Characters
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The Portal storyline is home to a number of richly detailed characters.
Humans
Chell
Chell is the main protagonist of the series, and a playable character during Portal and the single-player portion of Portal 2.
She is notoriously tenacious, and is renowned for possessing a "never give up" or "never say die" attitude as highlighted in the Portal 2: Lab Rat comic. Throughout both games she does not speak, and interacts silently with the world around her.
Doug Rattmann
Doug Rattmann was a former Aperture Science employee who had gone somewhat insane by lack of medication. He is never seen nor heard in the games but his existence can be found through his graffiti written in the backstage of various test chambers.
He roamed the Aperture Science Enrichment Center after GLaDOS' takeover against the staff, setting up dens as he travels and helps Chell, most notably when he risks his own life to ensure that Chell's Extended Relaxation Chamber had enough power to function.
Cave Johnson
At some point in his career as a successful shower curtain salesman, and after winning the Idaho award for potato science, Cave decided to embark upon a venture into science and founded Aperture Science, then known as Aperture Science Innovations. Housing the company deep beneath a salt mine in Idaho, a testing ground for inventions of a scientific nature can be accomplished.
Even long since he was presumed deceased, recordings of his voice remained to guide test subjects through the many test chambers that can be found in the depths of the Enrichment Center.
Caroline
Caroline was Cave Johnson's assistant, who was portrayed as having been optimistic and cheerful during her early years at Aperture. As time progresses, her tone of voice through prerecorded audio messages indicates her quickly-developed maturity.
At some point after Cave's passing, she became CEO for an unknown amount of time until her consciousness was finally transferred into a central computer to power GLaDOS.
Robots
GLaDOS
GLaDOS (or Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) is the antagonist throughout both Portal and the single-player portion of Portal 2, and serves as a coach during the cooperative campaign in the latter game. She is a sentient computer that was built to help oversee, and later fully control all aspects of the Aperture Science Enrichment Center.
Witty and sarcastic, her tone and mode of speech is generally surprisingly human, but with the cold calculating precision only a computer can afford.
Wheatley
Wheatley is a surviving personality core that has helped to maintain the Enrichment Center and the deuteragonist in the single-player portion of Portal 2. He is described by GLaDOS as having been designed to make poor decisions, and was created in order to make GLaDOS less intelligent and thereby more controllable.
He begins the single-player campaign as Chell's companion and guide through early portions of the game. He attempts to help her escape from the facility and by extension, GLaDOS. Later, after replacing GLaDOS as the entity primarily in control of the facility, he is corrupted by its power and assumes a more malevolent personality.
Atlas
Atlas is one of two playable characters in the co-op portion of Portal 2. He is a robot designed by GLaDOS from the remains of a personality core for the purposes of testing with his partner P-body. His eye, and markings on his body are blue, while he fires blue and purple portals from his Handheld Portal Device. Though incapable of human speech, he is presented as a somewhat nervous masculine robot.
P-body
P-body is one of two playable characters in the co-op portion of Portal 2. She is a sentient robot designed by GLaDOS from the remains of a turret for the purposes of testing with her partner Atlas. Her eye, and markings on her body are orange, while she fires orange and red portals from her Handheld Portal Device. Though incapable of human speech, P-body is presented as a feminine, inquisitive and confident robot.
Announcer
The Announcer is a facility announcement AI introduced in Portal 2. It fills the role of guiding and briefing test subjects during the lack of a central core to manage the Enrichment Center. The Announcer later deploys a stalemate resolution annex for Chell in the single-player portion of the game. Despite being the role of announcer, it has higher authority than the central core, and can detect when core computers become corrupted.
Testing elements
Weighted Companion Cube
The Weighted Companion Cube is a variant of the Weighted Storage Cube. It is presented to the player in a late test chamber in Portal, and serves as both protector and assistant throughout the level. In the sequel, although its role has been made much less significant, the Companion Cube has been upgraded like most Aperture equipment, most notably with the addition of soft music which plays whenever it is held.
Sentry Turrets
The Sentry Turret, along with its defective counterpart, serve as a testing hazard. The Turrets are portrayed as loyal, innocent, and harmless feminine AIs, but made to kill anything on sight and against their will. With high accuracy and extreme precision, the Turrets are not to be taken lightly off when stepping into their laser sights.
The defective counterparts were introduced in the single-player portion of Portal 2 and are portrayed as clumsy, dorky, and somewhat rebellious masculine AIs. Appearance-wise, the Defective Turrets simply lack a shell casing that usually covers the Turret's pea shaped design. Feminine versions of these Defective Turrets do exist and can only be found in the co-op portion of Portal 2.
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