Who is Chell: The Test Subject From Portal
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Chell - The Protagonist and the Test Subject. Her Design and Story
Chell's distinguishing trait, according to her files, is sheer stubbornness. She was moved up as a test subject by Doug Rattman, on a hunch.
It is possible to go through most of the game without seeing her as it is played in first person, but if you're paying attention you can get a good look at 'yourself' through portals that you happens to be standing next to. She was designed to be utilitarian, ordinary - to fit in to the environment. Her ethnicity is unknown and as the setting is futuristic, it may not even be relevant. While she was overhauled for the upcoming Portal 2 game, they still tried to keep the feel of her the same.
Quick, what do you think of Chell?
Taste The Cake - A Portal Rap Video
A rap music video explaining Portal
Fanart of Chell, by Tom Siddell, the creator of Gunnerkrigg Court
Sung by Ray Koefoed
Directed by Machinima
All alone and she's wondering why she has a bad feeling like she's going to die.
She hides from the cameras and begins to cry.
She'll never believe the cake is a lie.
Chell is the Main Character in Portal
Portal is an awesome game from Valve
Alésia Glidewell
She was modeled after Alésia Glidewell (an American freelance actress and voice-over artist).
Portal 2 Redesign: Concept Art
Portal 2 Chell: Final Version
[Chell's suit] is not supposed to look like a sexy Marvel superhero suit. It's supposed to look like it was designed without any thought of making her look attractive. We don't want to make her be unattractive, but we want to balance that out. Chell is a test subject, so she should look like one. -Matt Charlesworth, concept artist, Valve
Chell : Pretty or Functional?
Should they have made her hotter?
Chell was designed to play a part - the utilitarian test subject, just another warm body, a realistic and not overly ridiculous player character/escapee/lab rat.
However, other people have complained that she's... well, ugly. Are they just too used to the excessively buxomed and blonde babes of most games? Is it a design flaw? Does it interefere with the game?
Should they try and make her 'prettier'?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYes!
GLaDOS says:
She is a monster with unfortunate bone structure, but I am impressed how she managed to packed on a few pounds after her suspension.
Posted Січень 14, 2012
Chell says:
I should have made prettier. Fuck you Valve.
Posted Грудень 23, 2011
Andrew says:
In my opinion, they should have her stay as she is. pretty, but not exaggerated. An ugly character in any game is a let down. But if Chell was drop dead gorgeous, she'd be unrealistic. She's a lab rat. Not a model. But she should be a pretty lab rat. Personally, I think the second Chell was perfect. Just the right bust and figure for a woman who's spent so much time working out during tests, a perfect hairstyle for a woman running all over and falling down from high areas, and a pretty face to wrap it all together as a beautiful yet realistic character. I hope they keep her the same in portal 3 provided she's in the game.
Posted Грудень 20, 2011
Noel says:
I want portal 3! *U* this game is so awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol.
Posted Вересень 21, 2011
GLaDOS says:
Not prettier but closer to Alésia Glidewell as she is a beauti, but even the most gosgeou woman in chosen clothes and body condition can look like a test subject
Posted Серпень 30, 2011
blame says:
meh. i can fap to it.
Posted Серпень 07, 2011
Annonymas says:
i hope thay make a Portal 3
Posted Липень 30, 2011
Annonymas says:
portal 1 and 2 are good games but they could make chell hotter/sexyer. ie.
prettyer face and she could try talking...mabe??? what do you think?
Posted Липень 30, 2011
holdt says:
yes that's all i really have to say i mean just look at her. if Ur gonna have a female for the main character you gotta make her hot.
Posted Липень 12, 2011
Ierotheos says:
well jamie the heels are shock absorbant boots, and i think her face was to mostly do to the graphics, they fixed it now as seen in the 4th to last picture
Posted Травень 01, 2011
Jaimie says:
Just a very little bit. She's a bit... off-putting. Just in the face, though. She's not meant to be a beauty queen, after all. Hell, I, too would settle for her blinking more. It's mostly her eyes that are unsettling and I notice them every time I see her face.
