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Portal (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Portal is a former TV show
which aired on G4
. During its two-season run from 2002-2004, it was one of the most popular shows on the network. Written, produced, and hosted by Dave Meinstein, Portal was in many ways a comedy
, a soap opera
, a skit comedy show, and a news
show. As a whole, Portal was an attempt at a new type of show by blending satire
, unique stylistic elements, and various levels of dramatism.
Portal was the first television series to use machinima
.
, VAL, it is presumed that his job is to watch over this Hub and to protect the known universes from any danger that may arise. Occasionally interspersed with skit comedy and news, the show takes on its true focus after a few episodes.
Dave's first major problem - and the inciting event for the storyline - is an attack by an unknown force named The Ultimate. The Ultimate is not known as anything but a nebulous force of evil
for most of the show.
During this time, Dave has also been wrangling with other issues. The Drifter, Portal's resident hero, has been tracking down The Ultimate's most powerful agent, Darwin. Darwin is eventually defeated with a trick poison
. Grooter, the lovable redneck, falls in love with an equally backwoods Yoodle, and his rescuing her serves as a method to showcase various dungeons in these online worlds - like many of the adventures do.
These rescues culminate into a climax
when the Ultimate captures Yoodle and threatens to kill her if Dave does not surrender. Grooter attacks Dave out of desperation, and Dave gives in to The Ultimate. For one episode, Dave is confined to eternal slavery
in the "Lavatory of Filth", where he is forced to scrub an ever-soiled toilet. It turns out that in the end, The Ultimate actually intends to inhabit Dave's body and wreak havoc with Dave's power. Rick, Dave's body-swapping hippy spiritual advisor, and Grooter team up to find and free Dave's spirit, while The Ultimate - now inhabiting Dave's body - is repeatedly dunked into the eternally filthy toilet
for his treachery. Rick is able to coax The Ultimate out of this torture by leaving Dave's body, trapping him instead in the body of a Myconid
, Rick's former vessel. For much of the next season he is effectively benign.
A new force arrives later, though, one more deadly than the Ultimate ever could be. Apex, an even more mysterious character
, is a force that had hencetoforth been heard of only in the upper echelons of evil. The Drifter knows of him only the riddle that he has heard:
"He speaks with no sound, and his word is law."
The mystery is soon solved when Apex presents himself to the Hub. With his clown
-servant Truggy, he uses his frightening powers of mind control to systematically destroy the Portal team. Beloved movie star
Dirk Ruddy is ruined when Apex forces him to admit to being a bedwetter
and communist -
With VAL acting as the dummy, Dave takes up a ventriloquism
act that he hopes will succeed in getting him enough money to make it to his safehouse. He seems unsure of his performance, though.
"VAL, I'm starting to think I'm the dummy. No one's gonna pay the kind of money we need for a ventriloquist act. D'you think Hollywood's so desperate for mediocre comedy that some dipwad superagent is just gonna show up backstage with a briefcase full of cash?" At this point, exactly that happens. "How you doin'?"
Dave and VAL return to the Hub, and enlisting the aid of Rick, free the Ultimate from his fungal prison and allow him to utilize the Hub's weaponry to attack Apex. With Apex in a serious coma and the Ultimate again free, the stage is set for a cycle to return.
who seeks to destroy Christmas
because of its wastefulness. Bob, enlisting the help of the now-homeless Truggy, sets up an elaborate plot to kill Santa's
elves
by making them run over the edge of a cliff
, via the creation and usage of a magical flute
- not unlike lemming
s. Two monsters, Nancy and Murray, accepted this quest. While they murder and ravage the countryside in search of the necessary artifacts, detective
Moe Tuesday follows clues to their location and is ultimately attacked, hospitalized, and dies. The plot of the flute is foiled, however, and Dave personally gives Bob Klaws a severe beating. The Christmas shenanigans do not stop there, but the show's final plotline begins there.
