ATLAS and P-body

"These next tests require co-operation. Consequently, they have never been solved by a human. That's where you come in. You don't know pride, you don't know fear, you don't know anything. You'll be perfect."

- GLaDOS

Atlas and P-body are a pair of bipedal robots slated to appear in Portal 2’s co-operative campaign. They have been created by GLaDOS to complete the most complex tests in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center, uncompleted by any human.

Overview



 * Atlas is to be modified from a Personality Core, while P-body from a Sentry Gun.


 * Very little is known about them so far, but Valve is considering making one masculine (likely Atlas) and the other feminine (likely P-body). What may just prove this is how Atlas hugs its partner after P-body respawns.


 * Each robot is to have its own Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, the capacity to transport through the portals created by the other, and spawn each time it is killed.


 * Atlas and P-body were created by GLaDOS after the events of Portal, where she had gained a mistrust for humans. GLaDOS, however, determined that the act of experimenting on and observing the results of robots performing various tests, as a robot herself, is fundamentally flawed. Erik Wolpaw likened this to the famous thought experiment of Schrödinger's cat, though the exact nature of GLaDOS' rationalization is unknown so far.


 * The robots respawn by being delivered via what seem to be Vital Apparatus Vents.

Behind the scenes



 * Atlas and P-body were first introduced during the Portal ARG, in one of the ASCII art images given by the BBS. In that image, actually concept art for Portal 2, Atlas is holding an Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, and they hold each other's hands (this gesture is apparently a sign of innocence more than an indication of romance between the two, and also refers to the co-op mode ).


 * Their second appearance is at the very start of the "Portal is Free" video promoting Portal being free from May 12 to May 24, 2010, where they can be seen within the isometric offices in a small room on the bottom right. They then appeared in a teaser for the co-op mode of Portal 2 shown at Gamescom 2010, in a dramatized version of an example of co-op gameplay, where Atlas elbows P-body so that it subjects itself to Atlas's portal to be sent thanks to momentum to a button located beyond a trap and allowing the completion of the Test Chamber. In the video, they appear to use some form of speech, consisting of computer-like sounds.


 * Originally, the two Portal 2 co-op characters were to be human females, one being named Mel, the other being Chell. They were replaced by robots when it was noted that playtesters tended to die a lot, thus creating an in-universe reason for the constant respawning.


 * As seen in other concept art images, the two robots have come through several other iterations, including color variants, and more humanoid appearances. They also originally both had a red eye, later changed to blue and orange for Atlas and P-body, respectively.


 * The ASHPD used by Atlas seems to be able to create two variants of blue portals. One is a light blue portal and the other is indigo, while P-body has a light orange portal and a reddish-purple one.

Trivia

 * The masculine robotic voice heard during the retconned end of Portal is unrelated to these robots, as it is the voice of the Party Escort Bot, originally planned to appear at that point, but removed from Portal's original release.
 * Atlas and P-body are also unrelated to the Military Android mentioned in Portal, as they are built from scraps, and appear several hundred years later.
 * On Atlas's back, "Atlas" is written.
 * In the Aperture Friends video, the P-body has fear of machine he is put in, however, in the co-op trailer, GLaDOS says "You don't know fear".
 * Both robots were originally unnamed and were thought to be eventually called simply "Orange" and "Blue".
 * Judging by lines in the PAX co-op gameplay videos, GLaDOS seems to have a favor for P-body, stating, among others that: "although this is not a competition, if it were, orange would win"

List of appearances

 * Portal ARG
 * Portal 2
 * ApertureScience.com