Red vs. Blue has been known to have a handful of running gags that have occurred throughout the series. Below is a list of several notable ones.
Episode 10[]
During the tenth episode of the first season, Tex is introduced to the series. This began a trend where Tex, after having extended absences, would reappear in the tenth, or sometimes ninth, episode of the season she reappears in. After Tex's story wrapped up in Season 10, the episode tradition was altered to be huge story reveals instead.
- S01E10: Church reappears as a "ghost" and Tex makes her series debut.
- S02E10: Both Sheila and Tex return, with Sheila being repaired and Tex possessing Lopez.
- S03E10: Church returns, albeit making a brief vocal appearance.
- S04E10: Caboose mentions that the Blood Gulch Crew were sent "into the future" at the "Great Burning Plains".
- S05E10: After returning to Blood Gulch in the previous episode, Tex attacks the Blues and meets Sister.
- S06E10: The Reds meet Agent Washington for the first time, as well as have their first encounter with the Meta.
- S07E10: C.T.'s dig team is revealed to have killed the original dig team.
- S08E10: After debuting in the previous episode, Epsilon-Tex attacks the Reds and Blues and Epsilon is revealed to have gained a new robot body.
- S09E10: Tex battles York, Maine, and Wyoming and the cause of York's eye injury is revealed.
- S10E10: Tex and Carolina battle C.T. and the Insurrectionist Leader, C.T. dies, and it is revealed that the Leader took C.T.'s armor and identity.
- S11E10: Donut, Doc, and Lopez arrive at Crash Site Bravo (paired with Tex's theme) without any actual help or reinforcements.
- S12E10: Locus and Felix are revealed to be working together and both Carolina and Epsilon return.
- S13E10: Doyle is revealed to have taken the Great Key of Chorus and Doc makes a return.
- S14E10: It's revealed when Felix and Locus started to do anything for money.
- S15E10: Temple is revealed to have kidnapped and killed the remaining Freelancers, followed by him trapping Carolina and Washington in an attempt to do the same to them.
- S16E10: Donut and Doc are revealed to be working for Chrovos, who himself is revealed to be the true antagonist of the season instead of the Cosmic Powers.
- S17E10: Genkins takes away the Reds and Blues ability to time travel and causes Chrovos to ally with Donut after Genkins betrayed them in the prior episode. The Labyrinth is also revealed, which traps the Reds and Blues to live through their worst fears to drive them to suicide.
The gag is only absent in Red vs. Blue: Zero, which has a total of eight episodes, and Red vs. Blue: Restoration, which only has one.
"Herk, ble-ag!"[]
Whenever a character is killed, they will suddenly shout "Hurrrrk... blah" before they pass away. A variation of this is saying,"I am dead!" or shouting out they're dead right before they die. This begins when Church is killed by Sheila, and dies while talking to Tucker, and is later performed by Tex, the Red Zealot, and Captain Flowers, amongst others. Another death-related running gag is how a character (usually when blown up, but exclusively to all character deaths in the "Every Man for Himself" ending of Episode 100) will shout "Son of a bitch!". This is demonstrated when Tucker screams, "Son of a Bitch!" when Doc/O'Malley blows him up with the Motorcycle.
Tucker and the Sniper Rifle[]
Due to the scarcity of the sniper rifle, Tucker has never been able to use one. He was originally supposed to get one ordered from Captain Butch Flowers, but because of the captain's death, likely due to an aspirin overdose, the order was never placed. This gag began in the first episode of the series, when he is berated by Church for questioning him about the activity of the Reds; Tucker's response is one of irritation as Church has a sniper rifle while he does not. This gag is repeated numerous times throughout Seasons One and Two, eventually being phased out in Season Three after he accidentally discovers the sword during the attack on O'Malley's base.
After using the sword to kill the Red Zealot, he declines an offer by Tex to trade his sword for her sniper rifle. The gag is mentioned briefly in Season 5, where it is demonstrated he has excellent eyesight, on account of he "never gets to use the fucking sniper rifle". During Episode 94 Tucker begs Church to use the sniper rifle, which he does. Tucker then displays his unfamiliarity with the device by shooting Tex in the ass, and manages to switch weapons again before she catches him.
