text:
->''"Subject is abnormally stubborn. She never gives up. '''[[{{Determinator}} Ever.]]''' [[SpannerInTheWorks DO NOT TEST.]]"''
-->'''-- Aperture Personnel File'''
->Modeled after Alésia Glidewell, voiced by Mary Kae Irvin
The silent main character of both games, Chell is an [[{{Determinator}} incredibly determined]] woman wearing an orange jumpsuit. Her exploits begin when [=GLaDOS=] awakens her from stasis to run a series of tests in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center for mysterious reasons.
* ActionGirl: To survive Aperture, it's a requirement.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Her face and body model had a Brazilian father and a Japanese mother.
* {{Badass}}: Just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX9Sc88qreg look at her moves in this trailer]].
** BadassNormal: She's only got a Portal Gun and her wits, but that's all she really needs.
* CombatStilettos: An interesting version used as a tool rather than a weapon; her Long Fall Boots make it impossible for her to fall to her death.
* {{Determinator}}: ''Pathologically'' so. According to her personnel file (in the ''Lab Rat'' comic), she's way ahead of the bell curve for tenacity. As it turns out, when you're dealing with [=GLaDOS=], cleverness and athleticism are ultimately less important than sheer stubborn refusal to give up.
--> '''Proctor's note:''' Test subject is abnormally stubborn. She never gives up. '''Ever'''. Do NOT Test.
* HeroicMime: [=GLaDOS=] even complains about her lack of response in the final chamber. [[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: "Are you even listening to me?" ]]
In the sequel, Wheatley seems to think that overexposure to the stasis process left her unable to talk; when he asks her to, she just jumps. [=GLaDOS=] even calls her a "mute lunatic." and her file shows that she refused to answer one of the questions asked to her.
** WordOfGod from writer Erik Wolpaw: "She just chooses not to, what with the robots all being dicks. Why give them the satisfaction?"
* HypercompetentSidekick: To Wheatley in the second game. [[spoiler: GLaDOS too, in the end.]]
* IWasToldThereWouldBeCake: There really was a cake. She never did get it, though.
* LateToTheTragedy: In the first game, she goes through tests before she finds out what happened. In the second game, this time, she's ''really'' late.
* MadeOfIron: Aside from falling, which is explicitly [[HandWave handwaved]] by her foot protection, Chell can survive things no human should be able to, but that's largely due to GameplayAndStorySegregation (the story probably assumes Chell is strong enough not to ever get shot, for example). However, one specific example of this being played straight is when she survives [[spoiler:Wheatley blowing up the stalemate button. Even ''he's'' shocked. And then she spends several seconds in vacuum]]. On the other hand, Chell spends at least twelve hours unconscious afterwards, so even she has limits.
* MysteriousPast: We never do find out exactly who Chell is. [=GLaDOS=] likes to claim she's an orphan, which is true given how long she's been frozen. [[spoiler:In the Bring Your Daughter to Work Day experiment section in ''Portal 2'', one of the potato experiments was done by a little girl named Chell whose father worked at Aperture. It's the one with the potato that's grown through the ceiling -- it's clearly as {{determin|ator}}ed as Chell herself.]]
* OnlyOneName: We can see her personnel file in the ''Lab Rat'' comic, but it just gives her name as "Chell [redacted]."
* OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank: Chell can take tons of turret shots, and leaves ''large'' blood smears on walls when hit in the first game. 5 seconds, and you're okay again, ready to lose another three pints.
* ParentalAbandonment: One of [=GLaDOS=]'s favourite barbs is to claim Chell was abandoned by her birth parents and later adopted.
** Though [=GLaDOS=] also mentions that she found two other humans on the registry that share her last name. (Though if her file records her name as "[redacted]", this may not be saying much.) Even less considering the fact that [=GlaDOS=] most likely made this up to torment Chell further.
* PhlebotinumRebel: [=GLaDOS=] really should have thought more on giving her that portal gun...
* ProgressivelyPrettier: By the looks of her design in the second game, it seems to imply she found some moisturizer, make up, and a hair brush, and fixed those stray gray hairs of hers. Perhaps the Party Escort Bot fixed her up to look good for the party.
** [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110426214052/half-life/en/images/5/59/Chell_daydreamin.jpg Here]] she is in ''Portal 1'', and in ''Portal 2'' she looks [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110426233759/half-life/en/images/5/58/Chell_infobox.jpg like this]].
* [[RequiredSecondaryPowers Required Secondary Gadgetry]]: Chell wears a pair of ankle-springs in order to ensure her legs aren't shattered when she comes flying out of a portal. [[WordOfGod The commentary bubbles]] indicate early on that the reason was that playtesters complained that Chell could survive falls that would kill [[VideoGame/HalfLife Gordon Freeman]]. Despite the fact that the springs are patently insufficient to protect her, [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief they stopped the complaints]], so mission accomplished!
** In ''Portal 2'', these have been updated to full shoes called the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX9Sc88qreg Aperture Science Long Fall Boot]], a "foot-based suit of armor" that's implied to have some kind of balance system forcing the wearer to land on her feet no matter what. This makes their ability to protect her ''slightly'' more justifiable.
* ShutUpHannibal: When [[spoiler:Wheatley tells you to do yourself a favor and commit suicide because once you reach his lair he'll definitely kill you]], you can set up a portal network that throws a mine at his monitor.
-->[[spoiler:'''Wheatley:''']] I'll take that as a "no," then.
** She can smash monitors in almost all the test chambers, and can even get an achievement for doing it eleven times.
* StockFootage: The reason the HeroicMime character has a voice credit here is because her grunts of pain from the first game are recycled from the female Citizens in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.
* SubmissiveBadass: She never actually says anything, and is all too willing to take orders from Wheatley and GLaDOS, but she was responsible for destroying the omnipotent power-mad AI in charge of Aperture. Twice. [[spoiler: Well, three times. GLaDOS in the first game and in the second, and Wheatley in the second.]]
* {{Troll}}: She refuses to speak simply to ''annoy'' the robots and according to ''Lab Rat'', on her application form for Aperture Science, instead of responding to a question, she decided to scribble "The Cake is a Lie" in binary.
* UnskilledButStrong: According to her file, she wasn't overly smart or athletic, but Doug Rattmann knew she would defeat [=GLaDOS=] not because of skill, but determination.
* TheVoiceless: Never makes a peep.
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: She uses the Portals to fling herself upwards, transport cubes and herself, knock over turrets, and kill giant robots.
* WorthyOpponent: GLaDOS, for all of her sniping, admits that Wheatley's plan could not have worked at all without Chell's help.
[[folder:Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System ([=GLaDOS=])]]
->Voiced by EllenMcLain
The artificial intelligence that seems to run Aperture Science. [=GLaDOS=] portrays herself as a helpful friend to Chell, but soon unveils a oddly sociopathic side to the testing protocols and a cruel side to her personality. As the game goes on, she becomes more and more sadistic, culminating in a violent confrontation as Chell attempts to escape the testing center. Chell apparently destroys [=GLaDOS=], but at the end of the game she is revealed to have a backup memory and Chell is dragged back to Aperture Science. Years later, Chell and Wheatley unintentionally reboot her. Needless to say, she has a bone to pick with her murderer.
Oh, and she has [[SelfDemonstrating/GLaDOS her own page now]], JustForFun. %% Mod Note: Do not change this! %%
* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: Done by having Ellen [=McLain=] imitate a text-to-speech program's inflections.
* AIIsACrapshoot: The whole "Killing everyone with neurotoxin" thing is a pretty big tip-off.
* AndIMustScream: According to her, she [[spoiler:was forced to spend the hundreds of years in between the two games watching a recording the two minutes leading up to her destruction over and over and over again, due to her blackbox feature]]. Of course, it's according to ''her'', [[UnreliableNarrator a pathological liar.]]
* AnthropomorphicShift: An interesting example. Although she's always been based on the human form (on Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus," in fact), the original game's [=GLaDOS=] is far less relatable: her head is a grey semi-ellipsoid with a fixed yellow eye, and she doesn't have any body language to speak of. In the sequel she has a lot more emoting to do, so she was given a white, squared-off head (suggesting a certain sternness of jaw) with a much more expressive eye and vastly more human-like body language.
* AntiHero: She's still evil, but this time, [[spoiler: she's on Chell's side.]]
* AxCrazy: If slaughtering the majority of Aperture Science on ''bring-your-daughter-to-work-day'' within less than a picosecond of activation is any indication.
* BadBoss: [=GLaDOS=] treats her custom robots the same way she treats everyone:
[[folder: "Don't disappoint me. Or I'll make you ]]
[[folder: wish ]]
'' [[/folder]]
[[folder: you could die." ]]
* BadLiar: [=GLaDOS=] is ''very'' surprised you successfully completed the test, and it shows.
* BackFromTheDead: In ''Portal 2''.
* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler:Wheatley downloads her into a potato battery.]] [[/folder]]
[[folder: So, how are you holding up? ]]
[[folder: Because I'm a potato. ]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler: First game, sure, but Wheatley and eventually the mainframe itself takes up this role in the second game.]]
* BigOMG: [[spoiler:''"Oh. My. God.'' [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments It's the bird! Run! I have no plan for this! Abort! Forget your training! RUN!"]]]]
* BlackComedy: [=GLaDOS=]'s sense of humor.
* CaptainErsatz: Her personality in the first game was LighterAndSofter version of {{S|ystemShock}}HODAN. She grew out of that in the second game.
* TheCakeIsALie: [[TropeNamers Is this even a spoiler anymore?]]
* CoresAndTurretsBoss: Her weapons and weak points are even ''called'' Personality Cores and Rocket Turrets.
* CreepyMonotone: Or at least very passive-aggressive. And then when [[spoiler:you destroy the Morality Sphere]] and [=GLaDOS=] switches from robotic monotone to an emotive, almost ''seductive'' voice, the contrast is actually ''creepier'' than the robotic monotone that you've been listening to all game. By the second game she has achieved a happy medium between the two, sounding very close to a human with some slight robotic affectation.
* CuriousAsAMonkey: Her curiosity sphere.
-->"Ooh, what's that? What's ''that''? What is that? Ooh, that thing has numbers on it! Hey, you're the lady from the test! Is that a gun? What's wrong with your legs? [[spoiler:Do you smell something burning? *SCREAM*]]"
* CuteMachines: Her spheres.
* CyberCyclops: Just like every other piece of Aperture tech.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: If Chell hadn't disabled some key systems beforehand, the battle with her in ''Portal 2'' would've been over in less than ten seconds due to her revising every single shortcoming in her ''Portal 1'' battle strategy.
* DeadpanSnarker: So much so that she is the Goddess of it in our [[Pantheon/{{Technology}} Pantheon]]. That should tell you something.
* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: But only to begin with.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: In the Peer Review DLC, when [=GLaDOS=] searches for insults to hurl at Atlas and P-body, she comes across a Your Mom joke. Before she is able to finish it, she declares that "That's just disgusting. Keep testing instead".
