Dr. Coomer

> "*Hello, Gordon!*"
>
>

> ―Dr. Coomer's catchphrase.
>
>

## Harold Pontiff Coomer

### Affiliation

The Science Team,Black Mesa Personnel, Black Mesa Underground Boxing Ring (as the Founder)

## Stream Information

### Played by

Hollowtones

**Dr. Harold Pontiff Coomer, Ph.D.** is the tritagonist and member of the Science Team in the Half-Life VR but the AI is Self-Aware saga. Dr. Coomer is a kooky, eccentric man with odd mannerisms and a tendency to cut himself off, as well as spout off bizarre sentences.

Dr. Coomer is voiced by Holly.

## Description

In-game, Dr. Coomer is a pale old man with white hair and a mustache. He wears a white lab coat, blue button-up shirt, a striped red and black tie, and white dress pants with a black belt. Dr. Coomer says he has "*Extendo-Arms*", though it's unclear what these look like.

In Act 4 during the Benrey Boss Battle, Dr. Coomer takes on a larger, more muscular form to give a fantastic attack to Benrey. It's implied he gained this form through "Forbidden Science".

Holly has said that, in her minds beautiful brilliant eye, Dr. Coomer is "short and stocky".

## Personality

Dr. Coomer is a bubbly, charming old man with his heart in the right place most of the time, though his coding as an AI leaves him to quite often repeat basic phrases, forget simple mechanics, or speak to Gordon in manners that can only be compared to that of a tutorial NPC. When he does think for himself, his dialogue is often humorous and witty, and very often responds to questions with nonsensical answers or repetitive dialogue mentioned before.

Later in the series, Dr. Coomer becomes increasingly self-aware about his status as a video game NPC, which doesn't sit right with him at all. He becomes increasingly more traumatized after discovering that there is nothing beyond the map of Black Mesa, leading up to his eventual betrayal against Gordon, expressing desires to be pulled from the game and shown a real world outside of what he's known. After this betrayal, Dr. Coomer becomes friendly again, though with an increased knowledge on the mechanics of a video game, even going as far as to ask Gordon if any of the things they see were even real. After the end credits of Act 4, Dr. Coomer shows up for a final monologue to confront Gordon about his knowledge, seeming solemn yet hopeful, and thanking him for becoming his friend, as well as requesting that Gordon someday download their data into a hard drive and place them into future games to allow them a chance to virtually see the world.

## Biography

### Before the incident

Dr. Coomer was an average Black Mesa scientist. He worked in the teleportation department, and may have had a hand in training the Bullsquids in the nuclear reactor that powered the facility to subsist on the radioactive sludge produced by the reactor. He may also have been involved with some sort of human replication project, as evidenced by his numerous clones that can be found in and around the Black Mesa facility, of which seem to "give him power" once slaughtered. A conscientious employee of Black Mesa, he was never without his Passport or his Black Mesa Silly Straw™. At some unspecified time in the past, he was married, possibly multiple times; unfortunately, his wife was taken in the divorce.

## Quotes

* "Hello, Gordon!"
* "Dr. Bubby fuckin' 'em up!"
* "The free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit!?"
* "Gordon. None of this is real, is it?"
* "Now Gordon, if you need assistance, the SuperPlayer™ feature can guide you."
* "I hear they use these babies to get all AROUND the science!" (In regards to a monorail car)
* "Oh dear, Gordon, that sounds serious. You may have come down with a case of the Crumbles. I read about it on Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit."
* "Gordon, look out! Explosives!"
* "FEED, me my COOOOOOOOINS, Mister Freemaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan."
* "I came from the surface, from my Mummy and Daddy."
* "Look Gordon, ropes! We can use these to help with pits!" (In regards to Barnacles)
* "There are many dangerous beasts in the Black Mesa."
* "You're a nasty little sewage boy, aren't you Dr Freeman?"
* "The free online encyclopedia that anyone from Black Mesa can edit."
* "Gordon, if you beat the Staff Ghosts in this race, you unlock Gold HEV Suit."
* "Another clone defeated. My power grows, Gordon."
* "I have no guilt weighing on *my* conscious, Gordon. Can you say the same?"
* "You thought wrong, my good bitch!"
* "Gordon, you should take a look at your 'Mini-Map' to check the current quest objective."
* "You're not a war criminal if there's no more military to judge you."
* "Gordon, I need spices."
* "Gordon, I'm full." (Gordon looks back at the radio and sees it missing)
* "I've always wanted to rob someone!"
* "**LOOK GORDON! WE MADE IT TO THE SURFACE!**" (Holly's microphone was messed up, making her voice much louder than usual)
* "The free online encyclopedia that NO ONE will ever edit again."
* "You have: **TWO** PlayCoins™ remaining!"
* "Good news, Gordon. The cybernetics department replaceded my colon."
* "I'll believe anything, Gordon! Especially from you!"
* "TRAIN AND FIGHT, GORDON!!!"
* "If you woke up one day and realized that everything around you was a lie, was FAKE... what would you do?"
* "Don't fuck with the science team."
* "I'm ready to unload some HOT DEATH!"
* "Clearly climbing inside of your arm and wearing you like a puppet didn't work, so perhaps I can help you find... something to help."
* "Now gentlemen, let's get out of here before they peel us apart!" (In relation to the betrayal)
* "Look Gordon! We made it black into Back Mesa!"
* "Bubby, no! THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE!" (When Bubby rides on top of a rocket)
* "Let's give them a good show."
* "**I remember.**" (In regards to Gordon being sent back in time)
* "I have the free will to do what I want, but I choose to rotate!"
* "You changed our lives, Gordon. I'd like to think it was for the better. And I don't know what's going to happen to us once you exit the game for good. But I know *we'll* never forget you. I hope you won't forget us."
* "Well, this is where I get off... goodbye, Gordon!"
* "Look out Gordon! Hotted boobs up ahead, tits big ones!"
* "Gordon, titty boob huge fuck."
* "MASSIVE tittums!"
* "Nothing ventured - nothing gained!"
* "Help me, Gordon!"
* "Another day, another dollar!"

