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The character you play in Portal is never named throughout the game. I can see that it's a female by looking through a portal, but the game always skirts any information about the character (e.g. GlaDOS speaks to you, but cuts out the name by saying "Subject name here.") I understand that Valve did this because they want you, personally to become more immersed in the game, but I think having a compelling character with a great story makes a good game even better.

Who is she? What is her story?

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    Actually, part of what made the game compelling is the fact that a lot of things are a mystery to the player. Commented Jul 15, 2010 at 0:28

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She is Chell.

See here:

Although Chell's origins are unknown, she was most definitely among the people present during GLaDOS's activation in 200-, as GLaDOS locked down the facility after her activation, letting none escape, or be let in from the outside.

EDIT: Visiting aperturescience.com, you can learn that she is the daughter of Cave Johnson (CEO of Aperture Science) and that she was brought there on Bring Your Daughter To Work day.

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    @Cray it's an "anti gravity device" (I don't remember the exact name) -- it's what causes her not to break her legs when she falls from incredible heights Commented Mar 2, 2011 at 15:20
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    @Juan - they're called heel springs, if I recall correctly. Commented Mar 2, 2011 at 16:13
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    Yep - heel springs. "What's wrong with your legs?" - GlaDOS Commented Mar 18, 2011 at 21:30
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    @Cray They're a foot-based suit of armor for the portal device, developed after they discovered a reproducible human error problem that caused damage to the valuable equipment: laptopmemo.com/2011/04/12/… Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 12:55
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    I was under the impression that she was the adopted daughter of an Aperture Science employee, but not Cave Johnson specifically. He doesn't seem like the paternal type, anyway. Commented Jan 31, 2012 at 0:16

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