Red vs Blue

Red vs Blue is a long-running machinima series created by Rooster Teeth Productions using the Halo and Halo 2 video game engines. The series is made up of 100 episodes (not including bonus videos) with lengths ranging typically from 3–10 minutes in length and spanning five seasons. The plot lampoons the multiplayer of Halo, specifically the capture-the-flag scenario which features two teams (one red and one blue) fighting one another to capture the other's flag. The series premiered on April 1, 2003 and concluded with episode 100 on June 28, 2007.

Rooster Teeth has recently released the first episode of Red vs Blue utilizing the new, high quality Halo 3 graphics and maps. The episode was sponsored by Bungie, and has been criticized for trying to sell online Halo 3 content rather than aiming for entertainment.

Plot

RvB mostly takes place in the Blood Gulch map in both Halo and Halo 2. The map consists of a box canyon with two opposing bases - one red and one blue. Only Sarge of the Reds has any interest in trying to fight - everyone else is happy goofing off and making snarky comments and initiating pointless conversations. Later seasons complicate matters by introducing the malevolent AI O'Malley and an alien prophecy he attemtps to exploit. Other maps are also used from Halo and Halo 2 as well as a map from the game Marathon (one of Bungie's earlier games) to represent the past. Eventually everyone returns to Blood Gulch for the final season.

Episode 100

The final episode does not so much tie up loose ends as incinerate them in a huge fireball. O'Malley along with several others involved in his plot are destroyed after the Blues kill off and disable his henchmen and the Reds blow up a ship he tries to escape in. In true video game fashion (and the movie Clue) there are multiple endings. When it was posted on the RvB website, viewers had a 1/3 chance of getting a certain ending. These endings are as follows (obviously spoilers ahead).

• Finch - After the explosion a free-for-all melee erupts and everyone dies.

• Alarm - After the explosion, the two sides retreat to their respective bases and return to business as usual in a more poignant (and canonical) ending.

• Boxy - After the explosion, Sarge realises "Red Command" was fake and they were just being used. He flies into a rage and destroys their master computer under the canyon. Suddenly he is greeted by a congratulatory message in English before a strange version of the credits role. The final scene shows the major characters in an Xbox Live lobby commenting on the "weirdest game ever" they just played before deciding "same teams, different map."

Characters

Red Team

• Sarge - the leader of the Reds, he is the only character who is serious about the conflit and hates the Blues with a passion. His armor is red.
• Simmons - second in command and Sarge's right hand man. He constantly sucks up to Sarge and is believed to be Latino, though he has claimed to be Dutch-Irish. His armor is maroon.
• Grif - a slacker who is almost as bad as the Blues in Sarge's mind - most of Sarge's plans have Grif die, often pointlessly. His armor is orange.
• Donut - the new recruit who is overeager, talkative, cheerful, and effeminate. He also has no sense of direction. His armor is pink, despite his belief that it is merely a "light red."

Blue Team

• Church - the de facto leader of the Blues. Church is cynical and irate but the only capable member of the Blues. His armor is cobalt blue.
• Tucker - snide, juvenile and womanizing member of the Blues. Though he displays an aversion to any sort of work or combat, he becomes reasonably competent by the end of the series. His catchphrase is "Bow Chicka Bow Wow." His armor is cyan.
• Caboose - the new recruit. Caboose is physically strong but extremely stupid. His armor is blue.
• Doc - a medic who is a pacifist and spends most of the series as a vessel for O'Malley. His armor is purple.
• Sister - Grif's sister who winds up with the Blues. She is a promiscuous airhead. Her armor is yellow.

Others

• Tex - Church's ex-girlfriend who is now a freelancer. She often helps out the Blues and is the most deadly character in the series. Her armor is black.
• O'Malley - an evil AI with the ability to possess the other characters if their radio frequencies are open. Wants to either rule or destroy the universe and had the maniacal laugh of a Bond villan.
• Lopez - a Spanish-speaking robot who was originally the Red's mechanic. Eventually he loses his body and becomes a sort of henchman for O'Malley. His armor is Brown.
• Sheila - the AI that inhabits the Blue's tank. Both Lopez and Caboose fall in love with her.
• Wyoming - a freelancer like Tex who works with O'Malley. He has a British accent and white armor.