2. Gordon Freeman Was Originally Ivan The Space Biker
Half-Life's protagonist is one of the greatest video game creations of all time. He's another of those mysteriously silent heroes that have populated games since time immemorial (a fact snidely commented upon by every NPC you come across in the sequel), and he's definitely something of a Mary Sue - who wouldn't wanna play as a trim, brave, deadly, 27-year-old MIT graduate who can handle a gun and has girls like Alyx fawning over him, and the rest of the world deifying him? - but in terms of creating a character who's shoes players can really step into, he's second to none. Which is a relief, because Valve's original concept for their hero was different. Like, a lot different. Gordon Freeman is an every man - a genius, bloodthirsty every man, but an every man nonetheless. He wears glasses. He has an nondescript name. You don't see his face in any of the games, because you don't need to. Half-Life would've had a very different tone if you'd been playing as Ivan The Space Biker, a huge Viking dude with requisite beard and manic eyes as the original model featured. Not sure people would trust that lunatic to run a resistance movement against anyone.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
