History Characters / Portal

* FailPolish: Some of the concept art for Chell in her original jumpsuit seems to imply she found some moisturizer, make up, and a hair brush, and fixed those stray gray hairs of hers.

* NoLastNameGiven: We can see her personnel file in the "Lab Rat" comic, but it just gives her name as "Chell [surname redacted]."

* AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle

* 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''.

* 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''.

* CompanionCube: He takes one with him wherever he goes. He's so crazy that it talks to him. Though, as the cube appears to be with him even after the events of Test Chamber 17, it cold be the original Cube's "spirit" after Doug unwillingly incinerated it.

* CompanionCube: He takes one with him wherever he goes. He's so crazy that it talks to him.

* [[AllThereInTheManual A Little More There In The ARG]]: He was a programmer at Aperture Science who managed to survive [=GLaDOS=]'s release of the neurotoxin, only to be made a test subject. His knowledge and clearances meant he was able to manipulate the test chambers and make dens for himself, living in these nooks and losing his sanity.

* PosthumousCharacter: Maybe? Blood spattering on the walls just before you meet a ''lot'' of turrets suggest he met his end there, but there have been suggestions that he was (also) still alive even after the end of ''Portal'' to leave messages for you in ''Portal 2''. Obviously, with the sequel set many years later, he must be dead by then.
* PropheticName: According the ''Portal 2'' ARG, the Rat Man's real was Doug Rattmann. A name so convenient, you'd expect him to be a ''{{Spiderman}}'' villain.

!!'''[=GLaDOS=]'''

A large, 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.

!!'''"The Rat Man"'''

A mysterious person who left clues for Chell to find scrawled along the course of the testing center. The Rat Man's identity - not to mention whether he or she is a man at all - is completely unknown.

In the game, it remains so. The promotional [[ViralMarketing Alternative Reality Game]] to promote ''Portal 2'' gave us a little more about him.

* [[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 [[HalfLife Gordon Freeman]]. Despite the fact that the springs are patently insufficient to protect her, they stopped the complaints, so mission accomplished!

* AllThereInTheManual: Johnson and Aperture Science's history are mentioned only in supplemental material until Portal2.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: In the casting call for him, was described as being based on TedTurner.

!!Cave Johnson

The founder of Aperture Science, originally as a shower curtain manufacturer. The company's more esoteric inventions came about following Johnson's descent into madness.

* AllThereInTheManual: Johnson and Aperture Science's history are mentioned only in supplemental material.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Due to mercury poisoning.
* PosthumousCharacter: Probably.
* MadScientist: He conceived the portal gun after being stricken with dementia from mercury 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.

* DeadpanSnarker: So much so, that she is the Goddess of it in our Pantheon. [[MostTriumphantExample That should tell you something.]]

* SilentProtagonist

* ApologeticAttacker: [[AC:I don't blame you.]]

* AdorableEvilMinions

* ApologeticAttacker:[[AC:I don't blame you.]]

* AudienceSurrogate: [=GLaDOS=]'s unreliable comments aside, Chell has no definable personality, to prevent it getting in the way of the player putting themselves in the role. That was later confirmed by Valve.

* UncannyValley: She looks a bit close to that.

* 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 [[CargoShip the fun way]].]]

* {{Yandere}}: [=GLaDOS=]' dialogue during the final boss fight seriously makes her seem more like a scorned lover than a crazed AI... of course, the two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

* CargoShip: Possibly the most infamous case. The creepiest thing about it is that the player is one side of the relationship. The Rat Man's [[RoomFullOfCrazy graffiti]] shows he was far too attached to his CompanionCube, and really didn't take having to incinerate it at all well.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: It was intended to be this to begin with in the game, but even {{Valve}} admitted they vastly underestimated the extent to which it was adopted as a fan favorite.

* RoboShip: [[http://portalwiki.net/index.php/File:GI_58_bots.jpg The first image]] released of the bots, and the way one of them hugging the other in the trailer, suggests that {{Valve}} is encouraging this.

** In the preview videos for the sequel, [=GLaDOS=] seems to have found an interesting midpoint between the two. She sounds more like her first voice with just a hint of the second. This makes almost everything she says have just a tinge of bitterness, which was probably the point.

* MadScientist

* GrotesqueCute: Such cute voices, even while they [[strike:shoot you to pieces]] [[InsistentTerminology dispense product.]]

* BashBrothers/BattleCople: Depending on how one views them in terms of gender. They can also choose to [[RoboShip hug each other.]]

Two robots - one adapted from a personality core (Atlas), the other from a turret (P-body) - created by [=GLaDOS=] to run tests in the Enrichment Center for an unknown purpose. See them in action [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkATYz_tF-U here]]

* BashBrothers: They can also choose to [[BattleCouple hug]] [[RoboShip each other.]]

* 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.]] One of the robots dismisses its destruction (and the other robots' role in it) with a wave of its hand.

* RoboShip: [[http://portalwiki.net/index.php/File:GI_58_bots.jpg The first image]] released of the bots, and the way one of them hugging the other in the trailer, suggests that {{Valve}} are encouraging this.

!!'''Co-Op Robots'''

Two as-of-yet unnamed robots - one adapted from a personality core, the other from a turret - created by [=GLaDOS=] to run tests in the Enrichment Center for an unknown purpose. See them in action [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkATYz_tF-U here]]

* 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.]] (One of the robots dismisses its destruction (and the other robots' role in it) with a wave of its hand.

* OhCrap: His reaction upon awakening [=GLaDOS=], only compounded when [=GLaDOS=] says to Chell "[[AC: ...After you]] ''[[AC: murdered]] [[AC: me?]]''"

* DeadpanSnarker: So much so, that she is [[Pantheon/Technology the Pantheon GODDESS]]. That should tell you something.

* DeadpanSnarker