8 Crazy Video Game Fan Theories That Actually Improve Games
5. GlaDOS Is Suicidal
Portal is the perfect dystopian sci-fi, controlled by a megalomaniac, destabilised supercomputer who entices and punishes in equal measures, intent only on testing and testing and testing to the end of time, or until her playthings end up broken.
But did GlaDOS have a different end-game? Beyond her obvious insanity, GlaDOS's black heart hides a darker, more tragic secret. She has been reliving her nightmare, stuck alone with no-one to test thanks to her own murderous activities, with the suggestion being that she keeps awakening new test subjects or victims for her own objectives. Is she really just testing? And if so, to what end?
And why does she equip her testees with the tools and skills to defeat her? Well, it's all because GlaDOS has a death wish she's sick of her captivity and she wants an end. It certainly puts a new spin on that Still Alive, and adds an oddly touching full-stop to GlaDOS' story.