Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles: Difference between revisions

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The first five seasons of ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'', with the official collection's name coming from the fact that they take place in the Blood Gulch level of the ''[[Halo]]'' series. The collection contains 100 episodes, as well as two miniseries, "Out of Mind" and "Recovery One".

 

* [[Acquired Situational Narcissism]]: Grif after Simmons temporarily leaves during a [[Cassandra Truth]].

* [[Affirmative Action Girl]]: First Tex, then Sister in season 5. [[Robo Ship|Sheila]] becomes one of these gradually. Donut too, which is just weird.

* [[...And Show It to You]]: Except the way Tex is said to have done this doesn't seem physically possible (which were essentially the victim's last words.)

* [[And Then What?]]: Church asks this in the final episode of Blood Gulch Chronicles:

* [[Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?]]: Often through Caboose, to the point he's just plain ignored most of the time.

{{quote|'''Caboose''': I have an idea.

'''Tucker''': Yeah, we heard you the first time, Caboose. We were just ignoring you. }}

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]:

** Church arranges for both his and Tex's funeral. Caboose delivers the eulogy. Church is less than impressed.

* [[Baa Bomb]]: The Blue Team tries calming down a bomb named Andy with imagination therapy. One of the images presented was a flock of sheep. "[[Worms|The kind that don't blow up]]."

* [[Badass]]: Tex, especially when she finally takes it [[Up to Eleven]].

* [[Bad Bad Acting]]: Donut's play.

** Grif provides us with the Big No big enough to end all Big Nos.

** Church also performs a Big No {{spoiler|both of the times Caboose is killed in the time loop.}}

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: Pretty much the standard throughout each arc of the series. {{spoiler|''Blood Gulch'' ends when Tex betrays the others and tries to help Wyoming and Omega escape with the alien. Instead she, and about a third of the speaking parts in the show, are seemingly killed in a massive explosion.}} The Freelancer plot is thwarted, but Church is left embittered and everything that's happened seems to have been for nothing. On the plus side, Grif ''finally'' gets shotgun!

* [[Body Surf]]:

* [[Brainless Beauty]]: Sister.

* [[Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs]]: Caboose's dialogue after Tex is captured in season one. "Yep, he's definitely captured... or dead... captured or dead. ([[GASP|gasps]]) '''Or captured ''and'' dead!'''"

** "Yeah, I didn't think it was possible [to overdose on aspirin], and trust me, I've tried!"

** "...but then I thought, who wants to be known as the girl who's had seven abortions?"

** "You ever wonder why you're here?" Used in the last episode.

* [[Brilliant but Lazy]]: Church thinks Grif is the craftiest of the Reds, but Grif never really shows himself as being anything but lazy (except when it comes to his creativity in finding ways of being lazy).

* [[Buried Alive]]: Sarge allows this to happen to himself in the fifth season when his dedication to Red Command orders causes him to think he's been killed in action.

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Nearly the entire cast to some degree or another. Grif, Simmons, Grif, Tucker, Grif, Caboose, Grif, Lopez, Grif, Donut, [[Department of Redundancy Department|Grif, and Caboose]] are some of the examples.

'''Sarge:''' Donut! I said plan 11!

'''Donut:''' Where am I going to get a steamroller? }}

* [[Catch Phrase]]: Several, including one that's apparently genetic in Tucker's case as his alien "baby" does his own version:

{{quote|'''Tucker''': Bow chicka bow wow!

{{quote|'''Caboose''': I know where you can find O'Malley. He lived inside my head for a while, maybe he left an address so I could send his mail. We were like roommates.

'''Sarge''': Sounds like he took some of the furniture when he left. And the carpet. And the drapes. And I wouldn't expect to get that deposit back, if you know what I mean. }}

** The fifth season's DVD acknowledges and has fun with this. One of the features is a "Previously On Red Vs. Blue", which contains ''every single swear'' in the series up to the Pelican crashing... and lasts over a minute and a half. If one was made of all eight seasons and the mini-series, it would probably be a good three or four minutes long.

* [[Code Name]]: The Freelancers are named after different American states. [[Noodle Incident|Except for poor, poor, Florida... *sighs* ]]

** Apart from the "ghost" method, major characters have a tendency to return with varying levels of explanation.

** Technically, not ''everyone'' is a {{spoiler|ghost/AI program}}. Just {{spoiler|Church and Tex}}.

* [[The Ditz]]: Caboose.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: When Tucker is ill after he and the rest of his party return from their outing after {{spoiler|the Alien dies}}, Church and Caboose discuss what Tucker's sword actually is. Church's argument is that it's a [[Kingdom Hearts|sword that acts like a key in specific situations, whilst Caboose says it's a key to unlock people's deaths. It really doesn't help that it's]] {{spoiler|supposedly}} [[Kingdom Hearts|an ancient, powerful weapon of high significance.]]

* [[Downer Ending]]: Sort of... see [[Multiple Endings]].

