Portal: Revolution
is a mod for Portal 2 developed by Second Face Software, and is set before the events of that game.
The basic story follows a test subject awakened from stasis and put into a new testing track, before being thrown to safety by a personality construct named Stirling. Now, the two navigate the desolate facility of Aperture Science to not only find an escape, but to try and clean up some of the mess left behind...
This mod contains the following tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending: The protagonist and Emilia ultimately succeed in taking down the Spire, but the explosion knocks the protagonist unconscious, forcing them to be sent to stasis by Emilia on a moon base until Emilia could think of another plan. And worse still, their efforts to stop GLaDOS from reawakening will ultimately be for naught.
- Companion Cube: The Trope Namer makes its return during the first trip to the Spire, where it's used to test teleportation for inanimate objects. As is tradition for the series, Stirling has the protagonist dispose of it in a nearby incinerator straight afterwards.
- Cringe Comedy: Emilia had recorded some lines for one of Aperture's older testing tracks. Her personality construct self, years later, is embarrassed to be hearing them again, and asks that the protagonist forget everything that they heard down there.
- Interquel: Portal: Revolution takes place after the events of the first Portal, but before the events of Portal 2.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Downplayed, but when Emilia learns of what happened after her mind is uploaded, she's horrified to realize her work on Aperture's mental uploading technology was responsible for the creation of GLaDOS and thus indirectly the cause of so many deaths.
- Neat Freak: Stirling has a pretty big obsession with keeping things tidy, getting upset with the wreckage he has to tidy up and when the protagonist uses the gels and smashes glass with bombs. This is ultimately justified, as Emilia reveals during the finale that he was once a vacuum cleaner.
- Nostalgia Level::An overgrown version of Test Chamber 12 from the original Portal appears at one point.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: As per Portal tradition, Aperture Science have had the habit of naming things in quite long terms. In the case of this mod, Emilia mentions that the Spire was once dubbed the "Aperture Science Nonlocal Matter Displacement Device" before they settled on its more easy-to-remember name.
- Tragic Villain: Though Stirling's ideals of reawakening GLaDOS aren't the best plans, he ultimately just wanted what was best for Aperture Science, and with his schedule overclocked after Chell had destroyed GLaDOS, the core just can't handle it all himself. This brings some justification to Stirling's motives, even if he may or may not have been aware of the AI's crimes; GLaDOS, as the central mainframe and beating heart of the facility, at least knew what she was doing keeping it maintained and running even without human employees.
- The Unfought: Despite becoming the mod's twist antagonist, Stirling is never fought personally, the protagonist and Emilia's efforts instead being focused on shutting down the Spire and giving him his just desserts later. Even after that, his fate is left uncertain after the Spire explodes.
- Was Once a Man: Emilia Conly, a second personality construct who becomes the protagonist's ally for the latter half of the game, was once an intern working for Aperture Science, and one of the early candidates for the Brain Uploading procedures. She retains the memories she once had, but knew nothing prior about the catastrophic awakening of GLaDOS. Though initially shocked at her new form, she handles it surprisingly well, but does wish she could go back to being human. She also makes comments about the mannequins the two find and the possibility of getting an android body at one point to potentially get used to being human again.
- Wham Line:
- Before Stirling tests the Spire's teleporters on the protagonist, he reveals that he was wanting to bring back GLaDOS the entire time, likely using the teleporter to reconstruct her. The rest of the mod is focused on stopping him before he can succeed in his goals.
- After she helps the protagonist escape Stirling's trap, Emilia finds his name familiar and likens it to a vacuum cleaner she once named the same thing. It's revealed when the two get back to the Spire's control desk that Stirling is that vacuum cleaner, and is shocked when he realises who the protagonist's "little sidekick" really was all along.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Discussed by Stirling during the first half of the mod. He expresses remorse for the turrets being disposed of, despite their pain being simulated, and after one of the test chambers, passive-aggressively calls out the protagonist for handling the turrets with not much care, believing them to have feelings of their own despite the little killing machines they are.
