Okay so I have this whole theory about nature of our beloved Benrey from HLVRAI(my new hyperfixation, baby!!!!!). I haven't seen anyone else talk about this, so hopefully you'll find it interesting.
We don't have a canon answer for what Benry is. Fandom mostly treats him as an alien lifeform from Xen, and that's a great baseline! But my brain goes in a different direction.
In short: Benry is not "human security guard". Guard's body is just a temporary shell for the skeleton-like entity inside.
He some like Black Mesa Experiment. His Black Mesa Sweet Voice might not just be a gag. What if it's a literal clue to his origin? He could be an artifact or a creature created in the labs...
In the series, we see he's not the only one. Other "skeletons" show up. What if it's a whole species? Maybe even Forzen is one of them (would explain their connection with Benrey? Interesting thought...)
The Sweet Voice is his method of communication(no vocal cords in a skeleton ha ha) and his self-defense method. I think Gordon was the only one who could see Benry's skeleton form because he was the most exposed to Sweet Voice(he full of Benry's balls, man...). Maybe it... infected his perception?
The body-switching explains his sudden shifts in personality and interests. He just hops into different guards. The first one was a rule-loving stickler, the last host was into PS. But that core, weird misunderstanding of the world always stays (that's our baby boy Funny Benny!)
Why the human shell? For camouflage and socialization. To hide from Black Mesa scientists, or just to function in a human world. Or maybe it's a requirement for existing in our reality.
But what happened on Xen? I love the idea that in the finale, Benrey driven by spite and pure gamer rage defeated the Nihilanth alone (or with his skeleton buddies), took its power, and became the new god of Xen lol.
So yeah, that's my brain dump. Hope that made sense, and you find the idea as fun as I do :)
