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Characters / Red vs. Blue - The Insurrection

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Tropes pertaining to the Insurrection, the faction that the Freelancers battled in the past, in Red vs. Blue. Spoilers below!

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    In general 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/insurrection_9844.png
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charon_industries_2031.png

The Insurrection is a military force made up of soldiers who have broken off from the UNSC. They serve as the main antagonists for the Freelancers. They are possibly a nod to Halo canon, in which prior to the war with the Covenant, Earth (and human-controlled space) was undergoing a civil war between the UNSC and a coalition of rebel groups, for the control of human colonies. Incidentally, it was during this civil war the SPARTAN-II program was initiated, as a countermeasure against the rebellion.

As Season 12 reveals, they are actually a private security force for Charon Industries, a corrupt organization headed by Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Malcolm Hargroove, AKA "Control". They are actually part of the same group that the Space Pirates, Locus, and Felix are a part of.


Associated Tropes:

  • All There in the Manual: Any of their names come from the credits, tweets, or commentary. None of them are named in the series proper.
  • Airborne Mook: The jetpack trio.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Alongside the Director in Season 9, though the former is more behind the scenes.
  • Cool Starship: The Staff of Charon early in Season 10. It's a clue to their true employer: Charon Insustries.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: One of the Smiley twins is seen spray painting his mini-gun during Episode 7 of Season 10. Also, the Leader shows up in the lineup of Elite Mooks, but isn't identified until Season 10.
  • Elite Mooks: Several are shown, and they all manage to give the Freelancers a tough fight. Individuals are listed below. Given the revelation that they're actually UNSC soldiers working for Charon Industries, they may be actual Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.
  • Evil Versus Evil: Revealed to be the true dynamic of their conflict with Project Freelancer in Season 12.
  • The Faceless: Only the Leader and Girlie ever show their faces.
    • The flame soldier later shows his face in season 13.
  • Filler Villain: Subverted. At first glance, the Insurrection merely exist to throw down with the Freelancers in some awesome fight scenes. However, they're shown to be much more plot relevant than it seems. Especially in Season 12.
  • Heavily Armored Mook: One way to differentiate a usual mook Insurrectionist from his Elite Mook counterpart. The latter (with the exception of the sleeveless guy) are heavily armoured and tend to be Made of Iron.
  • Hero Antagonist: Suggested. York questions whether or not the Freelancers are the "good guys". And judging from the Director's illegal actions and the fact that the Blood Gulch crew, Carolina, and Washington are using their information to find and kill the Director, the suggestion might actually be right. They may not even be an Insurrection at all, as Connecticut implies, instead being part of the legitimate armed forces while it's the Freelancers that are the rebels/terrorists.
    Connecticut: Here, take the info. It's not complete, but it'll get them started.
  • La Résistance: Freelancers tend to call them this, to their amusement.
    Insurectionist Leader: Ha, ha, is that who he told you we are?
    C.T.: They aren't the enemy Carolina. We're the ones working outside the rules, not them. You don't know what the Director has done. He's broken major laws. When this war ends, we're all going to have to pay for his crimes!
    • Season 12 reveals that while they were a splinter UNSC group, they weren't exactly a resistance. Rather, they were under Charon Industries and Chairman Malcolm Hargrove, and were actually even worse than the Freelancers.
  • Mook Chivalry: The lesser grunts suffer from this.
  • Mythology Gag: Their existence is a reference to how the United Nations Space Command wasn't exactly... united prior to the Human-Covenant War.
  • No Name Given: Every member of the group unless one counts Connecticut.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Red demoman, the female member, the Sniper, Pill man, the sleeveless guy, and the flame soldier count as one, especially with more characterization in Season 10 (with the exception of the flame soldier who died in Season 9).

    Insurrectionist Leader 

Insurrectionist/Resistance Leader/C.T. (Season 7)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/insurrection_leader_9175.png

"Ha, ha, is that what he told you we are?"
Voiced By: Michael Joplin

Leader of the Insurrection group that the Freelancers regularly combat, who has a thing going with Connecticut.

