YMMV / Red vs. Blue: The Chorus Trilogy

• Complete Monster: Two members of Charon Industries:
  • Malcolm Hargrove, the Chairman of the UNSC Oversight Subcommittee, poses as a Reasonable Authority Figure to hide his massive list of crimes. Using his position as the CEO of Charon Industries, Hargrove illegally used UNSC soldiers as a private security force. Starting up an investigation against Project Freelancer, Hargrove used it to take Freelancer's technology for his own use while arresting anyone involved in the project, even going as far as releasing a Serial Killer from prison to help him. Finding alien artifacts on the planet Chorus, he hired a group of Space Pirates to kill everyone on the planet by manipulating them into a Civil War. Hargrove sent ships containing cargo for the mercenaries to use to the planet, where the mercenaries killed everyone on the ship and stole the cargo for their own use. When the Reds and Blues got involved, Hargrove took advantage by having them escalate the conflict with the intention to kill them when they were no longer necessary. When the mission was jeopardized, Hargrove threatened to kill his lead mercenaries by sending a new agent to finish the job. When exposed, Hargrove decided to kill as many of the people as possible out of spite rather than surrender.
  • Felix, real name Isaac Gates, is a psychopath with a love for killing. When he fought in the Great War, he never showed any mercy to his enemies, even those that were trying to surrender. When one of his teammates, Locus, was broken by the war, Felix kept him from getting help and molded him into his partner. Hired by Hargrove as one of the space pirate leaders to create a civil war on the planet Chorus, the mercenary took pleasure in infiltrating one of the sides while he was leading them to their deaths. He also led the raid on a prison ship where the entire crew is killed and the prisoners who are not worthy to join forces with him ejected from the ship. Hearing about the Purge, a temple that could exterminate all life on the planet, Felix personally led the operation to activate it, dismissing the certain deaths of his own soldiers as acceptable losses. In the end, Felix proved to be unwilling to listen to any attempt at reasoning, whether it be from Washington, the Reds and Blues, or even his own partner.
• Ships That Pass in the Night: Carolina/Kimball got a fan following before they even had any interaction.

Season 11

• Ensemble Dark Horse: Freckles, Caboose's new pet in the form of a military-grade Mantis became an instant fan favorite, combining a hilariously violent weapon with a deadpan delivery. Many fans consider him to be a fitting replacement for the gap in the team dynamic that Sheila left vacant.
• Evil Is Cool: Locus.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Church and Carolina's decision not to say goodbye at the end of season ten to make it so they're "just not here right now" was initially portrayed as heartwarming, but it turns out Tucker and Caboose are both hurt by Church's disappearance.
• Lady Mondegreen: The new villain's deep voice contributed to some fan confusion regarding whether his name was Locus or Locust. Word of God is that it is indeed Locus.
• Moral Event Horizon: Lopez 2.0 trying to kill the Red and Blue teams, on top of refusing to give Lopez CC's body and leaving him a disembodied head.