* EvilIsPetty: Piss her off and she'll start ranting about how you're ugly, not very smart, and nobody ever liked you anyway.
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by [=GLaDOS=] herself as soon as Wheatley starts trying to copy her insults.
* ExactWords: "We will stop [[UnusualEuphemism enhancing the truth]] in three... two...[cut off by static]"
* FalseReassurance: [=GLaDOS=] is quite fond of these.
* FinalBoss: In the first game.
* ForScience: Her primary motivation. Allegedly. She has an odd understanding of what science ''is'', though.
* FreudianExcuse: For all of her insanity and cruelty, [[spoiler:''Portal 2'' implies the mainframe she's plugged into is designed to make her somewhat crazy. The personality cores attached to her also influence her behavior in odd ways, and she begins to show signs of being slightly nicer when freed of them. Not to mention the process of Caroline having her [[BrainUploading mind uploaded (against her will no less)]] was implied to be pretty traumatic, and thus may have been a trigger for [=GLaDOS=] attempting to kill the scientists 1/16 of a picosecond after being activated.]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: In a meta sort of way. At the start of the game, there's no indication that her voice is anything but slightly glitchy prerecorded messages. Flash forward to the end of the game, and that same voice is the final boss.
** And also in a much less meta sort of way: she goes from being [[spoiler:a subservient secretary to]] a tightly monitored mainframe computer/testing program to the unchallenged goddess-queen of a vast underground empire.
* [[spoiler:GeekyTurnOn: She gets particularly... excited at the end of the co-op campaign when you and your partner find a cache of human test subjects locked in stasis.]]
* GeniusLoci: The entirety of the Enrichment Center is essentially an extension of her body, since she controls and maintains everything.
* GuestHost: In ''VideoGame/PokerNight2''. Subverted in that while she's involved in the game and not playing alongside the others, she's the ''dealer'' for that game, not the host.
* HauntedTechnology: Haunted by [[spoiler:the woman whose mind was forcibly shoved into her.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Arguably in the second half of [[spoiler:''Portal 2'' as soon as Wheatley betrays Chell, takes over [=GLaDOS=], and puts her core into a potato. She and Chell [[EnemyMine reluctantly team up]], and once the facility is restored, she saves Chell's life and lets her go along with the original CompanionCube - although she claims it's just because killing Chell is too much trouble.]]
* HoistByHerOwnPetard: The boss fight in ''Portal 1''. "[[/folder]]
[[folder: Huh. That core may have had some ancillary responsibilities. I can't shut off the turret defenses. Oh well. If you want my advice, you should just lie down in front of a rocket... ]]
** In the sequel, [[spoiler:her taunting Wheatley after he becomes the central sphere enrages him so much that he puts her into a potato, barely able to function without using up the tiny amount of power it generates. She gets better.]]
* HumansAreSpecial: Sort of acknowledged in a cut line from ''Portal 2'':
[[folder: Humans must have some purpose other than a place to store your neurotoxin -- something I failed to notice before; an intangible quality that makes their test results significant. ]]
* IgnoredEpiphany: From ''Portal 2's'' ending:
-->'''[=GLaDOS=]:''' [[spoiler:[[/folder]]
[[folder: You know, being Caroline taught me a valuable lesson. I thought you were my greatest enemy. When all along you were my best friend. The surge of emotion that shot through me when I saved your life taught me an even more valuable lesson: where Caroline lives in my brain. ]]
'''Announcer''': [[spoiler:[[/folder]]
[[folder: CAROLINE DELETED. ]]
'''[=GLaDOS=]:''' [[spoiler:[[/folder]]
[[folder: Goodbye, Caroline. You know, deleting Caroline just now taught me a valuable lesson. The best solution to a problem is usually the easiest one. And I'll be honest. Killing you? Is hard. You know what my days used to be like? I just tested. Nobody murdered me. Or put me into a potato. Or fed me to birds. I had a pretty good life. And then you showed up. You dangerous, mute lunatic. So you know what? You win. Just go. ]]
[laughs gently] [[/folder]]
[[folder: It's been fun. Don't come back. ]]
* ImpliedDeathThreat: She's a huge fan of these, even before her real intentions towards Chell are revealed.
--> '''GLaDOS''': As part of a previously mentioned required test protocol, we can no longer lie to you. When the testing is over, you will be... missed.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Gets especially excited at Cave's maniacal WhenLifeGivesYouLemons rant, particularly when he talks of burning houses down.
-->'''[=GLaDOS=]:''' [[spoiler:[[/folder]]
[[folder: Burning people! He says what we're all thinking! ]]
* InspirationallyDisadvantaged: When trying to boost the self-confidence of P-Body and Atlas, [=GLaDOS=] informs them that she was born with a crippling imperfection -- too much sympathy toward human suffering. She proudly informs them that she overcame that weakness.
* KarmaHoudini: At the end of it all, [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] is still around, and has [[IgnoredEpiphany deliberately ignored]] any lessons she might have learned from the fiasco, save for finally abandoning her obsession with testing Chell.]]
* KillerGameMaster: [=GLaDOS=] acts similar to this, throwing difficult scenarios at you, lying in order to confuse and torment you, and live-ammo courses in place of the original courses. When you go OffTheRails, she tries to lasso you back in with lies before resorting to overkill methods.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Eventually decides killing Chell is more trouble than it's worth and [[spoiler:just lets her go free.]]
* LeanAndMean: About as much as a robot can be, anyway. Her design in ''Portal 2'' in particular is gracefully sleek.
* LethalChef: The core with the Cake Recipe suggests multiple garnishes including fish-shaped solid waste, [[ShapedLikeItself sediment-shaped sediment]], two ''needle injectors'', one cup rhubarb ''on fire'', and a blog entry entitled "How to Kill Someone With Your Bare Hands". On a ''chocolate cake''.
* LivingForeverIsAwesome: Expresses this in both her songs. For instance, "When you're dead, I'll be still alive."
* LoadBearingBoss: She says she has no idea what's going on outside, only that she's the only thing keeping us safe from "them" (presumably the Combine from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''). Once you destroy the last personality core, her mechanism goes into meltdown and blows you and bits of [=GLaDOS=] out of the building. The fact that [=GlaDOS=] has to continuously maintain the facility is made explicit in ''Portal 2'', where [[spoiler:the facility's nuclear power generator [[GoingCritical goes critical]] because Wheatley is too stupid to stay on top of its upkeep]].
* LongList: One of her personality cores in the first game has the sole function of reciting a long, bizarre cake recipe.
* LossOfIdentity: [[spoiler: Implied to be a side effect of Caroline's BrainUploading and[=/=]or the constant babble of the personality cores.]]
* MindHive: ''Portal 2'' reveals that she [[spoiler: experiences those personality cores as maddening, constantly babbling voices in her mind. After TheReveal, she becomes aware of Caroline's persona within her as "the voice of a conscience [...] ''my'' voice." She finds that even more disturbing.]]
* MiseryBuildsCharacter: Most of her CharacterDevelopment is undergone while in the helpless form of a [[spoiler:potato skewered onto Chell's portal gun]].
* MissionControl: Though it's won't be long before you doubt she has your interests at heart. And then "mission" becomes "be incinerated"...
* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: Oh, so very much.
* MoralMyopia: It's okay when ''she'' tries to kill you, but you kill her, it's murder.
--> "The difference between us is that I can feel pain."
* NotQuiteDead: As if the ending song didn't give it away, [=GLaDOS=] is revived in the sequel and ready to conduct several new tests on the player.
* ObviouslyEvil: In ''Portal 2''. [[spoiler:At least, it was like that at first.]]
* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:For all she claims to only be acting out of self-interest and laziness, she ''really'' didn't have to save Chell's life or give her the Companion Cube at the end of Portal 2.]]
** [[spoiler: In the ''Art Therapy'' downloadable content, she winds up adopting some baby birds that were abandoned by their mother...so she can turn them into killing machines.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: With Wheatley in the sequel. [=GLaDOS=] is the Blue Oni.
** Their colors are inverted, with Wheatley being blue and [=GLaDOS=] being red (well, her optic is yellow, but close enough in the circumstances).
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:Caroline really didn't want to be uploaded]]. As soon as she was turned on, [=GLaDOS=] proved completely uncontrollable for the Aperture scientists and had them all killed or placed in suspended animation.
* SarcasticClapping: [=GLaDOS=] has an entire processor ''devoted solely to this'', or so she claims.
%% * SelfProclaimedLiar
* ShapedLikeItself: Her Logic/Intelligence/Knowledge Core, when describing cake garnishes:
-->"Sediment-shaped sediment."
* ShoutOut:
** [=GLaDOS=] is more or less a female [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL 9000]] in the role of [[Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream AM]].
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57lVjxOTr-M Unused dialogue from co-op]] involves her talking about a comic strip involving [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} a certain cat who loves lasagna]].
* SinisterSurveillance: With those cameras of hers always trained on you, and her being able to detect you even after [[spoiler: escaping the fire pit]] in the first game, [[BigBrotherIsWatching she's always watching you. Always.]]
* SoftspokenSadist: After the morality core is destroyed, her voice stays slightly robotic but becomes smooth and rather seductive. The switch is an immediate indicator that she's done screwing around.
* StealthInsult: Her favorite technique for gradually destroying a test subject's self-esteem.
* TimeLimitBoss: [=GLaDOS=] pumps the room with neurotoxin during your fight with her.
* TheUnintelligible: The Anger Core. In fact, it sounds creepily like a rabid dog.
* TranquilFury: When she awakes in the second game, she just says "Oh, it's you." in complete monotone tone, but it's clear that she is pissed! It could be justified because she is an AI, but contrast her behavior when she's hearing Cave Johnson's lemons rant.
* {{Troll}}: She spends a great deal of time saying things designed to anger or demoralize Chell, out of spite.
* {{Tsundere}}: A really, really, ''really'' extreme Type A -- oh, she hates Chell, but there are definite hints that her emotions toward her are considerably more complicated than ''just'' hatred. Many players see it as a case of StalkerWithACrush or MyBelovedSmother, depending on how you interpret her personality and the hints about her background.
** Erik Johnson, the game's program manager, compares her to "a jealous ex-girlfriend."
* UnwillingRoboticisation: See WasOnceAMan below.
* VillainousBreakdown: When you try to invoke ThisIsMySide [[note]]Refers to a DummiedOut line that still remains in the source files.[[/note]] ''during the final boss fight'' and spend most of said fighting making petty insults, you're broken. It probably doesn't help that Chell spent the fight ''ripping her mind to pieces and setting them on fire.''
-->'''[=GLaDOS=]''': [[/folder]]
[[folder: Stop squirming and die like an adult or I'm going to delete your backup! STOP! Okay enough, I deleted it. No matter what happens now, you're ''dead.'' You're still shuffling around a little but believe me you're ''dead.'' The part of you that could have survived indefinitely is gone. I just struck you from the ''permanent record.'' Your entire life has been a mathematical error. ''A mathematical error I'M ABOUT TO CORRECT.'' ]]
* VillainousRescue: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Portal 2'', [=GLaDOS=] [[TakeMyHand pulls you back]] out of the Moon portal.]]
