For a more in-depth review, see this article on the RvB Wiki.
Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles consists of the first five seasons of Red vs. Blue. The Blood Gulch Chronicles is the first main saga in the Red vs. Blue series, spanning 5 seasons, 100 episodes, and a 5-part miniseries. The saga introduces many of the series' main characters, features several memorable running gags, and sets up numerous events and lore that are continued in later seasons. The saga began with the very first episode of the series and ended with the 100th episode.
The main characters include Sarge, Grif, Simmons, Donut, Church, Tucker, Caboose, Tex, and Doc. Major recurring characters include Lopez, Sheila, and Andy. The primary antagonists are O'Malley, Wyoming, Vic, Gary, Felix, and Locus.
| Red vs. Blue: The Blood Glutch Chronicles | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comic science fiction black comedy |
| Created by | Burnie Burns |
| Written by | Burnie Burns (seasons 1-5; 100 episodes, 2003-2006) |
| Series Directed by | Burnie Burns ... (95 episodes, 2003-2006)
Matt Hullum ... (5 episodes, 2004) |
| Voices of | Burnie Burns Joel Heyman |
| Theme music composer | Trocadero |
| Opening theme | "Blood Gulch Blues" (seasons 1–5) |
| Composer(s) | Trocadero Jeff Williams |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 105 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Burnie Burns...co-producer (unknown episodes)
Joel Heyman...producer (unknown episodes) Geoff Ramsey...co-producer (unknown episodes) Gus Sorola...line producer / producer (unknown episodes) |
| Running time | 6min - 7 minutes average per episode |
| Production company(s) | Rooster Teeth Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | Rooster Teeth |
| Original release | April 1, 2003 – June 2007 |
| External links | |
| Website | www.roosterteeth.com/show/red-vs-blue |
Story
Season 1
- See main article: Red vs. Blue: Season 1.
The first season of The Blood Gulch Chronicles begins with the introduction of two rookies on the Red and Blue teams, also getting a jeep and a tank respectively. The Red recruit, Donut, is sent on a fool's errand by his teammates, only to accidentally steal the enemy flag when he believed their base to be the store (and the Blue rookie believing Donut to be the General foretold by his teammates in a fool's errand of his own). The weeks of reconnaissance and intelligence gathering breaks down into chaos and [poorly] constructed offenses.
Season 2
- See main article: Red vs. Blue: Season 2.
The second season begins several months after the first season. A medical officer arrives to check on a wounded soldier Blue team reported. He had come months afterward, so by the time he got there, the wounded soldier (Tex) had already died. Almost immediately after his arrival the Red team attacks, but quickly run out of ammo. Red team salvages their failed offensive by getting Doc as an exchange for Blue team's surrender (although he was ordered to go to Red team anyway). Doc's added involvement in the canyon, combined with a rampant A.I. infecting Caboose, will force the two opposing teams to do the unthinkable.
Season 3
- See main article: Red vs. Blue: Season 3.
The third season begins with the Red and Blue teams fighting Doc/O'Malley and soon finding themselves in the "future", with Church traveling back in time, reliving events from the previous two seasons in order to fix past mistakes. When Church, however, is unable to fix past problems, he travels into the future and rejoins the others. Suddenly, the soldiers stumble upon a prophecy that states a blue being destroying everything. Soon afterward, the Reds and Blues try to defend themselves from an attack by O'Malley when the "Great Destroyer" arrives.
Season 4
- See main article: Red vs. Blue: Season 4.
The fourth season begins with the Red Team following a distress signal back to Blood Gulch and experiences a falling out with one of their soldiers. Meanwhile, Tucker, Tex, Caboose, Andy, and the Alien go on a quest to save the alien's race. When their quest comes to an end, Tex ventures off for Wyoming and does not return to Blood Gulch with the rest of Blue team. In the aftermath, when Tucker becomes seriously ill, the Blue team, having no other choice, invite Doc and O'Malley to their base in order to help him.
Out of Mind
Out of Mind is a mini-series that takes place in between Seasons 4 and 5, being a narrative from Tex's point of view as she pursues bounty hunter Wyoming, told in a much more serious tone. The events precede Season 5 and feature the first Red vs. Blue episodes to remove letterboxing.
Season 5
- See main article: Red vs. Blue: Season 5.
The fifth season begins with a ship from Earth crash-landing in the middle of the canyon, containing a new soldier. Red team experiences a major crisis in their chain of command and Blue team welcomes a new addition to the family. Churchalso tries to stop O'Malley once and for all. On April 1, 2007, four years since episode one, it was announced by Burnie on the forums that episode 100 is the last one of the Blood Gulch Chronicles. It was the series finale that tied up all the "loose ends".
| April 1st is a special day for us here at RoosterTeeth, as it marks the anniversary of the first Red vs Blue episode we ever posted, way back in 2003. We always want to pause on occasions such as this to thank all of you for supporting RvB over the years. We try to say it as often as we can; the people of this community do so much for us by keeping us inspired and motivated to create every day. And the sponsors especially deserve our gratitude by supporting us in (if I may borrow a phrase) "a rent and food" kind of way. It's hard to believe that today marks four years of producing the series and with this week's release, we are 6 episodes from Episode 100. It seems like just yesterday that we started working on what we thought was going to be a mini-series that was intended to run six episodes in total.'Producing RvB and getting to know the people who watch it have been two of the greatest joys of my life. That's why we wanted to let you all know first that Episode 100 is going to be the last installment of The Blood Gulch Chronicles. One hundred is a great number, and it seems like the perfect place to call it a show. I am sure you have some questions about our plans for the series and beyond. We will be talking about all of that in the weeks and months to come, but I want to use this time to thank all of you for nearly half a decade of support. For now, it's back to work. From the recent developments in the storyline, you may have noticed some loose ends coming together and we have a lot to wrap up in the last seven videos. We hope you will love them as much as the first seven or the middle seven or whatever it was that initially drew you to the world of Red vs Blue. |
The episode was released with three alternate endings, with more on the DVD release. The canon ending is a repeat of the first episode with reversed roles of the Reds watching the Blues "just standing there and just talking."