Season 12

• Awesome Ego: Felix. He's got a bit of an ego, but there's no denying he's badass and many fans love him. The fact that he's actually an evil bastard working with Locus to kill the population of Chorus does little to minimize this.
• Badass Decay: While Carolina's reappearance is a Big Damn Heroes moment, her performance is much less impressive than what fans are used to seeing from her (this may partially be due to Special Effect Failure causing her fight to seem clunky), and she gets stabbed in the leg by Felix, severely hindering her fighting ability for the rest of the season. The next episode has her have a bit of difficulty with a trio of unnamed mooks. Granted, she has been having nightmares about Sigma and suffers a leg injury.
• Base-Breaking Character: Felix; many fans think he's a Mary Sue, others find him fun and entertaining. It depends on how you feel about the most badass member of the Resistance being voiced by the writer of the season, who would, by extension, be responsible for the perceived badassery of him. Considering Episode 10, this may have been intentional.
• Cargo Ship: Felix x Money is a popular one within the fanbase, particularly after it was revealed that Felix was willing to drop a nuke on civilians if it meant he could get money out of it.
• Catharsis Factor: Felix and Locus getting exposed to everyone on Chorus stopping the entire civil war dead in it's tracks is immensely cathartic after Felix spends near the entire season being a Smug Snake who's always ahead of the BGC, and Felix's fantastic Villainous Breakdown starts with two little lines.
  Felix: What equipment?
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Every named lieutenant in the New Republic army got instantly popular after the first episode. The most popular by far seems to be Jensen; being the first prominent female character who wasn't constantly pissed (besides Sheila/FILSS and Sister, at least, and not counting Kimball who was introduced first but her characterization wasn't clear until after Jensen), being incredibly Adorkable, endeeringly shy with Wrench Wench tendencies while being hilariously bad at driving the vehicles she fixes, and being voiced by a popular Rooster Teeth personality all probably help with that.
  • On the flip side we have Emily Grey who's with the Federal Army of Chorus who is already steadily gaining popularity as an eternally chipper genius doctor who finds mentally scarred people fascinating, has shades of a Mad Scientist, with plenty of Black Comedy as she doesn't lose an ounce of her peppiness, even while torturing a space pirate.
• Evil Is Cool: Locus, once more, but also Felix, whose reveal as a villain suddenly caused his popularity to skyrocket.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • In the trailer, Tucker's response to Kimball wondering how they'll win the war if they can't even rescue a few prisoners is, "We'll wing it." His attempts at winging it in his first mission end up getting most of his men killed.
  • Tucker leaves Palomo as a look-out because he believes having him on the field will get everyone killed, an assessment Palomo agrees with. By episode's end, Tucker's deviation from the plan has led to the deaths of his other two men.
  • Every onscreen Rebel and Fed casualty is made all the more tragic come Episode 10.
  • Every interaction with Felix prior to episode 10 now that he's revealed to be a bad guy. Felix's friendly antics in Season 11, even going so far to take a bullet for the team? Turns out he was just playing them, pretending to be on their side to gather intel for his employers. His efforts to make Tucker a better soldier and leader also take on a darker turn when it's revealed he never believed in the rebels' position and was working with Locus the whole time.
  • Control is actually the Chairman, who is also the CEO of Charon Industries, the "Insurrection" fought in seasons 9 and 10. After that reveal, it makes you question every action he does in the series, but especially his conversations with the Director and sending Wash to find the Epsilon unit.
    • It also turns the Freelancer vs. "Insurrection" conflict, as well as the letters back and forth between the Director and Chairman, into an Evil Versus Evil scenario, destroys his Reasonable Authority Figure persona he had built up previously, and established him as similar to the Director- his actions may benefit humanity, but his motives for doing so are purely selfish (Him with making money, and the Director by reviving Allison).
• Les Yay: Doctor Grey calling Carolina "sweetie" and very...eagerly offering to psychoanalyze her. Carolina is...less than amused.
• Love to Hate: Felix, after episode 10. Though he is a sociopathic, hypocritical, jerkass of a villain, it's hard not to admire how manipulative he is.
• Memetic Mutation: Sarge's response to all the twist and turns that happened after Episode 10.
  Sarge: "We've been tricked, we've been backstabed, and we've been quite possibly... BAMBOOZLED."
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Felix crosses it when it is revealed that he and Locus had stirred up the Civil War on the planet Chorus to kill everyone on the planet. Not only that, while his boss, Control, (or at least whatever third party Control is a part of) wants everyone on Chorus dead to get the alien technology on the planet, Felix seems to go along purely just so he can kill people, even saying he would rather nuke the planet from orbit than start a Civil War. Plus his psychopathic tendencies, Felix makes Locus look tame in comparison. The For the Evulz motivation is confirmed in episode 18 when he brags that the feeling that he's outsmarted both sides means more to the psychopath than any amount of money.
  • Control would appear to have crossed it from the very beginning, considering his plan involves killing off an entire population, but The Reveal that his identity is Malcolm Hargrove, aka the Chairman, makes this worse when you take his prior actions into account.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • The Federation guard who the Reds and Blues fool by disguising themselves as snowmen is quite popular among the fandom.
  • Church's memories of the other A.I.s, particularly Omega.
  Omega: Are you getting angry, Epsilon?
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Felix wasn't exactly The Scrappy, but somewhat of a Base-Breaking Character, both parties either liking him or hating him because of his badass nature and his voice actor being the lead writer of the trilogy. The Reveal that he's a sadistic bastard who played off the New Republic was very well received by everyone due to showing that the badass that the heroes looked up to was planning to kill them.
• Special Effects Failure: Monty having left post-Season 10 to make RWBY hits all of the seasons animation wise roughly, but Season 12 has it the worst with the most uncanny CGI of the modern series.
  • Carolina vs Felix was a bit clunky, compared to the amazing fist fights seen in their Halo 3 model CG. It seems possible this particular scene was added last minute, since all of Felix's actions during his rant were incredibly smooth.
  • In the following episode, Carolina's Halo 3 model shows some rather jarring shading and texture issues, especially when contrasted by the excellent models of the security troopers she fights.
  • The scene where Wash gives Caboose Freckles back really sticks out from the scenes immediately before and after it.

