The Robot That Refused To Be A Moron | Wheatley | FULL Portal Lore
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- čas přidán 19. 05. 2024
- Wheatley is an iconic figure in the Portal series. Appearing in the second game, he helped Chell wake up from extended relaxation in an attempt to help them both escape the Aperture Science facility. On the surface, he appears as a trustworthy ally, but is he truly as good as he seems?
What is Wheatley's biggest regret? How did he gain power over Aperture and was he actually smarter than everyone thought he was? In this deep dive, I explore the lore and story behind Wheatley in the Portal series.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:14 Development & Construction
06:03 The Test Subject
13:18 Wheatley Laboratories
16:53 The Fall of Wheatley
21:50 Legacy
22:53 Closing Thoughts
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#Wheatley #Lore #Portal - Hry
Fun detail: Wheatley is so dense that the Space Core orbits around him.
*he's Fat*
Yeah, its like earth and moon
@@SutrYu exactly.
Yeah I noticed that when I finished the game lol
“I’m in orbit”
If only Cave had lived long enough to upload himself, all this could have been avoided. Instead of becoming a murderous robot, it would've just pounded on the desk and demanded pictures of Spider-Man.
Instead of an army of mantis men, he wants an army of spider men
IM GOING TO GET THE LAB BOYS TO MAKE A COMBUSTIBLE LEMON THAT TAKES PICTURES OF SPIDER MAN
- cave Johnson (probably)
Cave when he uploads himself:
"Hello, test subject! Cave Johnson here, founder and CEO of Aperture Science: the best damn applied sciences company on Earth. How good is the science here? Get a load of this: I'm dead! Now, you're probably asking yourself, Cave, how is that possible? Are you some manner of Dracula or a Frankenstein? Or depending on your cultural history, a Blackula or a Latin Frankenstein? Nope! Just science! As of this morning, I have been resurrected inside of a computer. That aside? Situation normal. So continue testing."
"Just a warning to you test subjects: Greg and the boys told me that the massive influx of information I'd receive when they transferred my consciousness into a stadium-sized super computer would turn me crazy. So, once again a warning: Greg and the boys are no longer working here, so if they were doing something for you, that's not getting done."
"Cave again. Now, I'll admit, losing my body does have its drawbacks. But it's got its perks too! As a being of pure intellect, I've now got time to read the entire literary canon of the human race. Here I go! [BEEP] And I am done. [beat] [sigh] Continue testing."
"Pure Intellect Cave here. Not to brag, but while you were cat-assing that last test, I rewrote the collected works of everything ever. If I gotta read this garbage for eternity, I may as well improve it. So, next time you curl up with a time-honored classic and think to yourself, "Man, I do not remember the Brothers Karamazov of busting so many ghosts" You can thank yours truly."
"Here's a question for you: Who is not afraid of no ghosts? [beep] As of just now, every character in every book by Virginia Woolf. Man, those things were dull."
"Cave again. What is the one thing that could never ever ever ever in a million years get boring? If you said busting ghosts, tragically you’d be wrong. I was almost all the way through the W’s when the bloom came off that rose. Heathcliff was defending moonbase weathering heights from the crafty poltergeist when I realized that exploring the vast realm of pure intellect is... boring. It’s boring. You know what I’d really like to do? I’d like to scratch my nose.”
"I've been thinking: What if Greg was right? What if injecting my consciousness into a computer robbed me of an eternal reward? Spiritually speaking. [beep] Alright, I just read up on it. Stumbled on a book about a fella who lived thousands of years ago. Sacrificed himself to save mankind. Went by the name of Hercules. Destroyed all the world's monsters so humans'd be safe, then went to Olympus for his trouble. Damn it, death was my monster! And I killed it! ...Where's my Olympus?"
"Unless... Aperture was the monster. Aperture and everybody inside it. Holy Hercules! I just thought of something. Keep testing. Or don't. Doesn't matter. I'll be back."
If aperture desk job is cannon he did
@@emlo40 It isn’t canon. It’s an alternate universe as said by the developers.
He was clearly smarter than introduced, and nobody, not even him, knew it. His ego contributed to his downfall, as well as his corruption after having control over the entire facility. He wasn’t made for that, and he couldn’t handle it. GLaDOS couldn’t even handle it, no chance Wheatley was going to be able to reel the itch in and proceed with a level head.
His ego absolutely led to his downfall. In a way, I see him as a tragic character
Absolutely, he was designed to inhibit GLaDOS and find flaws in her plans and, while this certainly requires a decent level of intelligence, it isn’t the kind of intelligence that is necessary to run a facility like this one.GLaDOS makes a plan, he prevents it.He is an adversary, he isn’t supposed to be able to operate alone.His entire existence was built around interfering with GLaDOS plans, but to her he was just a nuisance, maybe a big one, just a nuisance nonetheless, just an obstacle in her path, not the goal this path leads to.
He did what he was designed to do, and all in all he did it well, but the moment he tried anything else, it all went downhill.
Well put
@@addemater Thank you!
Yet he still did the smart thing and trapped the stalemate button.
The scariest thing about Wheatley as an antagonist is that he’s technically the smartest AI in the game. Afterall to come up with the worst possible decisions, the AI at least subconsciously would first need to be aware of the best possible decision and then work backwards from there. Even if he couldn’t tap into that subconscious part of his programming himself it’s still technically there.
The worst part though? It seems that by the end of the game, possibly due to corruption from the mainframe (Glados was 70% corrupt by the time we fight her and wheatley is presumably 25% corrupt according to the announcer voice) that he inadvertently evolved past his main design. His ability to make poor decisions was slowly being snuffed out, only leaving behind his other functions.
By chapter 9 ‘the part where he kills you’ he’s making genuinely informed and pretty genius plays against us, to the point where even glados is complimenting his plotting.
Instead of being obvious with his plans like glados was, he’s instead tricking us and leading us into a false sense of security.
Instead of just doing whatever he feels like in the final fight against us, which is much more in line with what the idiot core would do he actually takes the time to study glados’ fight and make a plan to cover every mistake she made.
His smartest idea however was lying about the 4 (actually 5) part plan, once again tricking us into a false sense of security before springing a trap that we almost don’t even survive, destroying the stalemate button in the process and stopping the core transfer in its tracks.
Even though the facility was falling apart around him due to his incompetence he was excelling at the thing he was focusing on (killing us.) and while he never suceeds he does get closer than glados did.
The only reason he didn’t win in the final battle was because we got lucky. Think about that for a second. We triumphed over glados, not once but twice in a fully functioning facility she was designed to control. But wheatley? The biggest moron known to man? We lucked out of dying to him.
He may be a moron, he may be terrible at running the facility but he was a much bigger threat to us than Glados ever was.
Bruteforce(Wheatley) vs AI(Glados)
And Brute force alghoritms more scary than AI decisions
And that right there, is why it's such a shame he betrays us.
He was a bigger, better threat than GLaDOS yet he was our friend.
Get that dumbass Core out of Space.
#WheatleyDidNothingWrong
@@QuiteSimplyInsane Yeah!
Wheatley did nothing wrong! (Other than get mad with power, have an ego boost which contributed to his downfall, tried to murder chell (and GLaDOS though that has actual reasoning) and almost destroyed the entire facility along with everything or should I say *everyone* (haha get it since everything is sentient) with it.)
@@QuiteSimplyInsane But I mean COME ON. He’s a loveable dork! I would absolutely jump into a bottomless pit if he asked me to! (which he does ask in game)
And he DEFINITELY was overwhelmed with power (if GLaDOS a couldn’t handle it then he definitely couldn’t since he wasn’t even made for the job)
And all that trauma and emotional abuse he faced from the staff and GLaDOS, and Chell’s silence from her own stubbornness only made things worse since he kept on making assumptions about her due to his paranoia of her only using him and not actually caring about him.
*Wheatley deserved better* 😔✊
I’m Wheatley and I agree with this
I don't think Wheatley is "dumb", but as a core designed to inhibit GLaDOS (or perhaps whatever core was in charge of the facility at the time), a lot of his ideas were rather quite successful in that regard. He DID defeat GLaDOS by teaming up with Chell and disabling the Neurotoxin and Turrets, since GLaDOS was in charge, but when he got into power, his programming turned on him, and the ideas he had were designed, unbeknownst to him, to inhibit himself (preventing Chell from leaving, knocking her and GLaDOS into Old Aperture, and being resistant to fixing the reactor core).
Oh wow that makes so much sense
@@NotASpyReally it actually does
Holy crap. This is a really neat perspective on this
That’s an interesting idea, might be my new headcanon
that actually makes sense wheatly was designed to inhibit GLaDOS so when he took GLaDOS'es place he inhibited himself.
