History Characters / TeamFortress2

* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: Mann Co has a bad habit of hiring the lowest bidder - regardless of their ability. What we know of most of the histories and personalities of the Mercs tend to suggest that they'll take any job they can get. They're also apparently a laughingstock among mercenary teams, with [[spoiler:the former holders of the "Team Fortress" designation]] calling them "rejects".
* AxeCrazy: Some more than others, [[CrazyAwesome but that's why everyone loves them!]]

* TheLeader: Miss Pauling acts as this whenever she gets involved, but otherwise it's not really clear. Heavy has the best case as he's the face of the team in most media and is generally depicted as the one the others rally around. Soldier is pretty good at taking charge too, but at the same time is completely insane. During actual gameplay, the Medic player usually takes this role in more competitive formats, while in public servers it could really be anybody, depending on a few different factors (scoreboard position, competence, willingness to take charge, etc.) That's if the team doesn't just go the democracy route and do whatever most people agree on, and that's only if people bother listening to each other at all.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Just like their intelligence (see InformedFlaw), it [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on the writer]]. On one hand, Saxton Hale states in "The Contract", that at least four of them cannot read, and it has been stated that 'most' (meaning at least five) have sub-normal [=IQs=]. On the other hand, no-one besides the Pyro was consistently depicted as illiterate: Soldier and Scout, who were explicitly shown struggling with reading in TF Comics, had no issue with that in "Grave Matters" and "Expiration Date" respectively.
** It's worth remembering that people who are ashamed of their illiteracy can go for ''years'' undetected by learning little tricks such as ''pretending'' to read books, repeating what they know to be written, and correctly guessing from picture the reading matter of books and instructions. They can even be quite intelligent in many other ways.
** Also, at least three are from non-English-speaking nations, and may not have been taught to read ''English'' (the presumed working language of RED and BLU). In particular, the Heavy, whose native language uses a different script than English, which has [[TheBackwardsR identical-looking characters with completely different sounds]]: He could be an expert in Russian literature (the subjerct of his [=PhD=]) and ''still'' need to be treated as illiterate.

* PsychoForHire: Engineer, Sniper, and Spy see no hypocrisy at all in acting like a gentleman one minute and a maniac the next. The Soldier is fully psychotic and delusional while the Pyro is unquestionably a schizophreniac and pyromaniac. The Demoman is very fond of prepping and detonating explosions, the Heavy [[ICallItVera talks to his guns and Sandviches]] [[CompanionCube like they're real people]], the Scout seems to [[BloodKnight like hurting people]] [[AxCrazy far more than any normal human being should]], and the Medic's bio states he considers healing to be an unintended side-effect of his penchant for experimenting on people (including [[ProfessorGuineaPig himself]]) to satisfy his scientific curiosity (and what appears to be a fetish for blood and needles).

** Zigzagged: the comics series repeatedly show they care little about each other as anything more than co-workers. The Soldier breaks the Scout's arms [[spoiler:(and killed Tom Jones)]] for no reason. The Pyro cuts off one of the Soldier's hands [[DisproportionateRetribution because he pushed him]], the Demoman wanted to leave the Sniper behind, the Sniper wanted to ''torture and kill'' Miss Pauling and Demoman, and she also injected him with poison when he captured her to prevent him from doing so.

** Also, at least three are from non-English-speaking nations, and may not have been taught to read ''English'' (the presumed working language of RED and BLU). In particular, the Heavy, whose native language uses a different script than English, which has [[TheBackwardsR identical-looking characters with completely different sounds]]: He could be an expert in Russian literature and ''still'' need to be treated as illiterate.

* SuperiorSuccessor: [[spoiler:Due to the technology transition lost in Australia, medical quality that was supposed to keep the Classic Team alive suddenly dropped. Having the original team won't cut it for Mann Co. anymore, since there are no more methods of bringing them back to life when they are killed off. The modern Medic is able to find a solution around this by making a DealWithTheDevil, selling his own soul, then immediately sewn his body with the souls of his other teammates, rendering himself and his entire team physically unkillable. Though they can still die by age[[note]][[ItMakesSenseInContext God confirms this]].[[/note]].]]

* TitleDrop: According to Miss Pauling, their official designation is actually "Team Fortress". Turns out it [[ThemeNaming follows a theme]] with other merc teams that are apparently out there, such as Team Vanguard, Team Echelon, and Team Citadel.

* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: Mann Co has a bad habit of hiring the lowest bidder - regardless of their ability. What we know of most of the histories and personalities of the Mercs tend to suggest that they'll take any job they can get.

* InSeriesNickname: "The Teufort Nine" by the citizens of Teufort, and "[[TitleDrop Team Fortress]]" by Miss Pauling.

** Medic: Does he see his fellow mercenaries as friends and colleagues, or merely as disposable lab rats for his experiments?

* {{Unscrupulous Hero}}es: Each team member has a few people whom they care for dearly and a few spare [[EvenEvilHasStandards standards]], but otherwise won't think twice about doing dirty deeds for high prices. The single redeeming trait these otherwise sociopathic maniacs have in common is that they wholeheartedly care for their families, and loved ones.

