Michael J. Caboose

"My name is Michael J. Caboose, and I hate babies!"

—Caboose in Visiting Old Friends

Captain Michael J. Caboose is a main character in Red vs. Blue. Voiced by Joel Heyman, Caboose first appears in The Rookies as a new recruit for the Blood Gulch Blue Team. Caboose is portrayed as one of the most eccentric characters in the series. Consistently shown to be mentally abnormal, his behavior varies from merely somewhat dim-witted in Season 1 to almost completely divorced from reality by Season 3 and onwards. Because of his involvement, he could be considered to be the main protagonist of Recreation.

Overview

Caboose can be considered as, by far, the most unintelligent character in the series, although at first this wasn't noticeable. In Season 1, Caboose was dim-witted and less eccentric than he was in later seasons, where he later showed near detachment from reality. In the course of the series, he has been repeatedly subjected to mental trauma and physical brain damage, which is visible in the downward spiral of his behavior. Because of his intelligence and unusual behavior, he acts very childish: treating serious situations like a game, envious for not being favored at some points, and having illogical reasons for his actions, which frequently earns him the scorn and disrespect of the series' other characters.

Despite this, many characters show care for him, including the Reds, who he treats as neighbors instead of enemies. Caboose always tries to impress Church and help him as well, stating that they are best friends, despite the fact Church is constantly annoyed by him. Partially due to positive early fan reaction, Burnie Burns, the main writer for the series, focused the storyline on Caboose and Donut (Dan Godwin), the Red Team's rookie. The staff later made Caboose less intelligent to add more humor in series. Later on Caboose, arguably, became the most iconic character of Red vs. Blue.

Role in Plot

Misadventures in Blood Gulch

Caboose first appears in Episode 3. Arriving with a tank named Sheila, he soon annoys the Blue Team's self-appointed leader, Church by accidentally calling his girlfriend a slut, and is consequently tasked with guarding the flag base and waiting for a nonexistent general. Meanwhile, Simmons and Grif have sent their team's rookie, Donut, on a fool's errand for nonexistent supplies. In a mutual misunderstanding, Donut mistakes Caboose for a shopkeeper, and Caboose mistakes Donut for the "general" and allows him to take the flag. When Church and Tucker learn of this they try to get the flag back via teleporter. However, they end up getting attacked by Grif and Simmons in the warthog. Seeing his teammates in trouble, Caboose gets into the tank who introduces herself as Sheila.

Caboose accidentally kills Church while using Sheila and narrowly escapes a bombing run that disables the tank. Caboose then begins to show affection towards Sheila. Afterward, Caboose and Tucker contact Blue Command for help and are sent Freelancer Tex. After Tex manages to regain the Blue Team flag from the Reds she is captured by them. Church then reappears as a "ghost" and tells Tucker and Caboose about his relationship with Tex, prompting the three to rescue her. After they do, Tex fixes Sheila for them and attacks the Reds. At this point, Caboose becomes possessed by O'Malley, Tex's evil artificial intelligence who transmits himself to Caboose via radio before Tex is killed.

In Season 2, Caboose starts to talk and act unusually, due to his infection by O'Malley. Tex then reappears as a "ghost" and reveals to the Blues that the only way to truly defeat O'Malley is to enter Caboose's mind, eliminate him, & prevent him from entering anyone else. As a result, the Blue Team devise a plan to kill O'Malley, with Church and Tex entering Caboose's Mind as ghosts in an attempt to kill the A.I.. There, they encounter Caboose's incorrect mental images of others and successfully knock O'Malley out of Cabooses mind.  Unfortunately, O'Malley infects medic Doc, who was calling Command, and goes on a rampage in Blood Gulch, kidnapping the Red Team's robot Lopez in the process. After O'Malley escapes through a teleporter, the Reds and Blues work together to stop him.

At the end of the season, Caboose becomes stranded with Sarge in an unknown location after a teleporter malfunctions. Caboose and Sarge escape from the Grunts, another set of respawning Red and Blue teams constantly fighting each other. Simmons helps the two escape to the Teleporter Nexus and the three regroup with the other Reds and Blues to fight off O'Malley at Sidewinder. After a bomb blasts most of the characters into the future, but Church into the past, Church learns of the Great Destroyer from Gary, a computer, who says that "the Great Destroyer" will be known as the stupidest life form in the universe".

Church assumes that this description refers to Caboose, but later events and the introduction of a new character, the Alien, cause the characters to suspect that the Great Destroyer is not Caboose. After the Blues encounter the Alien and learn of its quest Caboose is sent along with Tucker, Tex, and Andy, a talking bomb constructed by Tex, on the quest. However, after the quest fails and Tex chases after Freelancer Wyoming, the remaining three return to Blood Gulch. Upon their return, Andy reveals to Church and Caboose that Tucker has been impregnated with an alien baby, angering Church and confusing Caboose. After they call Doc, O'Malley, and Lopez to help Tucker, Tucker gives birth to the baby and O'Malley leaves Doc.

Return to Blood Gulch

Caboose is later injured by 'donating' some blood to Tucker's Alien baby, which the Alien impregnated him with before being killed by Wyoming. Afterward, he regains his strength and is introduced to a new member on the Blue Team: Sister. Tex suddenly returns to Blood Gulch and attacks the Blues, in order to look for O'Malley. As a result to assist Tex, Caboose is picked by his team to distract Sheila while Tex shuts her down. Although Caboose is reluctant at first, they succeed, but Sheila is shut down just before she reveals the location of O'Malley to Caboose. He convinces his team of this, and they decided to place Sheila into the newly arrived ship. The Blues are suddenly contacted by Vic Jr. to attack the Red base. So, Church and Tex tell Caboose to stay behind, in order to ensure the success of the transfer. After the transfer completes, Caboose informs Tex by radio of the location of O'Malley; the leader of the Blue Team, Captain Flowers. Tex then pins down Church, believing him to currently be the leader, until Wyoming and Gamma ambush them. After a series of time distorting events, the Blues and Wyoming clones battle. Caboose distracts Gamma, now in the tank, and allows Tucker and Sheila to capture him in a firewall.

Afterward, Tex goes on a rampage to obtain Omega. Omega enters Caboose, leading Tex and Church to do so as well. When they exit, Caboose informs Church of Tex's location. However, Tex manages to obtain O'Malley, and enters Sheila, taking Junior, Gamma, and the newly arrived Green Alien along with her. Returning to Blue base, Caboose asks Church- "Do you ever wonder why we're here?" Church answers, but Caboose corrects Church, by telling him that he wanted to stand in the shade. Church agrees and the two stand in the shade.

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