March 16, 2024|

Filed under: Featured, Guest Article, History, Speculation, Super Smash Bros. Series, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Dream Smasher: Chell (Guest Article)

This guest Dream Smasher was created by @EchoSaefir on Twitter, and thanks to Cart Boy and @Templates4Smash for help with edits and the splash screen template, respectively.

Much has been said about the absence of Valve’s properties in the realm of Super Smash Bros., with many considering it something of a blind spot for the crossover. From Half-Life to Left 4 Dead, several of these franchises have not only been happy to collaborate with other games, but are iconic parts of the industry due to their characters, innovative mechanics, and so on. While all of them have their merits, today I want to talk about one of their most beloved and influential series. One that, to this day, still receives constant praise and love from hardcore fans, critics, and newcomers. Even better, it’s the only one with a pre-existing connection to Nintendo. Of course, I’m talking about Portal and the protagonist of its two mainline entries, Chell.

Who Is Chell?

Chell is one of many test subjects who find themselves stuck in the painful and horrifying product trials of the immoral, capitalistic nightmare that is Aperture Science. Not much is known about her background, and she’s barely visible most of the time. However, she quickly becomes the most accomplished test subject in the history of Aperture, as her ingenuity and finesse result in her being one of few test subjects to escape the grasp of GLaDOS, the robotic mastermind that took over the testing facilities.

Key to Chell’s success is the cornerstone of Aperture’s R&D: the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, also known as the Portal Gun. This unique device allows Chell to place two Portals almost anywhere in GLaDOS’s testing chambers, allowing her to solve the puzzles and overcome the deadly obstacles in her way. Chell’s use and understanding of the quantum tunnels she journeys through, as well as her problem-solving skills and impressive athleticism, lead to her finally breaking free of Aperture, though what happens to her next remains a mystery.

Importance to Nintendo & Series

The Portal series began as a simple experiment from a group of college students, later being pitched to Valve in an attempt to further develop the idea. Back in 2007, the original game was released in a compilation disc for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 dubbed The Orange Box. Originally intended as just a bonus for a package that already included the well-regarded Half-Life 2 saga and console release of Team Fortress 2, the game quickly became a massive success for Valve. They followed it up by greenlighting a console-exclusive port for Xbox Live Arcade under the name Portal: Still Alive and started a lengthy development process for a sequel. Portal 2 would go on to become one of the biggest successes for the company, with it being widely considered one of the best games ever made. And while a third entry has not materialized yet, many other games have gone on to feature the world of Aperture Science, allowing their fascinating tech and disregard for basic human decency to live on endlessly.

While Portal hasn’t always had the steadiest roots on Nintendo’s systems, it’s notable that this is the one franchise made by Valve to have ANY sort of presence on Nintendo platforms to this day. Its first appearance was thanks to the crossover game LEGO Dimensions, released on the Wii U among other platforms, which had an expansion pack featuring Chell and two original stories following up the events of Portal 2. Furthermore, ClockStone’s mashup title Bridge Constructor: Portal managed a port to the Nintendo Switch during the system’s second year on the market. The true coup de grâce, though, was the collaboration between Nvidia Lightspeed Studios and Valve that saw Portal: Still Alive and Portal 2 hit the Switch on June 28th 2022, marking the first time a Valve-developed game appeared on a Nintendo system. It’s also the first Valve release to appear on a console since Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ten years prior.