The redesign of her costume is a bit ridiculous, though. At least her orange jumpsuit is PRACTICAL. Loose and easy to move in, with the added bonus of invoking a slight prisoner vibe (especially since she has no shoes--and what's with giving her heels in Portal 2? And what's with the hat? Wasn't a ponytail practical enough?).
Posted Лютий 21, 2011
Zekk says:
She doesn't need to be a beauty queen but it wouldn't hurt to make her look a little less creepy.
Posted Грудень 26, 2010
ryan says:
shes way too friggn ugley
Posted Вересень 08, 2010
No!
Jamee says:
No. That's the whole point. She's not supposed to be a sex symbol. She's an ordinary-looking extremely stubborn intelligent person who gets the job done.
Posted Лютий 08, 2012
Rose says:
She looks fine. Same original model as in Portal 1 and 2, she probably just got a little bit more rest from being in suspension for so long. I wouldn't look so good if I had been through all the things she had been through.. Chell looks nice in her own special, badass way.
Posted Лютий 04, 2012
Katie says:
She looks preety in portal 2 but not portal 1
Posted Лютий 01, 2012
Poch says:
I admire the fact that her character strayed from the typical "eye candy" design. She, I believe, is defined by her own kind of beauty.
Posted Січень 31, 2012
Huggbees says:
Not every woman looks wonderful every singel time of the day, Chell can clearly be a good looking woman -there's just higher priorities then finding a hairbrush ,some makeup, a good night sleep ,a shower, nice clothes and Moisturizing cream , like fighting evil AIs and kicking ass - it's realistic, that's all.
Everyone is going to look like that after everything she's gone through and I'm actually pleased to know that game designers don't look at a female character and think "Well, nobody's going to play our games but sweaty nerds -let's just make our character as slutty as possible ,that's the only thing that matter about women ,right? How they look?". this kind of things makes me sick.
(the way she looks doesn't matter anyway, it's not like we can see her)
Posted Січень 30, 2012
Ray says:
She's perfect.
Posted Січень 14, 2012
Ai says:
From a girl's point of view, I think Portal 2 Chell is absolutely gorgeous in a realistic way. her hair is simple but looks great, her body is well proportioned, and her skin tone is simple mesmerizing. I like the improvement from Portal 1 Chell, but I wouldn't have been necessarily disappointed if they never changed her.
Posted Січень 10, 2012
phillip says:
personally i think that she looks great without having to have double D's. she reminds me of most of the women i know. although if portal 2 had not come out i would be in the other collum, her face in the first was desturbing
Posted Січень 08, 2012
Fredashay says:
No. Not every woman is a buxom hottie. She is who she is. They shouldn't have changed her at all. And I'm a guy.
Posted Січень 07, 2012
(: says:
Ive never played a game based on the characters "bust size" or "good looks", even though Gordon Freeman is pretty darn handsome, seriously. Let's get real.
Posted Січень 07, 2012
yourmom says:
NO she is perfect the way she is! she is gorgeous! she is a realistic looking "person" for once, why want to screw that over?! go back to playing duke nukem if you want to se blond babes -.-
Posted Грудень 31, 2011
Kozz says:
The designers themselves put a lot of consideration into Chell's design. I personally enjoy both Portal and Portal 2 Chells design. She's not "ugly", she looks realistic.
In my opinion, this makes her a rather attractive character in her own right.
At any rate, any more "idealistic" and she would have ultimately become boring- and forgettable to me. Just another "pretty face"
Posted Грудень 28, 2011
Elmo says:
She looks nice! Right, Dorthy?
Posted Грудень 23, 2011
Alen says:
The way the modeled Chell is near perfect, if they made her prettier, it would be, in fact, unrealistic.
Posted Грудень 21, 2011
ration says:
I like Chell more than any other female videogame character (and I'm a straight guy). Using unrealistic looking characters is a cheap way to sell a game. My only real complaint is Chell doesn't really get to show her personality in portal 1 or 2, but that is really a storytelling issue. Bottom line - no, she should look realistic. Besides, you don't have to be a white European to be pretty. It's 2011- we should be getting rid of that kind of thinking.
