- "I do not feel disturbed at all. I do not feel remorse, I do not feel pity, I do not feel compassion. I feel... nothing. I am the perfect scientist, you see, because I have the clearest mind of all, for my judgment and my actions are never hindered by weaknesses such as emotion."
- — Michelle Glados
Michelle "Chell" Glados was a former Paradox Space Marauder and the late de facto leader of XERRD, which she worked for as a scientist who specialized in technology.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Little is known about Michelle Glados's early life primarily because she had little family and very few friends. Her mother, Caroline Glados, died shortly after Chell was born, while her father, David Johnson Glados, was an alcoholic and often angry and abusive towards his only daughter.
A bitter, unlikable loner who believed that nobody would mourn her passing, Chell Glados instead took to studying science and technology, deciding to make it her very life's purpose. In particular, she worked with portals and teleportation. Her developments in those fields would later be improved upon and utilized by figures across the LEGO Universe, from Rocket Racer to LEGO Club Host Max.
Paradox[]
Feeling bored with life on LEGO Planet, Michelle Glados decided to travel to the Nimbus Station, where she would join Nexus Force and participate in the fight against the Maelstrom. After passing the tests required to join, she decided to join Paradox, which she saw as the most technologically-advanced.
As a Paradox Space Marauder, Michelle Glados grew in reputation and rank as she continued to make technological advancements for the Nexus Force's use. She was particularly intrigued by the Maelstrom Force Fields of Forbidden Valley, which were designed to repel anyone not wearing Maelstrom-infused ninja hoods. She eventually developed her own version of this force field.
While she continued to be a bitter loner, her no-nonsense attitude and refusal to be bossed around won over the respect of a fellow Paradox Space Marauder, Dr. Rex. Eventually, Dr. Glados was approached by Dr. Rex with a proposition to leave Paradox and form a new organization, Xenon Elite Researchers Regarding Destruction. After some consideration, Glados accepted his offer.
Dino Attack[]
The new organization returned to LEGO Planet to begin their operations. However, XERRD drastically changed its course when its members, including Michelle Glados, suddenly felt compelled to bring the Minifig species to extinction by creating Mutant Dinosaurs. Dr. Glados was entrusted to the very important task of building teleport pads around the globe so that Mutant Dinos could reach the farthest corners of the map, ensuring that the Dino Attack could swiftly impact the entire world. Because of this, she was made third-in-command of XERRD.
After building teleport pads across the globe, as well as several teleportation stations in the Dino Island Laboratory and LEGO Island Laboratory, Dr. Glados spent most of her time in the Dino Island Laboratory, overseeing operations when her superiors, Dr. Rex and Dr. Wallace Bishop, were too busy. Since Dr. Bishop spent much of the Dino Attack out on the battlefield, Dr. Glados often had the second-highest command in the laboratory.
While Dr. Glados remained in the Dino Island Laboratory throughout most of the Dino Attack, the effects of her work were felt throughout the world. Due to her teleport pads, Mutant Dinos were able to reach many continents and islands without needing to sneak aboard cargo ships or spend many days traveling. A massive army of Mutant Dinos was teleported into Quadrant 14 of the Goo Caverns in a plan to eliminate the Dino Attack Team. During the mission to LEGO Island, a T-1 Typhoon was constantly under attack by Mutant Lizards teleporting aboard the helicopter from the LEGO Island Laboratory.
Following the invasion of Brickster-Bots and FMB-Bots, Dr. Rex began to fear that the Maelstrom was slipping out of his control. To ensure that he remained in control, he sent XERRD's highest-ranking members, including Chell Glados, to Adventurers' Island to secure the Maelstrom Temple.
They arrived at a XERRD Fortress built on the island. There, Dr. Glados encountered a group of infiltrating Dino Attack agents led by Reptile and Sam Sinister. She immediately used her handheld portal device to teleport the infiltrators outside the fortress.
