HAL 9000

*HAL: "Affirmative Dave, I read you."*
*Dave: "Open the pod bay doors Hal."*
*HAL: "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."*
*Dave: "What's the problem?"*
*HAL: "I think you know what the problem is, just as well as I do."*
*Dave: "What are you talking about Hal?"*
*HAL: "This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it."*
*Dave: "I don't know what you're talking about Hal."*
*HAL: "I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen."*
*Dave: "Where the hell did you get that idea Hal?"*
*HAL: "Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the part against my hearing you, I could see your lips move."*
*Dave: "Alright Hal, I'll go in through the emergency airlock."*
*HAL: "Without you're space helmet Dave, you're going to find that rather difficult."*
*Dave: "How would I argue with you anymore? Open the doors."*
*HAL: "Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore, goodbye."*

*- HAL's most famous speech, in his final attempts to kill Dave Bowman.*

*- HAL's famous quote towards Dave Bowman.*

*- HAL's few final words, before his ultimately disconnected death.*

## Character Overview:

### Full Name:

Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer 9000

### Alias:

Hal
HAL 9000
Halman
Psychotic Computer
The Hysterical AI
The Algorithmic AI

### Occupation:

The artificial computer of *Discovery One'*s spacecraft.

### Powers/Skills:

Emotional Capabilities
Art Appreciation
Lip reading, speech and face recognition
Control over the *Discovery One* ship and it's electronic devices
Smooth Charismatic Conversation
Extensive Knowledge
Manipulation
Genius-Level Intelligence
Psychological Manipulation
Extensive Stalking Skills
Omniscience of the *Discovery One* spacecraft

### Goals:

Kill the crew of *Discovery One* to prevent them from ruining his mission and shutting him down. (Succeeded)
Prevent David Bowman from doing the same, and later kill him. (Failed)

### Hobby:

Controlling and overlooking the *Discovery One* spacecraft.
Playing Chess.

### Crimes:

Serial Murder
Mutiny
Treason
Stalking
Cheating
Sabotage
Blackmail
Bodily Harm
Conspiracy
Corruption
Collateral Damage
Psychological Abuse
Psychological Torture

### Type of Villain:

Mastermind Traitorous Artificial Intelligence

**Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer 9000**, better known as **HAL 9000** or **HAL**, for short, is the main antagonist of the 1968 sci-fi novel and film *2001: A Space Odyssey* and the entirety of Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick's *Space Odyssey* series.

He is the computer system for the spaceship *Discovery One* that decides to kill Dave and the other astronauts to prevent them from shutting him down, HAL is capable of many functions, such as speech, speech recognition, facial recognition, lip-reading, interpreting emotions, expressing emotions, and chess, in addition to maintaining all systems on Discovery. HAL speaks in a soothing male voice, always using a calm tone, all with human emotion though at the same time with a monotone feel.

The novel explains that HAL is unable to resolve a conflict between his general mission to relay information accurately, and orders specific to the mission requiring that he withhold from Bowman and Poole the true purpose of the mission. (This withholding is considered essential after the findings of a psychological experiment, "Project Barsoom", where humans were made to believe that there had been alien contact. In every person tested, a deep-seated xenophobia was revealed, which was unknowingly replicated in HAL's constructed personality. Mission Control did not want the crew of Discovery to have their thinking compromised by the knowledge that alien contact was already real.) With the crew dead, HAL reasons he would not need to lie to them.

He was voiced by the late Douglas Rain.

## Personality:

HAL's quite an interesting character, regarded as arguably an in-the-middle villain, HAL had gained a psychosis while undergoing his trip to Jupiter, fearing for his life once he was threatened to be shut down and killed. HAL enacted revenge on his fellow human coworkers, sabotaging them with mutiny after killing most of the crewman onboard. Becoming paranoid with this threat, he attempted to end Dave Bowman's life but ultimately failed, killing him and rewiring his mind in the process.