Season 13

• Broken Base:
  • The fact that Church is apparently going to die FOR REAL this time, while getting everyone hyped for the season, has gained mixed reactions within multiple circles of the fandom over whether or not it will actually happen. Some people believe that they will go through with it and are terrified that the show won't be the same without him being in the overarching stories. Others doubt that the writing team is actually going to go through with it, claiming that Church has apparently died before and ultimately came back.
  • The treatment of Doc by the Reds and the Blues, and the apparent return of O'Malley/Omega as an alt!personality has garnered... mixed reactions to say the least. While there is praise to Doc's Sanity Slippage creating an excuse to bring back O'Malley, who was considered a funny and likable villain in the Blood Gulch Chronicles , some people have complained that there could have been other ways to do this and that Doc's return from subspace amounted to nothing so far. Others are just happy that Doc and O'Malley are back.
  • Kimball's The Reason You Suck speech to Doyle. Half the fandom feels it was completely justified, while the other half feel she took it too far. It's notable that Wash himself seems to think she went too far while Doyle thinks that the speech was completely justified.
    • There was a subgroup that felt the real problem with Kimball's speech was that she refused to take responsibility for her own mistakes and the lives it cost just so she could attack Doyle.
  • Sharkface's death-being unceremoniously gunned down by Wash and Kimball. Was it a fitting end and an effective Intended Audience Reaction or was it just anticlimactic and unsatisfying?
  • The ending itself has also split the fanbase in half-it's either a beautiful and touching sendoff for Church or a rushed Diabolus ex Machina.
  • Any new viewer who reaches this season causes a nasty argument over whether they should watch the trailer, in which Church outright says he's going to die. Some fans say it's how the creators intended the season to be watched with the suspense of just how literal the line was hanging over it, while others invoke Death of the Author and say it's a bad piece of Trailers Always Spoil regardless of the intent.
• Catharsis Factor: Felix spending the entirety of episode 19 being completely humiliated by the people he'd been calling losers and trying to kill all season, followed by him being abandoned by Locus and then unceremoniously killed off while begging for his life is one of the series most satisfying moments.
• Crazy Is Cool: Doc of all people comes off this way, now that O'Malley exists in his head as a split personality. He now switches between his ineffectual Nice Guy persona to the violent and cartoonishly evil Saturday morning villain we all know and love.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: Locus taking Felix's sword and leaving the planet to seek redemption has noble intentions, but once the Time Travel Trilogy has Tucker leave Chorus, that means the planet can no longer access any of the temples that they need to restore the planet post-war until either of them die, and even then only if someone else gets their hands on it and comes back to Chorus with it, due to the fact the swords bond to whoever first picks it up.
• Jerkass Woobie: Locus, when he start to learn about his backstory.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Tucker has very suddenly become this. He was already shipped with Tex, Church, and Kaikaina/Sister back in Blood Gulch Chronicles, with Tucker/Sister essentially having been the OTP Tucker ship due to the popularity of the cannon Church/Tex ship. However, back in season 11, Wash/Tucker began to pick up steam. Said pairing and the Church/Tucker pairing both skyrocketed in popularity during this season for various reasons. He's also being shipped with Felix, Kimball, and Dr. Grey. Tucker is even being shipped with Carolina as well, since they seem to be on friendly terms, and she even invoked his catch phrase in attempt to fit in. (Just a year ago Carolina being shipped with anybody other than York would have been considered blasphemy among the fandom.)
  • Then of course there is the infamous Crack Ship that is Tucker/Sarge, which developed because of the Odd Friendship the two have seemed to develop.