The brilliance of Wheatley’s thought process is that he was designed to come up with a constant stream of terrible ideas. That means constant creativity to generate these ideas as well as enough mental checks to make sure its always a idea well beyond his abilities.
He essentially goes with the first idea that pops into his head, details be damned.
He can come up with an escape plan, but couldn’t come up with a way that didn’t require human input. A functional idea on how to defeat GLaDOS, but no way to achieve any of the goals (by himself). This happens all the way down to choosing to keep control over the facility, kill Chell, and ignore the root cause of the alarms.
Perfectly summarises the character :D
Yes, that’s actually really good.
He’s a living Murphy’s Law. Regardless of what he does it will eventually fail, regardless of his best efforts because working in the background is a logic program that undermines him. Really the only reason he got as far as he did was because of Chell.
"I. AM. NOT. A. MORON" thats the line where wheatly goes fully mad in my opinion.c the pure rage and insane tone of the line is what makes it so iconic.
I read that in his voice
If you didn’t read this in his voice, are you really a portal 2 fan?
@@Isnt-that-grape exactly bro
He does say "uh-oh" as chell falls into the pit though. He showed a little remorse.
@@aosevenvultures5368That's when he realized he just lost his only test subject.
I always loved Stephan Merchant's (Wheatley's voice actor) reaction to Wheatley becoming the bad guy when he first read the script:
"It was like C-3PO pulling out a lightsaber and killing Luke Sktlywalker."
If only 3PO had the backbone to stand up for himself.
12:00 you forgot to mention the part where Chell bunnyhops across the gantry, grabs a chair next to the elevator, prop surfs out of bounds just to arrive half a second early and be able to cut the neurotoxin pipes a cycle earlier. That map is truly legendary.
I knew there was something major I'd forgotten to mention!
She doesn't do that.
@@Mabra51 it's a joke about the history of that particular map in Portal 2 speedrunning
@@Mabra51 woooosh
@@Mabra51 Yeah, She would've nocliped into the Old Aperture, bhob all around, then escape to Wheatley's Liar in 1 second, then immediately beat the game. I do not get how many people forget about that.
the thing about Wheatley is, he isnt designed to be stupid, just to make bad ideas. Wheatley CAN make good ideas, but his programming always leads him to make at least one part of the idea bad.
The Part Where He Kills You: Trap Chell on a single platform surrounded by spikeplates, BUT dont worry about covering that conversion gel leak
Boss Fight: No portal conductive surfaces, start the neurotoxin immediately, use bombs for faster killing, and sheilds for defense, BUT also place a glass tube of conversion gel in the same room
Wheatley is the definition of "almost genius"
I like this
The Parker Genius
@@Chris_Cross To think Matt Parker’s legacy has reached *this* far lmao
Thanks Brady from Numberphile
Another one: make something that can solve the tests on its own so he doesn't need Chell, but also make them the most pathetic thing ever
more likely: he wasn't expressly programmed to insert flaws into his ideas, he was just designed to have an idea, and then tunnel vision through the idea ignoring any flaws present or future, it's why he's shown perfectly capable of having brilliant ideas that actually work, it's also why he's unstoppable when he has someone to work with him, something goes wrong with his plan? his partner is ready to improvise and adapt to make it work
Ok but in his boss fight he was smarter than GLaDOS. He even took measures to try to make sure he wouldn't be attacked. Not to mention he knows his way with a potato battery.
Also his transformation when the power goes to his head is amazing! The light change and the tone change are just so moving! And his frustration that even as an almighty overlord, GLaDOS doesn't take him seriously just pushed him over the edge!
Absolutely a well written character
"Thanks! All we had to do was pull that lever."
"What? No, you pressed the bu- AAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
*Potatos chuckling*
@@EmberTheFlareon3579 He definitely was stupid during testing though lol
He's not unintelligent, he's just dumb. He could know everything and still be dumb- Such is the nature of cleverness.
I feel like Wheatly probably says the “smelly humans” line because he keeps having to smell all the decomposing corpses of the dead subjects he was supposed to care for.
A core have a nose?
wheatley will always be my favorite character from the portal franchise.
He's absolutely up there as one of the best
@@Skyrionnfunny blue british ball
Coded to counter GLaDOS - not a moron - just counter to her. In order to effectively counter a highly intelligent AI, you need an AI that is effectively as intelligent, but with different coded goals. As long as what he was doing in some way involved acting against GLaDOS, he could act very intelligently: getting Chell to her and helping arrange things to take her out. Then later, arranging defenses to keep GLaDOS from taking back over the facility - with meant stopping Chell from taking him out. GLaDOS just thinks he was designed to come up with bad ideas because when he was attached as a personality core to her it was the best way to counter her from her plans: overwriting them with bad ones. Not that *he* had bad plans, but that he *fed her bad plans.*
Yeah he’s the counter
to this day I still love how the music slowly swells when Wheatley gained control, and the way he screams "IM NOT A MORON. COULD A MORON DO THIS?" while punching you down is such a good scene. It captures the essence of a (semi) idiot filled with rage, trying his best to repair his ego by getting rid of the source of the ego shattering, Glados and Chell
I also noticed that at the beginning of the game, his ideas really were dumb.
But after he was crushed by GLaDoS... His ideas became good ones.
Managed to sneak under her radar, speaks to chell in secret, plans to destroy the turrets and neurotoxin BEFORE meeting her, etc.
His ideas only became dumb, AFTER being plugged into the main aperture servers through her body.
My theory is when he was crushed and tossed by GLaDoS, his systems crashed. When he rebooted from that unexpected crash, some of his files didn't properly load.
Specifically his moron protocols, allowing him to be smarter than he should have been.
Then by being plugged in directly, his systems were reset to working order thus resulting in his behavior after the fact.
That makes sense.
How were his ideas at the start dumb? Genuine question.
@@audreymehndi1644 did you see that dude’s driving?
@@krustylesponge647 You mean how he was driving under pressure during a nuclear meltdown after having lost five test subjects who most likely couldn't survive the obstacles up ahead likely due to brain damage suffered from cognitive deterioration after a long time in cryosleep and how he likely didn't even think that Chell, literally his last hope of escaping a crumbling facility was even gonna be able to survive the challenges up ahead?
You mean like how he was low-key panicking, trying to drive WHILE also trying to explain basic concepts to a potentially brain damaged test subject with little to no hope of success as the announcer was blaring the alarms to prepare for a nuclear reactor core meltdown?
You'd think he'd be able to drive under that kind of pressure?
*Announcer:* "Please prepare for emergency evacuation. All reactor core safeguards are now non-functional. Please prepare for reactor core meltdown."
*Wheatley:* "Are you going to open this door? Because it's fairly urgent."
*Wheatley:* "Fine! No, absolutely fine. It's not like I don't have, you know, ten thousand other test subjects begging me to help them escape. You know, it's not like this place is about to EXPLODE. Alright, look, okay, I'll be honest. You're the LAST test subject left. And if you DON'T help me, we're both going to die. Alright? I didn't want to say it, you dragged it out of me. Alright? Dead. Dos Muerte."
*Wheatley:* "Alright, I wasn't going to mention this to you, but I am in PRETTY HOT WATER here. The reserve power ran out, so of course the whole relaxation center stops waking up the bloody test subjects."
*Wheatley:* "Whew. There we go! Now I'll be honest, you are probably in no fit state to run this particular type of cognitive gauntlet. But... um... at least you're a good jumper. So... you've got that. You've got the jumping on your side. Just do your best, and I'll meet you up ahead."
*Wheatley:* "I know I've painted quite a grim picture of your chances. But if you simply stand here, we will both surely die."
I initially didn't like Wheatly's closing remarks in Portal 2. But as time went on and my understanding of him grew, he became one of my favorite characters in all of fiction.
The more you understand Wheatley and his motives, how he thinks, why he behaves the way he does, the more sympathetic you become of him.
Wheatley was definitely smarter most than people think, he just couldn't make 2 things work together. His ideas were brilliant mostly, but the execution wasn't lol. He literally thought about turning off the neurotoxin and the turret assembly line so GLaDOS couldn't use it against them. He knew what he had to do in order to defeat her but once he got to these places he didn't know what needed to happen in order to make these places disfunction in a way GLaDOS can't use them anymore. I don't think Wheatley was a moron, but mostly misunderstood. Also we all gotta praise Stephen Merchant for his extraodinary job voicing Wheatley. His lines were off the hook and something about his proper British accent was addicting to hear. NGL Wheatley isn't my favourite character from HL/Portal universe, but he definitely was unique compared to what we got used to by then. Either a psychopathic robot or an evil past administrator of a different failed facility... Wheatley is the comic relief of this universe and I do hope we get to know how his story truly ends rather than just assuming he is destined to float in space for eternity.
He was absolutely misunderstood. He's one of my favourites, but GLADOS will always be my favourite robot.