He later uses the sniper rifle again in Episode 99 and is surprisingly quite accurate with it, even able to take out Wyoming's clones without sighting through the scope, though that is probably due to the time reversal in which he remembers events prior, so he probably just knew the clone was there. In the mini-series "Where There's a Will, There's a Wall", the sniper rifle is Church's final offer to Tucker in exchange for the Falcon. In Oh Captains, My Captains, Tucker asks Felix for the sniper rifle while spying on a Federal Army of Chorus facility.
In Why They're Here, Tucker, Church and Butch Flowers go on a scouting mission, where Flowers uses a sniper rifle to spy on Grif and Simmons. Tucker asks Flowers if he can use the sniper rifle, to which Flowers replies "I tell you what Tucker, if we ever go on a mission like this again I'll give you the honors.", though, of course, this never happens.
Buckey, Tucker's counterpart of the Blues and Reds, is often seen using a Sniper Rifle. This trait helps Dylan Andrews realize that he can't be Tucker due to Tucker never being seen choosing a Sniper Rifle as his weapon.
In Sis and Tuc's Sexellent Adventure, Tucker accidentally kills Captain Flowers with a Sniper Rifle, which after he states "I think I'll stick with melee weapons for a while."
Six Pedals[]
Since its first mention, this joke has been used 6 times:
- The first time was by Caboose in Check Out the Treads on That Tank while learning how to operate Sheila: "No, no, wait, go back! Why are there six pedals if there are only four directions?"
- The second time was by Grif while hijacking an Elephant in Well Hello. This time, the joke is used in reverse, with Grif complaining about how there are only four pedals while there are six directions.
- The third time was during a Poser-animated sequence in Upon Further Review. Again by Grif while driving a Warthog, where six pedals are visible inside.
- The fourth time was when Tucker first visited the Blue base on Valhalla in New and Improved, stating "I bet this time, we've got a tank with eight pedals instead of six."
- The fifth time was during Oh Captains, My Captains after Jensen ran over a New Republic soldier with the Warthog, complaining on the number of pedals in the vehicle.
- The sixth time was in A Pizza the Action, when Sister was upset with Tucker, who crashed into Paul Walker. He stated that he was used to six petals and that two was harder now.
The Warthog's Tejano music[]
Whenever Red Team is seen driving a Warthog, Tejano (Spanish-Texan) music will usually be heard, much to the annoyance of most. This is likely because it is often repaired by Lopez who speaks Spanish. The song played is called: "Los Dos Laredos / Acordeones De Oro" by Jaime y Los Chamacos from their album "...NO SE CANSAN!"
Trocadero's song "Gun Metal Green" references the gag in the lyric "Cruising along, to a Mexican song".
Lift with the Groin[]
Many times during the series when a character is pulling or lifting something, someone will say 'lift with your groin'. Such as when Caboose is picking up the bomb in Season 3. This is ironic and revealing as one should lift with their legs in order to avoid injury and it was often said by Sarge, who lacks medical knowledge (albeit for comedic purposes). A slight variation of this is seen in Revelation when Doc gets stuck in the wall. He tells Simmons to "pull from the groin", advice that is later repeated by Washington to the Meta. In Turbulence, Carolina attaches her grappling gun to Washington's groin plate when pulling him into a Pelican, therefore, ironically enough, literally lifting him from his groin.
Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow![]
Bow-Chicka Bow-Wow is Tucker's catch phrase. First coined in Episode 58, he frequently uses it to express his sexual fantasies, mainly about Tex. As the season progresses, he uses it again and again, much to the annoyance of Church. Later in the series he has seemed to have stopped using it as much, neglecting to say it at all in Season 9 (though it should be noted that it was Tucker's Epsilon double not the original).
