Repulsion Gel

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Repulsion Gel
General information
Faction	Aperture Science
Type	Liquid fiberglass insulator
Usage
Used by	Chell ATLAS and P-body
Game information
Entity	paint_bomb_jump
Designer(s)	Pongthep Charnchaichujit (original design)

 

"Last poor son of a gun got blue paint. Hahaha. All joking aside, that did happen - broke every bone in his legs. Tragic. But informative. Or so I'm told."

― Cave Johnson

Repulsion Gel, also known as Bounce Gel, is a testing element used in the Enrichment Center several decades before Portal and introduced in Portal 2. It is one of four types of Mobility Gels.

Overview

Repulsion Gel dripping from a vent in Sphere 02's Test Chamber 01 in Test Shaft 09

• Used as far back as 1953 by Aperture Science, Repulsion Gel is the company's first attempt at a dietetic pudding substitute. The gel, a bright blue color, is said to be a sweeter, slightly less non-toxic form of fiberglass insulation. Its purpose was to cause subsequently ingested food items to bounce off the lining of the dieter's distended stomach and out of their mouth. However, for various reasons, the product was also pulled from the shelves like the Propulsion Gel, and reconverted into a testing element for use with the Aperture Science Portable Quantum Tunneling Device, the forerunner of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. The material was eventually deemed hazardous even by Aperture Science's standards, and sealed away in Test Shaft 9 along with the Propulsion Gel and Conversion Gel, before the shaft was opened by Chell in order to escape from it. During the escape, she activated the pump stations containing the gel, and finally opened the main hatch between Test Shaft 9 and the main facility, allowing the Gels to once more become available in the facility.

• When coating a surface, Repulsion Gel will cause Test Subjects to bounce off the surface. Standing on the gel and jumping will cause them to be bounced approximately 2.5 times their normal jump height. Falling onto the gel form a height will cause them to bounce slighty higher than the drop height. When placed on the walls, the gel will bounce them horizontally.

• When bouncing off Repulsion Gel, the angle at which a Test Subject hits the gel is the angle at which he or she is bounced off - for instance, hitting the gel at a 45 degree angle will bounce the Test Subject at a 45 degree angle. While bouncing, Test Subjects have a small degree of air control, which they can use to influence where they land by moving themselves in the desired direction.

• During a pre-recorded message in a test chamber, Cave Johnson instructed the Test subjects that they should, under no circumstances, get covered in repulsion gel. Aperture Scientists were not able to identify what element repulsion gel was except that it "was a lively one that does not like the human skeleton". Despite this, getting covered in repulsion gel in the game will not harm a human or robot player character.

• As a testing element, Repulsion Gel, coming as single blobs or continuous streams through a vent, transfers its properties to any object it touches, giving them a trampoline-like surface. After coating parallel walls on either side of a large pit, a Test Subject ricochets back and forth across the gap. Plastering Repulsion Gel all over a Weighted Storage Cube causes it to barrel across the room, shattering glass and taking out Sentry Turrets in its path. Portals can also be shot under Repulsion Gel vents, allowing the gel to be sent in any area of a Test Chamber.

• It is possible to cover Aperture Science Sentry Turrets with the gel, causing them to bounce around, effectively deactivating them.

• "Repulsion Gel" is a registered trademark of Aperture Science.

Related Achievements

Portal 2
	Vertically Unchallenged (15G)
	Master the Repulsion Gel.
	Schrodinger's Catch (20G)
	Catch a blue-painted box before it touches the ground.

Behind the scenes

A portal is sent into Repulsion Gel by the ASHPD.

• The Repulsion and Propulsion Gels were first introduced as unnamed paint types in the April, 2010 issue of Game Informer. Gameplay footage and their proper name was revealed during E3 2010.
• So far the expanded gameplay produced by Repulsion Gel and Propulsion Gel alone appears to be extremely satisfying, and Valve indicated a willingness to include more if it sees fit.
• Repulsion Gel mirrors directly the green paint featured in the student video game Tag: The Power of Paint, as the whole team was hired by Valve to develop it for Portal 2. The original Tag paint was developed by Pongthep Charnchaichujit.
• There was a Repulsion Gel chamber prior to release that many people think did not make it into the retail game, when it actually did. It is one of the last chambers of the Repulsion Gel-only levels. Many people do not recognize it because it has been changed in look to match the old facility, and an Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grill was added in front of the ramp.
• While Repulsion Gel was made around 20 years before Propulsion Gel, it hit shelves after Propulsion Gel. Also, there is a face placard about Repulsion Gel saying that is was Aperture's first attempt to create a dietetic pudding substitute, while demonstrational videos say that it was second attempt.

Trivia

• It's revealed in Portal 2 that the three gels were simply not connected to the more modern Aperture facility, explaining why they weren't encountered in the original Portal.

• While the animated diagrams of the Propulsion and Repulsion Gels show them to be contained in buckets, this aspect was not seen in-game.

• The Repulsion and Propulsion Gels use the same colors as that of the ASHPD's portals (blue and orange, respectively).

Gallery

Portal 2

Pre-release

• 

  Repulsion Gel diagram.

• 

  A Repulsion Gel glob about to splatter.

• 

  A glob bursting after hitting the ground.

• 

  Jumping on walls thanks to Repulsion Gel.

• 

  Repulsion Gel.

• 

  The Repulsion Gel effect.

• 

  Early Repulsion Gel icon in Perpetual Testing Initiative.

Retail

• 

  "Gel Flow" direction sign.

• 

  Repulsion Gel sign.

• 

  Repulsion Gel fact placard.

• 

  Blue "Gel Pressure Control" notice on the console in Pump Station Alpha.

• 

  Modern Repulsion Gel sign.

• 

  Repulsion Gel applied onto a wall.

• 

  Being covered with Repulsion Gel in Test Shaft 09.

• 

  Repulsion Gel seen in the 50s area of Test Shaft 09, with Aperture Science Switch.

• 

  Ditto, with 1500 Megawatt Aperture Science Heavy Duty Super-Colliding Super Button.

• 

  Ditto, already applied onto the walls.

• 

  Ditto, being conveniently placed with the use of portals.

• 

  Ditto, after throwing it in the needed spots in Test Chamber 02.

• 

  Ditto, test Chamber 28 with the Repulsion Gel on the right.

• 

  Ditto, the Repulsion Gel-covered Prototype Weighted Storage Cube bouncing around.

• 

  Repulsion Gel icon in Perpetual Testing Initiative.

Aperture Desk Job

• 

  Repulsion Gel at the bottom of a slide in a play space, suggesting an unfortunate accident.

List of appearances

Main games

• Portal 2 (First appearance)
• Peer Review
• Perpetual Testing Initiative

Other

• The Final Hours of Portal 2
• Portal: The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game (Non-canonical appearance)
• Lego Dimensions (Non-canonical appearance)
• Bridge Constructor Portal (Non-canonical appearance)
• Aperture Desk Job (Non-canonical appearance)

References

Combine OverWiki has more images related to Repulsion Gel.

External links

• First demonstration video on YouTube
• Second demonstration video on YouTube