M12 LRV

See the article on Halopedia for more information

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

"That would be Chupacabra sir."

"Hey Grif, Chupathingy, how 'bout that? I like it. It's got a ring to it."

The Warthog is a Light Reconnaissance Vehicle (known as a "Warthog" in the Halo games) that belongs to the Red Team.

History
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 seven 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. When they returned later on, 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 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. It was later damaged in a battle with the Meta and they were forced 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.
 * 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 calls it Chupababy. By their return to Valhalla, the Red Team seems to have abandoned the use of the EMP launcher considering it's general ineffectiveness in combat. In Chapter 4 of Revelation, the Meta destroyed this vehicle, but in Chapter 6, it seems the towing mechanism on the front still works relatively fine.
 * The seventh jeep was the meta's seen in chapter 18 of recreation. this is the only warthog that has been cloaked in the series. it is never seen driven, since the meta removed it's starter.


 * The eighth jeep was repaired from a wrecked one from Sandtrap and used to drive after Caboose and Epsilon-Church.

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!"

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

Trivia

 * In Reconstruction Chapter 11, 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