In addition, several characters misquote his catch phrase, such as Caboose's "Hey-Chicka-Bum-Bum" and Buckey's "Boom-Chicka-Wah-Wah". Carolina also said it in Along Came a Spider in an attempt to "loosen up".
Caboose's Team Killing[]
Many jokes are made about Caboose Team Killing, such as when he shot Church with Sheila in episode 8, and in the alternate ending to episode 100 Fight! Fight! when Caboose gets in Sheila and accidentally shoots Church again. Caboose also activated the 10-megaton bomb inside Church's robot body which had been installed by Sarge, which supposedly propelled everyone but Church into the future, while Church got sent back in time. Caboose also shot Sarge in the head with a Sniper Rifle while Church was possessing him.
When he is taken out from the brig in Reconstruction Chapter 3, he accidentally shoots Jones.
During Reconstruction Chapter 6, Church tricked Caboose into shooting South by telling him "Hey, see that purple one? She's on our team. You should help her."
In This One Goes to Eleven Tucker asks Caboose to help him, so Caboose drops a shipping container from above.
In n+1, Tucker tells Caboose to stay with Church and try not to kill him by accident. Later, in the same episode, Epsilon tells Caboose to use the capture unit on him and responds to Caboose's claims that he couldn't by saying "Yes you can. You do this all the time". Caboose responds by dejectedly saying "Yeah, I don't want to."
In Evacuation Plan, Tucker asks Caboose if they should help Epsilon, with Caboose responding he can't get an accurate shot on Church.
In the Season 11 episode One-Zero-One, Caboose wanted to use the tank after he watched Sarge use it to shoot Grif, referencing his first time killing Church.
Command[]
Command has a keyboard shortcut for whenever Caboose Team Kills. It is revealed by Caboose to be Ctrl+F+U (FU is a generally accepted abbreviation of Fuck You). Command used this macro when Washington lies to them saying Caboose killed South, instead of him (Washington).
Cockbite[]
Cockbite is an insult used as the basis for the company name 'Rooster Teeth', the title being very similar to cockbite (the rooster being the 'cock' and the teeth being the 'bite'). It is used numerous time as an insult between soldiers, mostly in the first couple of seasons.
Grif Related Injuries[]
There were numerous occasions which involved Grif being injured. Some of the incidents were real, while many more were imagined by Sarge.
Higakergerk![]
Higakergerk is a line a person says whenever he or she is possessed by Church. For example, when he possesses Sarge to free Tex, Sarge says "Higakergerk" as he is possessed. The same happens with Lopez. In Chapter 13 of Reconstruction, Church possesses a command soldier who also says "Higakergerk" as he is being possessed.
Mental Images of Characters[]
These minor characters appeared in episodes 31-33, episode 100 and Reconstruction represent how Caboose represents himself and the others within his own mind. They are different from their real world counterparts, to which the real Church states that Caboose hasn't been really paying attention. For example, Grif's armor color, Donut's gender, and Sarge's accent. The only characters that act as themselves are the Omega and Delta AIs, due to Omega's partial control of Caboose and Caboose's mental image of Delta being a prerecorded message from Delta.
Oh, son of a-[]
Before a character is about to die (or in some cases become injured) they utter the phrase "Oh, son of a bitch." before dying. However, the phrase is usually never completed.
The Blood Gulch Chronicles[]
- Starting in Episode 5, Donut shouts the phrase after Church attempts to shoot him with the sniper rifle.
- In Episode 6, Church shouts the phrase after Grif and Simmons drive up to him, Tucker, and Donut in the Warthog.
- In Episode 8, Church, Simmons, & Grif all say it as the tank, Sheila, fires her cannon; but none of them get hurt. Later in the same episode, Church says "Oh, son of a-" before he is killed by Caboose. In the next episode, Grif shouts the phrase after Sheila fires her cannon at Red Base.
- In Episode 11, Grif and Simmons shout the phrase in unison after the Plasma Grenade Tex stuck to Donut exploded.
- In Episode 19, Grif, Simmons, and Church possessing Lopez all shout the phrase when Tex fires Sheila's cannon at Red Base (although the captions said the phrase when Church shouted it, he actually shouted 'Mother of God!' in Spanish).
