# The Weighted Companion Cube
The Weighted Companion Cube is a heart-stamped puzzle box from Valve's 2007 game Portal that players are forced to incinerate at the end of Test Chamber 17. The scripted betrayal turned a cosmetic prop into an enduring gaming meme, spawning memorial fan art, plush merchandise, and a sheepish cameo in Portal 2.
## Origin
Portal shipped on October 10, 2007 as part of Valve's Orange Box bundle. Project lead Kim Swift designed the Companion Cube after reading accounts of isolated subjects forming attachments to inanimate objects, and the hearted cube was introduced in Test Chamber 17 as the puzzle's required tool[3]. In a 2008 interview with 1UP, Swift traced the design to an earlier prototype level called Box Marathon, where playtesters kept forgetting the cube they were supposed to carry, so the team added GLaDOS dialogue and the heart decals to make players bond with it[3].
Writer Erik Wolpaw later said the forced incineration doubled as a stealth tutorial, teaching players how the incinerator worked before they needed it in a later encounter with GLaDOS[3].
- **Platform:** Valve's Portal (video game) / gaming forums (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Kim Swift (Valve project lead)
- **Date:** 2007
## Overview
The Weighted Companion Cube is a cosmetic variant of Aperture Science's standard weighted storage cube, distinguished by pink hearts stamped on each face. Inside Portal, it functions identically to any other cube, holding down pressure plates to open doors, but GLaDOS speaks about it like a conscious partner and later demands that the player drop it into an incinerator to progress[3].
The meme itself grew out of that incinerator scene. Fans produced memorial drawings, haiku, in-game shrines, and tribute videos mourning the cube, while Valve leaned in with official plush toys, papercraft templates, and a reappearance in Portal 2[1]. Hidden rooms behind the walls of Test Chamber 17 added fuel by showing graffiti and photos implying an earlier test subject had bonded with their own cube before being made to destroy it[3].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is The Weighted Companion Cube?
A hearted variant of Aperture Science's weighted storage cubes from Valve's 2007 game Portal, used to solve pressure-plate puzzles in Test Chamber 17 before being thrown into an incinerator[3].
### Where did The Weighted Companion Cube come from?
Project lead Kim Swift designed it for Portal after reading about isolated subjects bonding with inanimate objects, building on an earlier prototype level called Box Marathon[3].
### What does The Weighted Companion Cube mean?
Among Portal fans the cube stands for forced sacrifice and dark-comic emotional attachment, since GLaDOS makes players incinerate it as a stealth tutorial for the incinerator mechanic[3].
### How do you use The Weighted Companion Cube?
In-game, players carry it through Test Chamber 17 to weigh down buttons; as a meme, fans typically use it in memorial fan art, plush builds, and jokes about the incineration scene[1].
### Is The Weighted Companion Cube still popular?
The cube is still a classic Portal reference and returned in Portal 2 in 2011, despite writer Erik Wolpaw's reluctance to lean back on the meme[2].
## References
1. [https://www.pcgamer.com/2011/03/01/12-new-high-res-portal-2-screenshots-confirm-companion-cube-comeback/]()
2. [https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/29015/Portal_2s_Wolpaw_I_Do_Not_Want_To_Resurrect_A_ThreeYearOld_Meme.php]()
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-weighted-companion-cube]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/the-weighted-companion-cube
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