I noticed after replaying Portal 2, his name is Wheatley and Aperture Laboratories is under a vast Wheat field
Sigh...
🎶You know the rules, and so do i. Say goodbye!!🎶
and spookily enough, 'Ley Lines'.
They could make a portal 3 and just start it in the wheat feild. You could walk into the wheat as chell and one of those panels pops up. Surprise, you're still in aperture and this whole room is fake.
Glados starts off with "Did you really think I would let you go after all you've done?"
Thats how I imagine a portal 3 would work.
**Shakes cane angrily** "It's Barley!'
@@CantBeJulius So something like the start to thinking with time machine?
Because Wheatley had such a pronounced personality, I alwaus interprepted Wheatley as more of a "humanity" core (I'll be it a simple one) rather then a bad idea machine. He is impulsive, insecure, and is constantly worried about what others think of him. That's also why when he he gets power from GLaDOS, he embraces it, but ultimately at the end of the game is remorseful for his actions. He doesn't even really have bad ideas, just HORRIBLE logic on how to achieve them. The idea that Wheatley is an engenired morron is only spoken by GLaDOS, who at times can be unreliable.
3:40 So, I infer here that what the foreman did was create an exact duplicate of himself for the sheer purpose of not having to hire Wheatley because in an unused line, Wheatley says this:
“Over there is where they used to keep the old neurotoxin release button… BIG responsibility, the guy in charge of the neurotoxin release button… And guess who he WAS? …Wasn’t me. But I was his assistant, and I did a lot of his admin. You know, in the end, yes… they let me go… It’s all politics, to be honest. It’s a big popularity contest. It’s all about who you know and whose back you’re willing to scratch and who doesn’t touch - y’know, or in my case who did accidentally touch - the neurotoxin button… But y’know, not entirely my fault! You shoulda seen the SIZE of it! It was huge! I mean I should have got a raise for all the times that I DIDN’T… accidentally bump into it…"
And it can be assumed that the developers removed that line because it would cause confusion over who was the real cause of the bring your daughter to work day incident as people would assume that it was Wheatley who flooded the facility with the deadly neurotoxin instead of GLaDOS. However, it can still be assumed that at some point, Wheatley got fired from a previous job and sought out work in other places but quietly and without his knowledge was removed from the employee database as in an unused line, GLaDOS says this:
“I’m actually asking. Because I have no idea. He’s not listed anywhere in the employee database. Whatever he does, it isn’t important enough for anyone to bother writing it down. For all I know, he doesn’t even work here.“
and in the official guidebook for Portal 2, Erik Wolpaw, the lead writer of the game says that "Wheatley's not really in charge, he just didn't get blown up in Portal 1 and has just been spinning around on his rail trying to keep the containers alive.”
However, if Wheatley isn't actually in charge, then that would explain this line of his:
“And of course nobody tells ME anything. Noooo. Why should they tell me anything? Why should I be kept informed about the life functions of the ten thousand bloody test subjects I’m supposed to be in charge of?”
Nobody tells him anything because he's not actually in charge. The entire system is automated as we see at the very start of the game: "Good morning. You have been in suspension for -FIFTY- days. In compliance with state and federal regulations, all testing candidates in the Aperture Science Extended Relaxation Center must be revived periodically for a mandatory physical and mental wellness exercise." the announcer is the one who wakes up Chell. Wheatley is likely given no task, no instruction and no real responsibilities over anything. Which is why nobody tells him anything. Because he's not really in charge.
---
3:56 I don't believe that Wheatley actually has a dislike for humans. At least not during that particular part of the game.
As per Aperture's "low risk" human resource acquisitions memo, they were hiring "hobos and tramps" off the street as well as psychiatric patients who, according to the memo, "Defecate just about anywhere that pleases them." Pair that with the fact that these humans are likely just sent straight to bed after testing without so much as even a shower and we can assume that Wheatley's line about humans being smelly is meant to be taken literally.
Because for some reason, likely for the purpose of detecting neurotoxin, the scientists gave Wheatley a sense of smell as we hear him say during Chapter 5: "Do you smell neurotoxin?" "Stay casual when I tell you this: I think I smell neurotoxin." meaning that he can likely smell other things as well, including human sweat, which he doesn't seem to be all too fond of: "Um. You've got a yacht. And... Boys! Loads of boys- fellas. Hunky guys down there. Possibly even a boyfriend! Who's to say at this stage. But, a lot of good looking fellas down there. And, ah, a boy band as well! That haven't seen a woman in years. And they're not picky at all. They don't care if you've got a bit of brain damage. If you've been running around, *if you've been sweating.*"
I think Wheatley is just a little bit snobby- which is a trait he inherits from his voice actor. He inherits a LOT of traits from his voice actor.
----
7:47 Wheatley assuming that Chell has brain damage is reasonable as he correctly assesses that "Most test subjects do experience some cognitive deterioration after a few months in suspension. Now you've been under for... quite a lot longer." and it's likely that the other test subjects that he tried to escape with prior all perished as a result of their brain damage impeding on their ability to solve tests unscathed. So by this point, his standards are pretty low but he considers it a stroke of luck that Chell manages to survive all of them. "Oh, brilliant. You DID find a portal gun! You know what? It just goes to show: people with brain damage are the real heroes in the end aren't they? At the end of the day. Brave."
---
8:05 Woah, hold on, now don't just skip over Chell not catching Wheatley because that's a very important detail! Chell failed a trust exercise. Wheatley trusted Chell to catch him and she didn't. And this planted a small seed in his mind that would eventually begin to take root and result in him feeling like Chell never truly cared about him and never truly had his best interest at heart. At the start of it, it can be assumed that Wheatley likely chalked this oddity up to her being brain damaged.
"What are you doing, are you just having a little five minutes to yourself? Fair enough. You've had a rough time. You've been asleep for... who knows how long. You've got the massive brain damage. And now you're having a little rest. But NOW get yourself up and pick me up."
But later on as Wheatley sees how capable Chell is in solving tests and catching cubes, he begins to piece together the fact that she could have caught him all along but deliberately chose not to.
"We've had some times, haven't we? Like that time I jumped off my management rail, not sure if I'd die or not when I did, and all you had to do was catch me? Annnd you didn't. Did you? *Ohhhh. You remember that? I remember that. I remember that all the time.*" He remembers it *all the time.* Meaning that this has been something that's been stuck in the back of his mind ever since it happened but he's just never said anything about it as he tried to remain positive and give Chell the benefit of the doubt. Until he couldn't anymore.
"And another thing! You never caught me... I told you I could DIE falling off that rail. And you didn't catch me. You didn't even TRY!"
----
9:19 Wheatley's line here is also important of note as he says "Okay don't panic! Allright? Stop panicking! I can still stop this. Ahh. Oh there's a password. It's fine. I'll just hack it. Not a problem... umm..."
Now this line is noteworthy because it tells us that Wheatley is someone who has a tendency to project his feelings and emotions onto others. Chell isn't the one panicking in this situation- at least not outwardly. Wheatley is. And he's likely telling himself not to panic more than he is Chell. This projection of his is also shown in an earlier line where he says this:
"Probably ought to bring you up to speed on something right now. In order to escape, we're going to have to go through HER chamber. And she will probably kill us if- if, she's um. Awake. If you want to just call it quits, we could just sit here. Forever. That's an option. Option A: Sit here. Do nothing. Option B: Go through there, and if she's alive, she'll almost certainly kill us. So. If you've got any reservations whatsoever about this plan, now would be a tremendous time to voice them. Riggght now. In case you thought to yourself, 'I've missed the window of time to voice my reservations.' Still open."
But then he later admits that he was just projecting and that he just really didn't want to go in there himself: "Okay, I'm gonna lay my cards on the table: I don't wanna do it. I don't want to go in there. Don't... Don't go in there - She's off. She's off! Don't- Panic over! She's off. All fine! On we go."
And this shows us that Wheatley is someone who is prone to projecting his own thoughts and feelings onto others. Pair that with his anxiety, inferiority complex and his self esteem issues and you have Wheatley making assumptions about others having ill intent towards him and perceiving him as lesser as we later on see during the second half of the game. And Chell doesn't make the situation any easier with her complete refusal to communicate with him, so he ends up assuming many things about the way she perceives him, which leads to him eventually turning against her.
---
9:36 And this is yet another thing that Wheatley eventually takes out on Chell. Prior to everything, Wheatley viewed Chell as an inspiring figure. After all, she's a celebrity. She was brave enough to take down GLaDOS and word spread around, eventually making her into a legend.
"You know who ended up purging- do you know who ended up taking her down in the end? You're not going to believe this. A human! I know! I know, I wouldn't have believed it either. Apparently this human escaped and nobody's seen him since."