- In Episode 38, Tucker shouts the phrase after being blasted by a rocket fired by O'Malley.
- In Episode 43, Church says the phrase before the bomb that sends the Reds and Blues "into the future" goes off.
- In Episode 77, Simmons shouts the phrase after Sheila fires her cannon at him, Grif, and Donut.
- In Episode 99, Church shouts the phrase upon encountering Gamma inside the tank.
- In one of the alternate endings of Episode 100, everyone shouts the phrase when they seemingly die.
The Recollection[]
- The phrase returns in Think You Know Someone when Epsilon kills C.T.
- In Upon Further Review, Washington fully says the phrase before he is blown up by Sarge; however, he survives.
The Project Freelancer Saga[]
- In Number One, Epsilon yells the phrase after being shot by Donut in exchange for being allowed to speak for five minutes.
- The 14th episode of Season 9 is entitled "Son of a Bitch", in reference to Lopez getting shot.
- In the episode, The Sarcophagus, the Demo Man says the phrase before being blasted by the Mother of Invention.
- Later, in Turbulence, the Director uses the phrase shortly before the Mother of Invention is ambushed by enemy ships.
The Chorus Trilogy[]
- In the Season 11 episode Neighborhood Watch, Felix yells the phrase after being shot in the leg by Locus.
- In Fire, Lopez 2.0 says the phrase after Donut throws a Teleportation Grenade at him.
- At the end of Hit and Run, Rogers says the phrase before he, along with a group of Feds, is killed by a C-4 grenade explosion.
- In Prologue, Stassney brings back the gag before he is shot and killed by Locus.
- In Great Destroyers, Aiden Price says the phrase before he, along with the Space Pirates on board the Tartarus, are killed when the ship crashed on the Purge.
Season 14[]
- In Room Zero, Church says the phrase after being transported to a white void after a rocket explosion.
- In Consequences, Felix says the phrase after Siris decides to attempt to leave when he realized Ruben Lazano didn't know about him.
- In Red vs. Blue vs. Rooster Teeth, Burnie Burns says the phrase after he is transported to Valhalla.
The Shisno Trilogy[]
- In Killing Time, Genkins possessing a Past-Church almost fully says the phrase before getting blasted by a Past-Sheila with the golf club he once had.
Extra[]
- In The Best Red vs. Blue DVD Ever. Of All Time., Church fully says the phrase before he is shot by Sarge.
Shisno[]
Shisno is a term the Aliens refer to humans as in a racist manner. Gamma has stated that "Shisno" is an alien term that is pronounced Shiz-no which refers to a foul creature that defecates in which produces its own excrement. The only people to use this term are Andy, Gary, and one of the desert Aliens. It was later revealed that the term "shisno" also refers to Agents of Chrovos, though the meaning behind this correlation is never stated.
Season 16, The Shisno Paradox, is named after this term, as well as the first episode in the season.
Black Stuff[]
Starting in Season 1, whenever Tucker goes into a Teleporter, he comes out covered in mysterious black stuff. The running gag lasted throughout Seasons 1 to 3.
The gag was later abandoned in Season 4 onwards, though it was mentioned in Season 5. It later returned in Revelation, when Tex throws Tucker through the teleporters at the Freelancer offsite facility.
The gag once again returns in the Season 14 finale and near the end of the episode Tucker enters the RoosterTeeth offices covered in the mysterious black stuff. In has been stated that the black stuff is hard to remove without assistance. It has also been shown that a blow with enough force is able to completely remove the black stuff, such as when Tex punches Tucker into the ground.
The gag is used one last time in Restoration, where Tex using the teleporter causes her armor to turn into its standard black (originally colored cobalt due to using a body meant for Church).
