I didn’t think this merited a thread by itself.
While recently perusing a little light reading, namely “The Armies of Ignorance”, a history of the US Intelligence services by William R. Corson I came across a reference to one 19th Century US Senator, Cave Johnson by name:
And there was me thinking it was such a made up name! 
Wow, he invented the postage stamp!
Anyway, much as I loved the latter day Cave Johnson, I thought the setting lost something by including him. In Portal, I could believe that I was trapped in what had once been a legitimate scientific facility that was now under the control of a rogue AI. The science fiction elements aside, that was a realistic scenario, and it gave an element of horror to the game. I could imagine my character reacting to the situation as a real person would.
Cave Johnson, as funny as he was, breaks that level of realism. A rogue AI (in a possibly post-apocalyptic setting) that’s murdered everyone in its facility in a series of bizarre and pointless “tests” is terrifying. A deranged millionaire (in 1950’s America) doing the same, with a full staff of research scientists, lawyers, secretaries, etc. going along with it, puts the game in cartoon land. It’s no longer a scenario that (science fiction elements aside) could plausibly happen in the real world.
Still a great, great game, and Cave Johnson is a hilarious character, but there’s a slight loss of tension in the sequel for me.
Well, maybe not in YOUR world.
/To the Batcave!
I dunno. I have the feeling that if someone said we could fight off the Red Menace with an army of Mantis-Men, Congress would have covered that proposal with so many rubber stamps you wouldn’t be able to read the print.
By the way, if anyone wants an experienced partner for multiplayer, I’ve been through it once now. My Steam ID is “sonorhC”.