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…or, what should Chell be wearing when she kicks GLaDOS’ butt? For those unfamiliar, Chell is the heroine from Portal, the representative of the player who runs through portals, evading GLaDOS and her minions, solving puzzles, ever in search of cake. And she’ll be there for Portal 2, but what will she wear?

In early 2010, Valve’s concept artist, Matt Charlesworth, showed off some concept art for characters and scenes that might be in Portal 2. In amongst them was new concept artwork for Chell, who seemed to have undergone a makeover during her centuries-long sleep. No longer adorned in an orange jumpsuit, Chell was now wearing a full bodysuit, complete with headset. Still sleek and slim, the suit allowed for speed, flexibility, and storage while still showing the curves.

GameInformer has a great article about some of the ideas that went into creating the original design for Portal 2, why some things would work and some would be thrown out. The concept that she was “dressed by machines” and everything on her would be for the functionality of computer readability was important. As was the idea that Valve wanted to slightly dehumanize the character, like as within a prison system, while at the same time provide a measure of vulnerability. A bit of a fine line to walk, to be sure.

A lot can happen in a year, and now we are getting images of what Chell will look like in the final product. Kotaku has posted an article following up with the artistic concepts regarding the final images, and the ideas are quite a bit different, although the design is not too extraordinarily different from the first. After all, we’re not talking full body armor here!

The orange jumpsuit is back, but this time only up to her waist where it is tied off. Then there’s the tight, exercise shirt she’s wearing. Valve’s art team explained the change to Kotaku:

“Portal 2 takes place well after the events of the original game, but for Chell (and likewise the player) all that time has passed in an instant. She’s also evolved from a lab rat under the facility’s control to the sole cause of its destruction. Her familiar dehumanizing orange jumpsuit is still present, but she’s tied the top around her waist and rolled up her sleeves to give her more freedom this time around. This also helps her stand out more as an individual, as opposed to a numbered, anonymous test subject.”

They didn’t want players to be placed into some character role, but to continue to use Chell as a vehicle for the player to be in the Portal universe. At the same time, they wanted the players to see an evolution in Chell like they see an evolution in the world of GLaDOS and Aperture Science.

So, what do you think? Should Chell stick to the orange jumpsuit? Or should she try out that new, sleek, full-body design? Or maybe there’s another design idea you have in your head. Let us know in the comments, or you can post in the poll to the right.