...Of All Time[]
In Reconstruction: Chapter 6, when Washington, Caboose and Church are attempting to disable the Meta, Washington orders Caboose to throw a spike grenade in an attempt to assist Church's assault on the Meta. Church's response of "No! Don't let Caboose help me!" is quickly justified when Caboose tosses the grenade directly into the wall in front of himself and Washington, to which Washington comments "That was the worst throw ever. Of all time." To which Caboose says "Not my fault. Someone put a wall in my way."
A variation of the phrase is repeated by Washington after Doc throws the hook of the Warthog off the cliff while him and the Meta are falling, calling it the "...second worst throw ever."
In The Sarcophagus, Washington says a variation of the phrase in response to the fact that rounds from the Fuel Rod Cannon bounce off surfaces before priming.
The Best Red vs. Blue DVD Ever. Of All Time. is named after the gag.
In Restoration, Washington comments "That is the best throw ever. Of all time." in response to seeing Simmons throw the A.I. Storage Unit across Blood Gulch.
Lopez[]
Lopez can be considered to have the biggest gags in the series for two reasons, his spoken language which no one understands and also the only person to have a "logical" mind in the red army (or possibly among every other characters in Blood Gulch). Sarge failed to ground himself when deploying the voice card into Lopez, discharging static damaged the voice card, thus resulting with Lopez only being able to speak in Spanish. Due to this, many characters are unable to understand a word Lopez is saying except for Doc, O'Malley, Sheila, Sister, Grif (after season 15), Locus and, rarely, Donut. This, however, happens to be an advantage and disadvantage for Lopez as he could insult people without them understanding what he's saying.
On the other hand, he also can't inform people of something important due to the language barrier. In an instance, in Captive Audience, Lopez tries to convince the rest of Red Team that they are in danger of the earthquakes and they should let him investigate them. However the other Reds believe these warnings to be jokes. During Where There's a Will, There's a Wall: Episode 3, Lopez imagines shooting all of the Blood Gulch members with the Blues' tank.
Spider[]
A gag that started in the season 1 episode Knock, knock. Who's there? Pain., and continued in later seasons. In the episode Tex was invading red base to retrieve the blue flag, the first thing she did was throw a plasma grenade on Donut's head; when Simmons and Grif noticed, they told Donut that there was "something" on his head. He then asked if it was a spider, and to get it off. The grenade then exploded.
The gag resurfaced in the season 3 finale episode The Storm, when the Alien threw a plasma grenade at one of Lopez's robot soldiers. One robot said "Hey a Spid-" but it exploded and was cut off before it could finish. A variation of the gag occurred in the season 5 episode The Haystack. While in the underground cavern Simmons was shot with a spike from a needler. When Grif noticed he told Simmons he had a "pink thing" on him. He asked if it was a snake and, like Donut, told him to get it off, before passing out.
Season 13 made an allusion to the joke with the episode Along Came a Spider, in which the Chairman mentions a plasma weapon that exploded in an unsuspecting client's hands.
Poor Code/Passwords[]
Sarge's poor choice of code/passwords is a gag that started in Season 2. It first begins when Blue Team is arguing and their words unwittingly cause the Chupathingy to attack Red Team. The things they say include, activate for the activation of Chupathingy, drive for it to drive, and red for it to target a Red soldier. This continues throughout the series. In Reconstruction, the gag is resurfaced twice when Washington is talking to Sarge. He must gain the Red's "secure" codeword, which is codeword, to be recognized as someone from command. The only time this has been broken is for Robot #2's codeword, being "Dirtbag", and upon hearing it will punch Grif.
The second and third time was when it was used by Sarge in Revelation. The second time was to cue Grif to drive through the wall attacking Wash in which case the word was shotgun. The third time was when Grif was to push a Warthog off a cliff to kill The Meta; the word again was shotgun. Although in Grif's point of view, these still were bad codewords as Sarge uses the word Shotgun quite often, resulting in Grif taking some time to realize he was using the codeword. In Red vs. Blue: MIA, the Blue Grunt Leader asks Church to recite the Blue Team password. Church, not really knowing, correctly guesses "Blue".
In Oh Captains, My Captains, a fake Federal Army camp is hacked by Dick Simmons, in an attempt to get the password. The code is then shown to be PASSWORD12.