It is soon discovered that Bloody Dove, one of the show's more beloved and temperamental characters who had been recently murdered, was actually The Ultimate. He invites Dave for a meeting on Earth. Fully prepared with his Ion-BatTM, Dave enters the studio location. After a short introduction to the Ultimate's fellow toys: Little Miss Damnation, Zozo, Mr. Tickles, and He Who Bathes In Death, Dave proceeds to utilize his bat on the Ultimate and his companions. After the thrashing is complete, a television near Dave turns on. The plot with Bob Klaws (who looked suspiciously like Santa) and the toys was all a ploy. By videotaping Dave's actions, he had created a video that made it look as if Dave actually intended to destroy Christmas. Dave narrowly escapes death when a mob of angry citizens attacks him.
The Ultimate then proceeds to possess Zaitrion, a shapeshifting robot The Drifter has been attempting to locate and destroy as all this is going on. After doing battle with and defeating The Drifter, The Ultimate attacks and destroys the Hub, and again begins destroying the lives of Dave's friends. When his brother and sister, Sunny and Snuggy Dove, attempt to soften the maniacal Ultimate, it is discovered that Bloody's craze - and Sunny's optimism
- both stem from the pervasive, sickening cuteness that surrounds Snuggy. The exposure to Snuggy only serves to drive The Ultimate into complete madness, changing his focus from interdimensional domination to destruction of the known Universe
s.
Stricken with amnesia
, Dave attempts to survive in a world out to get him. He is found, captured, and sent to prison for trying to destroy Christmas. Only the occasional flashback haunts him - hints of electricity - hints of some deep secret that had been alluded to in previous episodes. Dave, unable to recall who he is, intentionally botches his trial to hope that he can be killed by electrocution
. He thinks this sole memory of his may hold the secret to his past. Afterwards, he finds that the electric chair has been done away with in that jurisdiction. Just as his gas chamber begins to fill, Dave is teleported away, rescued by VAL and various others. He suddenly is reminded of who he is and what his mission is. VAL, Dave, the Drifter, and others make a last ditch effort to destroy The Ultimate, who is lamenting on his life before he teleports off to the Hub's broken remains. Berney the Burynai, Dave's best friend who had been captured and enslaved by The Ultimate, makes a sneak attack and pushes the Ultimate off the tower. They narrowly escape the multimegaton explosion he creates, and return to Earth
.
The final episode of Portal was quickly shot, and Dave was given little notice that his show was being cancelled. The episode wraps up various loose ends of the storyline, and ends with a lamentation and allusion to the sudden cancellation of the show.
and Dave Bowman of 2001: A Space Odyssey
. VAL often repeats lines reminiscent of 2001. "I'm sorry, Dave." This computer, however, is supposedly "guaranteed not to go crazy and try to kill me." Dave states.
Larry, a somewhat minor character, was noted for always wearing a wedding dress
. This is a reference to Larry the Wedding Dress Guy, a seller on Ebay
who was noted for wearing his ex-wife's wedding dress in the photograph
s for his sale.
Episodes of VBS (a supposed virtual broadcasting system for television in online worlds) were shown on two occasions, demonstrating such "original programming" as Meinfeld, Harborwatch, Trapper Extremioso, and The Trek. These were parodies
of Seinfeld
, Baywatch
, Survivor
, and Star Trek
, respectively.
Shorty the dwarf, one of the more popular Portal characters, was a parody of Gimli
the dwarf from The Lord of the Rings
series. Shorty's most distinguishing characteristic was his ability to survive everyday life uttering only the phrase, "You Have My Axe." One special segment—The Life of Shorty—ended in a rock video performed by him—a Portal favorite.
