‘Breengrub’ is a very famous term among the fans of the Half-Life video game series. Half-Life was developed and published by the Valve Corporation. The first installment of the Half-Life video game series was launched in 1998, which was later followed up with numerous sequels. The story’s plot is set in modern times, where a laboratory explosion leads to consequential battles and conquests to be faced by the people working at ‘Black Mesa Research Facility,’ especially Gordon Freeman, for their survival. Though, there are a lot of interesting characters in the game, including aliens, other non-human creatures, G-man, advisors, and humans. One of the most intriguing characters is that of Dr. Wallace Breen.
Who is Dr. Wallace Breen?
Dr. Wallace Breen, commonly known as Breen, first appears in the episodes of Half Life-2. His character is of prime importance, and his main job is to keep harmony among the many stakeholders in the Half-Life series’ universe. Since the only thing known to players about Dr. Breen is that he is seen falling at the end of Half-Life series episode 2, the ultimate fate of Breen’s character remains unknown and is much speculated about.
Some fans came up with theories such as the one which stated that Dr. Breen might have survived by teleporting himself into an advisor’s ‘host body.’ Others believe that he must have died surely. While the fate of Dr. Breen’s character has been kept a secret, some later episodes of the Half-Life -2 video game referred to his character, which does spark the interest of Breen’s fans.
Whether Dr. Breen remains a human or is revealed to be another creature in a human body aiding the various parties to reach a peaceful agreement with regards to Earth’s future, the chances of his survival cannot be minimized. His survival is what makes the Half-Life game series even more mysterious and interesting to play.
What is Breengrub?
Dr. Breen’s character was not only popular with Half-Life series fans but also with the writer who helped in the development and shaping up of his personality. In 2012, Marc Laidlaw, the main man behind the story of Half-Life, decided to go on twitter and make an account to start tweeting fan fiction about Breen’s character.
Laidlaw created an account with the twitter handle: @Breengrub and started tweeting fan fiction about Dr. Breen. Despite Laidlaw stating in one of his tweets that he was one of the biggest fans of Breen. His tweets were nothing more than him having some fun with his beloved character’s storyline, fans started interpreting his tweets as insights or hints about the future episodes of Half-Life series. Some even went as far as to predict these tweets as the base of the game’s upcoming storyline.
Laidlaw dismissed all such speculations and clearly spelled it out that his tweets had nothing to do with the actual game, its storyline or ARG. According to Laidlaw, as mentioned before, his tweets were mere fan fiction. In Laidlaw’s own words, ‘It is what it is.’
Why Did Breengrub Become So Famous?
Keeping the popularity of Breen’s character and fans’ enthusiasm about his survival in view, it can be easily be deduced that any piece of information revealed about the future of Breen’s character would be highly discussed by the fans. This information reveals exactly why Breengrub is such a famous account in the Half-Life game players’ online communities.
There are proper forums dedicated to discussing Breengrub’s tweets and a plethora of theories about future possibilities and experimentation that could be done with Breen’s character.
What Were Laidlaw’s Most-Famous Tweets?
On 16th May 2012, Laidlaw posted tweets that hinted about Breen’s new body. The tweets were as if Breen is talking to someone and telling them about his new abode ‘Whatever this is.’ In one of his tweets, Laidlaw points towards ‘Shu’ulathoi’ and ‘Vortigaunts,’ two other species of creatures existing in the Half-Life gaming series’ universe. The summary of which would be that not all ‘Shu’ulathoi’ are bad creatures and that ‘Vortigaunts’ can serve as foes too.
Almost all of Laidlaw’s tweets led his fans to believe that he was revealing the secret about Dr. Breen’s survival inside a Combine’s host body, which would serve as an advisor in future episodes of the game. These tweets relieved the fears of Dr. Wallace Breen’s fans about his death.
Laidlaw kept tweeting his fan fiction for a while, giving the Half-Life series fans a lot of food for thought and predictions. Following his suit, many internet memers made accounts with websites such as ‘Know Your Meme’ and created memes about Dr. Breen’s presence inside a Combine’s host body. Most of these memes show Dr. Breen’s face pasted on an alien’s body.
While many fans reacted to Laidlaw’s tweets in a very receptive manner, some did dislike him for doing so and asked him to stop spreading false information about the game’s future plot. On one hand, fans loved the fan fiction feeding their curiosities and guiding them in the game, on the other, some fans totally hated the idea of tweeting information and took to the internet to voice their concerns.
Even though the Breengrub Twitter account has fed the imagination of Half-Life series’ fans to a greater extent, the storyline still needs to be evolved so that Breen’s character, which is still as mysterious as G-man’s becomes more open and trustworthy. Other than this, Half-Life gaming series fans have dedicated platforms for discussions about the future of all species, Breen’s fate, and the possibility of G-man in falling into any one of the two non-human categories mentioned before as well. Nonetheless, Half-Life is still very captivating and one of the most interesting games to be played online.
With the latest Half-Life game installment in the series just around the corner, fans need to keep their fingers crossed about any new storyline and development of characters.