Why are we here?[]
A gag that started in the first episode Why Are We Here?, the question, "Do you ever wonder why we're here?" is commonly asked throughout the series.
- It began when Simmons asked Grif "Do you ever wonder why were here?" in Episode 1. While Grif responds speaking of he doesn't know between whether there's a god watching over them with a plan or just a cosmic coincidence but that it keeps him up at night. Simmons states he wanted to know why they were here in the canyon and asks if Grif wants to talk about it.
- Later the gag is used in Episode 19 where Simmons turns to Grif and asks him again "Why are we here?" to which Grif responds to shut up remembering when he was asked earlier that season.
- The gag resurfaced in Episode 100 when Caboose asks Church "Do you ever wonder why we're here?" Church gives a lengthy response, resulting in Caboose correcting about standing in the shade. During an alternate ending of the same episode, the gag was used when an alien presumably asks another alien this question
- The gag again resurfaced in Rally Cap when Sarge asks the others. Grif responds that it does seem to be one of life's great mysteries, (referencing when he first answered the question back in Episode 1) resulting in Sarge correcting him, meaning why they were here in the army. He then tells them of their attributes.
- The gag reappears in Fall From Heaven when an Insurrectionist attempts to ask a fellow Insurrectionist the question but is interrupted by a descending Pelican.
- The gag was used again in the PSA Higgs Bozos, where Caboose talks thoughtfully about what could happen if all of the mysteries of the universe were explained, ending with"I'm sure people will always look up at the sky and wonder... why are we here."
- The gag was again resurfaced in Remember Me How I Was, where Grif asks Simmons while in Valhalla. In turn, Simmons comes to the realization that the Director was ultimately the reason they were there, due to his actions at Project Freelancer.
- The gag was used yet again in Tourist Trap, where the camera behaves similarly to the first episode while a traditional RvB chord plays. Caboose asks Sarge "You ever wonder..." but never finishes his thought. Sarge asks him to finish his sentence, but Caboose admits he lost his train of thought and proceeds to shoot confetti at a rock, mistaking it for Church.
- In Meta vs. Carolina: Dawn of Awesome, the dialogue is started but goes instead to "You ever wonder...who'd win in a fight between Carolina and the Meta? "
- The song "Hey" from Red vs. Blue: The Musical opens with a sung performance of the original exchange.
- RvB Throwdown opens with Vic saying, "Since the beginning, a single question has plagued the minds of Red vs. Blue fans everywhere. No, it's not "Do you ever wonder why we're here?", God knows we've run that one into the ground."
- In Blue vs Blue, Grif uses it to distinguish Simmons from Gene when the latter pretends to be him, with Simmons answering the question properly.
- In the PSA Empathy, Sarge asks this to Lopez, who (sarcastically) replies that the answer is "to eventually be replaced by robots".
- The original dialogue reappears spoken by the Camelot Knights in Old English in "The Shisno".
- In the alternate reality created in Paradox, Grif and Simmons stand on top of Red Base exactly like the original scene. Grif goes to ask the question but cuts himself off, asking what Deja Vu is, Simmons goes to respond "I got no idea. I guess it's just one of life's great mysteries" but also cuts himself off and comments that he never knew Deja Vu was contagious.
The gag, along with the original response, is referenced on Rooster Teeth's later show Gen:LOCK. In the second episode, Sinclair says "If you don't think you can win, why are you here?", to which Cammie adds "It's one of life's great mysteries isn't it?" In the sixth episode, Dr. Weller outright says "You ever wonder why we're here?"
Do you wanna talk about it?[]
A gag that started in the first episode, Why Are We Here?, "Do you wanna talk about it?", is a commonly asked question in Red vs. Blue. After Grif misinterpreted the question to why they they're here and responds about their existence, Simmons asks if he wants to talk about it, to which Grif says no. In Season 2, when Sarge begins to describe what a man who claimed to be his uncle did to him, Simmons then again asks if he wants to talk about it, but Sarge declines. Later on, Simmons (disguised as a Blue) and Church describe each member of the Red Team. When they get to Donut, Simmons makes fun of his pink armor and that he "knows pink when he sees it." Church asks him if he wants to talk about it, but Simmons quickly declines.