** While the canonical ending is probably the least "dark", it's still quite bleak; despite all his efforts and suffering throughout the entire series, [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog|Church fails to accomplish anything, including his ultimate goal of saving Tex]], and everything goes back to the way it was at the very beginning, with no improvement at all. On the plus side, the Blood Gulch crew managed to stop Omega and potentially saved the galaxy, [[The Greatest Story Never Told|not that anyone outside the canyon will ever know or care.]]

{{quote|"I think it would be ironic if we were all made of iron."}}

* [[Dumbass Has a Point]]: Caboose has these moments from time to time.

'''Tucker:''' But Caboose said it.

'''Church:''' ''I know.'' }}

* [[The European Carry All]]: Donut's pink... er, "lightish red" armor.

* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]]: Sister, whose real name is Kaikaina.

*** [[The Chick]]: Donut

** Plus [[Four-Temperament Ensemble]]:

*** Blue Team: Church and Tex - Choleric, Tucker - Sanguine, Doc - Melancholic, and Caboose - neutral Phlegmatic, despite being a complete [[The Ditz|ditz]].

* [[Flanderization]]: Almost everyone, though [[Tropes Are Not Bad]] as this led to Caboose and Donut becoming even more popular, and funny moments becoming much more common. Caboose goes from being just a bit a slow at the start of the series to borderline insanity, unable to follow a simple train of thought. Tucker goes from being flirtatious to a sex maniac. Sarge's mild bullying of Grif goes to outright attempts at murdering him. Grif's initial laziness and apathy gets cranked up to a phobia of work. Donut goes from being ambiguously effeminate to [[Camp Gay]]. Simmons goes from teacher's pet to groveling sycophant. Tex goes from being a skilled special-ops soldier to a legendarily powerful badass. Doc begins a neutral pacifist without extensive medical training (but nevertheless treats Caboose during an active shootout), and ends a man panicked by any sign of conflict, completely incompetent in his supposed area of expertise.

** When Omega possesses someone, the result is often in-universe Flanderizaton. In episode 100 when Donut is briefly possessed he goes from being effeminate and [[Camp Gay]] to instead talking as though he were actually a woman. And Caboose famously becomes even ''more'' stupid after his contact with the AI.

* [[Flip Personality]]: When O'Malley possesses Doc, their body frequently switches personality on a sentence by sentence basis; this is shown by voice and mannerism changes and camera angle changes. The two characters actually hold conversations with each other, or will cut in on what the other is saying to make some kind of wise-crack or amendment. For the most part O'Malley is in control of what they do, however.

* [[For Inconvenience Press One]]: ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znAamKnJagI "To mark this message as 'urgent', please press eleven."])

** "THERE '''IS''' NO ELEVEN, YOU '''''FUCKING WHORE!!!!'''''"

''(The Blues come running over the hill.)''

'''Church:''' FUCK! }}

* [[Hopeless War]]: Played for laughs due to the fact that the teams are in a never ending game of Capture the Flag. The creators state that one side exists because the other side exists.

* [[Human Ladder]]: Sarge and Caboose form one to see into a high-level window.

* [[Other Me Annoys Me]]: {{spoiler|Current Church}} isn't particularly fond of {{spoiler|the Director}}; for his part, {{spoiler|the Director}} seemed to get easily annoyed by {{spoiler|Alpha!Church}}.

* [[Our Ghosts Are Different]]: Church and Tex. Sarge, briefly. {{spoiler|Then it turns out they aren't ghosts at all. Washington is incredulous at everyone's belief that they are- reacting in much the same way a person would in [[Real Life]]. Also, Sarge wasn't a ghost. [[Rooster Teeth]] confirmed that he was in recovery mode, like Donut in ''Revelation''.}}

* [[Pink Is for Sissies]]: Donut's custom color.

* [[Precision F-Strike]]

'''Caboose:''' I do not think we are meshing, artistically. I think you should talk to my agent. }}

* [[Reclusive Artist]]: Dan Godwin has gone on record that he finds any sort of fame or recognition from the series strange and uncomfortable. [[Word of God|Others at Rooster Teeth]] have claimed this is why he avoids appearances at conventions, and on podcasts or commentaries (and is quiet when he does appear). Godwin has remained at his day job throughout the series (unlike most of the cast, who now work full-time at Rooster Teeth), resulting in Donut being written in and out of the series depending on Godwin's schedule and other commitments. (Similarly, Tucker was written out of ''Reconstruction'' during Jason Saldana's absence).

* [[Rule of Funny]]: Whether or not people can understand Lopez tends to be based on how funny it is (most notably O'Malley, who is generally able to understand Lopez perfectly, and yet can still be tricked into insulting himself in Spanish).

* [[Rule of Three]]: The running "Son of a bitch" gag is usually done three times in a row.

* [[Running Gag]]: Among others:

{{quote|'''Donut''': It's not pink, it's ''lightish red''!}}

*** After this, Tucker's obsession with using the sniper rifle died down significantly. The fact that he found his own badass weapon (the Sword) also had something to do with it.