## Trivia

* When questioned by Gordon about how many people he has killed, Dr. Coomer states that he "lost count twelve days ago!". At the time, the group had only been together for about three days.
* He claims that he once wanted to be a boxer, but because of his "blasted ex-wife," he became a scientist instead.
* He is overpoweringly strong, assumingly because of his cybernetic enhancements, and his training as a boxer.
	+ Its also possible that defeating his clones truly does give him extra power, as he becomes more physically aggressive as the series progresses.
	+ He also says that he feels everything the clones feel.
* According to Holly, Dr. Coomer specializes in quantum physics, industrial compounds, and waste disposal.
* He's assumed to be the founder of an underground boxing ring in Black Mesa, according to himself.
* His favorite video game is "Super Punch-Out!" for the SNES, assumingly also why he wanted to be a boxer.
* His favorite Star Wars character is Dexter Jettster.
* Like all the other "AI-Enhanced NPCs", it's easy to tell them apart because of their animations, taken from the Garry's Mod player models.
* The name "Coomer" came from Greg Coomer, the game designer and art director of Half-Life.
	+ Despite that, in one of the Q&A streams, it was revealed that Dr. Coomer's full name is Harold Pontiff Coomer
* It's possible that Dr. Coomer has more than one ex-wife, as suggested by dialogue between Dr. Coomer and Bubby regarding a Vortigaunt. When Dr. Coomer says "They look like my ex-wife!", Bubby responds by asking "Which one?", implying that Dr. Coomer has been divorced at least twice.
	+ In Act 4, as well as the likewise commentary stream, Dr. Coomer's ex-wife (or one of) is implied to be a part of the military, as one of the soldiers on the radio mentions addressing a "Cooper," which is distorted enough to also sound like Coomer.

* Starting with Act 3, Dr. Coomer pulls Gordon with his so-called "*Extendo-Arms*" whenever Gordon gets stuck in a level. In reality it's just one of the crew members, usually Mike, teleporting Gordon so that he would be able to progress. This ability of Dr. Coomer's has been demonstrated several times on the streams, but most of them were cut from the videos.
* In the AI Crushes All Banks charity stream, Dr. Coomer said that he always has his Life Alert on him.
	+ Later, it's revealed that his "Life Alert" is just a very large gun.

* Dr. Coomer saying "I had a wife but they took her in the divorce" was the result of Coomer's voice actress, Holly, accidentally combining 2 jokes she was thinking about saying.

* Coomer's Voice actress, Holly, has the entire wikipedia definition of a chair memorized, the sole purpose of her learning this was just to fuck with the group in discord calls.
* Dr. Coomer's lewd remarks about boobs are said to be a result of his actress, Holly, having no idea what else to say in the moment.
	+ Later in the series, Gordon uses similar lewd remarks to what Dr. Coomer said, yet Dr. Coomer replies "What a crass thing to say"
* When asked what the science team would wear when off work, Holly said that Dr. Coomer would wear suspenders, dress pants, and hawaiian shirts.
* According to Holly, Dr. Coomer is about 5'4.

1. ↑ [1]