Two "clubs" were supposedly formed during Portal. S.M.U.T.L.U.V., or "Strong Men Unafraid To Like Unicorns Visibly", and S.L.E.A.Z.E.P.I.L.E., or "Strapping Lads Eager And Zealous to Express Pixie Infatuation Laughingly Exposed". One particularly popular episode, the introduction of S.M.U.T.L.U.V., produced interesting responses when Dave interviewed biker gangs about their enthusiasm towards joining the club. Most were interested only because of the club's acronym, though some expressed an interest in the affairs of unicorns.
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
which aired on G4
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
. During its two-season run from 2002-2004, it was one of the most popular shows on the network. Written, produced, and hosted by Dave Meinstein, Portal was in many ways a comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, a soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, a skit comedy show, and a news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
show. As a whole, Portal was an attempt at a new type of show by blending satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, unique stylistic elements, and various levels of dramatism.
Portal was the first television series to use machinima
Machinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
.
Season one
Dave, the host of the show, never completely introduces us to the purpose of the show. He is introduced as the "host cybernaut" of The Hub, a somewhat rusty complex through which all worlds - virtual and real - are linked. Along with his computerComputer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
, VAL, it is presumed that his job is to watch over this Hub and to protect the known universes from any danger that may arise. Occasionally interspersed with skit comedy and news, the show takes on its true focus after a few episodes.
Dave's first major problem - and the inciting event for the storyline - is an attack by an unknown force named The Ultimate. The Ultimate is not known as anything but a nebulous force of evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
for most of the show.
During this time, Dave has also been wrangling with other issues. The Drifter, Portal's resident hero, has been tracking down The Ultimate's most powerful agent, Darwin. Darwin is eventually defeated with a trick poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
. Grooter, the lovable redneck, falls in love with an equally backwoods Yoodle, and his rescuing her serves as a method to showcase various dungeons in these online worlds - like many of the adventures do.
These rescues culminate into a climax
Climax (narrative)
The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...
when the Ultimate captures Yoodle and threatens to kill her if Dave does not surrender. Grooter attacks Dave out of desperation, and Dave gives in to The Ultimate. For one episode, Dave is confined to eternal slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in the "Lavatory of Filth", where he is forced to scrub an ever-soiled toilet. It turns out that in the end, The Ultimate actually intends to inhabit Dave's body and wreak havoc with Dave's power. Rick, Dave's body-swapping hippy spiritual advisor, and Grooter team up to find and free Dave's spirit, while The Ultimate - now inhabiting Dave's body - is repeatedly dunked into the eternally filthy toilet
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
for his treachery. Rick is able to coax The Ultimate out of this torture by leaving Dave's body, trapping him instead in the body of a Myconid
Myconid
Myconids are a race of intelligent roughly humanoid fungi found in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.-Publication history:The myconid first appeared in the first edition in the adventure module A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords , and then the original Monster Manual II .The myconid ...
, Rick's former vessel. For much of the next season he is effectively benign.
A new force arrives later, though, one more deadly than the Ultimate ever could be. Apex, an even more mysterious character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, is a force that had hencetoforth been heard of only in the upper echelons of evil. The Drifter knows of him only the riddle that he has heard:
"He speaks with no sound, and his word is law."
The mystery is soon solved when Apex presents himself to the Hub. With his clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
-servant Truggy, he uses his frightening powers of mind control to systematically destroy the Portal team. Beloved movie star
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
Dirk Ruddy is ruined when Apex forces him to admit to being a bedwetter
Bedwetting
Nocturnal enuresis, commonly called bedwetting, is involuntary urination while asleep after the age at which bladder control usually occurs. Nocturnal enuresis is considered primary when a child has not yet had a prolonged period of being dry...
and communist -
With VAL acting as the dummy, Dave takes up a ventriloquism
Ventriloquism
Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is an act of stagecraft in which a person manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered "dummy"...
act that he hopes will succeed in getting him enough money to make it to his safehouse. He seems unsure of his performance, though.