* VisualPun / StealthPun:
** As the effects of [=GLaDOS=]'s morality core begin to wear off, her monitors display a small pile of screws. [[spoiler:She ''does'' have quite a few screws loose by this point. On top of that, she's about to screw you, and not in [[CargoShip the fun way]].]]
** When she says "[[/folder]]
[[folder: Despite your vio-lent behavior... ]]
" the screen displays a violin with a knife stabbed through it.
* WasOnceAMan: She was created to fulfill Cave Johnson's wish to leave [[spoiler: Caroline eternally in control of the facility. This [[GoneHorriblyWrong did not go well]].]]
* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have to Be Birds?]]: [=GLaDOS=] [[spoiler:as a potato]] quickly develops a massive fear of birds.
-->[[spoiler:BIRD! BIRD! KILL IT! IT'S EVIL!]]
** Makes a return [[spoiler: in the Peer Review DLC for co-op mode. The facility is being "controlled" by the same bird that antagonized Wheatley and [=GLaDOS=] previously.]]
* WorthIt: Says this about [[spoiler:tricking Wheatley into trying to give a hint about a test chamber, giving him a painful shock.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [=GLaDOS=] is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of employees, but [[spoiler:her backstory as Caroline is quite tragic.]]
* YouAreFat: A good amount of her insults towards Chell in the sequel are about her weight. She helpfully informs ATLAS and P-Body that humans are very sensitive about weight variances.
-->'''[=GLaDOS=]''': [[/folder]]
[[folder: Did you know humans frown on weight variances? If you want to upset a human, just say their weight variance is above or below the norm. ]]
* YourMom: In the Peer Review DLC, [=GLaDOS=] attempts one of these to turn the robots into killing machines. However, she stops mid-sentence because she finds it too [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusting]].
[[folder:The Weighted Companion Cube]]
->Voiced by no one as it, in fact, cannot speak.
A large, (apparently) inanimate cube with hearts printed on each face. That's it. [=GLaDOS=] tries to get Chell to form an emotional attachment to it, then forces her to incinerate it.
* BrickJoke: [[spoiler:Shows up in the last few seconds of ''{{Portal 2}}'' despite only being vaguely alluded to since the first game.]]
* CompanionCube: The TropeNamer.
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: [[spoiler: [[http://gamerant.com/portal-2-writer-chell-ending-half-life-connections-dyce-81430/ Word Of God speculates]] that maybe the Companion Cube, instead of being given to Chell by [=GLaDOS=], was having its own adventures this entire time offscreen. It just managed to escape at exactly the same time as she did.]]
** [[spoiler:"... in which case its probably pissed.]]
* HeartSymbol: To distinguish it from normal boxes.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: According to some of Rattmann's writings, the cube is violent, dangerous, and also his best friend.
* KillItWithFire / MurderByCremation: Alas, poor Cube... [[spoiler:Nah. It's okay. Just burnt really badly.]]
* NotQuiteDead: It is seen near the cake at the end of the original, suggesting it may have survived.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Among other things, beta testers caused the creation of the CompanionCube. Carrying it was necessary to complete the level, but beta testers didn't realise this until late on, and were annoyed to have to go back and get it. Over-emphasizing its importance to you fixed that problem.
** Because the players needed to know how incinerators worked for the boss fight, it was decided that the Cube would be incinerated once it was done. They hadn't realised how popular the Cube would be with the players, and a tragic story of failing to save a friend was created
* TalkingApplianceSidekick: To Doug Rattmann, at least. [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] claims the cubes are actually sentient in the sequel, but she's ''probably'' not being serious.]]
-->'''[=GLaDOS=]:''' The Enrichment Center reminds you that the [[InsistentTerminology Weighted Companion Cube]] will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak.
** In Portal 2, it can be heard humming Cara Mia (aka "Turret Opera") when it's nearby.
[[folder:Doug Rattmann, a.k.a. "The Rat Man"]]
A mysterious person who left clues for Chell to find scrawled along the course of the testing center. His identity is never really touched upon in-game, but the promotional [[ViralMarketing Alternate Reality Game]] to promote ''Portal 2'', as well as the new comic to bridge the gap between the two games, gives us more about him.
* AllThereInTheManual: Or rather, A Little More There In The ARG and Comic: He was a programmer at Aperture Science who managed to survive [=GLaDOS=]'s release of the neurotoxin on account of suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, which allowed him to [[ProperlyParanoid correctly deduce]] that yes, an evil computer was trying to kill everyone (while the other scientists were aware that [=GLaDOS=] was violent and unstable, they failed to take the threat seriously enough until it was too late). After being made a test subject, his knowledge and clearances allowed him to manipulate the test chambers and make dens for himself, living in these nooks and plotting his escape.
* TheAtoner: Willingly went back into the facility after he'd gained his freedom, unable to live with knowing he'd used Chell to defeat [=GLaDOS=] and then let her be killed when he might have saved her.
* BadassNormal: While dodging turrets, crawling through air vents, and matching {{Deadpan Snark|er}}s with [=GLaDOS=], ''without a portal gun or any other technology''.
** BadassLabcoat: Almost never seen without that white coat.
* CompanionCube: He takes one with him wherever he goes. He's so crazy that it talks to him, and is surprisingly very helpful.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The AlternateUniverse Doug Rattman that's CEO of Aperture Science.
* CrazySurvivalist: He's clinically insane, so he lived.
* DeadpanSnarker: When he's on his medication, he's a match for [=GLaDOS=].
-->'''GLaDOS:''' Have you refilled your prescription lately?
-->'''Doug:''' '''''Bite me.'''''
* DisabilitySuperpower: When Rattmann is on his schizophrenia meds, his Companion Cube doesn't appear. Without its advice, he seems to be a lot less effective, [[spoiler:eventually causing him to get wounded by a turret.]]
* TheGhost: Never appears in either game [[spoiler:and likely dead by the time of ''Portal 2'']], all the player sees of him is the drawings he leaves behind in various lairs scattered throughout the Enrichment Centre.
** The music on the Portal 2 soundtrack for one of his dens is called "Ghost of Rattman".
* GotVolunteered: He knew that he didn't have what it took to defeat [=GLaDOS=], but he could look through the test subjects' psych profiles and find someone who did.
* LeParkour: He improvises.
* MadArtist: Responsible for all those insane scribblings in the facility.
* MadnessMantra: TheCakeIsALie
** In ''Portal 2'', if the player stands directly in front of one of his murals, you'll hear [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=TNvFd4SOfj8 this.]] To date, all attempts to fully and accurately transcribe this rambling have met with failure.
* MismatchedEyes: In the comic, Doug's pupils are almost consistently of uneven size, and when there is a noticeable difference, his right pupil is always the larger of the two. It is not known if this is a purely stylistic choice (perhaps meant to artistically emphasize Doug's psychosis), or if the artist intended him to have [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anisocoria anisocoria]] (pupils of unequal sizes).
** IcyBlueEyes / CreepyBlueEyes: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_blue#Powder_blue_.28web_color_powder_blue.29 Powder blue]] so light they almost look white sometimes.
* OnlySaneMan: Despite being a paranoid schizophrenic (though to be fair, he's on meds at the time), he's the only one at Aperture to realize that when a computer consistently tries to murder you within [=1/16th=] of a picosecond every time you turn her on, she's probably going to kill you the first chance she gets.
* PowerBornOfMadness: He imagines the Companion Cube is talking to him and its advice was ''tremendously'' useful at surviving the {{Death Course}}s throughout the lab.
* ProperlyParanoid: It's implied that his paranoid schizophrenia was the key to evading [=GLaDOS=] long after all the other employees had been captured. Sane people tend to dismiss thoughts like "What if an insane computer is trying to take over the facility and kill us all?" as crazy, which is something of a survival disadvantage when that's actually what's happening. However, considering [=GLaDOS=] had consistently attempted to kill them all within one tenth of a picosecond of being switched on (up from one sixteenth of a picosecond when she was first activated), he might have just been the only one who wasn't TooDumbToLive.
* PropheticName: A name so convenient, you'd expect him to be a ''{{Spiderman}}'' villain.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: "I [[HeartSymbol <3]] CompanionCube." His dens are full of poetry adapted to mention the cube, pictures of things in the center (mostly the cube, of course) and other scrawlings.
-->the cake is a lie\\
the cake is a lie\\
the cake is a lie\\
the cake is a lie
** In ''Portal 2'', it would seem his obsession changed to being centered around Chell, with vivid detailed murals of her sprawled across walls.
* SanitySlippage: Due to being stuck in the lab after [=GLaDOS=] goes beserk, he can't refill his medication. Hence, he appears quite sane during the past segments of the Lab Rat Comic. Compare that to his scribblings in the first game, and his basic appearance in the present comic segments.
[[folder:The turrets]]
->Voiced by EllenMcLain
Small white machines placed throughout the facility to ''[[/folder]]
[[folder: [[Dummied Out provide you with product. ]]
* AdorableEvilMinions: [[/folder]]
[[folder: Hi. Target acquired. Firing. ]]
* AffablyEvil: They seem quite affable for a bunch of bullet-spewing death machines.
* AIIsACrapshoot: They're really just guns that can talk. [[spoiler:Until Portal 2.]]
* ApologeticAttacker: [[/folder]]
[[folder: I don't blame you. I don't hate you. No hard feelings. ]]
* BottomlessMagazines: Justified in this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGPIQ72-2Vg trailer]], where Cave shows you how they cram all those bullets in.
* CartridgesInFlight: As pointed out and [[LampshadedTrope Lampshaded]] in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGPIQ72-2Vg this trailer]].
-->'''Cave Johnson:''' We fire the whole bullet! That's 65% more bullet per bullet!
* CuteMachines: Well, until they pepper you full of lead.
* EnemyMine: A mild version in 2, after[[spoiler: Wheatley takes over the facility, the turrets seem just as eager to shoot at him (or at least his monitors) as they are at Chell.]]
* GrotesqueCute: Namely due to their voices, not to mention how polite and apologetic they are while they open fire on you. [[spoiler:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbzUT-99w88 And they sing]].]]
* FlatJoy: [[/folder]]
[[folder: [[Squee WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! ]]
* InsistentTerminology: [[/folder]]
[[folder: [[More Dakka Dispensing product. ]]
* KingMook: The Animal King turret, a massive, leopard-patterned turret with a crown used to illustrate what to do in one of many apocalypse scenarios Aperture anticipated. It also plays bass, just because.
* LaserSight: Deconstructed. A beam of light comes straight from their eye, and follows you if they spot you, but it also lets you know how to block them and where they're looking.
* MoralityChip: According to a diagram in the ''Portal 2'' promo trailer above, the turrets contain an "empathy generator" and an "empathy suppressor" to counter it out.
* MoreDakka: They never run out of ammo. '''Ever'''.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: The Oracle Turret from '' Portal 2''.
* PetTheDog: ''Portal 2'' has an achievement for rescuing the Oracle Turret from a conveyor belt. It has some strange things to say in response.
