Cave Johnson (Portal)

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This article is about the fictional character from Portal video game series. For the 19th-century American congressman, see Cave Johnson.


Cave Johnson
Portal character
Johnson (left) and his assistant Caroline as they appear in Portal 2
First appearancePortal 2 (2011)
Last appearanceAperture Desk Job (2022)
Created byErik Wolpaw
Voiced byJ. K. Simmons

Cave Johnson is a fictional character from the

Aperture Science facility, though all of his messages are pre-recorded from before the events of the Portal games
.

Concept and creation

Cave Johnson was created by designer

Aperture Science.[2] In the early days, the company was named Aperture Fixtures and made shower curtains for the military. It later became Aperture Science as Johnson's ambitions changed and grew. He was initially considered to be the main character of Portal 2, where players controlled him as he was trapped inside a computer. This idea, however, was eventually scrapped.[3] They later envisioned Cave Johnson as the primary antagonist, but this was also scrapped. This idea was revealed as a result of leaked quotes from the character.[4][5]

Johnson was envisioned since Portal as an "industrial, Southern guy" who would contrast with the "anti-septic" and "politically correct" nature of Aperture Science.[6] Though the idea of the character underwent several changes over the development, the selection of J.K. Simmons helped solidify the character.[6] Pictures of Cave Johnson appear throughout Portal 2, and though Valve used a casting call to try to find someone to use as a template, they turned back to their own lead animator, Bill Fletcher, for Cave's face.[4]

Though comparisons have been made between Cave and Andrew Ryan, the wealthy industrialist who created the fictional underwater city of Rapture in BioShock, Wolpaw claims they had not considered this character in their creation of Cave.[7]

Appearances

Cave Johnson's only full appearance to date is in the 2011 video game

PAX East exposition in 2011.[8][9]

Cave Johnson does not appear directly in Portal 2, but his image is seen in paintings and his voice is heard in pre-recorded messages as protagonist

Aperture Science facility. These messages explain various areas, as well as the backstory of the company. In these pre-recorded messages, he is sometimes accompanied by his assistant, Caroline. Over time, both the company and his health begin to decline, the latter due to exposure to moon rocks. He later muses on the prospect of putting a person's mind inside of a computer, before saying that if he doesn't live until he can be uploaded, to put Caroline in charge of the facility as an AI, revealing that Caroline is GLaDOS.[citation needed] An alternative version of Cave Johnson appears in the Portal 2 update, Perpetual Testing Initiative.[citation needed
]

J.K. Simmons returned to the role for Lego Dimensions, and is able to be heard throughout the Portal 2 adventure world and bonus level. In his Lego Dimensions appearance, Cave Johnson has put his own consciousness in a Personality Core.[citation needed] He also portrays Cave Johnson in Dota 2, where Cave was added as an in-game guest announcer.[citation needed] In 2022, Simmons once again reprised his role as Cave Johnson for the Steam Deck tech demo Aperture Desk Job. The game takes place some years after Cave's body has died, but his personality has been implanted in a giant computer encased in a stone carving of his own head.[citation needed]

Reception

Cave Johnson has received positive reception from critics, with J.K. Simmons praised for his portrayal.[10][11][12][13] GameSpy's Will Tuttle wrote that it is "hard not to feel oddly honored to take part in some of the experiments that ranged across his entire career". He also wrote of Simmons that his voice "adeptly blend gravitas and silliness, and I found his segment to be just as great the second time I played through the game".[14] ABC News' Lou Kesten wrote that Cave was a "memorable" character, and that Simmons helped in portraying what he thought was one of the three "most distinctive characters in video games" along with Wheatley and GLaDOS.[15] Professor G. Christopher Williams discussed the relationship between Caroline and Cave Johnson, stating that it fulfilled the idea that "behind every good man is a good woman" due to his dependence on her for both the company and his comfort.[16]

Alice Bell of Rock Paper Shotgun praised his portrayal in Aperture Desk Job, stating that in retrospect of all the character's actions, despite being written as "charismatic and funny, and kind of a caricature of a shouty 80s buisnessman, he's also obviously a gold plated dickhead". She enjoyed that the game portrayed him as weak, unable to endure a fate he considered for others, and how at the end of the game it was implied despite his desire to die his consciousness was kept alive by the results of his own experiments. She described it as being "hoist on his on petard, trapped in a hell of his own making that he asked for, is the perfect Greek underworld-style ironical punishment for Cave Johnson."[17]

References

  1. ^ Miller, Greg (March 11, 2011). "PAX: Portal 2 Nabs J.K. Simmons". IGN. Archived from the original on March 14, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  2. 1UP.com. Archived from the original
    on August 10, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  3. Gamasutra. Archived from the original
    on May 8, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Saltzmann, Marc (April 14, 2011). "Five things you didn't know about Portal 2". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
  5. ^ Walker, John (April 27, 2011). "Valve On Portal 2: Spoiler Interview Part One". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on April 29, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Braga, Matt (April 19, 2011). "Q&A with Portal 2 writers Erik Wolpaw and Jay Pinkerton". National Post. Archived from the original on January 4, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  7. ^ Stanton, Rich (April 26, 2011). "Erik Wolpaw on Portal 2's ending: "the [spoiler] is probably lurking out there somewhere"". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on April 30, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
  8. ^ Frum, Larry (April 19, 2011). "'Portal 2' is a dark, humorous joy (and that's no lie)". CNN. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012.
  9. ^ Dobie, Alex (April 12, 2011). "Cave Johnson Introduces Portal 2's Long Fall Boots - Xbox". TeamXbox. IGN. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  10. GamesRadar. Archived
    from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  11. ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Archived from the original
    on July 1, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  12. ^ Lahti, Evan; Stapleton, Dan (April 19, 2011). "Portal 2 review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on December 31, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  13. ^ Davis, Ryan (April 19, 2011). "Portal 2 Review". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on August 22, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  14. ^ Tuttle, Will (April 21, 2011). "GameSpy: Portal 2 Review". GameSpy. Archived from the original on June 27, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  15. San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. Archived
    from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  16. ^ Williams, G. Christopher (May 3, 2011). "'Her Name Is Caroline': Identifying the Misbehaving Woman in Portal 2". PopMatters. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
  17. ^ Bell, Alice (August 18, 2023). "Aperture Desk Job continues the story of business mega-bastard Cave Johnson absolutely perfectly". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on February 6, 2024. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
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