Colors & Design

Chell is a Euro-Asian woman with striking blue eyes and black hair. Her facial features are taken from actress Alesia Glidewell, who‘s already provided her voice to several characters in the Smash Bros. series, including Zero Suit Samus, Knuckle Joe, and Krystal. She’s even portrayed Chell in a commercial for LEGO Dimensions’ Portal 2 level pack. An important note here is that Chell does not speak. While Portal 1 does have her emit a few grunts here and there, as of Portal 2, she’s gone fully mute. As it’s now a defined part of her character, she’ll be staying that way in Smash. Chell wears her hair up in a short ponytail, and is often seen wearing an orange jumpsuit (though, Portal 2 sees her taking the top part off, revealing a sporty top with an Aperture Science logo on it underneath). The last major part of her outfit is her company-issued Long Fall boots. These white boots feature stilt-like heels that allow her legs to not resent the impact of any sudden meeting with the floor while flying through Portals during numerous tests, truly a necessary item for the short life of an Aperture Science test subject. It’s important to note that, during her first romp through the Enrichment Center, these were not defined boots, but rather just attachments on her calves, and she actually roamed around barefoot. But in the interest of keeping things simple, she’ll have the boots for all her alts in Smash.

In Smash, both her Portal 2-themed default outfit and Portal 1-themed alternate costume will have three recolors that are based on other characters and elements from Valve, but in addition to that, the colors of her Portals will change as to avoid confusion relating to whose Portals are currently active. Her default color features the traditional orange and blue Portals, and her alternate design follows and features pink and dark blue Portals. Of course, every other option from here on will alternate between these two outfits. Her next appearance features a white jumpsuit with a red top, a black undershirt, and black boots with light blue and purple Portals, the colors of Sentry Turrets. Next up, Chell wears a baby blue jumpsuit, tan boots, and blonde hair while using red and green Portals, referencing the scrapped Portal 2 protagonist Mel. Then, there’s an outfit featuring a green jumpsuit, black top, white undershirt, and white boots, using yellow and burgundy Portals, vaguely inspired by the Adventure Core. Next, we have Chell in an animal-print jumpsuit with violet and dark green Portals, inspired by the Animal King Turret. After that, she dons a gray jumpsuit and boots, a white top featuring a pink heart, and shoots black and white Portals, referencing the Weighted Companion Cube. Her final attire sees her wearing a fully black jumpsuit and boots, but with orange accents and a Lambda symbol on her chest, inspired by the HEV Suit that Gordon Freeman wears in the Half-Life series. This costume is complemented with brown and lime green Portals (in reference to Half-Life 1’s Black Mesa Incident).

How Would She Play?

Chell’s stats and properties:

Weight: ∼ Lucina (90)
Height: ∼ Wii Fit Trainer
Overall Speed: ∼ Zero Suit Samus
- Walk Speed: 1.42
- Run Speed: 2.035
- Air Speed: 1.302
Jump Height: ∼ Zero Suit Samus (36.68)
Multi-jumping? No
Crawling? Yes
Wall jumping? No

(A closer look at the stats)

For as much agility and grace as Chell may have, there is one obvious thing that makes her stand out from the crowd: the Portal Gun. As such, it is a pivotal part of her moveset that takes up several moves. For one, just like in the Portal games, there are two separate buttons that activate each color of Portal, A for orange and B for blue (assuming we’re talking the default outfit). In practice, this means her neutral attack, neutral aerial, and neutral special are all devoted to the gimmick. These Portals can be placed on any flat surface, and while that sounds like it would limit Chell’s ability, she has options to get platforms ready for personal use when the stage isn’t being helpful. Moreover, the Portal Gun has the ability to grab any object and opponent in its (totally not stolen from Black Mesa) Detention Field. In practice, this means Chell can hold and move around with any item or physical projectile she wants without affecting her mobility, though any moves that require the Portal Gun become inaccessible to her.

The Portal Gun is not the only piece of Aperture tech that Chell brings to the fray, though. There are her Long Fall Boots, which give her higher jumps and sweet spots for spikes in most of her aerials; Sentry Turrets, which offer a static offensive measure to keep foes away from certain parts of the stage; Aerial Faith Plates, which allow her to easily recover or leave a trap to open up careless opponents; and of course, her trusty Weighted Companion Cube, the incinerator-proof blunt object that doesn’t go too far, but can pack a wallop. Chell uses these objects, as well as her natural athletic ability, to continue defying death, while also proving her worth as the last survivor of Aperture Science’s Enrichment Center.

