M12 LRV

''"Hey Simmons, what's the name of that Mexican lizard? Eats all the goats?"

- Sarge "Uh...that would be the chupacabra, sir."

- Simmons "Hey Grif, Chupathingy! How about that? I like it, gotta ring to it."

- Sarge ''

The M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, also known as a "Warthog", and "Chupathingy" by Sarge, is a vehicle used frequently throughout the series. The first seen Warthog belonged to the Red Team.

Role in Plot
When the jeep first arrived as a shipment from Red Command, the Reds saw it as a death machine that they could use to kill the Blues. Sarge decided to call it the "Warthog" because "M12 LRV is too hard to say in conversation." Also, Sarge notices the "tusks" on the front of the vehicle, also supporting the name "Warthog." The Reds then proceeded to argue over whether they should call it the Warthog or Puma. He also proposed other names like the Walrus, Bigfoot, Phoenix, Unicorn, Sasquach, or Chupacabra (Chupathingy).

The Warthog first saw combat shortly thereafter, when Tucker and Church went after Donut to reclaim their flag. Using the mounted chaingun, Simmons and Grif kept the Blues pinned down behind an outcropping of rocks for quite some time, thanks to the turret's seemingly unlimited supply of ammunition. However, their victory was short lived as Caboose drove up in a tank and blew up the Warthog.

After the Warthog was blown up Lopez was dispatched to fix the Warthog. Later it was discovered that Lopez contains a remote control device for the Warthog. The Blues nearly killed Sarge with the turret while Church was possesing Lopez's body. The Blues used this function later, when the Reds tried to attack them, to remotely disable the Warthog.

A similar jeep was seen in Episode 99. The jeep was used to splatter a few Wyomings (by Grif) and to then gun them down (Sarge and Simmons). Only one was left alive from the surprise attack.

Different Jeeps
To date, the Reds have owned nine different jeeps at different times.


 * The first jeep was shipped to Red Base at the start of the series. When the group left Blood Gulch at the end of season two, the jeep was left behind.
 * The second jeep was located by Donut and Caboose when they first arrived in the future. Sarge was able to repair it, making it run on solar power and it was used to return to Blood Gulch. In episode 59, Simmons was standing in the machine gunner position. It was also was seen in episode 62, cheering for the wrench as Donut was in the running for becoming Sarge's second in command after Simmons defected. The Reds also used the jeep in Episode 100, to eliminate the Wyoming clones. It was later damaged in Reconstruction, during a battle with the Meta, forcing them to leave it behind.
 * The third jeep was acquired from Valhalla which they planned to use to sneak into Command. It was left behind when Caboose suggested using a tank instead, while Washington and Church used the jeep.
 * The fourth jeep was acquired from Command to use for escape. However they failed to outrun the EMP and the jeep was disabled.
 * The fifth jeep was given to the Reds as a reward from bringing Project Freelancer to justice. It exploded when Sarge tried to add a new weapon to the Warthog in Relocated.
 * The sixth jeep was built by the Reds and has a EMP launcher instead of a turret, which causes the jeep to be disabled for 10 seconds. Sarge, Grif and Caboose took it to find Tucker. This jeep was disabled when Grif crashed it into an Elephant while escaping a minefield. In Chapter 18 of Recreation, Sarge called it Chupababy. However, the Red Team seemed to have abandoned the use of the EMP launcher jeep by Revelation, considering it's general ineffectiveness in combat.
 * The seventh jeep was taken from Sandtrap and used to rescue Simmons and Doc during Revelation. It was destroyed when the Meta crushed the engine and shot it with his Brute Shot . In Chapter 6, it seemed that the towing mechanism on the front still works relatively fine
 * The eigth was repaired from a wrecked one from Sandtrap and used to drive after Caboose and Epsilon-Church. It was pushed off a cliff in Avalanche along with The Meta.
 * The ninth jeep was used by the Reds to rescue Epsilon, alongside the Blues and Carolina.

Tejano Music
As a running gag throughout the series, the Puma/Warthog frequently plays Tejano (Spanish-Texan) folk music, much to the annoyance of all. This is probably because it is often repaired and driven by Lopez, who speaks Spanish. The one occasion the warthog played different music (which was country), which was when Church who was possessing Lopez at the time, activated the Warthog’s remote control function. This caused the warthog to go on a short rampage at the Red Base, and almost kill Sarge.

The song played is called: "Los Dos Laredos / Acordeones De Oro" by Jaime y Los Chamacos from their album "...NO SE CANSAN!" Initially, Rooster Teeth was unable to identify the song's artist, rendering them unable to pursue securing the rights to use the song in their DVDs. An original composition with a similar tune was originally used to replace the song in the DVDs, although the original song has been randomly heard throughout various points of subsequent DVD releases. In the remastered release of the Blood Gulch Chronicles however, every moment the song was originally found in has been replaced by the new version, including season 5, which was otherwise left intact from its original DVD release.

Destroyed
Throughout the series, the Warthog has managed to get destroyed, mutilated, or beaten almost immediatly after its arrival.

Trivia

 * In Reconstruction Chapter 11, after the Meta throws an EMP Warthog at Grif, Sarge runs out saying they haven't finished the payments on it, but the Red Team didn't have an EMP Warthog until Recreation. This may have been a simple filming error.
 * When the Warthog's hubcaps are examined closely in Halo 3 they can be seen to have Puma written on them as a nod to Grif's comments on the vehicle. The same is also shown on the Warthog in Halo: Reach
 * Before the jeep was destroyed in n+1, Sarge asks the Meta, "Hey Meta, settle a bet would you? Does that thing look like a big cat to you?" just before Grif and Simmons push it off the cliff. This is refering to the argument in the first season where Grif comments on the jeep's likeness to a puma.