** Church's horrible aim, especially with the sniper rifle. He usually only hits people by accident, or when the [[Rule of Funny]] makes it possible. In Reconstruction this gets Flanderized to the point that he fires an entire clip at an enemy two feet away and [[Crowning Moment of Funny|misses every time.]]

{{quote|I swear to God, I think somebody fucks with the sights on this thing when I'm not looking!}}

*** In the "Kill Them All!" ending, everyone says, "SON OF A BITCH!"

*** People being possessed say "HEEGAKURGURK".

* [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong]]: ... And failing ''multiple'' times.

* [[Shout-Out]]: When Tucker notes that as a ghost, Church's gun would at best fire "ghost bullets", he quips "[[Casper the Friendly Ghost|Hi, I'm Casper the friendly bullet!]]"

* [[The Slow Path]]: In season 3, Church becomes trapped in the past and must wait until he catches up to the present...which takes about a thousand years. Fortunately, he has a robot body, which still somehow grows a beard. {{spoiler|However, it could've been from Gary's deceit.}}

* [[Snipe Hunt]]: Episode 3, and [[Hilarity Ensues]] afterwards.

'''Simmons''': I think I like the ray beam idea better.

'''Grif''': Yeah rookie, your idea sounds a little dumb. }}

* [[Sword of Plot Advancement]]: Tucker's sword which he finds in Season 3 ends up being a key in season 4, and sends both him, the alien, and Caboose on a journey to redeem the aliens' race.

** And then Wyoming goes and screws it all up.

'''Tucker''': I'm talking about Matrix ''One''. }}

* [[Talking to Himself]]: Several times, given that people play multiple parts. Burnie Burns plays Church, Lopez, Vic, and other voices when needed; he also does foley and sound effects with his own voice, such as grenades hissing and ominous wind. Matt Hullum plays Doc, Sarge, and Wyoming. Later, Nathan Zellner plays Crunchbite and Andy, and Jason Saldana plays Tucker and {{spoiler|Junior}}.

** The first half of episode 43 is a climactic confrontation that gathers most characters from the series thus far. Of the ten characters who speak in this scene (including O'Malley), Burns (Lopez, Church, Red Zealot) and Hullum (O'Malley, Doc, Sarge, Wyoming) play all but three (those being Simmons, Grif, and Tucker).

* [[The Faceless]]: Everyone, by necessity, as the Halo games give everyone helmets; The exceptions are the alien, and Vic. Semi-[[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] when Church asks Tucker if he's black, after learning his first name (Lavernius).

** The trend towards mythology is amplified further in ''Recollections'', which retcons ''Chronicles'' even further and plays some scenes solely for drama; therefore, ''Chronicles'' and ''Recollections'' follow the trope for the entire ''Red vs. Blue'' saga.

* [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist]]: Everybody.

* [[Weapon of Choice]]: Sarge always carries a shotgun, Church always has the sniper rifle (but can't hit anything with it), Tucker eventually gets The Sword, Doc uses the plasma pistol (described as a medical device), and O'Malley (in Doc's body) loves that rocket launcher. When the transfer from Halo 1 to Halo 2 was still fresh, Donut and Tex were usually always seen with Battle Rifles while the others had submachine guns, up until the creators decided to simply give everyone Battle Rifles.

** When the show was using the Halo 1 engine, all the characters wielded the pistol (with the other weapons making the occasion cameo). This was due to the fact that the characters looked the most natural when their arms were all the way down while using the pistol. When Halo 2 came out, Bungie added a relaxed stance for all the weapons so the characters got specific weapons. Also on the DVD commentary, Rooster Teeth noted that the Halo 2 pistol looked tiny in relation to the characters so they switched to the SMG or battle rifle as a standard weapon.

* [[What Could Have Been]]: According to [[Word of God]], there was originally a concept in which the characters, in preparation for battle, would call out [[In the Name of the Moon|"Go Red/Blue for battle!"]] This would trigger a [[Transformation Sequence]] in which the character's armour would change to the standard red or blue, making the battles appear more like actual multiplayer games.

** The story was originally going to be about the Reds, with Church and Tucker always observing from the cliff and making comments, a la [[Statler and Waldorf]].

{{quote|'''Sarge''': I can obviously understand why you'd wanna attack your own base.

'''Simmons''': You can?

* [[Worth It]]

* [[Why Am I Ticking?]]: At one point Church ends up in a body that Sarge had implanted a bomb into. Cue this line when it accidentally gets activated.

* [[A Worldwide Punomenon]]: A little more obvious when put as a [[Visual Pun]] in the logo but "Rooster Teeth" => "Cock Bite".

* [[Worst Aid]]: Doc isn't a very good medic. He was, however, able to safely deliver Tucker's... baby.

* [[Writers Cannot Do Math]]: According to Simmons, he has a real knack for [[Good with Numbers|multiplying large numbers in his head.]] {{spoiler|He doesn't.}}

{{quote|'''Grif''': What's... 32 times 56?

[[Category:Military Science Fiction]]

[[Category:Red Vs Blue The Blood Gulch Chronicles]]

[[Category:Red vs. Blue]]