Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr, named after the famous actress and inventor, is Dr. Isaac Kleiner’s semi-tame pet headcrab.

Hedy Lamarr as first seen in Dr. Kleiner's Lab.

Hedy Lamarr as seen after the Half-Life 2 credits.

Behaviour

Although headcrabs are normally very dangerous organisms, Lamarr has been debeaked, that is, the beaks around the mouth, which a headcrab normally uses to latch onto a host’s body, have been removed. This means that she is unable to take control of and “zombify” a human. Despite this, she does still occasionally try to couple with people, especially with Barney Calhoun. Her aggressive behaviour is also the cause of much trouble. Not only does she often cause minor disruption, for example, by knocking over lamps, but she has caused the failure of at least one major teleportation experiment trial (Resulting in her being stranded in the wasteland surrounding City 17).

When Lamarr feels threatened or scared she will hide in a ventilation shaft or other dark, quiet space to hide and will often attack the first person who tries to invade her sanctuary. Dr. Kleiner has an unusual method of calming his pet: Letting her attempt to couple with his head. Seeing as a headcrab’s natural instinct is to take a host in this manner, this could be seen as a way to satisfy this instinct without the usual consequences; perhaps it could even be considered a form of masturbation.

Despite her wildness and aggression, Lamarr does exhibit loyalty to Dr. Kleiner. Lamarr has been known to follow, and huddle up to, Dr. Kleiner as well as, somehow, returning home when she was stranded in the wasteland.

It is unknown if Lamarr is actually female (or whether headcrabs have gender at all) or if Dr. Kleiner simply refers to Lamarr as a female because of her name.

Diet

Lamarr lives off a diet of fruit, namely watermelons, (Which are plentiful in City 17) provided by Dr. Kleiner. She is omnivorous though; she has been known to attack small prey such as birds when the opportunity arises. This omnivorous nature of headcrabs has undoubtedly increased their ability to survive on Earth.