* RedEyesTakeWarning
* StandardFemaleGrabArea: [[ItMakesSenseInContext In a manner of speaking]]: picking up a turret (if you can get past its gunfire or sneak up on it) will prevent it from firing. Add the responses to such actions including "Hey!" and "Put me down!" (which of course use cutesy female voices).
* VillainsOutShopping: The turrets make [[spoiler:such a lovely choir]].
[[folder:Party Escort Bot]]
The Party Escort Bot, alternatively known as the Party Associate, is a robot appearing in the retconned PC version of Portal, as of the March 3, 2010 patch. It's only role in the game is to drag Chell back into the facility after she defeats GLaDOS, so that she can have new adventures in the sequel.
* ChekhovsGunman: When GLaDOS first mentions him, it appears as if he does not exist at all. Then there is no mention of him for a long time, until [[spoiler: he suddenly turns up as a DiabolusExMachina in the ending.]]
* DiabolusExMachina: After Chell has survived hours of deadly testing, GLaDOS' deathtrap, navigated the facilities, and then confronted GLaDOS in her room and defeated her, she ends up semi-conscious on a parking lot, [[spoiler: and this robot drags her back into the facility.]]
* TheDragon: Appearently is this to [[spoiler: [=GLaDOS=]]]
* TheGhost: Was this before the March 3rd update.
* PaletteSwap: The robot is seen on one panel in the ''Lab Rat'' comic, and it is apparently merely [[spoiler: a purple verison of ATLAS, or possibly a personality core with arms (which Wheatley was planned to have, per the commentary, but were cut because they could not believably retract).]]
* RetCon: A major one to [[spoiler: the ending of Portal.]]
* RoboSpeak: In the one line it has in the game, it probably has the most severe case of RoboSpeak in the entire series.
* WhamLine: "Thank you for assuming the party escort submission position."
* TheVoice: Although it is obviously very close to [[spoiler: Chell in the ending, it is actually never seen as it drags her back in-game. No-clipping reveals merely a placeholder box with the text "beans" on it.]] Ironically, in the Lab Rat comic, the robot becomes [[spoiler: TheVoiceless, as it is revealed for the first time, but has no dialogue.]]
!Portal 2
->Voiced by Creator/StephenMerchant
An artificially intelligent "personality core" reassigned to ensure the wellbeing of the test subjects. Practically a polar opposite to [=GLaDOS=], Wheatley appears friendly and [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} slightly scatterbrained]]. He helps Chell in her second run through Aperture Laboratories, but accidentally revives [=GLaDOS=].
He also [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Wheatley}} has his own page]].
* {{Adorkable}}: He's a stuttering, not too bright bit of adorable technology.
* AffablyEvil: For an [[spoiler:AI-turned-psychotic-junkie trying to murder you,]] he sure is likeable.
* [[spoiler:AGodAmI]]: Becomes this after [[spoiler:being plugged into [=GLaDOS=]'s mainframe]].
* ArtificialStupidity: [[spoiler: Oddly enough, an ''in-universe'' example. His sole reason of existing is to consistently give GLaDOS stupid ideas and make bad decisions.]]
* TheAtoner: Becomes this in [[spoiler:the final scene of ''Portal 2''. He's a little too late for that, however.]]
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:"[[PunctuatedForEmphasis I am NOT! A! MORON!]]" [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Gee, thanks a lot, [=GLaDOS=].]] The irony is just astounding.]]
** [[spoiler: During his tests, they is always some way you can destroy his monitors. He doesn't mind at first, but it quickly gets on nerves once you break more.]]
* BookEnds: [[spoiler:GRAB ME GRAB ME GRAB ME!]]
* BigStupidDoodooHead: When he tries to imitate [=GLaDOS=]'s style of insults, the best he can do is "fatty fatty no-parents."
* BritishAccents: Wheatley used to have a northern accent due to the placeholder voice clips being done by animator Richard Lord. Valve considered [[ThrowItIn keeping the voice]] due to people's positive reaction, but in the end went with Creator/StephenMerchant, best known as the co-creator of ''TheOffice'' (UK original). Merchant's accent is a Bristolian one (a more urban version of Westcountry/Rural/Mummerset).
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He's obviously not the sanest individual in Aperture [[spoiler:and boy, does it show by the end of the game.]]
* ComedicSociopathy: "I shouldn't laugh; they do feel pain. Of a sort."
* ConfusionFu: His unpredictable idiocy and poker face regarding [[spoiler: death traps surprises even [=GLaDOS=].]] This makes Wheatley [[spoiler:more dangerous when in control of the the Aperture Science mainframe than [=GLaDOS=] ever was.]] He's incapable of controlling such a massive system, he can't be deterred by consequences he's too dumb to foresee, he's TooDumbToFool with clever tricks, and when he manages to stumble upon a genuinely cunning idea by sheer chance, it usually takes you by surprise. This leads to him [[spoiler:wrecking much of the complex before Chell and [=GLaDOS=] even return from the old labs, and it all goes downhill from there.]]
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: [[spoiler:He ends up stuck out in space along with the Space Sphere, having to stand his {{squee}}ing over being in space for the rest of his existence.]]
* CowardlyLion: He appears to be afraid of his own body and thinks several actions he can take, such as disengaging from his rail or turning on his flashlight, will kill him (although he does actually try both those things). Also, he's afraid of heights. And birds.
* CuteMachines: Yes, he is adorable, like the turrets. [[spoiler:Not so much once he takes over the Enrichment Center.]]
* CyberCyclops: But of course.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: [[spoiler:Zigzagged. Though he manages to make titanically idiotic new mistakes, he's very good at learning from old ones. He watches tapes of your fights with [=GLaDOS=] to prepare for fighting you, ensuring his lair has no portal surfaces and starting the neuro-toxin immediately. His major error was building his lair around pipes of conversion gel, though he was unaware of what it was. He also booby-traps the the stalemate resolution button in case you find a way to beat him anyway.]]
* DisneyDeath: Shortly after [[spoiler: [=GLaDOS=] is reactivated, she crushes Wheatley between her ceiling-suspended claws. He gets better about three test chambers later.]]
* DisneyVillainDeath: Inverted. Chell shoots [[spoiler: one portal underneath him, and the other on the moon, sucking him out into space.]]
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: His reaction to watching [[spoiler:Chell and [=GLaDOS=] get through the tests is a bit ''enthusiastic'']].
** Also, his [[spoiler:VillainousBreakdown in the final fight]] is very reminiscent of [[spoiler:a jilted lover who's breaking up with his girlfriend]].
* DrunkWithPower: And then he starts [[spoiler: suffering withdrawal symptoms.]]
* EvilBrit: After his FaceHeelTurn.
* ExactWords[=/=]StealthPun: Valve said that the voice of Wheatley would be provided by, in their words, "Some guy from the office". Originally it really was: the placeholder voice was provided by Valve animator Richard Lord. Then they chose Stephen Merchant, most well known for co-writing and appearing in the UK sitcom ''TheOffice''.
* FaceHeelTurn: It's even referred to as this in the game sound files. It's unclear how much of it was the mainframe's decision though.
* FacelessEye: Just like other cores.
* FeigningIntelligence: After being called a moron by Glados repeatedly, he starts playing classical music and pretending to read Machiavelli.
* FinalBoss: For the second game.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He started out as [[spoiler: an [[IdiotBall intelligence-inhibitor]]. Then he gets plugged into [=GLaDOS=]'s mainframe, and becomes even more unstable and destructive than she ever was.]]
* GeniusDitz: Even [=GlaDOS=] is forced to admit it at one point [[spoiler:as he's bringing Chell and [=GLaDOS=] to the "surprise"]].
** A closer look at the game shows Wheatley is [[spoiler:a moron when it comes to foresight, but not hindsight; He is stupid enough to make terrible mistakes, but he never seems to make the same mistake twice]].
-->'''[=GLaDOS=]:''' [[/folder]]
[[folder: For a little idiot [[spoiler:[[Idiot Ball built specifically to come up with stupid, unworkable plans ]]
]], that was a pretty well laid trap.]]
* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn: After Wheatley is removed from [=GLaDOS=]'s body, he feels genuinely sorry. Too bad he's stranded in space now.]]
* IdiotBall: As a personality core, he's spherical and he was built to [[spoiler: make [=GLaDOS=] dumber. He also grabs onto one after going insane; he informs you that he won't make the mistakes [=GLaDOS=] did, having made all surfaces in his lair unsuitable for applying portals. He has also rerouted three gel tubes into his room, including one that supplies Conversion Gel allowing you to apply portals in his room. This alone wouldn't be so bad, but he also doesn't bother to wait for the neurotoxin to kill you -- he throws bombs too, breaking the tube and providing you access to the Gels.]]
** [[spoiler:What's more, he rerouted the conversion gel pipe through the room ''even though he had previously seen you use it right in front of him'' to escape from his anti-portal trap at the beginning of the chapter. If you wait long enough at said trap, [=GlaDOS=] even tells Wheatley ''to his face'' exactly what the conversion gel does!]]
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: After [[spoiler:his FaceHeelTurn. Competent plans, utter lack of proofreading.]]
** [[spoiler:That said, his incompetence and recklessness actually make him even MORE dangerous in some ways, so he's not ineffectual in that sense -- he remains sympathetic largely because he's as much a danger to himself as to anyone else.]]
* IntercontinuityCrossover:
** A flattened, but still [[MotorMouth talkative]], version of himself appears in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' as a weapon for the Spy.
** Via a mod collaboration between Valve and Bethesda, [[spoiler:ends up orbiting [[Franchise/TheElderScrolls Nirn]] an indeterminate length of time after the ending.]]
* KnowNothingKnowItAll: One of the dumbest beings in existence, but convinced he's brilliant. [[spoiler: Not played up too much during the first half, but gets much worse when he's plugged into [=GLaDOS=]'s mainframe. He seems to be over-compensating for the knowledge that he was specifically designed to be a moron.]]
* {{Leitmotif}}: There is a specific nameless tune associated with Wheatley that appears in several tracks throughout the game. It plays during [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAeiqxNH3W0&t=1m1s Reconstructing More Science]], the moment when [[spoiler:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1gsKeTi1Bg&t=1m27s he betrays you]]]], and in his [[spoiler:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uAsD6lQV1I&t=3m49s boss battle]]]].
* MotiveDecay: His initial goal is, like Chell, to leave the facility. He forgets this as time goes on.
* MotorMouth: His utter inability to shut up is one of the highlights of this game. So much so that even if you just sit there for a few minutes, he'll ''still keep talking''.
* OhCrap: When he learns of [=GLaDOS=] and Chell's history.