Now, thinking with portals is something that Smash fighters have done before. One of the well-known Stage Builder elements in Smash Ultimate IS a portal, after all. However, Chell’s Portals would be distinguished by how much more versatile they are in battle. Her portals work a lot closer to the ones in her home series, allowing for seamless transportation from one place to the other in an instant. They not only apply to her but also other fighters and any prop in the battlefield, whether it’s summoned by her or not. Through this, Chell can set up some devilish traps that would probably impress even GLaDOS herself. It’s easy to imagine a setup where she brings up a wall, places a Portal on it, then quickly moves out the way and releases a fast High Energy Pellet through the opposite Portal to snipe an opponent at the edge of the screen, just as an example. Cave Johnson would probably have a tear rolling down his eye if he wasn’t stuck as a giant stone head.

Boxing Ring Title: “The Mute Menace”


Series Icon	Stock Icon	Kirby Hat

Move Type

Description

On-Screen Appearance

Chell exits from the shaft of an Aperture Laboratories elevator.

Stance

Chell stands cautiously with her back arched. Both of her arms are occupied by carrying the Portal Gun, her right hand inside the actual device and her left holding the opposite end. Her legs are bent and at the ready.

Idle #1

Chell tests the resistance of her boots by gently hitting one heel on the ground three times.

Idle #2

Chell examines the Portal Gun briefly, poking her head below it to try and understand it better.

Walk

Chell’s demeanor doesn’t change much from her base stance, with her pose remaining largely the same, much like in her games. However, to give a bit more personality to her appearance in Smash, she would start hunching over a bit to lead into her dash more smoothly and giving a determined expression.

Dash & Run

Chell breaks into a full sprint, taking advantage of the springs on her heels to take longer steps forward.

Crouch

Chell hunches over and bends her knees. While standing still, she puts particular emphasis on keeping her left knee forward and her right knee close to the ground. Overall, a pretty mediocre crouch that doesn’t lower her hitbox too much, but she can at least crawl during it.

Jump

Chell leaps off the ground by slamming on her heels, giving her a high initial jump. Her second jump is a simpler front flip with less reach (due to the lack of ground beneath her). This animation differs from her games, as she just kind of… rises from the floor there, but this is once again an attempt at giving her a more pronounced personality for Smash (like with what LEGO Dimensions did).

Damage

Chell loses her balance slightly as she recoils from the hit and gives a pained look.

Shield

Chell plants her feet and hides her face behind the Portal Gun.

Dodge

Chell does a cartwheel to show her athleticism when dodging on the ground, and does a very basic sidestep when she’s airborne or spot dodging.

Floor & Edge Attacks

In her interest to protect the Portal Gun from unnecessary damage, Chell gets back on her feet by attacking with her boots upon rising from the ledge or getting off the ground. Simple kicks do the trick in this case, not unlike what Zero Suit Samus and Bayonetta do in similar situations.

Neutral Attack:

Orange Portal

Pressing the A button sees Chell shooting an orange Portal out in front of her. Furthermore, holding the button allows her to aim the gun in eight cardinal directions before firing. If this shot collides with an opponent, it causes minimal damage and no knockback, but the shot has very little cooldown, meaning Chell can use it to deal consecutive damage at a distance. However, if the shot collides with a solid surface, a Portal is generated, allowing Chell to travel to the one of the opposite color. There can only be one Portal of each color at a time on the battlefield, so if you try to place one for a color that was already there, it overwrites the original.

Forward Tilt

Chell performs a roundhouse kick that’s very similar to Terry’s, with the main difference being that she doesn’t move her arms as much due to her holding the Portal Gun.

Up Tilt

Chell does a simple, fairly ineffective swipe upward with the Portal Gun. It deals low damage and knockback, but is an easy combo starter since it comes out so fast.