9:55 So Wheatley wanted to help Chell. He had no reason to, after all, GLaDOS stopped the facility from exploding so Wheatley no longer had any reason to want to escape. He could have just gone on his merry way and minded his own business. But he didn't. because he was so inspired by Chell's bravery and he wanted to help her out.
"Go on. Get in. Get in the lift. The escape lift. Just there. Come on. The one you risked your life to get to. So you could escape certain death. No rush."
This is further proven in another line of his during the turret control room:
"Oh! I've just had one idea, which is that I could pretend to her that I've captured you... and give you over and she'll kill you, but then I could... go on living. So... what's your view on that?"
Which seems contradictory to him wanting to help her but what it proves is that he went through all this trouble to help Chell escape and hours later once they've reached the turret control room, he's getting cold feet, realizing the gravity of the situation he's in as well as the potential danger and the fact that he's risking his life trying to help Chell, and he wants to back out of it. Meaning that prior to him reaching the turret control room, everything he did was genuinely to help Chell. No ulterior motive, nothing. He genuinely believed in her and wanted to help her out. He just happens to be acting cowardly in that one particular instance afterwards.
But he says during the boss battle: "Oh, it's all becoming clear to me now. Find *some dupe* to break you out of cryosleep. Give him *some sob story* about escaping to the surface. Squeeze him for information on where to find a portal gun. Then, when he's no more use to you, he has a little accident. Doesn't he? 'Falls' off his management rail. Doesn't he?"
And the fact that he would describe himself as "Some dupe" who fell for Chell's "sob story", the fact that he's berating himself for being so gullible and naive as to have wanted to help Chell really means that he was helping her for her sake. Not his own. He was being selfless. he was risking his life, doing things the scientists said would kill him. All with the intention of helping Chell just because he wanted to. Not because it benefitted him. You could say that what he really wanted was approval and validation. For Chell to appreciate him and consider him as a friend and helpful ally. After all, he IS a people pleaser. But he was truly acting selflessly for her sake.
However, once his opinion of her sours and he starts feeling like she never truly cared about him, he gets upset that Chell never warned him about her history with GLaDOS and that she would so cheaply throw him to the dogs and allow GLaDOS to crush him like some easily disposable stress ball.
"And we would have talked our way out of it. Except you forgot to tell me you'd MURDERED her. And that she needed you to live, so the only available vent for her rage would be good old crushable Wheatley. Yeah. *Little details I remember.* Easy little tidbits you could have used to save me from getting crushed *if you'd cared, which you didn't, obviously. And still do not."*
--
10:07 Wheatley is genuinely clever and not enough people give him credit over the fact that it was his idea to sabotage GLaDOS's defenses. Not once has Chell even thought of that. Not in Portal 1, not when she's going up to Wheatley's lair to fight him. He has a lot of ingenuity to study what GLaDOS would use to attack and work behind the scenes to get rid of her defenses. Wheatley is a fairly good tactician when he is able to focus on the task at hand.
--
10:19 It's not so much that Wheatley believed that he could communicate with Chell without GLaDOS hearing him if he spoke in a different accent. You need to look at the wider context: Just before Test Chamber 19, Wheatley tells Chell that he’s devising a plan to break her out and that it will be ready after she finishes 5 test chambers. Wheatley plans to break Chell out of the testing track once she reaches Test Chamber 23, however, GLaDOS plans to kill Chell after she completes Test Chamber 21 and since Wheatley keeps checking in on Chell from behind the panels to make sure that she’s okay, that also means that he’s been paying close attention to what GLaDOS has been saying and once it becomes increasingly obvious that GLaDOS plans to kill Chell ahead of schedule, Wheatley is forced to enact the escape plan early.
"Hey, buddy! I'm speaking in an accent that is beyond her range of hearing! *I know I'm early, but we have to go right NOW!“*
And.. I don't think Wheatley is pulling the idea that one can speak in a certain frequency that only one person can hear but not the other out of nowhere as if you play co-op, there's one point where GLaDOS is able to say something to either Atlas or P-body without the other being able to hear what she's saying.
*GLaDOS:* "Test chamber completed. In the interest of science, the Enrichment Center proudly presents the following list of numbers: Nine. Seven. Fifty. Three. Seven hundred and seven." (Heard only by Atlas)
*GLaDOS:* "Test chamber completed. In the interest of - [FADES OUT] [FADES IN] I am now talking to you privately. Do not tell your teammate. Just between you and me? You're doing very well. [FADES BACK IN] One hundred and seven." (Heard only by P-body)
*GLaDOS:* "The Enrichment Center will now provide a list of numbers and fruits. Write them down as they will become important later in the experiment. Not the fruits, though. Seven. Avocado. Forty. Please continue into the next test chamber." (Heard only by P-body)
*GLaDOS:* "I can't bite my tongue anymore: You could solve this puzzle faster on your own. Orange is dragging you down. There. I've said it." (Heard only by Atlas)
So it is possible for a personality construct to selectively talk to others in a different frequency without the other hearing it. And It seems to me that Wheatley had heard of this fact but didn't know how it worked so he just winged it and hoped that it would do something. It's not like he really had much time to figure out a better plan anyway, he had to break Chell out before GLaDOS could kill her.
---
11:44 What I love about this puzzle is that it further proves how clever Wheatley is. Because if you take too long to figure out the puzzle then Wheatley figures it out for you.
"There's no turret in it... Maybe the system stores a backup image? Oh, hang on. What if we gave it something ELSE to scan? We could get one of the crap turrets. We could put it in the scanner and see what happens. Yes! Go and catch one of the crap turrets, and bring it back!"
Another interesting thing about this puzzle is that if Chell leaves the room, Wheatley seems to display signs of separation anxiety. Or at least a fear of being abandoned. Here's how I interpret these lines:
*Chell:* [Leaves the room]
*Wheatley:* Wait, where are you going? Where are you going? …. (No- wait- don’t panic, she’s not leaving you. Maybe she’s just thought up an idea)
*Wheatley:* Ohhhhh, have you got an idea? (Well, okay, this is fine. She’s just thought up an idea, she isn’t leaving you. She’s going to go do whatever she does and then she’s going to come straight back.)
*Wheatley:* Okay, well, alright. Just do your idea and then come straight back!
*Chell:* [Going further away/Taking a while to return]
*Wheatley:* Sorry, what's going on over there? You know, I'm actually over here, still thinking really hard! (I swear, I’m still useful to you, I’m still working really hard, I’m still thinking up ideas, I’m still trying to help you, please don’t leave me, I swear I’m helpful, please don’t leave.)
--
12:01 I think as a leftover remnant of the unused line where he mentions once having formerly worked as the neurotoxin release button supervisor's attendant, the reason why Wheatley didn't help much during this part was because he was afraid that if he touched anything, it would release neurotoxin. He was even afraid of the door button.
*Wheatley:* "Alright, so, silent contemplation it is. Mysterious button... Sorry. Sorry. Silence. Do not speak. In the silence. Let the silence descend. Here it comes. One hundred percent silence. From now."
*Chell:* [Presses the button]
*Wheatley:* "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT BUTTON - oh, the door's open! Well done. Let's see what's inside."
He was being very overly cautious during this part so he just settled for trying to persuade the neurotoxin central control circuit into shutting itself down while Chell used more destructive methods.
---
14:14 I believe that Wheatley thinks that Chell and GLaDOS were toying with him just for their own amusement. As he says in this line here: "But the real point is - oh, oh! You know what I've just remembered? Football! Kicking a ball around for fun. Cruel, obviously. Humans love it. Metaphor. Should have seen this coming."
Wheatley already had a lot of preexisting insecurities that he kept bottled up under a guise of optimism, but GLaDOS and the mainframe working to amplify his pre-existing traits only served to make it all bubble up to the surface. That's the thing, the developers have equated the mainframe to being like cocaine for an AI. They've also said that what it does is amplify a core's already existing traits.
14:56 Did you know that in the french version of the game, Chapter 8: The Itch is called "The Addiction"?
15:49 It wasn't so much that he lacked the insight on what the problem was or how to fix it as he hadn't even attempted to do so until right in the middle of the boss battle. What it was could be more accurately compared to your computer notifying you for updates while you keep putting it off and pressing "Remind me later" so that you can focus on what you're currently doing without any interruptions. To Wheatley, obtaining solution euphoria was a more engaging matter and he kept procrastinating on addressing the reactor core. To me, it seems like executive dysfunction.
16:32 What's interesting is that he has apparently been waiting for 12 hours for the frankenturrets to solve the test and then gave them one extra hour to finish it. He either has incredible patience or an incredible ability to obsessively hyperfocus on one thing while ignoring everything else.
16:53 I think Wheatley stopped paying attention to what GLaDOS was saying the moment she said "Hey, moron!". He did not put any effort into thinking about the paradox and changed the subject pretty quickly, acting fairly dismissive of both her and Chell. I think this is less of an example of the frankenturrets being smarter than Wheatley and more of an example of him being able to quickly shift his focus onto something else or simply just not fully pay attention.
