[Lore] Why is the helmet optional?

[blackjacksike]

Lore-wise, the Mark IV HEV suit, unlike its predecessors, has made the helmet optional. What does that mean? Does that mean that previous suits had the helmet fusioned with them (engineering premise) or that it was mandatory in experiments (regulatory premise)?

If the latter is true, then why was it made optional?

Does Gordon Freeman carry his helmet around or did he leave it elsewhere? If he's carrying it, then how? Does he have a belt or something?

Please share your ideas, fellow scientists!

[CrAsH]

Here is my lore; assumption on this theory. I believe the helmet was at first mandatory during the early days of Xen frontier; exploration but was redesigned to be removed when experimenting didn't require face or head covering. How it could be worn and removed could be normal methods of strapping it down.

In terms of whether Gordon wears the helmet or not is up for interpretation. On one instance it makes sense he doesn't wear one because nearly everyone recognizes him instantly. On the other hand the suit, may store the helmet via through an additional inventory and Gordon decides to not want to access it. If that is true than the only explanation would be the helmet can collapse or be re-assembled when needed for swimming or dealing with radiation.

[CrowRising]

The matter of whether Gordon wears a helmet has been a controversy for as long as Half-Life has had a fanbase. My personal headcanon on the matter is that he does wear the helmet, but the glass on the helmet is transparent enough to make out his face. Or alternatively Gordon is simply the only man who would be running around Black Mesa at the time of the incident with one since he was wearing it in the test chamber when the Cascade happened. As such it's easy enough to put two and two together considering word of Gordon's exploits was spreading around by word of mouth faster than he was moving on foot.

To back this headcanon up, Gordon doesn't die or suffer any permanent side effects when exposed to radioactive chemicals. However, it could also be that Gordon keeps taking off and putting on the helmet to suit his needs. The matter of where he's keeping it isn't really important considering the same question could be asked about the rest of his gear. The answer is don't think about it.

There are certainly decent enough reasons for people to believe otherwise though. Artwork doesn't usually depict him with the helmet, any 3D models depicting Gordon show him without the helmet, and the suit doesn't seem to come with the helmet when he puts it on at the start of the game.

As for Half-Life 2, my headcanon for those games is that Gordon no longer has his helmet since the G-Man dropped him off on the train in a civilian outfit and Kleiner doesn't appear to have designed the new version with one.


As for why the helmet is optional on the Mark IV, I'd imagine it's a matter both of practicality, and of the designers getting floods of complaints about the suit being too uncomfortable to wear and/or difficult to put on. By making the helmet separate and easily removable it becomes a simpler matter to put the suit on, it's easier for the user to breath, and the suit might even be less warm and stuffy.

Outside of the lore (mostly) it may have been made that way as an excuse to further allow the player to project themselves onto Gordon. Gordon is whoever you want him to be. What you think he would be thinking is what he is thinking. What you think he would be feeling is what he is feeling. If you think he prefers wearing the helmet, he wears one. If you think he doesn't wear it, then there is no helmet. Gordon is a blank slate for you to fill in the blanks, and the suit having a detachable helmet gives you something to work with to get started.

[Cat]

Originally posted by blackjacksike:

Does Gordon Freeman carry his helmet around or did he leave it elsewhere? If he's carrying it, then how? Does he have a belt or something?

You know, he can carry a bazooka, a gluon bag pack, long-jump module, up to 35 hand-thrown projectiles and a crowbar at the same time. Pretty sure he has a belt or something that helps him carry a lil helmet.

As to whether or not he wears it, I assume he did at some points like when he's diving into a pool of radioactive goo or corrosive liquid since there was a big deal of him being depicted holding a helmet. Although, I do think he doesn't wear it most of the time.

[blackjacksike]

Originally posted by Cat:

Originally posted by blackjacksike:

Does Gordon Freeman carry his helmet around or did he leave it elsewhere? If he's carrying it, then how? Does he have a belt or something?

You know, he can carry a bazooka, a gluon bag pack, long-jump module, up to 35 hand-thrown projectiles and a crowbar at the same time. Pretty sure he has a belt or something that helps him carry a lil helmet.

As to whether or not he wears it, I assume he did at some points like when he's diving into a pool of radioactive goo or corrosive liquid since there was a big deal of him being depicted holding a helmet. Although, I do think he doesn't wear it most of the time.

I just had an idea, but it might sound crazy. The HEV suits may have Xenian technologies for the inventory. When Gordon puts away an item, the suit teleports it to a pocket dimension and retrieves it when needed. That way, Gordon wouldn't need to carry everything on his own.

