Odes to a Companion Cube

Is there another character or object in modern video games that inspires devotion like Portal‘s Weighted Companion Cube? Here’s how some fans have expressed their adoration for the grey box of love.

I’m amazed at how many fans have burst into mellifluous poetry over this “character” that’s not alive and never speaks, and is only in the game for a few minutes. I think it has something to do with the fact that WCC (spoiler!) is executed/destroyed by order of the game’s villainous artificial intelligence, GLaDOS, after helping the player at a crucial moment.

Below I provide you with excerpts of some of the most interesting WCC poems I’ve seen. Click on the links to read the full versions.

A deeply sorrowful player still laments the Cube’s demise:

My only friend
In these dark times
You told me not to dispair
GLaDOS said not to listen
To anything you said
Told me not to care

Not in cruelty,
Not in wrath,
The Reaper came today;
An Angel visited
this gray path
And took the cube away.

Here’s a heartfelt Ode that’s hopeful for a reunion with the Companion Cube in the afterlife. An excerpt:

For it seems that the delicious cake
Was actually a lie.
To lure me to a hot place
Where I shall surly die.

So into the fires that stole my cube
I shall also pass.
But I don’t fear this burning death
As it will reunite me with my cube at last.

And we will spend eternity
In our little private hell.
And we will talk about our hopes and dreams
And maybe have some cake as well.

Not every player has fond memories. This free verse (non-rhyming) poem expresses very mixed feelings:

Oh Companion Cube,
I wish you ill.
The trouble you bare me,
Is it all really worth it?
But then I remember,
Those days back in Aperture Labs,
Where you, my only friend,
Kept me company, made me glad.

The oddest entry on this list has some surprisingly dirty thoughts about WCC:

Into my life through a hole in the sky,
As you fell into my hands I felt glad.
Never thought I would ever say good bye.
Did I just think of you scantily clad?

I think this is my favorite. It oscillates between feelings of guilt and inevitability, quite beautifully:

i held him over the open pit
with seconds before it shut
if there was only another way
could someone tell me what?

i couldn’t save my best friend’s life
there was nothing i could do
i dropped him in and watched
as red fire turned to blue

after the horrid deed was done
i heard the voice once more.
she seemed happy that i murdered him
and she opened up the door.

Finally, here’s a music video for a player who was so moved, she wrote a love song for her Companion Cube and even filmed a music video!

Instagram collage created using InstaBG.