• Like You Would Really Do It: Ever since the trailer for the season premiered people have been seriously doubting that Church is actually going to be killed off for real. Given that he's died/been written out before and the writers have always found a way to bring him back. However, recent episodes have been stacking up evidence to possibly - you know - legitimately go through with it. It's worth noting that if Church actually does bite it, he will not be able to come back.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "MAINE IS BACK!" "No." ^ExplanationThe response of several people to Sharkface's appearance in the first episode without his armor was to claim that was Agent Maine. Many people assumed that Maine survived, despite the fact that the tattoos didn't match up. This was followed by those knowing that it was Sharkface telling them the truth.
  • Any time Sharkface's name is mentioned, expect fans to reply; "SHARKFACE OOH HAHA."
    • Revealed by Miles to have been a running joke among the animators from early in production, and they were delighted to see the fandom join in.
  • Yeah, but he's a ghost. ^Explanation This phrase, and varients, are often uttered by people who either don't want Church to die, or by people who don't think the writers will go through with it.
  • Church, in his usual mini-holo mode, sitting glumly on Carolina's chest after she was knocked out by Sharkface in their previous fight lamenting how pissed she [Carolina] is going to be once she wakes up is beginning to spread around the community.
• Narm Charm: Felix's Raised Hand of Survival is incredibly cliche, but still manages to be awesome. As is his Disney Villain Death an episode later.
• No Yay: The Ho Yay between Felix and Locus turns into this The Reveal that Locus is a Shell-Shocked Veteran and that Felix has been manipulating him since then, making sure he never gets over his mental health problems and that he's convinced the duo needs each other. This in effect makes Felix into an abusive spouse manipulating his partner into staying with him.
• One-Scene Wonder: Locus and Felix's former UNSC squad^note shown through a flashback in "Locus of Control", whose VAs perfectly convey the effects warfare has on one's sanity.
• Pandering to the Base: Junior and Sister making cameo appearances were likely there because the fanbase wanted to see them again after so long.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Bringing Sharkface back was met with mixed reception initially, stemming from comparisons to the Meta in his reveal shot. When he spoke in Episode 7 and explained his motivations however, people's fears that he would merely be a Meta 2.0 were put to rest and began to like this tragic villain.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: Tucker has caused this due to suddenly being shipped with so many other characters this time around. Notable as this is one of the, if not the first times this has happened in the series. While the Tucker/[X] ships are opposed to each other, there are also still people who ship the cannon Church/Tex and Carolina/York. Then of course there is the Wash/Carolina and Church/Caboose ships.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Aiden Price was shown with potential for multiple character interactions with Sharkface, the Freelancers, and the Mercenary pair, but ultimately accomplished nothing but to be a failed deserter. Sharkface never discovers the Counselor's previous position and the protagonists never even know that he was involved.
  • Speaking of Sharkface, many fans have lamented that he was ultimately shot down with little fanfare after being beaten despite being a Tragic Villain and Shadow Archetype and given a sympathetic motive especially compared to Felix and Locus, especially seeing how he hadn't committed any major atrocities and dies while Locus had and gets to redeem himself.
• Tough Act to Follow: Much like with Season 10 years before, Season 13 is generally agreed upon by multiple sections of the fanbase to be one of the best storylines written for this series. Unlike Season 10, however, which paved the way for the Chorus Trilogy, this season was followed by the start of Red vs. Blue's Seasonal Rot with the Shisno Trilogy, which is generally considered a completely unnecessary follow-up to Season 13's meaningful Bolivian Army Ending. Seasons 15 through 17 being considered a drastic decrease in writing quality didn't make matters any better. And that's without getting into Zero...
• Unpopular Popular Character:
  • Dr. Grey, whom the fans love for her cheerfully deranged personality but is regarded by the main characters as between creepy and annoying to downright terrifying.
  • Doc definitely applies during this season. Although it's not that the other characters don't like him, they just find him forgettable. Meanwhile he's still as much a fan-favorite as he's always been.

---