Cave Johnson

"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"

- Cave Johnson

Cave Johnson was the founder of the applied sciences company, Aperture Science, and was its CEO until he died as a result of moon-rock poisoning in the late 1980s.

As one of his last requests, his right-hand and secretary Caroline became his successor.

Early career
In his youth, Cave Johnson became a successful business entrepreneur, and in 1943 founded Aperture Fixtures, a shower curtain developer and manufacturer. Much of Johnson's early success came from Aperture Fixtures, and with the company developing high-tech shower curtains for most branches of the United States military as well as the public, Johnson soon became a billionaire. Making use of his new wealth, in 1944 Johnson purchased a huge salt mine in Upper Michigan, whose tunnels extended over four kilometers below the surface. The main Aperture Fixtures facility was constructed within the underground caverns.



Following this, in 1947 Johnson decided to take a more broad scientific approach to Aperture Fixtures, and promptly renamed the company "Aperture Science". Johnson began to focus on experimental physics as new direction for the company, and although Johnson was well known for his unorthodox approach to science, Aperture Science received an award for Best New Science Company in 1947.

By the 1950s, Aperture Science was prospering. Within the Aperture Science Enrichment Center, Johnson took an active role in the company's testing of products, making voice announcements and pre-recorded messages to address Test Subjects, that consisted of specially selected astronauts, Olympians and war heroes. Johnson was aided by his assistant Caroline during this time, who remained loyal to him for decades to come. By this time, Aperture was in the process of developing the Quantum Tunneling Device, and various prototypes were utilized in the many test chambers rapidly constructed in Test Shaft 09 and beyond.

Financial troubles
However, by the 1960s, Aperture's financial boom period had passed, and with countless products stuck in the testing phase as well as many being pulled from shelves for violating health and safety regulations, Aperture was beginning to struggle. In 1961, Johnson ordered the lower areas of Test Shaft 09 to be sealed off to hide the highly unethical experiments Aperture had been conducting. In 1968, Aperture Science was involved in U.S. Senate hearings regarding astronauts going missing following their participation in testing.



Later in 1968, Aperture was declared bankrupt. As a result, the company could no longer afford esteemed members of society for testing, and instead resorted to collecting homeless people from the street to participate in testing. These 'subjects' were offered $60 for their services, and offered an additional $60 (A total of $120 as Cave points out) if the 'subjects' would allow themselves to be disassembled and then reassembled in the name of science. Johnson was quite bitter about Aperture's bankruptcy, and did not attempt to hide his dislike for the homeless people he was forced to hire. Johnson blamed Black Mesa for Aperture's financial troubles, claiming that the rival company was stealing their ideas, but Johnson could not come up with the support he needed for these accusations and Black Mesa continued to flourish as Aperture declined (Johnson was right about Mesa stealing his company's ideas).

By October 1976, Johnson had Aperture branch out in its selection of "low risk" test subjects to include child orphans, psychiatric patients and the elderly.

Decline of health and death
By the 1980s, Aperture remained in financial turmoil. Desperate for a successful new product, in 1981 Johnson purchased approximately seventy million dollars-worth of Moon rocks for use in further mobility gel development, despite not having nearly enough money to cover the costs (he was told he could barely afford to buy $7 worth of moon rocks, let alone $70 million). Upon discovering that moon dust serves as a remarkable portal conductor, Johnson took an active role in its implementation into Conversion Gel. However, during the development of the Conversion Gel, Johnson contracted a severe illness as a result of his prolonged exposure to the moon dust, which slowly damaged his respiratory system and caused both of his kidneys to fail.



Dying, brain damaged, and oblivious to the fact that time was not flowing backwards, Johnson planned out a three-tier research and development program to ensure Aperture's success into the "fast-approaching distant past". In it, he detailed the "Heimlich Counter-Maneuver", the "Take-a-Wish Foundation" and renewed development of the Quantum Tunnelling Device. Furthermore, in response to Aperture's continued struggle for test subjects, Johnson made testing mandatory for all employees.

During this time, Johnson continued to make pre-recorded messages over the intercom system, however few were on the subject of testing, and instead addressed employees about the future of the company, and many had Johnson raging over his imminent demise. Desperate to cheat death, in 1982 Johnson ordered his engineers to begin research and development on a computer system that could store his consciousness. However, should the system be completed after his death, Johnson ordered that his ever loyal assistant Caroline succeed him as CEO of Aperture, and have her consciousness uploaded instead, regardless of any protests she might have. Johnson died before the system was finished, and as per his dying command, Caroline was forced to be uploaded into GLaDOS.

Portal
In Portal, Johnson is only referred to once in the game, in a graffiti by Doug Rattmann found in Test Chamber 17, simply as " " (followed by " ") scribbled on a wall, which appeared to be an administrator login and password for ApertureScience.com. Above can be found three portraits of men in suits with their heads masked by a Weighted Companion Cube. The bottom-left one has the words "Our Founder" under it and the letters "R.I.P." right beside; this is a portrait of Cave Johnson.

Portal 2
In one of the memos revealed during the Portal ARG, Johnson announces that he is dead, and that he is able to write memos from beyond the grave.

In Portal 2, Johnson appears to be deceased, with only his automated pre-recorded voice messages playing to guide Chell through the forgotten bowels of the facility. The initial messages are intended for "astronauts, war heroes and olympians", indicating a time of prosperity for the company. The messages show a steady decline in Johnson's sanity and consequently the prosperity of his company, as later announcements are directed at hobos who were picked off the street or employees forced into testing.

