Portal 2's Cut Protagonist | Mel | FULL Portal Lore & Cut Content

Portal 2 is one of Valve's best games - however, during the development of the highly anticipated sequel of Portal, the team originally had a different protagonist in mind to explore Aperture. This character was called Mel and she went through many versions of the story but was ultimately cut from the game.

Why was Mel cut? What story did Valve have in mind for her originally? What legacy did she leave? In this video, I explore the lore and story behind the cut character of Mel in the Portal Series.

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:01 Version 1 (F-Stop - Portal)
06:24 Version 2 (Early Portal 2)
08:31 The Cooperative Testing Initiative
09:50 Portal Stories: Mel
15:25 Legacy
17:18 Closing Thoughts

Portal 2: Creating a Sequel to a Game That Doesn't Need One

Portal 2 - Post Mortem (GDC)

Portal Stories: Mel

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Standard Sources
Game Manuals
Half-Life Series Playthrough Research
Portal Series Playthrough Research
Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
Half-Life: Alyx Playthrough
Portal/ Half-Life Fandom
Old Valve Forums
Marc Laidlaw's Twitter
Breengrub Twitter
Reddit AMA (w/ HL: Alyx Developers)
Portal Stories: Mel

AUDIO USED
Portal 2 OST: Technical Difficulties
Portal 2 OST: There She Is
Portal 2 OST: 9999999
Half-Life 2 OST: Triage at Dawn

#Chell #Lore #Portal

[Zenlore]

The ending of Mel’s story made me realize (for the first time, somehow) that the story of Half-Life 2 is outside of Aperture. The Combine, war, awful living conditions. There’s so much suffering out there for both Mel and Chell upon exiting Aperture. Kinda sad… 😢

[BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

One of the most shocking parts of Half-Life Alyx is so subtle. No audio cues, just incidentally spinning a globe in Alyx's apartment that you could have easily bypassed. A globe which features the entirety of the Americas crossed out by heavy marker scratches.

What kind of world did Mel wake up in? Can she even find a way to make contact with anyone else if there isn't another human being in the continent? How long can she breathe that air before suffocating?

[teipic]

Imagine being Mel, going to a shady company that screws you up and leaves you to sleep for a couple decades you wake up. Escape from the facility that tried to kill you and only then do you find out that not only is everyone that you know probably very old or dead but that humanity is now fighting against the alien overlords of earth. Wild escalations.

[foozzys]

I have something that's very dear to me that people hardly ever talk about, if you're looking for video, Lego dimensions has a portal level with all the original voice actors. It was hell to get it to work with an emulator but the story picks up right where it left off, though there's not MUCH story, I thoroughly enjoyed it and all the references. It was like a love letter to Portal.

[aq_ua]

Y'know it'd be really cool to see fanmade mods get covered like Entropy Zero, since you talked about Portal Stories: Mel!

[SerpentNight]

Trivia: I'm not sure if its related but the name Mel is also associated to Portal's sister series, Half-Life. Here's the deal. There's an urban legend in the U.S. known as Mel's Hole, a purportedly bottomless hole in Washington state near Ellensburg. A guy named Mel Waters called in about it several times to the radio show Coast to Coast AM between 1997 and 2002. Over time the legend took on more details like strange creatures flying out of it at night, animals avoiding it and shafts of light shooting out of it. Coast to Coast AM began to get a reputation as a hub of tall tales and in January of 2008 it got a call from one "Gordon", a self-proclaimed theoretical physicist at an unnamed research facility that was experimenting with some matter of portal technology. While the show's host George Noory embraced the yarn uncritically, Half-Life fans quickly recognized it as sham for obvious reasons. Were the minds behind Portal 2 aware of this when they conceived of Mel for the game? I don't know, maybe; the timing could line up. Or maybe they just wanted something that rhymed with Chell.

[FrenchFryCheese]

You forgotten about or didn't know that Mel woke up in a damaged relaxation Vault? she listened to Pre-recorded messages and then sucked up on a vacuum tube. then after that she'd Return to the Portal 1 Relaxation Vault like chell woke up there originally and she would complete 12 test chambers and since chamber 13 is broken she would make her way to GLaDOS's Chamber and the pre-recorded messages would trick Mel into reactivating her. Once she Reawakens it's revealed that She lost her memories and doesn't remember what happened in Portal 1 (Probably because chell killed her) and GLaDOS will give you a mission finding cores around the facility and making the place to themselves.. Once she completes these chambers. she would find cores and return to GLaDOS's Hub and then repair GLaDOS

[dxfan]

I also consider Portal Stories: Mel to be canon, I especially love the intro and style of the 1950s

[SgtBean]

Love the cut valve content! Valve is my favorite game dev but I wish they made more games with portal and half life universe. Fingers crossed?

Great video as always Skyrionn :)

[theokushmerek]

Ps:m is, in my opinion, canon. It fits perfectly into the series, tieing in other less alaborated subjects within the games without sacrificing continuity or being to outlandish.

[DirectorCM]

It's rare to see a company NOT taking the opportunity to publish games for profit. Valve really is sitting on a golden opportunity and yet they refuse to take it.

[deepseastonecore]

A star walks into a black hole but doesn't seen phased. The black hole then turns to the star and says, "I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation."

[Neeb-tthn]

I like to think when Mel escapes she meets the human resistance and helps fight the combine.

[ajplays-gamesandmusic]

17:11 missed opportunity to have Wheatley and the space sphere make a cameo.

[DjBasAA]

This explains why Portal Stories: Mel felt like a Valve developed game.
Thats so cool!

In my mind, knowing this makes Portal Stories: Mel even better!

[Neeb-tthn]

Another masterpiece of a video it’s worth the wait for your videos

[ParasolMushroomStudios]

I'm so happy you posted about this character and the game!!! It's my favorite Portal content besides portal 2. I have drawn so many pictures of it and even got comments from the creators! I hope you exposed this to more people who might not know what it is.

[ArgentAbendAzure]

I didn't even know this game existed. I wonder why it wasn't recommended by the Steam algorithm?
Thanks for the information.
I love the aesthetics of the old Aperture labs. The 70/80's look is so cool.

[solyccndy]

Catching up to your last content, love it. Lo e your voice and tempo

[KimFareseed]

Aperture Tag and Portal Stories: Mel are such nice mods.