17:54 What's amazing is that despite haphazardly splicing tests together, Wheatley still somehow managed to have them be solvable.
18:15 Thank you for being one of the few people who are perceptive enough to realize that Wheatley is only insulting Chell and calling her a fatty to mimic GLaDOS's testing methods and not just because he decided to be mean out of nowhere. It's amazing how many people antagonize Wheatley for this while completely ignoring the fact that GLaDOS did the same thing and that he's imitating her.
19:40 All of this prep work Is reason for me to NEVER believe that Wheatley is meant to be a moron. Because he clearly isn't. His methods may be crude but they are incredibly effective. What moron studies someone else's boss battle in order to improve on his own? He used every advantage he could. Wheatley is an extremely good tactician once he puts his mind to it. He will never be a moron in my eyes. Had Chell not somehow survived several bombs, Wheatley would have won that battle... and then died from the nuclear core explosion. A good tactician, but still a chronic procrastinator with difficulties in regulating his attention.
--
This is an EXCELLENT video and you got so many things about Wheatley spot on! I love how you accurately pointed out that he isn't stupid and that he actually has a lot of fears and insecurities that influence his more irrational actions. So many people just hear GLaDOS and the developers calling him a moron and they just blindly believe it without a second thought, but I always get so happy to see other people who are able to look past that narrative and see that Wheatley truly isn't stupid. he's just troubled.
i like detailed comments like this so this was fun to read
@@DanielTheOcto Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it, I certainly enjoyed rambling on about my favorite master hacker~
@@audreymehndi1644 😎
In a way Wheatley was kind of like Glados. He wanted to escape the facility so much that he manipulated the test subjects into helping him, but when each subject died, he would just move onto the next subject. Perhaps when he took control of the facility it showed all the things that he keeps bottling up into a monstrous form.
That's a great way to view it. I do see him as a tragic character.
A machine designed to inhibit another that was given great power.
An interesting thing I noticed about Wheatley is that he actually is a brilliant *tactician-* he effectively evacuates Chell (relatively) in Act 1, in Act 2 he completely outsmarted and disarmed GLaDOS and usurped her, then, most interestingly, used a robotic arm as a melee weapon against Chell in the elevator, which GLaDOS hadn't even CONSIDERED while she was "defenseless," and in Act 4 he studied the fight with GLaDOS and came up with a battle strategy that would've been a perfect way to disarm Chell were it not for the gel mechanics that were not part of the GLaDOS fight and therefore completely ignored by him. And he does set an effective booby trap as a failsafe. His plans are actually brilliant, he just sucks at realizing them, which ironically appears to be Aperture's definition of a "moron"- a direct contrast to how Aperture itself successfully completed terrible plans. Aperture was always the embodiment of "too busy about wondering if they could to stop and ask themselves if they should," and thus when tasked to come up with "the dumbest moron who ever lived," they just made the opposite of themselves- an AI that is always thinking about what he SHOULD do, and no thought whatsoever towards what he COULD do. That logic explains all the seeming mistakes he makes- he's designed to automatically generate the best possible solution to a problem and then blindly pursue it with no consideration as to how those goals would best be achieved.
It's also possible this design was intentional, so that GLaDOS would constantly overlook the best possible way to achieve her goals as she was made to understand that Wheatley was generating "terrible ideas"- which, in reality, were cleverly disguised optimal ideas, merely hidden beneath a layer of self-sabotage.
When you take a moment to understand Wheatley's as a character, you realize that he is one of the most well made characters Valve has ever made.
Wheatley is definitely a lot more smarter than what people give him credit for, but at the same time it’s understandable why he’d be considered a “moron” by the rest of the cores, it’s cause he’s the most human, out of all the personality cores we’ve seen he has more nuance to his personality, he’s not a fact core, an adventure core or a space core, he’s just Wheatley, he’s the only core (besides Glados) with a name, and compared to Glados his ego, emotions and insecurities get the better of him, leading to his downfall,,
Well, the adventure core has a name... Rick.
@@audreymehndi1644I like to think the Adventure Sphere gave himself that name cause it sounded cool and adventurey. X3
I think the other point you missed was why he went power mad.
The computer mainframe was corrupted. Any core that gets connected becomes corrupted as well. That's why as soon as Wheatley replaced GLaDOS, he became evil and she became docile.
I don't think Wheatley is actually evil. Even when he tries to be. I think he is very troubled and burdened by the fact that others only ever expect him to be a moron and nothing else. He clearly doesn't want to be seen as stupid and actively goes out of his way to try and prove others wrong. However, when he's given power, suddenly "Tiny and insignificant little Wheatley" is able to prove his worth to others. He's in the highest position in the facility, clearly that should garner SOME respect for him, right? But then GLaDOS discredits him and makes him turn against Chell by saying that she did all of the work while he contributed nothing.
This causes him to retaliate, thinking that Chell has turned against him and then GLaDOS only makes it worse by calling him a moron and revealing to Chell that Wheatley was designed to be a moron- something that he likely intended to keep a secret from Chell. And then the entire time after that, he's more concerned with trying to get high off of solution euphoria, eventually becoming resistant to it which causes him to experience withdrawal symptoms and make him irritable and impatient.
Later on, when Chell escapes Wheatley's death trap, she basically starts rampaging all the way to his lair. And this scares Wheatley because if Chell could kill GLaDOs then she could feasibly do the same thing to him. But he ignores that fear and pushes it towards the back of his mind. Do you know how he tries to cope with the gravity of the situation? By roleplaying. Wheatley canonically loves roleplaying. If you keep getting in and out of the funnel, he says this:
"Ah, I see. Clever. Verrrrrrry clever. And FOOLISH! No way out. You're at my mercy! And I don't have any. You're at my- No wait, come back! Come- Sorry. Please. No, I was- I was going somewhere with all that... FOOL! You were a fool to come back, because I've trapped you again! Helpless. You're at my mercy. And I don't have any. You're at my noth- And again! Not playing along! You're ruining what are some really good speeches, actually... Didn't even get to the good part yet. Twist ending. So twisty you might even call it spinning. AH HA HA HA HA HA! Don't- Ignore the laughter. Ignore- Nothing to worry about... The puppet master! You're a puppet in a play, and I-- Alright, fine. I'm not saying another word until you do it properly. I'm sick of this."
So... he's not actually evil. He's pretending to be. He's using theatrics and playing it up like a drama queen to avoid the reality of the situation. But once you get to the boss battle, he drops the facade and reveals how he really just feels like Chell never cared about him and was using him the entire time and that it wouldn't matter to her if he'd died.
"And another thing! You never caught me. I told you I could DIE falling off that rail. And you didn't catch me. You didn't even TRY! Oh, it's all becoming clear to me now. Find some dupe to break you out of cryosleep. Give him a sob story about escaping to the surface. Squeeze him for information on where to find a portal gun.Then, when he's- when he's no more use to you, he has a little accident. Doesn't he? 'Falls' off his management rail. Doesn't he?"
Wheatley is very, very troubled and seems to have a lot of emotional and psychological issues that have gone unaddressed for a long time. But he's not evil.
My theory on Wheatley is that he's not actually dumb or unintelligent. In fact, he's very well smart and creative given how he made the plan to defeat GLADOS and it worked. I think what makes him a "moron" is his personality circumventing his intelligence. He's naïve and overly trusting, he's insecure, he's susceptible to corruption, he's in desperate need of validation, and so he constantly tries to impress and explain himself- leading to his downfall.
Wheatley isn't stupid, he's just flawed enough to circumvent it. Even if he was rocket scientist levels of smart, all of his character flaws make them irrelevant because they cause him to perform actions that actively counter his intellect.
They deadass gave a robot ADHD to stop them from murdering a whole facility full of people
ADHD doesn't make you stupid
@@Butterfingers3It does distract you tho
@@concept5631 Well, there's a big difference between being a little distracted at times and being stupid. Although Wheatley kind of did both to GlaDOs so I guess that statement's somewhat accurate
@@Butterfingers3 Wheatley's "stupid" in the sense that when he gets a good idea, he works backwards from that until its considered a bad idea. That's why GLaDOS called him a moron. She spiteful like that, and it also acts as a distraction and disorients her from better, more destructive ideas.
I dare say Wheatley is one of the most overengineered and well-designed personality cores in Aperture, maybe even being second only to GLaDOS herself.
Yes, ADHD = stupid is an incorrect and horrible thing to say. Wheatley essentially being an ADHD generator to keep GLaDOS from killing everyone is an apt comparison, imo.
