Aperture Science Personality Construct

"Did you just toss the Aperture Science Thing We Don't Know What It Does into the Aperture Science Emergency Intelligence Incinerator?"

- GLaDOS

A Personality Core is an advanced personality software contained in an independent sphere.

Overview



 * Personality Cores are known to be used in several ways: attached to a robot such as GLaDOS to give her personality features, confined to ceiling rails, allowing to travel around the Aperture Laboratories, and linked to computer terminals to open doors, reveal hidden passages, or activate elevators.


 * While some Personality Cores have very basic functions, some are capable of being sentient independently. Some cores are able to control specific emotions, whereas others, such as Wheatley, slated to appear in Portal 2, seem to have an entire personality that is not reliant on an attached computer or device. Indeed, Wheatley expresses feelings such as enthusiasm, fear, or shyness, in an advanced way.


 * Personality Cores are typically stored within a case equipped with two handles above and under, which fits around the Core itself, dotted with a large, single eye (supposedly a camera), with a color related to its function, a pupil varying in size, and a varying number of dots at each side of the eye. The Core can move in all directions independently from its case, allowing it to see in every direction not hidden by the case. In the back of the Core can typically found a three pin plug to connect it to the proper devices.




 * In Portal, the Personality Cores are mostly used on GLaDOS, who is dotted with four types: the Morality Core, a purple core with a rather diluted pupil and two dots installed into GLaDOS to stop her from flooding the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin; the Curiosity Core, an orange core with an average size pupil and four dots that is insatiably curious about everything around it (it even recognizes Chell as "the lady from the test"); the Knowledge Core, a blue core with a very dilated pupil and six dots that gives an interesting cake recipe, and the Emotion Core, a red core with a rather small pupil and eight dots that emits angry growling sounds. Wheatley appears to be a Knowledge Core.


 * The Rocket Sentry, the fifth known type of Core, also appears to be a personality core mounted on a moving arm and equipped with a rocket launcher, and containing very basic software. Instead of talking, it emit beeps before shooting its rockets. It also has three colors instead of only one, related to its different modes (green: idle, yellow: locked on target; red: firing). The size of its pupil is similar to that of the Emotion Core.




 * In Portal 2, Wheatley states that a Personality Core is never to disengage itself from its ceiling rail, otherwise it will kill itself. It appears to be untrue when Wheatley stills functions after his fall. When Chell detaches all of GLaDOS's Cores in Portal, they also continue functioning, and actually do not display their proper personality before being detached. With the survival of Wheatley after being disengaged, that shows that a Personality Core can survive on its own. While it cannot move, it appears to have some sort of battery that lasts a long time.


 * Personality Cores also seem to be very solid devices, as they do not seem to be affect by long falls. It appears that only an Emergency Intelligence Incinerator can destroy them.


 * Still when Chell detaches all of GLaDOS's Cores in Portal, the Cores are all sent in a different location, making it harder and harder for Chell to catch them. While being in these locations, they appear to be still linked to GLaDOS somehow with a semi-transparent beam. It is only when grabbed by Chell and destroyed in the Emergency Intelligence Incinerator that their effect on GLaDOS stops. GLaDOS is also equipped with four discs, and four servers installed in the entrance of her chamber. These may be related to her Personality Cores, but it is unknown to what extent.


 * At the end of Portal, numerous Personality Cores can be seen stored around the promised cake and a Companion Cube, and waking up. During the centuries that elapsed between Portal and Portal 2, these Personality Cores carve out sections of the neglected Enrichment Center as their own, while traveling around the facility via the laboratory ceiling rails they are confined to.


 * Centuries after Portal, robots made out of scraps are used in couples in Test Chambers. One of them, apparently with masculine personality, was built from a modified Personality Core.

Behind the scenes



 * The Personality Core went through several design iterations. At some point during development, the Cores were simple grey spheres attached to a large ring with an undetermined blue glowing matter, with GLaDOS being a large sphere above the ring. Later in development, they were glowing light blue spheres, hanging to a "Birth of Venus"-like GLaDOS, until they were given their more detailed design with the different colors.


 * Personality Cores are slated to play a more important role in Portal 2, as they appear to have rebuilt and transformed to Aperture Laboratories themselves. A Personality Core will even fill the role of Chell's sidekick during the first part of the game, in the role of Wheatley.


 * It appears that the Personality Core model will be much more advanced in Portal 2, as seen in the animation of Wheatley's model. While the Core itself is still independent from its case, the "face" as more different plates that turn on themselves when the Core is achieving a task or has a particular emotion, and the eye is dotted with mock eyelids.

List of appearances

 * Portal
 * Portal'' ARG
 * Portal 2