Portal

Portals, first introduced in the original Army Men, are important objects that usually play a crucial role throughout the series. They typically allow quick transport between the Plastic World and the Real World, and can also be used for general transport between vast distances. The Tan Republic has been known for their interest and research into portals, with General Plastro exploiting them to further the war in his favor.

Overview[]

The role and functionality of portals typically change between titles. Throughout the Army Men series, they occasionally play a significant role, and in some games, the plot revolves around their exploitation, and the resources that the Real World holds.

In earlier titles, portals were seemingly random occurrences that were discovered in a wide variety of places. However, throughout the Army Men: Sarge's Heroes trilogy, portals tend to only appear inside of large buckets that are tipped onto their sides.

For all their significance in the stories of the games, the portals are fairly enigmatic, and their origin remains unexplained.

In Games[]

Army Men[]

The very first portal in the series is introduced at the very end of the game. It was located deep within a graveyard in a bayou, and appears to be built out of LEGO-like, gray blocks. Unlike other portals in the series, this one must first be activated by using a key on a nearby pedestal. Sarge steps through it after a moment of hesitation, and ends up in a real world kitchen. Shortly after, the Green Nation discovers the existence of it, and they initially believe it's a weapon created by the Tan.

Army Men II[]

The game opens with the same portal from the previous installment. General Plastro arrives at it with a sizable force of Tan soldiers, who proceed to march through the gateway. After all the Tan have entered the portal, a nearby group of Tan extremists led by Major Mylar destroy the portal. Throughout the story, a number of portals are utilized for quick transport between areas, and are found within such places as a cookie jar, an 8-Ball, and at the bottom of a gutter pipe. The final portal that Sarge and his team use is embedded within a rock archway a short distance outside of a Tan facility.

Army Men: Toys in Space[]

There is only a single portal in this game, and it functions as a rapid way to deploy to Tina Tomorrow's planet from the Real World, rather than functioning as a form of travel between the Real World and the Plastic World.

Army Men: Sarge's Heroes[]

Portals take a center stage in this title, as the story revolves around General Plastro seizing control of precious resources within the Real World and using them to achieve his goal of world domination. Sgt. Hawk enters through a various amount of portals in this game, which bring him to a wide variety of locales. As a result of this game seemingly taking place in a different continuity from the original Army Men games, the Green Nation are unaware of the portals until Sgt. Hawk follows the Blue Spy through one.

By the end of the game, Sarge is believed to have destroyed every last portal, trapping Plastro in the real world.

Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2[]

Though Sarge tracked down and destroyed all the known portals in the previous entry, many more were apparently out of his reach, as the sequel features many more.

Interestingly, the Tan have constructed a Train line that connects the portals, facilitating the transit of de-Plastrification serum from the Fridge to Dr. Madd's Castle. From this, it can be inferred that the Tan Army are most likely not able to move or control the locations of portals, as it would not make sense for them to have the Plastic World side of the portal so far from the castle as to necessitate the use of a train if they could simply put it inside the castle and bring the serum directly from the Fridge.

Army Men: Air Combat[]

In this game, the portals are wildly different in appearance from those seen in Sarge's Heroes. There are two varieties of portal, one on the ground, and the other in the air. Both appear as large energy fields of yellow and purple light, rather than the blue, shimmering, liquidic appearance of the Sarge's Heroes portals. The Portals in Air Combat are not localized to the inside of buckets.

Trivia[]

Curiously, the first portal had a design change between Army Men and Army Men II. Despite being the same portal, in Army Men II it had shrunken in size, and had a blue ripple effect (whereas the portal originally had a hazy grey, cloud-like effect). The Army Men II portal is also accompanied by a unique sound effect, and there is noticeably more foliage in the area as well. The kitchen that Sarge ends up in is also slightly different.
- In general, the portal goes through minor design changes with each entry, and is rarely consistent. For example, in Army Men: Toys in Space, it is tucked within a 3DO console, is gray, and lacks the unique sound it had in Army Men II.
- Interestingly, the remake of Army Men changes the portal to appear similar to its incarnation in Army Men II.