Posted Грудень 08, 2011
Nomberss says:
I think she's hot anyway
Posted Грудень 07, 2011
Charlotte says:
Chell is wonderful the way she is. She doesn't have a button nose, she doesn't have glowing skin, and her curves are pretty normal. That's why she's wonderful. She's a wonderful role model for all strong women and her normal proportions and functional clothing make her a better character, not a worse one. Because Chell is a normal (not ugly; normal) woman, we're forced to look at who she is. She's determined, athletic, extremely intelligent... I'm sure she has more good qualities, but because she doesn't speak those are subject to your role-playing decisions. The Portal series is a beautiful combination of puzzles and role-playing; you decide whether she doesn't respond to GLaDOS' comments because she can't speak or because she willfully ignores the robot's aggressive remarks. Chell doesn't belong to any race in particular, which gives all the girls who don't belong to only one race a strong woman to look up to. And her clothing? It's awesome. It's entirely appropriate to the activities she does; I'm glad to have a role model who wears clothing suited to her profession. I think it's disturbing that these questions wouldn't be raised about a male character; if a male game character is hot, it's something to celebrate; if a female game character isn't hot, it's something to be questioned. There's definitely something wrong with this system, and I don't think it involves women having remarkably high standards.
Posted Грудень 07, 2011
HaloFall says:
Chell isn't ugly, I think her eyes are very pretty. It's not needed to make her some beautiful hot bombshell, she's very effective as is and should be left alone :)
Posted Грудень 01, 2011
jParadox says:
I like a functional, average-looking character. The way Chell looks in both games is fine. They shouldn't try to make her "prettier". I mean, really. An infinite amount of time in stasis? The last thing one will care about is how they look. All they care about is the fact that they're alive. I like how they made Chell look like a character who just wants to *survive*.
But to each their own...
Posted Листопад 22, 2011
NO! says:
She doesn't have to be pretty, she's just a girl who was probably the daughter of some scientist working at Aperture, a random test subject for GLaDOS. Also it's very unrealistic to create a design that has huge boobs and no muscle to be able to do the things that Chell had to do to beat those puzzles.
Posted Листопад 22, 2011
Carrie :3 says:
Well, no. That's because most of the time you can not see her and I don't see why automaticly it's like, omg she's the main character she has to be sexy. No. I don't think so. Not what main characters are for. I think she's fine the way she is and she should stay like this(:
Posted Листопад 15, 2011
Alexis says:
I don't see her much in the game anyway. I think they could maybe touch up on her looks a tiny bit, but I'm alright with them as they are.
Posted Листопад 12, 2011
Katherine says:
I think the upgrade between Portal 1 and 2 was juuuust right!
Posted Листопад 10, 2011
Holly says:
I think that is there is a Portal 3 then Chell should maybe rebel a little and scribble out the Aperture logo on her t-shirt and maybe written stuff on the orange overalls. Also she could let her hair down. They could make her a little bit more pretty but i think her facial looks are nice as is.
Posted Листопад 04, 2011
CyhAnide says:
She was made to be a test subject, not a fashion model. *I* think she's fine where she is. (personally, I think she's pretty already)
Posted Листопад 01, 2011
Skye says:
You're tortured in an evil science facility and are fighting for your life. GLaDOS tells Chell at the beginning of a test in Portal, "If you become lightheaded from thrist, feel free to pass out, and a testing assistant will revive you with peptic salt and adrenaline." Her appearance reveals a tortured woman who needs to get the hell out of where she was. And not being some blondie with perfect hair and a perfect face with makeup and all that.... I can actually have a bit of respect for her. And besides the lack of keeping appearances, which I find sexy, she's actually really really pretty, and I thought this in the first Portal. Don't anyone dare think of changing her D:
Posted Жовтень 27, 2011
Beppe says:
No, she's plenty pretty; gorgeous even. And sweaty. The problem I had and continue to have is that we can't get a good look a look at her (or speaking in character, myself). No mirrors. Instead we catch glimpses from afar or, at best, an unsatisfactory profile in disappointedly low resolution which is understandable
in order to (in game platform hardware respect) make her easier to render.
Which would be a very, very interesting plot twist for the sequel: Chell as the "ugly duckling."
Posted Жовтень 24, 2011
Test Subject 42 says:
Nah. Test subjects don't nave time for makeup. What if chell got her hair stuck in a portal!?
