Odd Men Out is a Halo Machinima comedy series created by Chronicler177
. The series is set in the year 2095, where the world has exhausted all of its oil resources. Two rival companies, the Global Resource Network (GRN) and Oil Refining and Natural Gas Enterprises (ORNGE) have each set up an oil harvesting station in Northern Alaska, where Earth's last batch of oil is located. Due to the scarcity of the resource, both companies declared war on one another and the unfortunate security teams forced to fight said war are the Odd Men Out.
This series provides examples of:
- Antagonist Title: Season 2 is titled "The Mercenary Crisis" with the mercenary in question being Butler.
- Asshole Victim:
- Given Mack's terrible treatment of his subordinates, especially Joey, it's hard not to cheer when Maylor blows him to kingdom come in Episode 5 of season 1.
- Nonlethal example with Pete.
- Back from the Dead:
- Mack returns from the dead in Episode 10 of Season 1 after being killed in Episode 5 by Maylor. This is because Mack was resurrected by the Necromancer.
- Bad Boss: Mack abuses his position constantly, be it forcing everyone to drink the same kind of coffee he likes, taking away Joey's morphine, ordering Tyler to pester Joey for talking back to him, calling Leo a freak for being immortal, forcing them to go on near suicidal attacks while he himself stays behind in the safety of the GRN base, or just being an all around unpleasant person. And yet, despite all this, Mack's tight leadership and rigorous training does push the Greens to become better, albeit reluctantly. This is exactly why Flim selects him to be part of his team. By the season 2 finale, Mack seems to have mellowed out somewhat, and is willing to defend his teammates from Butler on the ground that only he gets to push his team around.Mack: Welcome to the Macktatorship, gentlemen. We're going to get along just fine.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Butler not only manages to fight off the ambush the Greens and Oranges set up for him, but he also gravely wounds Tyler and drives them back into the ORNGE base, where they're forced to hole up for almost half the second season.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Butler and the Necromancer. Butler serves as the primary antagonist from the season 1 finale up until the halfway point of season 2, where the Necromancer is introduced, who proceeds to usurp the title from him.
- Big Good: Flim is revealed to be this by the end of the second season. He hired the Greens and Oranges so he could build a team of soldiers to save the world from the likes of the Necromancer.
- Big "NO!": Joey when Tyler gets shot by Butler in the season 1 finale.
- Came Back Strong: Mack was not only resurrected, but given superpowers in the process, such as super speed and super strength.Mack: Perks of being undead, motherfucker! This job has its bonuses!
- Cerebus Syndrome: The series started out as a lighthearted comedy about two oil companies feuding over the last batch of oil in the world. Halfway through season 1, however, the tone takes a darker shift with the introduction of Butler, Mack mysteriously returning from the dead, and Flim stealing the ORNGE's money required to pay for Butler's services, leading to the mercenary trying to kill them all. It gets much worse when the Necromancer shows up in season 2, as all comedy is vanishes when he's on screen.
- Character Development: One of the central elements to the series is how the Greens and Oranges develop as people throughout their experiences.
- Christmas Episode: The Christmas Special halfway through the first season.
- Color-Coded Characters: The Greens and the Oranges, naturally.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Mack quite literally punches out the Necromancer, who has been established as an extremely powerful being. Muppet also gets in on this when his explosives destroy the Necromancer's lair and forces him into a period of recuperation.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Flim refers to Butler as "practice" for the Necromancer. Although the Necromancer is a bigger threat than Butler, this trope gets turned on its head when the Necromancer is defeated in the penultimate episode of the season, leaving Butler as the Final Boss. But in the grand scheme of the series, Butler still qualifies as the Necromancer is revealed to still be alive.
- Double Agent: Mack is revealed to be one in Episode 14 of season 1. Season 2 reveals he was working for the Necromancer.
- The Dragon: Mack is this for the Necromancer for most of season 2 after being resurrected. He eventually pulls a Heel–Face Turn after the Necromancer's Bad Boss tendencies become more apparent.
- Enemy Mine: The Greens and Oranges form one to take down Butler in the season 1 finale. It doesn't go well. They fare much better in season 2, however.
- Evil Is Hammy: Butler loves to make loud, over the top speeches of just how screwed his victims are before he kills them. In fact, he hams it up so much, the Greens and Oranges are annoyed by it and hardly take his threats seriously unless they have to actually fight him.
- A Father to His Men: Maylor is this for the Oranges. Unlike Mack, Maylor cares about his men and sticks his neck out for them on several occasions. He also takes it personally when Kory and Muppet desert the ORNGE. In return, the Oranges are loyal to him. Even when the ORNGE is revealed to be a ruse, the Oranges still defer to Maylor as their boss.
- Fire-Forged Friends: By the series finale, Maylor has overcome his Fantastic Racism towards the Greens.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Necromancer is this for season 1. Though he doesn't appear until halfway through the second season, the Necromancer's influence is felt long before he officially shows up. He resurrects Mack and forces Flim to prepare the Greens and Oranges to face him.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Mack wasn't the nicest guy to begin with, but he gets worse after Maylor kills him. The Necromancer revives him to be his Dragon and act as a Double Agent for him in the GRN. By the end of the season, Mack returns to the heroes' side and this time, it seems to stick.