Down Tilt

Chell does a low, Mortal Kombat-esque leg sweep. But due to her middling crouch, it doesn’t go as far as expected.

Dash Attack

Another case where Chell doesn’t rely on her legs, she uses her momentum to slam forward with her shoulder. As she’s not as muscular as other characters who do this, the attack’s not that devastating, but it still deals decent knockback.

Forward Smash

Chell stands in place as the Portal Gun generates a mid-sized orb of concentrated light, known as a “High Energy Pellet.” When the button is released, the orb moves forward until either flying the length of a few Battlefield platforms or colliding with something, at which point it disintegrates. The orb deals a static and decent amount of damage and knockback, and how long Chell charges the attack determines how fast the orb travels.

Up Smash

A button appears toward the camera as Chell prepares to press it. Once she does so, a wall quickly rises from the ground, almost hitting her on its way up. The amount of time the button is held determines how high this platform rises, with it being able to reach the height of Battlefield’s top platform after a full charge. The Aperture platform recedes a few seconds later, but instead remains in place indefinitely if Chell places a Portal on it. However, if she uses her up smash again, the original platform despawns before the new one’s emergence.

Down Smash

A button appears toward the screen as Chell, again, prepares to press it. Once she does so, a platform rises from the ground, almost hitting Chell on its way up. How long she charges the attack decides how high the platform rises, with its full length being the height of the top platform in Battlefield. Like with the prior move, the platform recedes a few seconds later if Chell doesn’t place a Portal on it, and only one can be active at a time.

Neutral Aerial:

Orange Portal

Pressing the A button sees Chell shooting an orange Portal out in front of her, just like with her neutral attack. Naturally, the same rules apply, including eight cardinal directions, only one Portal of each color being allowed at a time, and so on.

Forward Aerial

Chell performs an axe kick in front of herself, a faster take on Snake’s forward aerial. And thanks to her long fall boots, this attack can spike if hit at just the right time.

Back Aerial

Chell spins in the air to perform an intense kick behind herself, then returns to the task at hand. Aided by her long fall boots, the attack deals higher knockback.

Up Aerial

Chell performs a forward Flip Kick (as opposed to Smash’s usual backflip), allowing Chell to juggle foes and keep them vulnerable.

Down Aerial

Chell performs a long kick below herself and, with an additional input, follows up with two shorter kicks. Though, since the first part sports a powerful spike at the very bottom, she won’t always have the chance to tack on that extra damage.

Grab:

Portal Device Detention Field

Chell grabs with her Portal Gun, giving her greater reach than most others, then lifts them into the air. Even better, she can use this to seize physical projectiles with good timing, then redirect them with a pummel or throw input.

Pummel

Chell slams her levitating foe into the ground.

Forward Throw

Chell spins the opponent around and deactivates the field mid-spin, causing them to go flying forward.

Back Throw

Chell grasps her victim with her free hand, then somersaults backward and tosses them.

Up Throw

Chell aims the opponent upward, then bludgeons them with the Portal Gun as the field deactivates and they’re knocked skyward.

Down Throw

Chell deactivates the field and slams her heel on the opponent, bouncing them upward.

Neutral Special:

Blue Portal

Pressing the B button sees Chell shooting a blue Portal out in front of her, just like with her other Portal-based moves. Naturally, the same rules apply, including eight cardinal directions, only one Portal of each color being allowed at a time, and so on.

Side Special:

Sentry Turret

Chell sets a Turret on the ground to her front, which takes a second to set itself up. Once it’s ready, it’ll shoot at any opponents who appear in front of it. Moreover, it can be grabbed using the Portal Device Detention Field, allowing Chell to change its field of view on the fly. The turret will also freak out when it’s grabbed, causing it to shoot frantically before shutting down until it’s released again.