-->'''[=GLaDOS=]''': [[/folder]]
[[folder: Oh, it's ''you''. ]]
'''Wheatley''': You know her?\\
'''[=GLaDOS=]''': [[/folder]]
[[folder: It's been a long time. How have you been? ]]
'''Wheatley''': I think she likes you.\\
'''[=GLaDOS=]''': [[/folder]]
[[folder: I've been really busy being dead. You know, after you ''murdered me?'' ]]
'''Wheatley''': You did '''WHAT!?'''\\
'''[=GLaDOS=]''': [[/folder]]
[[folder: *sigh* OK, look. We both said a lot of things that you're going to regret... ]]
** [[spoiler: He makes ''you'' have one when he starts laughing evily after the core transfer]]
* PercussiveMaintenance: Uses this approach to hacking a few times, such as when he attempts a "manual override" of a "docking gate" by slamming Chell's relaxation chamber into it.
* PsychopathicManchild: When he starts [[spoiler: ranting at [=GLaDOS=] and Chell he sounds distinctly like a child throwing a tantrum at an elder.]]
* RedOniBlueOni: With [=GLaDOS=]. Wheatley is the Red Oni.
* StupidityInducingAttack: Built to be one [[spoiler: against [=GLaDOS=].]]
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: His reaction upon awakening [=GLaDOS=], only compounded when [=GLaDOS=] says to Chell "[[/folder]]
[[folder: ...After you ]]
[[folder: murdered ]]
[[folder: me? ]]
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:His idea of dealing with an imminent reactor core meltdown caused by his own incompetence is to ''yell at the alarm to shut up.'']]
** TooDumbToFool: [[spoiler:[=AI=] brains as simple as those of the Frankenturrets short out in response to hearing a simple logical paradox. Wheatley's idiocy prevents him from even noticing it.]]
* TheUnreveal: Wheatley explains how he survived [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] crushing him]], but doesn't think to stop talking when the Aerial Faith Plate bouncing you up to him stops working.
* VillainousBreakdown: Wheatley really starts to panic after [[spoiler:Chell escapes his "surprise". He also gets continually more aggressive and paranoid-delusional during the final battle.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: Notice the amount of blanked text for this entry compared to other characters?
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: His original plan seems to have been simply to escape from the deteriorating facility, but [[spoiler: once he takes over [=GLaDOS=]'s role as master of Aperture, he almost immediately becomes paranoid, vengeful, and obsessed with running experiments.]]
%% * WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds]]
[[folder:Cave Johnson]]
->Voiced by JKSimmons
The founder of Aperture Science, originally a shower curtain manufacturer before he succumbed to mercury and/or moon rock poisoning. The company's more esoteric inventions came about following Johnson's descent into madness.
* AffablyEvil: He's really very likeable for someone who treats his employees and test subjects the way he does.
* AllThereInTheManual: Johnson and Aperture Science's history are mentioned only in supplemental material until ''Portal 2'', though said supplementary material has been made non-canon for the most part due to the major RetCon.
* AlwaysSecondBest: Cave Johnson's trophy case contains a number of trophies, certificates, etc. which always show Aperture falling just shy of Black Mesa, with the exception of [[MundaneMadeAwesome Potato Sciences]]. Oh, and he was a great shower curtain salesman. [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative The best, in fact.]]
* TheArtifact: Was slated to be a combination of [[spoiler:Wheatley's role in going power mad and Caroline's role of having been forced into [=GLaDOS'=] body, and the main villain of Portal 2]]. As part of the rewrites that wrote out most of the personality cores and upgraded Wheatley's status, Cave was also rewritten to be simply a recorded voice. However, his original role did end up being used as the basis for Computer!Cave in the Perpetual Testing Initiative DLC.
* BadassBoast: The following speech has followed in the footsteps of "TheCakeIsALie" to {{Memetic Mutation}}dom:
--> "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! ''Get mad!'' I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?! Demand to see life's manager! Make life ''rue'' the day it thought it could give ''Cave Johnson lemons''! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I'm the man who's gonna ''burn'' your house down! ''WITH THE LEMONS!'' I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a ''combustible'' lemon that ''BURNS YOUR HOUSE DOWN!''"
* BadBoss: His attitude toward anyone except Caroline can be most charitably described as "insensitive".
-->"The bean counters said I couldn't fire a man just for being in a wheelchair. Did it anyway. Ramps are expensive!"
** [[spoiler: Then again, once Cave made up his mind about [[BrainUploading putting Caroline's mind in a computer]], she stopped being an exception.]]
* BiggerBad: He's the madman who, more or less, created everything connected to Aperture, including {{GlaDOS}}.
* BrainUploading: Prior to his death, he had his scientists working on this. The jury's out on whether he managed to live that long, [[spoiler:but his assistant Caroline certainly got the treatment]].
** Perpetual Testing features a Cave who did indeed upload himself into a computer. He takes ''slightly'' longer to go murderously insane than Glados, [[spoiler: although we never learn what exactly he did to Greg and the boys.]]
* BunglingInventor: Nothing his company invented fulfilled the purpose it was intended for, and some of the leaps of logic between what the inventions were supposed to do and what they ''actually'' do are achievements all by themselves. Most of them have obvious practical applications that would be incredibly useful, but Aperture would always insist on marketing them for some other purpose for which they were completely unsuited. It seems he would order his scientists to invent a thing and then they'd do it, even if it took bending the laws of space and time into a pretzel.
* CatchPhrase: [Beginning of video] "Cave Johnson here..."
** "Good job, [x]."
** "We're not just banging rocks together!"
** "Cave Johnson, we're done here." [Video ends.]
** "Chariots chariots."
* ComedicSociopathy: It's said that a corporate culture is shaped by its leader. If that leader is completely out of his tree, then you get Aperture Science.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: His understanding of science is a little off, and the Conversion Gel poisoning certainly didn't help.
* {{Crossover}}: According to ''VideoGame/PokerNight2'', he worked with [[WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers Dr. Jonas Venture]] at some point.
* DirtyCoward: A line from a DummiedOut conversation with Cave claims that the actual reason for [[spoiler:turning Caroline into [=GLaDOS=]]] was because he thought it was too dangerous for the first trial to be done on himself. This is coming from a man who fired someone for ''asking'' why everything was dangerous.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He's not so much "evil" as "thinks ethics are for wimps", but Greg's daughter creeps him ''right the hell out''.
-->"I'm sorry, Greg, but there is something wrong with that kid!"
* ForScience: His motivation.
* HanlonsRazor: Based upon Cave Johnson's reasoning for his treatment of other humans it's difficult to tell if he's amoral, immoral or just nuts. Embracing willful ignorance like he does in the belief that all scientific discovery occurs by accident, which would be hindered by competence, is clearly not the reasoning of a healthy mind, but does his deliberate stupidity make him more evil or does such a belief make him more stupid? We may never know for sure.
-->'''Johnson''': Good enough for science...but not ''Aperture'' Science!
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Implied to have succumbed to this. The only thing ever said about his condition (by his own admission) was that moon dust, [[ChekhovsLecture despite being a great portal conductor]], is incredibly poisonous, and that Cave was "deathly ill" as a result of tampering with Conversion Gel.
* LargeHam: See his "Lemons" speech for proof.
* MadScientist: He conceived the portal gun [[strike:after]] [[RetCon before]] being stricken with dementia from [[RetCon lunar dust]] poisoning. He had previously been developing shower curtains for the military. He also created the Heimlich Countermaneuever and the Take A Wish foundation, which are as pleasant as they sound. Not to mention his complete and blatant disregard for the health and safety of the subjects for the test programs.
** Some of the fluff material from Portal 1 claims that Johnson figured out portal technology but was so insane by that point he ignored it because it wouldn't be very useful for military-grade shower curtains. Although it's evident by Portal 2 that that has been [[RetCon retconned]], as the portal technology turns out to be very prominent [[spoiler: as seen when being thrown down into Old Aperture]].
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: In the casting call for him, he was described as being based on Ted Turner. As presented in the game, he bears more than a passing resemblance to WaltDisney, particularly regarding his recorded announcements (reminiscent of those Disney contributed to the 1964 World's Fair) and his [[spoiler:wish to cheat death by being scanned into a computer -- much as Walt Disney was rumored to have tried to cheat death by being posthumously cryogenically frozen]].
* ObliviouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Given his sincere respect and affection for Caroline, it seems likely that it genuinely just didn't occur to him that forcing involuntary BrainUploading on someone is a horrible thing to do to them. The moon rock poisoning may have had something to do with it.]]
* PetTheDog: He may be a ComedicSociopath who has sent countless people to their deaths through irresponsible use of his inventions and inhumane testing procedures, but he [[NiceToTheWaiter treats his secretary with profound respect]]. [[spoiler:Even his decision to upload her mind into a robot against her will seems to have been motivated by the sincere conviction that she deserved to be in charge of Aperture forever, combined with total obliviousness to what she actually wanted.]]
* PopularSayingBut: His lemon rant.
* PosthumousCharacter: Via prerecorded messages.
* PowerBornOfMadness: How else can you create a device which holds a miniature black hole, and can warp all laws of space-time (at least enough to create two portals)?
* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: Deconstructed. He only barely listened to his own scientists and flagrantly disregarded advice from his own accountants on what he could and could not afford to spend money on. Not too surprisingly, his company fell on hard times the further this went on (though it seems to have improved in his absence).
* UndyingLoyalty: His employees followed his every word, no matter how crazy. Anyone else acting like this would have been thrown in jail, possibly murdered.
** Even [[spoiler:Caroline]] seems to have some of this -- even after [[spoiler:he inflicted involuntary BrainUploading on her, she still seems to hold some affection for him, if [=GLaDOS=]'s response to his final prerecorded message is anything to go by]].
-->'''[=GLaDOS=]''': [[spoiler:(sadly) [[/folder]]
[[folder: Goodbye, sir. ]]
* UnreliableNarrator[=/=]RetCon: The "official" timeline of Aperture Science on the website when the first game was released doesn't quite jive with Cave's speeches.
** Among other things, his illness wasn't apparently due to mercury poisoning, but an allergic reaction to ground-up moonrock gel used to make stable portal-surfaces. He appears to have lived at least until early 1980's. The Portal Gun appears to have been one of Cave's ''first'' inventions at Aperture (since all of his Enrichment Spheres require its use, and a poster in the 50s era test chambers depicts a test subject with an enormous early version of the portal gun), rather than an idea he imparted while on his deathbed... although since he was, according to the 'old' timeline, convinced time was going backwards, it could be both.
* VillainousBreakdown: Listening to his prerecorded messages in order, you can hear his voice getting steadily more angry and deranged over the decades.
* WhenLifeGivesYouLemons: See BadassBoast above.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: His attitude toward Caroline, whom he considered too modest to fully appreciate her own abilities. In context this is [[GoneHorriblyWrong less heartwarming than it sounds]].
[[folder:Atlas and P-body]]
->Both voiced by Creator/DeeBradleyBaker
Two robots -- one adapted from a personality sphere (Atlas), the other from a turret (P-body) -- created by [=GLaDOS=] to run tests in the Enrichment Center. Atlas is assumed to be of masculine personality, and P-body to be feminine. See them in action [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkATYz_tF-U here.]]
* BashBrothers / BattleCouple: Depending on how one views them in terms of gender. They can also choose to [[ManHug hug]] [[RoboShip each other.]]
* BrainUploading: It's implied that their personalities are recorded for easier reinsertion into new robotic bodies whenever they "die".