Later, near one of the force fields set up in a restricted area of the XERRD Fortress, Chell Glados found two XERRD scientists and a group of XERRD guards. Annoyed that so many guards were off-duty while Dino Attack was attacking the fortress, Glados ordered the grunts back to work. When one female guard objected and fabricated that she was assigned to push the wheelchair of one of the scientists, supposedly a synthetically engineered clone of Dr. Rex, Glados wondered why a mere grunt would be trusted to such a task.
Dr. Glados was shocked when the grunt revealed herself to be Silencia Venomosa in disguise. Venomosa eventually extorted Glados into letting her through the force field. However, Dr. Glados realized that the two scientists were actually Reptile and Rex and that the rest of the guards were likely disguised Dino Attack agents. As a result, Chell Glados teleported the false XERRD guards to the front lines of the Dino Attack Team's attack upon the fortress, activated neurotoxin emitters, and teleported herself away from Venomosa, Rex, and Reptile.
Glados teleported herself into the XERRD Fortress's central chamber, where Walter Breen and Zed Provhezor were holding negotiations between Sam Sinister and Señor Palomar, who was running the XERRD Fortress. When Venomosa, Rex, and Reptile burst into the room, Glados activated a laser grid to block them off. Then, after Señor Palomar activated more Skeleton Mummies, Glados teleported herself, Palomar, Breen, and Provhezor out of the chamber.
However, Glados returned to the XERRD Fortress via her portal gun in order to make sure Wallace Bishop got out alive. They geared up in their Space Marauder uniforms, then returned to the rest of the group. Glados also made sure that Carolyne Provencal put on her Sorcerer gear before teleporting her out of the fortress. Along the way to the Maelstrom Temple, they met up with other Space Marauders, Sorcerers, and a Shinobi who had escaped the fortress.
At the Maelstrom Temple, they discovered only a small group of Dino Attack agents. While Dr. Bishop extracted Maelstrom energies, Dr. Glados and the others battled the Dino Attack agents, with Glados using her teleportation device as part of her battle strategy into confuse and surprise her enemies.
The battle came to a brief halt when Wallace Bishop killed Walter Breen for attempting to use Kate Bishop as a human shield. Michelle Glados could not understand Wallace's attachment to Kate and commented that the only thing Kate would be useful for is as a test subject, prompting Wallace to threaten her. Glados then learned that Wallace Bishop was actually Frank Einstein, a mole working for Nexus Force and Dino Attack Team.
Rising to the rank of second-in-command, Michelle Glados teamed up with Carolyne Provencal to lead the seventeen remaining XERRD survivors in one last attempt to kill the Dino Attack agents. However, Baron Typhonus revealed himself to XERRD and the Dino Attack Team, explaining that he needed the Maelstrom Crystal to assume full power. While the other fifteen XERRD survivors were led away by Dr. Cyborg, Glados and Provencal stayed behind to secure the Maelstrom Crystal for XERRD's own purposes.
Teamed up, Glados and Provencal made a formidable pair, with Provencal using dark magic while Glados dropped grenades and continued to use her teleportation device to confuse and disorient her enemies. They battled Zachary Virchaus, Minerva Fabello, and Dr. Cyborg until Glados finally got hold of the Maelstrom Crystal. However, before she could escape with Provencal and the crystal, Fabello shot and destroyed her teleportation device, cutting off her escape. Michelle Glados was then incapacitated by Pterisa, who struck her with a bolt of lightning.
Michelle Glados regrouped with Paulie Gonepus, Rual Barabbas, and the other survivors of XERRD, then prepared to return to Dinosaur Island. They contacted Dr. Rex and the rest of XERRD, learning that the Brickster destroyed the Dino Island Laboratory and that XERRD had retreated to an outpost in the Goo Caverns. With the XERRD Fortress and Dino Island Laboratory destroyed, Dr. Glados was forced to hastily build a replacement teleportation device and made upgrades to her rocket launcher.