After Connecticut was killed by Tex, he donned her helmet. He shows up in Recreation, in charge of a dig site in the desert. As it turns out, his alien sidekick "Smith," and his men took over the operation, killing the other men (and aliens) working there. They are evidently after a pyramid-shaped superweapon, which Tucker theorizes they intend to sell to the highest bidder. He is very unwilling to tell Sarge, Grif, and Caboose anything about what he's doing in the desert, leading them to get suspicious, and rightfully so. After finally entering the dig site, C.T. ordered Jones (one of his men) to disable Epsilon-Church, who happens to be inside one of those Forerunner monitors. That enraged the Elites and led to them killing off his forces.


Associated Tropes:

  • Arch-Enemy: Considers Tucker as one in Season 7, since his entire operation in the dig site is being singlehandedly held back by the Blue. C.T. himself gets noticeably panicked (and pissed) once it turned out that Tucker was released from the dig sites' structure, and repeatedly said that he really wanted to kill him when they meet both times on-screen.
  • Badass Normal: Even though he's clearly no match for the top level Freelancers, he does manage to keep up against them.
  • Battle Couple/Official Couple: With Connecticut.
  • Benevolent Boss: To the point of Undying Loyalty to his men, in distinct contrast to the Director.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: With the Meta for Recreation.
  • Big Bad: During Season 10. Could also be qualified Big Good if you see the Freelancers as the bad guys.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: When the Elite Mooks are first seen, he's among them. However, it isn't until Season 10 that he is revealed to be their leader.
  • Dead Person Impersonation: Impersonates the real Agent Connecticut after she died in his arms.
  • Impossibly Cool Weapon: The Insurectionist Leader (aka Pillman)'s weapon of choice seems to be collapsible throwing axes. Pretty impractical, but he seems to pull it off. It seems as though he stopped using them after one of them killed C.T., however.
  • Kick the Dog: When he was being chased by a pissed off Smith and another Elite in a Prowler, he rammed his Warthog into their vehicle, running over their bodies for good measure. Before that, he took over the operation in the desert temple by killing off every other Elite and Marine that was sent there beforehand and threw their corpses into a pile to keep them hidden.
  • Killed Off for Real: Gets lasered by Epsilon-Church, with his body being buried in Sandtrap.
  • Made of Iron: After being chased down, his Warthog gets sliced by an energy sword, destroying it seconds later and propelling his body chest-first onto the ground, before he gets up and runs away almost immediately thereafter, completely unscathed. In Season 10 episode 10, he takes a beating from Tex and still manages to go the distance against her, something which only Maine had previously been able to do.
  • No Name Given: He's only ever referred to as the Leader. Or C.T. in Season 7.
  • Only Sane Man: Gives off vibes of this during the first meeting with Sarge, Grif and Caboose.
  • Rebel Leader: What the agents of Project Freelancer assume him to be, as an especially cynical, even villainous version. However, he and his group assume it to be a subversion.
  • Secret-Keeper: Of his own plans, identity and motives, to the bitter end. C.T.'s memory is probably a major part of the reason.
  • Tragic Keepsake: C.T's armor, making him the C.T. we see manning the desert excavation.
  • Undying Loyalty: He refuses to abandon his teammates, even though C.T. reminds him they're most likely dead if the Freelancers have gotten that far. He only flees with C.T. after Tex mortally wounds her with a throwing axe. This behavior seems to persist into Season 7, where he refuses to tell Tucker why he was in Sandtrap due to his loyalty to Connecticut over someone who was essentially a low grade agent of Project Freelancer.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Completely panics when the operation in Sandtrap doesn't go as planned.

    Red Bandolier Demoman 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/insurrection_demo_man_4121.png

"Get into position! Completely surround them! No-one gets behind me!"
Voiced By: Brandon Farmahini

Assumed to be the leader of this group of the Insurrection in Season 9, this unlucky soldier ends up being involved in every Freelancer operation shown against the Resistance. Although he tries to be smart, he doesn't quite make it all the way there. He is distinguished by his dual bandoliers (and later on, his robotic arm) and attitude.