Posted Жовтень 14, 2011
Mid says:
The fact that Chell is not attractive is one of the ways she's not on any 'top ten hot gaming babes' lists. She's supossed to just be a postively looked at robot kicking woman stuck in the hell of Aperature Laboratories, not just around so you can stare at her boobs.
Posted Жовтень 12, 2011
Lemming13 says:
Chell is the best game heroine ever because you can actually believe she could survive all this - most others would topple over from the weight of their b**bs...
Posted Жовтень 11, 2011
Hannah says:
I think she's pretty good looking now. Does a girl HAVE to be made up and girly to be attractive? She's muscled and hot looking to me. Plus, as mentioned, she IS a test subject. Seems to me like a jumpsuit with the company logo is just the right outfit.
Posted Вересень 28, 2011
Julian says:
I think the change they did to her in Portal 2 is more than enough, Portal is not supposed to be a game about looking at the hot and curvy female lead. She is not the hottest but she is okay.
Posted Вересень 25, 2011
misha says:
her simple look makes her beautiful, most female characters are flashy and overly um fleshy. it attracts some men yes but for a girl like me it turns me off the game. with the simple Chell it makes me feel better because they spent more time on the actual game and graphics other than make the characters and busty as possible, my vote Chell is fine the way she is and thats how she should stay
Posted Вересень 25, 2011
kristopher says:
Let her stay the same shes hot
Posted Вересень 07, 2011
sim says:
In the original portal, she was very freaky for some reason. Probably a technical issue. But in Portal 2, she was perfect. She's already perfectly slim and athletic, AND she has a pretty face. Why change her?????
If all you want are hotter versions, look up fanart. As for the real thing, I think this is great.
Posted Серпень 13, 2011
Nick says:
Seriously you're to busy solving the puzzle to get a good look at chell. so what does it matter about her overall body make up. but if you want an answer i'd say her beauty variance is below the norm ;)
Posted Серпень 04, 2011
Rana says:
Hell no! She's already hot.
Posted Серпень 02, 2011
Skip says:
as a male, I'm tired of the ridiculously unrealistic women in games/movies. Chell is just about right
Posted Липень 24, 2011
Scout P. says:
they put it realistic-like. not every chick is hot or has big bewbs. besides, we can mod portal to put it like that, cant we?!
Posted Липень 20, 2011
WeightedCompanionCube[<3] says:
I love Chell! Call me crazy, but I think that in Portal 2 she's pretty. I'm glad there's some more female heroes! Who needs Superman and laser vision? We have wonderful Chell and portals!
Posted Липень 07, 2011
Flynn_the_Cat says:
@Cinnamonbite Chell was named in the credits :D (And in a few other places outside of the game)
Posted Червень 23, 2011
Cinnamonbite says:
Funny, I thought she was suppose to be Korean. I also thought the graphics were sorta vague because it doesn't matter what she looks like. The game is in 1st person. YOU are her. And when did she get a name?
Posted Червень 23, 2011
Timburr says:
Nope she's pretty the way she is! Why do hot babes need to be in games all the time? Jeez
Posted Червень 01, 2011
Alfonse says:
In portal 1, she looked kind of scary. Ratty and ugly. But in Portal 2, they fixed her big time. Some people may think she isn't very pretty, but I think she is an almost dead on interpretation of Alesia Glidewell and is very attractive (for an animated fictional person, that is)
Posted Травень 21, 2011
Ann says:
She looks like a real person, not some video game slut. The removal of the top half of her jumpsuit was more of a rebellion thing than an attempt to make her look hot. However, I also think she should blink a little more. Or at all. Whenever I notice something strange about her though, I tend to just go, "Oh, just a past experiment on her." It helps me focus on the game instead of the character.
Posted Травень 18, 2011
xfactor says:
no, shes not ugly shes average, in everything (except stubbornness) also she has been put in harsh situations her whole life. and she looks so hot in portal two, in a strong way, if she was prettier she would lose her power as a average stronghearted girl
Posted Травень 14, 2011
AC Firewolf says:
no. She is AMAZING!
Posted Травень 10, 2011
Milan says:
I think she looks like Lara Croft in Portal 2. Am i the only one?
