clear up the mess - the "mess" including the entire science team and the "clearing up" rather more messy than it sounds.

The vast commerical and critical success of Half-Life warranted more entries into the series: in 1999, Half-Life: Opposing Force cast the player as Cpl Adrian Shepherd, one of the Marines sent to clean up the Black Mesa Research Facility, offering a unique perspective on the events of the first game. Half-Life: Blue Shift was a bonus for anyone buying the Dreamcast console version of Half-Life, and was practically the same drill, but shorter and starring Barney Calhoun, a security guard. Finally, Half-Life: Decay was a Co-Operative bonus on the PS2 version of Half-Life, starring two other Science Team members.

The longetivity of the Half-Life franchise was assured by the Modification community - user made games built upon the basic Half-Life technology. Most legendary of these is Counter-Strike, a Terrorist Vs Counter Terrorist online game that even now (2006) is still the most played Online action game in the world.

Half-Life² was released to widespread critical acclaim on November 16th 2004. Finally bringing back Gordon Freeman for the next stage of the adventure, the action is set many years in the future, in an Eastern European City designated "17", ruled over by a mysterious alien race known as the Combine who have seemingly taken over the earth in Freeman's absence. The next installment, Half-Life²: Episode One was released on 1st June 2006 picking up directly from where Half-Life² left off: same cast, new crisis. It is the first of at least three episodes telling the next phase of the Half-Life story.

the G-Man

One of the most celebrated achievements of the original Half-Life was that it introduced a wealth of allied characters to the game, as opposed to having creatures solely disposed to tasting your blood. Having created Allies and Adversaries, Valve's designers cast around for something different, something outside the basic good / bad dichotomy whose purpose was to give the game its intrigue. 

The G-Man is the result, a besuited man whose role in the first game - and in Opposing Force and the Sequel - is largely to simply be seen. First glimpsed on a train ride to work, he appears multiple times throughout the adventures of Freeman and Shepherd, quietly observing firefights and all manner of catastrophes, only to disappear seemingly into thin air.

Upon defeating the Nihlianth (the being apparently responsible for the Xenian attacks), Freeman finally came face to face with the G-Man and was offered a Business proposal. Commended for his efforts, he could except employment, or an unarmed death at the hands of the enemy race he had single-handedly slaughtered so many of. He accepted the job, knowing nothing about what was required of him...

Cpl Shepherd was not so lucky, though as the G-Man himself points out, "there are worse alternatives". After defeating the bizarre Gene-Worm, assumed to be the cause behind Race-X's attempted invasion of Earth, his audience with the G-Man concluded with his indefinate detention, preserved only because of the G-Man's interest in "those who adapt and survive against all odds".

Half-Life² Starts and ends with the G-Man's speeches. First he hints that Freeman has been away for quite some time and that the world has been greatly changed in his absence. He interrupts at the climax of Freeman's City 17 adventure, seemingly freezing time and returning Gordon back into the black void in which he is apparently stored between adventures. He mentions that he has had some rather interesting offers for Freeman's skills, but he cannot reveal when he'll be allowed to roam free again...

Gordon is set free by a mysterious Vortiguant intervention at the beginning of Half-Life² Episode One. The G-man appears before Freeman and is about to say something, when the Vortiguants appear in the void and seal the G-Man away. His fate is unknown, but he is expected to reappear in the upcoming episodes and perhaps in Portal, a new storyline set within the Half-Life universe, due to be released in early 2007.

The G-Man is voiced by Michael Shapiro, who also voices Barney Calhoun (in NPC form at least). G-Man has a peculiar way of talking, filled with pauses and given a remarkably sinister edge that generally just makes this character so fun.

The G-Man's Half-Life² face is based on that of Frank Sheldon, a world renowned Alexander Technique practitioner (a special technique for relieving stress in the human body, as far as I understand). It is altered to give it the "G-Man" look (which looks pretty dead really). Images of Sheldon alongside his in-game counterpart can be found in the superb Half-Life² 'making of' book, "Raising the Bar"

The G-Man is a great enigma. Most tellingly, "G-Man" is just a code name initially found in the HL1 model files. Valve Software officially refer to him as the G-Man, but have emphasied that his real name is unknown. 

Hundreds of theories as to what or who the G-Man is exist. Some people are adament that he is "Gordon Freeman" from the future, or that he is the "God Man" or even an embodiement of Valve head honcho Gabe Newell (or the Gingerbread Man). 

Relations with other in-game characters are also open for interesting speculation - it has been suggested by some that the G-Man hires out Gordon's services to people and that the resistance may have done buisness with him - a sighting where he meets with Colonel Cubbage in Half-Life² one of the most popular pieces of evidence. A link between the G-Man and the Vortigaunts is also possible: 

"Something secret steers us both. We shall not name it."

Such a link is potentially even more interesting after the G-Man was imprisoned by the Vortiguants at the beginning of the Half-Life² Episodes

Arbitrary Imposition

"Arbitrary Imposition" is a phrase that I think embodies the G-Man's role in the Half-Life games. It is a prime example of the G-Man's irregular yet amazingly erudite speech. It comes from the ending of Half-Life² wherein he says:

"I do apologise for what must seem to you an arbitrary imposition, Dr. Freeman"

Essentially, the G-Man is apologising for doing what the hell he likes, and this is the further relevence of the phrase to the character: the G-Man appears all over the place, messes around with things and changes the consequences for everyone - yet he remains unchallenged.

102 Members from 25 Countries

(I am now enforcing Rule 3. No link-back, no URL listing.)