"VAL, I'm starting to think I'm the dummy. No one's gonna pay the kind of money we need for a ventriloquist act. D'you think Hollywood's so desperate for mediocre comedy that some dipwad superagent is just gonna show up backstage with a briefcase full of cash?" At this point, exactly that happens. "How you doin'?"
Dave and VAL return to the Hub, and enlisting the aid of Rick, free the Ultimate from his fungal prison and allow him to utilize the Hub's weaponry to attack Apex. With Apex in a serious coma and the Ultimate again free, the stage is set for a cycle to return.
Season two
The Ultimate decides to inhabit the body of the very same ventriloquist doll that Dave and VAL had used. The Ultimate is not seen for many episodes after this. Instead, Dave is focused against Bob Klaws, a radical environmentalistEnvironmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
who seeks to destroy Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
because of its wastefulness. Bob, enlisting the help of the now-homeless Truggy, sets up an elaborate plot to kill Santa's
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
elves
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
by making them run over the edge of a cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
, via the creation and usage of a magical flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
- not unlike lemming
Lemming
Lemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra biomes. They are subniveal animals, and together with voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae , which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats,...
s. Two monsters, Nancy and Murray, accepted this quest. While they murder and ravage the countryside in search of the necessary artifacts, detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
Moe Tuesday follows clues to their location and is ultimately attacked, hospitalized, and dies. The plot of the flute is foiled, however, and Dave personally gives Bob Klaws a severe beating. The Christmas shenanigans do not stop there, but the show's final plotline begins there.
It is soon discovered that Bloody Dove, one of the show's more beloved and temperamental characters who had been recently murdered, was actually The Ultimate. He invites Dave for a meeting on Earth. Fully prepared with his Ion-BatTM, Dave enters the studio location. After a short introduction to the Ultimate's fellow toys: Little Miss Damnation, Zozo, Mr. Tickles, and He Who Bathes In Death, Dave proceeds to utilize his bat on the Ultimate and his companions. After the thrashing is complete, a television near Dave turns on. The plot with Bob Klaws (who looked suspiciously like Santa) and the toys was all a ploy. By videotaping Dave's actions, he had created a video that made it look as if Dave actually intended to destroy Christmas. Dave narrowly escapes death when a mob of angry citizens attacks him.
The Ultimate then proceeds to possess Zaitrion, a shapeshifting robot The Drifter has been attempting to locate and destroy as all this is going on. After doing battle with and defeating The Drifter, The Ultimate attacks and destroys the Hub, and again begins destroying the lives of Dave's friends. When his brother and sister, Sunny and Snuggy Dove, attempt to soften the maniacal Ultimate, it is discovered that Bloody's craze - and Sunny's optimism
Optimism
The Oxford English Dictionary defines optimism as having "hopefulness and confidence about the future or successful outcome of something; a tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view." The word is originally derived from the Latin optimum, meaning "best." Being optimistic, in the typical sense...
- both stem from the pervasive, sickening cuteness that surrounds Snuggy. The exposure to Snuggy only serves to drive The Ultimate into complete madness, changing his focus from interdimensional domination to destruction of the known Universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
s.
Stricken with amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
, Dave attempts to survive in a world out to get him. He is found, captured, and sent to prison for trying to destroy Christmas. Only the occasional flashback haunts him - hints of electricity - hints of some deep secret that had been alluded to in previous episodes. Dave, unable to recall who he is, intentionally botches his trial to hope that he can be killed by electrocution
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
. He thinks this sole memory of his may hold the secret to his past. Afterwards, he finds that the electric chair has been done away with in that jurisdiction. Just as his gas chamber begins to fill, Dave is teleported away, rescued by VAL and various others. He suddenly is reminded of who he is and what his mission is. VAL, Dave, the Drifter, and others make a last ditch effort to destroy The Ultimate, who is lamenting on his life before he teleports off to the Hub's broken remains. Berney the Burynai, Dave's best friend who had been captured and enslaved by The Ultimate, makes a sneak attack and pushes the Ultimate off the tower. They narrowly escape the multimegaton explosion he creates, and return to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
The final episode of Portal was quickly shot, and Dave was given little notice that his show was being cancelled. The episode wraps up various loose ends of the storyline, and ends with a lamentation and allusion to the sudden cancellation of the show.