Posted Травень 02, 2011
Amanda says:
She's average girl pretty... makes sense seeing as how she wasnt a super model or anything like that... she was just a normal person...she currently looks realistic and relatable..
Posted Квітень 28, 2011
Lillias Susan Marie Teague says:
I always thought that Chell was pretty, personally. She's not hot, but she doesn't need to be. She's a girl in an orange jumpsuit playing the part of a lab rat. Why does she need to be sexy?
Posted Квітень 27, 2011
Chell on Facebook
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Who's Blogging About Chell?
A quick scan of the interwebs
- The Magnet Tribune: GameBreak: Portal 2, A Gem Among Duds?
- For those of you who don't know what Portal is, let me fill you in on WHAT YOUR MISSING from the original first part. The first installment of Portal started out with the main character Chell waking up in the Aperture Science Testing room accompanied ...
- RipTen Review: Warp (XBLA)
- As soon as I got past the first cut scene of Warp, the ghost of Chell and 'Splosion Man reached out of my TV, shot across the room, and promptly slapped me. For the rest of my playthrough, I just couldn't shake the Portal and 'Splosion Man vibes that ...
- You can own a life-sized Portal gun by spring
- Fans, it's time to get more excited than ever: Come April, you can take your Portal love to a new level by owning a 1:1 scale replica of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, just like the one Chell uses in the game. Well, maybe not just like ...
- Warrior Times Weekly: Memes of the internets: The cake is a lie
- Chell knows that feel, bro. By Chell, I mean the main character from the popular game series Portal. And thus, we come to the most popular Portal quote of all time. ?The cake is a lie.? The line is never said aloud in the entire game.
Twitter Follow
Awesome Chell Cosplay Photos
And lego. Chell lego is hilarious.
Chell Cosplay Stories and Tutorials
How to make a Portal Cosplay!
Cosplay.com - Chell - SpamTomatoSpam
Costume of Chell from Portal by Cosplay.com member more...0 points
Portal cosplayers? - Cosplay.com
Portal cosplayers? Costume Discussion: Video Games0 points
Volpin Props: Portal Gun
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Chell's Mind Videos: A Fan-Dub
Follow the thoughts of Chell, Aperture Science Test Subject and schizophrenic individual, as she makes her way through the mazes and madness of the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center.
Twitter buzz on Chell
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- NellaFree
- @Sing4JCOnly Hot Chell Rae!! :)
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- KiSSMarCULO
- RT @__NonCHELant: I Got Ya Name On My Right Tittie :) “@KiSSMarCULO Got Nia chell n tae name tatted #TrackTeamShit they kno its real”
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- Detroitrap
- This Sunday, check out Nametag and Chell at Untitled Bottega w/a live band!!! 2.26.12. Don't miss it!! http://t.co/9G5FjmPs
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- thedanalee
- RT @JaeMusick: . @Chell_Is_Skyy gets 2000 followers or 200 FB Likes, she finally drops her first solo song "Levitate." Like her here http://t.co/Uo9VaRmN
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- JCruz_24
- RT @toasted_hagel: So bball practice after school? @What_The_cHELL @bring_EM_out_13 @TikiD32 @cataLOG_23 @wild_THORNberri @JCruz_24 @Day_Lhag
Best Review - Top 5 Gifts For A Portal Fan
Portal is a fantastic, incredibly clever, scientif more...0 points
Best Review - Top 5 Best Portal T-shirts That Are Not Made Of Cake
Portal t-shirts are made of cotton, and are defini more...0 points
Best Review - Top 10 Portal Memes And Characters
Portal is an awesome, hilarious game with some ver more...0 points
Shout Out For Chell!
Share your stories, sightings, thoughts, rants, raves...
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Reply
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Kyra
Jul 28, 2011 @ 12:43 am | delete
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvXmpsmrUTw
The portals work!?!?!
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CastleRoy
Feb 23, 2011 @ 11:07 pm | delete
- I think she looks great I would love to try this game Blessed by a squidAngel
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Reply
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kitty222
Sep 22, 2010 @ 10:35 pm | delete
- Chell sounds like a neat character. Looks like a game I would want to play and I'm not a big gamer.
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MichaelJones
Aug 29, 2010 @ 3:59 pm | delete
- I don't hate her :)
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