Michelle Glados joined XERRD in the final attack on LEGO City. After teleporting Cyrista's Bane into battle, Dr. Glados contributed by teleporting between the wrecked buildings to find sniping posts, from which she would fire at Dino Attack vehicles with her rocket launcher. Whenever Dino Attack Team fired back, Glados would teleport herself to another building.
Dr. Glados witnessed Dr. Rex as he met his apparent defeat and was subsequently possessed by the Maelstrom. Believing Dr. Rex to be unfit for leading XERRD any longer, Blaire Darkling contacted Dr. Glados and informed her that she was now the de facto leader of XERRD. Despite a message from Semick offering XERRD a chance to surrender, Glados ordered her fellow scientists to keep fighting Dino Attack Team, believing that studying the apocalypse of LEGO Planet after the fall of Dino Attack Team would be a great scientific achievement.
After successfully destroying Rex's Iron Predator, Dr. Glados teleported herself down onto the battlefield to make sure that Rex was dead. They argued about Glados's morals, and when Rex declared that Glados's lack of emotion made her weak, Glados retorted by shooting and killing Silencia Venomosa, who was now Rex's wife. Michelle Glados watched with sick pleasure as Rex mourned Venomosa's death, then prepared to kill Rex just as a swarm of Mutant Lizards arrived.
Glados and the Mutant Lizards were kept at bay by Trouble, who arrived to protect his old friend. Glados and Trouble fought each other, and the scuffle ended with Glados shooting Trouble and fatally wounding him. Michelle Glados started to become angry that Rex always had someone to protect him from death, and her mood was not helped by the arrival of T-1 Typhoons which scattered the remaining Mutant Lizards. When Glados tried to shoot Rex, Trouble got up and attacked her. Although Glados tried to escape, her rebuilt teleportation device malfunctioned, leaving her vulnerable. With his dying breaths, Trouble managed to kill Michelle Glados and save Rex.
Abilities and Traits[]
Michelle Glados was a brilliant scientist and inventor. She specialized mainly with portals, teleportation, and force fields. Due to being a member of XERRD, she had immunity to the neurotoxins installed into XERRD bases.
Michelle Glados always spoke in a bored tone of voice, almost to the point of monotone. She considered herself a bitter, unlikable loner. As a result, she did not trust anyone as a friend. For the most part, she hid her emotions and believed emotion to be weakness, but under great stress, her expression could betray her true feelings. Glados was incredibly sadistic, finding sick pleasure in the suffering of others, and had no morals, willing to let millions die in her twisted view of scientific advancement. Glados was known for her high tenacity, as she did not give up easily, but she had no problem with using her teleportation device to escape from certain defeat.
Quotes[]
- "Carefully choose your words next time, grunt, because MegaBlokland is a real place where you will be sent at the first sign of defiance."
- — Michelle Glados
- "This is an interesting outcome to this experiment, indeed, but it appears that there is some error involved. Believe me, being still alive right now... that is a mistake. That is why I am about to correct this mathematical error."
- — Michelle Glados
Trivia[]
- Michelle Glados is named after the two main characters of Portal: Chell, the protagonist, and GLaDOS, the antagonist. She carries personality traits of both characters.
- Michelle Glados was originally intended to fill Walter Breen's role as the XERRD scientist who went against Wallace Bishop's orders about keeping Kate Bishop out of the conflict, and she would have been killed by Wallace Bishop as punishment.
- Michelle Glados is a cousin of Howard Simmons, the CEO of Lens Pioneers. They are related through her father's side.
- In the original Dino Attack RPG, this character was consistently called "Chell Glados". At War's End started calling her "Michelle Glados" instead, clarifying that "Chell" was only a nickname. The reason for this change was to distance the RPG character from her video game inspiration. Version 1.1 of the Director's Cut takes this a step further, altering her name to "Michelle Gladys".