Barney Calhoun
“If you see Dr. Breen, tell him I said "FU-- YOU!".”
- ~ Barney Calhoun
 Barney, as seen in Half-Life 2 Barney Calhoun can be seen as three different characters in his renditions in the Half Life Saga, seen below his involvement can depicted as: The protagonist in the Gearbox title Blue Shift, as the generic security guard class within Half-Life, and finally as a major character in Half-Life 2 and the following Episodes.
Originally Barney was nothing more than a nickname for various, anonymous security guards (or Barneys) in Half-Life. Throughout the Black Mesa Incident, various Barneys aid Gordon Freeman by opening doors for him, providing information or simply aiding him in combat, where they are surprisingly effective, due to their superb accuracy even at long range.
Barneys are usually quite friendly, and prior to the Resonance Cascade they will offer to buy Gordon a drink, once they’re off duty. This is later alluded to in Half-Life 2. Barneys can also be quite dim-witted, one example is when one shoots at three gigantic Xen Tentacles while shouting “Eat lead, you outer-space octopus!”, only to be skewered by one.
Blue Shift (Blue Shift security guard)
With Blue Shift, Barney was granted a surname: Calhoun, which is he almost exclusively referred to as in-game. Calhoun, who attended Martison College (undecided major), worked as a security guard in Black Mesa, having just been promoted to the Blue Shift high security areas of Anomalous Materials (salary class A).
Calhoun appears to have been somewhat of a conspiracy theorist (Ironic considering some of the work being carried out in Black Mesa) owning books such as The Truth About Aliens and Government Conspiracies. Calhoun had a girlfriend named Lauren, who he kept a picture of in his locker.
It is unknown whether this is the same Barney Calhoun that appears in Half-Life 2. Calhoun has no direct contact with Gordon in the game, but does observe him a number of times.
Calhoun was unlucky enough to be in an elevator when the Resonance Cascade occurred, causing the elevator to crash to the ground. He was knocked unconscious but survived. He eventually escapes Black Mesa with Dr. Rosenberg and two other scientists using a teleporter to reach and exit and then driving an SUV out of the complex.
Barney appears as one of the main characters of Half-Life 2. When Gordon Freeman arrives in City 17 Barney is working for the Resistance, having infiltrated Civil Protection and, true to his nature, working as a member of the security personnel in one of the train stations (a position that allows him to save Gordon from boarding a train to Nova Prospekt).
This Barney was friends with Gordon in Black Mesa and still owes him a beer from their days as drinking buddies. They used to compete with each other by crawling through ventilation shafts to get into Dr. Kleiner’s office to retrieve his keys, whenever he locked himself out of his office.
Barney is haunted by the memory of a cat that died during an early teleportation experiment. The details of this experiment are unknown, but whatever happened to the cat, it was horrible enough that Barney still has nightmares about it to this day.
City 17 Uprising
After preventing Gordon from taking a train to Nova Prospekt, Barney helps Gordon escape the train station and tells him to seek out Dr. Kleiner’s laboratory in City 17. Eventually he provides Gordon with his first weapon for use against the Combine; a crowbar.
Once Nova Prospekt was destroyed, and the uprising began, Barney played a major role in leading the Streetwar against the Combine. He led many of the pushes and helped Gordon Freeman to capture and disable the Overwatch Nexus building located near the base of the Citadel.
 Barney and Alyx near the City 17 train station in Episode One After the destruction of the Citadel’s Dark Fusion Reactor, Barney helped in the evacuation of City 17, organising rebels and citizens and bringing them to the nearest train station. He also provides Gordon with a new Crowbar, to replace the one that was destroyed by the Citadel's weapons confiscation system.
Current Status
He is not seen or even mentioned in Episode Two, making his fate and the fate of his Resistance soldiers that escaped from City 17 unknown at this point. On presumption that Dr. Freeman and Alyx escaped from the Citadel's destruction after Barney left the City it is assumed that they, at least, survived its destruction. It is unknown if he will return in Episode Three, many fans wish for Barney to make a triumphant return and fight along side Gordon and Alyx through the arctic environments.
Miscellaneous
 Michael Shapiro providing the voice for Barney Every incarnation of Barney (except for Blue Shift’s, who is a silent protagonist) is voiced by Michael Shapiro.
Barney’s face in, Half-Life 2, is based off of Valve’s chief operating officer, Scott Lynch.
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Barney Calhoun
