By Kieron Gillen on November 7th, 2007 at 11:25 pm.
We love Portal. You love Portal. But Niki? He loves Portal.
Both beat-poetry and commentary on his motivations from the be-inked man beneath the cut:
Firstly, his original mail. EDIT: And in the game!
Not in cruelty,
Not in wrath,
The REAPER came today;
An ANGEL visited
this gray path,
And took the cube away.
Sniff. He didn’t do in Italics, but we did, as we think it added classy empathsis. We’re all about the classy empathsis.
We also asked Niki why he actually got them done in the first place. “Valve has created several of my favorite games,” Niki notes, “When I played Portal and encountered the WCC I saw something Iconic and instantly recognizable to anyone who is a Valve fan. The cake is for balance (plus I like to make cakes!). I work in the video game industry so I figured it was a perfect fit. Plus it doesn’t hurt that the game is incredibly innovative.”
Hurrah for gaming tattoos. Also, for bonus marks, which member of the RPS team has a tattoo of art from cult piece of Russian obscurantism, Pathologic?



07/11/2007 at 23:30 Jens Arnesen says:
If I ever get a tattoo, it’s going to be a direct copy of that one.
07/11/2007 at 23:49 Echo Nolan says:
Emphasis! Not empathsis! Beware the internet spelling/grammar nazi army!
I will get a tattoo when they cost
07/11/2007 at 23:56 Kast says:
Are those his arms or legs?
I’ve always considered getting a little lambda symbol at some point to celebrate the whole H-L series.
07/11/2007 at 23:56 Evo says:
Very nice :D
07/11/2007 at 23:56 drunkymonkey says:
“If I ever get a tattoo, it’s going to be a direct copy of that one.”
Surely you mean those two?
08/11/2007 at 00:00 Andrew Mayer says:
I’ll just settle for the temporary happiness of my icon.
08/11/2007 at 00:01 FaceOmeter says:
dark have been my dreams of late
08/11/2007 at 00:05 Andrew says:
It has to be John Walker with the Pathologic tattoo.
08/11/2007 at 00:16 Kast says:
“dark have been my dreams of late”
Random Lord of the Rings quote? Boromir, if I’m not mistaken…
08/11/2007 at 00:16 John Walker says:
Ha. I’m about as likely to get a tattoo as I am to wedge a ten foot rusty piece of rebar into my face. (Which I’m almost certain will be the next piercing craze).
08/11/2007 at 00:17 Emil says:
I want a tattoo of a butt, with a tattoo of a butt on it and I want it tattooed on my butt.
Seriosly, that is really damn ugly, not a very talented tattoo artist. And it makes him look like he’s a mix between the psycho in Cape Fear and a complete geek. That poem doesn’t help on that impression.
08/11/2007 at 00:17 Kast says:
I am mistaken. Twas Theoden.
08/11/2007 at 00:24 Niki says:
Re: Emil
The picture doesn’t do it justice at all. It was taken very quickly this morning in really poor lighting with an old digital camera. The glare from the flash really muted the detail.
08/11/2007 at 00:25 Kris says:
Portal papercraft ftw
08/11/2007 at 00:26 Kris says:
awesome html skills from me
http://paperkraft.blogspot.com/2007/10/portal-papercraft-weighted-companion.html
08/11/2007 at 00:34 Emil says:
Hey Niki, sorry for the sarcasm. But yeah i don’t have any tats so I’m probably not the right person to judge anyhoo.
08/11/2007 at 04:54 Matt says:
The portal poem you quote is in-game. Its in the “hidden” room with the pictures of the WCC on the WCC level.
08/11/2007 at 06:54 Max says:
It’s very well done… But who honestly would want that on them for years to come? :/
08/11/2007 at 08:25 Bozzley says:
I think Kieron has the tattoo. And I want a Companion Cube tat!
08/11/2007 at 08:54 Adam Hepton says:
I am aghast. Not in a good way.
08/11/2007 at 09:25 Nick says:
Could be worse, could be tweetypie.
08/11/2007 at 09:35 Frans Coehoorn says:
This is a triumph, I’m making a note here: Great Tattoo.
Well, kinda.
08/11/2007 at 12:16 Robin says:
This just makes me wonder what else this chap has ill-advised tattoos of.
08/11/2007 at 13:02 Andrew says:
Ha. I’m about as likely to get a tattoo as I am to wedge a ten foot rusty piece of rebar into my face. (Which I’m almost certain will be the next piercing craze).
Yeah. Suppose so. But… you did dye your hair red, which is almost the same thing, right?
And I couldn’t think of anyone else who would have such a love for Pathologic, even if you did review it sort of average-score-ly, if I remember correctly.
The Gillen, then?
08/11/2007 at 13:52 Kim says:
I wonder if he’ll love them that much when he’s old and wrinkly :P
08/11/2007 at 14:10 The_B says:
It goes with the beard. So has to be Kieron. John’s beard is nice, but does make him look a little like Seth Rogan.
08/11/2007 at 14:55 Niki says:
Re: Robin
I also have a tattoo of the Mandelbrot set.
09/11/2007 at 02:19 Pod says:
The WCC was shit. I enjoyed burning the sodding thing. Can we hurry up and forget it yet?
09/11/2007 at 02:45 Zell says:
Pod: ‘Unlikeable. Liked by no one. A bitter, unlikeable loner, who’s passing shall not be mourned. Shall not be mourned.’ That’s exactly what it says. Very formal. Very official.
11/11/2007 at 11:15 po says:
It wouldn’t surprise me if everything I put in the incinerator survived (“All Aperture technologies remain safely operational up to 4000 degrees Kelvin”). It’s the sort of thing that bloody psycho computer would get off on, making me think I’d got the satisfaction of roasting that cube. It was a lousy date anyway.
18/11/2007 at 04:52 Random says:
in 5 years when no one remembers portal.. he’s going to seem like a crazy guy with a love for 3-d objects and cake. which isn’t a particularly bad thing.
23/11/2007 at 01:14 Elenboreth says:
Where’s the romance in your soul? People will remember Portal for as long as they remember Half Life!
12/05/2008 at 18:07 Subjective Effect says:
This is worse than the guy getting the wrist tattoos from BioShock.
Just get a full body Master Chief tattoo and be done with it guys.