* CuteMachines: Again, like the turrets and Wheatley, they are cute and silly.
* DeathIsCheap: The two robots are uploaded into a new body whenever they die, as illustrated by the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkATYz_tF-U trailer.]] P-body dismisses its destruction (and Atlas's role in it) with a wave of its hand. Then gets him back [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvx5XBS3cwY later]]. In fact, they are transported to other test chambers by being disassembled and later reassembled.
-->'''[=GLaDOS=]:''' [[/folder]]
[[folder: Don't disappoint me -- or I'll make you ''wish'' you could die. ]]
** The ''Portal 2'' team say this is a major reason for using robots as the co-op mode characters. They wanted [[TheManyDeathsOfYou your (many) deaths]] at the hands of badly-planned maneuvers, incompetent or jerky co-players, and just larking about, to be funny and more consequence-free than showing humans being crushed, shot, or falling in acid and so forth.
** As the tests go on, [=GLaDOS=] actually starts getting disappointed with this, as watching her lab rats ultimately make a mistake and die is the only satisfaction she gets out of the job.
* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: Although their general dialogue is mostly unintelligible, if you listen hard enough you can make out specific word-analogues, such as them saying "Hello" to each other in the intro cinematic.
* FatAndSkinny: Atlas is short, round and bulky. P-Body is tall and lean.
* GrievousHarmWithABody: When Atlas yanks P-Body's turret body out of its frame for a giggle, P-body picks it up and gives him a solid crack upside the head with it.
* NotSoStoic: Atlas tends to be the more reserved one in everything he does - except for when either initiates a hug.
* [[RedOniBlueOni Orange Oni Blue Oni]]: ColorCodedForYourConvenience.
** Also illustrated during the introductory cutscene where the two are assembled for the first time. P-body is happy enough to let the robotic arms weld it together, while Atlas is shown anxiously trying to dodge them and escape from the construction area.
-->'''P-body:''' ''[cheerfully waving to Atlas]'' [[/folder]]
[[folder: Hello! ]]
'''Atlas:''' ''[nervous]'' [[/folder]]
[[folder: ...Hi? ]]
** Depending on how you view their personalities in gender terms, it can also be an example of either TomboyAndGirlyGirl or SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan. The fact still stands that P-Body is far more feminine-looking than Atlas, while the trailer mentioned above puts their personalities in a far different manner.
* TrueCompanions: [=GLaDOS=] learns that as much as she tries, she cannot drive them apart and pit them against each other.
* VitriolicBestBuds: You kind of get this impression from them when you are capable of [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential killing your friend with the pop of a portal]], as well as using the gesture feature to both [[JerkAss laugh at them]] and engage in slapstick.
[[folder:Defective Turrets]]
->Voiced by NolanNorth and EllenMcLain
Aperture Science's turret assembly lines are less than 100% efficient. These little guys have a few minor faults. Like having been assembled sideways. Or having been loaded with ammo still in the box. Or being completely insane.
* BodyHorror: Well, look at it from their point of view. Some of them have no casing. Some of them were put together ''sideways''.
** They're fairly upbeat about it though.
--->"Oh no, I'm one of the bad ones aren't I?"\\
"Shootin' blanks, [[{{Radio}} every time, all the time]]."\\
"Well, I tried."
* EvilLaugh: Whichever defective turret you designate as the new template for quality control will indulge in this whenever one of its brethren passes or when one of the functional turrets gets thrown out.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: There's a slightly-less defective turret on the [[KillItWithFire Turret Redemption Line]] early on, whose main defect seems to be babbling a mix of cryptic Foreshadowing and complete nonsense.
-->'''Oracle Turret''': Her name is Caroline. Get mad, don't make lemonade. The answer is beneath us. It won't be enough. [[GreekMythology Prometheus]] was punished by the gods for giving the gift of knowledge to man. He was cast into the bowels of the earth and pecked by birds.
* {{Harmless Villain}}s: They're so enthusiastic... if only they could actually attack.
-->"Hey lady, do me a favor. Tell 'em I killed you."
* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: As [=GlaDOS=] eventually learns.
* OhCrap: They say this every now and again.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: The Turret Redemption Line, [[LiteralMetaphor as a literal example.]]
* SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud: On the test-firing range, defective turrets may say "Clackity-clack-clack!" instead of firing (or attempting to fire).
** "Uhhhh... Blam! Blam blam blam! [[BlatantLies I'm not defective!]]"
* [[SpontaneousHumanCombustion Spontaneous Robot Combustion]]: One of their many, [[SerialEscalation many]] design flaws.
* WeakTurretGun: "So... we're all supposed to be blind, then, right? It's not just me?"
A hybrid of two turrets and a Weighted Storage Cube.
* AndIMustScream: They are unable to move, save for having to attempt to hop forward, they are permanently stuck together, and they can't even so much as fire at you anymore. It really makes [[spoiler:Wheatley]] appear to be even worse when you think about the fact [[spoiler:that he ''made these things himself''.]]
* BodyHorror: Yes, even purely mechanical robots can apply for this; the merging is crude, and the Frankenturrets' pitiful chirping and terrified reactions when picked up make their miserable state clear. The commentary notes their withdrawing into a cube was initially just to make them be cubical when picked up, but it was so cute they added shaking animations and wide-eyed reactions to the turret to make the player sympathize with their plight.
* CuteMachines: They're hastily put-together hybrids that [[spoiler:exist primarily to satisfy Wheatley's addiction to testing]]...but ''they're so darn adorable!''
* DrivenToSuicide: They're not really capable of steering, but if they're pointed at an Emancipation Grill, bottomless pit or anything else that would kill them if they approached it, they'll lurch their way right to their own deaths.
* LogicBomb: Several of them are fried when a paradox is spoken in their presence. [[MercyKill They probably welcomed it.]] [[spoiler:Note that this implies that they're not only sentient but actually ''smarter than Wheatley'', although that isn't saying much.]]
* MercyKill: The poor things look like they are just telling you "Throw us into the incinerator, '''PLEASE'''." See LogicBomb above.
[[folder:Space Sphere]]
->Voiced by NolanNorth
He likes space. His favorite thing about space is space. He's gonna go to space. He's the best at space.
* BrokenRecord: Space. Space. Wanna go to space.
* CloudCuckoolander: His unhealthy obsession with space certainly qualifies him as one.
* CuteMachines: Very adorable, thanks to his chipper voice and fascination with space.
* DummiedOut: Several of his lines were deleted from the final game. [[spoiler: Including a few of him [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor regretting his desire to go into space]] when he finally gets there.]]
* IntercontinuityCrossover: Via a mod collaboration between Valve and Bethesda, it crash-lands in central [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]] after an indeterminate length of time and gets picked up by the Dovahkiin. Wheatley ended up in orbit of Tamriel's skies. It's even possible to have a giant [[HomeRunHitter send the core back into space with a swing of his club]].
* JumpedAtTheCall: Immediately detaches itself from the mainframe as soon as [[spoiler:it hears Wheatley mention that he and Chell are in space]], and happily flies off to be where he wants so desperately to be.
** [[spoiler:Some extremely depressing DummiedOut lines have him subsequently [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor freaking out because space is too big and wanting to return to Earth]].]]
** And thanks to an official Valve release, we know where he ends up: [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Nirn!]]
* {{Keet}}: He's ''very'' excited about space.
* LargeHam: '''''SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!'''''
* LukeYouAreMyFather: According to the Space Sphere, its father is space.
* MotorMouth: To call him chatty would be an understatement.
* NoIndoorVoice
* SpaceIsNoisy: Especially with this guy in it.
* SpaceX: '''Everything''', but especially "space cops" and "space jail".
* {{Squee}}: SPAAAAAAAAACE!!!
* TalkativeLoon: He never shuts up.
* WellDoneSonGuy: "Dad? I'm in space. (deeper voice) I'm proud of you, son."
** "Dad, are you space? (deeper voice) Yes. Now we are a family again."
[[folder:Rick the Adventure Sphere]]
->Voiced by NolanNorth
Stand back, lady. The Adventure Sphere is here to do the job.
* TheAce: At the very least, in his own mind.
** According to the [[KnowNothingKnowItAll Fact Sphere]], he's a blowhard and a coward so there must be something to him.
* BondOneLiner: DiscussedTrope.
* DummiedOut: Had several deleted lines, including some dialogue with the other cores.
* GentlemanAdventurer: Being spherical and limbless doesn't stand in the way of ADVENTURE!
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Yeah, he's a black belt. In pretty much everything. Karate. [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 Jarate]]. Jiu Jitsu. Kick punching. Belt making. Taekwondo. ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGxj3cxYWYY Bedroom.]]''
** Not to mention he thinks the [[MaleGaze view]] is great from where you're carrying him.
* HandsomeLech: Well, he ''sounds'' handsome, and he can't get enough of Chell.
* ILoveTheDead: "All right, your funeral. Your beautiful lady-corpse open casket funeral."
* InterspeciesRomance: He immediately takes a liking to Chell.
* JumpedAtTheCall: "Quick! What's the situation!?"
%% * LargeHam
* PreMortemOneLiner: If you give him long enough to think, he'll brainstorm a few and come up with one for the end of the final boss fight. He admits it sounded better in his head after the delivery.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "This robot. Owes! You! Money!!"
* ShoutOut: Possibly to another [[TestosteronePoisoning Testosterone-Poisoned]] LargeHam in [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 another one of Valve's titles]].
* StayInTheKitchen: He doesn't seem to be used to women taking active roles in adventure or relationships.
%% * TestosteronePoisoning
[[folder:Fact Sphere]]
->Voiced by NolanNorth
The Fact Sphere is the most intelligent and well-mannered of all of the 497,356 personality spheres in Aperture Science Industries. As a result, the Fact Sphere is well-respected by 99.99999% of the population and has many friends. The Fact Sphere would never lie to you.
* BlatantLies: He believes UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln did everything important while he was sleepwalking, and Schrodinger just wanted a reason to kill cats.
** "Fact: Space does not exist."
* CloudCuckoolander: Keeps spewing history, whether it is accurate, or just plain off.
** TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Some of his ramblings are indeed true.
* {{Determinator}}: Not himelf, but he seems to think Edmund Hillary was:
--> "Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb Mount Everest, did so accidentally, while chasing a bird."
* {{Foreshadowing}}: One of the false facts is about where one of the spheres will end up.
* GoodNewsBadNews: "Cellular phones will ''not'' give you cancer, only hepatitis."
* IFightForTheStrongestSide:
--> ''Whoever wins this battle is clearly superior, and will earn the allegiance of the Fact Sphere.''
* {{Jerkass}}: Not the nicest of Cores, to say the least.
* KnowNothingKnowItAll
--> "The Fact Sphere is not defective. Its facts are wholly accurate and very interesting."
* LittleKnownFacts: Most of his repetoire of trivia includes things like "Humans can survive underwater, but not for very long," and "The square root of rope is string."
* LongList: He says "12" and "Pens" multiple times before launching into a list of random fruits and vegetables.
