Barney, as seen in (l-r) Half-Life, HL with the Hi-Definition Pack, and Half-Life 2 Barney Calhoun originated as one of the many identical, originally nameless NPC security guards in the computer game Half-Life. Initially, little was known about the character, not even his name. The popular monicker "Barney" came about due to the character's physical resemblance to Don Knotts as "Barney Fife" on the The Andy Griffith Show. Multiple guards could be encountered and allied at one time, with up to three "Barneys" following the player at any one time.
The expansion Half-Life: Opposing Force (OpFor) confirmed Barney's first name in dialog, and in the expansion Half-Life: Blue Shift "Calhoun" was introduced as Barney's surname, while also providing a visual upgrade for the Barney character.
Mike Shapiro provided Barney's voice in Half-Life, and its addons. He reprised his rôle for Half-Life 2.
In the original Half-Life the "Barneys" served a rôle much like the equally ubiquous scientists: conversations with security guards gave away parts of the story, and they were short-lived allies in combat. In the first Half-Life expansion, Opposing Force, Barney was joined by his co-worker Otis, and both Barney and Otis helped Adrian Shephard, the protagonist of OpFor, much as Barney had helped Gordon Freeman in the original game.
Barney Calhoun gained a starring rôle in the Half-Life expansion Blue Shift. Notably lacking any encounters with other security guards, Barney, along with a few scientists, managed to escape from the Black Mesa Research Facility. It should be noted that the Barney Calhoun from Blue Shift never actually meets Gordon Freeman in the course of the game: Gordon's tram passes by Barney at the start of both games, when Barney is waiting to be let in a closed door, but after this near encounter their paths diverge.
In Half-Life 2, Barney is one of the lead characters. It is nowhere explained how he ended up in City 17, the setting of the game, but it becomes gradually clear Barney is one of the leaders of the rebellion against the Combine. Due to the mysterious end of Half-Life 2 Barney's fate is unknown.
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