Theme
Hate
At the start of the saga, the main characters on both sides of the Red Team and Blue Team hated each other with no legitimate reason besides being on opposite teams. Along with this, Simmons states "The only reason that we set up a Red Base here, is because they have a Blue Base over there. And the only reason they have a Blue Base over there, is because we have a Red Base here," implying that their armies only built the bases in spite of each other. However, as the saga progresses the characters learn more about each other and develop reasons why they like or dislike a specific individual. One notable example is Caboose and Donut, the rookies of both teams who annoy their teammates, who are the first to develop a friendship despite being on opposite teams.
Omega, the A.I. fragment based on rage, ultimately makes plans to destroy both teams without developing any real relations with the majority of the main cast, mirroring the heroes original hatred for the other team at the start of the series. Due to this, the teams join forces to defeat Omega and his allies, developing a genuine hatred for the antagonists for endangering them or others. At the same time, as the characters spend more time with each other, they learn more about one another and begin to develop genuine opinions towards each other, both negative and positive. Omega also causes anyone he possesses to act aggressively and spiteful, creating conflict between several characters. Ultimately at the end of the saga in Why Were We Here?, Church gives a speech about hating someone for being who they are rather than what they are, explaining genuine dislike is better than blind prejudices.
Change
Throughout the saga, many characters experience change that they originally dislike before adapting and accepting it, both physically and mentally. Originally the teams were fine with doing nothing in the canyon beside talking, but due to an ever emerging series of events in their lives, the two teams often found themselves forced to cooperate for a greater purpose, bigger than their petty squabbling. This resulted in the formation of the Blood Gulch Crew and started the characters' development into becoming heroes. Many times characters switch sides for their own benefits and comfort, such as Tex joining the Blues, Lopez and Sheila creating their own faction, Simmons briefly joining Blue Team, and Docbeing forced to aid Omega's plans. Omega also changes the personalities of individuals he possesses, harming many in the process (such as Caboose). However, despite Omega's action, a majority of characters return to normal and overcome his influence.
Many characters who experience a change in this saga eventually develop into a better individual. Simmons turned into a cyborg due to Lopez being absent, resulting in some of his organs to be transplanted to Grif. Although he greatly disliked it at first, he eventually accepted his cybernetics as being part of himself and acknowledged how important it was to help his team. Donut is given pink armor near the end of Season 1 and is made fun of it as it's a feminine color. Although Donut keeps stating it's "lightish-red", he eventually accepts it and begins to show more feminine traits and develop his personality. Church's relationship with Tex becomes extremely strained due to the constant threats of Omega and becomes more annoyed by his team. He even attempts to try to change the past for his liking at one point before acknowledging it's impossible and deciding to return to the present and be more tolerant to his allies, which eventually improves their relationship. When Tucker became pregnant with an alien baby, he constantly refused to be "the father" and showed no interest in becoming one. After Junior was born, Tucker developed a loving relationship with his son and acted a little more mature. Doc is possessed by Omega for most of the saga and is forced to help the A.I. in his plans to conquer the world. Despite this, Doc kept a positive mood while his personality became more aggressive, resulting in a more confident individual.
Main Characters
Red Team
- Sarge (Season 1-5; 86 episodes)
- Simmons (Season 1-5; 95 episodes)
- Grif (Season 1-5; 92 episodes)
- Donut (Season 1-5; 78 episodes)
- Lopez (Season 1-5; 39 episodes)
Blue Team
- Church (Season 1-5; 89 episodes)
- Tucker (Season 1-5; 89 episodes)
- Caboose (Season 1-5; 90 episodes)
- Tex (Season 1-5; 60 episodes)
- Sheila (Season 1-5; 46 episodes)
- Andy (Season 3-5; 27 episodes)
- Flowers (Season 3, 5; 5 episodes)
- Sister (Season 5; 16 episodes)
Other
- O'Malley (Season 1-5; 33 episodes)
- V.I.C. (Season 1-5; 13 episodes)
- Doc (Season 2-5; 43 episodes)
- Wyoming (Season 3-5; 14 episodes)
- Gary (Season 3-5; 12 episodes)
- York (Out of Mind; 3 episodes)
- Delta (Out of Mind; 3 episodes)
Trivia
- The Blood Gulch Chronicles is the only saga in the series that does not begin with a voice-over monologue.
- Burnie Burns got the idea for making The Blood Gulch Chronicles while playing Halo: CE in Blood Gulch. He had gotten the inspiration by asking his teammate "Why do they call it a Warthog? Can't they call it a Puma?".
- The seasons were eventually re-shot, or "remastered", using the Halo: Combat Evolved Custom Edition PC game and Halo 2 in a Xbox 360. The remastered seasons presented freedom of the constraints Rooster Teeth experienced in the original production, including removing the target reticle, improving the size of the aspect ratio and removing the camera from the controlled camera character. The remastered seasons were originally released over Xbox Live, but were later released on DVD as a 5-season box set, and have been uploaded in the Red vs. Blue YouTube channel (the original versions are on the Rooster Teeth one).
References
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