@@concept5631 ok, that makes a lot more sense
I feel that Wheatley is just as tragic of a character as GlaDOS. He was made to inhibit GlaDOS’s mind by generating bad ideas, but it’s clear he’s a very intelligent unit. Poor guy felt doubts himself a lot though, and he honestly suffered a lot before the events of portal 2. Being relegated to odd jobs after being replaced by other cores. Plus, it honestly wasn’t his fault that he lost his mind. GlaDOS’s core AI programming that’s in her body is responsible for that.
Wheatley is my favorite video game character ever. He consistently made me laugh throughout Portal 2, and I also think he's smarter and more competent than most people think he is, although he's obviously not designed to maintain the facility. He was able to break Chell out of GLaDOS' test chambers and even created a plan to take down GLaDOS, and that plan succeeded. I was heartbroken when he betrayed Chell. Even still, he remains a lovable character even as a villain, especially since he regrets his actions in the post-credit scene. I also feel kind of bad for him. He was created specifically to be a moron. Imagine knowing you were created to be an idiot just to make someone else dumber. I'd probably feel insecure about myself as well. This obviously doesn't justify his betrayal of Chell, but it does make him a sympathetic character.
The only reason he betrayed Chell was because he falsely assumed that she was betraying him. Wheatley is INCREDIBLY insecure and he has a tendency to project that insecurity onto others. And since Chell refuses to say a single word to him, he has to fill in the blanks on his own. It's when GLaDOS says that he didn't do anything and that Chell did all the work does Wheatley go "Oh really? That's what *the two of you* think, is it?" Immediately assuming that Chell is siding with GLaDOS. And then during the boss battle, Wheatley airs out all of his grievances against Chell and the image he's constructed of her of this "Arrogant, smugly quiet awful jumpsuited monster of a woman". One who doesn't care about him. Who doesn't listen to him. Who silently judges him and who would exploit his kindness and use him before discarding him the moment it's convenient for her.
I listen to Wheatley making all of these assumptions about Chell and all I can think to myself is "Who hurt you?"
Because it really seems like a trauma response. If his trust issues are THIS BAD, then clearly he's been hurt similarly in the past.
So, Wheatly was designed to be the dumbest moron who ever lived, but, through sheer luck or core corruption, he became a little less dumb.
That's what I still don't understand in Portal 2. How could he come up with those traps to stop Chell and GLaDOS, but decide that the timer about the reactor exploding in 6 minutes is faulty, while the entire facility literally collapses and explodes around him. If he was made to come up with sutupid ideas, how could he make the traps? If he became smarter, why didn't he understand the paradox or that the reactor was about to explode?
He also wanted to sue/sued Jerry, the foreman of the nanobots for discrimination, because their work environment was not designed to accommodate a nanobot of his size.
the jerry thing was a coverup tho i think
@@jacobthesomething no it real the small fast robot that you barley see because it move so fast it like a blur, it talk super fast you can record it and slow it down the speech you listen what Jerry talks with wheatly
@@TheDragonfriday i meant that wheatley was pretending to be a nanobot
the way i understand it he was like a actor paid to play dumb he new he was acting dumb .when he was in the glados apparatus he became what he was along.
If you think about it, he isn't designed to be dumb, but rather to make bad decisions, I personaly believe that he is able to make good ideas, but there is always something wrong with it, as GLADOS, may have seen through such a ruse as being constantly being fed purely dumb ideas. This is why in the end, his plan is almost perfect, he learnt perfectly how to counter Chell, but disregarded the white gel.
For a robot specifically created to be a Moron, he got closer to killing Chell then even Glados, i'd argue its pure luck Chell survived those bombs as shown by Wheatleys shock. He wasn't good at administration, but in combat, he was arguably the most successful character in the game
Wheatley was a victim of his own programming, and time. Think about it,
When Wheatley first woke up, he was most likely told that he was a "Intelligence Dampening Sphere" and was designed to be stupid.
Then, he got plugged into GLaDOS who is evil, and was stuck there for some time, only to make GLaDOS stupid.
In the beginning he probably had no idea what was going on.
Then, Wheatley had to process his entire world falling apart. He watched everyone being gassed and killed by GLaDOS, the facility falling apart, and having to see other cores die or go insane for years.
Wheatley never wanted to be a moron, that's why he only goes by his name, and gets enraged when someone tells him what he was really built for.
Wheatley also never had any evil intentions. Wheatley only wanted to escape the facility, but because he was programmed to be dumb, he hindered himself.
The reason why Wheatley betrayed you is also because of his programming, trying to kill Chell and ignoring the facilities protocols is a bad idea, and so he followed them.
Another theory is that he was also programmed to hinder GLaDOS, therefore when he "became her," his programming made him lose himself.
Remember Wheatley never showed any signs of maliciousness until he became plugged into the mainframe, and when he did he didn't say something like: "Haha! You fool, I tricked you, I just wanted to become powerful!"
He only became mean to you when "the itch" started coming into him. And like I said before, Wheatley never was evil, his programming making him follow bad ideas turned him evil.
Even though Wheatley was innocent and never wanted to be bad, everyone he knows now hates him, and is trapped in space, regretting what he did and wanting to apologize to Chell, but even if he finds a way to go back to Earth, GLaDOS will torture him forever. His only "friend" is 50% corrupt and is too insane to even respond to him.
Wheatley was a truly tragic villain.
Fact: Wheatley is not a moron
Real 🐱
Absolutely not a moron. He's much smarter than people give him credit ☺
I can't tell if that means he is a moron, or if you're actually correct this time.
wiiturii
I love how you take the jokes in the game so seriously. Never thought i would hear some one say "fatty, fatty no parents" in that way! 18:28
I wanted to save Wheatly at the end, it's like when you're holding on to him and don't want to let go
Theres a couple ways I've thought of bringing him back into the story if they ever make a Portal 3
-Wheatly is brought back by Aperature so they can attach him to a big bad supercomputer to stop it
-Big bad combine enemy is scooping space for satellites and captures him, with them not being able to make their own artificial intelligence, they begin to expirement with him and attached him to a big bad machine. Not perceiving him as a threat
-He uses Aperature's moon mining to portal back into the facility as he attaches himself to an Atlas and P-body type body. Lurking inside of Aperature for the next game, space core would probably be in Pbody and also buddy with him for comedic relief
All these ideas are just further enhanced by the concept of Wheatly gaining intelligence and becoming smarter while disguising himself as a clutz. Able to strike the moment he needs to and pretend to be dumber than he actually is to gain pitty or wave off his true intentions
Also, there's a portal gun on the moon now, that has massive "Chekhovs Gun" for both Portal and Half Life
I like the last idea. He could become an obstacle, or even a horror element. I believe it would be interesting if instead, WHEATLEY was put into a P-Body frame. It wouldn't fit and the mechanisms wouldn't fully work, so he'd limp around and spark.
Space-Core, being like a ditzy, hyperactive child, would fit into Atlas' body perfectly and destroy it, making it crippled as he now can move around as sporadically as his past "core movements" suggested.
Wheatley would try his best to reach the player, but the player, being frightened by his appearance, would believe him to be the antagonist and try to avoid him. In the end, he either gets redemption, or gets destroyed.
There won't be a portal 3, because the story is over.
My personal head cannon is that when Glados smashed up Wheatley he used something to transfer his programming in to a new core not fix his current one. With that copies of him are likely being made.
I can see either the ability to get a pre space trip Wheatley or wave after wave of clone cores of Wheatley.
@@tek4 "Execute order 66!"
And then all of a sudden your attacked by tons of Wheatleys
How would he ever convince space core to leave space
His "fatty fatty no parents{ comment actually made the father of an adopted daughter really upset and started some controversy. It eventually went nowhere because it was just a guy looking for his five seconds of fame and the daughter clearly did not care or even notice because she was like eight years old. Also she's Asian adopted into a white family so you would think that she would actually have some camaraderie with the main character. I think Stephen merchant did a great job with the voice acting and that he was a fun addition to the world. Also we might actually get a half life 3 seeing as half life Alex changed the ending and the reason that they didn't do a third one is because somebody leaked the script and they didn't know what to do.
"Leaked the script"wtf are you talking about
Wasn't a Leak, One of the head writers of HL retired so he released a summary of what would have happened in Ep 3 (if things weren't changed in development) cause felt fans should get some closher.
It's funny because GLaDOS literally calls Wheatley out on his tasteless insult. That's the entire joke!
Also, I find it funny the father didn't get upset on the countless other times GLaDOS had made fun of Chell's lack of parents.
How the hell does someone get offended by Wheatley, of all characters?
@@damonlongstreet8630 It was more so one of his ideas of how the episode would have gone, but he clarified that it isn't canon and, at the time he left valve, a story had not been nailed down yet.
I know we won't get another Portal game but I still have hopes for Wheatley's return. He was a brilliant minded character with good ideas, he just didn't always execute them well. Definitely my favorite character from this universe.