- Hired Guns: Butler was hired by the Oranges to kill the Greens in season 1. This backfires when Flim steals the money they needed to pay Butler, which leads to him trying to kill them as well.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Kory can't aim for shit. He failed to shoot Joey with a shotgun at point blank range. In the second series finale, however, he actually manages to hit Butler, so as to display how far Kory has come.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
- Joey. He's extremely short-tempered and quick to jump on Tyler for annoying him, but he clearly cares for him, even if he doesn't always show it. He openly shows concern when Tyler is shot by Butler in the season 1 finale, and when Leo calls him out for putting Tyler in harm's way, Joey is noticeably wracked with guilt. In addition, Leo is one of the few people Joey openly cares about. A notable instance is when he asserts that Leo isn't a freak, as Mack calls him, but his friend. He also makes it clear that he will do whatever he can to help him find the answers he's been looking for. Also, when the Necromancer chooses to interrogate Leo, Joey immediately steps in to protect the latter, despite being absolutely terrified of the Necromancer.
- Mack also shows a more caring side in the season 2 finale. After helping the Greens and Oranges escape the Necromancer, Mack goes out of his way to defend his team from Butler, saying that nobody pushes around his teammates except him. He also doesn't have an issue in saving the world either, so long as he gets revenge on the Necromancer.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Chris, courtesy of Muppet.
- Killed Off for Real: Chris, the original leader of the Greens, who's killed by Muppet in the pilot. The Christmas special brings him back as a ghost, however.
- Knight of Cerebus: The Necromancer is the only character with absolutely zero comedic quirks and is played frighteningly straight as a villain.
- Manipulative Bastard: Flim, though he's a more benevolent case. His ultimate plan was to create a team of perfect soldiers to save the world from a coming darkness. To prepare his team, he placed an enchantment on them to keep them from dying as he needed all of them alive for his plan. However, the arrival of the Necromancer forced Flim to hasten the process. To accomplish this, he convinced Maylor to hire Butler to kill the Greens. After Butler "succeeds", Flim steals all of the ORNGE's money that was needed to pay him, which leads to Butler turning on them as well. All of this was a ploy to get the Greens and Oranges to work together and take down a common enemy. It didn't exactly work out and when the Necromancer captured everyone, Flim had to take Muppet and reveal the entire plan to him, in order to secure his aid and help free the others. Once the Necromancer was dealt with, the teams finally defeated Butler and came together as a single, cohesive unit. Flim himself admits that it was a rough process, but is by and large satisfied with the results.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: When the Necromancer calls Mack a "bone head" and threatens him for failing to capture Tyler, Mack eventually betrays him and helps the Greens and Oranges escape in the penultimate episode of season 2.
- Only Sane Man: Leo and Muppet for the Greens and Oranges, respectively. Leo, immortality aside, is much more mature and level-headed than his teammates—Mack is a Bad Boss who abuses his authority, Joey is a foul-mouthed, lazy Jerkass with a morphine addiction, and Tyler is a naive Manchild. Muppet is one of the few characters who catches out that there's more going on in the canyon than they're being let on—Maylor is too caught up in defeating the Greens, Kory is too obstinate to object, and Flim is plain Ax-Crazy. Leo and Muppet even lampshade their similar positions in season 2.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:Mack: No one calls me a bonehead.
- Really 700 Years Old: Leo is immortal, apparently having been alive since 1993.
- Those Two Guys: Kory and Muppet are almost seen together. They're even credited together. They eventually start a relationship in the season 2 finale.
- Title Drop: Leo in the season 2 finale after they successfully defeat Butler.Butler: Impossible! I am Butler! Who are you to defeat me?!Leo: Well, if you really need a name for us, we're the Odd Men Out.(Beat)Joey: And roll credits!
- Took a Level in Badass: The Greens and Oranges take a major leap in combat effectiveness and teamwork in their rematch against Butler after failing to defeat him in season 1.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Leo and Joey.
- We Can Rule Together: The Necromancer offers this to Butler. He refuses because he's savvy enough to know that the Necromancer is a Bad Boss who will get rid of him as soon as he finds someone better or fails him too many times, which is highlighted by his attitude towards Mack as he fails to find Tyler after he escapes confinement.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Every character cam be characterized by they weapon they use.
- Joey wields an assault rifle.
- Leo wields a rail gun. He switches to Butler's laser after the latter destroys his rail gun.
- Mack wields a DMR.
- Tyler wields a battle rifle.
- Maylor wields a SAW.
- Kory wields a shotgun.
- Muppet wields a sniper rifle.
- Flim wields a pistol. But he has a demonic hammer, too.
- Butler wields a SPARTAN laser and uses a Hardlight Shield.
- The Necromancer wields a scattershot.
- The Worf Effect: The Necromancer's first major act on screen is to utterly curb-stomp Butler when he tries to ambush him from behind, establishing that he's a much bigger threat than the mercenary.