Associated Tropes

  • An Arm and a Leg: Type 2, losing his arm in battle to against Freelancers due to an explosion twice, the second time being from his subverted Disney Villain Death.
  • Artificial Limbs: He receives a mechanical replacement for his left arm in Season 10, presumably due to damage sustained in Season 9.
  • Badass Transplant: In Season 10, he seems much more competent, mostly due to the mechanical arm being able to grab Brute Shot grenades out of the air. It also seems to give him Super-Strength.
  • Butt-Monkey: Every single time he shows up, he gets hurt badly by the Freelancers. He's understandably pissed off by this situation.
  • Catch and Return: Fully capable of doing this with a Brute Shot grenade using his artificial arm in Season 10.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Though, having to deal with the incompetence of his troops so much around Freelancers, one can probably understand his irritation.
  • Iron Butt Monkey: He survives a lot of punishment.
  • Made of Iron: He's both this and extremely lucky. See No One Should Survive That! for why.
  • Narrating the Obvious: "Ah! My robot arm!" Said when said arm is torn off by Maine.
  • No Indoor Voice: Like Hair-Trigger Temper, justified. The first time, he didn't have a microphone to call down to North and South. The other times, he's too pissed off to be quieter.
  • No One Should Survive That!: He has survived being at the center of a massive explosive twice now, with his only visible injury being a missing arm.
  • Revenge: After the encounter in Season 10, he swears revenge on the Freelancers for his latest misfortune, having lost his other biological arm.
  • Sir Swears-a-Lot: Probably because every time he's seen, he's being attacked by Freelancers. He seems especially prone to swearing in Episode 15 of Season 9.
  • Sole Survivor: Has a bad habit of being the only survivor in very large explosions. And, if a deleted scene from Season 10 is anything to go by, he is very likely the last survivor of the Elite Mook group from the Insurrection, provided he's survived to the present day.
  • Unexplained Recovery: The highest amount of this of the Elite Mooks. He took a Kill Sat to the face and came out with just a mechanical arm.

    Flamethrower Soldier 

Insurrectionist Flame Soldier

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/insurrection_flamer_7952.png

Washington: What the fuck is with this guy?

A large soldier who wields a flamethrower and has a shark decal on his faceplate. The first of the Insurrection Elite Mooks to die, he fights his only battle in Episode 15 of Season 9, where he faces Carolina and Washington in combat.


Associated Tropes:

  • Boom, Headshot!: Granted, it's not with a gun, but he still gets a Gravity Hammer to the face.
  • Fire-Breathing Weapon: His weapon is a M7057 Flamethrower that he can utilize with enough proficiency to prematurely detonate grenades in mid-air.
  • Giant Mook: He seems to be the largest of the Elite Mooks.
  • Killed Off for Real: The first of the Insurrectionist Elite Mooks to get this fate in Season 9.
    • It's later revealed in season 13 that he is alive and imprisoned on the UNSC Tartarus
  • Made of Iron: He takes handgun and battle rifle fire like it's nothing, and takes a full on Banshee to the face and survives. It takes a Gravity Hammer to the face to finally kill him.
  • Pyromaniac: Wields a flamethrower and is covered in burns, including half his face being burned off.
  • Never Found the Body: After his bout with Agents Washington and Carolina, he is assumed to be dead, but it turns out he is alive and has been imprisoned by the UNSC.

    Sleeveless Soldier 

Sleeveless Insurrectionist Soldier

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sleeveless_insurectionist_9879.png

Sigma: Agent Maine, isn't that the soldier from the freeway? The one who shot you in the throat? ...I thought so. Sic 'Em.

Seemingly the physically strongest of the Insurrection soldiers in terms of brute strength, this soldier is famous for shooting Maine in the throat, rendering him mute and inadvertently causing the entirety of The Recollection.


Associated Tropes:

  • Airborne Mook: When he takes to the sky in Episodes 16 and 17 of Season 9 on a Jet Pack.
  • Badass Normal: We are talking about a guy who managed to withstand, block, and dodge several blows from Carolina and brilliantly win a fight against Maine. If those are not some of the most incredible feats from the series...
  • Bare-Fisted Monk: Although he seems perfectly capable of using guns when he has them, this soldier seems to prefer simply pummeling people with his bare hands first.
  • The Brute: Rather than any weapon, he seems to focus on pure strength. Downplayed in that unlike Maine, he seems to succeed more through strategy and ruthlessness than by his actual strength. His beating of Maine is a good example considering he actually hits Maine twice to piss him off, then waits for him to try to strike back, which leaves his guard fully open.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: Downplayed. Despite not seeming to have any actual enhancements, this soldier manages to out-muscle Maine in their first encounter. That said, once Maine gets Super-Strength, things go in quite the other direction.
  • Evil Counterpart: Or Good Counterpart, depending on how you look at it, to Maine.
  • Giant Mook: Rivals the Flame Soldier in sheer size.
  • Never Found the Body: In Season 9, he is last seen being thrown off the freeway after a fight with Carolina. He shows up again in Season 10.
  • One-Hit Kill/Off with His Head!: His final fate in Episode 9 of Season 10 at the hands of Maine. After Maine gives him a Punch Catch and forced to his knees, Maine punches him in the head, knocking his helmet off. He doesn't get back up, and we never see his head after the incident. It's been confirmed by Word of God (through DVD commentary) that the punch did indeed kill and decapitate him.
  • Sleeves Are for Wimps: He's known for his muscle mass and his sleevelessness.
  • Unexplained Recovery: Not as bad as the Demoman, but still unexplained.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He's the one who shot Maine in the throat, inadvertently providing Carolina's excuse to give Sigma away. And we all know what Sigma did as a result.
  • The Worf Effect: The second time Maine fights him, the battle is decidedly very one-sided, most likely to showcase Maine's new Super-Strength.

    The Sniper 

Insurrectionist Sniper

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/insurrectionist_sniper_3704.png

"Okay, what have you got for me?"

A member of the jetpack trio of "Sleeveless Guy" and "Female Soldier", this Insurrectionist is known for his use of a sniper rifle. He is notable for being the only member of the group who is not assumed dead at the end of Season 9, though he is on the receiving end of a pretty brutal punch from Maine. Like his fellows, he survives to Season 10.


Associated Tropes

    Girlie 

Girlie

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/female_insurrectionist_6539.png

"I can't believe he trusts that bitch after what she did to us."
Voiced By: Hannah Hart

The only known female member of the Insurrection except Connecticut, this soldier is notable for both her gender and the fact that she has her face shown, one of the few members of the Insurrection to do so.


Associated Tropes

  • Disney Villain Death: Dropped to her death along with the Demoman's "robot arm" by Maine in Episode 9 of Season 10.
  • Dual Wielding: Wields two combat knives in her one-on-one fight with Carolina in Season 10.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice/Bayonet Ya: Carolina impales her in the chest with the bayonet of Maine's Brute Shot in Season 9. It doesn't kill her, however.
  • Lady Swears-a-Lot: She has exactly three lines. Two include the word "bitch", and the last includes "fuck".
  • Long Hair Is Feminine: Subverted. Her hair is longer than any of the other women in the prequel segments, but she's just as action oriented and vulgar as any of them.
  • Unexplained Recovery: Not as bad as the Demoman, but still unexplained.

    Rhee Sebeil 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rhee_sebial_7091.png

A civilian scientist, he is a high ranking official in the Insurrection, and has the briefcase that holds the code to opening the Sarcophagus. He only appears in Season 9.


Associated Tropes

  • Surprisingly Sudden Death: Maine takes him out this way: jumping off a bridge, landing straight on the hood of his car, and, as it manages to swerve only twice in the driver's surprise, kills the official.

    Chain Guy and Chain Girl 

Chain Guy and Chain Girl

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/insurrectionist_turret_men_7715.png

Insurrectionist Leader: Mow 'em down!
Voiced By: Michael Jones and Lindsey Tuggey

Two soldiers who guard the entrance to the computer room in which the Leader is staying in Season 10, these two seem to communicate through giggles and weeps, and used their Gatling guns to keep the Freelancers at bay for some time. One has a frowning face on their faceplate, the other a smiling one.


Associated Tropes:

  • Alien Blood: Though presumably not alien, their death-by-crushing results in a huge splatter of yellow. It's unknown if it's paint or blood.
  • All There in the Manual: Their names (and the fact one of them is apparently a girl) come from a tweet by Chain Guy's voice actor.
  • Ax-Crazy: Seemingly, by the sounds of their communication with one another.
  • Battle Couple: One possible interpretation of their relationship.
  • Berserker Tears: The frowning face soldier.
  • Bottomless Magazines: More noticeable than others, due to almost never stopping firing.
  • Death from Above/Forklift Fu: Killed when Florida caused the crane holding a box to throw them off of the side of the platform, then drop the box, killing them both.
  • Disney Villain Death: Sort of. It's unknown if the fall or the box killed them.

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