So… is the implication that Wheatley was so stupid… he forgot to be stupid? Love it 👍
18:31 Chell rolling her eyes, tell me this isn't deliberate
17:05 Wheatly is correct: This statement is false is indeed a true statement. There is no paradox - just people who don't realize that "The statement" is not "This statement" (As in mathematically not - 'The statement' is always the opposite of whatever 'This statement' is)
I don't think that's true. All you've done is use a technicality to escape from answering the question. "this statement" absolutely refers to itself, that's the point and if you don't answer it this way you just haven't answered the question. Intentionally misinterpreting it is admittedly a smart way out for a robot to not break itself, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still a paradox to be answering the question as intended.
Not technicality - math! Boolean statements all work the same way with a 'x' 'is' and an expression that can be either true or false. and 'this statement' is 'this statement' is just silly. Keep in mind the only way mathmatically for the whole of 'this statement is false' to be false is if 'this statement' is true - then and only then this statement is false is false. you do not change the value of 'this statement' at any time except when declaring the value of 'this statement'
Think about it like adding 'not' 10 times to try to confuse someone - you aren't creating a paradox, just a REALLY hard to understand statement
Because not doing so would not be not confusing at all not. But there is not a paradox from doing so
@@pacattack2586 I mean, if I understand this correctly a computer might pick it up as you describe, with there being no loop because the condition is only changed after the object has already been described(?). But that still obviously isn't the intention of the supposed Paradox, and still only avoids the question asked on merit of semantics. If this is true it might however prove necessary to re-formulate the paradox so a computer understands what's being asked.
And don't ask me to suggest how to do that, im not on that level of mathematics.
@@slyseal2091 No - humans are just *really* bad at determining cause and effect This statement is false not being true does not cause 'the statement' to be true
The statement is true if and only if this statement is false.
There is *still* no paradox in the intended meaning - just people swapping cause and effect - which people tend to do easily
@@pacattack2586 Either I or you don't get it. From what I can tell your point is that "this statement" is a separate object from the rest of the sentence, "is false", which is a condition that affects the object. But that's not what it's supposed to mean, maths aside when people say "this sentence is false" they consider the entire sentence "this sentence is false" to be an object affected by the "is false" condition.
I can also see a second interpretation where you separate the concept of a sentence, marked by quotes, from the meaning of the actual words. That would still not falsify the paradox since once again, people just aren't communicating anything in regards to there being more than one such object to apply conditions to.
When I first played this is I was utterly destroyed when Wheatley turned. The pain remains tbh
Anytime I play through the betrayal now, I just end up feeling bad for Wheatley. He calls you tiny and insignificant, but it's clear that he's actually talking about himself the moment he says "I did this. Tiny little Wheatley did this."
And then GLaDOS provokes him and turns him against Chell by saying that he didn't do anything and that she did all of the work. And then he lashes out. Wheatley comes across as someone who has been bullied, demeaned and discredited his entire life and now that he has the power to do so, he's lashing out against the people who hurt him. Whether that be perceived or otherwise.
Honestly, Wheatley is in desperate need of therapy.
@@audreymehndi1644I was gonna say, I don't think therapy can rewire his programming, but then I remembered he can learn from his own mistakes amd the mistakes of others, as he watched Chell take out GLaDOS, and forged a plan, using the knowledge of her mistakes, to take Chell out. I think, had he known about how the white gel works, he would've moved the pipe elsewhere.
Just after typing that, I realized Chell used it infront of him before when escaping the first part where he kills her. So he should have learned about it then. GLaDOS even mentions it if you were to wait out his dialouge.
@@audreymehndi1644 "Wheatley comes across as someone who has been bullied, demeaned and discredited his entire life[...]" and some of his ramblings do suggest that. When he didn't die from turning on his flashlight, he complained that "they told [him] that about EVERYTHING." Whoever told him that probably took advantage of his jittery nature and fear to control him or merely just to make fun of him. Then there's his anecdote about him almost getting a job in manufacturing but then the foreman just got a duplicate of himself instead. Wheatley already knows what he was made for and he hates it, and the implication that Aperture staff disregarded and disrespected him for that alone definitely made his inferiority complex even worse.
And here's another thing: GLaDOS mentioned in the Co-op campaign that Chell and Wheatley's friendship was genuine; when she commented on Atlas and P-body's closeness, she said that she only knows of one other pair that was closer. Chell was probably the first person, ever, to treat Wheatley kindly and he latched on to that, which is why his dialog in his boss fight is very emotionally charged.
I miss Wheatley so much. :(
I hope Valve does make a Portal 3... Even though it's been like 10 years since portal 2 came out
Wheatley is not a moron, he said it him self.
And I'm not a beard guy
@@heavystalin2419 if you say so heavy Stalin
100% not a moron.
Watching this video all the way through without skipping gave me a new perspective on Portal 2. What started out as a classic ‘escape the facility’ type game turned into a story about a relatively small robotic ball struggling with his insecurities and the abilities a former adversary had. Seemed more third person than first person. While I don’t think the fan base alone will pressure Valve into making Portal/Half-Life 3, he would make for a very interesting cameo in one of their future installments, whether it was anticipated by the fans or not.
You know, Wheatley would probably be the perfect advisor.
"I AM NOT A MORON!" "WELL HOW ABOUT NOW?!" "NOW WHO'S A MORON?!" "COULD A MORON, P U N C H, Y O U, I N T O, T H I S, P I T?!" "H U H!" "COULD A MORON DO THAT?!"
"Uh oh."
I Like how, during the Stalemate Resolution, you can SEE Wheatley's change of tone.
When GLaDOS calls him a little idiot, Wheatley is content with it, even jokingly saying: "Yes, you SHOULD Plug that little idiot into the mainframe!"
Only to then switch up to an enraged; "I. AM NOT, A. MORON!"
maybe it's directly contradicted in the lore, but when I first played through the game without any of the comics or anything I was under the impression that the GLaDos "body" (the thing that wheatly gets put into) was somehow corrupted itself since the second GLaDos got pulled out she started being far more friendly than ever before, GLaDos was literally just a digitized person before, (not some rogue AI) and the second Wheatly got put in he started being a dick. I guess maybe thats "the itch" manifesting but I always interpreted it as more generally being that the body itself fucked them up. (with that said, as someone who has a bit of understanding about AI, the fact that it is just a hardwired reward condition causing all of this is genuinely a really neat bit of computer science novelty to me. AI rewards are one of those things that basically no-one thinks about so the idea that that was the core of all of the issues we face with AI in the games is hilarious)
The developers said that the chassis itself is what amplifies a core's already existing traits and that it acts like cocaine to them. Wheatley already had all of these insecurities and anxiety and low self esteem to begin with, the chassis then amplified it and it made him paranoid and more sensitive to criticism and perceived rejection. There's also the fact that after some time, the euphoria wears off and all that's left is the addiction. So the withdrawal symptoms end up making the core rather irritable as they try in vain to chase that high.
I wonder when we’re going to get the story of the most important core the space core
“Space. SPACE?!”
“SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAceeeeeeeeee!”
😂 😂 😂
@@Security-B1 SPELL IT. S-P-ACE! SPACE!
Imagine the whole script being just this phrase:
"He loves space and will do anything to get there."
I think Wheatley was naturally made to be intelligent, but his programming hid his intellect from him.
His program was to come up with terrible ideas, what’s one of the worst ideas he could possible come up with? Blow up the facility.
Unaware of his ‘directive’ he went about orchestrating a series of events that would lead to this outcome.
it was established that testing gives the GLaDOS body a serotonic rush, crudely, testing gave the body, and the core connected to it have an or****ic reacon to testing, wheatley became addicted and couldn't handle it, GLaDOS was already testing just to feel that again.
I really like the theory that wheatly didnt betray chell on pupose but the thingy that you replace glados with wheatly is was corrupted. He was genuinly nice
that's pretty much the point, it happens to every core we see in there immediately and reverses just as fast.
Maybe a wheatley and d Glados team up in part 3. Who knows, the two might fight against the combine to help out mankind or even Mr. Freeman. One can only hope. Thanks for another great vid.
I don't think she likes humans or Wheatley enough to do that though. She's said multiple ways she would have tortured/killed him when she got back in her body if he didn't end up in space. She's also known for not caring about humans. You could say she did in the final co-op stage, but we all know she just wanted more people to suffer with her deadly test chambers. I think she even says they all died in the extra courses. (but I could be wrong) Then again, who knows? Valve is a mysterious company, they do many weird things.
Thanks for watching bud! I think that'd be great. A game I'd love to play.
Ah yes, finally, 25 minutes of my favorite robot
I hope you enjoyed it!
