# Portal

Portal is a first-person puzzle game released by Valve Corporation in October 2007, starring protagonist Chell as she uses a portal gun to escape the rogue AI GLaDOS[3]. Its dark humor, memorable villain, and Weighted Companion Cube spawned a devoted online fandom whose art, home-built portal guns, and Super Mario crossover Mari0 kept the series alive long after its 2011 sequel.

## Origin
Valve Corporation released the original Portal on October 9, 2007 for Windows and Xbox 360 as part of The Orange Box compilation, with a PlayStation 3 version arriving on December 11, 2007[3]. The game puts Chell, a laboratory test subject, through a sequence of puzzle chambers inside the abandoned Aperture Science Enrichment Center, guided (and taunted) by GLaDOS[3]. Its blend of physics puzzles, deadpan writing, and dystopian humor drew immediate acclaim, winning multiple Game of the Year awards in 2007[3].

Valve followed with Portal 2 on April 19, 2011, expanding on Aperture Science lore and adding a full co-op campaign plus a community map creation system[3]. Both games sold widely and became fixtures of PC gaming culture, seeding a fan community that outlasted the release cycle.

- **Platform:** PC and console (Valve) / 4chan and Tumblr (fandom spread)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2007

## Overview
The Portal fandom built itself around a very small cast: Chell, the AI antagonist GLaDOS, and a handful of physical objects that took on outsized meaning in fan work[3]. The Weighted Companion Cube became the fandom's mascot after GLaDOS forces Chell to incinerate it in a test chamber, mocking her supposed emotional attachment throughout the sequence[3]. Fan-made plushies and DIY replicas of the cube spread widely, alongside official Valve merchandise built around the same object[3].

Depictions of Chell and GLaDOS dominate Portal fan art on deviantART groups and Tumblr blogs, often paired in shipping content or reimagined in crossovers with other game universes[3]. Critics also picked apart the game's gender politics: GamesRadar called Portal 'the most subversive first-person shooter ever created' because its two central characters are both women and the player's device creates connections rather than kills[1]. The blog Values at Play echoed the read a few days later, arguing Chell defeats her enemies through intelligence rather than aggression[2].

## How to Use
In the game, players shoot a blue and an orange portal onto flat surfaces, then walk, fall, or launch cubes through them to reach exits or bypass obstacles[4]. In fan output, the shorthand is heavier: reference the Weighted Companion Cube, GLaDOS's 'the cake is a lie' promise, or the Aperture Science aesthetic (white test chambers, safety warnings, ominous corporate signage) to signal you're in Portal territory[3].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Portal?
Portal is a first-person puzzle game series by Valve Corporation, starting in 2007, where players use a portal gun to solve environmental puzzles under the watch of the rogue AI GLaDOS[3].

### Where did Portal come from?
Valve released the first Portal on October 9, 2007 as part of The Orange Box compilation for Windows and Xbox 360, with a PlayStation 3 version following on December 11 of that year[3].

### What does Portal mean?
In the game, portals are paired teleporters the player shoots onto surfaces to move through space; among gamers, the word has since doubled as shorthand for the Valve series itself[4].

### How do you use Portal?
Players place one blue and one orange portal on flat surfaces, then walk, fall, or launch cubes through them to reach chamber exits or dodge hazards set up by GLaDOS[3].

### Is Portal still popular?
Portal is treated as a classic of the puzzle genre, with a fandom on Tumblr, deviantART, and 4chan's /v/ board producing art, mashups, and DIY builds years after release[3].

## References
1. [https://www.gamesradar.com/portal-is-the-most-subversive-game-ever/](<https://www.gamesradar.com/portal-is-the-most-subversive-game-ever/>)
2. [https://valuesatplay.org/portal-as-a-feminist-statement](<https://valuesatplay.org/portal-as-a-feminist-statement>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/portal](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/portal>)
4. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Portal](<https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Portal>)
5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI>)

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