* [[Characters/TeamFortress2NonPlayerCharacters Non-Player Characters]][[labelnote:Click to Expand]]Mann Co. (The Administrator, Miss Pauling, Saxton Hale, Redmond and Blutarch Mann, Zephaniah Mann, Gray Mann, Olivia Mann, Charles Darling, The 1850's Team, [[spoiler:The Classic Team]]), The Mercs' Families (Scout's Mom, Demoman's Parents, Sniper's Parents, [[spoiler:Sniper's Birth Parents]], Radigan Conagher, Heavy's Family), Enemies and Bosses (Horseless Headless Horsemann, MONOCULUS!, Merasmus the Magician, Bombinomicon, The Robots, Skeleton Army), Others (Mayor Mike).[[/labelnote]]

* [[Characters/TeamFortress2Offense Offense Classes]] (Scout, Soldier, Pyro)
* [[Characters/TeamFortress2Defense Defense Classes]] (Demoman, Heavy, Engineer)
* [[Characters/TeamFortress2Support Support Classes]] (Medic, Sniper, Spy)
* [[Characters/TeamFortress2NonPlayerCharacters Non-Player Characters]] (And the rest)

!! Team Fortress as a whole provides examples of:

* WouldntHurtAChild: All of the mercs, so far. Even Saxton Hale, TestosteronePoisoning incarnate, refuses to fight a young girl, even if [[spoiler: the fate of Mann Co. hangs in the balance. Grey Mann uses this against him to wrest control of Mann Co. from him.]]

* PsychoForHire: Engineer, Sniper, and Spy see no hypocrisy at all in acting like a gentleman one minute and a maniac the next. The Soldier is fully psychotic and delusional while the Pyro is unquestionably a schizophreniac and pyromaniac. The Demoman is very fond of prepping and detonating explosions, the Heavy [[ICallItVera talks to his guns and Sandviches]] [[CompanionCube like they're real people]], the Scout seems to [[BloodKnight like hurting people]] [[AxCrazy far more than any normal human being should]], and the Medic's bio states he considers healing to be an unintended side-effect of his penchant for experimenting on people (including himself) to satisfy his scientific curiosity (and what appears to be a fetish for blood and needles).

** '''"THERE CAN BE, ''ONLY OOOOOOOOOOOOONE!"'''''[[note]] eye...[[/note]]

* TheLeader: Actually, it's not really clear. Heavy has the best case as he's the face of the team in most media and is generally depicted as the one the others rally around. Soldier is pretty good at taking charge too, but at the same time is completely insane. During actual gameplay, the Medic player usually takes this role in more competitive formats, while in public servers it could really be anybody, depending on a few different factors (scoreboard position, competence, willingness to take charge, etc.) That's if the team doesn't just go the democracy route and do whatever most people agree on, and that's only if people bother listening to each other at all.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Just like their intelligence (see InformedFlaw), it DependsOnTheWriter. On one hand, Saxton Hale states in "The Contract", that at least four of them cannot read, and it has been stated that 'most' (meaning at least five) have sub-normal [=IQs=]. On the other hand, no-one besides the Pyro was consistently depicted as illiterate: Soldier and Scout, who were explicitly shown struggling with reading in TF Comics, had no issue with that in "Grave Matters" and "Expiration Date" respectively.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Saxton Hale confirms in "The Contract", that at least four of them cannot read, and it has been stated that 'most' (meaning at least five) have sub-normal [=IQs=] - although that doesn't mean they're not good at their job.
** It's worth remembering that people who are ashamed of their illiteracy can go for ''years'' undetected by learning little tricks such as ''pretending'' to read books, repeating what they know to be written, and correctly guessing from pictures the reading matter of books and instructions. They can even be quite intelligent in many other ways.
** Soldier is probably the most illiterate of the bunch. Other popular guesses (not confirmed) include Sniper, who has never been seen reading, Demo-man, who is always drunk as well, and the highly schizophrenic Pyro, who has been seen ''looking'' at magazines and newspapers but in "Ring Of Fired" it seems Pyrovision distorts attempts to ''read'' them.

* ActionGirl: All the named women in the series seem to be tough ladies, perfectly capable of putting a lead bullet through any skull they feel like.

* SuperiorSuccessor: [[spoiler:Due to the technology transition lost in Australia, medical quality that was supposed to keep the Classic Team alive suddenly dropped forcing the original to go out of business. The modern Medic is able to find a solution around this by making a DealWithTheDevil, selling his own soul, then immediately sewn his body with the souls of his other teammates, rendering himself and his entire team physically unkillable. Though they can still die by age[[note]][[ItMakesSenseInContext God confirms this]].[[/note]].]]

!! The Team as a whole provides examples of:

!! The Entire Team provides examples of:

* InSeriesNickname: "The Teufort Nine" by the citizens of Teufort.

** In general it's not always clear on whether the Mercenaries are high-class and really good at their jobs, or got this job because they're desperate for money, nor is it clear how well they're paid.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Saxton Hale confirms in "The Contract", that at least four of them cannot read, and it has been stated that 'most' (meaning at least five) have sub-normal IQs - although that doesn't mean they're not good at their job.

* WouldntHurtAChild: All of the mercs, so far. Even Saxton Hale, TestosteronePoisoning incarnate, refuses to fight a young girl, even if [[spoiler: the fate of Mann Co. hangs in the balance. Grey Mann uses this against him to wrest control of Mann Co. from him.]]

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