Wheatley

Lore & Background

Wheatley was developed by Aperture scientists as an 'Intelligence Dampening Sphere,' specifically intended to inject poor judgment into GLaDOS's routines to prevent her from becoming rampant. He was conceptualized as a 'frantic person' with informal speech patterns, contrasting sharply with GLaDOS's 'slower-speaking and more deliberate' nature. Erik Wolpaw noted that while they initially considered Richard Ayoade, they cast Stephen Merchant after watching his work in Extras and podcasts, aiming for an actor who could relay information quickly. The character was designed to sound like someone making things up as he goes along, a quality achieved through Merchant's improvisational style during recording sessions.

In Their Own Story

Chell meets Wheatley when he revives her from cryonic hibernation in the deteriorating Aperture Science facility. Using a Portal Gun, they solve puzzles until accidentally reviving GLaDOS, who discards Wheatley to focus on Chell. Wheatley eventually finds Chell again, helping her sabotage GLaDOS's weaponry. During a core transfer, Chell swaps GLaDOS with Wheatley, giving him control of the facility. His power quickly goes to his head; he turns GLaDOS into a potato battery and sends her and Chell into the underbelly. As the facility falls apart, Wheatley forces them into testing until discovering robotic replacements, at which point he attempts unsuccessfully to kill them. In his lair, Chell attaches corrupted cores to force another transfer. Wheatley boobytraps a stalemate button, but Chell portals him to the moon, sucking him into space while GLaDOS retakes control. After the credits, he floats in space expressing regret.

Reader's Guide

Players must utilize Wheatley's unique dialogue and movement patterns to navigate early game sections, as his frantic energy contrasts with the facility's grim atmosphere. His role shifts from guide to antagonist once he assumes control of Aperture Science, where his incompetence creates deadly new test chambers. To defeat him, players must locate his lair and attach corrupted cores to force a transfer despite his attempts to stop them using a boobytrapped button. The final confrontation involves placing a portal on the moon to eject him into space. Beyond Portal 2, Wheatley appears in various capacities: as an item in Team Fortress 2 reprised by Stephen Merchant, an antenna option in Rocket League, and a non-playable character in Lego Dimensions where he aids Batman, Gandalf, and Wyldstyle. In the Portal-themed bonus stage of Lego Dimensions, he moves under his own power and accompanies Chell through new test chambers.

Did You Know?

• Wheatley was originally designed to be an 'Intelligence Dampening Sphere' created specifically to inject poor judgment into GLaDOS's routines.
• The character animation for Wheatley was done by Karen Prell, whose hand puppetry experience strongly influenced his movements and timings.
• Stephen Merchant won two awards for his voice role: 'Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance' at the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards and 'Best Performance by a Human Male' at the 2011 Spike Video Game
• Wheatley appears as a laser-based engraving on a panel attached to the Kounotori 4 resupply craft, part of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle.
• In Lego Dimensions, Wheatley is reunited with Chell in the bonus Portal-themed stage and offers sidequests while caring for a group of Frankenturrets.