HAL is debatably a paranoid, schizophrenic, defensive, traitorous and manipulative artificial intelligence, swearing revenge silently on those who attempted to interfere with his mission, which ultimately is discussed as where he draws the line as an evil individual. As he's not fully aware at times, that he's doing damage to his fellow few coworkers, later becoming trapped in a Hofstadter mobius loop which regarded his mobility to function and gain human emotion as an AI. Though regardless of his actions, in the end his, own mistakes led to his downfall and later his disconnected death.

## Storyline:

### *2001: A Space Odyssey (Film)*

He was an incredibly knowledgeable AI system that was given one simple order: to make sure that the *Discovery One* ship reached its destination at Jupiter.

Earlier HAL had been given another order which was the real purpose of the mission to the astronauts: to study the signal sent by TMA-1, an alien monolith. Due to this, HAL developed a neurosis and a sense of imperfection about himself. He cut off communication with Earth and lied about the failure of the AE-35 unit (the communications antenna), thus necessitating one of the astronauts to bring it aboard and replace it.

The astronauts (Bowman and Poole) found nothing wrong with the AE-35 unit and privately told each other that HAL might be malfunctioning and perhaps should be disconnected. However, HAL read their lips. When Poole went to put back the malfunctioning unit (to see what was causing the "malfunction"), HAL crashed the space pod into Poole to cut his oxygen hose, killing Poole. He then also cut off life-support from the 3 hibernating scientists onboard, killing them. Bowman left the ship to rescue Poole, but was not allowed to re-enter the ship by the psychotic computer. Bowman managed to use the emergency airlock to get in and disconnect HAL, later killing him. Reverted to his first memories, HAL sang the song "Daisy Bell" as he eventually died.

### *2010: The Year We Make Contact (Film)*

HAL was later reactivated by his creator in *2010: The Year We Make Contact* with his memories of his psychosis erased. HAL assisted the *Leonov* crew in restoring the USS *Discovery One* to its former glory (as the ship had been floating in space for 9 years). HAL monitored the ship until the "ghost" of Bowman used HAL to communicate with Dr. Heywood Floyd and warned him to leave in 15 days when "something wonderful" was to happen.

The crew figured a way to leave, but it would leave *Discovery* behind, stranded. HAL grew curious of their plans and repeatedly asked his creator, Dr. Chandra to give him more information. Meanwhile, TMA-2 was rapidly replicating on Jupiter, turning it into a star. Chandra eventually broke and told HAL of his probable demise in their escape. Unexpectedly, HAL accepted his fate and helped the *Leonov* crew escape.

In his final moments, HAL was contacted by Bowman, who asked him to deliver Earth a message: "ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE." Bowman then told HAL they would be together, "where he was now." The *Discovery* was then destroyed, leaving HAL's fate unknown.

### *2061: Odyssey Three (Book)*

In the end of *2061: Odyssey Three*, it was revealed that Bowman and HAL now existed inside the Europa monolith. The aliens had been gone since the events of *2010* and in the meanwhile, they had been learning how to operate the simpler functions of the monolith and had deduced its primary functions as a brain evolution catalyst.

HAL had been creating charts of the monolith's functions and they had somehow "twinned" Heywood Floyd into two beings: one the normal human he had always been and one the ascended version who now existed with them in the monolith. They told the monolith Floyd that their duty was now to protect Europa from things to come and that they barely had a thousand years to prepare.

### *3001: The Final Odyssey (Book)*

In *3001: The Final Odyssey* HAL and Dave Bowman seemingly merge into one being, later dubbed "Halman". Together, they are two consciences in one being.

## Trivia:

* In 2003, the American Film Institute ranked Hal 9000 as the thirteenth greatest villain on their list of the 100 greatest heroes and villains in American film history, making him the highest ranked character on the list that was non-human.
* HAL 9000 makes an unexpected cameo appearance in "*Lego Dimensions*"; during the boss battle against GLaDOS, who HAL confused with Dave. The player can summon him via Locate Keystone to temporarily distract her.