- Dave: "Do you think if this whole thing, your life, and my life, if it were all just part of some crazy TV show...do you think someday we'd have a happy ending, or do you think we'd just be cancelled?"
- VAL: "We would most likely be cancelled."
- Dave: "Thanks. Hey VAL?"
- VAL: "Yes, Dave?"
- Dave: "I think I'm going to cry."
- VAL: "I'm sorry, Dave. I am sorry."
Major characters
In order of first appearance:- 101 Dave, VAL
- 102 The Drifter, The Ultimate
- 103 Grooter Goldberg
- 109 Bloody Dove
- 111 Rick, Dr. Julia Hopkins, Larry
- 113 Zherbo Reaufeaux, Yoodle
- 115 Darwin
- 119 Berney
- 121 Howell Cossard
- 122 Sunny Dove
- 124 Sergeant Moe Tuesday
- 126 Gardenia Flowers
- 128 Dirk Ruddy, Shorty
- 129 Groover
- 131 Apex, Truggy, Tah
- 203 Sir Blue
- 205 Murray, Nancy, Mystery Woman seeking Dave (Trionessy) (voice only)
- 206 Bob Klaws
- 208 Tyco Packson
- 209 Michael
- 217 Krex
- 222 Snuggy Dove
Satire and humor
VAL and Dave, along with their confinement in an omnidimensional spacestation, is an allusion to HAL 9000HAL 9000
HAL 9000 is the antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction Space Odyssey saga. HAL is an artificial intelligence that interacts with the astronaut crew of the Discovery One spacecraft, usually represented as a red television-camera eye found throughout the ship...
and Dave Bowman of 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
. VAL often repeats lines reminiscent of 2001. "I'm sorry, Dave." This computer, however, is supposedly "guaranteed not to go crazy and try to kill me." Dave states.
Larry, a somewhat minor character, was noted for always wearing a wedding dress
Wedding dress
A wedding dress or wedding gown is the clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony. Color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants.- Western culture :...
. This is a reference to Larry the Wedding Dress Guy, a seller on Ebay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
who was noted for wearing his ex-wife's wedding dress in the photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s for his sale.
Episodes of VBS (a supposed virtual broadcasting system for television in online worlds) were shown on two occasions, demonstrating such "original programming" as Meinfeld, Harborwatch, Trapper Extremioso, and The Trek. These were parodies
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
, Survivor
Survivor (TV series)
Survivor is a reality television game show format produced in many countries throughout the world. In the show, contestants are isolated in the wilderness and compete for cash and other prizes. The show uses a system of progressive elimination, allowing the contestants to vote off other tribe...
, and Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, respectively.
Shorty the dwarf, one of the more popular Portal characters, was a parody of Gimli
Gimli (Middle-earth)
Gimli is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured in The Lord of the Rings. A Dwarf warrior, he is the son of Glóin ....
the dwarf from The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
series. Shorty's most distinguishing characteristic was his ability to survive everyday life uttering only the phrase, "You Have My Axe." One special segment—The Life of Shorty—ended in a rock video performed by him—a Portal favorite.
Two "clubs" were supposedly formed during Portal. S.M.U.T.L.U.V., or "Strong Men Unafraid To Like Unicorns Visibly", and S.L.E.A.Z.E.P.I.L.E., or "Strapping Lads Eager And Zealous to Express Pixie Infatuation Laughingly Exposed". One particularly popular episode, the introduction of S.M.U.T.L.U.V., produced interesting responses when Dave interviewed biker gangs about their enthusiasm towards joining the club. Most were interested only because of the club's acronym, though some expressed an interest in the affairs of unicorns.