At one point, he states he had contracted a severe illness from contact with ground Moon rocks (the primary component of Conversion Gel) as opposed to mercury poisoning, though it's also possible that he's lying or delusional. He also made it mandatory for all employees to undergo testing in the chambers. He ordered that technology be developed to allow him to be put into a computer, but it's apparent the tech wasn't finished before he died. He also ordered that, should this occur, Caroline was to be be put in charge of Aperture, forcibly if necessary. This lead to the creation of GLaDOS, the antagonist of Portal.

Personality and skills
Cave Johnson is said to have learned to trust his gut. A big picture thinker, he did not expand on details. He apparently did not really know how science works, but he knew how people "work". He was used to getting what he wants. He was extroverted, enthusiastic and opinionated. He seems to have been very energetic, perhaps even impulsive, and considered that life is an adventure he was happy to be on. He was born a salesman, a leader, an evangelist. People trusted him, even when his plans were clearly dangerous. He used his warm, homespun delivery to put people at ease. He did not seem to accept the responsibility that comes with his power. Either he did not see or chose not to see the ramifications of his actions and experiments.

The results of the Aperture Science Collaborative Disposition Test tell that Johnson does not see crises - only challenging opportunities ("challengitunities") he chooses to scale like mountains, that he is a can-do, shoot-from-the-hip, silver-tongued self-starter, and a good match for any cooperative test partner, providing they shut up and listen.

Behind the scenes

 * By signing into ApertureScience.com with the username " " and the password " " (referring to the three tiered program), one could enter Cave Johnson's account. These login and password can be found in Rattmann scribblings spread around the Enrichment Center's maintenance area seen during Portal, with the words "trust me" right to it. After logging in as Cave Johnson, "GLaDOS v1.07a (c) 1982 Aperture Science, Inc." appeared. Then one could type either  to start the Enrichment Center Test Subject Application Process, or , which gave information about Aperture Science and Johnson's history, in the form of a short timeline. When Valve retconned Aperture and Cave's story, they took the command line offline.
 * The "Our Founder" portrait mentioned above is based on a painted portrait of Sam Rayburn.




 * A casting call conducted by Shana Landsburg for Portal 2 was posted on the subscribers-only industry website Breakdown Express on June 8, 2008, with a concept art portrait of Cave Johnson. That call sheet, seeking a voice-over artist to take on the role of Johnson, an "eccentric dead billionaire", with work tentatively to start at the end of July 2008, was the first hint that Johnson would appear in Portal 2. The call sheet revealed many bits of Johnson's fate and personality, that he speaks with a slight Southern/Western accent ("natural, not too broad"), and how his role evolves as the game progresses.


 * Cave Johnson's appearance in the portrait given with the June 2008 casting call was drastically changed for the Aperture Science Collaborative Disposition Test in April 2011 to a slightly younger appearance, showing a Johnson with sideburns and brighter hair; the shirt and tie were also replaced by a turtleneck sweater.




 * In the file dump retrieved at the BBS number (425) 822-5251 revealed during the Portal ARG, several memos seemingly written by Cave Johnson can be found. In one, he describes the three pillars on which Aperture Science is built. In another, he addresses Test Subjects who raised their concerns about the dangers of the research conducted by Aperture Science. Another consists of a rant about casualty rates, firing employees, and him practicing beekeeping in his office. In another, reusing text from the casting call sheet revealed in 2008, he apparently announces his death, and being able to write memos from beyond the grave. One is apparently the answer to a confidential letter Johnson sent, titled "Human Enrichment & Testing Initiative, Resource Acquisitions". It apparently describes the four types of Test Subjects and their behavior, referring to them in a less than human way.


 * An e-mail from Johnson can be seen on the Apple games page for Portal, informing members of the executive team of some information that should not be revealed to any Test Subjects, as it would "impair the scientific value of what we're doing here at Aperture Science." The information is revealed below the e-mail, and it consists of common console commands. In the e-mail, Johnson states that he is "busy cheating death".


 * Cave Johnson narrated the four weekly videos that lead up to Portal 2 ' s release: Panels, Bot Trust, Turrets, and Boots, presented as informational videos intended for customers of Aperture products.


 * On ApertureScience.com, "1978" and "1979" were originally given as the date for Johnson's mercury poisoning and kidney failure, respectively. These dates were later retconned to 1974 and 1976, as seen in the updated Aperture Science timeline on Game Informer. This was later replaced by the story as featured in Portal 2.


 * " Johnson" is quite similar to "Johanson", the name of the original Borealis captain. Furthermore, "Arbeit Laboratories" can be seen on some crates inside the ship. The retail Borealis belonging to Aperture Science, it is possible those names were recycled.




 * A case of the diorama exhibit sequence cut from Portal 2 was to contain a cardboard figure of Cave Johnson posing with a bearded hobo, someone in a straitjacket (identical to the Screamer cut from Left 4 Dead), and a little girl with the Aperture logo on her dress, with a blue Aperture logo behind. The texture for the cardboard figure is present in the Portal 2 files, under the name "diorama_card001.vtf".

Trivia

 * The 1950s portrait of Cave Johnson seen in the lobby entrance for Test Subjects at the Aperture Science Innovators bears strong resemblance to a photo of Walt Disney.


 * The casting call portrait of Cave Johnson is painted over a photograph of conservative American businessman and politician Ross Perot.


 * Cave Johnson's physical appearance is based on that of Portal 2 lead animator, Bill Fletcher.

Test courses and achievements

 * Test Shaft 09 (Subjects: Paid subjects, Staff, Chell)
 * Co-op Test Shaft (Subjects: Paid subjects, Staff, ATLAS and P-body)

List of appearances

 * ApertureScience.com
 * Portal
 * Portal: Still Alive
 * Portal ARG
 * PotatoFoolsDay ARG
 * Portal 2: Lab Rat
 * Portal 2
 * The Final Hours of Portal 2