The gag was resurfaced in Recreation, however, it was reversed. Simmons and Donut were talking about leaving Lopez behind. After Donut says Lopez is loyal, Simmons replies "Dogs are loyal too, but that doesn't mean you can't eat them when you are assigned to an arctic base and command can't get rations through because of a seasonal blizzard." Donut says that seems like a pretty specific example to which Simmons says "I don't wanna talk about it." The gag resurfaced again in Follow the Leader when Sarge asked Epsilon if he wanted to talk about his fetish for mean women, but Church replied no. Caboose then asked "Do you wanna talk about it with-" only to be interrupted by Church saying "No!"
You Just Got Sarge'd[]
This running gag first appeared during the Season 5 episode Two for One, where Sarge uses it as an example of one-liners the Red Team could use when killing an enemy. It has since then appeared in various episodes, including the Small Rewards PSA, where Sarge was accredited a 10G "You Just Got Sarged" achievement, as well as in the episode Upon Further Review, though it was cut off during that specific time. It has made its return in the Season 10 PSA, Internet Survival Guide, as the final line in RvB Throwdown, and as a part of Sarge's list of abbreviations: YJGS.
A variation on this gag was seen in The Installation when Simmons and Lopez were attempting to fight the Meta. Simmons picked up a rocket launcher, pointed it at the Meta, as said "All right you bastard! Prepare to get Simmonsized!" He then fires the rocket into the Mongoose between him and the Meta, which flies harmlessly over the Meta's head.
In Self-Fulfilling Odyssey, Sarge references the gag when he states "I feel like I've been sarge'd!"
Holographic Locks[]
Throughout the series, York has been shown trying to open several holographic locks, which according to him, are more complicated than other locks. In Out of Mind: Part IV, when Tex needs him to break a lock, he says it is a holographic lock and she told him it was an encrypted lock. When asked if there is a difference, he tells her there is, hence the two names. When asked if he can open it, he says, "Of course I can! It's just much harder. I just brought it up so you can realize how kickass I am."
In the Season 9 episode The Sarcophagus, he is asked by Carolina to open a lock. As he goes over to see the lock, he says, "Wow, is that holographic? That's high end." When asked by Carolina if he can open it, he says, "Of course I can, you didn't bring me along for my good looks, did you?" In Revenants, he is forced to open another holographic lock. When giving a status report to the Director over radio as he is cracking it, he mentions, "These guys love their holographic locks."
Shotgun![]
Shotgun is a running gag in the series that relates to a character getting into a Warthog first. This usually involves Grif and Simmons, where one would say, "Shotgun!" and the other right after would say, "Shotgun, fuck!" after missing their opportunity. In "The Best Red vs. Blue DVD Ever. Of All Time." DVD, this gag won the Best Running Joke Award. In the Tsavo Highway level of Halo 3, two Marines mimic this gag. However, instead of saying "fuck!", one of the soldiers will say "damn".
Grif's Armor Color[]
Grif's armor color is often mistaken by several characters in the series. Some examples include him being commonly seen as yellow in Caboose's Mind and New Republic soldiers refer to his squad as "Gold team" in Oh Captains, My Captains; Grif tells his soldiers, however, to insist on being called "orange" team rather than gold.
A.I....?[]
This running gag is first mentioned in Human Peer Bonding, where Church explains about the Omega AI Tex possess. Caboose then questions what the letters mean, but never fully understands. Four Seven Niner references this in Fall From Heaven when she asks York sarcastically about it, in regards to Delta. The Season 10 episode, What's the "I" Stand For?, also references this.
Who Crashed the Ship?[]
Beginning in Season 11, a running gag has appeared regarding how certain members of the Blood Gulch Crew became partially responsible for crashing the UNSC ship responsible for taking them back to Blood Gulch. Eventually, in Season 12, it is revealed that their crash landing was the work of a group of Space Pirates, and the crew ultimately saved themselves from death because of their antics.