** This is actually a BrickJoke to the Co-Op mode. After completing tests in co-op, [=GLaDOS=] will occasionally congratulate one player while telling the other player to memorize a random list. This is one of those lists.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Sees himself as the most intelligent and handsome sphere.
* TalkativeLoon: Just like the Cake and Curiosity Cores from the original game, this Sphere incessantly babbles random -- and bizarre -- facts.
* ThirdPersonPerson: Everytime he praises himself, he refers to himself as ''The Fact Sphere''
[[folder:The Announcer]]
->Voiced by Joe Michaels
An overly cheerful AI Construct that regulates the Aperture Science facility and conducts testing in the abscence of [=GLaDOS=]. Unlike [=GLaDOS=] or the personality cores, he does not appear to be sentient, meaning his lines are pre-recorded and automatically stitched together, like a computerised phone operator.
%% * BreadEggsMilkSquick
* CrazyPrepared: Aperture Science gave him recordings and responses for every eventuality. And we do mean ''every''.
* DissonantSerenity: He ''always'' talks in a chippery, cheerful tone.
* DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm: Subverted. It understands GLaDOS' sarcasm:
-->''*beep* Sarcasm Self Test Complete. *beep*''
** But never Wheatley's:
-->''Interpreting vague answer as "yes"''.
* FalseReassurance
--> ''" This next test applies the principles of momentum to movement through portals. If the laws of physics no longer apply in the future, God help you."''
* ForInconveniencePressOne:
-->''If you have questions or concerns regarding this policy, or require a Spanish version of this message, feel free to take a complimentary piece of stationary, and write us a letter''.
* ForScience: Utterly dedicated to making sure Science gets done, even in the face of [[AfterTheEnd "potentially apocalyptic circumstances"]].
* MissionControl: For the first part of the game.
* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: His response to state and federal regulations regarding potentially lethal tests is [[spoiler:smooth jazz]].
%% * MotorMouth
* RoboSpeak: Just a hint of it, more than Wheatley, less than [=GLaDOS=]
* SayYourPrayers:
-->''If the laws of physics no longer apply in the future, God help you.''
->Voiced by EllenMcLain
Cave Johnson's personal assistant, described as the backbone of Aperture Science.
* BrainUploading: Uploaded into [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] against her will, on Cave's orders as he was dying of moon dust poisoning.]]
* CloudCuckooLandersMinder: When Cave gets hot-headed (which is often), Caroline puts him back on task.
* DummiedOut: The actual [[spoiler:BrainUploading scene, mentioned above]]. [=GLaDOS=]'s dialogue makes it clear enough that it did happen, though; we just don't know for sure ''how'' it happened or how Caroline reacted to it.
* FateWorseThanDeath: She did not want to be [[spoiler: uploaded into an A.I. from the start. And now she's not only stuck in there, she's -- in a sense -- [[AndIMustScream immortal]].]]
* ForScience: Well, Cave at least said she was passionate about science, and [=GLaDOS=]'s attitude seems to support the idea that he was right.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: The plan was to upload [[spoiler:Caroline into]] [=GLaDOS=] so that she could run the facility forever. The resulting A.I. personality was considerably less pleasant [[spoiler:than human Caroline.]]
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Cave [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre thought Caroline suffered from this]], which is why he felt justified in [[spoiler:having her mind forcibly uploaded against her will -- obviously she was only refusing because she didn't realize how good she'd be at running Aperture forever.]]
* GirlFriday: To Cave.
* HypercompetentSidekick[=/=]ChessmasterSidekick[=/=]TheReliableOne: Cave, at least, believed she was fully capable of doing his job, but she seemed to be perfectly happy as a secretary, which he attributed to extreme modesty.
* MarriedToTheJob: According to Cave Johnson.
-->'''Johnson''': "Sorry fellas, she's married... to science!"
* MoralityPet: Cave is generally pleasant to her and holds her in very high esteem, which helps balance the attitude of ComedicSociopathy he tends to display otherwise. [[spoiler:In a well-intentioned yet horrifically misplaced show of his appreciation, he orders his scientists to upload her consciousness into an immortal A.I. against her will so that she can take over Aperture after his death]].
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Since [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] experiences her persona as a sort of conscience]], she presumably wasn't a complete sociopath, but she didn't seem to object to the constant stream of blatant ethical violations that characterized Cave's policies for running Aperture.
** [[spoiler:On the other hand, if [=GLaDOS=]'s [[InLoveWithYourCarnage reaction to Cave's lemon rant]] is anything to go by, Cave's aggressiveness and willingness to openly express it may have been something she actively liked about him. Of course, it's impossible to tell whether that's just [=GLaDOS=]'s insanity talking.]]
* NumberTwo: Cave Johnson's right hand woman.
* OriginStory: [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=]'s origin -- she was created in an attempt to achieve immortality through BrainUploading for Cave Johnson, but when he died before the project was ready, Caroline was uploaded in his place so that she could run Aperture forever. This [[GoneHorriblyWrong did not work out well]].]]
* PerkyFemaleMinion: ''Yes, Sir!'' Though tellingly, she sounds more concerned than perky by the '70s.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Originally Cave's assistant was going to be a put-upon YesMan named Greg. But they didn't have time to get a new voice actor, so it was decided Ellen [=McLain=] would do the voice. [[spoiler: Once that casting choice was made, the creators wondered why Caroline and [=GLaDOS=] had the same voice...]]
* RepeatAfterMe: {{Invoked}} with Cave and Caroline's homage to a ''Series/TheBurnsAndAllenShow'' routine.
-->'''Johnson:''' Say goodbye, Caroline!\\
'''Caroline:''' Goodbye, Caroline!
* ShoutOut: It's unintentional -- she's actually named after the mother of one of the writers -- but the name Caroline means "[[VideoGame/HalfLife free man]]."
* VirtualGhost: Some remnant of [[spoiler:Caroline's personality still exists within [=GLaDOS=]. While [=GLaDOS=] claims to delete her, there are some hints that she's still around. It is thus also common in fanfics to have her serve as a SpiritAdvisor for [=GLaDOS=].]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Caroline's fate after having her brain uploaded into GLaDOS is never mentioned. [[spoiler: It is almost certain that she was killed along with the scientists when GLaDOS first activated.]]
[[folder: The Monster]]
The chief antagonist of the ''Peer-Review'' co-op DLC, who has taken over an older version of [=GLaDOS=]'s body and is using it wreak havoc.
* [[spoiler: TheDogWasTheMastermind: The antagonist taking over the facility, causing chaos and ruffling [=GLaDOS=]'s cool is... the bird who bothered her and Wheatley before, inadvertently building her nest on a crucial keyboard.]]
* InterfaceScrew: Turns the lights off at one point, requiring Atlas and P-Body to use night vision. [[spoiler: Immediately turns the lights back on, blinding them.]]
* [[spoiler: TheUnfought: After the final puzzle, the bots drive it away in a cutscene.]]
[[folder: Greg]]
-> ''"Hold on. (Unintelligible Muttering) Alright, my assistant Greg tells me none of that's true. Got excited.''
--> '''Cave Johnson''', on Greg
Greg is Cave Johnson's put-upon assistant, introduced in The Perpetual Testing Initiative DLC. He never directly appears or speaks, but most of the new test chamber dialogue involves Cave being corrected by Greg about various logical fallacies Cave believes in (such as confusing alternate universes with time travel). According to Cave, Greg was responsible for coming up with the idea for the Perpetual Testing Initiative.
* BeleagueredAssistant: Well, he has to put up with Cave.
* CreepyChild[=/=]OracularUrchin: Greg has a daughter who likes to sneak into Cave's office and talk to the test subjects. Cave is especially unnerved by the way she talks:
-->'''Greg's Creepy Kid:''' "We're gonna test forever and ever and ever..."
* GenderFlip[=/=]SpearCounterpart: He's a male version of Caroline, minus the special affection Cave Johnson holds for an assistant of the opposite gender.
%% * OnlySaneEmployee
* TheVoiceless: Sort of. Greg speaks with Cave multiple times in the DLC, but besides some muffled mumbling the player can only hear Cave's side of the conversation.
[[folder: Alternate Cave Johnsons]]
Introduced in the ''Perpetual Testing Initiative'', there are alternate universe versions of Cave Johnson who will talk to you, which forces the "real" Cave Johnson to use a CatchPhrase ("Chariots," later "chariots, chariots") to differentiate from the others.
* AncientTradition: Cave of Aperture Rituals is presiding over one of these in order to prevent the end of the world. It involves hiring astronauts, war heroes and olympians to make love to a giant bird.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: One Cave and the inhabitants of his universe have transformed into beings of pure light; though pleased, they'd originally hoped to transform into pillars of pure salt.
* BenevolentBoss: Nice!Cave, who gives bonuses to his testers and heaps praise upon them while randomly saying "chariots".
* BrainUploading: [=CaveDOS=]
* CallBack: Many of the Caves give their own version of the introduction given in the main game when Chell uncovers the old testing labs.
* DemonicPossession: Magic!Cave of Aperture Paranormal is host to a tiny but powerful demon that lives in a secret place in his mouth.
* EvilTwin: Cave!Prime regards a Cave Johnson who argued with him as this, referring to him as Dark!Cave.
* ExtranormalInstitute: Aperture Paranormal, an institute dedicated to studying and harnessing magical phenomena.
* {{Hobos}}: "Michigan Slim" Cave Johnson, the Hobo King.
* GeniusLoci: Planet!Cave.
* GoodCounterpart: Most of the parallel Caves are as evil as the regular one, but there is a Nice Cave who offers you a bonus.
* IllBoy: One of the parallel Caves is a little boy with a terminal illness who seemingly watches test subjects overcome their own obstacles as a way of motivating himself to recover. [[BlackComedy He doesn't make it]].
* InsectoidAliens: Mantis!Cave
* JerkAss: Dark!Cave and his test subjects come across as this.
-->'''Cave Johnson''': "They're not even really testing anymore. They just all portaled in, made a human pyramid, ate my lunch and portaled out"
* OnlySaneMan:
** The Cave Johnson who is a pencil-pusher working for Aperture Chief Ratman.
** The Cave Johnson in charge of [[VideoGame/HalfLife Blapeture]] [[{{Portmanteau}} Mesa]], who is appalled by the reckless experiments and [[ForWantOfANail cancels the project that would result in the Resonance Cascade]].
** Warden!Cave had to tell his prisoners that the [[AirVentEscape air ducts were not an escape route]], but how they ventilate the facility. [[spoiler: When he's shived after a power outage shut off the forcefield doors, he laments how actual doors would have been much better]].
** Space!Cave has to constantly remind his test subjects that the tests are being conducted in a space station, and that there's no air outside the facility. [[TooDumbToLive Few of them listen]].
** [[TomatoSurprise Cave!Prime]] has a moment of this, [[spoiler: when he listens to Greg and [[ForWantOfANail cancels the [=GLaDOS=]]] project after [=CaveDOS=] goes insane]].
* OppositeSexClone: Possibly Matriarch Cave.
