Tuesday 1 August 2017

Video Game Character of the Month - August 2017 - GLaDOS - Portal

Video Game Character of the Month
August 2017
GLaDOS
Portal

Overview:
Well, here comes the test results. You're a great villain. That's what it says. We weren't even testing for that but yes, it turns out you really are just a great villain GLaDOS. It would be a real shame if you weren't rewarded for that. Truly. What if you complete this test? I swear, we have a surprise for you right in the next room... The Video Game Character of the Month Award!
And now for some information on GLaDOS (including spoilers for both Portal and Portal 2:

She creates tests for the Aperture Science Labs
She is a computer
But is also human-like
She doesn't really like Chell
At all
Companion Cubes mean nothing to her
She lives in the same universe as Half-Life
Each of her cores are different personalities
Wheatley was one of those cores
Her personality is inherited from Caroline, Cave Johnson's assistant
A morality core was installed in GLaDOS after the 'take your daughter to work day' incident
She has been a potato
She finds that the easiest way to defeat Chell is to let her go
She was originally going to have a 'floating brain', 'spider' or upside-down 'Birth of Venus' design
The only thing she really knows is to test
Her voice is similar to a text-to-speech program
She has side projects being an announcer for many games
She has quite a dark sense of humour
She can create tests utilising various gadgets
Her team is in competition with Black Mesa
She can sing
She's Still Alive but Wants You Gone
All cake is a lie to her

Origin of GLaDOS:
GLaDOS was created after Erik Wolpaw (one of the creators of GLaDOS alongside Kim Swift) was inspired by the text-to-speech program he used while writing lines for Psychonaughts. She was originally only meant to be present in the first area of Portal but due to her positive reception from other designers and play testers, her role was expanded into the antagonist/protagonist we all know today. There used to also be other characters in Portal but these were removed, leaving GLaDOS alone.

Evolution of GLaDOS:
GLaDOS went through many designs for her physical appearance from a spider like creature to a floating brain, before the 'robot figure hanging upside down' design was settled upon. Originally she was going to have a disk with her four personality cores attached below her, but this made her too small, so Valve gave her a body as well. Over the course of Portal GLaDOS's personality is unveiled through her reactions to Chell's actions, from being supportive but sarcastic to desperate and aggressive. Portal 2 refines her character further by giving her the backstory of being Caroline, Cave Jonhson's assistant, who may have, without consent, been made into GLaDOS. She also starts to like Chell although this is quickly removed, along with the part of Caroline still remaining at the end of Portal 2. Her appearance also changes in Portal 2, becoming more like a mechanical arm, allowing for more movement as well as changing, for a while, into a potato battery.

Games:
Portal: released (North America) on October 9th, 2007/(Europe) on October 18th, 2007/(Australia) on October 25th, 2007 on PC and Xbox 360/released (Australia) on November 22nd, 2007/(Europe) on November 23rd, 2007/(North America) on December 11th, 2007 on PS3/released (World Wide) on May 12th, 2010 on OS X/released (World Wide) on May 2nd, 2013 on Linux/released (World Wide) on May 12th, 2014 on Android
Portal: Still Alive: released (World Wide) on October 22nd, 2008 on Xbox Live Arcade
released (North America) on April 19th, 2011/(PAL) on April 21st, 2011 on PC, OS X, PS3 and Xbox 360/released (World Wide) on February 26th, 2014 on Linux
Defense Grid: You Monster: released (World Wide) in December 2011 on PC and Xbox 360
Poker Night 2: released (World Wide) on April 24th, 2013 on Xbox Live Arcade/released (World Wide) on April 26th, 2013 on PC and OS X/released (North America) on April 30th, 2013/(Europe) on May 1st, 2013 on PlayStation Network/released (World Wide) on May 23rd, 2013 on iOS
Lego Dimensions: released (North America) on September 27th, 2015/(Australia) on September 28th, 2015/(Europe) on September 29th, 2015 on PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One
The Lab: released (World Wide) on April 5th, 2016 on PC

Well, that's it on GLaDOS but, as always, if I have made a mistake or missed something, please don't hesitate to comment! Also, if you can think of another character that is worthy of winning the Video Game Character of the Month Award, then please comment as well!

Thanks for reading, Satamer.


Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLaDOS
Various video game pages on Wikipedia for release dates
My own knowledge

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