Animated Combat Styles in RvB (Reds and Blues of Blood Gulch: Second Edition)

[churbooseanon]

If you’ve been following me for a while then you definitely know one thing about me: I like fights. I like to write them. I like to read them. I like to watch them, and dear me do I like to pick them apart. So, while I’m not a martial arts expert (nor do I play one on TV), I spent a long time gathering the data and working on conclusions.

So without further ado, here it is. Animated Combat Styles in RvB as interpreted by ChurbooseAnon, and involving materials from Season Twelve Episode Eighteen through Season Thirteen Episode Nineteen. Subsequent editions may come out that revise these descriptions or enhance them, and will be linked to in revised versions of this post, as well as any revisions linked to this. All of the posts in this series will be tagged as ‘RvB Combat Styles Analysis’ now and in the future.

In the course of this post I’ll be talking about the following individuals in the following order:

Reds And Blues

• Tucker
• Lopez

Tucker

The episodes/fights I have drawn my second set of data from for Tucker are as follows: 12x8 (Tucker versus Felix), 13x4 (Tucker versus Santa), and 13x19 (Tucker versus Felix). These will be combined with the previous results for a final analysis as of the conclusion of the Chorus arc.

Seasons twelve and thirteen do not provide the greatest example of data for Tucker. Where we have an active and clearly competent fighter in earlier seasons, Tucker only gets to show off the swish-swish-stab-stab a in a few instances, only one of which might be counted as a real fight (13x19) and that highly brief. Still, there is value in looking not only at Tucker’s distraction tactic (12x8) but also at the first encounter the group has with the Sangheili AI dubbed Santa.

As we’ve gone over the subterfuge before I’ll be highly brief about it here. Tucker rushes at Felix during their confrontation at the communication tower, not even seeming to consider a dodge from Felix that earns him an elbow in the back. The then comes at the mercenary again shortly after to literally step into a knife. There is definitely an argument that his stabbing is because of his emotions factoring too much into the fight after his friends are injured, but given previous competence of the fighter, that doesn’t seem likely, especially in light of what we learned about Tucker’s combat reactions during the next season when he first encounters Santa (13x9).

The arrival of Santa is a shock to fans and characters alike, a sudden revelation in red light and the form of what was once the enemy to all of humanity (not to mention an echo of the father of Tucker’s child). What might first be seen as a thoughtless flailing is actually a great example of how Tucker has honed his skills as a fighter. While not as instantly on guard as a Freelancer or trained Mercenary might be, Tucker does react as a fighter would by getting away from a potential threat. Tucker actually jumps away from Santa, but he doesn’t stop there. The second his back leg hits the ground to serve as support, Tucker slashes out with his sword. Even though this means he is off balance, Tucker is still seeking to defend himself, and the fact that his weapon is what it is makes it a highly effective one. The covenant plasma sword is a lethal tool even at a glancing blow (we see later how effective it is at cutting even the reinforced Freelancer armor, not to mention the platforms during a later tower fight we’ll get to soon), so the cut directed up and across, through where head height on a human might be, is good. If the tips alone were to make contact one could easily cripple, blind, or when closer, flat out kill.

Where Tucker falls short, though, is in combat against another skilled operative with the same weapon range as himself. Faced with Felix armed and dangerous (13x19), Tucker is a bit out of his league. That doesn’t mean, though, that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. There are few humans who have a better understanding of the alien weapon than himself, and so when Felix lashes out with the key, Tucker knows not only how to block it, but where the block needs to be placed to keep himself away from potential damage. This might further the idea that the Sangheili themselves might have helped train Tucker in his weapon of choice. Of course that doesn’t mean he’s fully prepared for another fighter, because when he pulls back to go for his standard backhand slash, he leaves himself open for Felix to put him on his ass with a single kick. He has been away from anyone else using a sword for many years in his defense, and it’s not a good thing to spar with, but still, there is clearly a lot of room for growth for Tucker, even at this point.

So where does that leave us when we add this new data to the old? Previous conclusions suggested that Tucker was an effective fighter with amazing room for growth. This still holds true with the new information. Yet when we see himself now compared to the Tucker of seasons eight through ten, we see a man more willing to put himself in the position of greatest danger for the sake of others. This is the man who has room to grow as a leader and a fighter, and who perhaps needs a bit of refresher among the Sangheili given how easily he was dispatched by the trained knife fighter that is Felix.

Lopez

The episodes/fights I have drawn my data from for Lopez are as follows: 12x8 (Lopez versus Space Pirate), 13x16 (Lopez versus Grif), and 13x19 (Implications of Lopez versus Sister).

Lopez is a character I have previously not touched upon due to a relative lack of data. Like many of the other Reds and Blues it is easy to assume that he would not involve himself in the more physical aspects of a fight. In fact, Lopez is often seen either avoiding combat, arming up with heavy weaponry, or using vehicles to do his dirty work for him. Yet we now finally have a grasp on at least some of what it would be to face Lopez in a fight, and it isn’t pretty.

Our first contact with Lopez in a fight is when he, plain and simple, lays a Space Pirate out (12x8). The interesting part of this encounter is the way that Lopez uses what he is to his advantage. Even with his head off his shoulders he is still capable of lining up a good shot. This is, perhaps in part, possible because his head is still nearby. More likely one might put the ability for his first to so reliably connect comes for the way that Lopez prepares himself for the blow by putting a hand on the shoulder of the man. This causes the pirate to turn and look, lining himself up perfectly for the right hook he delivers. What can we draw from this? Perhaps Lopez prefers a sure blow to something a little less prepared. But again, there is little data to work with.

More interesting is how Lopez is shown (and implied) to deal with the Grif siblings. We get a very good shot of Lopez actively strangling the elder Grif on Chorus (13x16). Lopez is very bodily involved in this process, shaking Grif in the process. I know little about strangling beyond an actual stranglehold so I can’t tell you if this is a necessarily effective manner of handling someone. What one can be assured of is that, as a robot, Lopez’s grip would be more reliable than that of a human. Without traditional muscle fatigue through build up of lactic acid, and even with a person struggling against him, Lopez could sustain such a hold for an extended period of time, possibly to the point of fatal action. Sister herself implies that Lopez used such an approach against her (13x19), and Lopez himself states that he killed her. Likely her survival was due to her previously noted extreme ability to hold her breath (though someone needs to explain how she ended up in a frozen pond when she’s from Hawaii please). Still, Lopez is a very hands on and personal sort of violent person when he is driven to using his hands.