Cores
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| “ | Do you see that thing that fell out of me? What is that? It's not the surprise... I've never seen it before.
— GLaDOS
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Cores (Also referred to as Spheres, Personality Cores/Spheres, or Aperture Science Personality Constructs) are mechanical spheres that mostly appear near the end of Portal and Portal 2. They were developed by Aperture scientists in order to counteract GLaDOS' merciless behavior, such as flooding test chambers and other vital parts of Aperture Laboratories with deadly Neurotoxin, and her attempts to seize control of the facility.
Personality Cores
As the name implies, each Core has its own unique personality and behavior, which is incorporated into the central core when they are physically attached to it.
In Portal, whenever Chell drops one of the Personality Cores into the Incinerator, not only does GLaDOS experience pain when they are destroyed, she also starts to lose some of her more prominent personality traits. These include as her references to Cake, her sarcasm, and her moral values, which resulted in an a stronger desire to kill Chell.
Morality Core
The Morality Core is one of the cores attached to GLaDOS in Portal. It is a core with a purple 'eye' and two dots just beneath it. It was installed onto GLaDOS some time ago in order to stop her from filling the enrichment Center with deadly Neurotoxin. The Morality Core also seems to be what allows GLaDOS to keep her weapons under control, as she says she can't turn off her rocket sentry once the core was incinerated. It is the first core collected and incinerated by Chell, which causes GLaDOS to begin losing her moral traits and once again start filling the room with Neurotoxin. Unlike other cores, the Morality Core is mute. The loss of this core is reflected in GLaDOS' apathetic attitude and utter disregard for life, though how much of this was under the core's control is uncertain due to the resurfacing of these emotions after re-discovering Caroline.
Curiosity Core
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The second core attached to GLaDOS is the Curiosity Core. It is the core with an orange 'eye' and four dots beneath it. It has a tendency to constantly ask questions, ranging from its surroundings, to Chell, to where it is going.
Intelligence Core
| “ | Fish shaped volatile organic compounds and sediment shaped sediment.
— The Intelligence Core
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GLaDOS' third core, the Intelligence Core (also known as the Logic Core), has a blue 'eye' with a huge pupil with six dots beneath it. It rambles on about an odd recipe for a rather unique kind of cake, which is the cake shown before the end credits of Portal. GLaDOS does not make references to Cake in Portal 2, and it is presumed that this is because the Core was destroyed in Portal.
Anger Core
| “ | *Snarl* *Snarl* *Growl*
— The Anger Core
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The last core attached to GLaDOS is the Anger Core. It has a red 'eye' with eight dots beneath it. It is also referred to as the Emotion Core. Rather than speak, the Core snarls and growls ferociously at Chell. Once Chell puts the Anger Core into the Incinerator, GLaDOS begins to implode. In Portal 2, GLaDOS, due to the loss of this core, sounds very mellow, and barely expresses any emotional indications of hostility.
Central Core
The Central Core is hard-wired into the mainframe of Aperture Laboratories, and is provided with the power to control and regulate the entire Facility. The central core is capable of overseeing all of the events that occur within monitored areas of the Facility, creating and stockpiling test chambers, constructing and dispensing Turrets, and activating core functions among other things. Unlike the personality cores, the central core does not need to possess a spherical shape, but must remain uncorrupted and stable at all times lest it be replaced by a Stalemate Resolution Associate.
Intelligence Dampening Sphere
| “ | One minute ago. Less than one minute ago you solved this puzzle. Now you're having problems.
— Wheatley
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The Intelligence Dampening Sphere, also known as Wheatley, was specifically designed by Aperture Science scientists in order to make GLaDOS less dangerous by generating an endless stream of stupid ideas to distract her. It was thought that this would prevent her from killing the scientists when activated and improve the operation of the Facility. According to GLaDOS, the Intelligence Dampening Sphere is "the product of the greatest minds of a generation working together with the express purpose of building the dumbest moron who ever lived".
Corrupted Cores
Due to technical difficulties over time, a core may be automatically labeled as a Corrupted Core and would be subject to disposal. However, if the corrupted core is the central core, a substitute core must be present in a core receptacle in order to initiate a core transfer. Once a substitute core is found, both cores must agree or disagree to the core transfer procedure. If one agrees while the other disagrees, the transfer process cannot occur unless a Stalemate Resolution Associate is present in order to press the stalemate resolution button, which will initiate the core transfer process once the Associate has returned to the core transfer bay.
During the fight against Wheatley in Portal 2, GLaDOS drops three of these cores to Chell for her to attach to Wheatley in order to make him corrupt enough to initiate another core transfer procedure.
All three Corrupted Cores are voiced by Nolan North.
Space Sphere
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The Space Sphere is one of three active, corrupted cores. It speaks rapidly, and possesses an unhealthy obsession with space. Its key personality trait is its often-repeated desire to travel to outer space. It finally gets to live its dream of going to space when it is sucked through the portal that connects the remaining blot of Conversion Gel to the surface of the Moon.
Adventure Sphere
| “ | Do you have a gun? Because I should really have a gun. What is that thing you're holding?
— The Adventure Sphere
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The second corrupted core, the Adventure Sphere (or as he calls himself, Rick) speaks like a stereotypical soldier. Upon seeing Chell, he starts to swoon over her. He even tries (unsuccessfully) to convince Chell to take a "lady break" while he deals with Wheatley.
Fact Sphere
| “ | In 1948, at the request of a dying boy, baseball legend Babe Ruth ate seventy-five hot dogs, then died of hot dog poisoning.
— The Fact Sphere
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The Fact Sphere is the third corrupted core. It constantly states several random, twisted and not entirely true "facts" related to history, the current situation, as well as apparent facts about how right and handsome it is.
Trivia
- The bomb model used in Portal 2 is named 'personality_sphere_angry' in the game files, suggesting the Anger core was going to make an appearance in the sequel.
- Several textures for the personality cores with eyes colored like those of the Portal cores can be found in the Portal 2 game files, further hinting at a reappearance of the original cores.
- The bomb model also has animations that can be viewed in, for example, hammer's model viewer. These include a stationary animation, a test animation where the core aimlessly looks around and an angry animation where it twitches violently.
Gallery
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See also
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