Up Special:

Aerial Faith Plate

When used in the air, the Aerial Faith Plate appears immediately below Chell and chucks her upward at a diagonal angle, like with Rosalina’s Launch Star. The device itself disappears shortly afterwards, and causes no damage if other fighters touch it. When used on the ground, though, it will instead appear on the ground in front of Chell, effectively creating a trap. Clever players can use it offensively or defensively, helping Chell escape a bad situation or put the heat on an unaware player.

Down Special:

Weighted Companion Cube

Probably the simplest bit of equipment that Chell brings to the field, but the one with the most sentimental value. This (seemingly sentient) cube appears from an unseen ground and falls to the floor in front of Chell when summoned. The key aspect about it is the “WEIGHTED” part of its name, as it is heavy. Its initial fall can cause damage immediately, but the cube will remain on the field afterwards. Chell can grab it with the Portal Gun’s Detention Field, but it won’t go very far when thrown. However, if Chell does throw it, it can deal devastating damage. Just be mindful that Chell isn’t the only character who can grab the cube, so summon it at your own risk.

Final Smash:

The Part Where She Kills You

An explosion goes off around Chell, dazing her, damaging any nearby opponents, and starting a cinematic from a first-person perspective. Chell lays on the ground and notices the moon up in the air. She quickly shoots a Portal onto the ground, then another out toward the moon. Suddenly, a strong vacuum comes from the first Portal and sucks in any caught foe. Chell simply hangs on before the surface where the grounded Portal was placed moves, breaking the connection as GLaDOS appears and sarcastically says, “As always, you do an excellent job of breaking all of my equipment.” Any opponent at 100% damage or higher as a result of the explosion or suction suffers a star KO, while all the other victims fall back toward the stage in a stunned state.

Up Taunt

Chell opens her mouth to say something, but gets distracted.

Side Taunt

Wheatley appears beside Chell, says one of a few lines, then disappears. All the while, Chell just looks annoyed.

Down Taunt

The iconic radio from Portal shows up and plays a short snippet of the upbeat version of “Still Alive”. If the Sentry Turret is in play, instead it will play the backing melody for “Cara Mio, Addio.” Also, there is a random chance that the red light at the radio’s front will spawn in green, causing the radio to instead play a bunch of noise (calling back to the Potato Sack ARG).

Victory Pose #1

A Portal appears on the ground, then Chell is seen jumping out of it and back in. While she’s in the air, she shoots another one forward, allowing her to fall back into the Portal she came out of and into the new one. She does this two or three times before landing with a “superhero” pose.

Victory Pose #2

Chell is seen shooting a Portal into an Aperture ceiling. This cuts to a shot of her shooting one into the ground. After a final cut, we see that the Portals are directly parallel to each other as Chell nods and jumps into the one in the ground, resulting in her falling infinitely as the camera slowly gets closer. A short freeze frame of her smirking is shown when the announcer calls her name, followed by the motion resuming.

Victory Pose #3

Chell walks into a darkened version of the victory screen, featuring racks of personality cores, the companion cube in front of the racks, and a table in the middle holding a black forest gâteau cake (with a candle on top). As she gets near it, she looks at the camera, then blows the candle to leave the screen completely dark, save for the glowing cores in the back.

Victory Fanfare

A remix of the main beat of “Reconstructing More Science” would serve as her victory fanfare. While neither the most iconic song nor one necessarily used for victory in the game, it’s one that makes sense due to its association with Portal 2’s marketing. Additionally, instead of the normal results music loop, the full loop of the radio version of “Still Alive” will play over the results.

Closing Thoughts

The idea of a character created by Valve joining the Smash roster is quite a popular one. And while there are arguably more popular characters from the storied and iconic company, I’m of the opinion that Portal’s unique connections to Nintendo and impact on the industry have more than earned it a spot in gaming’s premier crossover. The next Smash might still be far away, but Portal has become a household name, and while it would certainly take some work to figure out exactly HOW you could get the Portal Gun to work in Smash, I think bringing one of the best and most beloved games of all time to the series would make the headache worth it.