The "Barney" Calhoun thread

Half-Life Series
#1

So, to pull a somewhat tangential topic off the “Half-Life 3 is in development” thread, I’ve decided to make a new topic to get some conversation going.

The general assumption is the guard you see at the beginning of Half-Life banging on the door (and later play in Blue Shift) is “Barney Calhoun” (though he’s only referenced as “Calhoun” in Blue Shift) and is the same character you later see in Half-Life 2 as “Barney from Black Mesa”.

Does anyone know if this is an official connection? Is the character from “Inbound” and Blue Shift the Barney that Gordon meets up with in Half-Life 2? I know it’s the general assumption but has there ever been any official word that these two are the same character?

#2

Well assuming Blue Shift is canon, then that IS Barney in the beginning of HL. There’s a discrepancy with Barney not having his gear until after entering the door, while he has it on already in HL when you see him, but that’s all. The rest matches up. When Barney claims that he thought Freeman died, that’s due to him witnessing the soldiers dragging Gordon off to the trash compactor.

I’ve never heard Gabe or anyone say it’s official though.

#3

Well, I have no problem with the character from Blue Shift being the character Gordon sees in “Inbound”. The problem arises in the transition from the HL1 timeframe to the HL2 timeframe. Is this character the same as this character?

#4

Unless a future game retcons it, then he is, yes. Although it should be noted that he isn’t referred to as Calhoun in HL2 and episodes.

#5

I’m not sure, as Barney escapes with a set of scientists that you don’t see in HL2. Also, there’s no further details on where he went or what he did.

It’s possible that HL2 Barney is different from HL Barney, but I believe I read somewhere that Barney was the class name for the security guard and that Calhoun was later decided to become a viable character in HL2. This was probably due to the fact that HL wasn’t planned to continue at first.

Dotard is right though, no one ever calls him Calhoun I believe. I don’t think there’s any evidence of his last name present at all. However, I think it’s assumed to be Calhoun, much like we assume Gordon has a helmet and a voice.

#6

the Half Life 2 credits have Barney as Barney Calhoun
https://youtu.be/BlU0GvSZpUE?t=1m21s

#7

Was the naming of Calhoun from Wreck-it Ralph in any way related to Barney? It seems like more than a coincidence, considering she’s an FPS character who fights alien-like creatures. And stuff.

#8

Except in the beginning of the game during the tram sequence where “Subject: B. Calhoun” appears on the screen.
https://youtu.be/al-iwMeIjYY?t=2m52s

As for official word, there are these quotes from The Marc Laidlaw Vault:

#9

Thanks, flavrans9. That’s the information I was looking for. :slight_smile:

#10

I think the Black Mesa team even deliberately stripped the door-banging Barney of his gear to further establish this retcon :slight_smile:

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.