Why is Gordon Freeman from Half-Life such a popular character?

It seems that in most "Top [10-50-100] videogame characters" list I read, Gordon Freeman always manages to rank among the top 10, if not even surpass characters like Mario, Link and Solid Snake by making it to the first place (like this one). I always found that confusing: why do you guys consider a character that never says anything and frankly would have no face (if it wasn't for the game box depicting it) and no personality whatsoever to be one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) game characters of all time?

In the first game he's basically a sole survivor trying to save his skin from a mess they made him cause, in the second game he's thrown in an unfamiliar world where half the people order him around like a bellhop without ever asking him a question and the other half see him as some kind of messiah (although he's barely ever done anything for them as far as he and they know). According to his hardcore fans, he's so great because his lack of personality lets the player immerse himself better in the events of the game, which hardly makes any sense: if they wanted to make us the protagonist they wouldn't have named the character and let us believe we were the protagonist.

We all love Half-Life, but I really don't see why a character that basically has no depth whatsoever can be considered more significant than well written and acted characters like, for instance, Solid Snake

Am I missing the point?

To be honest, I don't really understand why either... Gordon Freeman seems so 2-dimensional to me, but may be I'm also just not getting it.

I think people like him because he can improvise well (crowbar ftw) and because he's in good games.

It seems that in most "Top [10-50-100] videogame characters" list I read, Gordon Freeman always manages to rank among the top 10, if not even surpass characters like Mario, Link and Solid Snake by making it to the first place (like this one). I always found that confusing: why do you guys consider a character that never says anything and frankly would have no face (if it wasn't for the game box depicting it) and no personality whatsoever to be one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) game characters of all time?

In the first game he's basically a sole survivor trying to save his skin from a mess they made him cause, in the second game he's thrown in an unfamiliar world where half the people order him around like a bellhop without ever asking him a question and the other half see him as some kind of messiah (although he's barely ever done anything for them as far as he and they know). According to his hardcore fans, he's so great because his lack of personality lets the player immerse himself better in the events of the game, which hardly makes any sense: if they wanted to make us the protagonist they wouldn't have named the character and let us believe we were the protagonist.

We all love Half-Life, but I really don't see why a character that basically has no depth whatsoever can be considered more significant than well written and acted characters like, for instance, Solid Snake

Am I missing the point?

Black_Knight_00

i dont think its love for gordon so much as love for half life...i think that most of the time its the players way of showing their appreciation for one of the best fps game to ever be created...yet alone to have a sequel that matches, if not surpases, the original...especially in this day and age of crappy fps games with almost no thought put into the single player...yet alone development tools to go with it...i really think people are voting for valve more than gordon...and just showing their appreciation for a developer who knows exactly what they are doing...making money off of GOOD video games

He is a popular character, because you ARE Gordon Freeman.

A few things:

1) When HL1 came out Gordon Freeman was pretty unique, he was not a supersoldier or the best of the best, he was a weakscientist, That was a first time an FPS were like that I think, Not the Burley "sure Im going to win the day, becasue I can crush a freakin mountain with my fists" He was weak, had to consider how to tackle situations, and had to rely on a piece of shoddy technology and pray it held. So he was so different thenpretty much anything else

2) Freeman is essensially Void, He nevertalks, nor show any kind of emotion, because YOU are the freeman, no voice, no cutscenes from outside your eyes, in all intents and purposes, Freeman really is who you want him to be (personalitywise)

So Freeman has alot in common with characters such as Link or Mario, they too are somewhat blank, the players are able to invest more of themselves into these characters due to this.

Freeman is the best simply because he is you. He is not some foreign extra special character that not many people can relate to. He is just a normal guy that is trying to do the right thing. He just wants to survive and save his friends.

My personal pick for top video game character would be Commander Sheppard from the Mass Effect series.

As others have said he was the 1st non-supersoldier character and some1 that was shaped by you some average guy trying to survive through an alien invasion and save his friends while hes at it.

Gordon Freeman
Was
Is
And always shall be

THE ONE FREE MAN

1) When HL1 came out Gordon Freeman was pretty unique, he was not a supersoldier or the best of the best, he was a weakscientist, That was a first time an FPS were like that I think, Not the Burley "sure Im going to win the day, becasue I can crush a freakin mountain with my fists" He was weak, had to consider how to tackle situations, and had to rely on a piece of shoddy technology and pray it held. So he was so different thenpretty much anything elseMaddie_Larkin

This best explains it, I think. In a industry that's full of muscle-bound brutes as protagonists in games, someone like Freeman was seen as a refreshing change of pace at the time of Half-Life's release. People likely just want to recognize that.

It's the glasses, man.

Only thing that would make Freeman better is a dialogue wheel from Mass Effect.AlmostUndead

o god no...that thing has ruined so many rpgs imo...i much rather prefer to know what my character is gonna say as opposed to 3 general choices (hero/smart a**/and antihero) so it makes the game more cinematic...rpgs arent supposed to be cinematic action games...

Well for me a silent protagonist is alot better than characters like Dante or Bayonetta which make me want to cut myself everytime they speak.

Badass.

He's a genius, PHD in (I think) theoretical physics, who, more or less, single handedly fought off an alien invasion, and (almost) freed an alien oppresed human race. It's not so much the character himself, as you don't learn much about him other then he is well educated, but what happens in the course of the game. Some events in the half life series make the characters in them look at freeman and pretty well say "Holy crap... did he just do that?"

[QUOTE="AlmostUndead"]Only thing that would make Freeman better is a dialogue wheel from Mass Effect.lpjazzman220

o god no...that thing has ruined so many rpgs imo...i much rather prefer to know what my character is gonna say as opposed to 3 general choices (hero/smart a**/and antihero) so it makes the game more cinematic...rpgs arent supposed to be cinematic action games...

[QUOTE="lpjazzman220"]

[QUOTE="AlmostUndead"]Only thing that would make Freeman better is a dialogue wheel from Mass Effect.AlmostUndead

o god no...that thing has ruined so many rpgs imo...i much rather prefer to know what my character is gonna say as opposed to 3 general choices (hero/smart a**/and antihero) so it makes the game more cinematic...rpgs arent supposed to be cinematic action games...

It's the glasses, man.

King9999

Because gamers who vote for him are idiots.

Because gamers who vote for him are idiots.

S0lidSnake

not true...tho i do believe the majority of society are idiots...and hes not personally my favorite...but i do believe halflife as a series is one of the best...if not the best...fps series to date...but as a character gordon is pretty flat...but his story is awesome...my personal favorites are duke, serious sam, and the pirate dude off of bulletstorm

I think that people simply appreciate what Valve has done with him rather than loving the character himself. Not much is known about Freeman besides him being an MIT graduate which might add some mystery and intrigue. Beyond that, Freeman was deliberately designed to serve as a bridge between the gameworld and the player - and he has bridged that gap far better than any other playable character in gaming to date.

As for why exactly does Gordon Freeman win in many voting polls, it's because of Steam. Valve announces competitions to their 30+ million fanbase and we vote. Because we love them.

Because he's different from the mold (MIT dude). Differentiation attracts curiosity. That, plus we don't know much about him, adds a aura of mistery surrounding the character. Plus he appeared in one of the most revolutionary FPSs that ever saw the light of day. So all things considered, that's a good recipie for a popular character.

Gordon is even more of a bystander than Link. He isn't all that interesting either.