You trying to explain Wheatly's story in your classic dramatic lore-voice is hysterical, especially considering how much of Portal 2's plot is completely dependent on jokes
According to Portal 2's development, Wheatley had different name and accent, Name Pendleton and Cockney Accent
I did have that in the script at one point, but felt that most people knew that already 😂 😂
@@Skyrionn I didn't
I honestly don't think he's truly evil.
Imagine this:
You spend your entire life being kicked around. Suddenly your put in a position of power, and struck with a powerful drug withdrawal you've never felt before.
Going on a withdrawal fueled power trip seems like the most likely reason for any person in that situation
*grabs companion cube* dis gone be gud, i can feel it in my potato battery
This comment is everything
There is an incorrect part in this lore.
The bombs which are rigged to boobytrap the stalemate button. This process was done when the announcer said "manual core replacement required".
When wheatley said " oh, I see" he made a small evil laugh which caused him to boobytrap the stalemate button when Chell went to put her first portal on top of the stalemate button`s ceiling white surface.
Even though Wheatley is a robot and seems to have accepted his fate; getting lost in space is unfathomably terrifying. I also feel so filthy and used for helping him and GlaDOS... spark off... with every completed test. I also also hope I never have to type that again.
On the contrary to 6:30 I don't think the reactor core was overheating prior to the events of Portal 2. If it was, surely GLaDOS would have noticed and fixed it in the time she was revived and in control of the facility. My head canon is that while GLaDOS was "dead", the cores maintained the facility well, but when GLaDOS was revived, those cores were no longer necessary, as GLaDOS was in control again. However, when Wheatley took over, there was now only him to maintain the crucial functions of the facility, which he did not.
I believe there's evidence of this theory in game in the dialogue between GLaDOS and Chell after Wheatley takes over
and all wheatley had to do was press one button
Although i never played portal 2 and do wish i can someday i always loved wheatley as he was a really great character
I'd suggest you playing through it. It truly is a great game.
@@Skyrionn ya I either get it when I get a better pc/laptop or for PS3 who knows
You know what i like.
In real life modern reactors are insanely hard to melt down. There are so many failsafes the chance of a meltdown of a well made reactor are close to zero
Yet wheatly did it. He almost caused a meltdown
I fckin loved wheatley in the part where hes an ally, i wish there was a different ending were you actually escape with him
I love that the narrator said Wheatley was designed to come up with dumb ideas, then expressed shock that it believed an American accent would be undetectable by Glados.
wheatley has always been my favorite videogame character by far
Hearing you say "fatty fatty no parents" in a serious way made me crack up
I aim to please 😂
Wheatley is my favourite portal character
He's definitely up there with the best.
Wheatley really doesn’t do much bad to you until the end of chapter 8. I mean he says “oops” whenever he punches you down the pit. He was mad at GLaDOS. He was more overwhelmed more than anything. He is redeemable if they make a Portal 3 or if they make a full on crossover with Half-Life instead of them just existing in the same world.
If we are to go by the Underground and assume that all the personality cores were once human, Wheatley may only have had his programmed idiocy activate once attached to the GLaDOS hardware. Even if she herself is absent. But everywhere else, he was free to regain a personality of some kind and had clearly retained some intelligence. Maybe not that of a scientist, but more likely that of like a low-level technician.
If all of the cores were all once human, that would make this series even more haunting.
A little piece of humor that I think goes underappreciated is the fact that when doing the turret production line sabotage, it's explicitly shown that the manufacturing process is so bad that there's and exactly fifty percent chance of it failing and producing a defective turret. Like imagine if 50% of all iPhones produced were defective.
Glados and Chell though he was really stupid. But if you look at his actions he was actually pretty smart. In the final battle he brough a shield along with no floors to make a portal which was really smart. He also tricked Chell and took over the facility and even made a pretty well made trap he wasn't a moron.
Funny little side fact
in the German dub of the Game, Wheatley uses a swiss accent to speak to us incognito
I hope we see Wheatley again, all I need is portal 3 with Wheatley
*Y O S*
Interesting point is that, Wheatley room is technically higher to surface than GLaDOS was, which leaves many questions
That is interesting.
Everytime you cut to Chell, I absolutely lose it. She looks so pissed off all the time lmfao
It's hard to understand Valve's reasoning behind their game publishing policy. Everybody would love to see Wheatley again, everybody would instantly want to play another episode of portal, and the plethora of opportunities given, if Chell with the portal gun and Gordon Freeman with the gravity gun were to partner up and work together... so many tons of shit possible and they're not doing it!
Now I'm imagining a physics based co-op through test chambers with Chell and her portals, and Freeman with his Gravity Gun. No endless fall set up to launch objects? Freeman has ya covered.
Wheatley is my favorite Portal character by a landslide. He's loveable and goofy, but he has a very human flaw: ego. His ego and his desire for power is what ruined him. He's such a well written and fun character, that even when he's going overboard to prove his intelligence, you can't help but laugh. I don't know why I like his character so much. Maybe I relate to him? He's gullible and doubts his own ability, a lot like myself.
Definitely subscribing to you. Just saw your 3-hour lore video on this entire timeline, and I loved that one too.
Now I kinda want to see you tackle Xenoblade lore (it’s my favorite JRPG series), even though it’s not even the same genre. Your that fun to listen to!
I've come to adore your videos. Thank you for this.
I really appreciate the support! Thank you for watching them!
From what I’ve gathered on Wheatly, he isn’t directly a well ‘Moron’ but rather his design made him pick ideas that were beyond him which is why he failed to fix the reactor as he assumed (or would have) that GLaDOS would have fixed it (which to be fair could be why he dismissed the warnings seeing them as errors and only saw the truth when the facility began to breakdown).
Another example of him being intelligent is the fact that he actually created new contraptions (even if they were 50/50 on reliability) and him being immune to “this statement is false” could be explained by him saying he’s heard it somewhere before, this makes me believe that the paradox was tested on him to see if he was truly a ‘moron’ but it failed due to him being creative but with a lack of settings his ideas down to his abilities that made him see the question from a more organic perspective.
Now you may think me wrong or mad but it is merely how this Autistic fellow views him, I hope you’re had a good read and enjoyed the video 👍
youre one of the best CZcamsrs i have ever found on this Plattform keep it up.
(sry for my bad english)
That's very kind! There's more to come. That was great English.
Imagine Cave Johnson demanding pictures of someone called “Lemon Man”
my headcanon will always be that wheatley was a human just like glados. like he was an actual employee that got his brain scanned and used for the creation of the intelligence dampening core. yes i took this hc from the blue sky fanfic but it's not really a far-fetched theory. his voice is also very human-like, not in the slightest robotic like glados or the turrets. in fact i kinda have the belief that all the personality cores were once human, but i'm not sure the fate of their human bodies now. probably in the relaxation vault, still untouched, or they've died during the facility decay after how many decades it has taken chell to woken up.
I'm with you on that note.
I've played portal 1 and 2 like 3 times each and the way this story is being told is still amazing to me
“A minute break”
I love this part
I knew most of this stuff, but it's cool seeing it put together like this. I was hoping there'd be some explanation as to how Wheatley got back onto a rail or even plugged into a wall after GLaDOS crushed him and tossed him away, but I guess it's the same answer as all other unanswered questions - Nanomachines.
nanomachines. haha :D
"You'll never believe what happened! There I was, just lying there, you thought I was done for, but I wasn't-- A bloody bird! Right? Couldn't believe it either. And then the bird--"
My only assumption is that the birds in Aperture have enhanced strength and Wheatley is somehow a bird whisperer and got one to pop him back on his rail.
still one of my fave characters in portal 2 when i first saw him became evil i was shocked and impressed
Absolutely memorable
“YOURE THE MORON THEY BUILT TO MAKE ME AN IDIOT”
amazing video, you explained about wheatley very good, and i would also like him to come back in some other portal game or as an easter egg in another valve game
I did my best to see another side of him instead of the view other people have. Thanks for watching ☺
Video was awesome thank you for making it
17:00 I didnt even realize that. Thats such an interesting small detail.
Awesome Video Bro!!
I feel like the real reason he was defective was because, he was human(the most humanlike I mean). he was ignorant, egotistical, and easily succumbed to the temptation of the testing itch the facility basically pumped into his ai, plus he cant even understand paradoxes. He tried to care for others and generally was bad at keeping a secret(hating humans). I mean he had more ai than the other cores, they feel more 1d, just that one front sight. Just one thought and personality, one feeling, no sadness, guilt, worry.
Truly a beautiful video. Majestic creation
I mean he got GLaDOS to stop trying to murder people.... eventually. So he technically ended up doing exactly what he was supposed to .
Wheatley is literally an ADHD core
Well, Wheatly did technically hack the door, in a different way at least.
21:19 I just realized, because it only took a few plates to revel the moon. The lair is right near the surface
“But with time alone in space” space core proceeds to pass by 22:08