- The gag is first implied in the Season 11 Teaser Trailer that Caboose was responsible for crashing the ship, although his method of doing so isn't shown.
- In A RealFixer Upper, Tucker is shown to have been partially responsible for the crash landing by distracting the pilot by flirting with her.
- In Worst Laid Plans, Grif is shown to have contributed to the ship's crash landing by spilling soda on the ship's equipment.
- During Reconciliation, it is revealed that Washington was also responsible for crashing the ship by knocking a cable out of a wall.
- In FAQ, Sarge is shown to be partially responsible as well by messing with the ship's engines in order to send the ship into slipspace.
- In the Season 12 episode, The Reunion, Simmons is shown to have contributed by updating the ship's navigation system without authorization.
- Ironically Caboose is the only one not responsible for the ship's crash.
"This doesn't seem physically possible."[]
Several times throughout the series, characters have expressed skepticism over events that did not seem "physically possible." Debuting in the episode A Shadow of His Former Self, Tucker displays his doubt when Church explains how Tex killed his partner, Jimmy, saying "Tex walked up to him, pulled Jimmy's skull right out of his head, and beat him to death with it." Tucker then asks "How do you beat someone to death with their own skull? That doesn't seem physically possible." to which Church responds: "That's exactly what Jimmy kept screaming." As a call back to that, in the prequel episode "Why They're Here", as Jimmy is implanted with the Alpha AI, he screams "That doesn't seem physically possible!"
In Lost in Triangulation, while Donut, a wrench and a skull are competing for second-in-command of Red Team, Sarge says that "Donut was leading after the obstacle course, and tally contest. But then the mysterious skull pulled ahead during the question-and-answer session." Donut remarks: "That doesn't seem physically possible!" In Restraining Orders, while Epsilon-Tex pummels Epsilon with his discarded Monitor, Grif remarks: "Beating him with his own body? That doesn't seem physically possible."
Andersmith[]
In Season 9, Epsilon and the Blues make up the name "Andersmith" for a dead, non-existent teammate of theirs in order to keep Tex in Blood Gulch, after combining the names, Anderson and Smith. It is later revealed in the Season 12 finale that the name of one of the New Republic soldiers is John Elizabeth Andersmith, a callback to the made up name in Season 9. The name is referenced again during the Season 14 episode Why They're Here, when Captain Flowers accidentally changes the names of his would be replacements if he shall die, after tripping over a wire cable underneath Blood Gulch. The last name shown is 'Cornelius Thromwell Andersmith'.
Caboose's Respectful Names[]
The sim troopers will sometimes make fun of their female superiors (namely Texas and Carolina) through name-calling. Whenever Caboose is around however, he attempts correct his comrades or cheer up the superior up in question. In Episode 62 (Lost in Triangulation) during Season 4, Tucker talks to Crunchbite by introducing everyone, referring to Tex as "Bitch-pants McCrabby". Caboose then promptly inserts himself into the conversation, reassuring Tex that he doesn't call her that; he instead calls her "Mrs. McCrabby". Later in the series, during present day in Season 10 Episode 3 (Follow the Leader), Sarge refers to Carolina as "Mrs. Fussy Britches". Caboose is quick to correct him, insisting that she is actually "Miss Fussy Britches", and that she gets angry when called the former.
Doc's Disappearances[]
Several times throughout the series, Doc would disappear from the Reds and Blues group for a variety of reasons, often without any of the other members noticing until he returns or not realizing he did at all due to how neglectful of him they are. This occurs so frequently that it would later become one of his main motivations for betraying the group in Season 15 and Season 16.
Trivia[]
- The gag "Is it a spider?" is referenced in the form of an achievement in the video game Gears of War.
- The "Why are we here?" gag is referenced in the description of the achievement "Roses vs Violets" in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. It is also mentioned in the head caption of one of the loading screens in Halo Infinite.