List of references

Within Portal 2, both in-game and in the trailers, are multiple references. There are a variety of references, including, but not limited to, games, movies, songs, and even other games.

General References

• The achievement, Schrodinger's Catch, is a reference to Schrodinger's Cat, in which a cat is placed inside a sealed box and is exposed to a poison that has a 50% chance of killing the cat. His theory dictated that at some point cat would be both alive and dead at the same time. The experiment is also referenced by GLaDOS in the Lab Rat comic when she requests boxes, cats and neurotoxin.

• The achievement, Preservation of Mass, is a reference to the Law of Conservation of Mass or Principle of Mass. This law dictates that mass remains constant over time, and that mass and energy cannot be created or destroyed but rearranged and changed.

• One of Wheatley's lines, "Machiavellian!", refers to Machiavelli, an Italian statesman, political philosopher, and author of the 15th-16th century.

Games

Left 4 Dead series

• During one of the pre-release trailers, Atlas can be seen wielding the frying pan, a weapon used by the survivors in L4D2.

• In L4D2, during the first campaign, the survivors come across an empty bar with a working jukebox. If the players use the jukebox enough, the song Still Alive from Portal will play.

Smash TV

• One of the achievements labeled Smash TV is a reference to an early 90's arcade game called Smash TV, where two contestants are pitted in a brutal game show in which they're forced to fight for their lives for cash prizes.

Movies

• The achievement, Stranger Than Friction, is a reference to Stranger Than Fiction, in which a man finds out his life is being narrated like a novel.

Music

Song

• The achievement Bridge Over Troubling Water is a reference to Simon & Garfunkel's song Bridge Over Troubled Water.

• The achievement Can't Touch This is an reference to MC Hammer's song U Can't Touch This.

Other Games

• The achievement Narbacular Drop is a reference to a puzzle game of the same name, Narbacular Drop. It was the Portal team's first game, from which Portal was based off of.

• In Fable III, when you have become the king, during the quest where you must meet with Paige to break up a robbery, the player must navigate their way through the basement area. This is the only time the player is allowed down in there. Upon discovery of stacks of crates, there is a small entry way where you can navigate through. There you'll find a man in a cell worshipping a crate with pink hearts painted on all sides, a reference to the Weighted Companion Cube found in the Portal series. Next to the cell is a baked cake, also a reference to the fabled cake in Portal.