I was discussing this earlier and I think this might be something - He infact works for God, or is in association with God, in that he enlists Freeman to restore balance when he's needed, this is open to discussion! gief ideas!

Um...

Wonderful.

Seriously, there's a billion different theories about them, and while yours is hardly the most ridiculous of them (in fact, it seems almost too simple and too rooted in religion), it's also not exactly compelling. Or even detailed.

Even if Atheist Users may (well, probably not) not agree, i think the guy is too sinister to be "God", at least in the way that you see it.

I just think he is a guy from some ultra secret goverment organisation, given his role in Half Life 1. That would still make sense in HL2, given that, even without a real employer left, i don't think he or the people he represents are okay with the occupation by aliens.

As for his "powers"...they just about all seem to come from teleportation and the use of teleportation effects as they are seen in HL1 and 2, like the "slow time warp" thing. I'd guess his organisation stole the technologies developed by Black Mesa in the first game (and i might add, before the first game starts) and perfected them.

So much for my theory

Frybird:
As for his "powers"...they just about all seem to come from teleportation and the use of teleportation effects as they are seen in HL1 and 2, like the "slow time warp" thing. I'd guess his organisation stole the technologies developed by Black Mesa in the first game (and i might add, before the first game starts) and perfected them.

I don't know about that. The fact that he's able to create portals at will nearly everywhere, and interfere in the streams of the Vortessence (that parallel universe that the Vortiguants seem to be able to inhabit/employ) suggests that he's far beyond merely human... my best bet is that he's some sort of interstellar agent or contractor, but nothing supernatural or even necessarily technological.

searanox:

interfere in the streams of the Vortessence (that parallel universe that the Vortiguants seem to be able to inhabit/employ)

[...]

my best bet is that he's some sort of interstellar agent or contractor, but nothing supernatural or even necessarily technological.

Can he interfere with the Vortigaunts? It did not really looked like that for me, as he had to sit out one and a half Episode of Half Life to get in contact with Freeman again. It was only when the Vorts were "distracted" by healing Alyx that the G-Man seemed to be able to get to Freeman again...

But for the rest of the post. I'd guess your theory is as good as mine, in that it may be, or may be not, but it certainly is believable

Nope he is with the Matrix, the real one.

Not a good idea. It would wake up such a boom all over the world since then comes to question who's god?

Frybird:

Can he interfere with the Vortigaunts? It did not really looked like that for me, as he had to sit out one and a half Episode of Half Life to get in contact with Freeman again. It was only when the Vorts were "distracted" by healing Alyx that the G-Man seemed to be able to get to Freeman again...

Yes, he can interfere, and the Vortiguants can interfere with him as well. They break you away from his control at the beginning of Episode One (which is why he isn't seen for the rest of it) and then he manages to get in past their protection of you in Episode Two while all of their attention is focused on healing Alyx, at which point he can be seen several times throughout the game afterwards in his usual fashion.

If I remember correctly from some Half-Life 2: Episode 1 preview I read the G-man was described by Valve as speaking human language in his stilted manner because he was unused to it.

Along with the hints he drops along the way ("my clients") this makes the theory that he's some sort of alien contractor, in human form, the most viable one. Although your guess is as good as mine. It is obvious that his role is intentionally left vague and meant to build up to a climax for the entire series.

The g-man is in fact an old gordon freeman who sent himself back in time in order to tell himself not to do that botox treatment and never learn to speak, as it was better when he was the odd, but strong and silent type, instead of the later stage of plain creepy.

Gordon Freeman

I bet that at the end of the last game we'll hear Gordon speak, and it'll be with the same speech impediment.

I think.......................Wait what?

scnj:

Didn't see that one coming, nice find. I deem it unlikely and a coincidence but still a pretty cool dark horse.

He can see what's really inside Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal!

http://members.shaw.ca/halflifestory/expandedinfo.htm
http://members.shaw.ca/halflifestory/timeline.htm

That pretty much covers the need to know.

I'd pretty much considered GMan was alien, i'm not sure of his motive, but looking at the site above it could very well be because he is fighting a war against the combine as well. Using humanity as a pawn to get what he needs done.

Richard Groovy Pants:

scnj:
Gordon Freeman

I bet that at the end of the last game we'll hear Gordon speak, and it'll be with the same speech impediment.

Government man.

There's tons of theories really the one that seems most plausible for me is that Gman is some kind of alien contractor (he's an alien himself as well) that works for different people interested in the faith of 'Earth'.

Maybe. It's possible that not even the people at Valve know yet.

Gordon Freeman is a game character. The end

scnj:
Maybe. It's possible that not even the people at Valve know yet.

Actually, the entire plot of the Half-Life series is already written - it's the specific details and shorter sub-plots that are written on the go. For instance, the Borealis was originally going to be a part of Half-Life 2; they eventually realized that they'd have to cut it, and put it into the Episodes.

As for the G-man, I don't for a second believe that he is Gordon from the future; first, that seems like a really crummy twist to me, and second, the name "G-man" comes from the name of his model in the Half-Life SDK - as HL2: Raising the Bar points out, it's just a code name. The phrase "G-man" predates Half-Life by decades; I think it's pretty clear that it doesn't refer to "Gordon."