* PunnyName: Dark!Cave. Think about it...
* SendInTheClones: Because of the multiverse, there are infinite Caves out there.
* SenseLossSadness: Part of the reason why [=CaveDOS=] goes crazy.
* SpacePolice: Chief Warden Cave.
* ThrowTheDogABone: [[spoiler:Cave!Prime manages to find a universe made of money and cancels the [=GLaDOS=] initiative, ensuring that Prime!Aperture will live on for a long time.]]
* WhamLine: After the "Computer!Cave" arc, [[spoiler: who we were '''led''' to believe was]] Cave Prime says the following:
--> "Whoa! Chariots chariots. For some reason, some of the audio was bleeding through in this universe. Don't know if you were catching the subtext there, but that computer Cave is crazy. So: [[spoiler: Greg was right. [[ForWantOfANail As of now]], [[RetGone we are cancelling the]] [[SelfDemonstrating/GLaDOS genetic lifeform disk operating system initiative]].]]"
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: [=CaveDOS=] simply finds his immortality boring, especially since he can read every book ever written in just a few seconds. Even altering them all to be about ghostbusters gets dull after a while.
* VerbalTic: Nice!Cave randomly says "Chariots," briefly upsetting Cave Prime's attempt to use it as a code word. From then on, he says it twice.
[[folder: Cut Characters]]
'''Mel''' was originally supposed to be the main character of Portal 2, then the co-op player 2 character alongside Chell. She was discarded when the creators decided robots would suit the chaotic, often death-filled nature of co-op mode better.
'''Betty''' or the '''Gyroscopic Liability Absolver and Disk Operating System''', was a personality core who would appear at the beginning of each test chamber in the original Portal 2, which took place in the past, to rattle off legal jargon in regards to the dangers of testing. Her role was mostly replaced by that of the Announcer.
* HeroicMime: Mel.
* PaletteSwap: Mel's character model is a recolored (blonde with a blue suit) Chell from the ''first'' game.
* PunnyName: Betty's title: the Gyroscopic Liability Absolver and Disk Operating System. Look at the first letter of each word. [[spoiler: It's [=GLAaDOS=].]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Mel's blue, while Chell is orange.
* ThemeNaming: Chell 'n' Mel.


text:
Many asteroids have been visited by spacecraft since the Galileo probe flew by Gaspra in 1991 en route to Jupiter. These spacecraft encounters have yielded a treasure trove of detailed images and data. To study an asteroid's surface completely and in detail, it's necessary to orbit the asteroid rather than just photograph it in...
Author Archives: Tony Flanders
SkyWatch 2012: Movies and More
SkyWatch 2012, the annual publication of Sky & Telescope, will soon be available as a digital download. You can also purchase a hardcopy magazine online, and it should appear on newsstands on October 18th. The theme of this year's SkyWatch is motion. Most people in the 21st century probably think of astronomy as timeless,...
Lots Going On in the Sky
The first week of September will be a memorable time for observers in the Northern Hemisphere.
Sky & Telescope October 2011
Sky & Telescope's October 2011 issue is now available to digital subscribers.
Sky & Telescope September 2011
Sky & Telescope's September 2011 issue is now available to digital subscribers.
Watch a Star Wink Out on September 3rd
On the evening of Saturday, September 3rd, the dark edge of the Moon will cover the 2.3-magnitude star Delta Scorpii from the eastern and southern U.S. to northern Venezuela.
Happy Birthday, Neptune!
On July 12th, Neptune completed one full circuit around the Sun since its discovery on the night of Sept 23-24, 1846.
Is Asteroid 2011 MD Space Junk?
For a while, it seemed possible that the asteroid that will buzz Earth on Monday is actually the upper stage of a rocket.
Asteroid To Buzz Earth Monday, June 27th
Asteroid 2011 MD is expected to pass less than 8,000 miles above Earth's surface around 1 p.m. EDT (17:00 UT) on Monday.
Three Great Old Magazines on DVD
The complete collections of The Sky, The Telescope, and Night Sky magazines are now available as DVD-ROMs.
Sky & Telescope August 2011
Sky & Telescope's August 2011 issue is now available to digital subscribers.
Uranus and Neptune in 2012
Uranus and Neptune are easy to find with the aid of the charts in this article.
Uranus and Neptune in 2011
Uranus and Neptune are easy to find with the aid of the charts in this article.
Ceres and Vesta in 2011
The two brightest asteroids are in fine view for binoculars or a telescope. Here are instructions and charts to find them.
Ceres and Vesta: July 2012 – April 2013
The two brightest asteroids are close to each other in late 2012 and early 2013. Moreover, they're traversing one of the most interesting areas in the night sky.
Sky & Telescope July 2011
Sky & Telescope's July 2011 issue is now available to digital subscribers.
NEAF 2011 Videos Are Here!
Check out our videos from the 20th annual Northeast Astronomy Forum, one of the world's largest telescope shows.
Great Red Spot Transit Table 2012-2013
Transit times for Jupiter's Great Red Spot are listed through December 2012.
Great Red Spot Transit Table 2011-2012
Transit times for Jupiter's Great Red Spot are listed through March 2012.
Watch a Star Wink Out on August 10th
On the evening of Wednesday, August 10th, the Moon will cover the 2.9-magnitude star Pi Sagittarii for the eastern half of North America.
See the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower
The Eta Aquarids might be the best meteor shower that you've never heard of. Best viewed at southerly latitudes, this shower is strong in the predawn hours from May 4th through May 8th.
Sky & Telescope June 2011
Sky & Telescope's June 2011 issue is now available to digital subscribers.
The Great Telescope Race
During the 1800s, the United States experienced a veritable explosion in telescope construction, going from an astronomical backwater to the undisputed world leader in less than a century. How and why did this remarkable transformation take place? Award-winning science journalist, author, and astronomy historian Trudy Bell describes this process in "The Great Telescope Race,"...
Come to NEAF April 16-17
Make plans to attend the largest annual astronomy trade show in America: the Northeast Astronomy Forum & Telescope Show.
Global Astronomy Month 2011
April is Global Astronomy Month. So try to think of one little extra thing that you can do bring the glories of the night sky to the attention of the general public.

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text: Chem club nerds View full-size image < previous next > Is this photo a winner? "This photo was taken in one of our many labs at CCSU. We've had pretty terrible shirts done in the past so everyone was super excited when our shirts arrived and just look awesome. We all love joking about our nerdiness (is it joking if it's true?) and now we have our shirts to wear around campus to represent the little family that is the CCSU Chemistry Club." - CCSU Chemistry (Dec 19, 2012) Share this photo on: Twitter Facebook Pinterest Similar Photos: chemistry club | lab | school | blue | college clubs and groups | fun | small group | chem club Feeling inspired? Visit the CustomInk Design Lab to start your own group order. Design Your Own comment by Guest - Dec 19, 2012 - back to the top Is the first C suppossed to look like it's not printed properly?


text: BioPharm International, May 2010 - BioPharm International ADVERTISEMENT home: : FOLLOW US: : Linked In: : subscribe: :about us: : rss feeds/xml BioPharm International All results ADVERTISEMENT Home Current Issue Supplements BioPharm TV Magazine Archive eBook Series Digital Editions Columns eNewsletters Business Podcasts Videos Webcasts Whitepapers Events Subscribe Contact Editors Contribute Advertise List Rental Reprints Store Feeds Resources BioPharm International, May 2010 Features Building Partnerships Between Academia and Biosciences Companies By Vincent Turula, PhD , Navdeep Malkar, PhD , Richard E. Kouri, PhD This practicum combines business elements with scientific concepts. Designing in Quality: Approaches to Defining the Design Space for a Monoclonal Antibody Process By Amit Banerjee How to use risk assessment strategies to integrate operations. Applying Computational Fluid Dynamics Technology in Bioprocesses-Part 2 By Zhiwu (David) Fang Computational fluid dynamics can resolve performance problems. Regulatory Beat Healthcare Reform Expands Coverage, Promotes Innovation By Jill Wechsler Broader benefits and biosimilars will offset hefty fees and discounts while preserving R&D incentives. From the Editor Pandemic Response: Progress and Challenges By Laura Bush We all know that experience is the best teacher. With H1N1, we have a great opportunity to learn important lessons. Perspectives on Outsourcing Managing CMOs with Complementary Capabilities By Roman Hlodan Formulation strategy is an important consideration when selecting and managing outsourced biopharmaceutical development programs. Final Word Are You Ready for a Post-Reform World? By Jill E. Sackman, PhD , Rita E. Numerof, PhD The industry must be prepared for the impact of the sweeping changes expected from the new legislation. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Sponsored Links Other Advanstar Pharma/Science Group Websites Click here


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Local woman faces heroin charge in NYBy Darren Marcy
Staff Writer | July 12,2014A Florence woman and a New York man were charged with heroin possession after a traffic stop in Fort Ann, N.Y.
Police said the heroin was destined for distribution in Rutland.
New York State Police arrested Emily R. Newton, 20, of Florence and Raydell Antonetti, 28, of Bay Shore, N.Y., after a traffic stop early Tuesday on Route 149.
Trooper Mark Cepiel said officers stopped Antonetti, who was driving a gray Audi with a Vermont temporary plate on the rear, for failing to dim his headlights and for lacking a front plate.
Police said Antonetti gave a fake name and date of birth, claiming he didnt have any ID.
As one trooper dealt with Antonetti, police said, another officer smelled burned marijuana on Newton and in the car.
A drug-detection dog with the Washington County Sheriffs Department arrived and alerted to other drugs in the vehicle, Cepiel said.
Troopers said they found a plastic bag containing a large quantity of a substance packaged in such a manner as for distribution.
Police said they found about 3.5 ounces of heroin.
Its unusual to have that amount, but lately were seeing that more and more, Cepiel said.
Newton and Antonetti were arrested and each charged with two felonies: criminal possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to sell.
During their search of the car, troopers found a New York state benefits card bearing Antonettis real name and date of birth, Cepiel said.
Antonetti was wanted for parole violations in Suffolk County in New York and had prior felony convictions, police said.
Troopers also charged Antonetti with misdemeanor counts of false personation and aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, as well as operating without insurance, equipment violation for having tinted windows and for dazzling headlights, the arrest report said.
Antonetti and Newton were arraigned in the Fort Edward court and held in the Washington County jail.
Antonetti was held without bail. Newton was held on $75,000 cash bail or $150,000 bond.MORE IN This Just InVermont hazardous-materials team members were at the Asa Bloomer state office building in... Full StoryHoliday Festival Full StorySpeed blamed Full Story
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Sustainable design is fundamental in our practice — in our project work as well as our internal culture. How to do more with less is always a strategic focal point. Consulting on overall integrated design, we help reduce demand on natural resources and find sustainable, efficient ways to deliver the systems. Net result: long-term cost savings and less impact on the environment.
HRMS is NZEB Certified
July 3, 2014
Hood River Middle School's Music and Science Building is NZEB CERTIFIED, making it the first public school to achieve this certification through the Living Building Challenge.