[Ryker]

Originally posted by blackjacksike:

Originally posted by Cat:

You know, he can carry a bazooka, a gluon bag pack, long-jump module, up to 35 hand-thrown projectiles and a crowbar at the same time. Pretty sure he has a belt or something that helps him carry a lil helmet.

As to whether or not he wears it, I assume he did at some points like when he's diving into a pool of radioactive goo or corrosive liquid since there was a big deal of him being depicted holding a helmet. Although, I do think he doesn't wear it most of the time.

I just had an idea, but it might sound crazy. The HEV suits may have Xenian technologies for the inventory. When Gordon puts away an item, the suit teleports it to a pocket dimension and retrieves it when needed. That way, Gordon wouldn't need to carry everything on his own.

There's a good chance the strange liquid in the First Aid stations could be the same as the healing pools in Xen too, and perhaps they used the same types of crystals that can charge your suit in later HEV revisions too, fanon ideas are fun when in context of a fanmade remake!

[blackjacksike]

Originally posted by Ryker:

Originally posted by blackjacksike:

I just had an idea, but it might sound crazy. The HEV suits may have Xenian technologies for the inventory. When Gordon puts away an item, the suit teleports it to a pocket dimension and retrieves it when needed. That way, Gordon wouldn't need to carry everything on his own.

There's a good chance the strange liquid in the First Aid stations could be the same as the healing pools in Xen too, and perhaps they used the same types of crystals that can charge your suit in later HEV revisions too, fanon ideas are fun when in context of a fanmade remake!

I'm sure that Black Mesa has a lot more lore to it than Half-Life since the latter's is so vague on a couple of details such as the time of events. The writers should have been more specific on those details.

[gru]

I just imagine it like Dead Space games. Maybe the helmet comes on/off in a similar fashion, but most importantly, Gordon probably doesn't wear it while talking to friendlies, but he does outside of those situations.

I have nothing more to add to why the helmet is optional beyond what the others said however.

[TaTo]

For me i think of it as the helmet were develop by other department while the suit is the main focus but the helmet is just additional cheap gear that even a head crab can easily bit through.

[KriKitBoNeZ]

I might be on the wrong medication to be invested in this sort of minutiae.

[Sgt. Pepper]

I feel like Gordon must have had a helmet apart of his suit.

[JustAGamerPerson]

Just to note, Gordon gets shot so many times by the HECU. It'd be a stretch to say that both his face and his GLASSES were left unharmed after the ♥♥♥♥ they go through.

[CapoFantasma97]

Unlike other people, headcrabs don't attach to his head. That alone is good enough reasoning for him to be using a helmet.

He also needed full protection against radiation to even be able to stand unharmed inside the test chamber or near toxic pools. Also, is the air in Xen even breathable by humans? It's likely that an alien atmosphere would need at least some form of filtering and processing to become breathable.

[blackjacksike]

Originally posted by CapoFantasma97:

Unlike other people, headcrabs don't attach to his head. That alone is good enough reasoning for him to be using a helmet.

He also needed full protection against radiation to even be able to stand unharmed inside the test chamber or near toxic pools. Also, is the air in Xen even breathable by humans? It's likely that an alien atmosphere would need at least some form of filtering and processing to become breathable.

The air in Xen is breathable, according to the lore of not only Black Mesa, but also Half-Life.

Source: https://half-life.fandom.com/wiki/Xen#Overview

[JustAGamerPerson]

Originally posted by CapoFantasma97:

Unlike other people, headcrabs don't attach to his head. That alone is good enough reasoning for him to be using a helmet.

I’ll counteract that point with the fact that, at least in Black Mesa, NPC’s following you such as security guards, when attacked by headcrabs, won’t be instantly attached to. It might be more so that headcrabs will only really attach to people who are nearly dead, or who they get a clear attacking point on (such as the scientist in Unforeseen Consequences).

[CrowRising]

Originally posted by JustAGamerPerson:

Originally posted by CapoFantasma97:

Unlike other people, headcrabs don't attach to his head. That alone is good enough reasoning for him to be using a helmet.

I’ll counteract that point with the fact that, at least in Black Mesa, NPC’s following you such as security guards, when attacked by headcrabs, won’t be instantly attached to. It might be more so that headcrabs will only really attach to people who are nearly dead, or who they get a clear attacking point on (such as the scientist in Unforeseen Consequences).

I'd say it's probably specifically just a matter of aim. They aren't going to be able to attach unless they land on the head a specific way, so the most they can do otherwise is bite and do damage. It's like trying to get a rubber ball into a cup. If you just slightly miss, the cup might go flying or get a dent in it due to the collision.

Generally, I wouldn't count it as either in favor of or against the helmet. Gordon never getting a crab attached to his head could be due to the helmet protecting him, but it could also be due to luck. The same luck principle could apply to NPC characters as well.