Similarly, I don't think he's God, because if he was, he could do whatever it is he has Gordon doing on his own, and even more than that, there's nothing in the Half-Life mythology includes any supernatural or religious elements; it's pure science fiction. Valve is too good at storyline to toss in deus ex machina at the very end to explain the G-man.

The thing is, there aren't a lot of hints about him. If I were to set out a theory, I'd say he's an alien, and that's why he talks so strangely. Who these aliens are, I have no idea, but I think it's pretty clear that they're not down with the Combine. I'm just not sure whether or not they're down with humans.

G-Man. G-Spot. Coincidence?

I think not.

I think the better question is: What is in his briefcase?

I think that he may be a computer program, he could be a figment of Freeman's imagination (don't say that one guy sees him too, I KNOW), he could be Richard Nixon or cheese and rice. Who CARES!? Don't we have better stuff to discuss?

ElephantGuts:
G-Man. G-Spot. Coincidence?

I think not.

holy crap!

This is just me but id rather not ever know what his real name is or what G-Man is short for I kinda like not knowing xD. But some good theory's going around here keep'em up guys =D.

Snakktastic:
This is just me but id rather not ever know what his real name is or what G-Man is short for I kinda like not knowing xD. But some good theory's going around here keep'em up guys =D.

G-Man's short for Government Man, and is more a reference to his look and how he melds so well with Majestic conspiracy theories than any real reference to who he is or what he does.

I'd say he's just a representative, an organizer for the benefit of another interdimensional empire. Probably one above the Combine. Or maybe he's just organizing and interdimensional mercenary company as was suggested by Breen.

samsprinkle:
I think that he may be a computer program, he could be a figment of Freeman's imagination (don't say that one guy sees him too, I KNOW), he could be Richard Nixon or cheese and rice. Who CARES!? Don't we have better stuff to discuss?

How if we discuss how the war between RED and BLU started?

broadband:

samsprinkle:
I think that he may be a computer program, he could be a figment of Freeman's imagination (don't say that one guy sees him too, I KNOW), he could be Richard Nixon or cheese and rice. Who CARES!? Don't we have better stuff to discuss?

How if we discuss how the war between RED and BLU started?

well you can't have two opposite colored teams that dont fight each other

I gotta say, it kinda scares me that someone has put together an entire chronology of the HL series. More details about the G-Man will hopefully be revealed in subsequent episodes. It's hard to speculate about him b/c everything he says is so vague. "I've received offers for your services". What? From whom?

OnlySubscribedtoCommentYahtzee:

broadband:

samsprinkle:
I think that he may be a computer program, he could be a figment of Freeman's imagination (don't say that one guy sees him too, I KNOW), he could be Richard Nixon or cheese and rice. Who CARES!? Don't we have better stuff to discuss?

How if we discuss how the war between RED and BLU started?

well you can't have two opposite colored teams that dont fight each other

i have another question, whats on the suitcases that they try to steal from eachother?

The Gman isn't Gordon Freeman, please stop saying he is. It isn't really his name, he doesn't have one, Gman is simply the entity name. Both Eli and Breen have given evidence they have had past experiences with Gman, and even that Breen fought with Gman over Freeman's employment, saying that he was open (and still is) to the highest bidder. The characters adress Gman and Freeman seperatly, so he isn't Freeman in a Fight Club Tyler Durden sense.

And if Gman worked for God, then why doesn't God just do it himself, instead of having Gman have Freeman do the dirty work?

In Half Life, you could noclip into Gman's suitcase adn see that it conained a pencil, paper pad, and a pistol (and maybe somehting else). In Half Life 2 it is empty.

RED gained a contract with a secret intelligence agency, and stoockpiled many WWII era bombs, prototype weapons, and intelligence gathering...stuff. They then learned that BLU had a contract with another agency, and was also snooping around in their "stuff" and then the clusterfuck commenced.

SAccharing10:
I was discussing this earlier and I think this might be something - He infact works for God, or is in association with God, in that he enlists Freeman to restore balance when he's needed, this is open to discussion! gief ideas!

Um, he works for the Government, hence "G" man. I thought it'd be obvious.

The G-man is clearly a hypergalactic pimp.

The end.

I think the G-Man is Gordon, except several decades from now, after some kind of stroke that messes up his voice and his face. Also with a classier suit and the ability to teleport'n'shit.

I think the G-man causes more evil then good. What with making sure black mesa blew up and manipulating Freeman to kill everyone and blow things up. He also acts far to much like a sinister monster. (Maybe he works for the devil?) Also, I doubt if the guys at Value would bring God into a video game.

scnj:
Gordon Freeman

I bet that at the end of the last game we'll hear Gordon speak, and it'll be with the same speech impediment.

This has been officially refuted by VALVe.

I think that he is a member of some multi-dimensional Combine resistance movement, and has recruited Gordon and Adrian because he believes they stand the best chance of stopping the Combine once and for all.